А р т и л л е р и я
б о г • с о в р е м е н н о й • в о й н ы
б о г • с о в р е м е н н о й • в о й н ы
Glade 83, 122 Age of Steel
In the months and years that followed, Anton would remember the Glade of 122 as some of the happiest days of his life. He had been given a newfound sense of purpose and confidence in himself from the most unlikely of sources, and had gained something equally valuable by following his own passions: purpose. A raison d'etre of his own choice and devising, his work with Professor Haber filled him with more than the satisfaction of a job well done, but the sense that he had found something to do with his life beyond the expectations and machinations of his family line. For the first time in his life, when he woke up in the morning and began to consider his day, he was doing what he wanted to do instead of what he had to do.
Today, he was joining his research cadre on a field trip of sorts, ranging far beyond the walls of Zaichaer. With the army in the field and the city garrison on edge, they would have to pick their spot carefully for their planned activities. High command had outlined several areas that they were not to enter unless they were somehow overtaken by Kalzasern raiders far south of where they were expected, and standing orders from the Hall of Inventors called for any live fire tests not over seen by the Defense Corps to take place in isolated locations far from any settled areas, with clear lines of sight to ensure that the resting place of any projectiles were visible to the firers. Which meant a rather long day indeed, the professor having scheduled out a full twelve hours for the latest battery of tests.
Naturally, they intended to travel in style. Anton was far from the only wealthy member of the team, the majority of academics at the Institute seemed to be despite the College's generous scholarships, and the professor was something of a wizard at conjuring research funds from the flimsiest of proposals. As such, when he arrived at the lab ready to depart with the coming of dawn, he found three pristine carriages and a military caisson, already loaded with their material - including the all important cannon, on loan from the city fort. Each was prepared for their journey into the Zaichaeri hinterland, horses hitched and drivers waiting, with Otto and the others dressed for a refreshing late Glade day.
For once, Anton had the advantage over his colleagues due to his experiences with Vanessa. She had dragged him out to the countryside many a time, and had as a result purchased light clothing and sturdy boots. They had even broken the latter in during their prior excursions. He did his best not to think less of any of the dandies, after all had his life gone slightly differently he would've been one of them, and instead happily waved to the others as he approached the carriages.
"Anton, good you've made it! We have a time table everyone, we only have the cannon for the day!" Professor Haber called out, already loading himself into the lead carriage. Soon enough and all had joined him, most of the graduate students focusing on their own research notes as they settled in for the long ride. Anton for his part simply relaxed and let his senses extend beyond the carriage walls and into the world beyond. His companions were not going to be much for conversation, and he had his own research to conduct.
His burgeoning mastery of Semblance had granted him many boons, the security of using the power so openly while suppressing his own aura not the least of them, but the most useful at the moment was the fact that mere mundane obstacles like wood and steel had become like glass to the augur. The cannon was quite standard, one of the new model weapons that were already being sent to front-line units for field trials, and Anton paid it little heed after an initial examination. What drew more interest was the cache of cannon balls that they had brought along, custom made caster shells, direct from the Runeforgers of the College of Minders.
Professor Haber had many friends, as befitted the gregarious sort of man, and more than a few owed him favors. He was also the sort of man to call in such favors. Ordinarily, the College would handle research and development of anything even marginally arcane themselves - and technically speaking, they had. All Otto and his students had provided were new shells, the mundane materials that the Runeforgers would then take in hand along with the dragonshard to use to craft a weapon. Still, investigating the various effects of the experimental caster shells was technically beyond the remit of any Institute professor. But advancing in academia was as much a matter of following the rules as knowing when to bend them.
Officially speaking, this was merely a full scale trial of the new carriage and limber that Haber had been sanctioned to design. The data that they would gather testing the shells would be channeled back to Haber's contacts with the Minders, a quid pro quo that he and his associates had quite comfortably arranged for some years now. While its legality was questionable, and the new Kelgarde regime had put some fear into the comfortable relationship, the decision was made that the new Grand Marshal would not question results. Especially considering that at the end of the day, Runeforgers were still making caster shells from sanctioned materials. Some of them were just... different from the Grungeworks norm.
The goal was rather simple, to the point that it was a certainty that the sclerotic bureaucracy of the Order of Reconciliation would eventually give the Defense Corps what it needed. But why wait? Taking matters into his own hands, Haber had engineered the solution with shells of his own design, perfected over months of effort with Anton and the other students. A change in the specifications of the barrel meant a change in the flight pattern of the shell, and it was obvious to anyone who had ever handled a gun that the difference between a decent round and a perfect one was a matter of small differences.
Shape, size, and weight were all critical to determining how a shell flew. For artillery pieces, the solution for shape was a ball for multiple reasons, and the only real alternative to that required a rifled cannon barrel. While those existed, they were still far too expensive even in Zaichaer to equip to line units - so balls it would have to be. The low hanging fruit was, of course, size. A shell was at its most effective when it was as close to the size of the barrel as possible. As a lead researcher for the cannons, and creator of the outer casing, Haber knew that his shells would outperform any standard arsenal piece.
Finally, and most diverse, came weight which was the variable that they were truly testing. As many techniques as possible were considered, and each was produced as a one off for study, altering the density of the munition to see which performed best. Anton was satisfied at the Runeforgers' work, none of the shells sounding different from the idea that had been crafted, and so settled in to do whatever else had thought he was doing - napping.
It was well best noon when they arrived at their chosen firing range, an open plain far from any settlement. There was some surprise when Anton volunteered to unlimber the cannon, and even more when he did it well, but most shrugged it off as something he must have learned from his father. Though they were ready to begin testing, the excursion resembled more of a picnic than an academic endeavor. Food and drink was laid out as the shells were unloaded, a generous helping of wine being served despite the fact that they were about to work with a live firearm. There was no real notion of aim or accuracy however, merely a requirement to record the distance of the shell and the time it took for it to finish its flight. From there they could determine their worth as weapons.
Anton was somewhat bemused at having not completely revolutionized a project for once - there was not exactly much room for arcane insights that told more than mere science could in this case. In some ways he had simply been promoted past the low hanging fruit that he had dealt with before, but despite this he didn't feel particularly put out. He had still been able to contribute to the shell design despite this, having realized that he had actually managed to learn things. But when the time came to actually test the cannon, he took up his original post as a recorder instead of providing any ground-breaking insight.
It helped that he was the only one who could actually see the projectiles throughout their entire flight, though many assumed that from his preternatural swiftness with the stopwatch he simply had a good eye. For now, that was enough for Anton. As he sipped his wine and lunched on fruits and meats they had brought from Zaichaer, the budding scientist managed to be at peace, despite the pressures of war.