134 Mindy and the Wasp

Days since last Beast Tide: 9. Current Kill Count: 209 (18 since yesterday).

Location: Red Fang, six hours out from Dragon Lake, en route to Three Pines Peak and Kara-Goth.

Mindy sat back, dropping her pencil in satisfaction.

There it was. The design for the new Wasp class Patrol Boat. It was a single-gun corvette, similar to the Foresight, but unlike the Foresight, the Wasp was built for speed and maneuverability. Most especially, the ability for sideways movements; there was a reason why it had two main thrusters split between the left and right sides. They could be turned to the rear for forward propulsion, or they could be turned sideways for quick movements to either side.

In other words, the Wasp was an airship that could dodge. Admittedly, it used quite a bit of power, but a skilled pilot should be able to go up against a flying Wild and still stand a chance of surviving.

It was also a bit queer in that the gun could not fire forward. No; Mindy wanted nothing in front of the pilot's face, so that he would have a wide and clear view of what he was getting into. The gun turret was a rear heavy mount; it could shoot in just about any direction in a 270 degree radius behind the airship, but not in front. Mindy thought of it like a wasp's stinger.

She did think of making it able to shoot in front, maybe mount it below instead of behind… but that would increase the wasp's profile, make the airship easier to hit. 'Easier to hit' was directly against Mindy's hope for the design; survivability was her main goal. Thus, the rear firing arc.

On that note, the wasp did not have an envelope to contain the lighter-than-air gasses. The 'balloon' part of the airship was directly stuffed into the structure of the cabin, from its walls to its roof, which covered most of the top of the airship, but not its 'head'.

Now, if only she could find some sort of ultra-light armor that weighed very little but was large enough to protect a corvette-class airship… maybe a giant insect shell…?

Mindy shook her head. No, the closest thing she could get to that would be feathers. There were plenty of extra large feathers dropped on the ground all over Three Pines Peak. They were quite tough too. Maybe a layer of feathers…? But they weren't as light as Mindy would have liked.

Hmm. What if those feathers were part of the main body rather than just an add-on for armor? Like… the actual structure… Mindy began to contemplate a design that took after birds, an aerodynamic form with wings.

She sketched out a rough picture, then set it aside for now. The bird-type could wait until tomorrow. Right here, right now, she had a Wasp-type to build.

Mindy began to put together a checklist.

1. Crystal to Mana Power Converter – Ever-turbo Mk III (cheapest at Germat, order through Iron Legion!)

2. Mana Capacitor – anything commercial grade (ask Charlie's scrapyard friend?)

3. Mana Regulator - anything commercial grade (ask Charlie's scrapyard friend?)

4. Thrusters - Jumper Burst (Ashdale specialty)

5. Thrust Control System – Hydra (order from Dragon Empire via Deutero)

6. Sensors– Seer All-In-One 5000 (order from Ecclesia via Deutero)

7. Navigation – Beacon Sight (anywhere should have one)

8. Turret Frame – Fire-elemental type (Burning Steel Forge, needs Fire Copper)

9. Magic Cannon – Fire-elemental type, something that hits hard? Maybe Fire Lancers? (Ask Arnold)

10…

Mindy paused, tapping her lips, considering. "No, I think that should do it. The Wasp is expensive enough as it is."

Actually, looking at the list, these things alone were already going to be too expensive. Mindy was aiming for a flyer-fighter that cost less than one hundred thousand lir. The components on her list alone would go over-budget, and that wasn't even counting the chassis and labor costs.

With a sigh, Mindy struck off No.6, 'sensors'. Then she canceled the word 'Hydra' and wrote 'Springboard'.

"That's going to make just every move jerky." Mindy mused. "Strong, but short bursts, with the longest sustained burst only at five seconds…"

Worse, only one thruster could fire up at any one time. In other words, the Wasp would never fly straight; at best, it would zig-zag forwards.

"It's starting to feel more like a dragonfly than a wasp." Mindy rubbed her forehead. "Actually, no, even dragonflies can fly straight."

Thinking, she crossed out 'Springboard' and wrote 'Bullhorn'.

"There. Straight flight, balanced dual thrust, and plenty of power. Just don't ever ask a Wasp to move slowly." Mindy decided. "They won't be able to do slow glides or hovers, but we can just toss ropes and pull them in for a landing."

So. Estimated costs… 25k for the power converter, 5k for the capacitor, 15k for the regulator, 20k for both thrusters, 10k for the thrust control system, 10k for the turret frame… that would be 85k so far. A decent commercial grade magic cannon could go for 20-30k. Industrial grade, maybe 10k, but that would hardly threaten a tier 4 Wild, much less a Tier 5. Total costs… 105 to 115k. Roughly 5-15% over budget. Assuming of course, that they counted the cost of the chassis, its materials, and labor as free, since they were doing those themselves using wood they'd cut and process here.

"Oh, forget it!" Mindy crossed out 'Bullhorn' again and replaced it with 'Hitcher' (Ashdale). Then she crossed out the price estimate of 10k and replaced it with 20k. Still not as expensive as the Hydra, but at least they'd be able to slow down, hover, and land.

Then, she added more to her checklist.

Chassis – Stubborn Bamboo. (7k, export prices)

Misc materials – adhesives, bindings, paint, etc (3k, import prices)

Labor – Admiral Mindy doing most of the work in person (10,000k)

Seeing that last price tag on her list (payable to herself), Mindy grinned. "I wish!"

But no, seriously speaking… 125k for a Wasp was about as high as she dared go. Hopefully it won't be so high that Remian would shoot the design down without considering its advantages.

Perhaps she could pay for it herself, bring out a fully completed prototype to show him…

But doing so would set back her funds. Mindy wasn't too keen on unnecessary spending these days.

Not when she was saving up for her dream airship.

It's just… was it really a good idea to still design airships using magic drives? Doom already said that the world was running out of mana. Maybe she should try using another type of power source?

For this kind of quick side-to-side movement, rocket drive would be the only other option. Runic drive would work, but those also used mana. The problem, in the end, was that Mindy didn't know much about rocket drive systems, only that they existed. Magic drive was all she really knew.

"Blast it, why does the world have to run out of mana just when I started flying airships?!" Mindy fumed. "It's not fair!"

Forget it. The world still had some twenty years of mana, right? Magic drive will do for now. Rocket drive can wait for the next design. That would be… what? Next week?

"Done. This will do." Mindy decided. "Any objections from Quality Control Staff?!"

There was no answer. Of course not. There was no QC staff. Mindy was entirely alone.

"Great! I hereby declare the Wasp-class corvette patrol boat flyer-fighter complete and ready for production!" Mindy said, and hammered her fist onto her desk as if to seal the deal.

***

But that confidence faltered when she presented Remian with the budget (minus the labor costs for Admiral Mindy).

"Is… is it too expensive?" Mindy asked, hesitantly.

"Before the Beast Tide, I'd have said so, but now…" Remian allowed himself a wry grin. "Mindy, do you remember what Aren said about Flaming Bronze? We should easily be able to afford it."

"So… I can include labor costs?"

"Certainly. Also include the labor costs for the workers replanting the bamboo." Remian added. "I'm fine with that higher price, but are you? Our deal was that I pay for the airships construction but you don't really own them until you pay for them with guild points or lir. I seem to remember that you want all the airships to yourself and that you're more than twelve million guild points short."

Mindy's face fell. "But haven't I been collecting rental for the Sky Barges and Tugs?"

"Why, yes, I do seem to have been paying you. But you don't seem to have been paying me anything, though? When are you going to pay for the airships you've been using? The Red Fang alone is worth at least fifteen million lir, thrice that in GP."

Mindy wilted. "The Red Fang is your flagship. I can't take it away from you."

"Is that really a wise decision?" Remian asked. "Without the Red Fang, you won't be able to trade with ports farther away. Unless you plan to trade exclusively with Fal'Herim?"

"No!" Mindy exclaimed. "But… but I can't just go off for trading and leave you all behind! You still need me around to… to…"

"To do what?" Remian nudged her. He squeezed her shoulder. "The point I'm getting at here, Mindy, is that you should really think about making the most of your assets. Using airships to trade would be far more profitable than having them all sit around earning rent. The Tugs and the Sky Barges are enough for the mines and the miners. We've found Darian. Arnold and his crews can handle the Wasp construction. You should go make your dreams come true."

"But… but what about you? Are you coming with me?"

Remian considered. "Maybe just once. But afterward, it's all up to you."

"Great! So where are we going?" Mindy cheered up immediately.

But Remian wasn't going to give her the answers. "Where do you think we should go?"

"Um… if we're trading… what do we have to trade? Fire Copper, jade, Flaming Bronze… where… ah! Germat! We should go to Germat!"

"Germat?" Remian blinked.

"They're very industrious. They build more machines and airships than anybody in the region! If we're selling Fire Copper and Flaming Bronze, they'll fetch good prices there! Unless we go to Ecclesia, or… or… but those are too far away! Germat is a lot nearer, the time it takes us to get to Ecclesia, we could make three trips to Germat! Plus it's on the way to Ashdale. We can pick up parts for the Wasp while we're at it!"

Remian rubbed his forehead. "Not exactly what I had in mind, but fine. Let's follow efficiency, supply and demand. But remember, Mindy, it's not just about selling the Fire Copper and Flaming Bronze. It's about trading."

"I'll… buy an excess of power converters. Charlie's dad said they were cheapest in Germat. I could buy them there and sell them at Ashdale." Mindy suggested. "At least… until I find something more profitable."

"Don't jump to conclusions. Think it over, and take a good look around when you get there." Remian advised. "Look at what they produce, and what Ashdale needs, whether we might want to stop somewhere else instead of Ashdale. Take the time to learn their prices."

"Okay."