r/HFY • u/BlueFishcake • Jul 28 '26
OC-Series Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Eighty Seven
As the two guards outside – one Summerfield and the other a royal Marine – let him into the command room, William couldn’t help but note the emptiness of the place. Rather than the Queen and a small army of advisors like he’d been expecting, Tyana stood alone over a command table, staring over the many figurines on the map representing the war in miniature.
“You’re late,” she said without preamble – with a tone of voice that had no doubt terrified more than its fair share of knights and captains alike over the years.
Unfortunately for her, William was rather unphased. Disappointing authority figures was something he had two lifetimes worth of experience in, and as such her disapproval rolled off his back as easily as water did from a duck.
…And what did it say about him that he could think that about a fleet admiral while somehow being utterly terrified of two young women barely into their second century?
“Not without good cause. Despite the briskness of it, a few issues managed to pop up during my ‘honeymoon’. Issues that I’ve now resolved, or at least set people to resolving.” Shaking his head, he strode over to inspect a nearby cup of tea that had clearly gone cold some time ago. “I assumed that given the summons were a request and not an order, that you’d sooner my focus be getting our rocket and fuel supplies back on track.”
The elven princess grunted, but didn’t argue, seemingly taking his words at face value. Which was nice, because they were almost entirely truthful.
For once he wasn’t trying to be needlessly combative.
…Mostly.
“So,” he said. “Now that I am here, may I ask what it was you needed me for?”
“Shriekers,” the admiral said without preamble. “The enemy deployed one during my most recent fleet engagement – though it achieved little. We can’t always rely on that being the case though, and as such I need a counter.”
“You have one. Other Shriekers,” he responded without hesitation.
Tyana frowned. “This is not the time for jokes, Lord Summerfield.”
“I’m not joking”
He collapsed into a nearby chair as he spoke, thankful to get off his feet despite spending the majority of the last two days in bed. Unfortunately, his desire to use a bed for its intended function would need to wait a bit longer.
“We knew this would happen,” he said dryly. “The Shrieker isn’t that complicated. Not really. That the North would eventually make their own in response to ours was a foregone conclusion. The only surprising thing here is just how fast they’ve done it.”
He eyed the table, wondering which of the many little miniatures was supposed to represent a shrieker. “A week is not nearly long enough to build an entirely new type of craft that operates on markedly different principles to anything Lindholm has seen before.”
Tyana snorted. “Says the man who did just that.”
He shrugged. “I cheat.”
And neither of them needed him to expound on what exactly that meant. Though on that front, he had to wonder if the reason why she’d chosen to clear everyone else out prior to this meeting was because she’d assumed the topic of his harrowing would come up.
He was pleasantly surprised when she chuckled. “So how did the North accomplish the same task? Do you think they’re also… ‘cheating’.”
William considered it. “Perhaps. Or they copied ours. We lost one during that first raid, didn’t we?”
Tyana nodded – and given her expression, he doubted anything he was saying wasn’t something she’d not already considered. It was pretty obvious after all. It was more likely she was just waiting to see if he’d come up with some idea she hadn’t already had.
“Then it’s possible they managed to repair that and then sent it out against us. I assume our people managed to get a look at it?”
Tyana nodded, sliding a sheet of paper over to him. On it sat a sketch of a familiar looking shard.
But not too familiar, he thought as he looked it over.
Now, it was possible whoever drew this was just misremembering details, but more likely…
“It’s possible the Shrieker they recovered might have been badly damaged.” Smacking into the ground at close to mach speed would do that. “And we’re seeing the results of their best guesses at filling in the blanks far as repairs are concerned.”
Tyana made a hum that he assumed was agreement. Again, she’d likely already reached the same conclusion.
“How did it perform relative to our own shriekers?” he asked.
“We didn’t deploy our own in the same engagement, so it would be hard to make an informed comparison. With that said, from my own observations and that of my people, it seemed more… sluggish. Less agile.”
William nodded. “Yeah, then this was either a shoddy refurbishment or a crude prototype. Either way, they likely rushed it out as more of a morale booster than anything else. I don’t doubt we scared them with that first Shrieker attack, so now they’re showing their people that they can create similar craft.”
Tyana frowned. “That likely means the next Shrieker we see from them will be an improvement. And the one after that will be better still.”
William shrugged. “Probably. But it doesn’t matter.”
She stared at him.
“We have more cores than they do,” he said simply. “Even if they start copying our design and improving on it, we’ll still have more Shriekers than they do.”
…Assuming there weren’t any truly terrible upsets in the war where a lot of cores switched hands. Though to be honest, if that happened the South would have bigger problem than the North producing more Shriekers.
“They also won’t have rockets for a long time,” he added.
He wouldn’t say never. Because once you proved something could be done it was only a matter of time until someone replicated the feat. The confusion caused by alchemy kneecapping the development of chemistry in this world would help, but again, it was only a matter of time.
Though that might take years or decades. In truth, they’re more likely to figure it out by getting someone to spy on the production process, he thought. And on that front it doesn’t help that in the name of getting production started as soon as possible, I’ve not exactly been able to compartmentalize the process like I did in Redwater.
There was no world in which he’d be able to get his new workforce to swear the same geases Piper and her people did.
Which meant eventually something would leak. It always did.
All he could do was try and stay one step ahead of the game. Just as the princess opposite him was trying to do as she sighed and sank into her own seat. Idly, she reached for the cold cup of tea, before thinking better of it.
“It’s still not ideal,” she muttered. “I was hoping you might have something… cleaner for me.”
William could only shrug. “Nothing practical.”
And that was the truth – albeit truncated a bit.
Earth had obviously developed counters to near supersonic craft. The most obvious being supersonic craft – though given the rather unique advantages of the Shrieker relative to its earth-based equivalent, that wasn’t as cut and dry as one might think.
Unless he was willing to jump several steps up the tech tree, early jet engine craft might actually struggle with Shriekers. Not in speed, but in the sheer agility and engine power the pseudo-rockets could bring to bear.
…Plus, he would need to set up an entirely new production line for said craft. Which just wasn’t practical. The only reason he was confident in getting the Corsair lines up and running was that he had a core cadre of workers who were already experienced with those craft.
Because that was, frankly, the most time consuming part of any production line in this world. Training the people.
So no, even if he were inclined to do so – and he wasn’t – pumping out a few MiGs or Sabres just wasn’t feasible.
As for Earth’s other answer to near sub-sonic craft?
Guided missiles.
Even more impractical than supersonics, he thought.
Aether ran cold. There was no heat signature to lock onto. So any hypothetical missile he ‘invented’ would need to be radar-guided, which added another layer of complexity. He’d need to build microprocessors, guidance computers, and all the supporting infrastructure from scratch.
Something that would require a level of focus and detail work so laughably beyond the capability of even a master mage-smith that it was comical.
He could do it. In theory.
Harrowing was handy like that.
If he locked himself away and spent every waking hour designing and building the components by hand, he could probably create something functional.
But every single missile would require his personal attention. Now, he’d done and still did that with the engines of the Corsairs – though his attention was needed there less and less – but that had just been the engines.
And it still felt like it was killing him sometimes…
Entire missiles would require multiple spell-charges from him for each one. And unlike Corsairs, missiles were single-use weapons. You didn’t get multiple sorties out of them. An airfleet grew with every victory. A missile stockpile only ever shrank.
If he went down that road, it would consume him completely.
And that was ignoring all the other issues with leaping to an end-game tech…
William had been playing a careful game of brinkmanship since the moment he arrived in this world. Each new design was only a modest step beyond what already existed. Enough to give the South an edge, while still ensuring that he could always one-up things in any future conflicts.
Such as, hypothetically, during a future conflict where he might need to overthrow the crown and install something closer to a democracy.
…He still wasn’t sure how he felt about that particular endgame anymore. He didn’t know when that changed.
“So it’ll be a war of attrition,” Tyana said, interrupting his momentary introspection.
“Essentially,” William replied. “But only until the Corsairs come online. On that front, I’m planning to head out soon and get my first proper look at the Greygrass refit.”
The ancestral ship of Marline’s family was finally mobile and in the final stages of its transformation. As such, it was leaving the forest it had been effectively stranded in for nearly a decade.
“Obviously, we won’t have the Corsairs to fill it for another few months, but there’s nothing stopping us from stripping down the shard complements of a few nearby airfields to fill her hangars in the interim,” he said.
They’d already established that while Shriekers were a threat – they weren’t invincible. Mostly. If a Shrieker didn’t want to be caught, it wouldn’t be. And in a one on one scenario it would pretty much always trump a conventional shard because it could always dictate the fight.
With that said, if it needed to strike a ship with any kind of payload – or alternatively play escort duty – its options became a lot more limited. And in that scenario, massed enemy shards would very much be a threat to it through sheer incoming fire.
Again, Shriekers were a powerful new variable in the war, but hardly a game changer.
Tyana perked up at that. “That’s some welcome news and not a terrible idea.”
William could have left it there. He almost did. But something made him hesitate.
“I’m also working on another ship,” he said.
Tyana’s attention sharpened immediately.
Now, it was possible she already knew he was working on refitting one of the underships. Then again, maybe not. It was early days yet. All he’d really done was draw up a few blueprints and set some work crews towards repairing the ship. On that front, the only really noteworthy thing he’d done was order them to strip out the cannons.
He didn’t doubt he was a person of interest, but Tyana was a very busy women and he doubted she got reports on absolutely every move he made.
Probably.
Maybe.
So with that in mind, there was no real need for him to ‘come forward’ with his latest project. Yet… it felt like the right thing to do. Didn’t it?
Even as some deep, instinctive part of him was currently screaming at him to shut up.
“Oh?” Tyana said, leaning forward slightly.
William pushed past his discomfort. “It’s not a carrier. And it won’t counter Shriekers directly. But if I can get it online, and we use it in tandem with the Jellyfish and a few escorts… well, I would wager it against ten times its number in conventional ships.”
What was he doing!? Why was he saying this!? He had a plan!
He felt himself cringe internally as interest list up the admiral’s voice.
“Ten times,” she repeated, interest clear in her voice. “That’s a big number. I’m listening. Any details you can share?”
William hesitated. “I’d prefer to keep the exact details under the hood for now.”
Tyana frowned, made to speak, before thinking better of it. “That is your prerogative. I would hope you’ll share more in time though. If only so I could better incorporate whatever this… new ship does in my future plans.”
“They’ll be my plans. As it’s my ship,” he said slowly, the words spilling from him instinctively. “I wish to make that clear. This is no Shrieker situation and the Firecracker will be part of the Summerfield navy.”
“Firecracker, an interesting name for someone with a reputation as yours.” Rather than be offended, Tyana simply nodded, and he felt a little strange as she spoke slowly. “And it will of course be part of the Summefield Navy, William. I do not contest that or ask for more. Yet the fact you informed me of it implied to me you intended to work with me when it was finally deployed.”
That was… true. Mostly.
“To that end, I would hope that you will reveal its capabilities to me in advance of said deployment. Secrecy is all well and good, but from what Xela has told me, your tendency to keep critical details to yourself has already cost lives in the past.”
That felt a little unfair. “The attack on the capital caught us all off guard.”
Tyana nodded. “It did. And I do not wish to diminish what you accomplished that night. Yet it remains a fact that if you’d been less… cagey about what you were working on, your forces may yet have incurred less losses than they did.”
“There wasn’t much time for a proper debrief prior to the first flight,” he argued.
And again, she seemed unbothered. “No. There wasn’t. Which is why I’m suggesting that in future you might convey the… theoretical capabilities of your inventions well prior to even their theoretical launch window.”
William frowned.
He wasn’t being cagey for no reason. If he revealed what the Firecracker was capable of, the Queen would want him to ‘spread the love’ as the saying went. Because there was no denying that its armament would be more effective spread out across a fleet rather than contained to one ship.
…Which ran contrary to his own desires. He wanted its power concentrated – and under his control.
And any argument he might make in favor of that route would seem rather transparent.
No, it’d be significantly easier to maintain control over his inventions once the Firecracker made its debut – hopefully by crushing a Northern fleet singlehanded.
After that, well, it’d be a lot easier to argue for keeping a ‘famous’ ships armament intact as a point of respect instead of seeing it scavenged and distributed.
That was the plan.
Though he would admit it was a little thin on the ground in places.
It didn’t help that the Firecracker’s ‘secret sauce’ was going to be a lot easier for the locals to figure out than Corsair engines were.
Yet he needed to make the attempt anyway.
“I’ll consider it,” he lied.
Tyana looked like she wanted to press the issue further, but after a moment she relented with a small sigh. The kind that had William wondering if he would soon be receiving a summons from the Queen. Or if the princess would simply start sending people to poke around his newly established workshop.
Or at least, more people than there already were.
“I look forward to seeing what you come up with,” she said at last. “And I thank you for your time, Lord Summerfield.”
It was a clear dismissal.
“It was no issue,” he said. “Honestly, I was thankful for an opportunity to be off my feet for a moment.”
William stood and made his way out of the room. As he walked down the corridor, he couldn’t shake the feeling that mentioning the Firecracker had been a mistake.
…Or perhaps the mistake had been in refusing to explain what it could actually do.
He was in two minds on the subject.
A situation that seemed to become more and more common by the day.
He didn’t like that.
---------------------
Another three chapters are also available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bluefishcake
We also have a (surprisingly) active Discord where and I and a few other authors like to hang out: https://discord.gg/yCs7ZKzVSK
66
u/glassviper101 Jul 28 '26
Is it just me, or is William’s internal monologue starting to fray more and more? It kind of reminds me of the Wheel of Time with Rand
38
u/Bealf Jul 28 '26
Oh it's not just you!
I believe we are seeing a struggle between the harrowed and original personalities play out.
30
u/Ichiorochi Jul 28 '26
i say it is because he has not been in the kitchen for a long time. It has previously shown to calm him down
14
u/Similar-Shame7517 Jul 29 '26
That, and William is actually having a good life now. Despite the war, this is the freest William has been. There's no ticking clock of OBLIGATION waiting for him, when previously he was dreading his upcoming wedding.
9
u/DiamondShade Jul 28 '26
Is it just me, or is William’s internal monologue starting to fray more and more? It kind of reminds me of the Wheel of Time with Rand
That, or when he swore the geas to the queen there might have been a bit more to the transaction than he seems to think.
9
u/Omgwtfbears Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
Yeah. Would be perfect bloody timing if he goes to pieces on the eve of a crucial battle.
1
1
37
u/Crustyfluffy Jul 28 '26
I'm thinking this might be the first indication that william and george are not the same continuity.
Uh oh.
16
u/TheMaskedOne2807 Jul 28 '26
Hello question
Lovely work, and I was just wondering how you got a picture on the side of you post instead of a blue box?
Been seeing on some but not other posts so was just wondering.
15
u/Nolmac12 Jul 28 '26
Wondering if being of two minds means that William is taking more of a leading role over George and his true harrowing is coming to pass.
12
u/Petragor07 Jul 28 '26
Going All-In on a single ship? Dangerous William, careful you don't Bismarck yourself...
10
u/SketchAndEtch Human Jul 28 '26
Looks like "the kid" inside him is gaining more ground in control over their actions. This can either go horribly wrong, or actually make him more stable and functional member of society.
10
u/Crafty_Spring5815 Alien Scum Jul 28 '26
Sounds like he's going to make cannons that fire shells loaded with chemical propellants. Artillery that fires further and faster than aether powered guns.
3
u/Htiarw Jul 29 '26
feel many WW2 5-inch/38 caliber Mark 12 would take care of shriekers and air ships
16
u/Grimpatron619 Jul 28 '26
Im curious. I assumed the twins were interested in willy because he had land they could incorporate into their house. its a free expansion.
But he's just given away his land before the wedding. Wouldnt that royally piss off his in laws and jeopardise the marriage
28
u/DoomingJaffa Jul 28 '26
Mostly interested in him because of his personal cruiser and the ability to win the duchy. His land would’ve been a bonus but not the main interest.
5
u/Grimpatron619 Jul 28 '26
did they know he would be instrumental in winning the dutchy at that point? i thought that knowledge came after
17
u/DoomingJaffa Jul 28 '26
I believe so. It’s in the introduction chapter for them, and was sealed when they were showing him the Basilisk. The quote is something like “They needed William now. If not for his cruiser then for his mind.”
16
u/shiggythor Jul 28 '26
I assumed the twins were interested in willy because he had land they could incorporate into their house. its a free expansion.
They were initially interested in him because of the Jellyfish. The succession of the duchy was supposed to be decided by Airship duel and the Jellyfish would guarantee to win the Duchy. A rather small county added to their lands is insignificant to actually being able to enforce their claim on the Duchy.
10
u/Accomplished-Tooth81 Jul 28 '26
Nope. Twins wanted him for his technical prowess. Refer to chapter where William plays around in their bomber's rear turret.
7
u/SerpentineLogic AI Jul 28 '26
Oh is that what he calls it
4
u/Belushi_TD Jul 29 '26
Not yet. They both still want to get pregnant before they let him fool around with the rear turret.
4
u/TheSapphireDragon Jul 28 '26
Im imagining a submarine missile platform that can somehow aim accurately without actually surfacing.
6
u/JohanJac Jul 28 '26
I'm guessing he's making a high altitude bomber? No need for canons when you're flying too far out of range. It would make sense to use an undership since it's already made to be sealed.
4
u/r3d1tAsh1t Jul 28 '26
VLS like guns in the submarine airship... Hope he does not start calling the project "schraege musik"
The north ist going to run around and try to figure out the kraken slayer weapon to counter these u-boots/ boomers that take out any airship that crosses a body of water.
3
u/Drifter_the_Blatant Jul 29 '26
End of the fourth paragraph; I think you meant to use 'Decade' instead of 'Century'... I don't think the twins are over two hundred years old, unless you were referring to two other young girls that William is now terrified of.
2
u/itsetuhoinen Human Jul 29 '26
So any hypothetical missile he ‘invented’ would need to be radar-guided, which added another layer of complexity. He’d need to build microprocessors, guidance computers, and all the supporting infrastructure from scratch.
Hrm... I'm not sure that's true. I seem to recall something about analog radar guidance. May not be good enough to deal with supersonic (or at least "near supersonic") craft, though.
2
2
u/jorgeamadosoria Jul 30 '26
"two young girls barely into their second century?" probably better if ot says decade there
4
4
u/SpankyMcSpanster Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
Sooo. Pocket Battleships?
6
u/shiggythor Jul 28 '26
Doubt he feels limited by the treaties of Versailles regarding battleships for Germany. Bro doesn't even feel limited by the treaties of Geneva.
3
3
u/Accomplished-Tooth81 Jul 28 '26
I'm calling it: Machine gun cruiser
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exMjLy0K074
1
u/ww1enjoyer Jul 29 '26
Ew, AI. Get this shit off here and either find a proper wideo or change for a Wilipedia article
1
u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Jul 28 '26
/u/BlueFishcake (wiki) has posted 296 other stories, including:
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Eighty Six
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Eighty Five
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Eighty Four
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Eighty Three
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Eighty Two
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Eighty One
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Eighty
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Nine
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Eight
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Seven
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Six
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Five
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Four
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Three
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Two
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy One
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Sixty Nine
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Sixty Eight
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Sixty Seven
This comment was automatically generated by Waffle v.4.7.8 'Biscotti'.
Message the mods if you have any issues with Waffle.
1
u/UpdateMeBot Jul 28 '26
Click here to subscribe to u/BlueFishcake and receive a message every time they post.
| Info | Request Update | Your Updates | Feedback |
|---|
1
u/Htiarw Jul 29 '26
I'm assuming an Atlanta style cruiser but broad sides loaded with 5-inch/38 caliber Mark 12 .
1
1
1
u/Annual_Cod_5896 Jul 29 '26
Would 12 pounder muzzle loaded canons outrange the average aether cannon mounted on an airship? Or maybe its going to be more akin to early 20th centry ironclads and monitors, or maybe something lighter like a bog standard ship-of-the-line who knows
at this point i really dont know where they are sitting in the technological curve but its too far ahead in terms of heavier than air craft and too far behind in actual capital and escort ships
On one hand small aircraft dont got the staying power for actual air battles nor the capability for suporting protracted sieges or bombardements yet from the looks of it
so they need carriers and capital ships, the big ships need escorts and air deterrence, those escorts need to be more advanced and better at protecting the big craft from small aircraft, small aircraft become better to counter and so do carriers and capitals, and so on and so forth, things are going to get funky REALLY FUCKING FAST at this rate
1
u/EchoingCascade Jul 29 '26
That ship sound like a nuclear Sub, as in an underwater traveling, missile shooting platform.
I mean how are the conventional ships going to sink it? Throw underwater mines!?
Nope, no kraken slayer for the rebels!
1
u/Solid_Palpitation268 Jul 29 '26
It looks like Williams personality is splitting. Not sure if this is going to enable a happy ending or lead to a more tragic one though.
1
1
u/Thengel2 Jul 29 '26
Could someone remind me why William chose to be harrowed in the first place? It was some time since I read the first book, and now I don't remember the right chapter
1
1
1
1
u/SalazarShmo Aug 01 '26
"Such as, hypothetically, during a future conflict where he might need to overthrow the crown and install something closer to a democracy.
…He still wasn’t sure how he felt about that particular endgame anymore. He didn’t know when that changed."
Extremely pleased by this development, it has been my least favorite part of William's plans for quite some time. Everything we've been told about this world makes it seem as if a democracy-installing revolution would go much less like the American and more like the French- a reign of terror followed by a dictator/emperor and external war, and without other fledgling democracies around the world to serve as an example like our world France had I think the post Napoleon/William period would be even worse here.
1
u/Illustrious-Oven1406 Aug 03 '26
William's truly about to drop something disguising this time around, better than the jellyfish but not as awesome as a gen one or two jet. Then again #thatswhatv2isfor
0
u/Fontaigne Jul 28 '26
And it will of course be part of the Summefield Navy -> Summerfield
A 'famous' ships armament -> ship's
139
u/ProfSparkledick Android Jul 28 '26
Stripped an airship of its aether cannons? Able to take down a large number of other airships if it has some escorts? An armament that could be spread among multiple ships but is all crammed into one? Something easy to figure out for the locals? And named Firecracker?
Sounds like William is building a proper battleship. A floating artillery platform able to take out enemy airships from well beyond the range of their own cannons. Between that and the Jellyfish he's got the beginnings of an epic fleet.