The Exiled Duke's Lottery system

Chapter 215: Chapter 208: The Gun Around the Gun

Thirty-two days remained before the ninety-day industrial review.

Two years and 307 days remained before the compulsory quest deadline.

The longer ammunition belt waited beside the Vulcan when Brakka entered the Titanworks testing hall the next morning — patient, loaded, and almost certainly planning something.

Overnight, the technicians had replaced the shifted frame bolt, opened the central bearing, reinforced the test bed, and fitted temporary heat gauges around the receiver. Gandalf’s experimental cooling lattice now ran through the outer housing in thin channels, faintly visible only where the mana flow crossed the inspection marks. The six barrels remained untouched. Everything around them had changed, which was the natural order of things when Brakka was involved.

Ironbreaker was already beneath the frame, checking the new ground anchors with a hammer. Maerath stood near the cooling controls, reading the overnight measurements with the focused attention of a man searching for something to object to. Gandalf adjusted the mana drive to compensate for the added resistance in the reinforced bearing housing.

The communication set crackled from the workbench. Lucien’s voice followed. "Good morning."

Brakka set down his inspection case. "That remains unproven."

"You fired the weapon yesterday."

"We fired twelve rounds."

"And all twelve travelled in the intended direction."

"That is the minimum expectation for the gun, not a cause for celebration."

Ironbreaker slid out from beneath the frame. "I never knew that you have this much of a talent for turning success into an accusation."

"Success usually deserves investigation."

Maerath looked toward the communication set. "He has been cheerful since dawn."

"I can hear that," Lucien said.

Brakka ignored them and checked the ammunition box.

The new belt held sixty rounds. The feed system had been enlarged overnight, though the larger box created its own problem — when filled, it weighed nearly as much as the first single-barrel prototype that had failed weeks earlier, a comparison nobody brought up because everyone had silently agreed to stop bringing it up. A covered chute guided the belt toward the receiver while a mechanical buffer wheel absorbed sudden changes in tension. Maerath’s constant-force rune maintained a steady pull from the rear without controlling the firing sequence itself.

Brakka had accepted the enchantment only after insisting it must continue functioning even if the mana flow weakened.

Maerath had called that distrustful.

Brakka had called it engineering. The distinction had not been resolved.

Ironbreaker stood and wiped his hands. "Sixty rounds will not tell us enough."

"It will tell us whether sixty rounds work," Brakka said.

"One hundred and twenty would tell us more."

"It would tell us more while doubling the number of things capable of breaking before we understand the first failure."

Maerath glanced at the stacked ammunition crates. "One hundred and twenty is still modest."

Brakka turned toward him. "You may stand beside the receiver during the test if you feel underchallenged."

Maerath looked at the protective barriers. "I suddenly feel sixty has a certain elegance."

Gandalf finished adjusting the mana drive. "Fire sixty. Inspect. Then fire another sixty if the mechanism remains stable."

"That was already the plan," Brakka said.

Lucien’s voice came through the set. "I am impressed by how efficiently everyone arrives at Brakka’s original decision."

Ironbreaker walked toward the ammunition box. "We enjoy giving him the illusion of consultation."

The technicians loaded the belt. The hall cleared around the weapon as barriers were drawn into place and the test crew moved behind reinforced shields. The Vulcan aimed into the same packed-earth wall used the previous day, though the impact section had been widened and deepened — a quiet acknowledgment that they expected to use it again.

Brakka took his position behind the control barrier. "Begin at test speed."

Gandalf opened the mana flow. The barrel cluster started turning, the drive settling into a low hum while the buffer wheel rotated and the belt moved toward the receiver, each cartridge advancing only when the cam brought the next chamber into position.

The system found its rhythm.

Brakka raised one hand. "Fire."

The Vulcan tore into the silence.

The sound did not resemble a series of individual shots. It arrived as one sustained mechanical roar, dense enough to shake dust from the roof beams. The ammunition belt vanished through the feed chute while empty casings poured into the collection tray. The reinforced frame absorbed the first moments cleanly. Then it began moving.

Not much. A finger’s width at first, then another.

The ground anchors strained as the rotating assembly drove a constant vibration through the test bed. The recoil did not strike once and disappear — it pressed continuously, accompanied by torque from the spinning barrel cluster and shifting balance as the ammunition belt fed from one side. The weapon had opinions about where it wanted to go, and it expressed them steadily.

The sixty-round burst ended within seconds.

The barrels continued rotating while the drive slowed.

Brakka waited for the receiver temperature to settle, then stepped from behind the barrier.

Ironbreaker was already measuring the displacement. "Seven fingers backward."

Brakka examined the nearest anchor. "The frame remained aligned."

"It also began designing its own retreat."

"At least it withdrew in an orderly fashion."

Lucien laughed through the communication set.

Maerath checked the cooling lattice. "The receiver remained below the critical limit."

Gandalf looked at the heat gauges. "The lattice worked."

"The outer housing is warmer," Brakka said.

"It has to move the heat somewhere."

"Preferably somewhere that does not contain the crew."

The feed mechanism had completed the entire belt without interruption. The extractors remained aligned. The firing cam showed no visible shift. The weapon itself had survived. The frame beneath it had not failed either, though it had made its feelings on the subject perfectly clear.

Ironbreaker crouched beside the anchor plate. "This cannot sit on a normal anti-aircraft carriage."

"No," Brakka said.

"The old twenty-millimetre mount would twist itself apart."

"Yes."

"A fixed pedestal could carry it."

"For a fixed position."

Ironbreaker looked up. "As far as i know that is generally where fixed pedestals are found."

Brakka met his gaze. "We need more than one role."

The Vulcan had never been intended for a single defensive point. The compulsory objective required a standardized anti-aircraft family — shared ammunition, barrels, spares, tools, maintenance — and a weapon useful only at Titanworks would protect Titanworks and fail everywhere else. That had been the original single-barrel gun’s entire career.

Maerath placed one hand on the frame. "A stabilization field would absorb most of the movement."

"How many refined crystals?" Brakka asked.

Maerath gave the figure.

Ironbreaker straightened slowly. "Are we building a gun or funding a small kingdom beneath it?"

"It would be stable."

"So would a mountain,so shall I mount it there?"

Gandalf studied the mounting ring. "We do not need the magic to carry the entire load. Let the pedestal take the recoil. Use runic damping only to suppress vibration through the rotating assembly."

Brakka looked toward him. "A wide mechanical ring, recoil buffers around the receiver, and limited damping through the mount."

Ironbreaker nodded. "The base must spread the force farther than this frame."

"Without becoming too heavy for transport."

Ironbreaker sighed with the patience of a man who had been asked to make heavy things light before. "You always ask for lightness after creating something with six barrels."

"The number of barrels was Lucien’s idea."

The communication set remained silent for a moment. Then Lucien said, "I appreciate your dedication to shift the blame."

The argument shifted from the test frame to the weapon’s future.

Ironbreaker preferred placing the first operational Vulcan on the Iron Bastion — the armored train already possessed power, ammunition storage, protected crews, and enough mass to absorb recoil. Brakka rejected making the train the primary version.

"The Iron Bastion can carry it later. If we design only for the train, we repeat the railway artillery problem."

Ironbreaker folded his arms. "The railway artillery is powerful."

"It is also tied to rails."

"Rails are useful."

"Until the enemy goes somewhere else."

Maerath moved closer to the receiver. "The core weapon should remain identical across every mount."

Gandalf nodded. "The same drive interface, cooling connections, ammunition feed, central assembly, and tools. Only the pedestal, armour, power source, and storage change."

Brakka looked across the partially dismantled frame. One gun. Several mountings. Fixed defence around Titanworks, Iron Junction, Seastar, and Skyforge. A version for the Iron Bastion’s anti-aircraft cars. Later, perhaps, a mobile carriage capable of accompanying mechanized formations. The barrels, ammunition, feed components, receiver, and service tools would remain common. The support around them would change.

"That is the correct direction," he said.

Ironbreaker glanced at him. "Careful. You almost sounded pleased."

"I said correct. Do not exaggerate."

The technicians brought the empty ammunition box forward. One recorder handed Brakka the consumption calculation.

Lucien heard the silence that followed. "How bad?"

Brakka read the figures again. "How comforting would you prefer the answer?"

"Accurate first."

"A single short engagement would consume more ammunition than a whole regiment."

Ironbreaker looked into the empty box. "Sixty rounds vanish quickly."

"That was one controlled burst," Gandalf said. "A real crew tracking multiple targets would fire repeatedly."

The problem widened immediately. The gun required cartridges, projectiles, propellant, belt links, feed boxes, protected magazines, transport, and crews trained to reload without exposing themselves. The weapon’s rate of fire had solved one battlefield problem by creating an industrial one, which was the Vulcan’s way of keeping the engineers busy.

Maerath examined the impact pattern in the earthen wall. "More powerful projectiles would reduce the number required."

Brakka shook his head. "The weapon’s strength is the density of fire. Rare ammunition defeats the purpose."

"We could develop several types later," Gandalf said. "Standard explosive rounds first. Armour-piercing once production stabilizes. Magical enhancement only where the target justifies it."

Lucien answered without hesitation. "The core gun cannot depend on rare ammunition."

Brakka looked toward the communication set. "That is the correct decision."

Ironbreaker raised an eyebrow. "Two approvals in one morning,where else have i seen such efficiency."

"Then build faster before the streak ends."

The second belt was loaded after the frame had been reinforced with temporary ground braces driven into the test floor. The technicians checked the buffer wheel, feed chute, and ammunition links before sealing the system. This test would run at higher rotation speed, which everyone in the room had agreed to and none of them were entirely comfortable about.

The hall cleared. Gandalf opened the mana flow. The cluster spun faster than before, its separate barrels becoming difficult to distinguish as individual objects.

Brakka gave the order.

The Vulcan fired again.

The reinforced frame held. The feed chute shuddered beneath the moving belt, but the buffer wheel absorbed the strain. The first forty rounds passed cleanly.

Near the end of the burst, one belt link bent as it entered the covered guide. The ammunition hesitated. The buffer wheel compressed, allowing the receiver to complete its current cycle while tension gathered behind the damaged link. For one brief moment the firing rhythm changed.

Then the bent link cleared. The gun completed the burst without jamming.

When the final casing struck the tray, Brakka cut the firing sequence and allowed the barrels to continue rotating at low speed.

Ironbreaker approached the feed chute first. "One bad link."

"And no full stoppage," Gandalf said.

Maerath inspected the buffer wheel. "The system absorbed the delay."

Ironbreaker looked toward Brakka. "The machine has learned to survive bad ammunition."

"Machines do not learn," Brakka said. "Engineers merely stop repeating the same insult."

They opened the central housing once the heat dropped.

The firing cam remained aligned. The extractors showed no deformation. The cooling lattice had prevented dangerous heat accumulation inside the receiver, though the outer casing would need better shielding before a crew could work close to it.

The central bearing had not escaped unharmed. Fine scoring marked one side of the race where sustained vibration had concentrated under load.

Maerath traced the damaged area. "A better alloy would solve this."

"A better alloy would cost more," Brakka said.

"A small amount of magical metal in one bearing is hardly excessive."

Brakka did not reject the idea — the bearing was a compact, high-value component, and improving it wouldn’t consume the same resources as casting an entire carriage from magical alloy. The logic held. He simply needed a moment to be seen considering it properly.

Ironbreaker removed the outer retaining ring. "Make the bearing replaceable."

Gandalf looked over. "It already is."

"Not like this. One sealed service unit. Bearing, cam housing, and cooling channels together. A crew removes the worn module and installs another without dismantling half the weapon."

Maerath considered the cooling connections. "The lattice can terminate at fixed couplings."

Brakka looked from the scored bearing to the firing cam. The most precise parts of the Vulcan sat close together — they demanded the best alloys, the tightest tolerances, the most careful maintenance. Combining them into one removable module would concentrate the difficult work in a single component while making field repair faster. The concept was good enough that he resented not having proposed it himself.

"Build it," he said.

Ironbreaker smiled. "That was unmistakably approval."

"Build it before I reconsider."

By midday, the test results had become four separate development priorities: a proper pedestal and recoil-damping mount, a removable service module combining the bearing, cam, and cooling channels, a protected high-capacity ammunition supply, and an expansion of ammunition production substantial enough to make the first three points worth discussing.

Lucien listened as Brakka explained each problem through the communication set. "What do you need first?"

"A complete fixed mount."

"Before the train version?"

"Yes. A fixed emplacement removes variables. Stable power. Protected ammunition. Proper cooling. We perfect the gun before asking it to survive movement."

Ironbreaker nodded reluctantly. "The train version can follow once the fixed system proves itself."

"Then the first operational model will be for fixed defence," Lucien said. "Titanworks first, then Iron Junction, Seastar, and Skyforge as production allows."

Maerath glanced toward the impact wall. "That will also give the crews time to develop firing procedures."

"And ammunition discipline," Brakka added, in the tone of someone who had just watched sixty rounds disappear in seconds.

Lucien authorized the work.

Survey crews were sent outside Titanworks before the afternoon inspection ended, marking a position near the industrial perimeter where the first fixed Vulcan emplacement could cover the workshops, rail approaches, and northern sky. Inside the hall, technicians removed the worn bearing assembly and placed it beside the first service-module drawing.

The weapon had completed two sixty-round bursts. It could sustain fire. The feed system could tolerate a minor fault. The cooling lattice worked. The firing cycle remained synchronized.

Yet the Vulcan had grown well beyond the six barrels at its centre. It now demanded a mount, power supply, cooling system, protected ammunition storage, maintenance procedures, trained crews, production lines, and defensive positions designed around its reach. Six barrels had become six industries, all of them pointing at the sky and waiting to be built.

Lucien’s voice returned through the communication set. "How soon before the first complete emplacement can fire?"

Brakka looked at the bearing on the workbench, the unfinished pedestal drawings, the ammunition calculations, and the survey crews moving beyond the open hall doors. "When the gun, mount, ammunition, power system, and crew stop attempting to become separate projects."

"That sounds encouraging."

"Then the communication line may be faulty."

A faint laugh came through the set. Brakka expected the connection to end.

"Finish the inspection," Lucien said. "Then come to Elarion. All of you."

Brakka looked toward the communication set. "For the Vulcan?"

"No."

The answer drew everyone’s attention simultaneously. Ironbreaker lowered the mounting sketch he had been studying. Gandalf stepped away from the mana controls. Maerath turned from the cooling assembly.

"That Programme has its candidates now," Lucien said. "And soon they will need specialized equipment of their own."

Brakka closed his eyes briefly.

Ironbreaker’s beard shifted with the beginning of a grin.

Gandalf asked, "What sort of equipment?"

"I will explain at the meeting. Bring Cedric and Malen as well."

The connection ended before anyone could ask more.

For a moment, the only sound came from technicians working around the cooling barrels. Then Brakka looked at the Vulcan, the worn bearing, the ammunition calculations, and the stack of unfinished drawings, and arrived at the only reasonable conclusion.

"Of course they need equipment."

"At least this project may involve fewer rotating barrels," Ironbreaker said.

Brakka gathered the inspection notes. "You have just ensured that it will not."

Outside, the survey stakes for the first Vulcan emplacement were going into the ground.

Inside, the gandalf,maerath,brakka and Ironbreaker prepared to leave for Elarion and discover how many new problems twenty-five commandos could generate when given access to people who built things.

Thirty-two days remained before the industrial review.

The Vulcan had grown from one difficult weapon into six difficult industries sharing the same trigger.

Lucien was already preparing to add several more.