The Crews worked frantically to get the ships refit with the gear adjusted cannons, which were set on a weighted sled with rollers and blocks.
They had to be able to roll back to absorb recoil, then they would be pulled back into place with ropes, and the cranks turned to adjust their aim for the ship’s new position. They could adjust both vertically and horizontally, so they weren’t as reliant on the perfect positioning of the ship as most cannons.
After two hours, the Techno Wizards finally had an agreement on how they would make the magitech orbs to create the munitions, and Dominic had a perfect copy of the plan.
Now, they just needed to make three dozen of the Orbs so that they would have enough for both airships and then a few spares to prove their design to the Royal Auditor, who apparently was supposed to vet all new Magitech Designs.
They sat down to work, and Dominic took a seat at the end of the table, which confused the specialists.
"Advisor, you can wait in your suite for us to finish. We are going to be at least a few hours, even though you have approved the use of all the materials we need." One of the men informed him.
"Just pretend that I’m not here. I will make the same thing that you are, and if it works, I will use it as the proof for the audit." Dominic explained.
They looked skeptical, but the plans were on the table, and if the Royal Advisor thought that he could do it, they would trust him.
Of course, Dominic’s trade skill core was on his bracer, hidden under his sleeve, so they couldn’t see that he was an apprentice blacksmith, or they might have been much less accepting of his presence, and use of the expensive materials.
All of them were either masters or very close to it. A complex Magitech Orb was not a project that they would entrust to their apprentices.
Especially when they were on a time limit.
Though the circuits were complex, and there were magical runes involved that Dominic only vaguely understood, though he was familiar with the language, the Orb was going together much more smoothly than he had expected.
With a final tap of his hammer, Dominic finished his first attempt, and pricked his finger on his horn to let a single drop fall on the orb. It was a weird thing that his dad always did when he was making magical items, and he said that it brought good luck to have both your blood and sweat involved in the process.
Nobody else noticed the motion. Even the Guard thought that he was just running his hand through his hair. But they all noticed when he flooded it with mana and the orb came to life, glowing with magical runes and overlapping lines.
Dominic was going to check his skill core to make sure that it worked, but the way that the orb kept glowing, it was fairly safe to assume that it was functional, even if it didn’t do quite what he intended.
"You’re fast. My apologies for doubting you, Advisor. Your skills with an engraving tool are peerless." The man on Dominic’s left insisted.
"That remains to be seen. First, I need to test the orb and make sure that it actually makes a functional cannonball that explodes when we want it to." Dominic joked.
That was part of the fun of new magical designs.
You never knew if you’d managed to create the desired effect successfully. At least not until you activated them for the first time.
The Techno Wizard nodded and motioned for Dominic to go away.
"You go test. We will finish our work. Just don’t set the cannon off. Load it and then have the crew unload it and check the components."
That was way less fun than Dominic had been expecting. But a cannon blast in the courtyard was not going to make any of the craftsmen or the workers happy.
Dominic gestured for a loading team to join him.
"Advisor, do you think that this is actually going to make a proper cannonball? Not that I doubt your skills, but it’s pretty advanced magic." The crewman asked.
"I have faith in the experts. I just copied their work, like any other apprentice craftsman would. The shot should be stone, with a cotton wadding, black powder core and a powder charge behind it.
If any of that is out of order, or the volumes look wrong, I need to know immediately so that we can adjust the others before they are finalized." Dominic explained.
Dominic activated the orb, and the crewman poked a loading rod into the cannon with great trepidation.
"Well, I’m not dead, and there is something in there. The depth gauge says that the charge is right. See here, this is for powder only, this for powder plus ball. That’s where we’re at now.
Give me a moment and I will pull the ball."
Dominic wasn’t sure how he planned to do that, but the loader had experience.
As it turned out, there was a tool designed for just that purpose that grabbed the rough surface of the ball and pulled it up the barrel. Then, the powder was swept out, measured, weighed, and a small portion was detonated, to ensure that the powder itself was good.
The shot was carefully split, and the plug tested.
"All good, Advisor. We need to test fire a round once all is finished, but all the munitions supply tests show that your orb is good." The crewman informed Dominic with a happy smile.
"Can it make a solid shot? I’m worried that they might send armoured gunships, perhaps with a magical barrier, and explosive shells would have limited effect." One of the other crewmen asked.
Dominic shook his head. "Unfortunately, there isn’t much flexibility in the creation. The timer on the plug was about as much as was feasible. But they’re also stone and not solid steel, so they’re not going to be great against a durable surface.
The primary goal was to make them mana efficient. Some of that will have come at the cost of raw damage output.
If they do send armoured gunships, aim high and take out the envelope if possible. That is the most likely area to be blocked with a magical barrier, but having cannonballs exploding against their defences is going to exhaust their crew fairly quickly."
"How fast could you reload the cannons with that orb?" One of the airship captains asked.
"Me, personally? Faster than you can put them back in position. But I am a Wavemates Dragonkin. I wouldn’t expect the average crew member to be able to keep that up forever. If you alternate, it shouldn’t be an issue, and the actual creation only takes a half second to focus on the explosion timer."