Tossing and turning in bed, Tetsu had been mulling on the problem of the drone race. Even if you could pilot it easier, that still led to problems of seeing what was going on.

"You would need a wide field of view" Thus a camera design formed.

Upgraded Camera Design-TN 120-D4 EM-Engineering/Intelligence: 7d10o10k4 39

The Crab roboticist was joined be a Crane. Ishiyo arrived at the dojo in traditional garb with her daisho tucked into her obi. Seeing Tetsu she gave a nod of acknowledgment but did not bother him. Instead she slipped into the dojo proper and knelt in one of the open training spaces.

She closed her eyes and began to center herself for the mornings training. Ishiyo managed to find some calm, but was not able to entirely let go of her thoughts.

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Meditation/Void for the fluff. No Skill so...: 2d10 10

Tetsu wipes his face on a cloth, smearing grease and metal dust with his skin. He blinks, realizing that he is not alone.

"Forgive me Crane-san, was I distracting you?"

Slowly Ishiyo opened her eyes and looked up at the Crab who was speaking. Her face was calm, “No...no my apologies for bothering you.” She didn’t smile, but the Crab could see a focus to her eyes that she was clearly working to hold on to. Ishiyo rose in a fluid motion, sliding her sheathed katana back into her obi.

“I was just about to practice Lord Kakita’s art...my apologies again but would you kindly stay back for a moment?”

Ishiyo dropped into her stance, hand resting palm up over her sword. Time for her seemed to slow as everything condensed into a singular point. With lightning speed she drew and sliced the air. It was a beautiful cut but Ishiyo frowned and sighed, resheating her katana with an irritated expression.

“Out of practice.”

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Fluff Iaijutsu Focus Roll. +1k1 Center, +1k1 Kakita 1, +1 from Kakita 1: 6d10ro1o10k4+1 34

Tetsu steps back, knowing better than to get in the way of someone practicing a form. Even among the Engineering Academy they were expected to be bushi, and being around someone with forms was just begging to get yourself slapped.

"It's I that should be seeking your pardon Crane-san. I took equipment from the Robotics Club room because I wanted to spread out and not disturb their projects. I should have expected that someone might come in to use the room, no matter how early it was." Tetsu bows. "Kaiu Tetsu of Fundai at your service. Good morning"

Ishiyo chuckles, having fully relaxed for the moment, "No, no you were here first." She waves off his worries, "Daidoji Ishiyo, Crane Fighteh Pilot, Nikutai, Student of the Kakita. Though theih flying school."

"Robotics aye....I have some training in engineering and computehs myself. Best to understand you-eh fighteh's limitations when flying."

Tetsu raises an eyebrow, thinking for a little about what the Crane is saying. Crane and Crab, well, they aren't on the best of terms at the moment, but that was mostly by association. They themselves were not the direct threat of Mantis, nor had they directly incurred the wrath like Spider. And she was...discussing a shared interest.

"Kaiu Engineering Academy. There's truth to what you say, and to the reverse as well. They made sure that we could at least drive anything that we made. There was a lesson they beat into us: superior specs mean nothing if it is made useless or, kami forbid, harms the end user. You can add thrusters out the wazoo, but when it's crushing your pilots lungs because you didn't provide enough inertial dampening..."

Tetsu shakes his head. "Sorry, I'm going off topic there. Robotics is more of a side project, because of the Rally in a few days. My real passion is ship design"

"Oh! Well my fatheh runs the Peregrine Luxury Aerospace, Automotive, and Racing. It produces a lot of luxury craft, stellar yachts and racing pinnaces mostly. I would occasionally visit his factory and the design offices." Her smile grows more warmly at that, "I assume you mean combat vessels though."

It was curious, seeing the Daidoji warm when thinking of her family.

"Something like that. Crab philosophy on civilian craft is that is something that was good enough for the military in the last tech generation, it's good enough for the civvie's now." Tetsu chuckles. "They are certainly not the prettiest though. Still, I appreciate a pilot who has an understanding of the machine side of things. You'll provide far batter feedback on what will actually work than someone who says "I want it to go faster"

Tetsu thoughtfully pokes a finger on his cheek. "Though, to be honest, I don't really know Crane fighter styles. What do you look for in your Corvettes?"

"We prefer agile and fast designs in general." Ishiyo chuckles a little, "Oh...and elegant. The Admirality is small but well funded so they are looking to upgrade everything to a next generation of craft. Most of specifics are classified of course, both what little I know and what more is kept from us pilots."

"Heh." Tetsu chuckles "I have zero trouble believing that they keep a very tight lid on those specs. Forgive the curiosity, I just have wondered how I would design the next generation for each clan. I would assume that you try to win dogfights as fast as possible and hit and run to make up for the number issue, and I wouldn't be shocked if your Admiralty made survival a priority over domination...maybe wing pairings that prioritize guarding and suppressive fire over interception."

Tetsu shakes his head. "Forgive me, I get like that. It's...neater, thinking of the design from afar, rather than the cost on the battlefield"

"Actually one of our new craft is more foh out competing its contemporaries in maneuvoh and speed." Ishiyo shrugged, "I am part of a Naval Fighteh Squadron, purely superiority missions. Intercept enemy fightehs attacking the multirole squadrons, sweep the space ahead of the strike package, act as the first line if the carrieh comes under attack."

"Ouh navy is not quite as famous as my terrestrial brethren and theih preferred tactics. But we can get in and out quickly. Though pirate suppression has been much of ouh primary mission these days."

"Here is hoping that pirate suppression stays its goal for a while." Tetsu does his best to keep a cool mask of indifference on the subject, hoping to move it back to the tech talk. "But that makes sense. An interceptor and dogfighting force of elites to take pressure off the main forces. It sounds like a reasonable plan, and one that many of the Clans simply can't emulate. I can see the wisdom of it"

"As you can imagine it has the Admiralty looking at two different designs." Ishiyo replied, "A pure aerospace superiority design and a multirole strike fighteh. Which helps with specialization but hurts when one has to be pushed into the otheh role."

"Hmm, I might have guessed variable wing, but hey, if you have the money to spend, why not go for it." Tetsu offers a rueful smile. "Alas, our funding is going to other projects. Not as flashy but we'll, Crab gotta Crab."

"You-eh numbehs are greateh then our own. We have the money but not the numbehs, so we spend more per soldieh, sailoh, or pilot." Ishiyo shrugged, "So then what sort of tactics do you-eh own navy favor? I assume resilient fightehs with heavy armament? With perhaps some Hiruma trained interceptohs?"

Tetsu pauses and then nods, giving a self effacing chuckle. "This might be a Bilge Rat son of Yardbird talking, but our fighter tactics are mostly to emphasize the face that we fancy our fleet the best made and helmed in space. Which is to say, "let's try to not beat ourselves"

Tetsu holds out his hands, already anticipating displeasure at the answer.

"It's not what most legends are made of I'm afraid, and we don't have top shelf fighters. The Unicorn have us beat there, and I wouldn't doubt that you would give us a run in that department even with the number disparity. For us, it's trying to make it a slugging match."

"Wah often is," Ishiyo shrugged, a romantic at heart but she understood all to well what war was like. "Few can beat the Unicorn in design, the Mantis perhaps. We would like to at least equal them, but the Crane have always strove foh excellence."

"So how did you end up at the miai then? Instead of a design bureau."

Tetsu offers a wry look.

Wow. Guess she never had to deal with it.

"It's ridiculously difficult to get sent to the Design Bureau straight out of the academy. Nigh impossible if you don't have a slew of connections that I simply don't have. Mother and Father have served honorably and well as line officers, but the only way to the Design Bureau is to serve"

Ishiyo blinked at that then let out a nervous laugh, "Ah...my apologies. But is it a goal in the future then. Once you have proven you-eh skills?"