Forty Years of This [Monster Hunter World]

Chapter 32

"It's got wheels!"

The Research Master stared blankly at the prototype the Forgemaster showed her. For now, it was a tiny replica of what he wanted to make-- a perfect copy of the flagship on a set of wheels with a herd of aptonoth pulling it.

"So it does..." She looked up at him, her concern and displeasure plain on her face.

"You don't like it?" He shrugged. "What's wrong with it? We can move on from here."

The Commander watched as she pointed out how it wasn't as mobile as she needed it to be, that the research base would always be under attack with the aptonoths pulling it, and that ultimately what she wanted was something that could go anywhere. Over the mountains or over the ocean, it didn't matter how, but she needed it to be able to handle that.

The Forgemaster exhaled as he thought on it. "The only way I can think to do that is to get it up in the air... I don't know how heavy you want that base to be, but that'll ultimately determine the size of the balloons that carry it, and then on top of that you'll need to constantly keep it fueled."

"But it will have the mobility?" She had a graceful smile. The Commander couldn't help but feel she was out of place among such a ragged crew of careless commissioners.

"If it works." The Forgemaster shrugged then grinned. "It'll work. I'll run it by my team. See who takes an interest in it. We'll get you something."

For the next year, the Forgemaster had put an engineer in charge of the mobile research base project, and the Quartermaster and the Analytics Director decided how to channel resources towards it. The Tech Chief and the Forgemaster continued their work on Astera proper building up waterwheels, tying lifts to them to more easily transport people and goods up to the now very highly perched Celestial Pursuit, and working on whatever secondary projects the Third Fleet requested.

By the end of the year, the first test of balloons was ready, and when they inflated and lifted baskets full of premeasured weights, the Commissioners celebrated. It had already been decided that the base wouldn't leave until the next batch of researchers had arrived at the very soonest, but that didn't stop the Airship Engineer and the researchers from planning out the next steps. How much weight could they reasonably carry? How should they gut the ship to make it as light as possible?

The Commander chuckled at the eagerness of the group. It had been a long day, and a celebratory feast was in the works, but it wouldn't be ready that evening. For now he could just return to his quarters above the mountains and relax into the sunset.

He retired with his partner, their hands entwined as they sat overlooking the ocean, when their daughter joined them and sat beside them. She took them off guard asking about marriage and assuming they'd been married for years. The Quartermaster didn't bother to hide his discomfort, so the Commander answered her questions.

Marriage, to him, was a formality. So much of his life was filled with formalities that he didn't want to make his partnership one of them. He had no doubt he'd be with the Quartermaster till the day he finally died, but he didn't want to paste some ceremony over it. They didn't need vows when they already understood each other.

But their daughter wanted to marry. She wanted the formality and the vows. She wanted that moment, and though she was still so young in her father's eyes, he supported her in it.

The commissioners all joined on the beach and fields below Astera. During the day, hunters sought out dried wood, drift wood, and just about anything burnable before stacking it in a pile for a bonfire. Two couples had taken the opportunity to get married during the celebration, and someone had mentioned a festival they held back at home during the spring for couples and health, so they fashioned their own event after that.

The bonfires were far enough apart that a pair could walk between them without being singed when the flames were high, but if they lingered the flames would kiss them and burn. The path through the flames led straight to the ocean, and at dusk the march through the fires began. Around them burned smaller cooking fires surrounded with fish and meat on stakes.

The Commander gleefully darted between the bonfires and dropped a broom before bolting back out to the crowd. From the side with his own partner, he watched as the first couple darted through the flames hopping over the broom and crashing into the waves. They laughed, kissed, and rolled back to the beach. Then his daughter and her partner joyously ran through the fire and over the broom, but unlike the other couple, his daughter lifted her new husband, spun him around, and fell backwards into the ocean.

A palico collected the broom then tossed it into the flames before running back to the safety of the smaller fires, and after him a stream of partners and teams began to run between the bonfires together. Hunters in groups of four with their palico companions, hunters and handlers in groups of two, research associates, romantic partners, business partners, friends, social groups of all kinds took the opportunity to dart through the flames. Some ran through several times.

The Quartermaster looked slyly at the Commander before taking his hand and tugging him towards the bonfires. He brazenly kissed the Commander in front of the flames and those gathered. They were the last to pass through the bonfires to the hoops and hollers of the commissioners around them, and to the Commander's surprise and delight, for once the Quartermaster didn't let being the brief center of attention disturb him.

The next morning, it was the Commander who woke up with a bruise on his neck just above his shoulder where his clothing would still hide it.