Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Gearheads, Scrappers & Canners

Often with machines there will be those who are passionate about them in some form or another, they may be those who tinker with machines as a hobby for those who put serious investment of both time and money into said machines. In Darmonica they are known by many names, Gearheads, Scrappers and Canners.

This week is their moment in the spotlight.

Gearheads

The term 'Gearhead' is often used as a nickname for those who like to tinker with machines, almost all Gearheads are mechanics but not all mechanics are Gearheads. A normal mechanic simply repairs and keeps a machine running, a Gearhead goes the extra mile to improve said machine by trying to increase its performance. Unsurprisingly given the current popularity of air travel that alot of Gearheads are aircraft mechanics, especially those involved in the air racing circuits. Very few Gearheads can be found in military service and when they are found in the Service they're often posted to remote bases where they can do the least amount of damage. Gearheads are more likely to be found in independent outfits or places like Broken Spires, ones of looser morals can find easy employment amongst air pirate gangs.

Less common are Gearheads who specialize in car, trucks and other land vehicles as their work is more limited to keeping the vehicles running rather than boosting the engine power particularly out in remote regions. Virtually unheard of is Gearheads onboard ships, though they do exist in limited numbers.

Scrappers

The demand for spare parts is often greater than the supply, this is where Scrappers come in.

Scrappers are basically salvage-men, with wreckage of war machines still littering the old battlefields they are doing good if sometimes illegal work. They keep a sort of grey market for spare parts well supplied with pieces they've managed to scavenge from a wrecked tank or crashed aircraft, some work may be required to bring said parts up to standard but you get what you paid for.

There are rumours that some of the scrappers' wares might be stolen...

Canners

Lastly there are the men women dubbed 'Canners', similar to aviators except the craft they pilot are land based contraptions such as Walkers which are effectively walking tanks and Mechsuits which are primitive suits of power armour. The nickname Canners comes from both Walkers and Mechsuits being called 'Tin Cans' (often not in a good way), though the Canners wear the name as a sort of badge of pride.

Canners are often found in independent outfits, though they are also found in military service but are often loners and outcasts in their units and are usually considered to skirt the borderline of insolence by officers. The most famous Canners are the pilots of the Artian Mechjager Divisions, the bane of many armoured units throughout the War.

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