Explosives Handling

Story so far

Explosives handling is the skill that quietly underwrites everything Carl does. It ticked up to 11 in the same notification burst that took him to level 35, earned by rolling the derelict Vermillion engine backward down the Vermillion Line with a rope-lashed pile of Hobgoblin Dynamite on its gangway shelf and an impact-detonated Hob-lobber on a pole out front.

What the skill does not do is warn him about yield. Carl notes that he should have built the bundle at his Sapper's Table, where he could have seen and adjusted the bomb's total output, because hobgoblin dynamite is far more powerful than the regular stuff and he badly overshot — the blast knocked everyone in Station 36 off their feet and left the crawlers at that entrance with temporary hearing damage. He got no achievement for it, which irritated him more than the near-miss did.

His conclusion is a craftsman's plan rather than a soldier's: next time he is in the crafting room he will assemble bundles in several different sizes and keep them ready, so the yield is a choice rather than a surprise. The whole floor has been short on demolition work — other than the landmines that derailed the first train, Carl has barely got to use explosives here — so the level in this skill is, by his own reckoning, several chapters behind where he would like it.

Role

Carl's core crafting and demolition skill, advanced by successful field detonations and currently at level 11.

Relationships