X is for Xenograph


From the lack of budget to the more 'creative' problems the smokejumpers managed to find themselves in, there were many parts of his job that kept Maru mentally fit. That said there was one part of his crew that always seemed to push his skills to the limits…and that was the aircraft.

The planes and helicopters that chose to work at Piston Peak Air Attack Base were all unique…but out of any of them, Windlifter was the closest thing they had to a purebred. Aftermarket parts tended to struggle keeping up with the stress and strains put on them by the force of a Skycrane's powerful engines. As a result, they were a model that were stuck with using parts that were specifically built to order. Honestly, Maru felt very blessed that this particular beast was properly insured through his winter job, which meant that ordering in specialize parts he occasionally needed didn't bankrupt the team.

Cabbie came in as a close second to Windlifter. He was a C-119 through and through…though looking at the parts that kept him flying Maru had a hard time wrapping his head around just how little of him would be considered 'original.' Some of that was due to the sheer amount of solder that had been used to plug bullet holes in his belly, wings, and tails, but most of it was due to parts that had once been part of other planes. As a model, C-119's had always had a particularly practical relationship with their frames. What had started with swapping doors with each other, ended with a strong culture that a C-119 never really died as long as part of them was still flying. Entire squadrons ended up swapping panels and parts to help tie themselves tighter together as a unit, and upon their deaths instead of allowing themselves to be buried or melted they donated their parts to help keep aircraft around them still in the air. It was a practical way of life that Maru deeply respected…even if it made doing maintenance on Cabbie a bit of a pain.

Sitting in the middle of the pack was Blade. His make showed through, but he also had a long list of aftermarket parts and custom work from his time in Hollywood. Under most situations, these modifications would absolutely drive most mechanics batty. Just his hoist system had a couple of hundred pages worth of instruction manuals. Luckily for Blade, Maru wasn't just any old mechanic. The little tug had done his research when he had selected the parts that went into Blade's chassis…and all of that custom work, you guessed it, it was Maru's handy work.

Due to her near-complete rebuild, Dipper was a Frankenstein mash-up of Grumman Goose and a Superscoop. That said, whenever Maru worked on her he was always shocked about just how well her scares and seams were hidden. Like any mechanic, he could always find the welds, but they had been so expertly polished that they practically disappeared under a proper coat of paint. Dipper was a truly one of a kind aircraft but given her crash induced personality quirks Maru felt it was fitting that Dipper's unique frame reflected that.

Honestly, after working on Dipper, Maru had thought he had seen just about everything. Today changed that. The plane in front of him clearly had agricultural stock, but now had a bit of everything mixed in. It was a combination that made the mechanic's gear spin just trying to place where all the parts must of originally come from. Flipping down his welding visor, he couldn't help but smile with the knowledge he was going to be able poke around until he had puzzled everything out. Grinning he got to work because Maru knew that if this aircraft was so comfortable with getting modified, it was clear that he was going to be able to have fun sculpting him into a proper firefighter machine…once the tip tanks were removed of course.