Engineering Section
Maintaining the intricate working of an æthership requires a perpetual staff of skilled enginemen. The organization of the engineering section is divided by ship's systems. Drivesmen or "E" section is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the ships main source of power and propulsion.
"A" section consists of the engineers that maintain the sub-æther drive and soliton field generators.
"T" section contains many technical specialists as they services mechanological systems such as the gravity and inertial systems, Æthervox, life support, Transmigrators, refabricators, etc.
The least prestigious group is "G" section, which is responsible for non-critical tasks such as replacing Veridigen bulbs to unclogging the plumbing.
Each section has a unique structure according to the system it services. Drives men are divided into Firemen who stoke the boilers, Valvesmen who control the Core, Steamers who regulate the steampulse engines, Sparks who direct power generation and so on. All enlisted ranks of enginemen are referred to as grease monkeys and almost every task has a related title. Oilers, wipers, Stokers, plumbers, fuse tenders, etc. are all designations of different jobs in engineering.
The engineering section is very competitive when it comes to its post allocation. New enginemen start out in G section and have to earn their entry into better positions. Upward mobility can be achieved by earning engineering specialty certificates or by extra curricular duty in the section to which one wants to be assigned. By the time an enginemen has achieved warrant officer status they will have gained experience in almost every ships system. Most enginemen stay with the same ship their whole career due to the fact that even an accomplished engineman has to start out from the bottom when assigned to a new ship.
Uniform:
As engineering work tends to be dirty the duty uniform is a dark black. The shade is able to hide the presence of coal, oil, ash or the burns regularly encountered in the engineering sections of the ship. Many enginemen wear a protective smock when working to protect their uniforms. The engineering uniform is a single-breasted tunic with a single row of buttons and a straight cut collar. Thick-cuffed gloves and goggles are also part of the standard uniform. Integrated knee and elbow pads are other distinguishing features of the engineering section uniform.