The Mech Touch novel Chapter 2179

Chapter 2179 Rejected Proposals

A lot of mech designers entered the conference room aboard the Scarlet Rose. Just like before, the brave mech designers aligned to Ves took their seat on one half of the long, oval table.

Soon enough, the projections of the erudite mech designers under the supervision of Gloriana appeared on the other side of the table.

Two distant locations connected together through the link that the Scarlet Rose still maintained to the galactic net.

Ves did not have to worry about any communication blockades in the outer periphery of the Nyxian Gap. It was only when he entered the inner periphery that he might have to rely on the Darkbreak module in order to maintain a stable connection.

While Ves briefly greeted and chatted with Gloriana, their cats also enjoyed their brief reunion.

"Meow." Lucky pushed his paw through the projection of Clixie, causing it to go right through.

"Miaow."

"Meow."

"Miaow miaow."

Shortly afterwards, Ves commenced the session.

"Alright. Everyone here has submitted their proposals on what minor projects we should work on for the next couple of months. Many of your suggestions are interesting, creative and useful. Today, I would like to go over a couple of the mech concepts that you have proposed in order to illustrate how relevant they are. The LMC's design capacity is still limited, so we can't explore every idea."

He waved his hand, causing a projection of a sketch of a very odd artillery mech to appear above the table.

"First, let's go over the 'PDL–F/D', a mech design proposed by Estelle Lynwood."

He nodded towards the woman seated close to him. Estelle Lynwood just happened to be one of the assistants he picked out right at the start of the selection process. Her spiritual potential was particularly notable, which meant she had a high chance of advancing to Journeyman once she applied herself.

Of course, that didn't mean she was guaranteed to become one. She still needed to work hard and develop her design philosophy properly. Ves could only lay some of the groundwork for her. Estelle still needed to do most of the work.

"Miss Lynwood, would you please explain your concept to us in your own words?"

The assistant in question nodded and stood up. "The name of my mech stands for Planetary Defense Laser, F/D grade pilots. It's a land and aerial-based mech that is designed to strike orbital targets as cost-effectively as possible. By itself, it is a mobile mech that can drill into rock and soil in order to hide itself and use the very land as a giant heatsink."

She manipulated the projection, causing it to fire a very thick and powerful laser straight through the clouds in the simulated environment.

"The mech completely revolves around its laser cannon, which is guided by a highly-automated targeting system. Once the mech fires, it must relocate very quickly using its flight capabilities before the enemy can retaliate. Due to the automation and simple operation of my mech, the demand on the mech pilot is very low. Those with a genetic aptitude as low as F or D are usually neglected. With the PDL–F/D, they can still contribute to the defense of a planet!"

A lot of assistants looked intrigued or appreciative of the idea that Estelle came up with. Her mech concept might not be the most sophisticated or well-rounded, but it packed a very powerful punch without demanding a lot of resources!

"Comments, anyone?" Ves asked.

Someone raised his hand. "Sir, the PDL-F/D is a very efficient mech. However, it will be rather difficult for it to survive after it has exposed its existence after firing a shot."

"That's why the mech is designed to be disposable." Estelle responded.

Some more people spoke up and made some remarks. Ves and Gloriana were glad to see that a constructive discussion had broken out. Everyone may be rivals, but they were also passionate about mechs.

"Ahem." Gloriana attracted everyone's attention. "Despite the advantages this mech design conveys, it possesses a fatal flaw. Can any of you tell me why my partner and I decided to stop exploring it any further?"

A brief silence ensued before Miles ventured his guess. "It looks like a mech. It is piloted by a mech. It's not actually a mech, though. It is too.. specialized. It can't defend itself against other mechs at all."

Gloriana slapped her palm against the table. "Correct! The PDL-F/D is essentially a movable turret platform. Its heavy dependence on an automated targeting system to hit targets high up in orbit means that the mech pilot is only responsible for moving the mech around. Since that is the case, why not go a step further and eliminate the mech pilot entirely? If you turn it into a conventional self-propelled artillery platform, then any norm can pilot this vehicle!"

The realization stunned the assistants. Now that they thought about it, self-propelled artillery platforms that could hit orbital targets already existed to some extent. There was hardly any need to use up scarce mech pilots for a duty that could be easily performed by a trained norm!

"Estelle Lynwood's mech concept is a good one, make no mistake." Ves summed up his opinion. "However, just because a mech concept is good doesn't mean it translates into a good product. In order for a mech to find a place in the market, it has to justify its existence. The wider context must always be taken into account!"

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