The Giant Killer was by far the strongest and most expensive mech design in development. None of the other five mech designs could match the extravagance that Ves wanted to lavish on the Penitent Sisters.
Despite the formidable firepower that Ves intended to integrate into the Giant Killer, he and Juliet had to make several compromises over the course of the design process.
This wasn't a big deal. With how much money Ves invested into the design, the Giant Killer still possessed enough armor and mobility to be useful in space.
There were two downsides that Ves and Juliet weren't effectively able to address.
The Sarun rounds were so big and massive that the Giant Killer wasn't capable of carrying a lot of ammunition. It also cost a lot of energy to accelerate these rounds at very high speeds.
The other downside was its range constraints.
Kinetic weapons generally fared worse at longer ranges, and this was especially the case in space. Each additional millisecond it took for a round to travel from the barrel of a gun to its intended target lowered the chance that it would actually hit the mark.
When this interval increased to five seconds or longer, the chance of hitting any somewhat agile mechs in space was practically minimal!
This meant that the Giant Killer did not excel at long-range sniping. It might do okay against huge capital ships, but there was no way it could realistically hit an enemy mech that was aware of the threat.
"This mech isn't so stellar up close either."
As a cannoneer mech, it did not possess any inherent melee combat capabilities. While Ves could supply it with a backup sword and a modest buckler, its fighting capabilities at point-blank range simply couldn't match that of a melee mech that was five times cheaper!
Therefore, the Giant Killer had to be deployed in combination with other mechs in order to prevent enemies from getting too close.
In particular, cannoneer mechs such as the Giant Killer were known to perform exceptionally poorly against light skirmishers!
"The Giant Killer works best against resilient but relatively immobile targets." Juliet summed up. "It is also a capable siege mech against starships and space stations."
"The Transcendent Punisher is even better at performing this role."
"True, sir, but the Giant Killer can be deployed in flanks and far away from our fleet. It can also be deployed in atmospheric conditions, though don't expect too much of its aerial capabilities." freewebnøvel.com
That was still better than the Transcendent Punisher which was basically a turret that could move at crawling speeds!
While atmospheric combat was not as important as spaceborn combat to the Larkinson Clan, Ves recognized the Giant Killer had a lot of potential if deployed on a planet.
While the mech's underpowered legs meant that it moved slowly on land, as long as the local gravity wasn't strong enough, it was capable of flying in the air!
Sure, the Giant Killer wouldn't win any races, but its powerful and expensive flight system was more than capable of lifting its heavy bulk for a decent amount of time!
This was quite a challenge to Ves, but Juliet excelled in implementing these kinds of features. Her mobility-oriented design philosophy allowed her to propose solutions that made sure the Giant Killer was able to fly as fast and nimbly as possible in space and under atmospheric conditions!
During one design session, Juliet revealed something important to Ves.
"I've been speaking with Commander Chancy and some other Penitent Sister mech pilots. They're not accustomed to piloting cannoneer mechs. Our ranged mech pilots will need to undergo additional training in order to pilot a mech like the Giant Killer. It will take months if not years to get used to its characteristics."
"Do you think this will be a problem?" Ves asked.
"Not necessarily. Our mech pilots are very skilled and cannoneer mechs are pretty similar to rifleman mechs. The Giant Killer is relatively easy to learn but difficult to master. It's just that it is too unwieldy to fit in the Penitent Sister combat doctrine. Our mech pilots prefer to pilot mobile, assault-oriented mechs in battle. We like to be aggressive and want to punch our enemy hard. If we can outflank our enemy, then that is even better."
"The Giant Killer is not supposed to be a burden." Ves replied. "I know its design is somewhat at odds with the mobile fighting style of the Penitent Sisters, but the firepower it possesses is more than worth it. As long as your mech pilots are able to gain the Superior Mother's help, then I can scarcely imagine the results!"
His body shook with anticipation. He couldn't wait to see the Giant Killer in action at its full strength. When the Penitent Sister battle network engaged with both the mech pilots along with their living mechs, the resulting amplification should not be as simple as 1 + 1.
"This will definitely produce a lot of synergy!"
In fact, Ves even believed that it would open an entirely new door with regards to empowering his mechs!
Though the requirements were strict, as long as his mech pilots were cohesive enough, they should each be able to employ fully-powered battle formations in battle.
His ultimate ambition was to provide a signature mech to every mech force aside from the Living Sentinels. The Giant Killer was just the first of its kind!
"Hopefully, Ketis will advance to Journeyman soon. As long as she solidifies her design philosophy, she's qualified to design a swordsman mech that will massively empower the Swordmaidens."
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