Gloriana made their goals clear. The mech designers had to design expert mechs that were entirely geared towards defeating other expert mechs.
Even if the Larkinson expert mechs lacked the power to finish off a powerful opponent, then they at least had to pose enough of a threat to entangle powerful enemy elements.
With the considerable advantages built up by the Larkinson Clan's mech forces, they did not fear a fight against any second-class opponents. Even if the Friday Coalition launched another ambush by dispatching a couple of mech divisions, the Avatars, Penitent Sisters, Swordmaidens and so on possessed more than enough confidence to fend off elite military mech units!
Yet this scenario became a lot trickier if those enemy mech divisions also brought their resident expert pilots. The inclusion of these powerful elements introduced a lot of variables on the battlefield and made it much harder for the Larkinsons to limit the damage they incurred.
What was most concerning about facing enemy expert mechs was that their extremely high individual power granted them a lot of possibilities to swing the battle in their favor!
From assassinating officer mechs to charging into the fray to disrupt a solid formation, expert mechs were able to act as powerful force multipliers. They could even form a commando team and fly all the way to an enemy flagship or headquarters in order to execute a decapitation strike!
The disproportionate power possessed by these great machines meant that no one could ignore their presence. Even if the Larkinson Clan was able to field ten times the amount of mechs, this situation still wouldn't change all that much!
"Expert mechs are best handled by other expert mechs." Gloriana stated. "While it is possible for us to design additional configurations that allow our expert mechs more flexibility, we cannot compromise on their main purpose. We have many different solutions to defeat weaker opponents, but we don't have many answers against powerful foes. We can either sacrifice a lot of lives or design the strongest expert mechs we can. I think we all prefer to settle on the latter."
Their work had real and profound consequences. Each powerful expert mech was a game changer to the Larkinsons. Ves had long admired the powerful expert mechs of the Cross Clan. Though the martial culture of the Crossers caused them to place a lot more emphasis on them, there was no denying that Lord Reginald Cross and his fellow expert pilots were utterly domineering in battle!
Ves wanted the Larkinson Clan to acquire the same kind of strength. As long as he could solve this final shortcoming of his mech forces, he was confident that his clan would become a lot more prepared to face the perils of the Red Ocean!
After Gloriana explained her thoughts on this subject, she moved to the final common element.
"Each of our expert mechs will also become prime mechs." She stated. "I've already discussed the feasibility of this with my husband. According to him, it is possible to transfer the same powers of a prime mech to an expert mech as long as we incorporate Unending alloy in their designs. Considering that it is not possible for us to apply better armor systems to our projects, I do not see a reason to refuse. Our prime mechs have already showcased the superior defensive properties of their armor plating."
This didn't mean that Ves and the rest were about to tear down the prime mechs that had served the Larkinsons well. The expert pilots would still be able to pilot them for quite some time until the Design Department was finally ready to fabricate their real battle machines.
Aside from the Shield of Samar, Ves did not plan to retain any other prime mech. The Valkyrie Prime, the Piranha Prime, Bright Sword Prime, the Bright Spear Prime and the Bright Beam Prime did not deserve to end their service so soon, but Ves didn't really have another choice. freeweɓnovel.cøm
To make the expert mechs of his dreams, he had to kill the mechs that he sometimes regarded as his own children. This was the woe of every mech designer and something that was never an easy decision to make.
Gloriana did not spend too much time on explaining the more esoteric properties of their upcoming expert mech designs. This was not her specialty and the assistants wouldn't understand the finer details anyway.
Before she moved on to explain her projects on an individual basis, she made a final announcement.
"It is no secret that we have managed to secure the services of Master Moira Willix of the Mech Trade Association as an external contributor and consultant to our projects." Gloriana beamed with happiness. "Think about what that means. A Master Mech Designer that is superior to any other Master that we know of will be spending her precious time to observe our work and provide guidance to us. I hope you do not waste her time and shame us all by slacking off and putting anything less than your best efforts in your assignments. If you cannot fulfill this demand, then I will kick you out of the Design Department myself!"
Every assistant winced. Joining the Design Department was a dream opportunity for many of these individuals, and getting fired was one of the worst outcomes that could happen to them! The mech designs they got in touch with became progressively better and more impressive. They even reached the point where they received the honor of being able to work on expert mech design projects, so who would ever be stupid enough to screw this precious chance?
Though Gloriana's warning sounded a bit ominous, it had the desired effect on the assistants. From the way they were vigilantly looking at others, it became clear that they intended to step in and intervene themselves if anyone in their ranks did not do their part.
"Hmph." Gloriana nodded in satisfaction at the diligence shown by the Apprentices. "Now that I have made all of that clear, let us dive into the individual projects. Let us begin by examining the project outline for Venerable Joshua's expert mech."
Prior to this moment, Gloriana already performed extensive prep work. This included quizzing the expert pilots of what they sought in their expert mechs and making many observations and measurements in order to ensure that their future machines fit them like a glove.
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