The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3011

3011 /7079

Chapter 3011: The Potential of Luminar Technology

Though the Journeymen of the Design Department argued quite extensively about the booster modules of the Disruptor Project, they had good reasons to focus on this aspect.

Light mechs depended heavily on mobility to perform their roles on the battlefield. This was even more important for their expert mech versions as it was literally the only reason why they were able to survive in fights against other deadly expert mechs.

The opponents that Venerable Tusa would face in the future were far different from the dummies he encountered during his most recent campaign.

His battles back on Prosperous Hill VI were no different from bullying children in his perspective. The biomechs he faced were sometimes decent, but were mostly lower-end models that could not keep up with the performance of a military-grade mech.

Their mech pilots were quite skilled, but that was only due to the fact that second-rate states were able to provide better training to its mech cadets. The criminals and members of various fringe groups that Tusa faced weren't comparable to the elites he fought during the Battle of Reckoning.

Since the main goal of the Disruptor Project was to enable Venerable Tusa to fight against other expert mechs, the design choices had to prioritize this need the most.

It was natural to sacrifice many other niceties in the process. Even if expert mechs possessed a lot more capacity and could integrate a lot more tech, when fighting against other high-end mechs, these advantages no longer seemed as powerful!

Gloriana insisted on maintaining a consistent approach to all of their projects, so Venerable Tusa's future expert mech had to give up a lot of staying power in order to ensure it possessed enough peak performance to defeat another expert mech.

"It's not ideal, but battles between expert mechs don't last too long in most cases." Gloriana stated. "It is very much worth it to compress all of the combat potential of our expert mechs so that they can eliminate opposing expert mechs quickly. We don't have to rely on our expert mechs to carry the rest of the battle. Our regular mech forces are already strong enough to win any conventional battle."

Everyone else nodded in agreement. Though there were flaws and holes to this logic, it was the most fitting choice to make under the circumstances.

The only reason why Ves felt a little queasy about this choice was that the Disruptor Project could potentially expend its resources very quickly if locked in a very difficult struggle. He felt it was actually a tad bit too short.

This was not a big deal if they fought against weaker opponents or those who were unfamiliar with the combat doctrines of the Larkinson Clan.

Yet if they fought against an enemies that possessed a thorough understanding of the clan's fighting approach, then they could easily employ strategies to drag out a battle and seek to exhaust Venerable Tusa's expert mech first!

This was a potential danger and one that might actually be used against the Larkinson Clan one day.

The only reason why Ves didn't speak up about it more was because his mech forces weren't completely helpless in extended battles.

His fleet enjoyed the protection of a formidable array of artillery mechs and cannoneer mechs. The former was especially useful in attrition battles as they were much easier to supply and support when they were locked into bunkers rather than launched into open space.

Their formidable cannons were still effective against second-class expert mechs. It was just that it took a lot of time for them to deal significant damage against these well-armored machines.

In the future, Ves intended to design more mechs that possessed more staying power. He wanted to differentiate the Living Sentinels and encourage them to trade in their explosive power for stability.

That was a matter for another time, though.

Before Gloriana rounded up the discussion on the Disruptor Project, she briefly turned her attention to its weapon loadout.

"Ketis, how much progress have you made in refining the weapon design?"

The newest lead designer of the Design Department stopped caressing Bloodsinger for a moment.

"It's going well, all considered. There is not that much complexity as long as we rely on Unending alloy as the main material. It's incredibly hard, but aside from that it's not the ideal material to use for a pair of twin knives. It's a dense material and it's difficult to work with. I have no problem with determining the exact shape and length of the blades, but it's annoying to work around the constraints of a material that has already been set."

"Have you thought about enhancing the penetration capabilities of the knives by empowering them with heat or some other method that can allow them to pierce thicker armor?" Ves asked his student.

"I've already thought of those options, but I don't think they're necessary." Ketis shook her head. "Weaker augments aren't worth the trouble. They'll barely make a difference while significantly draining the mech's energy reserves. Stronger augments are even worse. While I recognize that they can enable the Disrupter Project to punch its knives through more resilient armor, just activating them for a single second already consumes a lot of energy. It's not feasible or even necessary in my opinion."

"Why is that?" Gloriana questioned with a critical expression. "Doesn't this go against our goal to enhance the peak performance of our expert mechs?"

"The Disruptor Project already consumed a lot of energy according to its current configuration. It can't really take anything more. Look, light skirmishers aren't swordsman mechs or spearman mechs. The latter two are much better equipped to pierce through frontal armor. A light skirmisher never does that. It utilizes speed and precision to outmaneuver an opponent and sink its short but sharp blades through the weak points of an enemy mech. The weapons don't actually have to be all that powerful for this approach."