Chapter 3942 Raising the Stakes
After an extensive talk that sometimes went off-track and turned absurd, Ves developed a basic profile for the C-Man that Venerable Vincent found agreeable.
The expert brawler mech that Vincent wanted to fight with in the future did not completely get rid of all of the traditional shortcomings of its mech type.
Allowing it to equip different types of gloves substantially increased its viability in combat, but it was up to the expert pilot to maximize their potential.
"An expert mech is only as good as its pilot." Ves warned the over-eager man. "Just like how the First Sword is an absurdly strong duelist due to the strength and skill of Venerable Dise, it will be up to you to transform the C-Man into a fearsome melee mech that can defeat or at least go equal to other expert melee mechs. Do you understand what I am trying to convey?"
"Hey, no worries! I'm not new to this. I regularly sparred against other Larkinson soldiers in the past! I'll just need to pick up my training and maybe learn a few martial arts in preparation for my upcoming expert mech. By the time the C-Man falls into my hands, I will show you that my performance in the last battle is not a fluke!"
"Sure sure, Vincent. Whatever you say." Ves inwardly rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I have collected enough preliminary information now. I still need to visit a bunch more recovering pilots. I will leave you here so you can continue to come up with different glove weapons for your upcoming expert mech. Just don't expect to get back into the saddle quickly. It takes time to develop a powerful new machine, and the fact that we have to upgrade your existing B-Man adds an extra burden."
"How soon can I pilot my new expert mech?"
"Well, if nothing special happens, it will probably take 8 months for us to complete this project. Gloriana might be able to complete it ahead of schedule, but don't hold any unrealistic expectations."
"I get it. I know the others had to wait a long time as well. I just hope that the C-Man will live up to my expectations."
Now that Ves developed a general idea on how the Design Department should handle the C-Man Project, he stood up from his chair and made to leave.
"Ah, wait! There's one more thing!"
"What is it, Vincent?"
"Didn't we raid a lot of phasewater and fish-whale organs from Purgatory? Why not make use of that to make my C-Man extra fast and extra uncatchable? Just think of what I can do if I can move at warp speeds! Lack of reach? Pff! As long as I have a combat drive, I'll be able to catch up to a lot of ranged mechs! There's no way these flimsy machines can defend against my expert mech's punches!"
Ves overlooked this option. He was still stuck in his old mindset to realize that his clan had more options now. The B-Man's compatibility with a minidrive happened to be high!
A brawler mech was not a simple mech, but it should offer plenty of capacity to mount an external minidrive module on its back.
The power draw of a brawler mech wasn't that cumbersome either, so the C-Man should be able to meet the substantial energy requirements of a typical miniaturized warp drive.
Still… Ves was reluctant to grant Vincent access to an expensive minidrive right off the bat. The cost of such an expensive module might equal that of the rest of Vincent's expert mech!
"We can discuss this further at a later date." Ves eventually decided to defer his judgment on the matter. "While it is true that minidrives can add a lot of functionality to our mechs, they are expensive and difficult to manage. They also impose a great degree of responsibility to the pilots who carry them into battle. If you fight carelessly enough that an enemy unit is able to destroy a costly minidrive module, then our clan will end up with a significant loss."
"That won't happen! I'll take real good care of the minidrive. No one will ever succeed in attacking the C-Man from behind! Wait, we haven't talked about the codpiece yet. Can you make it small enough so that it can be mounted on the front? You can layer extra armor on top of that and turn it into the manliest codpiece to have ever graced a mech! Doesn't that sound brilliant?"
Ves responded with a flat stare.
"That is one of the most idiotic ideas I've heard from you since you came up with the Punchanger concept. First off, the current state of minidrive technology doesn't allow for them to be smaller than a typical backpack module. Even then, their performance is not all that great. If you want to mount it to the front, I can guarantee you that it won't look as if your expert mech is wearing a large codpiece. It will make your mech look like its belly is swelling as if it is pregnant with a baby!"
A repulsed expression quickly appeared on Vincent's face. "No thanks, then! Keep it mounted on the back, then. Just make sure the look and contours of my mech looks impressive enough from the front. The codpiece for my C-Man has to be even more awesome than the one you designed for the B-Man, got it? If you can make only one part of my expert mech into a masterpiece, it has to be the codpiece!"
Ves did not even bother to say anything to that request. He quickly bid Vincent farewell before he left the recovery room.
He already decided to hand over this headache project to Gloriana as quickly as possible. He should let her deal with Vincent's inane requests.
"Nyeow nyeooow!"
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