The Mech Touch

"There is a reason why the rifleman mech configuration is so bulky. It is the same reason why the space knight configuration is a bit skinny."

Ves tapped the projected interface until all of the common parts of the drafted configurations lit up in green.

"These are all of the common elements borne by the basic platform underneath the unique parts. Do you see how much they share in common?"

Every subordinate mech designer noticed how much stayed in common between the four designs. The proportion of constant elements was a lot higher than they expected!

Ves smiled. "Like any modular mech platform, the goal is to keep the differences between the configurations as small as possible. The more elements stay in common, the less time and effort required to swap configurations. This can be a crucial factor in battle. Equipping the design with a lower proportion of specific parts brings many advantages and makes the mech more efficient as a versatile battle platform."

"You lose out in efficiency in other ways, though." Gilbert Tovar noted. "The rifleman mech is arguably too slow, while the space knight is more of an offensive mech than a defensive mech."

His mass optimization focus caused him to be very sensitive towards the implication of his impactful design choice.

The decision to aim for a high degree of uniformity came at a very severe cost!

Both Ves and Gloriana recognized the implication of their decisions.

"You're correct." He said. "Modular mech platforms aren't widely used for this reason. Compared to specialized mech designs, there is a lack of focus in adaptable platforms that is difficult to leverage in reality. Many attempts to employ them in battle have failed because specialized mechs always outperform them on the battlefield. The lack of versatility of traditional mech units is mostly compensated by their division of roles and good utilization of the characteristic strengths of their mech types. This is especially the case from a macro perspective."

It was generally a very bad idea to adopt modular mech platforms on a mech army-wide basis. In fact, it was already very problematic on the level of a mech division and mech regiment!

The luxury of being able to swap configurations and loadouts was not as big of an advantage as the theorists initially thought. Mech pilots were creatures of habit and mostly wanted to get better at one specific fighting style. It was a bit too much to ask them to become proficient in half-a-dozen different mech types!

For this reason, the modularity and adaptability aspect of the modular mech platform wasn't being used. Once these advantages ceased to be a factor, what did the mech units have left? They were stuck with an inferior, overpriced, inefficient and maintenance-heavy mech model!

As Gloriana outlined the general shortcomings of modular mech platforms, the subordinate mech designers grew more confused.

Miles Tovar raised his hand. "If the two of you are already aware of the many shortcomings of the mech platform, then why utilize it at all, especially for something as important as a mech intended to strengthen the Larkinson Clan?"

Ves smirked and crossed his arms. "Just because a solution is suboptimal in most cases doesn't mean it is a failed invention. There are applications for every possible mech, even the trashiest ones. Let's consider our situation. Aside from the requirements I've already mentioned, there are a few more conditions and constraints that have led me to the modular mech platform as the optimal solution for my needs."

He raised a finger.

"First is how much time it will take for us to satisfy our needs. The Larkinson Clan has a lot of mech pilots, and they are mostly specialized in a single major field while minoring in several other ones. While this allows them to pilot multiple types of mechs, they really won't do as well if they are piloting a mech they minored in. This means that selecting a single mech type such as a rifleman mech won't cover all of our mech pilots."

Gloriana added something else. "It's also a bad idea to adopt a single mech type throughout an entire unit unless it is part of a greater group that operates in unison."

"This means that I will definitely have to design multiple mechs in order to equip the vast majority of our mech pilots with my Larkinson mechs. This will take a lot of time which we don't necessarily have. I have other priorities as well, and I can't devote too much time on multiple mech designs that will only really service a small group of mech pilots. Choosing to go for a modular mech platform conveniently allows me to settle with a single design, though with four internal variations."

"Do you really have to design a mech that is able to cover most of the Larkinson Clan's mech pilots?" Mayer Torto asked. "The Avatars and Sentinels already make use of a diverse selection decent mech models. They're perfectly serviceable."

"Only in the present." Ves said. "Our future needs are vastly different. Don't forget about the goal of trying to design a training platform. Depriving this mech from over half of our mech pilots won't accelerate their promotion to second-class mech pilots."

They understood now. To a mech designer, it was simply more efficient to design a single broad mech design than multiple specialized ones.

"Why the high proportion of uniformity, though?" Merrill Truman asked. The pirate designer had a much greater sense towards mech in actual use. "The configurations all look.. kind of weak. They look like mechs designed by committees. They are too balanced and not distinctive enough. The rifleman mech and space knight configurations are especially far from what we are used to seeing in those mech types."

Ves sighed. "It's true that there is a bit of laziness and compromise behind the decision to minimize the amount of uniqueness in the configurations. Going too far on the other end essentially negates the fundamental decision and will become no different from designing four separate mechs. I have set a hard deadline of 3 months for this project, and I intend to stick with it. With so little time for a design as complex as a modular mech platform, many sacrifices have to be made."

"What about the performance, then?"

"It's not as awful as it seems." He smiled again. He tapped the projection to highlight the armor coverage of the mechs. "All four configurations will use the same Breyer alloy as the principal material of their armor systems. Yes, that's right. The same second-class alloy that we have just used to turn the Shield of Samar into a mobile bunker will also be applied to this design!"

This came as a shock to all of them. Even Gloriana hadn't fully accepted that Ves settled on this choice.

"Where are we getting all of this Breyer alloy?"

"I have a supplier who promised me as much Breyer alloy at favorable prices. The only issue is that the supply of this material is not too much. This means that it's enough for us to reserve this material for internal use. I don't intend to squander this valuable alloy on other products."

"So you're going for the same effect as with the revision to the Shield of Samar. You want to rely on the superior quality of one of materials to elevate the quality of the Larkinson mech by force."

It sounded a bit bad, but that was essentially right. Ves felt as if he was getting further and further into the wasteful mindset of a second-class mech designer. Why wrack his head over coming up with a sophisticated implementation when he could just fork over more money and solve the problem in an instant?

Regardless of whether this pattern of behavior was detrimental to his development as a mech designer, the constraints on this project left him with very little choice.

He had to bow to reality and make many decisions heh wasn't proud of in order to meet his goals.

"The armor system and structural supports won't be the only elements that are out of the norm of what is nominally a third-class mech design. I also intend to upgrade some other elements of the modular mech platform in order to make it viable against second-class mechs. Mind you, they won't be competitive against superior mechs, but at least the gap has narrowed to the point where my Larkinson mechs can pose a threat to them under favorable conditions."

A Larkinson mech would never be able to defeat a true second-class mech in single combat, but it was a different story if a squad of Larkinson mechs ganged up on a superior mech!

Considering his contentious relations with the Friday Coalition, Ves could not rule out the possibility that he would clash against their forces again. If a confrontation couldn't be avoided, then the last sight he wanted to see was hundreds of Avatars and Sentinels dropping like flies as they confronted a single mech company of Coalition mechs!

He still recalled the grossly uneven battles between his battle bots and the mercenary mechs of the Great Zona Republic! The sight of just four mech-like machines laying waste to hundreds of inferior mechs like they were cannon fodder still made an extremely strong impression in his mind!

Such a disparity between mechs was nice when Ves was on the side of the mechs that stomped the competition, but now he was on the opposite side!

Ves could never ask his friends, family and subordinates to recklessly endanger their mech and lives by throwing them against superior mechs with only a tiny chance of victory!

The Larkinson mech therefore needed to be powerful enough to threaten second-class mechs. As long as he could reduce the proportion required to defeat a superior mech from a hundred inferior mechs to just ten inferior mechs, then the Larkinson Clan would truly have the power to protect itself in the star sector!

"To put it all into context, the ultimate goal is to develop a single design that can single-handedly uplift the Avatars, Sentinels and the Larkinson Clan."

Gloriana clapped and grinned impishly. "One mech to rule them all, one mech to find them, one mech to bring them all, and in darkness bind them, in the Red Ocean where the phasewater lies!"

Everyone looked at Gloriana in confusion, including her boyfriend!

"Uh, what?"

"Oh, it's nothing." She playfully stuck out her tongue. "The point is that we are attempting to accomplish much with just a single design. This is a very steep challenge, but as long as we succeed, we will definitely be able to go far, and it's all thanks to us, the designers of this one mech!"

Not everyone looked as confident as Gloriana.

"That's.. very ambitious."

"Is it even possible?"

"We can do it." Ves declared with conviction. "I have a track record of designing impactful mechs. Just as how the Transcendent Messenger and the Deliverer changed the fabric of the Ylvaine Protectorate, just as how the Desolate Soldier and its variants single-handedly saved the third line of defense in the Sand War, so will our one mech be able to elevate the Larkinson Clan to power!"

Both Ves and Gloriana were hopeful about the design despite its many technical challenges. Their sheer confidence and conviction inevitably infected their subordinates, causing them to look forward to what they could shape in the end!

As the design teams were preparing to perform their assignments, Ves briefly held the Larkinson Mandate in his hands and randomly flipped through its pages.

The Golden Cat appeared to know what was in store for her. Her intangible form gazed up at him with the cutest eyes he had ever seen from a spiritual product!

Nyaaaaa!

"Be patient. I'll get you your mech design soon enough! You'll be able to join your friends Qilanxo and the Solemn Guardian in watching over your mechs!"

He lovingly caressed the Golden Cat's head with a spiritual projection.

The Larkinson mech would definitely affect her development as an ancestral spirit. For the sake of the clan, Ves had to make sure the mech design met all of his goals!