The Mech Touch

Ves put the issue of masterworks aside for the moment. He was too far away from making a deliberate masterwork. Though he already possessed a considerable advantage due to his prior successes, the base chance of creating a masterwork was still low for him. The only instances where he came close was if the stars aligned.

In this circumstance, he should stop dreaming and focus on more attainable goals.

"The first expert mechs of our expert pilots don't have to be masterworks."

While it certainly helped with accelerating their progress, they weren't essential until the expert pilots had reached the limits of their progression. If they were on the cusp of becoming an ace pilot, then there were other factors that also determined whether they could break through. They were not completely hopeless.

Still, if Ves wanted the Larkinson Clan to grow stronger and field ace pilots that were the only adequate choice to fight against other ace pilots, then he should not forget about this matter entirely.

"Currently, our expert pilots are still in the early stages, so they don't need any extra assistance. It is only when they approach the stage of Patriarch Reginald Cross that they truly need a masterwork to help them advance."

It would take many years or even decades before people like Venerable Joshua and Venerable Jannzi reached that point. Ves would probably be a much better mech designer by then, so any solutions he came up now would probably be hopelessly outdated in the future.

There were four major benefits of making a masterwork expert mech this early.

First, Ves and any mech designer involved in its creation gained an increased affinity for mechs that measurably improved the quality of their subsequent mech designs.

Second, masterwork mechs performed better in battle. Even the smallest difference could tip a duel in the favor of the Larkinson Clan, so Ves did not look down on any gain no matter how little had actually changed.

Third, mech pilots progressed much faster when paired with a mech that was closer to their level of extraordinary status. Senfovon's Ladder of Craftsmanship essentially implied that each of the four rungs of the ladder corresponded to the different ranks of mech pilots.

"Maybe that's also why they think that there is a fourth rung. The first one corresponds to regular mech pilots, the second one to expert pilots and the third one to ace pilots. Since we know that god pilots exist, there has to be a standard of mechs that fully compliment their own strength and capabilities."

Fourth, the Design Department didn't have to start a new expert mech design project that was expensive, time-consuming, troublesome and had a high chance of failing to achieve masterwork status.

All in all, everyone still benefited hugely for every masterwork expert mech the Design Department managed to make in this early stage of the Larkinson Clan.

"I'll just see where our next projects will take us." He decided.

From his own experiences, any project completed shortly after a successful masterwork mech creation usually turned into duds.

Part of that had to do with lack of accumulation. Over the course of designing his mechs, Ves encountered many problems which he wasn't able to solve but always lingered in his mind. By piling them up, his brain became filled with so many different ideas that all of them started to blend and mix. At a critical moment, the dam eventually burst and all of these started to fall into place and make sense.

It was difficult to describe this phenomenon, but Ves vaguely thought that it would not be possible for him to make another masterwork mech unless he completed more projects the regular way.

Work on the mech design projects resumed. Right now, Ves and his wife decided to work on the Vanguard Project and the Decapitator Project at the same time.

They both had a lot of elements in common. They were melee offensive expert mechs that possessed relatively balanced parameters and faced many of the same threats. Many of the solutions developed for one of the expert mech designs could also be applied to the other one after a bit of adaptation.

That said, the two projects had plenty of differences.

The Vanguard Project possessed a bulkier frame as it required more all-round protection in order to crash into and crack open prepared enemy formations.

Whether it fought in space, in the skies or on land, the Vanguard Project was supposed to embody its code name and lead the charge against the enemy!

As a result, the Vanguard Project sacrificed both speed and agility in favor of obtaining better protection. There was only one issue that constrained the ambitions of the mech designers.

"We don't have enough Unending alloy to offer thick and solid projection over the entire frame of our expert spearman mech. It is an excellent material, but we don't have enough to make liberal use of this material." Gloriana noted to an audience of recently-recruited assistant mech designers who were ready to perform some light and easy tasks in the design labs.

She pointed at a projection that highlighted multiple layers of external surfaces.

"This is why we have opted to go for a two-layer armor system in which Unending alloy will comprise the inner layer. While we would have wanted to use it as the outer layer, that is not ideal because the armor coverage will have to wrap over a larger volume and therefore use up more materials. Though Unending alloy is ridiculously strong compared to any other material we have access to, it can still melt or break when subjected to sufficient damage. Making the armor plating as thick as we can manage will prevent that from happening."

The Vanguard Project therefore stood out as a unique expert mech among the current batch due to its much less impressive outer layer made out of Breyer alloy.

Though the Larkinsons could have opted to employ a better and more resilient material for the outer layer, the mech designers anticipated that the Vanguard Project might get into frequent scrapes. Due to its prominent function, it was destined to get banged up each time it fought a battle.

Breyer alloy happened to be a material that the Larkinson Clan could easily get a hold of. In fact, it was rather suspicious how a regular supply of an alloy that wasn't produced in large amounts in the galactic rim kept filling up the cargo holds of the Larkinson fleet.

This was yet another one of those little oddities that the Larkinsons gradually took for granted. As long as the patriarch told everyone that they didn't need to worry about it, there was no point in continuing to dwell over the issue.

"To be honest, Breyer alloy is a fine material but it falls a little short when employed as the primary material of the armor system of an expert mech." Gloriana admitted. "That also makes it cheaper and easier for us to replenish, so it is not all bad. In certain circumstances, it can even fool our enemies into thinking that the Vanguard Project is one of our more fragile expert mechs when its inner layer of Unending alloy actually provides excellent protection to its internals."

The Vanguard Project was designed to be loud and attention-grabbing. Its threat level had to be high enough to compel enemies to invest significant assets in order to stop it from rampaging.

However, the biggest and most painful compromise the mech designers had to make was its ability to outfight other strong opponents.

"Due to the overall bulk of the Vanguard Project, it doesn't react as quickly as the slimmer mechs and it is less able to dodge and reposition itself at close range. The spearman mech's flexibility and range of motion is also more limited due to the need to cover its joints. If it is ever forced to duel against another expert mech, then it will likely have to trade injury for injury in order to achieve victory."

Out of all of the Larkinson expert mechs, the Vanguard Project would likely be the one that accumulated the most scars. It would also be the expert mech that was most likely to get demolished first.

All of this dampened her enthusiasm for his project a little bit. She wasn't able to muster the same degree of enthusiasm for his project as last time, which was a shame because she really wanted to repeat her earlier success. The more masterwork mechs she made, the more the Larkinson Clan was equipped to protect her future daughter.

"What of the Decapitator Project, ma'am?"

"That is Ketis' pet project, so she can tell you more about it." Gloriana grinned. "It's a much more exciting if risky expert mech design. The Decapitator Project is supposed to be a flanker, which means it trades protection for mobility. Its offensive power is higher as well as it needs to be able to exert enough mechanical strength to swing its greatsword. While the mech doesn't fare well against direct attacks, its superior mobility allows it to dodge and evade the worst incoming attacks."

Progress on the Decapitator Project picked up immensely after completing the Amaranto. Since that was the first time Ketis participated in the fabrication of a masterwork mech, she received a substantial boost in her ability to design a mech.

This had made her remarkably eager to apply all her new methods and solutions to the expert mech she cared about the most! The Decapitator Project became a bit faster, a bit stronger and a bit sturdier as Ketis and the other Journeymen utilized their newfound gains to turn it up a notch.

As Gloriana was attempting to bring the recent recruits up to speed, Ves met with Ketis in order to discuss the design of the greatsword at his personal workshop.

They were currently looking up at the Bright Sword Prime. The mech had to be broken down sooner or later so that the Design Department could reuse the precious Unending alloy incorporated in the prime mech.

"It's going to be a shame to dismantle this mech." Ketis sighed. "The mech doesn't deserve it. In the hands of an expert candidate, it can still do great things. Can't we just strip the current armor plating and put in Breyer alloy plating in their place?"

"That's too much work, Ketis. First, Unending alloy isn't just used to wrap up the mech. A large portion of the internal structure right down to the core parts of the internal frame are made out of Unending alloy as well. We have to disassemble the entire mech regardless in order to strip out all of this precious material. Putting it back together without Unending alloy is difficult because Breyer alloy and many other materials aren't as strong. Their density and so on are so different that we need to make thicker structural elements in order to make the mech work again."

They would have to design the Bright Sword Prime in order to accommodate the thicker support structure, and that was a huge pain for just a single mech.

Ketis got the message. It was too impractical and not worth it for the Larkinson Clan to invest resources to preserve the Bright Sword Prime.

"The Bright Sword Prime and the other first-generation prime mechs were always meant to be stopgap measures." Ves said. "Though I value them and appreciate what they have done for us, we shouldn't let sentimental reasons get in the way of doing what is best for our clan. We designed and made these mechs to protect the clan. If we allow it to become a hindrance to this goal, then that is a grave mistake."

Ketis didn't understand why Ves could think that way when his design philosophy was all about treating mechs as living equals to humans.

However, Ves saw no contradiction in this case.

"Some mechs are more precious than others, Ketis. They are designed with a specific purpose in mind and it has to make sense for us to keep using them. We don't have any room to put weak and outdated mechs into retirement homes. The best way they can serve the clan is to give up their existence and allow the materials they are made of to help in the production of better, stronger mechs."

"This… can't you do anything to preserve life within this prime mech?" Ketis asked. "I mean, you're good at manipulating life, right? Why not transplant the life in this prime mech to the Decapitator Project? Won't that be a good way to preserve all of the progress that Venerable Dise had made so far in nurturing the Bright Sword Prime? It's a lot better than starting from scratch!"

This.. was an intriguing idea.