The Mech Touch

"Our Maiden of Adversity is performing well in this battle." Gloriana's projection preened. "I told you the Hexers would love it. Just look at how eagerly their mech pilots are making use of its different functions. Our new design looks so beautiful as well. Sara Voiken has done an excellent job at making the Battle Skirt System both stylish and useful."

"Why do I have the idea that you pay more attention to style than utility?" Ves asked.

"That's because the Hexers refuse to pilot ugly or overly masculine mechs!" Gloriana explained. "Do you know how difficult it is to convince Hexers to pilot heavier and more cumbersome machines? Piloting a fat and ugly mech is considered a punishment in Hexer society! This is why this responsibility is usually left for male mech pilots."

"I see…"

The Battle Skirt System was exactly what its name implied. It was the defining feature of the Maiden of Adversity and spiced up what would otherwise come across as a relatively boring hero mech model.

Ves had initially designed the Maiden of Adversity as an evolution of the hero mechs he designed in the past.

With the experiences he gained and the lessons he learned from designing the Transcendent Messenger, the Ouroboros and most notably the Everchanger, Ves attempted to develop a hero mech that was economic enough to be mass produced but powerful enough to add real value to a mech roster.

It was the invention of the Battle Skirt System that truly turned the Maiden of Adversity into a successful model!

By default, it was arranged in a skirt that covered the legs and part of the torso in order to make it look good while at the same time keeping the redundant armor plating out of the way when they weren't needed.

When the Maiden of Adversity was not under heavy attack, it was able to wield its weapons faster and more flexibly because its arms and upper torso weren't weighed down by a lot of armor plating.

However, the reason why the mech was called this way was that whenever it encountered any form of adversity, it could break up its battle skirts and reposition the modular armor plating in different configurations.

The brilliant part about the Battle Skirt System was that it not only came with a bunch of pre-programmed configurations, but also allowed the mech pilot or other clever people to dynamically program their own layouts!

For example, one configuration could turn the mech into a space knight complete with tower shield.

Another configuration could reposition most of the modular plating to form a shield at the rear in order to protect the flight system and prevent the Maiden of Adversity from getting shot down during a retreat.

The modular armor plating could even be stacked on top of each other to prevent a powerful attack from inflicting a fatal blow to the mech!

"The concept of the Battle Skirt System is simple but incredibly useful if properly used." Sara Voiken explained during a meeting on the design project. "The main problem with armoring mechs is that they are vulnerable in every direction, but cannot carry as much armor as needed. Whether it is cost or capacity limitations, there is only so much armor that you can apply to a mech."

Gloriana nodded in understanding. "If this wasn't the case, then all of us would be designing heavy mechs for a living."

"Over the years, mech designers have experimented with many different rules, philosophies and standards." Sara continued. "Eventually, the mech industry has agreed on a general standard. The torso and especially the upper part of it must offer the best protection. The front side of a mech must also be covered by thicker armor plating than the rear side. Mechs that follow this standard always perform better than ones that deviate from it. This is not a surprise since mechs often end up in battle situations that cause them to receive most attacks on the front torso."

"There are exceptions, though." Ves remarked.

"That is true, sir. That is also one of the dilemmas that mech designers are struggling with. There is a spectrum between applying armor plating as evenly as possible across a mech frame and putting the greatest possible protection at the sections that are more critical and more often get targeted."

Gloriana crossed her arms. "The problem with the former approach is that they go down faster in the most prevalent battle scenarios. The problem with the latter approach is that the mechs are incredibly weak if they get outflanked. These are both undesirable outcomes, but given that mechs often deploy in greater numbers, it is generally better to lean towards the latter approach and hope that friendly mechs can cover each other's rears."

Sara Voiken grinned. "What if that isn't strictly necessary anymore? This design project is a great opportunity for us to explore a less common arrangement that no longer forces a mech to stick to one or the other approach. By adopting a modular auxiliary armor system that allows the mech to dynamically reposition a part of its own armor plating in different ways will mean that the mech pilot can always adopt the right armor configuration for the right situation!"

Ves' eyes lit up. He loved this idea!

It also happened to be extremely suitable for hero mechs, which were already known and desired for their versatility.

He already imagined many different ways the Battle Skirt System could offer tremendous help to the hero mechs.

The mechs could form their own walls with firing slits by putting all of their modular armor plating in front. This made it a lot more practical for them to fight at range without relying on space knights.

Ves became more optimistic about the Battle Skirt System when he weighed all of the pros and cons. "Being able to dynamically rearrange the modular armor plating is no substitute to carrying more solid fixed armor, but it is a good compromise and stopgap measure. We can keep the total mass and volume of the hero mech under control while at the same time enjoying a lot of the benefits of heavier and more armored mechs."

"It won't be easy to implement such a complicated and elaborate auxiliary armor system." Gloriana warned. "I can already foresee the need to develop a complex control mechanism as well as many different mechanical adjustments in order to allow the modular armor plating to reposition and affix itself in place. If we don't make it solid enough, it will be too easy for enemy attacks to break the Battle Skirt System by relying on brute force."

After a lot of exploration, the mech designers eventually concluded that while it was possible for them to add the Battle Skirt System to a hero mech, the cost of making it viable and worthwhile enough was rather high!

"Our Penitent Sisters will readily be able to field this mech because our clan is wealthy enough to afford the expense of adopting this interesting new model." Ves issued his judgment. "This interesting variation of a hero mech also conforms to the martial tradition of the Penitent Sisters. I can already imagine it as an excellent complement to the Valkyrie Redeemer Mark II model."

Gloriana had to think a bit longer about this issue. "The Glory Seekers will also field it. They follow the elite route so it is still acceptable to include this new product in their mech roster. The only problem is that it will be a bit difficult to find enough mech pilots that are proficient in both ranged and melee combat. Talents that are skilled in both are always rare as most mech academies encourage specialization after mastering the basics."

Most ranged mech pilots were able to handle a sword or knife while most melee mech pilots knew how to shoot a rifle.

However, there was a huge difference between learning the basics and mastering all of the necessary combat skills to a professional level!

Higher-than-average talent, learning ability or genetic aptitude were pretty much indispensable to piloting hero mechs. Everyone else that tried to pilot a hero mech would certainly regret it when they inevitably lost control or got outclassed in actual battle!

"The Hex Army should be better off in this regard." Gloriana said after she briefly exchanged messages with one of her relatives over the galactic net. "When the Hexers evacuated to the Red Ocean, they brought as many elites and excellent talents as possible. Many of the mech pilots serving in the Hex Army today represent the best and brightest of the former Hexadric Hegemony. They're also fairly young so they should more easily be able to adapt to our innovations."

They no longer had any concerns about lacking sufficient users for their brilliant new hero mech design after hearing this. Even if the Hex Army did not have enough mech pilots in their ranks that could pilot such a complicated machine, the Hexers would certainly focus on training more as long as the end product was good enough!

The importance of making this brilliant hero mech design work caused Ves to put more thought on its living aspects.

One of the decisions that Ves was struggling with was deciding the right design spirits for this powerful new mech.

Though he could have settled on one of the aspects of the Superior Mother like usual, he felt that it was not the right choice for this project.

"Even though we are clearly designing the Maiden of Adversity in the style of a Hexer mech, I think we should contemplate a different design spirit for this mech model. Maybe two even." Ves stated.

"Huh?" Gloriana looked at Ves as if he had just committed heresy! "How can a Hexer mech not be blessed by the Superior Mother?"

"Why do Hexer mechs need to be babysat by the Superior Mother all the time?" Ves shot back. "The Hexers themselves have designed lots of mechs that have nothing to do with design spirits, and you don't see them complaining about it. While it is true that including the Superior Mother in our own works is a strong selling point, I don't think it is healthy for a mech force to limit their options to just a single source of power. We have many different design spirits at our disposal that are both strong and useful in their own areas of competences."

His wife remained skeptical. "What do you have in mind for this project then, Ves?"

"Since this new project is based around a hero mech, I figured it would be great if it was paired with a design spirit that enhances its ranged combat capabilities and one that augments its melee combat capabilities. My suggestion would be to add the Illustrious One to improve the hero mech's effective ranged performance and Zeigra to make the mech more aggressive when fighting with a sword."

"UNACCEPTABLE! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY MAKE YOU THINK IT IS A GOOD IDEA TO COMBINE OUR BEAUTIFUL FEMALE HERO MECH WITH A PAIR OF MALE DESIGN PROTO-GODS? IT WOULD HAVE MADE MUCH MORE SENSE IF YOU HAVE CHOSEN QILANXO OR EVEN TITANIA DESPITE THEIR ALIEN NATURES! AT LEAST THEY ARE BOTH MOTHERS!"

Ves and Gloriana became embroiled in another fight over the design spirits for the mech that would eventually become known as the Maiden of Adversity.

Though Gloriana was willing to embrace more diversity and move away from the Superior Mother considering that many of their other Hexer mechs already carried her presence, she absolutely did not accept the influence of any 'male' design spirits!

Ves became increasingly more tired and exasperated as he argued with her on this issue.

At certain times, he even wished that he had made all of his artificial design spirits female! At least he wouldn't be having this silly argument if entities such as the Illustrious One were all women!

"Fine! Have it your way, then! Just know that if we go for the combination of Qilanxo and Titania, the Maiden of Adversity will have to be a bit more slanted towards defense than offensive."

"It's fine. We can make the battle skirt heavier and sacrifice a certain amount of mobility as long as our new Hexer mech can fight in frontal battles."