The Mech Touch

Since they were usually designed by Seniors and Masters, it was not uncommon for expert mechs to serve as testbeds for their latest technological innovations.

While the mech designers of the Larkinson Clan were merely Journeymen, each of them had already developed different solutions that they would love to apply to a mech with a high performance limit.

Unfortunately, only a limited number of mech designers could make meaningful contributions to a mech design at a time.

The generally accepted limit was 5 contributors. Any more than that and there would be too many cooks in the kitchen. The direction and vision of a mech design would become completely muddled, leading to a phenomenon where too much potential was being wasted.

"Aside from myself, Gloriana, Sara, Tifi will be working on the C-Man Project." Ves announced. "Sara, Tifi, the two of you will be the main contributors to this expert brawler mech design. Are you confident enough to take on this challenge?"

Sara nodded. She already had prior experience with working on a Larkinson expert mech, so this was not a completely new experience for her. The only issue was that the C-Man Project needed to rely much more heavily on its armor system than the Minerva.

"I can do it, but I will probably be stretched for time." She said.

"We will try our best to cover the other aspects of the mech design." Ves promised.

Aside from Ves, Sara Voiken was probably the most universally desirable Journeyman in the design department. Her defensive specialization meant that she was able to increase the durability of every single mech design that passed through her hands.

No matter whether a project centered around a light mech with a flimsy exterior or a heavy mech that was clad with thick armor plating, Sara could apply many different solutions to increase their resilience!

The difference she could make was massive. Fewer mechs would get downed as they were able to resist damage that would have otherwise been fatal. Their mech pilots had a much higher chance of surviving a battle as well as their cockpits were better protected against breaches.

As far as Ves was concerned, Sara Voiken's participation in expert mech design projects was mandatory. No mechs were more important than the expert mechs that empowered and protected the clan's precious expert pilots.

The longer they remained on the battlefield, the more they could tilt a fight in their favor. Being able to outlast enemy expert mechs was already an incomparable advantage!

It was a pity that there was only one defensive specialist in the Design Department. Ves briefly considered whether he should attempt to hire another defensive specialist.

Sara's specialty was mainly focused around empowering the physical armor of her mech designs. Her solutions mainly dealt with negating kinetic impacts, but she possessed a big gap when it came to defending against energy damage.

If Ves wanted to round out the Design Department further, he should ideally be on the lookout for a defensive specialist that specialized in energy shielding systems or energy damage mitigation.

As long as Sara and this new defensive specialist combined forces, they could easily design defensive mechs that could endure all kinds of damage!

However, this was not an option for this design round. Even if Ves found a suitable Journeyman right away, it would take months for the newcomer to integrate into the clan.

Before the new mech designer completed this essential requirement, there was no way that Ves would hand over the important responsibility of contributing to the design of one of the Larkinson Clan's most important strategic assets!

While Ves was thinking, Gloriana, Sara and Tifi already started to voice their thoughts on how to configure the C-Man Project.

"I have spoken to Venerable Vincent several times." Gloriana said. "He doesn't want to stick to the original configuration of his B-Man anymore. He wants to pilot a pure melee mech that puts all of its strength into punching, grappling and kicking. We will satisfy his requirements, but I am under no illusion that it will be easy."

"A mech that strikes with its entire body will have to endure a lot of physical stresses." Sara observed. "What is worse is that the forces that will be acting on the mech can come from many different angles. I will need to design a fortified external and internal structure that can keep the mech intact and prevent its more vulnerable components from rattling loose."

"I will assist you as best as possible." Gloriana said before turning to another Journeyman. "Tifi, even though armor plays a major role to the C-Man Project, it is first and foremost an offensive mech. We need to rely on you to impart a mechanical system that can allow our upcoming expert brawler mech to attack with great force. Can you do this at the expert mech level?"

Tifi Coslone frowned. This was the first time she would play a major role in the design of an expert mech, so she did not have complete confidence in her ability to do the C-Man Project justice.

"I am not accustomed to contributing to a mech design with a higher budget and higher performance targets. I think I will have to spend more time on this in order to try out my more radical design solutions, but I should be able to manage. I will also have to work with Vincent to determine his personal fighting style and best reflect his physique on the C-Man Project."

Ves smiled. The three women had solid plans in mind despite working on a brawler mech type for the first time in their careers.

"What do you think about the 'boxing gloves' that will be paired with the C-Man Project?" He asked.

"It's not unusual for brawler mech models to feature modular arm attachments." Gloriana replied. "Brawler mechs are almost just as hard on themselves as their opponents. It makes sense to equip them with semi-disposable buffer equipment that can absorb much of the damage and stresses. The only problem is that our clan will need to replace it on a regular basis as the wear and tear will be great."

Ves shrugged. "It's fine as long as equipping the gloves will reduce the wear and tear of the rest of the frame."

They talked a bit more about the C-Man Project before Sara finally addressed the elephant in the room.

"I understand that Venerable Vincent has made several… unorthodox demands for his expert mech." The woman slowly said.

Everyone immediately knew what she was referring to. Ves even palmed his face.

"Our expert mechs are not the personal property of their principal controllers. They are the guardians and symbols of our clan. While it is fine to fool around a bit with ordinary custom mechs, our high-ranking machines must rise above this infantile level."

Sara frowned. "What do you want us to do concerning the C-Man's… codpiece? From how passionately Vincent talks about it, he will never accept a mech that does not bear this cosmetic element."

This was especially the case now that Vincent had advanced to the rank of expert pilot! His willpower had become so strong that codpieces had become a matter of principle to his current self!

Ves let out a frustrated breath. "Just do what we have done before. You can add a codpiece, but make sure that Vincent isn't directly involved in its design. Do as much as you can to satisfy his vanity but also make sure you design it as tastefully as possible. In fact, don't let him speak. Just show him different designs of different shapes that only vaguely resemble codpieces and let him pick from one of them. I think this is the best way to resolve this particular issue."

Whether it would work or not remained to be seen. It was worth an attempt at least.

After every relevant mech designer gained a good idea on how to approach the C-Man Project, Ves shifted the discussion to the Firestarter Project.

"The expert mech we will be designing for Venerable Isobel Kotin will be our second true rifleman mech. Sure, the Everchanger and the Minerva are also capable of fighting at range, but this is not their main focus. The Firestarter Project will be a true ranged powerhouse that puts great emphasis on firepower. That makes the Amaranto's sibling."

The Amaranto was probably the most powerful offensive mech of the Larkinson Clan at this time. While the First Sword was capable of bursting out with great damage up close, the Amaranto's range and peak firepower formed a potent combination that could cripple many powerful mechs if left unopposed!

Ves was particularly proud of the Amaranto's design. He had played a large role in configuring and designing it. The expert rifleman mech faithfully channeled his vision of a machine that pursued extreme firepower.

The opportunity to work on a second expert rifleman mech granted him the opportunity to surpass his earlier work. He did not want to turn the Firestarter Project into an uninspiring ranged platform.

If he wanted this work to surpass the Amaranto, then he needed to give full play to Venerable Isobel's unique strengths!

"As you all know, Venerable Isobel has developed a potent offensive ability after her apotheosis. Her extraordinary willpower centers around flames or burning, which allows her to burn any enemy by leveraging true resonance. I have already talked to her about her future expert mech and I believe that the draft that I have made is a good starting point."

He enlarged the projection of the draft design and quickly explained its basic properties.

Soon enough, he addressed the Firestarter Project's weapon systems.

"The rifle that I intend to develop for the Firestarter Project will be a close relative of the Amaranto's main gun. The Instrument of Vengeance suits Venerable Stark best as she is excellent at picking her targets and sniping any weak points from afar. This also makes the Amaranto best at penetrating through powerful defenses, but fairly worse when it comes to spreading out damage over larger surface areas."

Ves tapped the projection, causing it to zoom in on the Firestarter Project's rifle.

"The main weapon of this expert mech is not optimized for sniping. Instead, I intend to optimize it for rapid firing. This will turn the Firestarter Project into a run-and-gunner style of ranged mech that can attack many targets in rapid succession or spread a lot of shots over the surface area of a larger target. The reason why I think this is best is because this should be the most efficient way to apply Venerable Isobel's burning attacks onto the enemy."

"You're banking a lot on Venerable Isobel's special powers." Janassa Pellier commented. "What if her natural resonance abilities aren't as effective as you think? What if the burns that she can apply through her ranged attacks are only strong enough to cause surface damage?"

Ves shrugged. "Then we will take what we can get. I have confidence that this can be effective. I personally observed her power during the Battle of Purgatory. The Quint burned every fish-whale with its resonance-empowered attacks. Even if this was an instance of forced resonance that Isobel is unlikely to reach for many years, we can afford to wait for her to build up her resonance strength."

The burning property of her willpower was too powerful for him to dismiss!

Even if the Firestarter Project's offensive power would not be as impressive due to its fast-firing rifle and Isobel's underdeveloped force of will, he predicted that the female expert pilot would definitely gain more notoriety than Venerable Stark in the future!

This was great for Ves as Venerable Isobel was a full member of the Larkinson Clan.

Though Ves appreciated the strength and skill shown by Venerable Davia Stark, she had never shown any interest in joining his clan.

Ves found that to be a pity, but as long as more ranged expert pilots such as Venerable Isobel emerged from the ranks, the departure of a powerful high-ranking mech pilot should not cause too much of a disruption.