The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

After a few more intensive design sessions, Ves and Gloriana managed to complete the first iteration of the Deliverer design.

They knew that this accomplishment was much different from previous ones.

Ves already possessed a high degree of confidence in the soundness of the first iterations of the Adonis Colossus and the Desolate Soldiers.

No matter what kind of flaws, deviations and unexpected interactions the other mechs carried, Ves knew for sure that they weren't anything major.

Ves had acquired a lot of knowledge and knew exactly how most elements of his mechs interacted with each other. It was only when the scope became too big that Ves didn't dare to make any certain predictions.

Even so, as long as each component was sound, the physical prototype would not perform too differently from the virtual prototypes.

This time was different. Subjecting the first iteration of the Deliverer to numerous virtual tests revealed only a part of its potential.

Right now, the entire design team gathered together to observe one of the billions of simulated tests.

The virtual Deliverer flew backwards in space while facing down ten approaching sandman drones.

Due to the importance of designing mechs against the sandmen, a lot of companies already modeled the tactics and behavior of their race.

The drones in the simulation behaved closely if they showed up in reality.

The fight started off poorly. At extreme range, the Deliverer carefully aimed its massive gauss rifle and fired a shot.

It missed by more than fifty meters due to the incredible range and time lag.

The sandmen didn't fire yet. While their laser weapons were much more accurate at longer ranges, each drone possessed a limited amount of energy. It was too much of a waste if they emptied their reserves at a distance.

For this reason, the Deliverer had a window of opportunity where it could reduce the number of sandman drones unopposed.

Only distance was its enemy. The Executor rifle was slow to cycle under ordinary circumstances. To maximize its muzzle velocity, the weapon had to cycle a lot of energy and endure some great forces.

While it was possible for the mech to overload the Executor rifle and increase its firing rate beyond its safe parameters, the cost of doing so was severe.

Overloading the weapon reduced its structural integrity due to subjecting it to frequent stress. Increasing the firing rate also built up a lot of heat, which took time to siphon away.

All of this damage also reduced the accuracy and precision of the weapon.

However, the virtual Deliverer evidently figured out that it wouldn't be able to survive if it kept firing its weapon at safe levels.

The mech therefore deactivated the gauss rifle's safety limits and fired it faster, heedless of the price it must pay after the battle.

The chance of hitting a target had dropped due to subjecting the weapon to increased stress.

However, firing the weapon twice as fast gave the mech a lot more chances to score a lucky hit!

Eventually, the mech managed to hit a sandman drone, causing it to explode in a cloud of sand!

Nine more targets remained.

The rifle barked out silent shot after silent shot. The lack of air in space made it impossible for any air to propagate. The heat emanating from the rifle constantly increased as too little time had passed to shunt all of it away.

The mech drew out a lot of power from its energy cells, thereby putting it's internal architecture under severe strain.

A lot of performance parameters started to drop as a consequence. However, it was worth it to pay this price in exchange for doubling the firing rate.

One more sandman drone collapsed before the enemy finally began to hit back.

Eight laser beams struck out in succession!

Seven of them managed to land on the Deliverer!

This was a very high hit rate at this distance! The mech instantly incurred a lot of damage to its armor! If not for the mech's size and mass, the lasers would have been able to inflict more damage!

What was worse was that one of the laser beams managed to strike the Executor rifle. The weapon was simply too big!

Fortunately, the Executor rifle was robust enough to function even after a part of its body had been vaporized.

The sandman drones quickly fired again, though. This time, all eight laser beams hit the Deliverer without fail!

Three laser beams struck the Executor rifle, causing it to finally fail as some of the coils sustained too much damage!

Along with the other damage suffered by the mech, it became clear that it was no longer battle effective. All it could do was to turn around and increase its flight speed in an attempt to escape.

Sadly, the mobility of the Deliverer was abysmal. The mech couldn't outrun the swift and agile sandman drones at all!

The simulation ended.

"Thoughts?" Ves asked.

"The performance of the Deliverer.. is not up to industry standard." Miles reluctantly stated the truth. "Other marksman mech models subjected to the same conditions generally fare better. Their rifles aren't as powerful, but they're smaller and less vulnerable against enemy fire. The mechs are also more mobile, allowing them to dodge and confuse the enemy's targeting system. In independent combat, the Deliverer is too unsuitable."

Cherie Tovar manipulated an interface and projected previous simulation results. "The mech doesn't perform as well in group combat either. The only instance where the Deliverer performs decently is if it enjoys the cover of a bunker or a space knight. Without this level of protection, the mech is a sitting duck."

"Sitting duck describes this mech well." Pachtold Tovar agreed. "While I get that this is supposed to be a glass cannon, but its defense and mobility is so inadequate that it's incapable of operating by itself."

"To be fair, the mech isn't supposed to be deployed alone. It's very clear that the Deliverer is meant to be deployed as a force multiplier." Vela Tovar noted. As a ranged mech specialist, she possessed the best understanding of the Deliverer. "The mech is capable of fulfilling the job it's supposed to do. It's just that the mech community has a certain expectation towards marksman mechs. They're too used to the idea that they should be able to fend for themselves."

Third-class mechs usually specialize a lot. However, that did not mean they sacrificed everything to perform their primary roles.

Battles were messy and circumstances weren't always ideal. A mech had to possess a certain amount of versatility and self-sufficiency in order to sell well in the Bright Republic and elsewhere.

The Desolate Soldier was a lot more appealing for that reason. While it was just a budget rifleman mech without any exceptional strengths, it didn't possess any pronounced weaknesses either.

Aside from being garbage in melee combat, the Desolate Soldier performed adequately in group or individual combat. Even if its performance wasn't stellar, the mech was so cheap that it wasn't a significant loss if one of them was taken out.

The Deliverer on the other hand was a premium mech that cost three times as much as a Desolate Soldier.

The standards were higher when it came to more expensive mechs. Otherwise, why should customers even purchase them in the first place?

From this perspective, the Deliverer's extremely limited applications made it much less appealing.

When customers paid this much money for a mech, they wanted to get some bang for their buck. Even though the Deliverer was strong in some circumstances, it was incredibly weak and vulnerable in other circumstances.

The chance of wasting their money was too big if they went for an overly-specialized mech.

Ves was already familiar with this reasoning as it was the main reason why the Aurora Titan failed to achieve critical success.

While the LMC and NORA Consolidated still sold a decent amount of Aurora Titans per month, it was merely enough to call it a cult classic.

Miles addressed the elephant in the room. "We all know that the Deliverer is supposed to offer more than what the simulations have shown. After all of the wonders Mr. Larkinson managed to realize, I won't discount the 'special features' until I see the mech in action."

A wave of uncertainty and dissatisfaction went through the other mech designers. As Brighters, his design team found it very difficult to accept the possibility that the mech they helped design possessed superpowers.

It didn't fit their current understanding of reality. How could science possibly enable such magic?

If they worked for any other mech designer, they might have quit on the spot!

"Not even I know for certain whether the upcoming physical tests can showcase its special features." Ves admitted.

That caused Gloriana to frown. "I thought you were certain that your mech can deliver on its promises."

"That is different from stating that the prototype will perform up to satisfaction." Ves retorted. "Due to the deteriorating war situation, the Kronon Dynasty has only lent three Ylvainan marksman specialists to me. Each of them are highly trained and possess different backgrounds, but there is a chance that none of them are compatible with my mech."

That would be a depressing outcome and a serious setback. This was not the Ylvaine Protectorate. Due to its long-standing isolation, very few Ylvainans spread to other states.

At the very least, the chance of finding an Ylvainan mech pilot who specialized in marksmanship was very low outside of the Protectorate!

"Do you expect that to happen, Ves?"

"Probably not. I did request the Kronons to send some of their more devout marksman mechs to me. As long as they aren't faking it, the test pilots should be able to elicit at least some reaction from the prototype."

If that didn't happen for some reason, then Ves still had a last resort. He could always summon Ylvaine's spiritual fragment and beat it up until it agreed to lend its power to the test pilots.

Naturally, Ves preferred to keep a friendly relationship with his design spirit. It was enough for him to harbor a willingness to resort to harder measures.

With the fragment's apparent ability to predict the future, it should probably choose to accommodate Ves' intentions out of its own accord.

They continued to discuss the state of the Deliverer design for a couple of hours. After a lot of explanation and questioning, they were ready to fabricate the prototype.

Considering the mech's high degree of reliance on the X-Factor, Ves did not allow regular mech technicians to fabricate it this time.

"You should all be proficient in fabricating mechs." He spoke to the Tovars. "Go to the workshop and fabricate the prototype. I've already stocked several batches of materials in the inventories."

"Are you sure?" Miles skeptically asked. "We're not Ylvainans and we don't have any experience in making Ylvainan mechs."

Ves shook his head. "A mech is a mech. Calling them Brighter mechs, Vesian mechs or Ylvainan mechs is nothing but a way to specify their origin or target audience. Mech designers like us shouldn't be too picky. If you keep limiting yourself to Brighter-style mechs, you won't be able to expand your success outside of our borders."

"Besides, we all pitched in to the design." Gloriana added. "You all deserve some credit for your contributions, however minor they might be. Are you really disgusted with fabricating your own work?"

None of the Tovars could offer a good retort to her. It was just that they had always been rather begrudging when it came to designing this mech.

At least the Adonis Colossus was a pure Brighter mech designed specifically to accommodate a Brighter mech pilot. Even with its silly emphasis on masculinity, the Tovar mech designers were still proud of what they accomplished.

They weren't as happy with the Deliverer. Yet due to the continued teachings of Ves and Gloriana, they came to tolerate this weird design.

"We'll try our best." Miles weakly promised. "Please don't blame us if we fail."