The Mech Touch

"Damn, if your ERC tech is so powerful, we should implement it into all of the mech designs that make use of luminar crystal weapons!"

"That... might not make as much of a difference as you think, sir."

"What do you mean by that, Harry?"

As proud as the Journeyman may be for presenting successful research results to his superior, he could not hide the limitations and shortcomings of his tech.

It was best to be upfront about the downsides of his new design application in order to prevent the clan from making any premature decisions.

Harry pointed at the projected footage.

The aftermath of the latest and final attack still made a profound impact on Ves. What he did not notice at first was how visibly drained Venerable Stark had become. The expert pilot was made of sterner stuff, so she did not lose her combat effectiveness right away, but was clear that channeling her emotions and discharging them through the prototype weapon had exacted a toll on her mind.

This made sense. No source of energy was truly unlimited. There was a limit to how many emotions a human could generate.

Venerable Stark had entered a state of partial exhaustion that reminded Ves of expert pilots who had used up much of their extraordinary willpower.

"Correct" Harry responded. "This is one of the constraints of ERC tech. No matter whether we are talking about standard mech pilots, expert pilots or ace pilots, they can only muster up their emotional strength for so long"

Ves rubbed his hairless chin in thought. "I see. This is not as good as I expected, but it is still an acceptable limitation. Why do you say your new tech might not be as useful?"

"Because the amplification effect from channeling emotions becomes proportionately weaker when we are dealing with larger and more powerful luminar crystal weapons. So far, I have only given you demonstrations based on infantry-grade ERC luminar crystal weapons. I have yet to test my invention on a mech-grade luminar crystal rifle. I still need to perform calculations and make adjustments to the weapon design to ensure it can properly channel the power of a scaled-up luminar circuitry pattern." That sounded troublesome. Ves would have liked to get his hands on actual empirical data on how a mech-sized ERC luminar crystal weapon performed.

"So are you saying that if the weapon becomes dozens of times larger, the emotions

Produced by a single human becomes so small in proportion that the amplification will become minimal?"

"Exactly, sir." Harry grimaced. "I assume that many forms of systematic cultivation that have recently become popular can strengthen a person's capacity to produce strong emotions, but it will take time to observe a massive difference. The living mech may be able to infuse the same emotion into the luminar crystal weapon as well for additional power, but I do not expect this to significantly change the outcome."

Ves frowned and tapped his fingers against his desk. "Then this tech should only be effective for expert pilots and stronger, is that what you are thinking?"

"That is my preliminary conclusion. All of this is still contingent on testing. Once I have worked out the kinks and developed the first prototype ERC luminar crystal rifle that is scaled for mech usage, I will transfer it to the expeditionary fleet so that Venerable Stark and a number of other Larkinson pilots can test its performance. I will be able to present you with more definite answers at that time. For now, it is safest to assume that my ERC tech is only effective for high-ranking mech pilots."

That was a small disappointment, but not an unexpected one. The logic was clear. There did not appear to be any obvious ways to boost the firepower of these weapons by exploiting this newly discovered circuitry pattern.

Ves accepted the advantages as well as the limitations of Harry's new design application.

Despite its many shortcomings, ERC tech still had a promising future considering that Harry Kaikkonen only just developed it. There was plenty of room for improvement. ŗ𝒶𝐍𝔬฿Ë𝘚

Now that Harry had completed his new presentation, the two mech designers soon talked more specifically about the first mech design project where ERC tech may play an outsized role.

The Journeyman Mech Designer called up the incomplete design schematic of the Amaranto Mark III Project.

"The Amaranto Mark III Project is progressing slightly behind schedule, sir." Harry Kaikkonen reported to Ves. "Director Gloriana has invested her time and energy into developing the special structural composition of the expert rifleman mech. She has managed to solve many difficult problems related to developing an archemech frame that is largely based on Solarium and Divernas alloy. Her tests so far indicate that the physical defenses for the high-tier expert mech will not be too bad while still being able to provide strong light energy amplification."

Unlike the Riot Mark III Project and the Minerva Mark II Project which feature more balanced configurations, the Amaranto Mark III Project still adhered to the concept of extreme firepower.

Both Ves and Gloriana had made a risky bet by committing to a mech frame that largely amplified the expert mech's offensive performance.

To be honest, Ves already thought that the use of Divernas alloy would provide the Amaranto Mark III with a ridiculous degree of amplification compared to the previous edition.

Adding in ERC tech on top of that would multiply the firepower of the Amaranto even further!

Ves grew concerned as he studied the design schematics. He hadn't paid attention to the Amaranto Mark III Project as of late, but now that he took a look at it, he was not quite sure whether the mech frame could bear all of the power and stress of charging up a single shot.

What if the Amaranto Mark III blew herself apart in the process of charging up to full power?!

"Are the Amaranto Mark III and the Instrument of Vengeance resilient enough to withstand the energies that she is capable of gathering?" Ves asked.

Harry regained a bit of his confidence as he provided his answer.

"The director and I have spent many hours to fortify the Amaranto Mark III. The Instrument Mark III will become considerably larger and bulkier in order to raise its energy capacity. We will also take care to acquire and combine the best exotic materials regardless of the cost in order to increase the physical toughness and heat capacity of the luminar crystals. Furthermore, we have also chosen to use an uneven proportion of ChargeMate and Heatmate as the resonating exotics of the Amaranto Mark III in order to give Davia Stark further control over the emissions of her expert mech."

"ChargeMate and HeatMate? The classic combination of resonating alloys? As far as I can recall, they are ace mech-grade resonating exotics. I have no problem with incorporating them into the Amaranto when Davia Stark has broken through, but right now she is still an expert pilot. There are dangerous consequences to letting expert pilots attempt to resonate with materials beyond their ability to tame." This was not a trivial issue. According to the theory that exotic materials were the degenerated remains of powerful beings who lived in past eons, resonating materials happened to possess a touch of the lingering soul of those terrible life forms.

An expert pilot did not possess the resonance strength and domain to fully grapple with these dangerous resonating materials. They would have to fight an uphill battle every time they wanted to amplify their ace mech with true resonance.

What was worse was that the untamed resonating materials may actually produce a backlash where they actively attacked the expert pilot, possibly in the middle of an

Ongoing battle!

Despite all of these known dangers, Harry Kaikkonen seemed confident in this design

Choice.

"Director Gloriana has personally made the decision to integrate ChargeMate and HeatMate in advance. She judged that the usual conventions do not entirely apply in this case. Venerable Davia Stark's willpower is naturally more resilient than others, and she can also count on the support of her companion spirit Vail, which oddly takes the form of a black crow. Stark might not be able to leverage the full power of ChargeMate and HeatMate as a high-tier expert pilot, but even partial use can already make a difference considering how effective they are when utilized by ace pilots. This is not the first time mech designers have made this decision. Your wife is confident that it can work because the classic combination that you referred to has proven to be remarkably stable and devoid of many risks."

Ves could not fault Gloriana for her logic. He had investigated this classic combination in the past when he devised an energy weapon configuration for the Dark Zephyr

Mark III.

ChargeMate, which could produce additional electric energy upon resonance, and

HeatMate, which could reduce heat upon resonance, had both proven to be reliable in practically any high-ranking mech that heavily depended on the use of energy

Weapons.

They expanded an ace pilot's options and made it so that the ace mech's performance could easily surpass its technological limitations by leveraging the reality-defying properties of extraordinary willpower.

"Heat management will be a huge problem if there are many factors that can amplify

The firepower of the luminar crystal weapon," Ves said in thought. "I can see why Gloriana wants to implement a lot of HeatMate into the mech frame. I suppose she could have chosen inferior expert mech-grade substitutes, but it will take a lot of trouble to disassemble the Amaranto Mark III and replace her resonating exotics if Davia Stark breaks through."

In other words, this design choice only truly made sense if Venerable Stark managed to advance to the rank of ace pilot in the short term!

If the guest pilot remained stuck as a high-tier expert pilot for years to come, then the

Use of two ace mech-grade resonating alloys would turn into a shackle that held Stark

Back! Though Ves felt the urge to suggest a more conservative approach towards the Amaranto Mark III Project, he eventually decided not to do so. His wife made this choice for a reason, and he was willing to respect her judgment.

Ves had always thought that Venerable Davia Stark was bound to become more powerful. She was far more motivated and emotionally invested in her goals than most other high-ranking mech pilots.

His only job was to supply her with the right living mech to ensure that this would

Never become a limitation to her growth.

He had a small hunch that Davia Stark would not end up like his uncle or his grandfather. She might break through and become an ace pilot immediately or shortly after she received her long-awaited Amaranto Mark III!

If that was the case, then all of this effort would pay off, because there was very little

Need to make too many changes to optimize the Amaranto Mark III for an ace pilot as opposed to an expert pilot!

"It is kind of strange that Gloriana did not opt to select a resonating exotic that can further amplify the firepower of the Amaranto Mark III." Ves commented. "We do not have access to materials that are strong enough to withstand the catastrophic buildup of energy if we made such a choice. Harry shook his head. "Besides, it is not worth it. Venerable Stark must already devote much of her concentration and energy into activating multiple forms of amplification. Trying to increase the firepower of a weapon with true resonance will wear her mentality down even faster. We wanted to extend the Amaranto Mark III's longevity in the field, so the combination of ChargeMate and HeatMate can facilitate this goal."

That made sense. There were potent resonating materials available that could directly

Augment the firepower of an energy weapon. ChargeMate and HeatMate were a lot more flexible and could also be used to extend the deployment time of an ace mech. This combination was good for enabling the Amaranto Mark III to fight non-stop at lower intensities for many hours at a time.

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