The Mech Touch

Pairing the soaring Valkyrie Redeemer with a submachine gun granted the mech sufficient ranged firepower against opponents at medium range.

Submachine guns, which were light enough to be wielded by a single mech arm if necessary, weren't known for their accuracy.

Even though there was a lot of overlap these days, the mech industry still maintained a conscious distinction between various ranged weapon types.

In general, rifles were quite effective at different ranges. They worked best at medium range but did not become useless at longer or shorter ranges.

Submachine guns didn't have to cover so much ground. In exchange for increasing their firing rate and decreasing the burden onto the mech, this class of weapons straightforwardly sacrificed long-ranged firepower in favor of increasing their effectiveness at shorter ranges.

Their fairly constructed weapon frames made them very suitable for mechs that did not wish to lug around a big and c.u.mbersome weapon.

While the weapon lacked punch, this was a worthwhile tradeoff to make. The Valkyrie Redeemer's ranged capabilities mainly served to give the mech some teeth against distant targets.

In general, the mech pilots of the marauder mechs could opt to harass their opponents at range or close in for an all-out charge!

The latter option entailed a lot of risk. The female Hexers would have to confront their enemies head-on. If they bit off more than they chewed, then it was quite dangerous to disengage and fly away.

Therefore, the submachine gun played an important role in keeping the Valkyrie Redeemer relevant. Its firepower might be low, but the mech would not have to expose itself to a lot of danger to pressure their targets.

Overall, the low burden imposed by the submachine gun meant the Valkyrie Redeemer possessed plenty of capacity to strengthen its melee combat capabilities.

Since the Valkyrie Redeemer was an offensive mech, Ves and Gloriana had to make sure that it possessed enough power to defeat enemy mechs.

Gloriana summed their objective. "Different from skirmisher mechs, marauder mechs are designed to confront their enemies head-on. The main challenge is that the latter mech type is plainly not good at defense. We have to combine its mobility and offensive power in a way that allows our Valkyrie Redeemer to fulfill its purpose while keeping it alive."

Ordinary light mechs relied on their exceptional speed and evasion to avoid getting hit.

One of the problems that the pair struggled with was that the Valkyrie Redeemer's size and mass put it firmly in the medium mech category!

Even if it was on the lighter end of the medium weight class, the Valkyrie Redeemer was simply too sluggish to zip around like a nimble wasp.

Its forward acceleration and top speed was rather respectable, but its lateral acceleration and reaction speed was not as good.

Compared to other medium mechs, this was still a respectable level of performance, but the Valkyrie Redeemer would never be able to outrun or outdance a genuine light mech!

"This is why we paired this mech design with a shield." Gloriana pointed out. "The shield doesn't have to be as big or c.u.mbersome as a knight mech's tower shield. As long as its material composition is good enough, it will hold up against a fair amount of attacks the Valkyrie Redeemer is unable to dodge."

Ves nodded in agreement. "I don't have much of a problem with that. It will be fairly costly for the Hex Army to replace or repair the spent shields after every sortie, but it's better than losing an entire mech."

The Valkyrie Redeemer cost twice as much as a Blessed Squire, after all! It was very easy to destroy a lot of value if the Fridaymen managed to take this relatively fragile mech down.

Of course, calling the mech fragile was only a relative description. Its thin, light-weight armor plating was still very tough. Due to the mech's penchant for charges, Ves and Gloriana made sure to strengthen the internal structure along with the exterior. Not only that, they made sure the mech was capable of enduring and absorbing a certain amount of shock.

Yet there was only so much the armor could withstand attacks. The cost of improving the mech's defensive capabilities rose exponentially higher the further they progressed. There was no way 400 million hex credits could afford the kind of armor systems that were used in some of the premier Hexer offensive mech models!

Ves and Gloriana both began to theorize and simulate their options. Eventually, they came to an agreement that it was best for the mech to launch a single overwhelming attack before retreating immediately afterwards.

"It doesn't make much sense to turn the Valkyrie Redeemer into a duelist or a brawler." Gloriana shook her head. "Compared to conventional offensive mechs, its relatively light armor means it can't exchange a lot of blows. The moment the Valkyrie Redeemer reaches its targets, it will likely lose most of its speed. The mech becomes very vulnerable to counterattacks at this stage."

The safest condition for the Valkyrie Redeemer was if it flew low in the air! This allowed the marauder mech to maximize its speed, provide it with a good view, remain out of range of landbound melee mechs and make it elusive enough to evade most hits from range.

To put it in simpler terms, the Valkyrie Redeemer was safer in the air than on the ground. Landing its feet on a solid surface meant danger, as any landbound mech could take the relatively fragile mech down!

That said, the Valkyrie Redeemer wasn't safe in the air either. If it flew too high, it would just make it easier for ranged mechs spread across the battlefield to fire straight at the marauder mech!

This was why it was best for the mech to fly at extremely high altitudes or fairly low above the ground.

Against aerial opponents, the Valkyrie Redeemer was already capable of holding its own. Its submachine gun posed a serious threat against any nimble light mech, while its spear and shield combination provided the marauder mech with enough close-ranged capabilities to outfight most aerial mechs at point-blank range.

"It's the enemy landbound mechs that pose the greatest threat to the Valkyrie Redeemer." Ves stated as he studied the projection of the incomplete design. "Fridayman mechs that aren't designed to fly aren't burdened with c.u.mbersome flight systems. Their offense and defense is always considerably better than mechs with wings. Its a really poor idea to pit a hawk against a wolf."

The latter was superior in almost every front except for flight ability.

While the Friday Coalition boasted plenty of multi-environment mechs, they still relied a lot on mechs that specialized in landbound combat.

Entire mech regiments and mech divisions existed solely to put up the best possible fight on land!

Marrakath III showcased the great ability of the Opal Tridents to draw out the Wrathful Doves into a grueling battle of attrition with the help of its hardy and resilient landbound mechs.

Ves even admired many of those mechs. Some of the models were used throughout the entire Fortune Legion while other models were specific to the Opal Tridents or individual mech regiments.

Regardless of their ownership, the Friday Coalition's military mech designs were very good despite their great variety!

Since his Blessed Squire, Valkyrie Redeemer and other upcoming Hexer mechs were meant to confront these Fridayman mechs, Ves and Gloriana needed to make sure their mechs could keep up in terms of performance.

"Generally, we need to work together with specialists in melee combat and employ a considerable number of design teams in order to optimize the upfront combat capabilities of the Valkyrie Redeemer." Gloriana noted.

That was impractical to their current situation. The assistant mech designers they hired so far were only qualified to work on their minor design projects.

As for working alongside competent mech designers who specialized in melee combat, which Hexer would possibly cooperate with a male mech designer?

Ves seriously doubted whether any Hexer Senior or Master was capable of treating a boy like him as an equal partner!

Soliciting the help of non-Hexers was not on the table. Every Hexer mech design commissioned by DIVA involved a lot of confidential and exclusive tech and components.

In short, making their marauder mech good at upfront combat was not a viable option.

This was why they fully committed the Valkyrie Redeemer melee options to delivering a single overwhelming strike before quickly moving on. In that regard, the mech partially took on the role of a lancer mech.

Ves rubbed his smooth-shaven chin in thought. "This is fine, but the Valkyrie Redeemer doesn't perform as well as a specialized lancer mech. It's a bit more agile, to be sure, but it doesn't have the frontal armor and other attributes to break through a solid defense line."

"The Valkyrie Redeemer doesn't have to take on such a tough target, Ves. The Bright Warriors in their lancer configurations have done an admirable job with charging straight through formations of pirate mechs, but the disparity between the Larkinson Clan and the typical pirate group is massive. That's not the case in the Komodo War. I hate to admit it, but the mechs of the Coalition are just as good as the mechs of the Hegemony."

Of course, in her opinion, Hexer mechs were always better than their Fridayman equivalent!

Regardless, she was right. True lancer mechs played the role of heavy cavalry. They were built solely to accelerate forward and build up a considerable amount of momentum. Their main objective was to punch through vulnerable enemy formations and open up gaps to be exploited by other elements!

This did not fit the Valkyrie Redeemer's battle profile. If this marauder mech attempted to charge straight into a defensive line, then it was highly likely that it would be attacked on all sides once it delivered its charge!

The more enemies it faced, the greater its disadvantage! Ideally, the mech adopted the role of light cavalry. The Valkyrie Redeemer was supposed to steer clear of large groups of enemies and instead hunted for isolated patrols and vulnerable supply vehicles.

If their marauder mech was just supposed to fulfill a flanking role, then Ves believed that it didn't need to be as powerful as a genuine lancer mech.

Once they finalized this decision, the pair optimized the mech's structure and weapon handling to enable it to deliver a swift and decent charge, especially when it descended from above.

This was quite difficult. Ves needed to pair the mech with a fairly long lance that was quite strong but heavy in order to endure successive powerful charges.

Designing a mech designed to charge enemies from above caused Ves to recall one of his older works.

Gloriana noticed his distraction. "What are you thinking about?"

"Huh? Oh noting, haha!"

For some reason, Ves thought back on one of his more.. eccentric mech designs. The Lady Death's Heel was a particularly remarkable mech that he designed in his early years.

Transforming its feet into a giant spike so that the Lady Death's Heel could charge straight down onto a vulnerable surface target was a very original implementation!

If the devastating charge of this mech didn't finish off a target, then the mech could always bash its impaled victim with its hammer to finish the job!

For a moment, Ves felt tempted to bring up this old work of his to Gloriana. Since he published it onto a pseudonym account, he was pretty sure his lover wasn't familiar with it. Now that he thought about it, the Lady Death's Heel was very compatible with Hexer sensibilities!

Ves had a faint suspicion that the female Hexers would love to pilot a mech that was able to deliver death from above by impaling their opponents with a giant spiky heel!

He shuddered. Some mechs were simply too horrible to introduce to the galaxy! He had no idea what he Hexers would do with a mech that possessed such an unusual feature, but he was sure that they would definitely go overboard with impaling enemy mechs!