The Mech Touch - Chapter 6868
Chapter 6868: FFEE1100 Omega Thresher
In spite of its silly names, the Totori MAXXX was truly a good first-class multipurpose mech model.
It was exactly what it looked and sounded like. It was a mech that exemplified the concept of hard power. It eschewed all forms of subtlety and fitness in favor of brutalizing its enemies upfront with its torrential integrated MAXXX Plasma Stream Cannons or its more exaggerated ULTRAMAXXX High-Velocity Mass Driver.
While these weapon systems were difficult to use at closer ranges, they were deadly at mid range, which it preferred to fight at most of the time.
The Totori MAXXX was also able to fight at longer ranges, but most of its armaments were not optimized for this scenario.
The bombastic multipurpose mech was designed to fight against enemies that it could see.
Ves knew it just by looking at its appearance and taking a peek at its design schematics.
Mech designs tended to mirror their creators.
For example, Ves liked to design weird but creative mechs that possessed life and vitality. They all started out the same way, but as they went through their trials, they became marked by their experiences and grew a life of their own. He recognized the fundamental truth that miracles were not created from the start, but emerged out of a journey of strife and conquest.
Gloriana preferred to design mechs that embodied her ideal of perfection. While she always fell short of reaching her impossibly high standard, she still tried to make an earnest attempt with every mech design project she completed. Her persistent efforts rewarded her in spades as she was able to independently fabricate her own masterwork mechs on a semi-reliable basis.
The designer of the Totori MAXXX undoubtedly loved to design mechs that crushed their enemies with the most direct application of force.
The exaggeratingly large and powerful mass driver was the crowning jewel of this multipurpose mech model.
It reminded him of the latest iteration of the Instrument of Vengeance that he designed for the Amarantmo Mark III.
Both of them apparently held similar intentions when they designed these large and powerful firearms.
“So what do you think about the Totori MAXXX, Casella?” He asked the only mech pilot in the conference room. “Does this blunt force instrument fit your strategic layout?”
The Saint Commander’s expression remained impassive as she issued her reply.
“The comments that you have made about the Totori MAXXX are all valid. This is a first-class multipurpose mech that is straightforward, but that is not necessarily a demerit. It is true that it is short on finesse. The Totori MAXXX struggles to keep up in situations where it has fallen into a disadvantage, but I believe that the combination of my Command Field and my direction will minimize these occurrences from happening. With the extensive range of my domain, it should not be difficult to employ them where they can make optimal use of their formidable firepower. I am confident that I will be able to bring out the utmost of their strength.”
“So are you willing to add the Totori MAXXX to our mech roster?”
Casella quickly shook her head. “Let us not make a hasty judgment, sir. One of the shortcomings of the Totori MAXXX is that it does not synergize particularly well with my Command Field. I can enhance its performance and improve its control, but it does not contain any obvious features such as the Rush Mode that we can exploit to a much greater degree with the help of my true resonance. There are alternative mech models available that offer other advantages.”
It sounded as if she was not that eager to embrace the Totori MAXXX model and all of its exuberant eccentricities.
“Does anyone else want to propose an alternative?” Ves asked the gathering.
Alexa pounced on the opportunity and transmitted her recommendation to the central projector.
“I have found an alternative that should synergize better with our Saint Commander’s Command Field. The FFEE1100 Omega Thresher is a humanoid multipurpose mech that offers greater balance and has less pronounced weaknesses. Its firepower is good, its physical defenses are better and its mobility is not bad. Its design incorporates enough integrated weapon modules, but also pays great attention to optimizing and reinforcing its armor system.”
Compared to the Totori MAXXX, the Omega Thresher looked a lot more normal in comparison.
In fact, it was difficult to distinguish any pronounced strengths of the Omega Thresher. It looked rather generic at first glance, but upon closer examination, Ves discovered that it relied completely on energy weapons to inflict damage. Its design completely rejected any dependence on physical ammunition.
“The Omega Thresher is a multipurpose mech that is designed to be lower-maintenance than normal.” Alexa continued to explain. “It is a mech that is entirely dedicated to energy weapon usage. At close range, can wield a variety of melee weapons. It also possesses 2 wrist-mounted Plasma Sweeper Cannons. At mid range, it is equipped with 4 integrated Phase Disintegrator Guns as well as 2 integrated plasma cannons. At long range, it relies on 6 Omega Laser Cannons, which can be charged and overloaded to a ridiculous degree at the cost of reducing their firing rates. More interestingly enough, it can also wield a Datura Gravity Well Caster.”
That last one demanded more explanation. The projection zoomed in on the bully rifle construction held in the arms of the Omega Thresher.
“The Datura is a gravitic weapon system that can inflict damage or debilitate enemy units.” Alexa explained. “It is an attempt to replicate the spatial abilities of phase lords without relying on the same methods. Whether the Datura can be considered a success is up for debate. What I know about it is that it may be weak when utilized on its own, but its effects can be drastically strengthened by using them in combination.”
That caused Ves and the others to look surprised.
“The effects of gravity well casters can be stacked?”
“Yes, sir. However, the best results can only be attained when their settings and their usage are perfectly coordinated with each other. Normally, this can only be attained through automation and training, but our Saint Commander should easily be able to produce much better results without requiring all of these measures.”
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They could easily see how that could be the case. Training should still be useful, as the Datura Gravity Well Casters would become a lot less useful if Casella was not able to provide her support for whatever reason.
Everyone continued to study the strengths and weaknesses of the Omega Thresher model.
Kalister Devos stated the obvious. “The Omega Thresher possesses an all-energy weapon configuration. It is clearly designed to operate with less logistical support than other mechs. As long as it has access to compatible energy recharge points, it can replenish its energy reserves and continue fighting on without returning to their motherships. ”
“That is an excellent observation, Mr. Kalister.” Gloriana lightly praised. “I should note that the main reason why the Omega Thresher is so heavily dependent on energy weapons is because it is also equipped with energy link technology on top of shield link technology. While it is unfortunate that both links cannot be active at the same time, active energy links can still ensure that these energy weapon platforms can potentially fire for many hours as long as they are energy linked to a friendly starship.”
The power generators of any decent-sized starships generated much more energy than the much smaller power reactors of a mech.
Therefore, letting the former substitute the latter could completely transform the combat effectiveness of mechs, especially ones that relied heavily on energy.
This was also why the MTA and the CFA always prohibited the act of connecting bunker mechs to the power lines of a starship.
Naturally, the mechers and the fleeters ignored this rule for themselves. They also made sure to prevent others from making use of any form of energy link technology past a certain threshold..
Ves should not be subject to this prohibition anymore. The mechers treated him as an insider, so he was permitted to make generous use of support link technology so long as he did it under the supervision of the Bluejay Fleet.
When everyone realized that the Omega Thresher could make use of energy link technology, they grew a lot more enthused about this mech model.
They recognized how much of an advantage these multipurpose mechs gained when fighting under the command of the Saint Commander.
When Commandeered or Enfeoffed, the Omega Threshers could recklessly increase their firing rates without needing to be afraid of any damage incurred from overheating many of their components.
So long as the structural reinforcement remained true, the Omega Threshers could run hotter than they could ever dare when they were operating by themselves!
The lack of dependence on physical ammunition granted a huge amount of convenience. Energy was much less onerous to replenish than spent rounds or missiles.
Ves could easily foresee the Omega Threshers performing well in attrition warfare.
So long as Casella of the mech pilots took care to withdraw and cover mechs that came under fire without the benefit of shield link technology, the Omega Threshers should be able to output excellent damage while facing relatively low risks in return.
That said, not everything about the Omega Thresher was good.
“The Omega Thresher is an excellent source of sustained damage over longer periods of time, but that is not how we fight most battles in space.” Ves pointed out. “We prefer to fight quick and decisive battles. We want to smash apart the defenses of our adversaries before they can grind us down by using their favorite attrition warfare tactics. The Totori MAXXX may be much more reliant on finite ammunition, but it can inflict a lot more direct damage with the help of its mass drive.”
He raised an important point. The Totori MAXXX may not have access to energy link technology, but it was much less reliant on energy weapon systems. That may be useful if the Premier Fleet ever fought against enemies that were much more vulnerable against physical damage.
Gloriana frowned. “I am sorry, Ves, but I vastly prefer the Omega Thresher over the Totori MAXXX. I can foresee the former becoming a great source of ranged firepower with the help of energy link technology. Even if Phase Disintegrator Guns and the Omega Laser Cannons lack a physical punch, they can inflict respectable sustained damage over time. With these machines, we can choose to maintain our distance and avoid any overcommitments.”
More mech designers spoke in support of the Omega Thresher. It fit the needs of the Premier Fleet a bit better and also synergized much better with the Minerva Mark II.
Though Ves did not discount the logic behind these opinions, he still found it a shame that the Totori MAXXX had fallen out of favor.
It was a good mech design alright, but it was more suited for larger and better supplied mech forces.
When it came time to make a verdict, the Saint Commander voiced her own stance on the matter.
“The Totori MAXXX is a blunt force instrument. The Omega Thresher is a plasma torch. They are both tools designed to solve different problems. Our Premier Fleet is more suited to use the latter than the former. The Omega Thresher happens to be the only mech model among the two that is included in my short list. There are other alternatives in my consideration, but I am perfectly fine with adopting the Omega Thresher as our anti-ship mech. Does anyone object?”
No one voiced any disagreements. They genuinely thought that the Omega Thresher was the more superior option. They also did not feel strong enough about the Totori MAXXX to advocate in its favor.
At most, they could suggest that the Premier Fleet field copies of both mech models, but that would clearly upset either of them. It may be a good idea to revisit this subject when the Larkinsons had expanded its first-class mech forces in the future.
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