The Mech Touch

5962 Fight Close or Die Trying!

Of all of the possible ideas that Tusa could come up with, Ves did not expect him to turn his own machine into a weapon onto himself.

The sequence that Tusa had created in his mind was bold and surprisingly daring.

It was also an exceedingly dangerous fantasy that was already giving Ves headaches!

How the hell was he supposed to turn this dream into reality?!

Tusa clearly noticed Ves' distress.

"My apologies, cousin. I… did not limit my imagination. My emotions and desires got the better of me. It is silly of me to ask you to turn the Dark Zephyr into a phantom missile that can weaken everything he passes through."

Ves raised his palm. "No, it's okay. I was asking for this. You have given me exactly what I wanted to hear. Whether it is unrealistic or not is not a critical issue. High-ranking mechs and mech pilots are known for defying reality. Even if you cannot destructively phase through an enemy warship at your current strength, the story might be different a few years later."

"Are you saying… you can actually make my daydream come true?"

"There is a chance." Ves grinned. "It is not going to be easy. I have roughly broken down the components of the operation of this hypothetical special move. I need to gather multiple different hyper materials and combine them in a way that allows them to act in unison. I probably won't be able to solve all of the technical problems alone, so I will need to consult with the Red Association for technical support."

"Will that delay the completion of my project?!" Tusa asked with clear concern in his voice.

He had already been waiting for a long time for the promised upgrade to the Dark Zephyr. If it got delayed yet again, he would probably decay into a skeleton by the time the perfectionist mech designers were done with their work!

"I am not going to delay the project any further. I am confident that I can solve all of the technical challenges." Ves quickly placated Tusa. "The main issue is that you are probably not strong enough to enable the Dark Zephyr to destructively phase through the hull of a single alien battleship, let alone multiple of them. You will likely need to advance to an ace mech before you can do that, and even then the consumption will be terribly high. It is a great way to inflict an instant and catastrophic blow to powerful alien battleships and maybe phase leaders alike."

It was clear that Tusa's persistent fixation on his lack of attack power prompted him to overcompensate.

He wanted his Dark Zephyr to deviate from the pattern of a classical light skirmisher and gain a killer move as a trump card!

As Ves continued to estimate the steps he needed to complete to make this move possible, he became more certain that he would be able to get the job done within the deadline.

He had learned so much about hyper technology and E-

technology during the last lightning tribulation.

He had also grown stronger and more competent in designing mechs. The all-around improvement produced by the lightning baptism had given him just enough courage to tackle this critical side project!

Tusa looked ambivalent though. There was a part of him that truly yearned to turn his own speed and shadow as his weapons. There was also another part of him that believed his idea was too outrageous to be realized in his upgraded expert mech.

"We don't have to start big right away." Ves gently said as he activated a projection that played out a very rough simulation of the proposed attack method. "We can start on a smaller and more modest scale. You won't be able to phase through something as big as an alien battleship, but you should be able to do so with a sub-capital ship."

The projected scenario showed the Dark Zephyr complete six steps in very quick succession.

"The first step was the approach."

No matter whether the living mech followed an evasive pattern or just sped forward in a straight line, the Dark Zephyr still possessed no significant ranged capabilities aside from any compact firearms that he might carry.

"Before I continue, do you want to equip your living mech with a pistol or something?" Ves asked. "The high-tier expert mech version has enough power and capacity to equip mounted or handheld ranged weapons. I highly recommend you do so as it will plug an obvious weakness. This is an especially viable choice once the Dark Zephyr is upgraded to a first-class ace mech when the conditions allow for it. Your living machine will become so powerful at that time that he can integrate a whole suite of ranged armaments."

Narrow specializations was the norm in third-class and second-class combat. Mech pilots at this level were unable to handle too much complexity and maintain their full combat effectiveness.

Mech models that tried to do too much stuff at once always became mediocre in everything. The only way to avoid this outcome was by raising the price of the mechs to a ridiculous height.

These limitations applied to high-ranking mechs as well, but they became increasingly less relevant as they grew in power and rank.

The Dark Zephyr happened to reach a point where he could take the first steps into transitioning into a first-class multipurpose light mech.

The enormous design budget and the advantages brought by a full archemech conversation freed up a lot of capacity, creating enough room to support a couple of reasonably combat and efficient ranged armaments!

Sure, the Dark Zephyr would never be able to match the performance of the likes of the Amaranto or the Promethea in terms of ranged combat, but that was not the point.

Ves just wanted to give the light mech the ability to retaliate against enemies at range in case it was truly necessary.

Though Ves found this to be a logical choice, Venerable Tusa obviously looked conflicted.

He originally started off as a third-class mech pilot. His entire education centered around learning the basics before committing to a single specialization to the very end.

There was even less tolerance for third-class mech pilots to dabble into other mech types.

They were allowed to mess around with other mech types in simulations and occasionally live practice sessions, but once they needed to deploy in the field for real, they were all expected to stick to the mech types that they excelled at the most!

In hindsight, Joshua already managed to stand out as a ridiculously versatile mech pilot at the time. He may not have been the best at either melee or ranged combat, but gaining enough proficiency in both to handle himself in battle was a true testament of his talent and determination!

Second-class mech pilots tended to be a little more loose with regards to specialization. The elites usually benefited from advanced augmentations that increased their learning efficiency and gave them the opportunity to branch out a little further.

If Tusa was raised as a second-class mech pilot, then he would have said yes to the suggestion already.

Unfortunately, old habits die hard.

"The Dark Zephyr has always been a light skirmisher to me." Tusa eventually replied. "I do not think I am as extreme as Venerable Dise in this, but I think my mech is ultimately the strongest in my hands when my battle partner sticks to his original archetype. I know enough about mechs to understand that adding any additional weapon system will impose burdens onto the machine. I do not want to gain a safety net at the cost of making my expert mech slower and less fragile. I think it is better to stick to what I am best at and follow that through the end."

This was not an entirely unexpected answer. Expert pilots tended to be really stubborn and willful, and that often extended to their approach towards combat.

A very famous example of this was General Axelar Streon. He could have switched to piloting a proper first-class multipurpose ace mech a long time ago, but he continued to insist on piloting a machine that only had two weapon systems.

Two weapon systems!

In the first-class mech community, that was just a single step above piloting a combat mech without any armaments!

An even more renowned example was the Destroyer of Worlds. The former second-class mech pilot always insisted on piloting a machine that was configured as a heavy artillery mech.

Though the Ragnarok contained a lot of hidden weapons and other nifty features, it was abundantly clear that the famous god mech was still an artillery mech in essence!

In both cases, the pilots in question made their suboptimal decisions work. They had fought much of their lives without relying on additional modules or a luxurious collection of weapon systems. They still managed to prove their superior combat prowess while continuing to limit their options.

These high-ranking mech pilots were not stupid. Ves suspected that sticking to the original mech type may be part of a ritual of sorts.

Mech pilots who remained firm in their hearts found it easier to strengthen their convictions and remain true to themselves.

Venerable Tusa never struck Ves as a particularly driven or intense expert pilot, but the man had his own persistence.

"I wish you good luck in that, then." Ves said as he reached out to pat the physical projection's shoulder. "Getting back to the original topic, the sequence as you have described earlier has six steps in total. I already mentioned the first one."

The second one was to use the Leap of True Freedom to enable the Dark Zephyr to move unhindered, even if there was a transphasic energy shield in the way!

The third was to keep charging forward while initiating the technique that allowed the Dark Zephyr to fly right through the hull of the enemy warship!

The fourth step was to emerge from the other side of the hull while hoping that the expert mech did not incur any damage along the way.

The fifth step was to initiate the Leap of True Freedom in a very short interval of time.

The sixth step was for the Dark Zephyr to speed away from the initial target after emerging on the other side of transphasic energy shields that were probably still active at the time.

It would probably take a short time after that before the damage inflicted by the destructive phasing attack run truly started to catch up with reality!

Trying to incorporate all six steps into the Dark Zephyr Mark III sounded like an enormous undertaking, but the steps were mirrored from each other. Ves only needed to figure out how to implement three major mechanisms before changing them together to form a viable offensive ability.

Ves relished in the challenge. His mastery in hyper technology and E-technology gave him enough assurances that he should be able to cobble together a basic version of what Tusa envisioned.

So long as the initial proof of concept worked, Ves would have all of the time he needed to expand and improve upon his design application!

Tusa began to get swayed by Ves' confidence. "Are you truly sure about this? Can you add a killer feature to my Dark Zephyr?"

"I can, but it will take up all of the remaining capacity on your expert mech. I won't be able to add any other features to your battle partner anytime soon. The only ways for the Dark Zephyr to defeat his opponents is by knifing them with his blades, tossing grenades like they cost nothing or initiate this incredibly risky but rewarding phasing attack."

All of these attack methods were only effective at closer ranges!

Even if Venerable Tusa turned into an ace mech and gained the ability to inflict damage through his Saint Kingdom, it still wouldn't amount to much. Tusa and the Dark Zephyr were destined to fight their enemies up close or die trying!

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