The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1087

Ves gained an entirely new conception of spaceborn mechs after acquiring Space Knight Mastery I. Riding in the mind of a veteran space knight taught him that space knights constantly worried about being able to cover their colleagues.

While mobility was important to do their jobs, it was their ability to endure damage that really mattered. If they wished, they would rather give up the former in order to enhance their ability to do the latter.

"It’s a constant struggle. Without sufficient mobility, they can’t keep up with their colleagues. Without enough tanking ability, they won’t last long enough to provide meaningful protection."

Nonetheless, riding in the mind of Eloise Pelican also taught him that a mech like his would appeal to mech pilots like her. His upcoming super-medium space knight offered substantially more protection without compromising its mobility entirely.

Of course, the huge learning curve associated with using polarizing module effectively might hinder their adoption. However, polarizing modules and shield modules were not entirely strange to mech pilots of the Bright Republic considering their more widespread use in second-rate states.

"As long as their ability to withstand damage is big enough, all the other costs are worth it from their perspective!"

This realization gave him confidence as he reimagined his upcoming space knight design. He expressly worked to accommodate some of the features that space knight pilots like Eloise Pelican eagerly demanded from their mechs.

Perhaps unconsciously, Ves included a couple of touches from the Valiant Warden’s design into his own work. He admired the bond that Eloise developed with her mech. No matter how much damage the machine sustained, with care and attention it always stood back up to fight another day.

It was the greatest expression of one of his ideals. Though forced by circumstances, the Insurmountable Drakes did their best to treat their mechs right and to value them as priceless assets.

"Many knight mechs are expected to endure an incredible amount of punishment over their lifespans. Suchs mechs need to be incredibly robust and enduring, far more than the average mech."

Ves already learned this lesson with his first Mastery, Yet living alongside the rigors that Eloise endured as she tried everything to extend the lifespan of her mech underscored this aspect.

Space knights struggled to last ten years of constant use! If not for the resourcefulness of the Insurmountable Drakes, the Valiant Warden would have long been scrapped and dismantled for parts.

"It’s a sad affair when mechs are used beyond their capacity."

The new draft of the space knight that took shape undeniably carried the influence of his latest Mastery experience. When Ves revised the sketches, he allowed Qilanxo’s spiritual fragment to guide some of his design choices as usual.

Perhaps due to the influence of Eloise and the Valiant Warden in its spiritual makeup, the fragment favored different choices this time. More endurance. More resilience. More longevity.

All of this didn’t come without a price. The additional structural integrity and armor plating that Ves added to his draft slowed it down even further. The first draft of the mech already suggested that it would move rather sluggish, but this time it leaned even further towards the ineffectual mobility of a heavy mech.

In essence, the new design choices showed a distinct lack of care towards mobility. His draft design possessed nearly the same mobility as a heavy space knight but without the sheer amount of damage absorbing capacity of one.

"What is the advantage of such a mech?"

Perhaps theoretically, his space knight did not offer any distinct advantages over a regular heavy space knight.

"Yet in fact there are two major advantages. First, it is much cheaper than a genuine heavy mech. Second, it demands much less maintenance."

Only well-funded, highly-organized mech forces such as military mech regiments made use of heavy mechs. This was because operating them was very expensive and demanding in resources. Not only was acquiring them upfront ludicrously expensive, they also required a lot of servicing. Any major damage incurred to its high-quality but expensive armor plating quite literally cost hundreds of millions of credits to repair! _{ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com}

"It’s simply not economical for private outfits to operate a heavy mech, certainly not one that is expressly designed to take damage and require regular repairs to keep running!"

If there was one important advantage that Ves brought to the table with his new design, it was that it had been designed to be as cost-efficient as possible when performing its singular most important role.

Ves estimated that he would be able to contain the price of his space knight to under 100 million credits. It was not as large as a heavy mech and did not require nearly enough metal to fabricate a copy.

More importantly, a large portion of its defensive capability came from the polarizing module. By covering a section of armor with a special polarizing field, the only damage the mech sustained was draining its energy cells a lot faster.

As long as the mech did not withstand too much damage at once, it would theoretically be able to offload all of the incoming firepower to its polarizing field!

Even though that would drain his space knight’s energy reserves rather quickly, it was a lot cheaper to recharge spent energy cells than to replace damaged armor plating!

"Energy is cheap. High-quality materials, especially those used in armor plating, are very expensive to come by. It’s a reality that mercenary corps and many other private outfits spend much of their earnings from their missions to repair the damage their mechs have incurred. Many times, the cost of repairs can even exceed the payment they received from their employers!"

Many mercenary corps in fact incorporated provisions in their contracts that stated that their employers would compensate for their repairs.

Yet how many employers would agree to such a clause? What if the mercenary corps deliberately piloted their mechs recklessly in order to get rid of their old and malfunctioning machines? Their employer would be on the hook for all of the replacement costs!

In practice, the two sides always negotiated the extent to which an employer would cover the repairs of the mercenary corps. This usually ended up somewhere around the tune of fifty percent or less.

Usually, employers held a bit more leverage during these negotiations because they could easily offer the assignment to another, more desperate mercenary corps.

The economics of running a mercenary corps aside, what Ves really wanted to play into was their demand on acquiring mechs that demanded less repairs!

Part of the reason why mercenary commanders disliked knight mechs was because they were money pits!

"Even so, operating a couple of knight mechs is better than to let their more vulnerable mechs incur all that damage instead."