The Mech Touch novel Chapter 343

Ves looked at his Status page with pride. After more than a week of studying a couple of books from the Clifford Society, he managed to acquire a new Sub-Skill on his own.

[Rapid-Fire Laser Weapon Operation I]

This Sub-Skill enhanced his understanding of laser rifles and was much more specific and comprehensive than Directed Energy Weapon Optimization II. While the latter only allowed him to optimize an existing energy weapon design, his new Sub-Skill enabled him to design a laser weapon from scratch.

Specifically, Rapid-Fire Laser Weapon Operation I focused on delivering quick pulses of laser beams. A series of pulses as opposed to a single, long-burn beam. This mode of firing came with its own challenges, but it enabled laser rifles to use up less energy and slow down the buildup of heat.

The books he read also inured him to the perspectives of the authors, both of whom reached the Senior-level in their lifetimes. One author advocated that that laser rifles should be as efficient as possible, while the other author preferred to unleash as much power as possible with each pulse.

Both of them approached laser rifles from different directions, allowing Ves to make up his own mind about the topic.

"Laser rifles have a bad reputation for being unable to penetrate the shell of a heavily armored mech. That will certainly change in the next generation, but for now it’s too hard for laser rifles to punch though the armor of a striker or a knight."

In his opinion, laser weapons excelled at outputting a steady amount of damage. Heat concerns limited their ability to burst down an opponent, but they generally lasted longer than ballistic and kinetic rifles Both used up bulky ammunition, and mechs only possessed a limited amount of carrying capacity.

"There are some who believe that laser rifles will replace kinetic rifles entirely."

Many wide-eyed theorists prophesied the phasing out of melee weapons in favor of ranged weapons. They also stated that the relatively low-tech ballistic rifles had no more place in this day and age because their fundamental principles hadn’t really changed since their initial emergence on pre-space Earth.

"Too bad they’re wildly wrong."

Even as laser weapons continued to grow in power and efficiency, those who specialized in armoring mechs had also tried to keep up. They blended various exotics together into unique formulas that underpinned the rise of energy resistant armor. Mechs that specialized solely against countering laser weapons performed extraordinarily well against a barrage of lasers.

Sadly for the armorers, most energy resistant armor proved to be highly vulnerable to physical damage. A couple of cheap, low-tech explosive shells would easily be able to tear down such a fragile shell.

Low tech weapons still had a place in the Age of Mechs. From the lowest rung of third-class frontline mechs, to the highest reaches of cutting-edge mechs, mechs of all shapes and sizes found a use for barbarically primitive weapons.

Besides, these weapons had progressed with the times as well. Even though they hadn’t experienced a lot of changes in their fundamental workings, the development of smaller technologies and the use of exotics enabled these arms to compete favorably against laser weapons.

"Laser weapons are only a single means to damage a target." Ves scratched his messy black hair. "Even while I’m focusing on them, I shouldn’t buy into the viewpoint that they are highter tech than ballistic weapons."

Besides working to acquire Rapid-Fire Laser Weapon Operation I, Ves also sneakily reread the research notes on Graser Rifles he stole from the underground base a long time ago. With his enhanced Intelligence and Journeyman-level Physics Skills, he easily grasped the points that eluded him the previous times he read the disparate collection of notes and data.

It helped that the researchers who produced the documents started from roughly the same foundation as him. While they possessed a much deeper foundation in this field, Ves still managed to keep up with the theories mentioned in their analyses.

The textbooks he perused earlier proved to be the key that allowed him to fully decipher the contents of the research notes. At a certain point, everything clicked in his mind, allowing him to fully follow the trains of thoughts of the researchers.

"It’s pretty admirable what they’ve accomplished in a couple of years. They started out with a conventional laser rifle and enhanced it step by step until it became capable of firing gamma lasers."

The amount of engineering challenges they faced required a cross-disciplinary approach to solve. Ves benefited hugely from reading about the development of specialized components such as high-capacity energy cells and extended heat rods.

"Heatsinks shaped like rods fit a long narrow object such as a rifle better than a thick rectangular block."

The researchers opted to make the heat rods disposable. This meant that mechs could eject them from their rifles once they became too hot and replace them with a fresh one which they carried on their backs.

Personally, Ves understood the necessity, but he wasn’t a fan of this solution. "Their gamma laser rifle design needs to be fed with both energy packs and heat rods. It’s going to be an awful mess trying to cycle both of them during a pitched battle."

The actual rifle was more impractical than practical. While it functioned well enough in space, it hardly lived up to the likes of actual taboo weapons such as nuclear bombs and biological plagues.

"Well, the researchers did work from scratch, and with the technology level of a third-rate state. I’m sure that researchers from a first-rate superstate can develop something much more destructive."

Whatever the case, the System demanded that Ves design and fabricate an actual working graser rifle. He guessed that the System didn’t care too much about its actual performance so long as it worked.

That still didn’t mean that Ves planned to skimp on the design. He suspected that the lessons he learned from developing his graser rifle could be put to use when he designed his second original mech.

So with a renewed focus on laser weapons, Ves fully digested the research notes until the System deemed his studies sufficient and updated his Status page.

[Gamma Laser Weapons I]

"Finally." He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I was hoping I could make it before my ship makes it to my destination."