Chapter 2531: Weapon of Last Resort (2/2)
”I recall that part of the battle. The Fridaymen were too overconfident and brazenly dispatched a squad of knight mechs without sufficient support.”
”My point remains. It is difficult but not impossible for third-raters to defeat second-raters. However, everyone says that you can basically forget about second-raters defeating first-raters. Why is there such a difference?”
”That's because the difference in tech and quality is much greater this time. I already know this.” Gloriana answered with an annoyed expression. ”This is one of the reasons why the cost of our expert mechs can be insanely high. It's too difficult for second-raters to catch up to the power of a first-rater.”
”What would you say is the best way for second-class mechs to threaten a first-class mech?”
”Deploy a lot of second-class Ferocious Piranhas?” She replied. ”The quality of a mech jumps by a huge margin, but the improvement of the mech pilot is not so drastic. The Piranhas have to get close, though. I don't think the light mechs will be able to survive the approach. First-class mechs are usually equipped with a variety of miniaturized weapon systems. They almost always come with solutions against swarming opponents.”
As much as he wanted to deny it, she was right. Throwing large amounts of relatively fragile mechs against a first-class multipurpose mech was no different from sending them to their deaths!
This was also one of the reasons why dispatching lancer mechs might not work.
While these mechs were capable of punching above their weight, their other parameters weren't able to catch up. It was too easy for a first-class mech to snipe the incoming lancer mechs at a distance or dodge aside a lance charge at the last moment.
First-class mechs were just as difficult to beat if not more as expert mech!
And Ves only considered the lowest and cheapest first-class mechs in his consideration. The range of performance between different first-class mechs was huge!
However, different from expert mechs, first-class mechs did not enjoy the power of true resonance. This made them more fallible in Ves' eyes, but that did not mean they were easy to threaten. Their shield generators were much more powerful than that of second-class mechs. This advantage was enough for them to toy with his expeditionary fleet!
”I have had my hands on a first-class alloy for some time now.” He said. ”I've been thinking about how to integrate them into our expert mechs to ensure the best possible defense. I have also been thinking about how such a mech can be defeated head-on. Do you know what I've concluded?”
”No, but I can tell you that if the rest of the expert mechs are still second-class, then they will be much more exploitable than a simple first-class mech. The difference is just too big.”
”You're not wrong, Gloriana. It would be great if we can defeat mechs with strong protection by exploiting their weak points, but I don't think we can do that against first-class mechs. The only way to confront them is to confront them directly.”
”Isn't that the stupidest solution?”
”Tricks won't work against first-class mechs. As far as I'm concerned, the only reliable method to threaten a first-class mech is to overpower them the old-fashioned way. We need to attack their shields until they pop, attack their armor until it has formed a hole and attack the internals to disable the functioning of the mech.”
His rather basic explanation caused Gloriana to become even more doubtful at his sensibilities?
”Are you kidding me, Ves? Is this the answer you came up with? Even a six-year old could give you this answer. The difficulty does not lie in identifying the right method, it is coming up with the requisite power to accomplish such a feat.”
Ves did not speak a word this time. Instead, he raised his finger and projected some very specific archival footage.
The clips he chose all centered around one of his other recent inventions, the so-called battle formation and battle network.
Gloriana became engrossed as she watched a tiny portion of the Battle against the Abyss. It depicted the Swordmaiden mechs entering into a battle formation. Every Swordmaiden mech pilot harmonized with the center of the battle network, which happened to be Venerable Dise!
Once the Swordmaidens united as one, Venerable Dise extended her power to her fellow Swordmaidens, causing them to become an extension of her will!
In a situation where Venerable Dise had just broken through to expert pilot, her overflowing power was immense. In truth, it was too much for her to harness!
However, by sharing some of that excess power to the other Swordmaidens, Venerable Dise was able to lighten her burden while at the same time spread out her force of will over multiple minds.
The result was that the Swordmaiden battle network managed to form a giant greatsword that literally scythed through large amounts of pirate mechs!
This wasn't the only battle network in play.
The Penitent Sisters entered into a battle formation as well! The battle network centered around the Superior Mother all caused the Hexer mech pilots to borrow some of her power and manifest her silhouette!
Gloriana instantly became more attentive. ”Isn't this what I've just talked about? This is exactly what the Hex Army needs to defeat the Friday Coalition's expert mechs.”
He knew that she would react in this fashion.
”Don't be foolish. This is a very sensitive invention. We can't share it with the public. Besides, the conditions to make this happen are simply too onerous. I don't think most Hex Army units are qualified to activate this power.”
”Says who?”
”Says me, the inventor of this method!” Ves patted his chest. ”Look, I'm too afraid of what might happen if more people find out the power of my battle formations. It should be reserved as one of the trump cards of our clan. I'm only putting it on the table today because I want to design an affordable solution against first-class mechs. It is a weapon of last resort. Under normal conditions, we should never reveal we possess this capability. Understand?”
Gloriana did not look convinced.