Chapter 2602: City Wall In Space (2/2)
The shipwright pointed at the projection of the wall configuration, causing over a hundred dots to light up in green.
”Don't worry, though. The story is different when she is in her wall configuration. Through some clever mechanical shifts, the Gorgoneion is able to deploy additional bunkers, thereby offering excellent protection to up to 160 artillery mechs!”
”That sounds better.”
Ves could scarcely imagine the sight of 160 Transcendent Punishers hunkered inside protective bunkers scattered across the surface of the wall. The heavy artillery mechs outputted at least six times as much damage as a typical rifleman mech. In practice, the actual damage output was even higher as the high firing rates and heavy caliber of heavy artillery mechs led to a qualitative improvement, especially if they were deployed in larger numbers!
”That's not all.” Vivian grinned and pointed at the openings or gun ports spread throughout the wall. ”There are 400 gun ports where ranged mechs can fire their weapons while exposing just a fraction of their relatively fragile frames. If that is not enough, you can place more than a thousand mechs at the crenellations at the edge of the wall configuration. Due to the curved shape of the wall, these edge positions are best suited to deal against flanking attackers.”
All in all, the Gorgoneion offered much better cover and firing positions to ranged mechs than the Spirit of Bentheim ever could. This made sense since the former was a ship built for combat while the latter was just a factory ship with some self-defense capabilities. Their roles were completely different.
The various benefits provided by the Gorgoneion already convinced Ves of the idea. There were just a couple of caveats that caused him to pause.
”How good is her mobility exactly?” He asked.
”The Gorgoneion is a fleet carrier with a distinct emphasis towards defense. In her travel configuration, her acceleration is a touch weaker than that of the Spirit of Bentheim. While she actually possesses more powerful thrusters and such, her mass is significantly greater due to her greater tonnage. However, I have made sure to keep her small enough to make sure her mobility is still adequate enough to keep up with the fleet.”
While Ves was not entirely satisfied with that, he supposed there was little other choice for a ship of this kind. The Gorgoneion was very different from the Antonio Cross. The former was able to take a beating while the latter excelled at moving rapidly through space.
”And her FTL capabilities?”
”She has room for two FTL drives. I'm sorry to say that she cannot fit any third drive. At a total length of 2.5 kilometers in her travel configuration, much of her internal volume is already taken up by her hull armor, her transformation components, her mech bays and so on. Adding a third FTL drive into the mix will excessively reduce the other functions of the fleet carrier. I doubt you want to reduce her mech capacity any further.”
”Yes. For a fleet carrier that is 2.5 kilometers long, a total capacity of just 500 mechs is on the lower end I think.”
Vivian did not look ashamed at this. ”To be fair, the Gorgoneion is not a pure fleet carrier like the Hemmington Cross. She also performs the role of a defensive bulwark, and I think that our fleet could use that more than carrying a couple of hundred extra mechs.”
”You're right.” Ves reluctantly nodded. ”I'm just disappointed that we won't be able to bring as much of our existing mechs from the Milky Way to the Red Ocean. With fewer mechs at the start of our exploration in the dwarf galaxy, we will have to waste additional time, resources and effort to rebuild our mech lineup.”
The shipwright tapped at the cargo holds of the Gorgoneion.
”It's not as bad as you think, sir. The mech capacity of the Gorgoneion is not exact. You can squeeze a couple of dozen more mechs if you are willing to sacrifice some space elsewhere. More importantly, mech capacity in this case refers to how many combat-ready machines the fleet carrier is able to carry. If you don't care about making sure her mechs are able to deploy in a short amount of time, you can pack up all of the mechs and fill her mech stables, hangar bays and even cargo bays with containers filled with disassembled and compacted mechs. If we do this, the Gorgoneion can hold up to double the amount of mechs!”
That sounded a lot better. Ves softened up a little. It didn't matter if the mechs needed to be reassembled first before they were ready for battle. He just wanted to bring as many mechs as possible to the Red Ocean.
Since the star systems that held the beyonder gates were heavily guarded by the Big Two, security was not an issue. Neither the MTA nor the CFA allowed any dangerous elements to threaten the incredibly expensive beyonder gates!
As a result, the Larkinson Clan could safely pack up all of their mechs in order to make room for more. This not only applied to the Gorgoneion, but also the Spirit of Bentheim and any other capital ship with cargo space!
”I approve of the Gorgoneion.” Ves smiled as Bygul turned his body around to present his belly for a rub. ”I'd like for you to flesh out this concept into a complete design. Make sure to regularly consult Major Verle and some of the other stakeholders in the clan. Adding a capital ship to our fleet is a big decision, so you need to make sure that you are able to sell the Gorgoneion to your fellow Larkinsons. The final decision rests with me, but it would be nice if you have obtained broad support from the Larkinson Assembly.”
”Understood. I believe in the Gorgoneion design. I will make sure the others will believe in her as well.”
”I have a suggestion for that. Right now, the sketches of the Gorgoneion look a little plain. You should spice up her appearance in order to increase her marketability. You can do a lot with the surface of the Gorgoneion when she is in her wall configuration.”
Vivian looked thoughtful. ”You may be onto something, sir.”
”Oh, I almost forgot to ask. How much does the Gorgoneion cost?”
”It depends. If you want to equip her with 2 FTL drives at the start and equip her with adequate hull plating, then we will probably have to spend at least 3.2 trillion credits to commission a shipbuilding company to construct the Gorgoneion.”
”What?!”