Chapter 2707: Increased Trust (1/2)

When Ves stepped aboard the gargantuan Hemmington Cross once again, he noted that the Crossers had stuffed a lot of mechs in the hangar bay.

Every ship in the expeditionary fleet was in the same straits. The alliance picked up so much salvage from the battlefield that every space had to be utilized as efficiently as possible.

In fact, a lot of mech stables, hangar bays and cargo bays were stuffed with ugly wrecks and broken parts.

Of course, the crew of the Hemmington Cross didn't haphazardly toss their salvage in the hangar bay used to greet the incoming guests.

Instead, the best mechs of the Cross Clan stood in neat rows. When Ves and his wife studied their appearances, they instantly recognized that they had been deliberately fixed up and polished to a shine in order to present a magnificent image.

The sight of all of those military mechs that had proven themselves in battle was capable of impressing everyone, especially those who worked with them and knew about them. In fact, the more they knew about mechs, the more they appreciated the design and deadliness of these machines.

What was even more interesting was that these standard mechs only served as a backdrop to the expert mechs of the hosts.

The Amphis took up a prime position further ahead. The sturdy and dependable knight mech with its iconic chainsword had been the only Crosser expert mech to make it through the Battle of Reckoning intact.

As the Miracle Couple and cats moved closer, they eagerly studied the design characteristics of this solid machine.

”It's not the most sophisticated expert mech I've seen, but it definitely ranks at the top when it comes to sturdiness.” Gloriana remarked.

She possessed substantially more experience with expert mechs than Ves. Her experience in certain Hexer development projects gave her a more critical understanding of their design principles.

”I can tell that the Amphis is a Senior-grade mech, which means that a Senior must have been its lead designer. This is obvious in how simple it is. While there is nothing wrong with aiming for simplicity, the mech clearly lacks additional features that can amp up the mech even further.”

Ves nodded in understanding. ”The previous battle showed that the Amphis possesses a distinct lack of mobility. While it doesn't have to be able to catch up to a light skirmisher, it could have benefited from having a short-duration booster system that allows it to jump on its opponents or catch them by surprise.”

One of the lessons he learned from the previous battle was that the weaknesses of any expert mech became a lot more impactful.

In the case of larger forces, standard mechs which often fought alongside hundreds or thousands of different mechs. Different specialized mechs were able to cover each other's weaknesses, allowing them to make full play of their strengths.

For example, the Transcendent Punishers were extremely vulnerable against melee mechs, but the Ylvainan mech pilots never had to be afraid of that because other Larkinson mechs would fend off these threats on their behalf.

Yet at the expert mech level, it was impractical to depend too much on mixing and matching. The low quantities of expert mechs involved in battle meant that every powerful machine was vulnerable.

This was especially the case when the opposing mechs were being piloted by expert pilots, who possessed the skill and acumen to exploit every identifiable weakness.

Ves thought that the performance of one-dimensional mechs was quite poor in the previous battle.

The Imperial Verdict was no doubt a lethal mech up close with its trident. Yet it spent much of its time trying to get within striking distance of the Crosser expert mechs while fending off attacks from multiple directions.

The Amphis possessed stellar defense and a surprising amount of threat within the range of its chainsword, but the Preator and Planat expert mechs weren't stupid enough to let it approach.

Hybrid mechs such as the Bolvos Rage and the Trost proved to be more flexible and more able to respond to different situations.

Even Venerable Damira Planat's Erin Tear displayed some enhanced mobility and ranged threat despite its excellence in melee combat.

This was why both Ves and Gloriana soon dismissed the Amphis in favor of admiring the Bolvos Rage.

Expert mechs were informally split up into different performance tiers. Low-tier expert mechs were the most common. They had to be designed with lower budgets in mind, so they utilized less resonating materials and didn't possess too many features.

The Bolvos Rage was different. Its entire frame was packed with either stellar parameters or extremely useful features.

”It looks like Professor Cortez worked overtime to repair the battle on this expert mech.” Gloriana remarked. ”I can still spot some of the signs of hasty repairs. Its chest projector may look operational, but I'm sure that's only the case on the surface. In truth, its overall effectiveness may have dropped by as much as a fifth.”

Ves missed that particular detail, but now that his wife had pointed it out, he could see why she made this judgement. The Bolvos Rage was still a wounded mech underneath its shiny metal exterior.

Regardless, it was still the best hybrid mech that Ves had ever witnessed with his own eyes. He was mentally running back the battle performance of this expert mech as he examined each and every known weapon system.

Every aspect of the Bolvos Rage was meticulously designed. The more Ves studied it, the more he admired its nuances.

”It's amazing how the Bolvos Rage is able to accommodate so many integrated weapon systems.” He expressed. ”The expert mech is able to integrate all of these armaments seamlessly without overly compromising its defenses. Its other parameters are also up to par, and it can even fight up close with a pair of handheld weapons. Perhaps its only true shortcoming is that it doesn't possess any supremely powerful weapons.”

Gloriana mentioned another weakness. ”Don't forget about its short endurance. In the previous battle, the mech expended much of its weapon systems, leaving it with relatively few options at the end. I think Patriarch Reginald demanded a solution that excels in fighting against other expert mechs, either in a fair duel or in a short brawl between mechs of the same level.”