Chapter 2987: Limited Access (1/2)
The Design Department hadn't gone through any expansions lately, so there were only around fifty assistant mech designers.
That was way too few. Expert mech design projects were only geared towards individual mech pilots, but their complexity vastly exceeded that of regular mech design projects.
While the burden on the lead and contributing designers was far greater, they still required the support of a large amount of assistants. The integration of many powerful miniaturized components in a compact mech frame resulted in a lot of mutual interference and unintended interactions. Many of these problems were difficult to predict and could only be discovered by performing endless simulations or prototype testing.
Still, it was still workable, just not ideal. Ves was already thinking about recruiting a couple of hundred low-ranking mech designers in the next big stop of his expeditionary fleet.
Though his fleet had just picked up a lot of talents from the Life Research Association, most of them were too accustomed to working with biomechs to fit in well with the Design Department.
The only reason why Ves agreed to add Dr. Perris to a design team was to keep an eye on her. She was in possession of a lot of secrets. He was not relieved with letting her stay with her fellow compatriots aboard the Spirit of Bentheim. Who knew what sort of information she might spill.
Once the little assistants all knew which expert mech designs they would be working upon for the next months, Gloriana gathered her fellow Journeymen together.
”I can't spread my attention on all six projects at a time, so I will be focusing most of my efforts on two of them. The three of you can supervise the rest, though this does not mean you can do what you want without going by me first. Have I made myself clear?”
Ves shrugged. ”You're in charge this time, Gloriana. We trust in your vision.”
”Good husband.” She grinned and leaned in to peck his cheek. ”I won't betray your trust. I have waited so long for this. Even if we aren't technically qualified to design expert mechs, I am sure we can make something we can be proud of at the end of this journey.”
The enthusiasm flowed from Gloriana's body. It was clear that she was ready to give it her all as soon as she handled all of the leadership and administrative issues.
She quickly gathered herself and faced the other Journeymen. ”Considering our specialties, inclinations and design experience, I have allocated you to projects that I think you'll be able to help the most. That doesn't mean that you should work exclusively on your assigned projects as your specialties are useful for other mechs as well. It just means that I am relying on you to keep the projects on schedule and make sure that our design teams are not spending their time fruitlessly.”
”We understand.”
It was the same as how Ves handled the projects, so the Journeymen knew how they should act.
”Very well, then. I'll start with myself. I am quite interested in designing the defensive schemes of the Bulwark and Vanguard Projects. The expert mech designs of both projects demand a lot of expertise in metallurgy, materials science, battle mechatronics, armor systems and so on. Since none of you specialize in defensive systems, I'll take on this responsibility.”
Her logic was sound. In truth, the Design Department was lacking in multiple departments now that its scope had grown. Ves could really use Journeymen who specialized in ranged weapons and armor systems.
”Ves.”
”Yes, honey?”
”I know you can't wait to devote your time to the Chimera Project, but I'm also handing responsibility of the Sentry Project over to you. It's not that technically complex though it is very challenging to design an expert-grade energy rifle that can be fully harnessed by Venerable Stark. You seem to have a love for laser weapons, so you can try and tinker with the rifle and see if you can integrate your special crystals or something.”
Obviously, she didn't think Ves could succeed in integrating luminar crystals in high-end laser weapons. The luminar crystal tech that Ves managed to secure from the MTA was too basic to keep up with battles at this level.
That didn't mean that Ves intended to give up on it. He recently discovered that luminar crystals were actually spiritually reactive. If he found a way to leverage this property, he might be able to give his wife a big surprise.
”I will make sure to treat each project equally, though that doesn't mean I will spend the same time on them both.” Ves promised. ”The Chimera Project is much more technically complex than a simple expert rifleman mech.”
Both of them understood this, so they did not speak any further about this topic.
Gloriana turned to Juliet Stameros. The Penitent Sister mech designer had kept a low profile recently, but that was merely because Ves and Ketis attracted way too much attention lately. The pair got into trouble way too often compared to other Journeymen!
”Juliet, aside from helping us maximize the mobility of all of our projects, I hope you can devote as much effort as you can spare to completing the Disruptor Project. Your expertise on flight systems is critical to maximizing the greatest strength of Venerable Tusa's expert light skirmisher. Will you be able to tolerate working on a male machine?”
The Penitent Sister frowned. ”I am a Larkinson. I know how to follow orders. I do not have any problems with cooperating with Venerable Tusa on this project.”
”Good. Ketis already knows her assignment, so I don't need to elaborate on this. Is everyone clear on what they have to do during this phase?”
Juliet raised her hands. ”Your presentation did not delve into the role of resonating exotics. When will we know what kind of powerful resonance abilities we can integrate into our expert mech designs?”