As the Larkinson Clan experienced massive changes, the fleet eventually crossed through abandoned and distressed space and reached the territory of the Sentinel Kingdom!
Everyone's nerves truly relaxed at that ti. Though the Penitent Sisters already provided them with a huge amount of security, the CRC could always spring a huge surprise on them while the fleet was still within its reach!
Entering the Sentinel Kingdom definitively closed this door. Though the Sentinel Kingdom didn't exhibit a strong bias towards won, it existed firmly in the sphere of the Hegemony. If the CRC dared to invade so far into Hegemony-aligned space, its forces would never make it out alive!
During this ti, Ves slowly put his mind off all of the changes in the clan in order to direct his attention towards his design projects.
Gloriana demanded his full commitnt to the striker ch project and the Hexer ch project!
"You're such a worrywart, Ves." She crossed her arms and tapped her feet. "Just let the Executive Council and the Larkinson Assembly do their jobs. That's what they are for, right?"
"I'm the clan patriarch. It's my duty to keep abreast of the developnts."
"If there are any issues the council and the assembly can't handle, they'll bring them to your attention. That hasn't happened lately, right?"
Ves reluctantly nodded. To be honest, the council and the assembly mostly presented their solutions to him as a courtesy.
"I suppose you're right. I don't need to spend all of my ti worrying about every single detail. I'll try and invest my attention to our ch projects."
His chs deserved all of the love and attention he could provide. As a ch designer, it was a sin to hold back when he could have put more effort in his designs!
It was fine for his ch designs to exhibit shortcomings due to his lack of skill and ability.
What his professionalism couldn't tolerate was a ch design that failed due a lack of effort or investnt on his part! Such sloppiness was completely preventable as long as he did his due diligence!
Once he let go of so of the current issues, his productivity went back to normal. While their third-class striker ch project didn't exhibit any significant changes, his increased energy made a substantial difference in the developnt of their Hexer ch!
Although it was just supposed to be a landbound knight ch at its base, the added functionality that Ves insisted upon produced a lot of technical challenges.
The ch not only had to accommodate a lot of energy cells, but also had to fit in an entire suite of energy transfer systems!
Ves listed the main requirents. "We need a system to regulate the energy cells. We need a system to safely and quickly transfer energy from our knight ch to another ch. We need a system to siphon energy from fallen friendly and enemy chs. Oh, we also need a system to keep it all together and prevent energy from spilling into places where they aren't supposed to go! Have I missed anything?"
"Don't forget about the heat managent systems." Gloriana reminded him. "All of those energy transfers will encounter various amounts of electrical resistance. Though the use of superconductors mitigate a lot of possible heat generation, not every process can be achieved with them. Aside from the limited total energy capacity, the heat managent system will likely be the second weakness of our design!"
His girlfriend was right. Their knight ch had to devote too much of its capacity to the energy transfer systems. Even if second-class chs could fit in a lot more modules, they didn't have the budget or spare capacity to do more than stuff a bunch of heat sinks inside their ch.
This was a distinctly limited solution that put a finite limit on the operation ti of their ch.
In theory, their Hexer knight ch could remain online indefinitely on the battlefield as long as it kept siphoning energy from various sources.
In reality, other limitations would probably force the ch to leave the battle. Pilot exhaustion, heat build-up, battle damage and other stresses all made sure the ch wouldn't be able to last more than a day on the frontlines!
"That's fine." Ves largely dismissed her concerns. "The point of my ch is to support the female Hexer chs in their assaults or risky maneuvers by providing its shield, bringing along its glow and putting its energy reserves at their disposal. It's not necessary for the limitations of our ch to surpass the limitations of the Hexer chs."
In the end, their product was a knight ch with a support function. Its offensive ability was completely garbage, and neither Ves nor Gloriana did anything to address this shortcoming.
For one, Gloriana and the Hexers were fixated on the idea that male chs had to possess as little teeth as possible!
While this rule was rather difficult to apply to rifleman chs, when it ca to defensive chs, the male ch pilots better not have the ability to overpower a female ch!
As for Ves, he went along with this custom because he simply couldn't find any capacity to strengthen his ch's combat potential.
That said, he didn't entirely resign himself to designing a toothless ch.
"Siphoning energy can also be an attack if it is applied to an active hostile ch!"
Ves didn't share this opinion with Gloriana. He did his best to keep it in his mind and out of his implant. If his girlfriend ever thought that he wanted to turn his ch into a bona-fide energy vampire, she would probably erupt in front of his face again!
That was not a pleasant experience!
In order to turn this mode of attack into reality, he spent an inordinate amount of ti refining the energy siphoning systems. After trying out various ways to add this system onto the ch in a way that made sense, he eventually settled on adding additional limbs to the Hexer ch.
"The arms of our ch are already needed to hold the sword and tower shield." He explained as he projected a sketch of his proposed solution. "The energy transfer and siphoning systems need a way to reach out and establish a connection with other machines. It's impractical to expect our knight ch to drop its sword or shield in the middle of a battle in order to reach out its hand to a friendly ch."
To solve this problem, Ves attached an extra pair of specialized 'arms' on the ch's lower back. It made the humanoid ch look a bit like an insect. The extra limbs were longer in order to facilitate their reach but thinner because they weren't designed to hold any objects.
Sharp, needle-like implents that were geared towards connecting to energy ports or piercing through softer armor ford their tips. All in all, the ch looked a lot more nacing with the addition of these inhuman limbs!
Gloriana studied his sketch and frowned. "This isn't what we planned."
"I know, but how else will you solve this problem? Adding extra limbs is the most convenient solution. I know the Good Boy transfers its energy in a different fashion, but that ch is not expected to fight or do anything else with its arms! In order to allow our Hexer ch to operate on the frontlines, we have to ensure its ability to defend itself no matter the circumstances!"
In the end, Ves had his way when Gloriana failed to offer a better solution.
Though the extra limbs added to their workload, Ves began to enjoy this project more and more. While it was still a ch that treated its male ch pilots as support personnel, he hoped that at least a couple of them would discover and utilize the offensive possibilities that the energy siphoning limbs enabled!
Ves didn't dare to do much more than that. He was already fortunate that Gloriana was too taken in by her biases to realize that this new change could make the ch more dangerous!
All in all, while there were still a couple of months of developnt to go, the progress they made so far made both ch designers very content!
Of particular note was the increased performance of their design teams. After Ves personally inducted the Tovars, the Ylvainans and the two oddballs into the clan, they began to perform their duties with a lot more fervor than before!
Their high morale not only increased their results, but also accelerated their progression!
One major reason for that was that Ves no longer saw his subordinate ch designers as employees.
They were Larkinsons now.
Sure, they still retained a part of their old identities through their compound nas. However, their addition to the Larkinson Network ant that Ves was much more certain about their loyalty and commitnt to his endeavors!
For this reason, he began to devote a little more attention to his lessons. His earnest guidance allowed his assistants to avoid several pitfalls in their developnt, thereby speeding up the growth of their design philosophies!
A couple of individuals achieved a lot more progress than he anticipated.
Miles Tovar-Larkinson began to exhibit a greater degree of spiritual strength! Each ti Ves peeked into the new clanman's mind, he noticed that Miles' spiritual potential began to grow and show more activity!
This was a rather fascinating process! Ves didn't have much experience in observing the transition of Apprentices to Journeyn. He could only base his theories around his own transition, but he had no clue whether other ch designers followed the sa steps!
His curiosity drove him to pour more attention onto Miles. If the Apprentice was still an employee, then Ves would be much more reluctant to provide so much help.
Who knew if Miles Tovar would leave the LMC as soon as he advanced to Journeyman!
Yet now was different. Miles Tovar was different from Miles Tovar-Larkinson. The forr was an employee while the latter was an employee as well as family!
Since the adopted mbers of the clan weren't allowed to undo their joining unless sothing exceptional happened, Ves could trust Miles to stay for the long haul!
Elevating one of his assistant ch designers to Journeyman therefore posed much less of a risk than before. In fact, adding another Journeyman to his roster would do much to strengthen the clan and increase the design capability of his ch company!
That said, it would still take a fairly long ti for Miles to actually complete the transition and form his design seed.
"You have a lot of potential, Miles." Ves ntioned. "You have prior design experience and you have done a lot to shore up your knowledge in the past few months."
"Thank you, sir. I feel really great. Joining the clan was one of the best monts of my life!"
Miles had many reasons to smile. While he had to make his separation from the Tovar Family permanent, he was very much aware how lucky he was to receive so much personal attention from a talented ch designer!
"There's one problem that is slowing you down, though."
"What is it, sir?"
"You haven't been designing any chs for a while, right?"
"I.. don't have the ti. I started up a few projects, but the work that we're expected to do is consuming all of my attention."
Ves grimaced. That was partially his fault. "While I still require your assistance, I think it's ti for you to cut back."
"What do you an?"
"I'm freeing up so ti in your schedule so that you can resu the developnt of your personal ch designs."
Miles looked surprised. Ves was never known to be generous in this fashion! This was a completely uncharacteristic decision from a notorious workaholic!
"Why?"
Ves couldn't tell the truth, so he resorted to a lie. "I see a part of myself in you. There is a drive within you that wants to explode, right? I think it would do you a lot of good if you unleash that drive onto your own ch designs instead of our current projects. Just try it out and see if you can progress your design philosophy. As my aerial ch specialist, I'll be leaning on you whenever we are tasked with designing chs of this nature!"
"I'll do my best, sir!"
User Comments
0 comments from readers