Pairing the soaring Valkyrie Redeer with a submachine gun granted the ch sufficient ranged firepower against opponents at dium range.
Submachine guns, which were light enough to be wielded by a single ch arm if necessary, weren’t known for their accuracy.
Even though there was a lot of overlap these days, the ch industry still maintained a conscious distinction between various ranged weapon types.
In general, rifles were quite effective at different ranges. They worked best at dium range but did not beco useless at longer or shorter ranges.
Submachine guns didn’t have to cover so much ground. In exchange for increasing their firing rate and decreasing the burden onto the ch, this class of weapons straightforwardly sacrificed long-ranged firepower in favor of increasing their effectiveness at shorter ranges.
Their fairly constructed weapon fras made them very suitable for chs that did not wish to lug around a big and c.u.mberso weapon.
While the weapon lacked punch, this was a worthwhile tradeoff to make. The Valkyrie Redeer’s ranged capabilities mainly served to give the ch so teeth against distant targets.
In general, the ch pilots of the marauder chs could opt to harass their opponents at range or close in for an all-out charge!
The latter option entailed a lot of risk. The female Hexers would have to confront their enemies head-on. If they bit off more than they chewed, then it was quite dangerous to disengage and fly away.
Therefore, the submachine gun played an important role in keeping the Valkyrie Redeer relevant. Its firepower might be low, but the ch would not have to expose itself to a lot of danger to pressure their targets.
Overall, the low burden imposed by the submachine gun ant the Valkyrie Redeer possessed plenty of capacity to strengthen its lee combat capabilities.
Since the Valkyrie Redeer was an offensive ch, Ves and Gloriana had to make sure that it possessed enough power to defeat enemy chs.
Gloriana sumd their objective. "Different from skirmisher chs, marauder chs are designed to confront their enemies head-on. The main challenge is that the latter ch type is plainly not good at defense. We have to combine its mobility and offensive power in a way that allows our Valkyrie Redeer to fulfill its purpose while keeping it alive."
Ordinary light chs relied on their exceptional speed and evasion to avoid getting hit.
One of the problems that the pair struggled with was that the Valkyrie Redeer’s size and mass put it firmly in the dium ch category!
Even if it was on the lighter end of the dium weight class, the Valkyrie Redeer was simply too sluggish to zip around like a nimble wasp.
Its forward acceleration and top speed was rather respectable, but its lateral acceleration and reaction speed was not as good.
Compared to other dium chs, this was still a respectable level of performance, but the Valkyrie Redeer would never be able to outrun or outdance a genuine light ch!
"This is why we paired this ch design with a shield." Gloriana pointed out. "The shield doesn’t have to be as big or c.u.mberso as a knight ch’s tower shield. As long as its material composition is good enough, it will hold up against a fair amount of attacks the Valkyrie Redeer is unable to dodge."
Ves nodded in agreent. "I don’t have much of a problem with that. It will be fairly costly for the Hex Army to replace or repair the spent shields after every sortie, but it’s better than losing an entire ch."
The Valkyrie Redeer cost twice as much as a Blessed Squire, after all! It was very easy to destroy a lot of value if the Fridayn managed to take this relatively fragile ch down.
Of course, calling the ch fragile was only a relative description. Its thin, light-weight armor plating was still very tough. Due to the ch’s penchant for charges, Ves and Gloriana made sure to strengthen the internal structure along with the exterior. Not only that, they made sure the ch was capable of enduring and absorbing a certain amount of shock.
Yet there was only so much the armor could withstand attacks. The cost of improving the ch’s defensive capabilities rose exponentially higher the further they progressed. There was no way 400 million hex credits could afford the kind of armor systems that were used in so of the premier Hexer offensive ch models!
Ves and Gloriana both began to theorize and simulate their options. Eventually, they ca to an agreent that it was best for the ch to launch a single overwhelming attack before retreating imdiately afterwards.
"It doesn’t make much sense to turn the Valkyrie Redeer into a duelist or a brawler." Gloriana shook her head. "Compared to conventional offensive chs, its relatively light armor ans it can’t exchange a lot of blows. The mont the Valkyrie Redeer reaches its targets, it will likely lose most of its speed. The ch becos very vulnerable to counterattacks at this stage."
The safest condition for the Valkyrie Redeer was if it flew low in the air! This allowed the marauder ch to maximize its speed, provide it with a good view, remain out of range of landbound lee chs and make it elusive enough to evade most hits from range.
To put it in simpler terms, the Valkyrie Redeer was safer in the air than on the ground. Landing its feet on a solid surface ant danger, as any landbound ch could take the relatively fragile ch down!
That said, the Valkyrie Redeer wasn’t safe in the air either. If it flew too high, it would just make it easier for ranged chs spread across the battlefield to fire straight at the marauder ch!
This was why it was best for the ch to fly at extrely high altitudes or fairly low above the ground.
Against aerial opponents, the Valkyrie Redeer was already capable of holding its own. Its submachine gun posed a serious threat against any nimble light ch, while its spear and shield combination provided the marauder ch with enough close-ranged capabilities to outfight most aerial chs at point-blank range.
"It’s the enemy landbound chs that pose the greatest threat to the Valkyrie Redeer." Ves stated as he studied the projection of the incomplete design. "Fridayman chs that aren’t designed to fly aren’t burdened with c.u.mberso flight systems. Their offense and defense is always considerably better than chs with wings. Its a really poor idea to pit a hawk against a wolf."
The latter was superior in almost every front except for flight ability.
While the Friday Coalition boasted plenty of multi-environnt chs, they still relied a lot on chs that specialized in landbound combat.
Entire ch regints and ch divisions existed solely to put up the best possible fight on land!
Marrakath III showcased the great ability of the Opal Tridents to draw out the Wrathful Doves into a grueling battle of attrition with the help of its hardy and resilient landbound chs.
Ves even admired many of those chs. So of the models were used throughout the entire Fortune Legion while other models were specific to the Opal Tridents or individual ch regints.
Regardless of their ownership, the Friday Coalition’s military ch designs were very good despite their great variety!
Since his Blessed Squire, Valkyrie Redeer and other upcoming Hexer chs were ant to confront these Fridayman chs, Ves and Gloriana needed to make sure their chs could keep up in terms of performance.
"Generally, we need to work together with specialists in lee combat and employ a considerable number of design teams in order to optimize the upfront combat capabilities of the Valkyrie Redeer." Gloriana noted.
That was impractical to their current situation. The assistant ch designers they hired so far were only qualified to work on their minor design projects.
As for working alongside competent ch designers who specialized in lee combat, which Hexer would possibly cooperate with a male ch designer?
Ves seriously doubted whether any Hexer Senior or Master was capable of treating a boy like him as an equal partner!
Soliciting the help of non-Hexers was not on the table. Every Hexer ch design commissioned by DIVA involved a lot of confidential and exclusive tech and components.
In short, making their marauder ch good at upfront combat was not a viable option.
This was why they fully committed the Valkyrie Redeer lee options to delivering a single overwhelming strike before quickly moving on. In that regard, the ch partially took on the role of a lancer ch.
Ves rubbed his smooth-shaven chin in thought. "This is fine, but the Valkyrie Redeer doesn’t perform as well as a specialized lancer ch. It’s a bit more agile, to be sure, but it doesn’t have the frontal armor and other attributes to break through a solid defense line."
"The Valkyrie Redeer doesn’t have to take on such a tough target, Ves. The Bright Warriors in their lancer configurations have done an admirable job with charging straight through formations of pirate chs, but the disparity between the Larkinson Clan and the typical pirate group is massive. That’s not the case in the Komodo War. I hate to admit it, but the chs of the Coalition are just as good as the chs of the Hegemony."
Of course, in her opinion, Hexer chs were always better than their Fridayman equivalent!
Regardless, she was right. True lancer chs played the role of heavy cavalry. They were built solely to accelerate forward and build up a considerable amount of montum. Their main objective was to punch through vulnerable enemy formations and open up gaps to be exploited by other elents!
This did not fit the Valkyrie Redeer’s battle profile. If this marauder ch attempted to charge straight into a defensive line, then it was highly likely that it would be attacked on all sides once it delivered its charge!
The more enemies it faced, the greater its disadvantage! Ideally, the ch adopted the role of light cavalry. The Valkyrie Redeer was supposed to steer clear of large groups of enemies and instead hunted for isolated patrols and vulnerable supply vehicles.
If their marauder ch was just supposed to fulfill a flanking role, then Ves believed that it didn’t need to be as powerful as a genuine lancer ch.
Once they finalized this decision, the pair optimized the ch’s structure and weapon handling to enable it to deliver a swift and decent charge, especially when it descended from above.
This was quite difficult. Ves needed to pair the ch with a fairly long lance that was quite strong but heavy in order to endure successive powerful charges.
Designing a ch designed to charge enemies from above caused Ves to recall one of his older works.
Gloriana noticed his distraction. "What are you thinking about?"
"Huh? Oh noting, haha!"
For so reason, Ves thought back on one of his more.. eccentric ch designs. The Lady Death’s Heel was a particularly remarkable ch that he designed in his early years.
Transforming its feet into a giant spike so that the Lady Death’s Heel could charge straight down onto a vulnerable surface target was a very original implentation!
If the devastating charge of this ch didn’t finish off a target, then the ch could always bash its impaled victim with its hamr to finish the job!
For a mont, Ves felt tempted to bring up this old work of his to Gloriana. Since he published it onto a pseudonym account, he was pretty sure his lover wasn’t familiar with it. Now that he thought about it, the Lady Death’s Heel was very compatible with Hexer sensibilities!
Ves had a faint suspicion that the female Hexers would love to pilot a ch that was able to deliver death from above by impaling their opponents with a giant spiky heel!
He shuddered. So chs were simply too horrible to introduce to the galaxy! He had no idea what he Hexers would do with a ch that possessed such an unusual feature, but he was sure that they would definitely go overboard with impaling enemy chs!
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