"So of the shortcomings of your specialty have co to light." Gloriana pointed out. "By resorting heavily on ranged attacks, our Blessed Squires are being shot left and right before they can even make it to the enemy lines."
Her physical projection leaned against Ves. The realism of the Darkbreak module's projection technology was so great that it was as if her body was actually aboard the Scarlet Rose!
This ti they did not employ this fantastic tech for its original purpose. They had too much work to do to waste their ti on expressing their love.
Both of them paid closer attention to the progress of the Komodo War since one of their products finally entered the field.
Ves enjoyed Gloriana's projected warmth as he studied the limited amount of footage and reports he received from DIVA.
Tracking the performance of the Blessed Squire was crucial to the developnt of their subsequent Hexer chs!
From what he had seen so far, every Hexer ch regint that received the Blessed Squire had already embraced the new product wholeheartedly.
Neither their males or females neglected this useful ch model and made sure to treat it with reverence.
To many Hexers, it was unthinkable to employ the Blessed Squire as cannon fodder!
Part of it was due to its desirable glow. The Superior Mother seed to resonate with Hexers of every gender and every background. From the lowest classes of commoners to the noble and arrogant highborn females descended from the matriarchal dynasties, everyone who grew up as a Hexer inexplicably valued the Blessed Squires once they experienced its glow!
Certainly, there were plenty of conservative Hexers who feared this drastic change and suspected that so form of brainwashing was at work, but the victories this ch enabled slowly word away their stubbornness!
While it was too early to tell whether the Blessed Squire changed the views of the Hexers to a more boy-friendly ideology, the signs so far were modestly optimistic.
"What are you grinning about?! This is a serious problem, and this is just the prelude. The Friday Coalition will unveil other responses soon enough!"
"It's fine, Gloriana. The Blessed Squire is still fulfilling its purpose, if not as one-sided. First, the Blessed Squire will always be able to support other Hexers. If it can't effectively boost friendly lee chs, then it can still boost friendly ranged chs!"
"The differences aren't as big. Emotions play a much bigger factor at close range. In a long-ranged firefight, the material performance of chs play a much greater role."
She was right. lee combat was quick, fast, brutal and visceral. ch pilots needed to have the grit and confidence to confront an enemy ch that swung a heavy implent that could easily inflict heavy damage at an instant!
The Blessed Squire always provided the Hexer ch pilots with great advantages in these situations. Unfortunately, so of the utility it provided beca invalid when the Hexers failed to close the distance.
Though Gloriana looked quite upset at this developnt, Ves was a bit more nonchalant about it. As the principal designer of this ch, he had already anticipated this kind of response.
It made too much sense to do so. A ch whose greatest strength only took effect at a limited range around its fra would always beco a priority target at range!
"I'm afraid our Blessed Squire won't be as valued by the Hex Army anymore after this." Gloriana quivered.
"It's okay." Ves whispered. "The Blessed Squire is not a fragile ch. It's a knight ch with a shield, so the Fridayn always have to invest a lot of firepower into taking it out. In the anti, Hexer ranged chs aren't as constrained and can focus their firepower on more vulnerable targets. Therefore, even if the Blessed Squire can't play a role, its presence on the battlefield still imposes so constraints on the Fridayn!"
This was how real battles were fought between states. From so of his previous Mastery experiences, he knew that the developnt and use of different ch models constantly evolved.
Even when suppressed, the Blessed Squire still added value to the Hex Army, so Ves did not share Gloriana's pessimism.
Besides, the Fridayn hadn't unveiled their killer weapons yet. The Miracle Couple's true crisis began the mont the Fridayn Masters rolled out their counters against his specialty!
Considering the formidable design capabilities of Masters, they probably already developed nurous candidates. They were probably being tested in secret labs at this ti.
Gloriana raised another topic of concern. "I'm worried about our Valkyrie Redeer. As an aerial ch that primarily relies on spear charges to take out its foes, its very vulnerable to ranged attacks."
"The sa applies to every aerial ch, Gloriana. This is hardly unique to our Valkyrie Redeer. Different from the Blessed Squire, our second Hexer ch can selectively project its death-based glow to any distant target. That alleviates the range limitation a bit. Also, our marauder ch is also designed to fight away from the frontlines, so it won't encounter as much ranged firepower."
"My fellow Hexers won't value our chs that much if they keep encountering so much focused resistance. In the long term, we'll beco less valued if this keeps up. I think we need to develop so effective ranged chs as soon as possible!"
The worry and urgency in her tone betrayed her need for validation. Ever since the Blessed Squire accelerated the takeover of Marrakath, her fa and reputation in the Hegemony had grown dramatically!
The thought of losing all of these gains made her desperate!
Ves kissed her projected cheek and tried to comfort her. "There is no point in rushing ourselves. Let's finish our current projects first before embarking on other ones. In the anti, we can observe all of the counters the Fridayn will eventually bring to bear against our initial products. Once we know what they are capable of, we can implent specific counterasures in our subsequent Hexer chs."
"You're.. right." She sighed. "I'm being too hasty. I'm just infuriated at the rampant bullying of our babies. They can hardly poke out their heads these days without getting shot!"
Though the Blessed Squires still provided the Hex Army with so advantages, Ves agreed with his partner that it was better to introduce so ranged chs in the near future.
Ves felt the need to prove that his chs also provided a competitive advantage at range!
It was not as if Ves already designed successful ranged chs. The Desolate Soldier and Deliverer chs both achieved great results in the Sand War.
The challenge was that it wasn't enough to boost their morale anymore. The Blessed Squire already fulfilled that role to so extent. Designing a ranged ch with a similar glow as their first Hexer ch introduced too little variety.
Perhaps the Hexers might even regard him as a one-trick pony!
The pair began to swap so ideas on what their next Hexer chs should offer.
"It has to differentiate itself from both existing Hexer military chs and our Blessed Squires." She told him. "Maybe we can apply the ranged glow chanic of the Valkyrie Redeer to our third Hexer design project, but that is not enough I think."
Ves pursed his lips. "The impact of exposing an enemy ch pilot to a ranged glow is not as drastic when it cos from a ranged ch. The reason why I believe the Valkyrie Redeer pairs well with this chanic is because it complents its charge attack. Everyone fears a ch barreling down on your position! What my glow does is to amplify this fear in order to hamper the response of the victim. This dynamic is largely absent in a ranged firefight."
"Then what can we do to give our ranged Hexer ch an advantage in this situation? We can't afford to sha the majesty of a Supre! The Fridayn must fear her and submit to her in order to do right by your mother!"
He jerked when she said that. Ves felt like vomiting. His mother might be a soul-sucking ghost, but she was no tyrant! At least that he knew of. Who knew what her past was like.
"Ahem." He coughed. "I've learned so new tricks recently. I've already told you about the breakthrough that I've made in our Sanctuary Project. I'll see if I can apply them to our other projects. However, I do admit it is rather tricky to make a ranged ch stand out. Even though my glows sound great, they mainly affect ch pilots. At its core, my design philosophy has always centered on increasing the integration between chs and ch pilots. My solution will have to co from this direction."
This was his greatest strength but also his greatest constraint. While he entertained so radical ideas, he did not forget that his primary focus was never about enhancing the technical performance of his chs.
That was Gloriana's responsibility.
Instead, he should find his own way to Increase the applicability of his specialty in ranged combat.
Several ideas passed through his mind. Many of them weren't viable.
"You know, one of your cousins has started to make a na for himself in the Friday Coalition. He's fad for bringing around a bunch of quasi-expert chs and using them to overwhelm opposing expert chs with a flood of ranged attacks."
Ah yes, Venerable Ghanso. Ves harbored a lot of loathing for this obstinate Larkinson.
"What are you trying to say?'
"While Ghanso deserves death for killing so many Hexer war heroes, I have to admit that Master Huron has developed a novel way of increasing the effective power of expert pilots. From what our spies have managed to uncover, Ghanso's mind is neurally linked with all of those quasi-expert chs."
"I know. Aisling explained so of Master Huron's work to during the brief ti I was her captive. I didn't know that this Master's specialty could be applied in this way."
Gloriana grinned at him. "Why not steal his idea? Can you apply your glow in a way that allows Hexers to connect each other with the help of the Superior Mother? She's so powerful! There has to be a way, right?!"
"Woah, there! Do you even know what you are talking about?! This sounds crazy! It's already dangerous enough to ss with neural connections. Forming these connections through glows sounds absolutely crazy!"
In fact, Ves did not believe it was as impossible as he made it out to be. The Superior Mother already acted as the hub of an imnse spiritual network. Though the strength of this network paled in comparison to the Larkinson Network, he believed it might be possible to link the participants together in so way.
That didn't an he was eager to do so, however! Such a radical innovation would definitely reveal too much about his specialty! He didn't even need to guess that Master Willix would imdiately pay him a friendly visit and 'invite' him to stay with her at Halcyon Citadel for an indeterminate period of ti.
So lines simply couldn't be crossed!
He argued a bit with Gloriana until she finally dropped her dangerous proposal.
"Spoilsport." She grumbled. "What are we supposed to do, then? Can't you persuade the Ylvainan proto-god to lend his powers to the Hexer cause?'
"That's impossible. Ylvaine only blesses his own devoted. That has always been the rule. Providing Hexer ranged chs with predictive targeting is off the table."
They didn't have a lot of good ideas after ruling out this option.
Eventually, they called it a day.
"We still have months to flesh out our design concept. There's no hurry."
"I'm aware, Ves. It's just that I'm afraid we won't have anything good by the ti we are supposed to embark on our next projects."
"Just because I don't have any good ideas at the mont doesn't an this will stay this way in the future. I'm constantly progressing my design philosophy. I'll try my best to expand in this direction in order to make our ranged chs just as useful as our lee chs."
"You better!"
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