The Deceptor Project debut proceeded quite well.
Once it was put into space at a safe distance from the main fleet, it activated without any fuss or complications.
After performing a routine of basic actions such as moving its limbs and flying in different directions, the light harasser ch finally showed what it was capable of in the more advanced tests.
First, it ward up its submachine gun by firing at nurous practice targets.
Though the target dummies weren't actual chs, they were built to closely mimic the defensive properties of different chs.
"As expected, the submachine gun is powerful enough to defeat other light chs." Ves smiled in satisfaction.
Although the Deceptor Project possessed no defenses against light skirmishers that managed to get into lee range, beyond that the ranged ch possessed a decisive advantage!
The high firing rate made it easier for the Deceptor Project to track and land their hits on fast, maneuverable targets.
The relatively low damage per shot was not a big deal if the enemy ch did not possess that much armor to begin with. This was showcased by how the various stationary and mobile target dummies all got shot to pieces by the submachine gun.
One of the advantages of this weapon over many other comparable ones was that it was based on luminar crystal technology.
Though the weapon was too small and compact to fit too many luminar energy attack phase crystals, Ves still managed to make enough space to equip the submachine gun with three different energy beam types.
For this test, Ves was equipped with a laser beam crystal, a slicer beam crystal and a disruptor beam crystal.
This caused Commander Firelight to grow intrigued.
"Is this the recomnded package for the Deceptor Project? What is the rationale for this luminar crystal loadout?" He asked the patriarch.
"Out of the six energy attack phase crystals at our disposal, I found that the three of them work out the best. First, you need to be aware of how the weapon fits in the overall system. It's a light weapon because it is paired with a light ch. It needs to deal effective damage at a budget because the Deceptor Project does not cope well with elevated energy consumption and heat generation. The simple and humble laser beam is therefore the most optimal attack pattern for the Deceptor Project."
Sure, laser beam weapons were relatively simple and low tech compared to other energy weapon types, but that played to its advantage in this case.
Humanity's understanding of laser weapons had grown so high that it was an extrely mature tech. The sa applied to the luminar race as their own application of laser weapons was extrely refined!
The direct consequence of this was that the Deceptor Project remained highly efficient as long as it kept firing laser beams!
Although the damage potential and penetration power of this beam type was not that impressive, the Deceptor Project could easily keep it up without issue.
"The damage that a single Deceptor Project can deal is not high, but rember that it is a ranged ch." Ves told the Vandals. "A ch squad or ch company can easily array their guns against single targets. Even better-armored chs will succumb when they are being peppered with a torrent of laser beams!"
This was much better than with the Ferocious Piranha. While it was possible for the light chs to gang up on a single target, only a few of them could safely approach at a ti. If they weren't careful enough, they could easily collide against each other!
"This is the capability that we have been missing." A Vandal ch captain said. "The Ferocious Piranhas are good machines, but so ch formations are too dense to attack easily. With this ranged ch, we have more options than before. At the very least, we have ans to apply pressure without committing anything."
Aside from the laser beam attack phase, the Deceptor Project also tested out the other two attack phases.
The slicer beam fired by the submachine gun was quite thin and weak. Even though it was more effective than the laser beam at penetrating through solid armor plating, when put into rapid-fire mode a lot of beams scattered around, preventing the Deceptor Project from quickly dealing critical damage.
It was only when the Deceptor Project switched the firing mode of its weapon that it was able to penetrate through armor more effectively.
"This is an option that works best in the high-powered firing mode. This is because it is easier to apply a lot of energy at the sa position." Ves explained to them. "The downside of this is that the submachine gun cannot fire like this continuously without quickly reaching its limits. I highly recomnd you to stick to the rapid-fire mode."
"Will that still be effective?" Commander Firelight asked in a skeptical tone. "Because it looks to that you're firing the equivalent of a lot of razors at a wall."
Ves nodded. "Your analogy isn't wrong, but like the previous case, think about how fast a ch company of Deceptor Project chs can chew through the exterior of an enemy target. In fact, the true value of employing this ch this way is not to reach the internals, but quickly wipe out and disassemble all exterior modules. If your ch units are able to target the rear section of enemy chs, they can quickly knock out the flight systems and possibly other rear modules without requiring to do anything further."
"We can already do that with the laser beams."
"It will be more effective with the slicer beams. Flight systems are built to withstand a lot of heat because they often generate a lot of it in order to generate thrust. The alloys and materials used to make these modules need to be able to resist heat first, so a typical laser beam will just disperse a lot of heat energy over surfaces that are expressly designed to deal with it. While slicer beams consist of energy as well, they are a special type that keeps it extrely concentrated."
There was a lot more theory behind it, but Ves did not bother to explain it to the ch pilots and ch officers. They just needed to take his word that the slicer beam was highly effective when utilized in certain situations.
"Of course, slicers are also highly efficient because of their low total energy output, and that is exactly what the Deceptor Project needs."
"And the disruptor beam?"
"They're just there so that the Deceptor Project chs can easily drain enemy energy shields. There's nothing complicated about it, and while it might not be necessary to employ it in every battle, it will co extrely handy in the few situations where you are compelled to attack shielded units."
The Vandals slowly nodded. Energy shields were a bit more prevalent in the Red Ocean than in the galactic rim. While it was uncommon to see them in cheaper and smaller chs, the larger ones had a good chance of carrying them. Miniaturization and better energy cells made it easier to integrate them in offensive chs.
"You've explained why you chose those three crystals. Why did you reject the other three?"
"Well, let's start with the positron beam. This attack type is considerably more powerful than the laser beam but is also a lot more inefficient as well. Not only will your chs run out of energy faster, they will also overheat a lot sooner. Once that happens, a lot of ECM asures will beco ineffective. It isn't worth it in my eyes."
While it was fine for Bright Warriors and Transcendent Punishers to make use of positron weapons, they were substantially bigger and much more capable of dealing with the increased demands of this weapon type. They also didn't place a high emphasis on ECM or misdirection so it didn't matter if they lit themselves up on enemy sensors.
"As for the kinetic beam, the reason why I don't recomnd it is because it's not efficient. You are converting a lot of electrical energy into physical energy when you employ this luminar crystal attack phase, and that is such a big leap that a lot of energy goes to waste. This isn't too big of a deal with bigger rifles but the loss in damage output is much more severe with lighter weapons."
"Oh. What of the light beam, then? They are highly effective against expert chs."
Ves grimaced. He already had a much better ch design lined up for this until the MTA forcibly put a stop to it. He still hadn't gotten a resolution at this ti. The Association's bureaucracy sure liked to take its ti!
"The light beam is sowhat effective, but the relatively low damage output per ch ans you will need to field hundreds if not thousands of Deceptor Project chs to effectively threaten an enemy expert ch. Given our limited carrier space, we can't field so many of this ch at the mont. It is much more efficient to leave the job to other chs that pack a much greater punch."
"I see…"
The Vandals all looked disappointed at this reasoning.
"Fighting against expert chs is important but the burden should never fall upon light chs." Ves told them all. "Your jobs are different. With your Ferocious Piranhas and your new Deceptor Projects, you can beco our consummate flankers. Any ch formation that isn't prepared to fight against a light assault unit like yours will easily get torn to shreds!"
In order to prove his words, the final tests were the most important ones.
The Avatars of Myth agreed to volunteer a Bright Warrior piloted by one of their own. The ch was in its rifleman ch configuration at the mont so that it could effectively retaliate against the Deceptor Project.
Once they went through the safety checks, the two chs began to perform a mock duel against each other.
Their luminar crystal weapons had been set to the lowest power settings possible so that they dealt minimal damage to each other.
When the two chs fought against each other, it quickly beca clear that they were very different chs.
The Bright Warrior was not as agile and was not as effective at fairly close ranges, but its solid construction and armor plating provided it with a lot of buffer!
The Deceptor Project was much faster and perford much better at this range. Nonetheless, its submachine gun was not that powerful and it surely felt every hit that its opponent managed to land.
However, as the Vandal ch pilot beca more proficient at piloting the real ch in a realistic battle setting, the Deceptor Project stopped getting hit as much.
While this was expected from a well-piloted light ch, the amount of attacks it was able to dodge was on the high side!
"I wouldn't be able to make an Avatar ch miss so many shots with my Ferocious Piranha."
"The difference isn't that big, though."
"Who knows. It might an the difference between life and death."
Ves was happy to see that the Flagrant Vandal ch pilots were discerning enough to notice the difference. The combination of the glow and nurous ECM systems both worked to make it difficult for the Avatar ch to keep its gun on target.
However, there was no denying that the difference wasn't big enough to rit so much investnt.
In order to prove the Deceptor Project's true value, Ves ordered his n to move to the final test.
A second Avatar ch joined the first one. The arriving Bright Warrior was in a space knight configuration, which imdiately compensated for nearly all of the rifleman ch's weaknesses!
On the other hand, the Deceptor Project tead up with a Ferocious Piranha ch dispatched by the Flagrant Vandals.
The duel had turned into a two-on-two match. While Ves expected his new light ch combination to perform effectively, the Avatar ch pilots weren't going to make it easy! They had their own pride and they were highly familiar with dealing all kinds of glow effects!
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