The Lucid Rage and the Maiden of Adversity were the two most notable new additions to the Larkinson Army's ch roster, but they were hardly the only newly introduced models.
The evaluation eting also touched upon other models that hadn't been deployed in large numbers.
Many of them were similar to the Lucid Rage in that the Larkinsons only produced smaller batches for trial purposes. If they succeeded in performing well in real battle conditions, then the clan might decide to expand their usage.
"The handful of beast chs that we have designed over the past few years have perford adequately in battle, but if I am being honest, they did not impress that much. None of the avian chs or tiger chs have produced significantly greater results than their humanoid equivalents." Ves shared his opinion to the others. "I see no reason to found a new ch division that is centered around beast chs for the ti being."
The Power Pair looked disappointed as they had been the ones that spent the most ti on designing beast chs for the clan, but neither Janassa nor Tifi expressed too much objection to this evaluation.
Compared to a fantastic new model like the Maiden of Adversity, the strange combination between the Sharpwing and the Mauler models looked a lot less brilliant in comparison.
They were rely average, and that was not enough to impress the Larkinsons.
rrill O'Brian, one of the newbies among the Journeyn, accurately identified one of the factors that could explain the lackluster results.
"Beast chs are not fully capable of utilizing all of their advantages in space battles. Their non-humanoid form factors grant them great advantages under aerial and landbound conditions, but in an empty void like deep space, the variables that make them special possess much less weight."
Ves and many others nodded in agreent. This was a common observation. What use was there for a tiger ch when its four powerful limbs weren't able to gain any leverage over difficult and complex terrain? Why did it matter if an avian ch possessed wings when there was no way to generate lift in space due to the absence of air?
Though these animal-derived elents did not completely lose their utility when put into space, they simply brought significantly more deadweight than humanoid chs.
"Maybe the Trailblazer Expedition will give our beast chs better opportunities to showcase their unique strengths and advantages." Ves noted with a bit of hope. "There is a lot to gain on certain planets, and depending on how wild it is, avian chs and tiger chs can navigate difficult terrain a lot better and more efficiently than our other ch models."
The Larkinson Clan would eventually grow large enough to accommodate beast ch units. Ves was more than willing to add them to his clan so long as the additions made sense. For now, there were too many reasons for the Larkinsons to wait until they embraced this massive addition.
As the discussion continued, the Larkinson Journeyn eventually covered every new ch model that debuted in the first major battle since their release.
The topics soon shifted towards the older and more familiar ch lines. Many of them were Mark II versions of the original chs that had been designed a long ti ago. Despite the age of their concepts, they still remained relevant on the battlefield with the help of extensive technological upgrades.
Gloriana brought up footage of the many different varieties of the standard ch model of the Larkinson Clan.
"The Bright Warrior Mark II's haven't necessarily shown great power, but they have managed to beco a lot more relevant due to their increased modularization. The ability to equip all kinds of optional equipnt and modules has empowered the ch pilots. The people who have co to embrace the Mark II are much better able to utilize their strengths."
The logic of this was clear and indisputable. The Bright Warrior Mark II truly presented a lot of good options to ch pilots who had beco tired of sticking to rigid configurations.
"The Bright Warrior Mark II also takes up more space than normal chs." Sara Voiken ntioned. "Depending on how far you go with this, much of the additional weapons and modules will take the place of supplies, raw materials and other essential cargo. It's not an efficient solution to our current situation. Ves, you have just ntioned earlier that we should maximize the value that we can obtain from a given amount of space on a ship. If we adopt the Bright Warrior Mark II more extensively, then I am afraid that we may be filling up an unnecessary amount of capacity on redundant equipnt loadouts."
She brought up an important point that Ves hadn't fully considered.
"You're right, Sara. If I am being honest, the Bright Warrior Mark II is another ch platform that is more suitable to be used in a planetary environnt because there are no aningful constraints in place. Still, our clan should be able to minimize the amount of useless gear that this new model brings due to the fact that our main fleet possesses strong recycling and production capabilities."
The expeditionary fleet was fully capable of recycling old and unused equipnt while at the sa ti producing new gear that might fit a future situation better. This helped a lot with preventing space from being wasted.
As other ch designers provided their own input on the Bright Warrior Mark II, Ves beca fairly satisfied with the versatile ch model.
Perhaps it did not perform as eye-catchingly well as the Maiden of Adversity, but there were hardly any cases where the Bright Warrior Mark II perford badly.
This was its greatest strength. As long as the Larkinsons made sufficient preparations, they could always count upon their Bright Warrior Mark II's to serve as a reliable base in any ch lineup.
There were no compelling reasons to update the model anyti soon. The current version already served its purpose well enough and it did not exhibit any obvious or critical weaknesses that the Design Departnt urgently needed to address.
If that was the case, then Ves preferred to wait until the clan gained access to better tech, materials and design solutions before revising it another ti.
The Larkinson Journeyn proceeded to cover other Mark II and Mark III versions of familiar Larkinson ch designs.
Despite the passage of ti, the advancent of technology and the changing conditions of ch combat, the oldies among the Larkinson ch models were still going strong.
The formulas that made chs such as the Transcendent Punisher Mark II, the Valkyrie Redeer Mark II and the Ferocious Piranha Mark III so strong had not beco invalid in the Red Ocean.
They at least remained relevant when employed against human ch forces.
"I am not so sure these mainstay chs will be as useful when we fight against alien threats." Ves shared his concerns. "It heavily depends on the force composition and the overall strength of our opponents. If we bump into a minor race like the pakklatons, then we should easily be able to overrun their weak warships by relying on brute force. I'm concerned about the strongest native alien races. We are still short on powerful ranged ch units that can put a lot of pressure on enemy warships."
Ketis recognized the inherent dilemma that had plagued the Larkinson Clan. "It is difficult to decide how we should set the proportion of lee chs to ranged chs. Most alien threats can be dealt with by relying solely on ranged chs, but if we et a human ch force, this will make us a lot more vulnerable."
Ves nodded in agreent. "That's right. Our potential enemies are both human and alien forces. The entire frontier is filled with conflict and it is easy to trigger a battle for the most superficial reasons. That said, I hope that we can make more progress in helping lee chs beco more practical in battles that involve large alien warships."
Ketis had thought more about this problem than any other Larkinson ch designer. Due to her ideology and commitnt to her design philosophy, it was impossible for her to abandon swordsman chs. Her career strongly depended on whether lee chs remained relevant.
"So far, there are only two ways for us to improve the relevance of lee chs." She said. "I don't think there is much wrong with their offensive power, but it is their defenses and mobility that are hindering them from becoming more relevant. Our lee chs hadn't noticed this problem that much in the previous battle, but they were already struggling to deal with the ranged bombardnt from the Blackened Reapers and the Witch Shatterers. The problem can easily beco ten tis worse if we fight against a fleet that consists entirely of warships."
Dulo Voiken humd. "Defense and mobility, huh? The only way for us to improve both of these areas is if we begin to apply phasewater technology to our standard ch models. ch models such as the Space Piercer employed by the Sundered Phalanx have already given us a way forward. Our chs don't have to use up too much phasewater to make them a lot more useful on the battlefield."
Several faces turned ugly. It was easy to co up with this solution, but the phasewater required to upgrade every single ch in the Larkinson Army was too prohibitive!
His sister sighed. "Personally, I am hoping that phasewater becos a lot more common in the future. Once the supply is large enough, it shouldn't be that much of a problem anymore to equip all of our standard chs with transphasic parts. Our ch legions will comprehensively be able to double or triple their effective performance."
This was not as unrealistic as it sounded. The Larkinson Clan already secured at least one reliable supply of phasewater, and it was not out of the question to open up additional channels in the future.
"Our earning power is one of the greatest strengths of our clan." Ves pointed out. "Cost should be no issue. It is more important to power up our chs than to be too stingy with our money and phasewater. As far as I'm concerned, it is not enough for us to keep up with the changing tis. We need to get ahead of the curve and transform all of our chs before others adopt this pattern. In a circumstance like ours, we cannot afford to lose a single battle as long as our fleet is at risk. Our ships are our hos. Given our precarious situation, there should be no limit to how much we are willing to spend to strengthen the defense of our fleet."
"We need to earn more money, then." Gloriana concluded. "A lot more money. The current inco of the LMC isn't enough to fulfill this ambition. Our ch company needs to earn at least ten tis more profit before we can seriously think about converting thousands of chs into transphasic machines."
"We will have to make sure that we don't neglect comrcial chs once we comnce the next design round. I am sure that this battle has given us all plenty of new ideas that might sell well."
Overall, a lot of the changes and suggestions essentially entailed spending more money in order to compensate for the various weaknesses exhibited by the Larkinson Army.
The inability to accommodate more chs simply imposed too many restrictions on the Larkinson Clan. Every single ch and every single proposal had to work the limited space issue in one manner or another.
Ves was growing rather tired of it. He wished that his clan no longer beca as constrained by the lack of space as now. If this problem didn't exist, then it would have been easy for the Larkinson Clan to expand its numbers so that it was able to field thirty-thousand, forty-thousand or even fifty-thousand elite chs at the sa ti!
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