Ketis was no longer the inexperienced Journeyman ch Designer who barely had any completed ch designs under her belt.
She had designed dozens of different swordsman chs in the last five years or so. So of them are more significant than others, but each of them provided her with a lot of experience.
What impressed Ves about Ketis was that she never ran out of ways to co up with new swordsman ch concepts that were distinctly different from her prior work.
Perhaps other ch designers might run out of ideas on how to design a swordsman ch that wasn't derivative of a previous work, but Ketis could co up with endless variations that all possessed different combinations of traits.
The Stormblade Samurai was an even bigger departure from her previous body of work than normal.
The stormblade technology that she had licenced from a specialized developnt company that Ves had never heard of introduced a lot of new possibilities to a swordsman ch.
The katanas that integrated this new tech were still physical, but could be energized to cut through targets with greater ease through the additional application of energy and heat.
Stormblade weapons were more sophisticated than the heated blades that Ves was familiar with. The latter simply amounted to channeling a lot of thermal energy through a heat-resistant blade in the hopes that it could deal a lot more damage upon contact.
Of course, Ves wasn't too knowledgeable about the specific differences. He needed to wait until Ketis completed this project before he could see a finished ch with this tech in action.
"Okay, what are the remaining characters of your Samurai Project?" Ves asked.
"Well, my Samurai Project is not that impressive in other matters." His forr student replied. "
"The main reason for to design it is to add a powerful new offensive option to our Larkinson Army. To that end, I will be collaborating with Tifi Coslone on this project to ensure it can deliver the strongest possible strikes."
"What are your thoughts about this project, Tifi?" Ves asked as he turned to the other woman.
"The Samurai Project relies on both energy and physical power to maximize the damage of its strikes." She said. "I don't specialize in solutions such as stormblade technology, but what I do excel at is making the fra of this ch as strong as possible. I will do my best to ensure that this ch is able to hit hard enough even if it doesn't activate its stormblade function."
It went without saying that the Samurai Project would be able to hit even harder if it did energize its weapons!
Ketis quickly explained the remaining traits of the Samurai Project. "We have to invest a lot of capacity to enhance the offensive power of our swordsman ch, so we don't have that much room left to improve its other aspects. Sara Voiken has agreed to design a serviceable armor system for an offensive lee ch, so I expect that our upcoming ch will be able to withstand enough damage to last on a typical battlefield."
"What about its mobility?"
"Let say that speed and acceleration will not be its strong suits. Just like its codena, the Samurai Project is ant to fight and duel against opponents in head-on clashes. Speed is nice, but we already have lighter and more maneuverable alternatives in our clan. The Second Sword is a notable example of this. One of its more serious shortcomings is that it doesn't have enough armor to fight hard battles. The Samurai Project is different."
"I see. That makes sense." Ves replied.
In general, the Samurai Project lived and died by its offensive capabilities. This project presented Ketis with plenty of new challenges and learning opportunities.
Ves was curious whether Ketis could combine this special stormblade technology with her design philosophy and other special abilities. It would be great if she was able to elevate the Samurai Project where the whole was far greater than the sum of its parts.
As Ketis wrapped up her presentation, Ves quickly looked around the conference room before deciding to make a request.
"Who do you plan to collaborate with on the Samurai Project?"
"For now, I have made an agreent with Tifi Coslone and Sara Voiken." Ketis answered.
"No one else?"
Ketis shook her head.
"Then can you do a favor and include rril O'Brain to the design team of this project?" Ves requested.
His forr student looked surprised, though rrill only displayed a mild reaction.
"I… can, I suppose." Ketis slowly replied as she thought about how she should change her plan with the inclusion of a fourth Journeyman. "rrill, your design philosophy is related to chanics, right?"
"That is correct, Ketis."
"Will your specialty conflict with that of Tifi? Both of your design philosophies look as if they overlap."
"I think we can try to work that out. Just because both of us deal with chanics doesn't an that we will conflict with each other." Tifi said.
Ves looked hopeful. "I think that there will be plenty of situations where you will all work alongside ch designers who may intrude upon your territories. It is best to find out early whether you can work together with those who possess overlapping specialties. If it turns out that a combination doesn't work, we can always reevaluate the situation and change the assignnts."
He just wanted to ease one of the newbies into the existing design projects. rril O'Brian had only advanced fairly recently and she was probably not capable enough to design a new Larkinson ch that was good enough to et the standards of the Design Departnt. This was why it was essential to have her work alongside others at the beginning of her career as a Journeyman.
Now that they handled the Samurai Project, it was ti to introduce the next major design project.
Ves decided to speak up at this ti.
"Just like many of you, I have gained a lot of inspiration from the Sundered Phalanx from the previous battle. So of my new ideas are rather complicated and will take more ti to prepare, but I have co up with a fairly simple but ingenious ch concept that I can easily realize with my current capabilities. I have decided to design this ch so that we can add another useful and popular comrcial product to the LMC's product catalog."
He uploaded his own draft design to the central projector, causing it to depict a fairly simple looking rifleman ch.
At first glance, the ch did not look that differently from other ranged chs. Those with discerning eyes could tell that the ch was designed for sniping at longer ranges rather than strafing at dium range.
What was rather typical of Ves was that he chose to pursue an extre configuration for this draft design.
Ves placed a heavy emphasis on the luminar crystal rifle as well as all of the supporting systems that existed to maximize its performance.
This left him with little room to improve its defenses or mobility. The ch didn't possess any further physical features that could amplify its technical performance. It was even more extre in this regard than Ketis' Samurai Project!
"This new ch of yours resembles a mass production version of the Amaranto." Gloriana spoke up. "There are a lot of familiar design elents in this new comrcial project."
Ves nodded in admission. "That's correct. I have always wanted to design a more standardized and affordable interpretation of the Amaranto, but I never ca up with any ideas on how to make stand out until recently. I have the Gaugers to thank for that. The greatest source of inspiration of my Eye Project is the Blackened Reapers ch Division of the Sundered Phalanx."
His wife looked thoughtful. "The Blackened Reapers? You an the elite ch division that is centered around fielding ranged chs that excel at long-ranged precision fire?"
"Yup. While they have failed to stave off a loss, the Blackened Reapers actually perford quite well. They provided a lot of help for their soldiers by using their accurate shots to strike the weak points of their targets or take out specific modules that have a lot of strategic value."
Several ch designers in the conference room looked thoughtful. So were able to see the value of these kinds of ranged chs while others were a bit more skeptical.
"Isn't it better to rely on heavy artillery chs for ranged suppression and fire support?" Dulo Voiken asked. "I an, the firepower disparity between the two is huge. A ch company of heavy artillery chs can destroy chs as well as starships a lot easier and faster than a ch company of marksman chs."
"That may be true, but this analysis of yours is too shallow." Ves replied. "First, don't forget that this is a comrcial model. While most of our custors are generally wealthier and more capable than the ones in the old galaxy, it is still rather difficult for them to remain profitable while investing in heavy artillery chs. chs such as our Transcendent Punishers are much more expensive to build and buy and their maintenance and repair costs are vastly higher. Not only that, but they impose additional requirents such as requiring bunkers in order to participate in space battles."
"Ah. I understand." Dulo looked enlightened. "dium rifleman chs are much cheaper and more cost-effective in comparison. They can fit in any slot in any carrier vessel and they can also deploy in space if they are design for spaceborn combat."
"Heavy chs have their place, but they are too cumberso and restrictive to employ in every combat situation. The ease in which you can employ rifleman chs such as my new Eye Project provides enough of a reason to choose it over the most obvious long-ranged combat solutions."
That answer provided an economic rationale for this new ch design, but that was hardly enough to generate market demand.
Gloriana grew impatient. "So what is the gimmick of your new ch, Ves?"
"Well, I can talk a bit about its powerful rifle that I intend to configure and optimize for power and long-ranged precision, but that is rather boring." Ves replied. "You can just take at my word that it will be ard with a heavy sniper rifle that works extrely well when it is outputting laser beams. The real gimmick does not co from any visible parts. Instead, it cos from its design spirit."
His wife still looked skeptical. "You an the Illustrious One? His involvent in this design will hardly increase its value proposition. It will just make the pilot feel more in tune with the luminar crystal rifle. That is not enough to convince buyers to purchase this product in large numbers."
Ves answered her doubts by removing his Hamr of Brilliance from his belt and placing it on the surface of the conference table.
Thud.
"...What do you an by that, Ves?"
Ves gestured towards the hamr. "This is the primary design spirit of the Eye Project."
"...Okay? Why didn't you go for Ylvaine instead? Isn't he your go-to solution for long-ranged precision."
"You don't get it." Ves disappointingly said. "Ylvaine is an excellent option for this kind of ch, but not if I want to make it comrcially viable. I need to employ a more universal design spirit that can work well with people of different backgrounds and beliefs. Vulcan is the alternative that I have chosen."
"Explain."
"It's simple. While Vulcan can't correct the aim of ch pilots like Ylvaine, the forr has an excellent understanding of chs and technology in general. Since I initially brought Vulcan to life, he has been taking advantage of my work as well as the work of every craftsman and creator who has used the services of the Creation Association to learn how chs, starships and other machinery can be made or broken. Now imagine a situation where Vulcan analyzes all of the weak points of an enemy ch and passes that information on to the ch pilot. How well do you think my Eye Project will perform?"
"That… is actually a clever idea! The cost is probably minimal but the results can be drastic. Now I understand why you want to pair a marksman ch with Vulcan. Only soone who understands machines as well as a ch designer can point out all of the flaws of an opposing ch!"
The working principle behind the Eye Project was actually similar to an event that Ves had experienced in the past.
Ves had once played a role similar to Vulcan to a ch pilot known as Ivan Barley during one of his early Mastery experiences.
His eyes clouded over as he recalled that past event.
Perhaps he could reproduce a portion of that glory by designing the Eye Project.
By designing a rifleman ch that was watched over by Vulcan, his incarnation would not only be able to experience many realistic battle situations in a front-row seat, but also gain an even more important resource.
Spiritual feedback!
Now that the ch Designer System had recently evolved towards Spiritual Ascension, it beca more important than ever for Ves to pay more attention to developing his Spirituality.
Helping Vulcan grow faster by tying him to a comrcial ch design was an excellent way to boost his incarnation's growth!
Ves actually should have done this sooner, but he had previously been reluctant to do so because he was afraid of the repercussions.
User Comments
0 comments from readers