Many different people paid close attention to the work of the famous patriarch of the Larkinson Clan.
It was not an exaggeration to say that a significant proportion of the audience solely decided to observe the Twin Weapons Tournant in order to see Ves in action.
Whether they could gain anything useful out of their observations was another matter. Layn couldn't understand anything while Master ch Designers derived a frightening amount of information from their limited observations.
No matter how well they understood chs, nobody had a clear idea of what Ves and Juliet had in mind!
Within the floating VIP booth where a bunch of Larkinsons were observing their patriarch with rapt attention, a lot of discussion had broken out as soon as they figured out the ch types that Ves and Juliet had selected for their competition entries.
Miles Tovar frowned. "I thought that Ves would base his chs on his old classics."
"How so, Miles?" Cormaunt Hempkamp asked his fellow colleague.
"My best bet was that he would go for a rifleman ch ard with a luminar crystal rifle along with an offensive knight ch that sses with the minds of the opposing ch pilots. This combination is dangerous from a distance and difficult to overco at close range. It is simple to design and makes for a solid combination."
"That is not our teacher's style." Maikel Larkinson shook his head. "Ves likes to solve his problems from a more creative and unconventional angle. He only makes the most obvious and logical choice if he can't co up with anything crazier that promises to deliver better results."
"...That sounds like him, alright. It appears that your understanding of our patriarch is correct. I do not think that many ch designers in his position would dare to work on a hybrid ch. In fact, I've scanned the other teams and there is only a single other pair of Journeyn that is starting to work on a hybrid ch."
The two teams had made a daring choice. Whether it worked out for them or not was not certain, but none of the ch designers involved were simple people!
While the Larkinsons possessed a lot of faith in their patriarch, they could not help but be concerned whether all of the added ti spent on designing a hybrid ch was worth the loss in refinent.
"Ves is better than everyone else." Miles claid. "I don't know how good he is exactly, but he improved a lot since a few months ago. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought he advanced to Senior already."
Zanthar perked up. "Is there a transition period between Journeyman and Senior?"
Several ch designers shrugged.
Cormaunt Hempkamp chuckled. "You are either a Senior or you are not. All ranks are discreet. It is impossible to get stuck halfway. No one truly knows where the patriarch stands. I do not believe that even he truly knows whether he is ready to take the next step."
"His upcoming ch designs are really interesting."
"Don't talk about that here. Don't forget that we are not in our own turf."
"Ah, I'm sorry."
The Larkinsons spoke a bit more about what the Larkinson ch designers were doing. They not only discussed the team of Ves and Juliet, but also the other two teams that took part in the contest.
Miles Tovar knew that he was not that impressive of a Journeyman among his colleagues in the Larkinson Clan. He lacked the spark of brilliance that caused certain people to stand out and progress a lot faster.
Though he was working hard to expand his knowledge base and figure out ways he could apply his niche in a more useful capacity, for now he believed he could enhance his position by utilizing his social skills.
"Ves originally recruited Sara, Dulo, Janassa and Tifi during another tournant a few years ago." Miles said. "He fought and defeated them during the combat phase. I wonder whether he'll do the sa again. The best way to scope out another ch designer is to test your skills against the other."
This caused the Larkinsons to direct their attention to nurous other pairs. They did not really know any of these strangers so it was unclear whether they could pose a decent challenge to the competing Larkinson ch designers.
Still, a few of the other ch designers had achieved remarkable results in past contests. There were more than a dozen different teams that had individuals who managed to score in the top 10 in ch design tournants such as the Strange Lands Tournant.
"Papa is the strongest!" Marvaine childishly exclaid as he drank his fruit juice from a straw. "His chs are so aweso that they will beat everything without any of them falling down."
Andraste on the other hand looked glum as she hugged an injured Lucky against her chest. "There's no swordsman ch. The only lee ch is a light skirmisher, but its knives are so short that they are not as fun as wielding swords. If Ketis was here, she would definitely be able to design a swordsman ch by herself. She doesn't need anyone's help."
"Nuh-uh. Papa can make everything better."
"No way! Papa is great at designing everything else, but Ketis is way better at designing swordsman chs. She told that herself!"
"She's lying!"
"She's telling the truth!"
"I don't believe you, sister!"
As Andraste and Marvaine kept arguing about this issue, Aurelia grew annoyed and patted Clixie on her side.
The Rubarthan Sentinel Cat dutifully jumped from the oldest sister's lap and began to intersperse herself between the two squabbling kids.
"Miaow miaow miaow!"
"Okay, okay! I'll drop it, alright?"
"I'm sorry, Clixie…"
"Miaow…"
As the hours went by, it steadily beca clear what the other teams of ch designers intended to design.
Since it took a lot of ti for obvious progress to be made, nurous ch designers made a ga out of guessing the configurations and the design characteristics of the works in progress.
"Oh, I think I understand what the Voikens intend to design." rrill O'Brian spoke now. "Sara Voiken excels in designing defensive chs. Dulo Voiken specializes in designing spearman chs. They do not have many choices if they both want to make good use out of both of their skill sets. I already expected them to design a dium spearman ch as that is what Dulo is best at designing. I did not expect that their team would also design a light harasser ch equipped with special javelins."
That caused a lot of Larkinsons in the VIP booth to pay more attention to the Voiken designs.
Both Sara and Dulo exhibited excellent teamwork. They mainly worked on their assigned ch designs, but did not hesitate to add to the progress of the other ch whenever they ca up with a good solution.
For example, Sara worked on the armor systems of both chs while Dulo worked on the long weapons equipped by the two machines.
The spearman ch did not look that special, but there were plenty of ch designers that understood that they should never underestimate Dulo's spearman chs. He was bound to add a few surprises to the design in order to give it an edge against the competition.
Perhaps Dulo might reveal the key elents of his spearman ch design at a later ti when the design beca increasingly more complete and detailed.
For now, the most interesting ch design was the light ch that Sara mostly worked upon.
Though it did not have as much armor as the other chs, Sara Voiken was still able to apply her extensive expertise to optimize the light harasser ch's armor system so that it made the most out of what little protection it possessed.
It was the occasional tis when Dulo Voiken worked on the light harasser ch that intrigued a lot of people who knew him and his work. It seed odd and unusual to equip a light ch with a bunch of javelins.
"All of these parts will weigh down the light ch." Miles Tovar analyzed. "They won't be able to deal much damage if they are flung to the enemy by hand. They're more useful if the light ch employs them as short spears. It should at least be able to leverage its montum to empower its spear thrusts."
rrill pointed out another aspect about this ch design. "Those javelins are not made out of solid tal. Their tips… will probably consist of plasma!"
The working principles of these energy javelins were the sa as plasma cutters, but upsized to the point where it beca useful in ch combat.
Proper plasma weapons were usually only employed by first-class chs, but that did not an that plasma weapon technology was inherently high-end.
It was still possible to use relatively cheap components and materials to develop effective plasma weapons as long as they ca with a lot of compromises.
Nurous ch designers beca increasingly more impressed with what Dulo attempted to create.
"The design of these plasma javelins is ingenious." Miles Tovar noted with. "Dulo is attempting to maximize their heat and power at the cost of longevity. Its heat buildup will be horrendous, but it doesn't matter as these javelins only need to be able to form a plasma tip for a couple of seconds at most. The Voikens can even take advantage of the expendability of these projectile weapons by overloading its systems and hopefully cause them explode while they remain stuck to their targets."
That might be a great way to disable a lot of competing chs!
"A light ch cannot carry too many javelins. It will run out after three or four throws."
"The javelins are not that thick and heavy. I can understand why Dulo doesn't want to make them too large, but the light harasser ch does not have the chanical power to throw out these spears with great force behind them. If the thrower is unlucky enough, those plasma javelins will slide right off the armor of the enemy ch."
The spectators clearly did not seem impressed by the works of this team. Even the expert comntators that was made up of a panel of Senior ch Designers employed by the Davute University of Technology did not put much faith into this implentation.
[I am disappointed by the descendants of Master Barnard Solas Voiken. It is clear that they are being hampered by the demand to include at least one light ch in their designs, but their response to this is to design a light ranged ch that relies on throwing disposable energy spears to deal damage. The only saving grace of this ch is that it is also equipped with a submachine gun.]
[Now now, I would not dismiss these energy javelins out of hand. Miss Sara Voiken and Mr. Dulo Voiken are both employed by the Larkinson Clan. It is possible that they have learned powerful alien technologies that may be applicable to the energy javelins. We will have to see when Dulo Voiken has completed their designs.]
[You are being optimistic about the young man. He is forcing himself to add spear-like weapons to a ch that has no business with them. It is a waste of ti for him to work on these energy javelins. He can achieve much better results if he equips the light harasser ch with a more powerful rifle. It should be able to offer decent covering fire for the spearman ch.]
[I would rather spend more ti on studying the hybrid ch that the employer of the two Voiken siblings is working on. Look at how much progress the patriarch of the Larkinson Clan is making. Its fra already looks more complete than the aforentioned light harasser ch, and that is despite all of the work that he must put into integrating so many weapon systems. If Ves Larkinson does not slow down in the following hours, he should be able to complete his ambitious hybrid ch design well before the deadline!]
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