The countdowns had begun. Many people tracked the progress of the three warfleets and eagerly waited for the Cybernetic Empire to show off its technological prowess.
As for Ves and Gloriana, they spent their ti devising a general wish list of CE tech that they would like to exchange from the new human superpower.
Even if they did not understand the full extent of CE tech, they could still look at their own works and understand their own shortcomings.
For example, the most recent Battle of Screed Tanner VI-F exposed a few shortcomings related to the chs that fought in the field.
"The Oga Threshers and the First Sword Mark III both fought well, but my issue with them is that their performance could not be sustained for a long duration." Gloriana ntioned it to her husband when he visited her design lab.
She waved her hand and activated a projected screen that showed a few graphs.
Ves studied them carefully. The curves corresponded to the activity levels of the First Sword Mark III and two different groups of Oga Threshers.
In both cases, the First Sword Mark III and the Oga Threshers that took to the field started out strong, but gradually beca more restrained as their energy reserves drastically dwindled.
Even though their first-class energy cells should have supplied them with plenty of energy, their flight systems, weapon systems and energy shields imposed heavy demands!
Nothing ca for free. The Electro-Reactant Flight System bestowed the First Sword Mark III with mobility that ca a lot closer to reaching the standards of a light ch than other products, but wasted a huge amount of energy when used at full power.
Most of the ti, Saint Dise actually could not make full use of the power of this potent but relatively inefficient flight system!
The longer a battle dragged on, the more she rationed the full use of it for fear of draining her machine too soon.
It also did not help that her earlier abuse of the transphasic flight system had damaged its internal components, but that was a story for another day.
"Actually, Ketis had the option of designing a non-sword fey version of the First Sword Mark III." Ves ntioned. "The original proposal for the ace swordsman ch would have kept everything simple in order to strengthen its basic foundation to the extre. I distinctly rember that it incorporated much more dense energy cells that were especially developed by an RA Master ch Designer that specializes in this field. Unfortunately, when we opted to proceed with the sword fey version, we needed to make a sacrifice in order to make room for other relevant specializations."
Gloriana nodded. "I understand. Without the help of that Master, you could only make do with energy cells that are more common and easy to obtain through the Red Association's internal market. That has led to the unfortunate result that the First Sword Mark III is constantly staving off hunger while she is engaged in battle, as can be seen on this activity graph."
"The Oga Threshers are doing pretty badly as well." Ves noted. "There is a clear difference between the original Oga Threshers who fought in the field and the modified Oga Threshers that linked themselves to the power systems of our warships. The forr had to lower their firing rates and exercise more trigger discipline while the latter could keep pulling the trigger without any concerns about overheating or running out of energy."
In other words, the bunker chs pretty much showed the most ideal state for an Oga Thresher.
The first-class multipurpose chs ard with nurous potent Oga Laser Cannons would love to fire those devastating energy weapons as often as their cooldown cycles allowed!
Yet because of the limitations of their self-contained energy reserves, the Oga Threshers that fought in the field had to fight with greater restraint, especially if they were under attack.
Their shield links did not help matters either as its usage significantly increased their overall energy consumption in order to keep them active and restore the depletion of the energy shields.
The energy links did not actually alleviate their condition all too much because each of the chs needed the energy themselves.
The Saint Commander chose to deploy the Oga Threshers forward and out of energy link distance from the Premier Fleet and Bluejay Fleet.
This strategy prevented the native aliens from easily targeting the much more precious human carriers and warships, but it also left the Oga Threshers without the ans to easily recharge their energy reserves while they remained in the field.
Although the Premier Branch only considered the Oga Threshers to be a stopgap solution, it would eventually move on to fielding their own living version of a first-class ch that was strong in mid-range combat.
Given that the Cybernetic Empire happened to invest a lot of focus in the developnt of energy weapons, if the next chs of the Larkinson Clan incorporated offensive CE tech, then they would also need the energy reserves to sustain the higher damage output.
"Do you think the Cybers have developed superior energy cells?" Ves asked.
"Most definitely." His wife responded. "Think about it, Ves. Bridgehead One has so many Dyson spheres and swarms that the Cybers are collecting more energy than they know what to do with it. The demand to store it as effectively as possible is high, so they most definitely focused on developing much better energy cells in order to more effectively power all of their energy-hungry tech."
The environnt shaped the tech. During the Ti of Isolation, Bridgehead One was abundant in energy, but short on materials. The Cybers had to find creative and inventive ways to get more work out of less resources.
Ves knew without asking Hugo that the Cybers must have developed superior energy storage tech in order to increase their efficiency. Perhaps the Polymath herself had devoted a significant amount of ti to this research! These projects were worth her attention!
He quickly began to imagine how much stronger the chs of his clan would be if they had better batteries.
They would last longer, be able to sustain their potent damage output and would not have to go back and resupply at their motherships so often.
High-performing chs such as the First Sword Mark III would beco even more restrained. Saint Dise no longer had to taphorically tie one of her arms behind her back because fighting at her full power would rapidly drain the energy reserves of her ace ch.
There were many other applications of much more effective energy cells. From stronger infantry wargear to longer-lasting stealth shuttles, many aspects of the Larkinson Clan would beco stronger if it made use of CE tech energy cells!
"You are completely right about this, Gloriana." He said with a serious expression. "This should be our highest priority request. Its importance exceeds that of superior flight systems, energy shields, shield-breaking weapons and etc. The applications of superior energy cells are too nurous. Every ch can benefit from any improvents in this area. It would be great if the Cybers have also developed superior second-class energy cells. The expeditionary fleet can also benefit greatly from fielding chs with stronger battery lives."
Even if this crucial CE tech would not remain exclusive to the Cybernetic Empire for long, it would still benefit the Larkinsons if they directly obtained it from the source.
After all, compared to trying to learn this tech through leaks was much less reliable than obtaining full technical docunts, working examples of the tech and direct tutoring from the relevant experts of the Cybernetic Empire.
Ves had long grown dissatisfied with the energy constraints of not just the First Sword Mark III, but all other ace chs of the Larkinson Clan.
The only ace ch with acceptable energy endurance was the Minerva Mark II, but that was mainly because the ace command ch was not ard with exaggeratingly powerful flight systems or energy weapons.
Even so, superior energy cells greatly affected her overall combat performance because other chs served as her weapons!
The longer chs such as the Oga Thresher lasted in the field, the more freely Casella Ingvar could use them to puml their enemies.
The Dark Zephyr Mark III did not possess too many energy sinks either, but the ace skirmisher ch also had much less capacity to accommodate energy cells.
This ant that Saint Tusa frequently had to show restraint and curb the speed and maneuverability of his ace ch for fear of running out of juice in the middle of the battlefield.
In fact, the Dark Zephyr Mark III was due for a minor upgrade.
Ever since his last upgrade, the Larkinsons gained access to better tech and materials.
Gloriana had already started to prepare for the much-anticipated superdinsional conversion of the Dark Zephyr Mark III.
Unfortunately, her work was greatly hindered by the inability to combine superdinsional tech with archetech.
This was why she decided to voice her second request.
"I need help in devising a solution to stably integrate superdinsional alloys in archetech." She said. "Before you say anything, I know that the Cybernetic Empire likely does not have any prior exposure to superdinsional matter, so how could they possibly know how to combine a new technological field with an obscure alien tech base? However, I have much more faith in the ability of the CE to solve this significant technological challenge than the RA and RF."
"Why do you think so, honey?"
"Motivation." Gloriana stated the key point. "The RA and the RF are not that interested in archetech. They recognize the benefits of this alien tech, but it is exactly because it is weird and difficult to learn that they think that the costs outweigh the benefits. Even if they have assigned a number of researchers to the problem that I have ntioned, their abilities are not too great and they are not receiving much support from their superiors."
"And you think it will be different for the CE?"
Gloriana nodded with a grin. "The RA and the RF already have access to superdinsional matter. The CE does not. Before the opening of the third portal to the Blue Dinsion, the Cybers must be desperate to acquire any scrap of high-grade superdinsional matter. We rely need to offer modest quantities of armor and weapon-grade superdinsional matter to incentivize the Cybers to put their formidable R&D capabilities to use on this problem. I bet that if we offer as much high-grade superdinsional matter to construct a full superdinsional ch, we can even convince the Polymath to use her precious ti to solve this problem on our behalf!"
That sounded outrageous!
"Do you know how much value you are giving away with such a trade?!"
"I know very well, Ves." Gloriana seriously said. "Giving away this much high-grade superdinsional matter will an that one Larkinson expert ch or ace ch will not undergo superdinsional conversion in the short term. However, I will still try to persuade the Saint Commander to negotiate this deal. Archetech is too important to our clan. All of the high-ranking chs of the latest generation are archechs."
"That is not exactly correct."
She conceded the point. "The only notable exception to this rule is the First Sword Mark III, but she will suffer for this shortcoming in the future. If we leave out the absurd durability and damage resistance of her superdinsional armor system, her ability to tolerate damage in depth is inferior to that of the Dark Zephyr Mark III. If we want to raise the survival rates of our high-ranking ch pilots, then we need to be able to offer the best possible protection for their machines."
Ves furrowed his brows. He did not object to the assertion that archetech had beco an indispensable advantage to the Larkinson Clan, but he did not agree with her terrible trade proposal.
There had to be a better way for her to get what she wanted!
He suddenly recalled that he had his own ways of gaining the cooperation of a Star Designer.
"Wait, Gloriana. Before you go off to the new matriarch in order to share your proposal with her, hear out for a minute. You just need the help of a Star Designer to solve a difficult technological problem in a short amount of ti, right?"
"That is correct." She confird. "Only a Star Designer can solve this problem quickly and perfectly."
"Does it have to be the Polymath? Why don't we try and approach one of the other Star Designers?"
"..."
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