The Mech Touch

Chapter 6564 Phasewater Super Energy Cells

Ves had to admit that the pure version of the First Sword Mark III already sounded like an excellent ace mech that likely possessed all of the capital she needed to defeat enemy phase lords.

He truly gained a new appreciation for the Master Mech Designers of the Mech

Supremacist Faction.

He had always heard that the high-ranking mech designers of this faction concentrated a lot of powerful specialists, and Ves was not disappointed in this regard.

Sure, many mech designers of the Mech Supremacist Faction admittedly possessed very narrow specializations and relied heavily on collaborations to develop truly useful mechs.

The faction therefore existed to bring all of these extreme nerds together and make it easier for them to hook up with each other and find willing collaborators.

Ketis took advantage of this existing infrastructure to attract a number of powerful specialists to elevate the First Sword Mark III Project to a higher level.

So far, the pure version of the First Sword Mark III already sounded powerful enough. Ves actually felt tempted to join in the party as well, but it was clear that Ketis had reserved the fifth slot for a different mech designer.

"Ves."

"Yes, Ketis?"

"Now that you are aware of four of the five mech designers who are responsible for designing the pure version of the First Sword Mark III, can you guess the greatest shortcoming of this mech proposal?"

Ves became thoughtful. "Hmm. The Electro-Reactant. Flight System is an energy hog. The Long-Distance Space Suppression Module also sounds as if it will drain vastly more energy than the standard modules in order to project its effect across longer distances. Without Master Benedict Cortez to increase the energy economy of the First Sword Mark III, her staying power will remain drastically limited. I think you should be particularly interested in finding another Master Mech Designer that can address this major weakness."

The projection of Ketis helplessly nodded. "It is already a large burden for an ace swordsman mech to mount an Electro-Reactant Flight System. Just as you have guessed, the Long-Distance Space Suppressor's biggest flaw is that its energy consumption has multiplied by at least. times. You don't have to run it at full power, but doing so will decrease its effective range, thereby making it pointless to employ this special tech. In order to make the whole framework complete, I have to address the energy problem. My solution is to invite Master Hijalt Mossclover to the project. He has a Class V design philosophy in High-Density Energy Cells."

Another unfamiliar name. The Red Association gathered way too many mech designers who were very famed in their own fields, but tended to be obscure outside of their circles due to the narrow applications of their design philosophies.

The reason why there were so many of them was because it was much easier for mech designers to realize their design philosophies when they were narrow in scope.

They were generally treated as the supporting actors to more high-profile mech designers.

That did not necessarily make them weak or incompetent, but their choice of specializations made it difficult to lead their own competitive mech design projects. "There should be multiple Masters who possess Class V design philosophies within the Mech Supremacist Faction. Master Benedict Cortez also has one for that matter." Ves stated. "What makes Master Mossclover's work so attractive for your project?"

"You are right, Ves. Class V design philosophies is common within the RA and especially the Mech Supremacist Faction as providing more energy to mechs has always been a high priority. I chose Master Thornquist over the alternatives because he is able to increase the energy reserves of the First Sword Mark III with the smallest possible footprint. There are other high-end solutions that can provide even more impressive amounts of energy to the ace mech, but they take up more space, and also introduce their own complications. The solutions of Master Thornquist on the other hand amount to better versions of energy cells that are no bigger than the ones that conform to industry standards."

"I see. If he is able to develop better energy cells, then you don't need to make too many changes to accommodate their usage."

Ketis nodded. "I am especially happy with one of his latest experimental products, which he calls PSEC, which stands for Phasewater Super Energy Cell. The energy capacity of such a cell is much higher than his other products, but that is because much of the volume is filled with a liquid phasewater emulsion."

"What?!"

"Calm down, Ves! I am not talking about raw phasewater here! Master Thornquist developed a special phasewater emulsion that consists of phasewater, regular water and a secret formula of minerals. The resulting combination produces a mixture that is less volatile and can absorb an enormous charge of energy. This makes it suitable for his new energy cells. As long as our clan is readily willing to provide the large amount of phasewater it takes to produce the PSECs, the First Sword Mark III will be able to fight at full power for at least 30 minutes, which is enough to decide the outcome of a duel against a powerful phase lord."

"I see."

Ves gained a complete overview of the pure version of the First Sword Mark III. The mech proposal presented an incredibly attractive package to him. It was indeed a machine that eschewed gimmicks in favor of strengthening its core parameters.

There was relatively little creativity and ingenuity in the pure version, but that was not necessarily a disadvantage.

The First Sword Mark III in this incarnation would become a highly specialized tool that could be relied upon to cut phase lords to pieces on a reliable basis!n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The ace swordsman mech did not even need to resort to additional support or other special measures to put up a good fight against phase lords armed with Saint Piercer

weapons!

Given the high synergies between the specializations of all 5 mech designers, Ves would not begrudge Ketis for choosing to go forward with the pure version. However, the pure version was not the only evolution that she had in mind.

"So what about the other version of the First Sword?" Ves straightforwardly asked. "The sword fey version naturally included the use of spurs as I originally envisioned." Ketis replied. "What is similar to the other version is that I, Master Recins and Master Kerckhoff will be contributing our own specializations. The greatest deviation is that the slots previously occupied by Master Clisner and Master Mossclover will be replaced by you and another mech designer called Master Draco Thornquist.

If this was the case, then the sword fey version of the First Sword would retain Ketis' specialization in swordsman mechs, Master Recins' TEVA Armor Tech and TEVA Weapon Tech as well as Master Kerckhoff's Electro-Reactant Flight System.

This was already a good base for an ace swordsman mech. It lacked the improved variation of space suppression tech, but that also lessened the need for Phasewater

Super Energy Cells.

This meant that Ketis could allocate the remaining two slots to a different synergistic combination of technologies.

"I don't need to say too much about your participation." The swordmaster said. "Your main draw this time is not the general living mech enhancements to the First Sword Mark III. I am not saying that your sixth generation living mechs are useless to this project, but it is not the principal reason why I want you on this project. The best way you can contribute is to equip the First Sword Mark III with dozens of sword fey. The spurs must all be alive, persistent and able to evolve over time. I know that the regular Fey Fianna typically fields four to six fey at most, but that is not enough for an ace mech. Will there be any problems if you pair my ace mech with 24, 36 or even 64 sword fey?" Ves almost grew dizzy when he imagined 64 sword fey acting in complete coordination with the First Sword Mark III!

Controlling 64 small-sized spurs was somewhat possible for general drone mechs, but it was way too much for the Fey Fianna.

However, the First Sword was hardly comparable to ordinary living mechs.

"I don't have enough data to make a definite judgment, but I believe it is probably

possible to create 36 sword fey without overburdening the living mech." Ves carefully guessed. "The First Sword's spiritual foundation should definitely be able to withstand the load after absorbing so much feedback from Saint Dise's recent breakthrough. It may even be possible to double that amount to 64 sword fey, but... I think that the power between all of them will get diluted to a significant extent, making them weaker. The upside is that as long as the First Sword Mark III grows over time, this weakness will

slowly disappear."

That put Ketis in a thoughtful mood. The power of this alternative version of the First Sword Mark III was clearly dependent on the quantity of sword fey that the ace mech

could effectively support!

"Why do you care so much about the quantity of sword fey, Ketis? My Fey Fiannas always emphasize quality over quantity. They can do more with 4 fey each than other drone mechs that have dozens of spurs under their command."

"That is true in those cases, but there is a reason why the quantity of living spurs is materially important to the sword fey version of the First Sword. This has to do with what Master Draco Thornquist is able to bring to the table."

"Oh? What makes his work synergize so well with mine?"

Ketis began to grin "Master Thornquist just happens to be the direct disciple of the Web Mistress, the inventor of support link technology."

Now that certainly raised his value and importance by a huge extent! Anyone taught by a genuine Star Designer should not be weak!

"You must feel really glad to gain the cooperation of a mech designer of this pedigree."

"I am." She said. "I actually have a suspicion that Master Thornquist would never indulge me if he hadn't secretly been instructed by the Web Mistress to forge a connection with the Larkinson Clan and ultimately you. That is actually one of the reasons why I am reluctant to commit to the sword fey version of the First Sword Mark III. I don't want to get pulled into a political scheme that might damage your interests or unknowingly drag our clan into a political camp."

That sounded surprisingly thoughtful and prudent of Ketis. He could not fault her

decision.

"Your concerns are valid. I don't know much about this situation, but I think your

suspicion is likely true. That doesn't necessarily mean that it is impossible for you to work with Master Thornquist. As long as the implications aren't too serious, then I am fine with it. Who would complain about building a relationship, if only an indirect one, with an impressive Star Designer?"

"Mmmhmm. I guess I should explain what Master Thornquist brings to the table. The short version is that he has taken the Web Mistress' support link tech and essentially applied it onto drone mechs. He believes that his drone mechs are the strongest in their respective mech generations. He even looks down on your Fey Fiannas."

Ves blinked at that. "That sounds... incredibly arrogant of him. Does he truly have the capital to make this boast?"

"Well, he has a Class VI design philosophy in Spur Linking Drone Mechs, which should tell you how much he has invested in this mech archetype. I think it should be easy for you to deduce why his works are so powerful. His spurs are all integrated with miniaturized versions of support link technology. They can share energy and other resources with each other over short and even medium distances to pool their strengths together! This can massively increase the endurance, the survival rate and even the damage potential of all of the spurs! The greater the number of spurs, the more effective

the linking effects become!"

No wonder Master Thornquist claimed his drone mechs were the strongest! The synergy between drone mechs and miniaturized support link technology was so great that the whole far exceeded the sum of its parts!