Chapter 6308 Big Leagues Mech

Chapter 6308 Big Leagues Mech

The addition of Erlemin turned the current version of the Dark Zephyr from a light skirmisher that was merely fast and difficult to target to a supermachine that could completely disrupt the layout of entire enemy fleets!

It was quite difficult for the mech designers to say too much about the uses of Erlemin as much of it remained theoretical at this time.

Sure, they had access to limited footage and records on the use of Erlemin in another ace mech, but that data was understandably filled with redactions.

The mech designers moved on to addressing another essential upgrade to the Dark Zephyr Mark III.

"If we left the improvements at Erlemin, then you would have gained a quasi-first-class ace mech." Ves said. "What we did instead is to replace the old power reactor with a new one that is much stronger. Master Benedict has taken point on this matter as this falls within his specialization. I will let him explain the details."

Master Benedict smoothly took over from Ves by projecting a wireframe model of the new power reactor. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"This is the Mikuel Lightweight First-Class Power Reactor customized for the current version of the Dark Zephyr." The older man said. "We formed an agreement with Emiliana Energy to obtain this high-tech power reactor. It is not comprised of archetech, so it is comparatively fragile in relation to the rest of your archemech. That said, it is well-shielded and deeply buried within the torso of your ace mech, so if the power reactor ever comes under threat, it is doubtful that your machine can survive. I have also slightly upgraded the energy transmission system of this mech, though many of my methods do not apply to archemechs."

Saint Tusa silently noticed these details. It was quite important for him to never allow his battle partner's power reactor to come under harm under any circumstances.

"I am confident that I can protect the power reactor against most external attacks, but it is much more difficult for me to shield it against gravity attacks once my Saint Kingdom is depleted."

"So what can I do with a much stronger power reactor?" Saint Tusa asked. "I know the gist of it, but how does that affect my machine in particular?"

"We have thought about that attack vector already." Master Benedict said with a smile. "We mentioned that the chamber holding the power reactor is shielded. What we mean by this is that it is not only surrounded by its own azure energy shield, but also shielded with transphasic hyper alloys that are expressly designed to dampen multiple forms of energy field attacks. The alloys are not cheap, but it is a worthwhile expense for a machine as important as your Dark Zephyr."

This meant that a powerful phase whale couldn't instantly make the Dark Zephyr powerless by generating a space with gravity that was several orders of magnitude stronger than standard gravity!

"So what can I do with a much stronger power reactor?" Saint Tusa asked. "I know the gist of it, but how does that affect my machine in particular?"

"Sort of." Ves replied. "Solus Gas has a very strong and comprehensive isolating effect, at least in a gaseous form. Impregnating the particles of this gas into the metal of your archemech does not produce an effect that is as strong, but that does not mean that there is no difference. Many scanners and sensor systems will find it difficult to resolve your machine in most circumstances. They can still catch you if your machine begins venting greater heat or if it is detected by the eyeballs of humans and aliens, but as long as you keep a fair distance, it is possible for you to sneak up to enemies, especially if they are not alert or distracted."

"The integration of Solus Gas does not turn your Dark Zephyr into a proper stealth mech, Tusa." Gloriana warned. "We have already mentioned this to you multiple times, but it bears repeating because you may otherwise overlook this fact."

"I will not forget."

Ves smiled. "This is new to us as well, so we do not have a comprehensive amount of data and understanding how Solus Gas works in this context. You will have to... test drive the Dark Zephyr in his new coat and see how well others can detect the machine. Generally speaking, I do not think the Dark Zephyr can sneak onto any opponents, especially at rest conditions. It is much more useful to attempt an approach on a busy battlefield where there are energy beams flying around and so on. The dampening of your Dark Zephyr's emotions makes it easier to shake off pursuers and sneak up to enemy warships without tripping an alarm until it is almost too late."

Venerable Tusa was having trouble understanding how well Solus Gas integration could help his Dark Zephyr hide in the background of a space battle. The lack of more precise descriptions left a lot of question marks in his mind.

Oh well. That was what live testing was for. Tusa was confident he could know exactly when his Dark Zephyr had escaped the attention of enemies after a lot of training and exploration.

"Thanks." The ace pilot appreciated this extra addition. "It must have been hard to stuff Solus Gas in every part."

"Another reason for the delay is because the manual processing steps needed to allow your ace mech to leverage the advantages of Solus Gas were just too much. It would have been much better for all of us if we had access to bountiful quantities of Solus Gas before we designed and fabricated the initial Mark III. Trying to do this after that junction demanded too much additional work, much of which had to be done manually." Gloriana groused.

Their efforts were worth it. Ace mechs tended to act like lighthouses in the dark. Their extraordinary power and much greater heat emissions tended to make it trivially easy for enemies to track their coordinates and movements.

The Banisher Edition of the Dark Zephyr might not have gained any active stealth systems, but the strong damping of emissions made it much easier for Saint Tusa to approach his enemies without needing to weather a storm of heavy firepower!

"Solus Gas also helps to improve the survivability of your Dark Zephyr more directly by making it much harder for targeting systems to detect him and lock onto his energy signature." Ves added. "When you amplify this effect with your Saint Kingdom, you should even be able to shake off the locks of guided munitions and other automated targeting systems. Missiles won't be able to hit you at all. The only way a warhead can damage your machine is if the explosion radius is too large."

Such missiles could already be classified as weapons of mass destruction!

"Mhmm." Tusa frowned a bit. "I am sure that my battle partner and I will have to confront much more powerful enemies than before. Now that my ace mech is ready, I can finally enter the real battlefield of the Red War."

The big leagues were much different from the more controlled battles he previously took part in. The first-raters struck each other with such technological might that arms with the power of weapons of mass destruction were no longer as sparse as before!

For all of the upgrades to the Dark Zephyr, Ves still feared that the machine might meet an unfortunate end for challenging an enemy that Saint Tusa was not ready to confront!