The Mech Touch

Chapter 6407 The Jacket Commander

Ves frowned.

He did think about implementing the Energy Weaver Mech Ecosystem in the Yellow Jacket designs.

Initially, he thought about developing exclusive editions for the Larkinson Clan. He later thought of the potential of making it available to the public as well.

He eventually decided to trash this idea. The final iterations of the Yellow Jackets and the Jacket Commanders which could have become stronger eventually returned to more reasonable standards.

Jovy clearly disagreed with this decision. As a Survivalist, he was strongly inclined to support any initiative that made red humanity stronger.

Letting the first Carmine mechs manipulate the power of E energy radiation in a deeper and more profound fashion could have made a significant difference on the battlefield!

The effect of the mech ecosystem was akin to allowing a large group of living mechs to produce a pseudo-domain.

In practice, leveraging this pseudo-domain was difficult, but not impossible as long as the living mechs continued to grow older and more experienced.

This was why most applications of the Energy Weaver Mech Ecosystem were a bit slow to pick up steam within the Larkinson Clan.

The newer generation of mechs that incorporated this feature were only just starting to grow old and powerful enough to make active use of the Energy Weaver Mech Ecosystem.

When Ves decided to cut the Energy Weaver Mech Ecosystem from the Swarm Project, he arguably sabotaged the future of his own civilization.

Perhaps the difference in power may be significant enough that red humanity may end up retreating from the border regions and open up the hinterhand to alien raids! This would lead to a lot more human death and misery that could have been prevented if the mechs were a little stronger.

However, Ves did not completely believe in this sequence of events. [Jovy, the Energy Weaver Mech Ecosystem is a new and advanced application of E-technology. It is not refined and can occasionally produce accidents. I also reserved it for the exclusive use of the Larkinson Clan. You can't expect me to give up one of my clan's competitive advantages and make it available to the masses through the mechs of the Swarm Project. This is a dangerous dwarf galaxy, and it always pays to have a few trump cards in my hands. The most recent battle has vindicated my decision as far as I am concerned.]

That was a pretty heavy hint that he did not appreciate the ambush over the Mazepan System.

Although the battle eventually turned out to be immensely profitable for Ves and Saint Tusa, that did not change the fact that they could have fallen under other circumstances!

While the more radical and braindead cosmopolitan cells genuinely wanted to do whatever it took to eliminate Ves, they couldn't have gathered so many powerful forces without the secret collusion of the Huntsman and other supremely powerful human leaders!

If those bigshots were bored enough to bully Ves like this, then they shouldn't blame him for withholding this extra benefit! [You are expressing an unnecessary degree of pettiness, Ves.] Jovy sighed. [I have already given you an explanation on what has happened. Besides, this issue is not related to the subject matter. Do not forget that the collapse of the fourth and fifth defensive bands will harm your Larkinson Clan just as badly as the rest of us. Any means of strengthening a Carmine mech that is bound to become extremely popular can save the lives of many people.]

Ves did not fall for this guilt trip. [I am not the only mech designer who is obligated to stand up for red humanity. There are many other mech designers who may be able to fill in the gaps that I have left. Whether it comes in the form of E-technology or hyper technology, the Yellow Jacket designs can easily accommodate other solutions. Even without these additions, the Yellow Jacket is already packed with far more features than a typical budget mech. I do not think it is a good idea to overload all of those new and inexperienced Carmine mech pilots with E energy shenanigans. Maybe I will reconsider this matter in the future when I work on another commercial mech design project.] [Then please think about implementing your Energy Weaver Mech Ecosystem in the Mark II editions of the Yellow Jacket. Enough individuals should have gained enough mastery over their bonded Carmine mechs by that time to welcome a new challenge.] That was not a bad idea, but Ves was not in the mood to consider it. He did not have any reasons to change his current policy towards the Energy Weaver Mech Ecosystem. Another minute passed. Ves finally stepped forward now that he was ready to kick off the next phase of the product reveal. "Thank you for your patience. The three mechs of the same series that I am about to introduce are not Carmine mechs, and deliberately so. They are conventional mechs where the neural interface serves as the primary control system. It is possible to convert them into Carmine mechs, but it is not necessary. They hold an important responsibility. The mechs that we are about to reveal to you are not primarily designed to fight the enemy. Instead, they are expressly designed to support the Yellow Jackets who are expected to bear this burden."

Three similar-looking mechs rose from the floor. Their shapes and contours all looked similar, but they were clearly divided into third, second and first-class mechs.

The three mechs even possessed a similar banded color scheme as the Yellow Jackets. This was a deliberate design choice as it made the new mechs less noticeable among the Carmine mechs.

The biggest differences between the new mechs and the previous Carmine mechs was the overall mass and thickness of their mech frames.

The newly emerged mechs boasted thicker armor, a more classical humanoid shape, more auxiliary systems and a single luminar crystal rifle.

The prominent antennas and other arrays clearly revealed them to be command mechs! "These are the Jacket Commanders." Ves announced with a smile. "They are expressly designed to lead the swarms of Yellow Jackets that will soon appear in large quantities. While it is very much permitted to use other command mech models to lead the Carmine mech piloted by inexperienced and undertrained individuals, the Jacket Commanders excel at this role. They are expressly designed to work with experienced mech pilots who know their way around a battlefield and are capable of keeping a flock of Carmine mech pilots in line."

Projected overlays came to life, giving the audience an overview of the performance characteristics of the three different editions of the Jacket Commanders. "No thorough explanation is required to understand the Jacket Commander designs. They are designed to function the same as other command mechs. In order to facilitate this function, they are equipped with strong sensors and communication systems to ensure they maintain a good overview and remain in coordination with other mech units. The more advanced versions of the Jacket Commander possess a more powerful and more comprehensive range of relevant features, but even the least sophisticated third-class Jacket Commander can serve as the sole command mech on a battlefield in the Lower Zone if necessary."

On the surface, the overall designs of the Jacket Commander could be described as adequate and without any obvious flaws. However, the mechs also lacked any clear distinctions or strong advantages that could persuade customers to favor them over other command mech models. "The main role of the Jacket Commander is to lead a unit of Yellow Jackets and keep them alive whenever possible. To help the command mechs achieve their purpose, they are armed with luminar crystal rifles that can help shoot down enemies that pose a threat to your most vulnerable subordinates."

Ves continued to explain the fairly industry-standard properties of the Jacket Commander.

He did not present any exciting information so far that could persuade customers to use them to corral their Carmine mechs. The Jacket Commander was not a bad mech per se, but Ves had yet to make a convincing case why customers should use it as their preferred command mech.

He did not keep his audience waiting for too long. There was only so much he could say about the relatively boring properties of the Jacket Commander. "The Jacket Commanders possess one advantage that other command mechs do not enjoy. They are sixth generation living mechs. They possess similar advantages to the Yellow Jackets, though expressed in different ways. Their design spirit is also Titania, which should help them coordinate and command the Yellow Jackets under their command. I cannot describe the exact benefits to you. The mech commanders should explore this by themselves, but Saint Commander Casella Ingvar of our clan has always worked well with Titania."

The mention of the third ace pilot of the Larkinson Clan added a bit more credibility in his statement.

If a Larkinson mech pilot worked well enough with Titania to the rank of ace pilot, then that would make people a lot more interested in working with this mysterious design spirit!

After Ves briefly explained how Titania could benefit the pilots of the Jacket Commander in an abstract sense, he quickly moved to the most exciting part about these command mechs. "Now, I am sure that you have been waiting for the key features of the Jacket Commander. While I have already mentioned that all three editions of the Jacket Commander can more easily connect and communicate with Yellow Jacket mechs. What I did not mention is that they can communicate through E-technology rather than more conventional communication methods. Strong interference and jamming cannot inhibit this method of communication, so there is a much higher chance of maintaining contact all of the time."

People began to look a little more impressed, but this did not exactly floor them in an instant. "The second key feature of the Jacket Commanders are their Ultimate Modules. Just as with the case of the previous Carmine mechs, the Jacket Commander comes with an Ultimate Module that can produce a powerful effect at a crucial time. Unlike the Sacrifice Ultimate Module that I have presented earlier, the Ultimate Modules installed inside these command mechs will not transform the Jacket Commanders into bombs.

They are too precious and important to discourage this kind of waste." People would have complained if this were the case. As command mechs, the Jacket Commanders should never be deployed in great numbers. They are meant to serve as force multipliers to the Yellow Jackets under their guidance. The Ultimate Module that I have designed for the Jacket Commanders reflect this purpose." Another overlay formed over the chests of the Jacket Commanders. They clearly exposed a portion of the internal architecture, but also highlighted the blocky module installed in the middle of the abdomen! "The Clairvoyance Ultimate Module is largely geared towards rapid analysis and planning." Ves explained. "It possesses no direct combat function, but can offer a great amount of guidance in a pinch. When activating the Battle Planner Ultimate Ability, it will expend a large amount of electrical energy and E energy to mobilize the mind of the mech pilot, the spiritual foundation of the Jacket Commander and a portion of the vast intelligence of the Titania to build an overview of the battle. The Ultimate Module will then draw upon that knowledge and wisdom to rapidly develop a personalized plan on how you can best tip an ongoing battle in your favor with the assets under your control." People did not know how to react to this. Compared to the much simpler and more straightforward Ultimate Ability of the Yellow Jackets, the one that Ves bestowed on the Jacket Commanders sounded a lot more vague and dubious!

Ves was not surprised by the lack of enthusiasm from the crowd. The Jacket Commander was not designed for direct combat, so he felt it would be stupid to enhance its direct combat capabilities.

An Ultimate Module that could help mech commanders gain an overview of the battle and tell them what they needed to do in order to accrue advantages could be very handy in the right scenarios!