The Mech Touch

Sara Voiken possessed a powerful defensive specialty. While it was a disappointment that she could not offer that much protection against energy attacks, her ability to strengthen machines against physical damage was impressive!

Ves and Ketis personally experienced how difficult it was to defeat one of her works. The Thornbearer that she designed in cooperation with her brother had withstood considerably greater damage than other melee mechs.

If Sara hadn't been involved with the design of this competition mech, the Heart of Victor would have been able to defeat the Thornbearer at least three times faster!

And that was just a competition mech that she developed in just 3 days.

How much tougher would her mech model become if she spent 3 months on its design?

What about 6 months? 9 months? 12 months?

The potential improvements that she could implement in all of the Larkinson mech designs were great!

What was even better about Sara Voiken was that she possessed a well-rounded skillset that encompassed more than just designing tougher armor systems. Ves recalled that the Thornbearer was able to endure for quite a long time even after its armor plating had been breached.

This meant that Sara could also toughen up the internals of a mech design!

All of this sounded as if she was born to maximize the defenses of a melee mech. All machines that benefited from her specialty would practically turn into moving walls once they confronted an enemy force. A lot of swords and spears would break in front of all of this unbreakable mass!

There were a few caveats, though. Aside from Sara's lack of solutions against energy attacks, she also came with another form of baggage.

"Miss Sara, how much control do you need in order to apply your defensive methods to a mech design?" Gloriana pointedly asked.

The woman's expression grew a little more strained. "I need broad control over the design. My design philosophy becomes more effective if I am able to define the configuration of a mech design."

Ves looked more critical towards Sara Voiken. His wife noticed something important that might complicate their collaboration with the defensive specialist.

From what it sounded like, a mech design project had to be designed with high defenses in mind in order for Sara to do her best.

Her specialty became a lot more constrained if she had to apply her methods to an offensive mech design that didn't excel in defense!

To put it in simpler terms, Sara Voiken was able to design excellent knight mechs but was considerably less effective at designing light mechs!

Another potential problem was that her specific solutions might crowd out those of other mech designers. This was especially problematic to Gloriana who always demanded a lot of control over the physical structure of any collaborative mech design project!

Ves frowned as he thought this situation over. Though Sara Voiken's specialization was still an enormous attraction to him, it was not as indispensable as he previously thought.

Even so, a defensive specialist that excelled in defending against physical attacks was still a rare and valuable treasure. As long as Sara and his wife came to an understanding, their design philosophies might not necessarily conflict with each other.

It would take a lot of time and effort to find the right balance, though. That might take months or even years of frequent cooperation.

Once everyone learned enough about Sara Voiken, they were all impressed by what she could bring to the Larkinson Clan.

However, she wasn't the only Voiken in the room today. There was also her brother.

Dulo Voiken had remained quiet throughout all of this time. His posture was a little lower than that of his sister. This indicated that he clearly understood his own position, which was that of a rather less crucial asset to the Larkinson Clan.

"Mr. Dulo Voiken." Ves addressed the man. "Let me be honest. Our Larkinson Clan already possesses a premier specialist in offensive mechs. Ketis Larkinson has proven her ability to design swordsman mechs plenty of times. She is the main reason why Team Larkinson won the Wild Brawl Bowl. Even with the help of your sister, the Thornbearer that you have undoubtedly poured a lot of effort into designing ultimately lost the Heart of Victor."

"He's not that bad, Ves." Ketis surprisingly spoke up for Dulo. "The Thornbearer is an excellent spearman mech that displays a lot of insight and understanding on how spear-wielding mechs should fight. Dulo is truly dedicated to designing strong spearman mechs that especially excel at stabbing."

"I can design more versatile spearman mechs if needed." Dulo Voiken stated. "My specialty indeed focuses on maximizing the stabbing potential of a spearman mech, but I can also design spearman mechs that are good at charging or better at flanking. I can design a decent lancer mech and I think I can do a lot to improve your existing Riot and Valkyrie Redeemer designs. There is always a use for a spear-wielding mechs in every mech force."

The man wasn't wrong. Spears were long and could be employed in several different contexts. The Valkyrie Redeemer was an excellent example of that. The extremely successful Hexer mech model would never have become as effective in battle if it wielded a sword instead of a spear!

The latter weapon allowed the Valkyrie Redeemer to perform its powerful all-out charges that had overrun a lot of static enemy formations.

It was unthinkable for Ves to replace the Valkyrie Redeemer's spear for a sword just because Ketis was the Larkinson Clan's only melee mech specialist!

Juliet Stameros gained a greater interest in the man. "Mr. Voiken, since you're familiar with our Valkyrie Redeemer design, let me give you a little test. If you were in charge of designing its next iteration, what would you improve?"

The Valkyrie Redeemer was not only a celebrated mech model in the Hex Army, but also served as one of the signature models of the Penitent Sister Mech Legion!

There was no way the Larkinson Clan would phase out the Valkyrie Redeemer line. It was just too useful and effective to give up. It was far more than just a simple marauder mech. The combination of all of its features produced a mech that was able to harass or thunder through vulnerable enemy units with great effectiveness!

As a Penitent Sister, Juliet harbored a lot of admiration towards the Valkyrie Redeemer and its variants. She regretted that she hadn't joined the Design Department until the Miracle Couple had already finished its design!

Fortunately, Ves made no secret of his intention to update the Valkyrie Redeemer design. He not only wanted to bring it on par with a heartland-level mech design, he also wanted to incorporate the resources and solutions available in the Red Ocean.

This was an excellent opportunity for Juliet to upgrade its mobility!

However, if Dulo Voiken was able to strengthen the Valkyrie Redeemer even further, then he would look much more favorable towards his addition to the Larkinson Clan.

The mech designer in question understood that this was his moment to prove his worth in front of the panel of Larkinson mech designers.

He did not open up his mouth immediately but instead spent ten seconds sorting out his thoughts and formulating his argument.

"The Valkyrie Redeemer is an impressive marauder mech that is able to switch from operating as a harasser mech to operating as a lancer mech." Dulo began. "What is important to recognize here is that the Valkyrie Redeemer is actually not that strong when it is locked in a melee brawl."

Gloriana frowned. "The Valkyrie Redeemer is never supposed to fight against melee mechs at close range. It is meant to maintain its distance and kite pursuing melee mechs while using their carbines to whittle down their enemies. Its spear should only be employed against ranged mechs or other opponents that can't properly defend against melee attackers."

"Reality rarely allows the Valkyrie Redeemer to fight under ideal circumstances." Dulo replied. He became more confident now that he was talking about his area of expertise. "I have studied a lot of public footage of the Valkyrie Redeemer and its variants in action. The Hex Army, which is the biggest user of the Valkyrie mech line, actually employs the most charges against hardened Fridayman mech formations."

"That's because the Fridayman mech militaries have already adjusted their positioning in order to minimize their vulnerability against ambushes."

"That is correct, and this illustrates why the Valkyrie Redeemer should not neglect the need to fight standing battles. The situation on the battlefield is rarely conducive to its use. A proper mech force always provides proper escort mechs to its ranged units. The Valkyrie Redeemers must defeat them first before they can crush the enemy mech rifleman mechs. I can optimize their dueling capabilities even if their mech pilots are not good at spearmanship. By strengthening and optimizing their stabbing ability, they can become a lot more threatening at close range without increasing their skill floor."

Ves could see how that could be useful. He began to view Dulo Voiken more favorably than before.

He recalled his own plan to design a lancer mech for the Eye of Ylvaine. The success of Pontifical Lance in his first tournament proved that this design concept had a lot of potential!

Though spearman mechs were significantly different from lancer mechs, they shared a lot of commonalities as well.

"If you are tasked with designing a lancer mech, how would you go about it?" Ves asked.

"I have already designed several different lancer mechs in my career. My preferred approach is to design a lancer mech that can perform good charges but can also fight as a more conventional melee mech if it is ever cornered or if charges cannot play any role. While I am not able to amplify the charging potential of a lancer mech, I can significantly increase its versatility, thereby making it more useful in many different situations."

That was a good approach, though Ves generally preferred to emphasize the strong points of his mech designs.

The Larkinson Clan could already turn to the Bright Warrior model for flexibility and versatility. What Ves sought for the Eye of Ylvaine was a mech that could perform the most powerful and impactful charges that could break through any defensive formation no matter the difficulty!

Improving the standing battle capabilities of such a lancer mech was nothing more than a means to compensate for a failed charge. A truly successful lancer mech unit should never stop charging unless it had expended all of its weapons!

After quizzing Dulo a few more times, the Larkinsons finished their questions.

"You can wait in the other room now." Ves announced to the applicants. "We will deliberate amongst ourselves and share our verdict with you in fifteen minutes."

Once Team Destiny and Team Voiken left the current chamber, Ves turned to his fellow colleagues.

"Well?"

"Both pairs of Journeymen are useful to us." Ketis spoke up first. "I really like Pellier and Coslone. They can increase the killing efficiency of all of our melee mechs. I also like the Voikens. If Sara Voiken joins our clan, she can not only improve the defenses of all of our existing mechs, but also provide the mech legions with new and highly effective defensive mechs."

It was difficult to choose between the different package deals. They all came with their own pros and cons and it was difficult to make an objective determination of which one would benefit the Larkinson Clan more.

Juliet already voiced her preference. "I think we should prioritize the Voikens over the other two. It's much harder to estimate how Pellier and Coslone can improve our mechs."

"I don't know, Juliet." Ketis said. "I think Pellier and Coslone are considerably more valuable to us. It's not difficult for us to find mech designers who specialize in defensive systems or spearman mechs, but it is a lot harder for us to come across Journeymen that can strengthen mech designs in such a useful way!"

Everyone made good points today. The arguments of his fellow colleagues did not make it any easier for Ves to make up his mind!