The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

5640 Devora Cannon

The Transcendent Punisher Mark III truly represented an evolution of its original concept. It did the same job a lot better due to its many expensive upgrades and advancements.

A lot of people thought that Ves had spent much of the last year on perfecting the Fey Fianna design to the point that it had become the most powerful mass production mech that he completed in recent times.

They were very wrong.

A select group of Rubarthans thought that they had gained a treasure in their possession by gaining the rights to produce and distribute the Supremo Project.

The second-class hyper heavy artillery mech truly conformed to the Hyper Generation and could overpower its direct competitors on the market, especially with the help of Emma!

Yet not even the Impresario Prince knew that Ves had invested a lot more effort and dedication into designing the latest iteration of the successful Transcendent Punisher formula.

It still retained the iconic ability to guide the aim of its mech pilots, but its firepower and other aspects had become vastly more powerful than before!

The difference in performance between the old second-class heavy artillery mech and the new quasi-first-class transphasic hyper Mark III was so vast that the latter could easily beat 10 of the former!

Ves almost shook his body when he imagined the devastation that the Mark III's could wreak upon their foes once they were fielded in larger numbers.

So what if combat carriers and fleet carriers were not allowed to mount any warship-grade gun batteries?

As long as the weapon systems of his bunker mechs were powerful enough, they could do much to close the gap in performance!

While the large and imposing main gun batteries of alien warships still possessed an absolute firepower advantage, they were also slow, clumsy and much more difficult to upgrade to the next generation.

The amount of time, resources and effort it took to upgrade a batch of Transcendent Punishers was much less than doing the same on a huge warship cannon turret!

Red humanity needed to take advantage of this difference and make full use of its advantages in order to keep the enemy forces at bay for a time.

Out of the four modular weapon systems that Ves had designed for the Mark III, three of them were straightforward substitutes of the existing armaments of the previous iteration.

The only standout that was completely happened to be the excessively large Devora Cannon.

A normal heavy cannon only occupied a single hardpoint on the mech frame of the Transcendent Punisher Mark III.

The Devora Cannon took up four whole hardpoints!

Not only that, but this single addition also imposed additional parts and reinforcements in order to make sure that the Transcendent Punisher Mark III could bear the pressure of utilizing this super-heavy gauss cannon!

Gloriana could see a lot of parallels between the Devora Cannon of the Mark III and the Onyx Cannon of the Supremo Project.

"While you worked to turn the Supremo Project into an excellent siege machine, you did not want your Transcendent Punisher Mark III to be outclassed, is that correct?"

Ves crossed his arms. "You got me. I admit that I just wanted to install the biggest possible gun on one of our own Larkinson mechs. I have upscaled and increased the specs of the original Onyx Cannon in order to push the very limit of what the upgraded Transcendent Punisher can handle. I wanted its performance to approximate the firepower of a small warship gun as much as possible. I think I managed to get awfully close to that. While the caliber of the Devora Cannon is still pitifully small in naval terms, as long as hundreds of these cannons are brought to bear against a single large target, their quantity will definitely surpass the total firepower of a real warship!"

He was not exaggerating. Ves might not be a specialist in kinetic weapon systems, but he did not have to be in order to mix first-class materials, phasewater technology and hyper technology together to produce a much more powerful result!

Gloriana could definitely see that the combination of all of these extravagant factors in an enormous weapon could single-handedly raise the threat level of the expeditionary fleet!

This was without considering the additional amplification that could be produced by borrowing the power of Emma!

"The firepower of the Devora Cannon is more than satisfactory, but its firing rate should be much slower as a consequence."

Ves nodded. "The Devora Cannon is primarily designed to siege alien warships at the longest possible range. Muzzle velocity is extremely crucial as the hit rate drops dramatically if the launched projectiles get any slower. It takes a lot more energy to accelerate the super-heavy slugs at an acceptable speed. It takes a considerable amount of time to charge up the capacitors of this weapon system. I don't have access to more specialized technologies that can speed up the charging process."

"You have done the best you can under the circumstances. I am sure that many Larkinsons will thank you for designing such a powerful weapon system. It will do much to close the firepower gap between our mech forces and alien fleets."

Both of them knew that the Devora Cannon would become a near-permanent fixture to the Mark III.

The 'smaller' cannons designed for the Transcendent Punisher Mark III all had their strong points, but they were originally weapons designed to be utilized during the Age of Mechs.

They were more than powerful enough to diminish swarms of small craft and whittle down the defenses of typical starships, but they were not the best choice in a real unrestricted war against entire alien civilizations.

Fortunately for the Larkinsons, they could always dismount the cumbersome Devora Cannon and slot smaller cannons in its place.

After Gloriana gained a good overview of the outstanding offensive power of the Transcendent Punisher Mark III, she shifted her attention to the other properties of the powerful heavy artillery mech.

"I see that the Mark III's defenses are even thicker and heavier than the previous versions." She noted.

"Yes. Sara Voiken did a good job at applying a new transphasic hyper armor system. I can't promise that it can survive a direct strike from the primary gun battery of a warship, but it should be able to resist the onslaught of a secondary gun battery long enough for the mech pilot to eject."

"The defense of a bunker mech primarily relies on the bunkers rather than their own defenses, Ves. The best way to keep the mechs intact longer is to upgrade our carriers directly."

"I know, but we don't have the shipyards to upgrade all of our hulls fast enough. Mechs are our greatest strength, so it is not a bad idea to focus on them first. Don't underestimate the capacity for the Mark III to resist damage. It is not only packed with armor, but it is also equipped with a large azure shield generator."

That should help a lot. It at least gave the heavy artillery mech a better chance of saving its mech pilot when struck by a direct attack from a powerful warship.

Seeing that the defensive properties of the Mark III were more than satisfactory, Gloriana turned to the mobility of the machine.

"The only aspect about the Transcendent Punisher Mark III that has regressed is its mobility. All of the heavy armor and heavy weapon systems have taken an enormous toll on the mech frame. I wouldn't be surprised if it moves as slow as a turtle under standard gravity. Is it still suitable to be deployed on land?"

Ves grinned. "Yes. Don't worry about that. It can even fly in space or in the air if necessary."

"What?! How?!"

"With the help of an optional heavy-duty flight system." He explained as he switched the projection so that it showed a 'winged' version of the Transcendent Punisher Mark III. "I don't anticipate that it is necessary to employ this measure under ordinary circumstances, but it is better to have it around as a contingency option. The Spirit of Bentheim can quickly produce batches of this modular flight system if necessary."

Gloriana calmed down when she saw that this additional feature was actually quite reasonable.

This was because the modular flight system occupied 2 weapon hardpoints!

"I see. The Transcendent Punisher Mark III can exhibit limited flight capabilities by reducing its weapon configuration. The mech's flight characteristics are probably terrible when it is mounted with a Devora Cannon and two gauss cannons, but they should be much more adequate when the machine is mounted with a set of relatively light-weight luminar crystal cannons and rapid-fire pulse luminar crystal cannons."

Ves nodded. "Yup. No matter whether the Mark III is mounted with a flight system or not, it is never supposed to move during active combat when it is equipped with a Devora Cannon. It can only function as a bunker mech or a stationary artillery platform on land. If it has to move at all, it is better if it can do so with external assistance. It is just that heavy and sluggish, especially if the other hardpoints are utilized as well. In contrast, an all-

energy weapon loadout is a lot lighter. Of course, the Mark III's mobility is at its highest when it has no weapons at all. The difference in mass between the two extremes is enormous."

If properly used, there was no reason for the Mark III to move by itself during combat. It should never rely on its most awful aspect to survive or contribute in a battle.

Ves was aware of the existence of more maneuverable artillery mechs that pursued the opposite concept.

Most often used for offensive actions and counter-battery fire, mobile artillery mechs possessed enough firepower to pose a threat but also moved quickly enough to evade a lot of retaliation.

Of course, this dynamic mainly applied to landbound combat, which didn't concern Ves in the slightest.

After Gloriana understood just how awful the Mark III moved, she examined the remaining traits of the heavy artillery mech.

"The spiritual design of this mech is much more powerful than the previous version." She said. "It is actually on par with the Larkinson Edition of the Fey Fianna. Does that mean…"

"It's a Larkinson-exclusive mech. Of course it is equipped with the new Energy Weaver Mech Ecosystem." Ves smiled at her. "It has yet to see much use as the Larkinson Edition of the Fey Fiannas has not seen much action yet, but I think our troops will eventually fall in love with it. The mech ecosystem is especially strong when a powerful pilot takes charge. I really hope that Taon Melin can break through with the help of the upgraded Zeal. He will be able to make use of the features of the Energy Weaver Mech Ecosystem a lot better."

The Energy Weaver Mech Ecosystem had a few parallels with battle networks and was highly dependent on the people and living mechs to draw out its potential. The learning curve was enormous, so Ves did not expect to see any quick results.

There was nothing much for Gloriana to comment on as the innovative new mech ecosystem only existed in theory at the moment.

"Did you add any other surprises to our new heavy artillery mech?"

"Yes. I'm not surprised that you have overlooked it. Did you notice that the neural interface is a lot larger than normal? I asked Cormaunt Hempkamp to design a special neural interface that is not only a lot more suited for this mech archetype, but can also strengthen the connection between the mech pilot and Ylvaine. In theory, as long as the mech pilot employs the Guided Aim embedded ability and receives targeting guidance from Ylvaine, the new Divine Foresight can put the mech pilot into a temporary hyperactive state where he can take action with significantly better precision and much lower delay. That last part is crucial as the lag time between receiving information and pulling the trigger is often the cause for missed shots."

While all of this sounded impressive, Gloriana immediately grew concerned about how it might affect the mech pilot!

"Is this hyperactive state healthy for the mech pilot?"

"Not entirely…"