The Mech Touch

After a bit over two days of continuous work, Ves and Gloriana managed to complete the Adonis Colossus without encountering any significant setbacks.

They easily handled all of the complications and other problems that occurred during the fabrication process. This was in part due to their excellent skill and intolerance for imperfections.

By performing a thorough job from the start, all of the subsequent steps proceeded smoothly. Potentially catastrophic incidents never had a chance to occur because the pair of mech designers were simply too meticulous to allow them to break out.

Right now, Gloriana had stepped back due to her accumulated exhaustion.

She was tired to the bone. Not only did she exert herself mentally, but also physically. Though she managed to suppress her sleep through the use of stimulants, the fabrication of a complicated custom mech expended a lot of energy.

To Ves, it was as if she overdrafted some of her creative juices.

It was unavoidable for Gloriana to draw upon her imagination as she performed her work. To create an excellent mech, she needed to do more than rote fabrication and assembly.

Otherwise, they might as well leave the production of the mech to the Manufacturing Department of the LMC!

As Ves added the final touches to the Adonis Colossus, the mech was finally complete.

He stepped back and admired the huge mech with a touch of pride.

Regardless of his feelings towards its design, every product he designed and fashioned out of his own hands was a mark of pride.

As he continued to observe his finished mech, a grand feeling overcame his mind and spirituality. His design seed seethed with satisfaction as he managed to realize one of his creations.

This was why he designed mechs! As a creator, making something new brought him a lot of satisfaction!

Even Gloriana basked in their accomplishment. While Ves did most of the work this time, she was constantly involved in one way or another.

It was just a pity that her limitations prevented her from exerting her full ability. She would have been able to contribute much more substantially to the fabrication process.

”If only I was better.” She sighed once her satisfaction made way for remorse. ”We could have elevated the quality of this mech if I was fully involved.”

Ves shrugged. ”Iʼm not sure about that. Itʼs too difficult to make a masterwork mech. I donʼt think this mech provided us with the right window of opportunity.”

”Ves!” She growled and slapped his arm. ”I thought you were better than that!”

He knew he wasnʼt entirely accommodating towards her, but the sight of the codpiece quickly soured his mood.

After swearing off on codpieces, he somehow designed and made another mech that possessed the same ornament!

Even though Gloriana managed to adapt it into a more inoffensive shape, it didnʼt shake off the impression that the mech definitely had something to hide in the lower waist!

Most mechs did not place much emphasis on the design of the pelvis section. While mech designers did not neglect this critical section which connected the torso to the legs of a mech, they never thought about making it more pronounced.

There was no practical reason to do so! For Ves to add a belt-like codpiece to the mech would definitely make people form some improper thoughts.

If this protective peace was the only masculine element of the mech, then Ves could still get away with claiming that it was just a form of reinforcement.

However, the muscle definition on the front torso of the mech made it more than clear that every aspect about the mech was meant to enhance its manliness!

Mechs ordinarily did not convey a specific gender. Most ended up shaped like a man because that was the most efficient form to fit all of the components of a mech.

However, that did not mean that mech designers explicitly assigned a gender to their mechs.

It was as pointless as assigning genders to a data pad or a fork.

His mind hadnʼt changed despite designing a mech that embodied manliness.

This was because the mech did not project pure masculinity. Instead, its glow possessed some very subtle undercurrents that expressed some of Ves and Glorianaʼs ridicule towards the theme of the mech.

As Ves threw a look at Vincent, the former rebel leader was already ecstatic about his mech!

”Perfect! Itʼs perfect! This is my mech! No one else will ever pilot a more manly mech than mine! Hahahaha!”

That was Vincentʼs immaturity showing. He treated the Adonis Colossus like a vanity piece instead of a war instrument!

A more professional mech designer wouldnʼt be so taken in by the superfluous elements of a mech. Perhaps there was some merit to paying some attention to the glow of his mechs, but real soldiers never lost control over the appearance of a mech.

What truly mattered was what a mech was capable of.

The Adonis Colossus harkened back to the Caesar Augustus and Marc Antony in a vague fashion.

With the shoulder-mounted missile launchers, the Adonis Colossus could instantly output a large burst of explosive firepower.

While the capacity of the missile launchers wasnʼt impressive, they were fully capable of inflicting a lot of damage due to their potent if expensive warheads.

Of course, these missiles had to be rationed cautiously. If not for Vincentʼs importance, the government would never squander so many rare exotics to enhance the payload of the missile launchers.

Naturally, the missile launchers didnʼt protrude upwards. Ves and Gloriana cleverly recessed them towards the shoulders so that a frontal opponent wouldnʼt be able to snipe at them directly.

In case the Adonis Colossus faced an attack from the rear, the shoulder launchers could easily be detached from the mech. The missile launchers were also made of compressed alloys, which further enhanced its resilience against surprise attacks.

Ves did not trust Vincent to be competent enough to make the right decision. Investing in a more resilient pair of shoulder launchers should buy him some precious seconds.

The Adonis Colossus could accommodate any compatible missile type. However, considering the mechʼs relative weakness against distant opponents, Ves recommended Vincent to supply his mech with long-ranged missiles.

For medium-range encounters, Ves paired the Adonis Colossus with a Sandbreaker rifle.

The Avatars and Sentinels already adopted the Sandbreaker rifle by the hundreds. Ves already examined a physical copy in person.

”The Sandbreaker rifle doesnʼt really match the potential of the mech.” He commented.

Gloriana frowned, though she did not refute his remark. ”If Vincent didnʼt insist on pairing his mech with this rifle model, we would have had more leeway in pairing the mech with something better.”

The Adonis Colossus was so expensive that it could easily adopt a more powerful weapon system. Why Vincent insisted on a rifle that was most commonly seen in the hands of budget mech was mystifying.

”The Sandbreaker weapon system isnʼt that bad, actually. Even if itʼs cheap and economic, it will at least allow Vincent to fire his weapon without any regard for cost.”

As a medium-ranged weapon system, the Sandbreaker rifle already possessed many advantages while remaining affordable. Any alternate ballistic rifle models had to be much more powerful in order to exceed its effectiveness against the sandmen.

At this stage in the Sand War, many other mech designers and weapon developers developed similar weapon systems.

However, because they came afterwards, they failed to achieve the same degree of fame as the Sandbreaker rifle.

For this reason, Ves wasnʼt too disappointed with the weapon. A sloppy mech pilot like Vincent probably wouldnʼt be able to draw out the potential of more expensive weapons.

While the Sandbreaker performed best at medium range, it was no slouch in close range either. As long as the mech was able to bring the weapon to bear on an approaching enemy, it could still pose a threat.

The only problem was that all of the armor and other equipment on the mech reduced its mobility. This made the mech rather sluggish whenever it adjusted its aim.

A light skirmisher could easily circle around the mech to the point where the Adonis Colossus could no longer keep up with the movement!

For this reason, the nail drivers mounted at the wrists of the mech served as a last resort.

Due to the abundant budget of the project, Ves and Gloriana managed to integrate the weapon into the design and improve their power.

However, that did not detract from the fact that the mech could not supply a lot of ammunition nail drivers.

The power of a nail driver was limited due to the small size of the weapon system.

It was a lot better to affix compact laser cannons on the wrists. At the very least, the wrist-mounted laser weapons could draw its power from the internal energy supply of the mech.

The nail drivers lacked this convenience. The only way to provide ammunition was to load them into the weapon system and embed a small magazine into the wrist structure.

The physical limitations of this weapon system made it the worst ranged option of the mech by far.

At the very least, the shoulder-mounted missile launchers provided a lot of firepower at the press of a button. Vincent did not need to make any attempts to aim or tweak the parameters of the missiles. Ves made sure to integrate some automation into the Adonis Colossus so that Vincent could pay attention to the big picture.

While the Adonis Colossus possessed three ranged options, Ves and Gloriana added something else at Vincentʼs request.

A sword.

Although the Adonis Colossus looked big and strong, the truth was that it wasnʼt suitable to wield melee mechs at all!

The structure of the mech was incredibly inflexible. It didnʼt possess the full range of motion expected of a melee mech. This will surely lead to problems to an actual specialist in melee mechs.

Fortunately, no one believed that Vincent was a maestro in swordsmanship. His proven skill in melee combat was too unexceptional to feel constrained by the limitations of his new mech!

Therefore, Ves and Gloriana treated the sword sheathed next to the legs as a toy.

Of course, it was still a real, high-quality sword. Ves even called Ketis to inspect the design of the sword. With her expertise, she provided her with a number of useful suggestions.

Since the Adonis Colossus possessed little agility to begin with, Ves decided to go for power. The sword was as large as a broadsword in mech terms. Anything larger risked burdening the mech.

All four weapons provided the Adonis Colossus with a lot of solutions. While all of them possessed some flaws, pooling them all together partially made up for their shortcomings.

”Can I try out this mech?” Vincent asked.

”Not now.” Gloriana shook her head. ”Letʼs bring it into orbit and test its performance in a vacuum condition. Piloting the mech on land will put undue stress on the structure of this mech.”

”Itʼs no good on the ground?” Vincent frowned.

Ves sighed. ”Itʼs a mech that is primarily meant to fight the sandmen. Adapting the mech to aerial or landbound combat requires a lot of compromise. Since our commission never mentioned anything about deploying the mech on a planet, weʼve specialized the mech for spaceborn combat.”

Vincent looked disappointed. It was as if he never imagined that his impressively manly mech was as weak as a kitten in planet-based environments!

In truth, the Adonis Colossus was still able to perform on land, but that was an enormous waste. Its performance would be so constrained on land that it made more sense to substitute it with a true landbound or aerial mech.

It was still capable of walking slowly across the ground, at least. The mech had to be able to function within the artificial gravity environment of a carrier. Ves also made sure it would be able to participate in any parades.

”Letʼs call in a transport and bring this mech up to space.” Ves ordered.

He was curious how Vincent and Bravo would react when they connected to each other for the very first time!