[201-400] THE MECH'S TOUCH

Chapter 253: Blackbeak

Ves resumed his work on his design after taking a break. The board meeting led to modest changes but gave everyone a lot of food for thought. One thing that struck him was that everyone pushed for mass production. They didn't believe the LMC could deliver the necessary quality to grow into the high end market.

"They're right, in a way."

He'd have to become a Journeyman Mech Designer to break into the top and most lucrative end of the market. That was still a long way off despite the help of the System.

"My various Skills have reached Journeyman-level, but I'm barely scratching the surface. I'm still short on depth and experience."

Ves vaguely estimated he would have to design at least five or six original models to gain the minimum amount of experience to advance. They also had to be distinctly different mech, so Ves couldn't get away with designing six identical knight mechs.

"Let's get back to work."

Ves thought about the implications of forming the structure of his artificial musculature from scratch.

"The more experienced mech designers can do this by heart. I haven't reached that level yet, even with the theories I've learned."

In such cases, it would be a shame to consult a reference book and adapt a expertly designed template that had been derived from examples of nature. For example, knight templates often took their inspiration from studying the bodies of athletes and soldiers.

Ves chose to be fairly extravagant by borrowing a high quality reference book from the Clifford Society's Moon Library.

It took a couple of days for the fast courier to deliver the secure materials required to read the book. For a price of ten merits, the Society went out of its way to make sure that Ves didn't propagate its contents.

He didn't spend his time in vain during the wait. He re-read the textbooks on Battle Mechatronics and looked back on his old designs to study the way their musculature worked.

Mechs generally adopted simplified structures compared to a human made out of blood and flesh. In particular, they didn't require so much fine control for their toes, neck and head. Knight mechs also sacrificed a lot of finesse in their arms in favor of brute strength.

"Still, a strong pair of legs forms the basis of a sturdy knight."

Knights relied on the strength of their legs to build up momentum and withstand shocks. They also depended on their legs for balance.

The reference book he borrowed happened to contain a couple of templates for all the different archetypes. After a lot of browsing, Ves chose to go with the lightest knight template.

"It's the most responsive and agile out of all the medium knight templates. It's the only choice that conforms with my vision."

The black phoenix would never sit still like a rock for long. It wished to endure attacks only up to the extent for it to close in on its opponent and take it out.

A lighter musculature that facilitated movement over force enabled this choice of battle. Unfortunately, Ves also had to accept a substantial reduction in arm strength.

"My knight will never match the strength of a purely offensive type like a swordsman mech."

He accepted the compromise, since his mech's substantial defense made up for its lacking offensive prowess. It aimed to outlast its opponents by surviving to the end rather than killing them off first.

Ves made a couple of tweaks to the standard template.

He increased the range of motion of the shield arm to facilitate bashing with the flat or sharp end of the phoenix-emblazoned shield.