The Mech Touch novel Chapter 7482

Chapter 7482: Woodsap Pilot Shortcomings

Ves and Alexa continued to discuss the performance of his Woodsap mechs.

Their initial deployment seemed rough, but most of that could be chalked up to the relative inexperience of their test pilots.

It couldn’t be helped. Carmine mechs and Woodsap mechs especially were designed to accommodate norms, not potentates.

No one had ever thought to put norms through formal mech piloting training before the unveiling of Carmine mechs.

Using trained infantry soldiers as priority candidates for pairing with Woodsap mechs may be a convenient stopgap solution, but it ultimately could not bridge the gap between themselves and real mech pilots.

Ves noted several instances where the Woodsap mechs performed suboptimally.

This came in two different forms.

First, the faulty judgment of their pilots caused the Woodsap mechs to make poor decisions.

This ranged from firing their weapon systems at the wrong timing or seeking to pursue the wrong targets.

Second, the pilots occasionally made the best decisions, but still fell short because of their poor execution.

They lacked the training and experience to perform maneuvers tightly or aim their weapons correctly.

It did not help that these Woodsap mech pilots got overwhelmed by the much more complicated variables that they needed to take into account when piloting a biomechanical war machine in a dizzying space environment.

The Woodsap mech pilots would have been much better off if they started to fight on solid land. The simpler environment and greater familiarity with their former training would have allowed them to fight smoother and with less complications.

Unfortunately, the reality was that most battles between red humanity and its alien foes took place in deep space.

Perhaps that might change in the future, but for the time being, pretty much every battle was decided in space.

As long as one side gained orbital superiority over any planet, the remaining defenders that had entrenched themselves underground or underwater could not do much to resist the inevitable alien occupation and eradication efforts.

Guerilla warfare only worked up to a point. So long as the aliens brought in enough forces that specialized in digging out these pockets of resistance, there was no way for these isolated human fighters to endure.

This needed to be changed.

The Terran Alliance already announced the first step in doing so by aspiring to build the so-called Green Belt.

Woodsap mechs happened to play a key role in this radical new plan.

This was why Ves did not mind the apparent lack of skill exhibited by all of these relatively new Woodsap mech pilots.

Their lack of piloting ability may cause them to waste much of the potential of their relatively expensive and high-end biomachines in space, but the story would probably be different on land.

So long as these Woodsap mechs could fight the native aliens on more favorable terrain, their pilots would probably perform much closer to their professional counterparts.

Still, given the continued importance of controlling the orbit of important planets, battles in space would never diminish too much.

"Handing out the equivalent of first-class multipurpose mechs to fresh Woodsap mech pilots seems excessive." Ves remarked as he studied the footage and data longer. "Given their below average performance in utilizing their many weapon systems, it is much better to start with specialized mech archetypes first. I do not know why the Terrans insist on basing most if not all of their Woodsap mechs around multipurpose mechs. They are just making them a lot more expensive without getting their money’s worth."

Alexa understood the Terran mindset a little better. "Woodsap mechs are already priced at a higher tier from the start. They exist in contrast to the much cheaper and more disposable Yellow Jackets. The Terran Alliance considers the Arboreal Project to be a prestige project. Since that is the case, the Woodsap mechs must be multipurpose by default. Simplifying them will diminish their apparent worth in the eyes of Terran citizens. People will not be as enthused about piloting them. If norms want to have it easy, they can apply to pilot a Yellow Jacket. Those that seek a true challenge and wish to become equals to the first-class multipurpose mech pilots that they have always looked up to can apply to become a Woodsap mech pilot."

In other words, it had become a matter of pride.

Typical of the Terrans.

Ves scoffed a bit. "When Terrans have to choose between pride and logic, they often favor the former, to the detriment of the latter. If they continue to push through this strategy, a lot of Woodsap mechs will end up getting wasted in the hands of norms who may be adequate soldiers, but unequipped to make the most of a highly advanced war platform. There are good reasons why the selection criteria for the best mech academies of first-rate states are so high. Possessing a genetic aptitude that scores B- or higher is practically mandatory due to the need to pay attention to dozens of different systems at the same time."

First-class multipurpose mech pilots truly deserved their place at the top in the hierarchy of standard mech pilots.

The gap between this group and more general first-class mech pilots was vast.

Not only did the former have to become adept multitaskers, they also had to develop proficiency in utilizing over a dozen different melee and ranged weapon systems.

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