The Mech Touch novel Chapter 421

After a number of transfers, Ves entered an old-model transport ship. While large number of bots filled up the ship’s cargo hold with containers of supplies, Ves and two other mech designers entered a nearly-empty passenger compartment.

The compartment offered enough space for thirty passengers, though space was at a premium and the amenities left much to be desired. The yellowing white-paneled corridors and the faded and worn furniture made it clear that the vessel wasn’t well-maintained.

"This is where you mech designers will stay for the time being." A crewman assigned to guide them said as he chewed some sort of stimulant that would have seen him cashiered aboard a properly-run ship. "Once you enter, the main hatch here will lock so you won’t wander off and disturb the rest of the crew."

"We have to stay here for the entire duration of the trip!?" The only female mech designer among them spoke out. "There’s barely anything inside!"

"You can always stay within your bunks and go back to sleep. There’s a cabinet of nutrient packs along with a food recombinator, so you won’t starve. If you want some distraction, we left you some data chips that contains some of the games we play in our off time."

Ordinarily, Ves could at least browse the galactic net if he wanted a distraction. However, ever since he received his military-issued comm, he started to get around the fact that the Mech Corps would never let someone like him with a sliver of access to the rest of the galaxy. The local networks plainly refused to let his comm access the galactic net.

The spacer quickly went through some obligatory safety instructions before letting the mech designers stew inside their empty but cramped abodes.

A couple of seconds passed by as the three looked at each other awkwardly.

"Let’s claim our bunks before the others arrive." _{ƒгeewёbnovel.com}

"Good idea." The young woman nodded.

They each split up and entered some of the available cabins to claim their preferred sleeping spots. Ves stayed within the cabin and started to rearrange his thoughts. Ever since he learned he would be joining the design team of the 6th Flagrant Vandals, he dredged up every piece of knowledge that pertained to spaceborn mechs.

While spaceborn mechs didn’t look very different from aerial mechs, they actually operated under very different circumstances. An aerial mech could operate in space in a pinch, but would only be able to express eighty-or-so percent of their strength.

Spaceborn mechs on he other fared much worse in atmospheric conditions. Some didn’t even carry a strong-enough flight system to let their mechs remain aloft under standard gravity conditions.

Compared to landbound mechs, spaceborn mechs predominantly carried a notch less mass around. This was because it took a lot of energy to move these mechs around in space. The heavier the mech, the more energy it took to get it to move and make it come to a halt once it reached its destination.

Therefore, spaceborn mechs consisted of a much higher proportion of light mechs, though plenty of medium mechs existed as well. Besides the space knight mechs, every other medium spaceborn mech tended to mass at the lighter end of the medium weight class.

The decreased mass allowed these mechs to accelerate and decelerate rather quickly with more efficient but less powerful flight systems. It wasn’t unheard of for spaceborn mechs to be able to last an entire standard day in space.

"They’re smaller and lighter, but they’re also more fragile."

The emphasis on speed and agility and the vast room for maneuvering in space shifted the design of spaceborn mechs away from a reliance on armor. While the existence of Space Knights and the like still proved that armor played a role, in space, speed, or rather acceleration was king.

The higher a mech’s ability to accelerate, the better it would be able to dodge incoming attacks. Fast, unpredictable dodging patterns threw off the aim of enemy pilots.

For this reason, ballistic weapons was a tad bit less popular in space, though they still played a huge role when it came to attacking ships. It took far too long for lasers to carve through the hull of an enemy combat carrier.

Melee mechs played a role as well. Light skirmishers generally boasted excellent thrust-to-weight ratios, allowing them to close the distance to elusive ranged mechs and carve them up from up close.

"Still, the lack of any cover in space makes ranged mechs the dominant types of mechs in space."

Many battles took place in orbit or in the middle of an empty patch of space. Only rarely did battles erupt in asteroid fields or any other area where lots of objects floated nearby.

The lack of any cover for mechs to hide behind heavily favored ranged mechs. Even though their targets were easily capable of dodging most enemy fire, as long as a squad of mechs coordinated their fire, they could trap their target in a cage where they would get hit no matter where they dodged.

"In short, it’s a numbers game as well."

Spaceborn mechs therefore tended to be rather cheap and disposable. Their lighter construction meant they got damaged more easily and needed more frequent repairs or replacements. Fortunately, they rolled off the production lines in great numbers.

Only their mech pilots couldn’t be replaced. Although spaceborn mechs skimped out on a lot of areas compared to landbound mechs, the one component they left intact would always be the cockpit.

"This way of combat still sounds really wasteful."

The nature of space combat meant that skirmishes started and ended quickly. Whoever won the fight received the opportunity to salvage the wrecks and recoup the costs.

When Ves finished sorting out his knowledge base, he realized he still possessed a couple of holes in what he acquired up to this point.

"For spaceborn mechs, it’s important to know how flight systems works and how to compartmentalize the interior of a frame to the point where every separate compartment was airtight.

The most complicated variable related to space combat was definitely heat management. Without ground and air to transfer much of the heat generated by mechs, mechs mostly radiated out their heat like the ancient practice of toasting a bun.

This was far too slow compared to the amount of heat a mech built up during battle, so mech designers did everything possible to extend the time a spaceborn mech could fight without becoming too hot.

The Bright Republic didn’t have access to a lot of means to improve the heat management of their mechs. Therefore, the Republic’s spaceborn mechs tended to be built according to endurance and efficiency rather than peak performance.

That was one area where Ves happened to know a lot.

Ves reluctantly concluded that he should be able to understand most spaceborn mech designs. He could even design a mech on his own, though it would be a lot more inefficient compared to what was available in the market.

Someone knocked at the door of his cabin. It was one of the guys who initially boarded the ship. "Mr. Larkinson? Can you come to the common room? We should talk."

"Coming."

Ves jumped to his feet and smoothed down his standard-issue clothes. The Mech Corps stocked the dressers in the cabin with a simple green uniform that carried a patch of a half-designed mech. This was how a working uniform looked like for mech designers called up during the war.