The Mech Touch (Web Novel)
chapter-6171

Saint Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson felt torn as he struggled to make up his mind on how he wanted to fight in the future.

The Base Edition and the Banisher Edition of the Dark Zephyr both presented him with very different options.

The former was more familiar to him. Tusa did not think he would make a wrong choice if he stuck to what worked in the past. The circumstances may have changed now that he and his enemies became stronger, but the ace pilot was confident he could become a powerful duelist while also gaining the ability to support his clan by disturbing powerful enemies.

The latter was different from what he was accustomed to. Giving up other key resonating materials for Erlemin represented a big turn in the Dark Zephyr's evolution. It would make it harder for Tusa to defeat powerful opponents upright, and it would also make it harder for his machine to evade incoming attacks.

What the Banisher Edition delivered in return was a much better ability to mess with his enemies.

As long as Tusa grew powerful enough to support the consumption of the resonating ability tied to Erlemin, he could temporarily banish any troublesome presence, ranging from deadly warships to other ace mechs!

This was not a version of the Dark Zephyr that was suited for solo combat. It was a full teamwork-oriented configuration that explicitly relegated the light ace skirmisher to a support role.

By embracing the Banisher Edition, Tusa would have to accept the reality that he would likely never be as good as other ace pilots in dueling. Yet by letting the Dark Zephyr fulfill a function that few other ace mechs could perform, his presence would provide a strong guarantee that the forces of the Larkinson Clan would be able to cope against exceptionally powerful enemies!

Besides, the Banisher Edition was not necessarily weak in terms of offense. By making Erlemin take a bite out of enemies, the Dark Zephyr could instantly cripple a phase lord or blow a huge hole in an enemy fortification!

Since Saint Tusa was able to make his Dark Zephyr jump past any energy barrier, utilizing the resonating ability associated with Erlemin right afterwards was the fastest and most effective way to cripple or kill a high-priority threat!

Inadequate offensive power had always been a source of pain to Tusa. Even now when he finally became an ace pilot, he still retained his sensitivity towards this problem.

That was not to say that B-30 Shattersteel was weak, but Tusa found it to be a little underwhelming.

It was not that effective against giant enemies, which meant that the Base Edition of the Dark Zephyr had no other option than to utilize the Dark Wind Module.

However, Ultimate Modules were called this way because they were designed to serve as explosive trump cards that could turn a desperate situation around.

The power of the Dark Wind Passage Ultimate Ability was without doubt, but the energy needed to execute it was not small!

Using Erlemin was also demanding, but only if Tusa used it at its fullest on enormous targets. It was much more versatile and could be employed in all kinds of ways as long as he took the time to master its capabilities.

The Banisher Edition of the Dark Zephyr was genuinely a good development route. Master Benedict Cortez had comprehensively taken every variable into account.

"One of the differences between the Base Edition and the Banisher Edition is their potential, and how much time it takes to realize it to the fullest." Master Benedict explained to Tusa. "The Base Edition's advantage is that you can reuse many of your old skills, so you will hit the ground running. It should only take a few months before you can comfortably use the resonating abilities associated with Turbulenta and B-30 Shattersteel. This does not apply to the Banisher Edition. You will have to learn how to use the resonating ability associated with Erlemin from scratch, and figure out how to combine it with your new combat system."

"How big is the learning curve of using Erlemin?"

"It is a fairly powerful resonating alloy, so a fresh ace pilot such as yourself will struggle to leverage it to the fullest for a long time. According to the available data, it may take five to ten years for you to gain enough resonance strength and proficiency to utilize Erlemin as fluently as the ace pilot in the previous footage."

"That is too long!" Tusa sputtered!

"It is not as bad as it sounds. You should barely be able to activate the resonating ability after a few months of exercise. It will only get better from there. Erlemin is originally designed for senior ace mechs, so its ceiling is extremely high. Once your resonance strength has developed up to a certain point, you no longer need to worry as much about consumption as before. By that time, you can turn any space battle into a guaranteed victory by racing to an enemy fleet before banishing half-a-dozen of their most powerful and damaging warships. Once you become a senior ace pilot, you can potentially banish an entire space fortress, thereby opening up a critical gap in the defensive sphere of a highly fortified planet."

Saint Tusa felt a bit better about the Banisher Edition after hearing that. This version of the Dark Zephyr should be difficult to master at first, but promised to deliver very powerful capabilities at the later stages of his growth as an ace pilot!

While the strongest uses for Erlemin was still supportive in nature, Tusa did not feel bad about playing a key role in a titanic battle where the fate of an entire contested region was at stake!

Now that Master Benedict provided additional clarification on ace mechs integrated with Erlemin, Tusa actually began to appreciate the charm of this resonating alloy.

Created by the Resonance Smith himself, Erlemin was a modern phasewater-infused material that gave red humanity hope of coping against overwhelmingly powerful alien forces.

The only question was whether Saint Tusa was willing to give up the advantages of other variants of the Dark Zephyr in order to go all-in on the Banisher Edition.

"What else is possible?" Tusa asked.

Master Benedict highlighted the third draft design. It displayed a version of the Dark Zephyr that appeared noticeably thicker and bulkier. The extra mass was needed to add enough capacity to incorporate a lot of miniaturized modules.

"This is the Multipurpose Edition of the Dark Zephyr. It is one of my more radical design concepts. It is an attempt to convert the Dark Zephyr from a light skirmisher to a first-class multipurpose mech. The latter is still fairly light and fast, but it sacrifices mobility in favor of a sizable expansion in weapon systems, defensive systems and utility systems. Due to capacity limitations, none of these modules are particularly large or powerful, but as long as your resonance strength is powerful enough, you can turn any toothpick into a shipkiller."

Saint Tusa had the illusion that he had entered into an alternate reality where he tread the path of godhood as a first-class mech pilot.

If he was born a Terran instead of a Brighter, perhaps Tusa would not question the fact that his ace mech would come in this form.

The Multipurpose Edition of the Dark Zephyr truly looked similar to all of the other slender first-class ace mechs!

Master Benedict briefly elaborated on what sort of high technologies the Multipurpose Edition could carry into battle. From energy weapons to a stealth field generator, the Dark Zephyr would gain an insane degree of versatility!

"Can these high-tech systems be swapped out for other ones?"

"Yes. They wouldn't be called modules if it was difficult and time-consuming to swap them out. First-class multipurpose mechs with high modularity can be loaded with a broad set of systems that can perform adequately well in any situation. The mechs can also be equipped with specialized modules that all excel at fulfilling specific missions. For example, your Dark Zephyr can be loaded with a full set of energy weapons if a battle is about to ensue where closing the distance is absolutely not an option. The other variants cannot beat the versatility of the Multipurpose Edition."

"What about the key resonating exotics?"

"There are multiple good choices available for this edition. I have chosen the classic combination of ChargeMate and HeatMate."

"ChargeMate? HeatMate? They don't sound like serious resonating materials."

"You would be surprised." Master Benedict smirked. "They are old but timeless classics because their functions have always remained useful to many first-class multipurpose ace mechs. ChargeMate can generate a large amount of electrical current when affected by true resonance. The greater the resonance strength, the more absurd the power generation. HeatMate is especially designed to work alongside ChargeMate, so there is no compatibility problem. As its name suggests, HeatMate can quickly drain excessive heat build up due to generating and expending a large amount of power. Together, ChargeMate and HeatMate have become a popular if somewhat generic combination for ace mechs that are heavily reliant on energy-hungry systems."

Although the effects of ChargeMate and HeatMate sounded awfully dull to Tusa, he could definitely see how they would be able to complement first-class multipurpose ace mechs!

The two resonating alloys were perfect for ace pilots who wanted to rely much more heavily on the conventional technologies of an ace mech as opposed to its more metaphysical qualities!

Saint Tusa had heard and read enough about first-class multipurpose mechs to understand many of their pros and cons. He could see the merits in the Multipurpose Edition, but…

It was too much.

He eventually shook his head. "If the Larkinson Clan needs a versatile ace mech, then it should look towards other ace pilots. Joshua for example is pretty versatile already, and I am sure that others will be able to fulfill this role much better than a light skirmisher specialist like myself. A light mech frame doesn't have enough space to fit all the impressive tech that a multipurpose mech is supposed to carry."

His rejection towards the notion of the Multipurpose Edition was so strong and unambiguous that Master Benjamin eliminated this option right away with a single swipe of his finger.

"That narrows down your selection somewhat. Let me introduce the next variant to you. This is the Demolisher Edition of the Dark Zephyr. It is all about enhancing your mech's offensive melee combat capabilities to the highest possible extent. The speed and maneuverability of your machine will not be as good, but he will gain a much more impressive capacity to inflict damage, especially on large targets."

"How?"

"With the help of Resoblast Alloy. This is a resonating alloy that has a very simple but powerful effect. It can convert strong kinetic energy as well as true resonance into shaped explosive force. The more energy you exert in the resonating ability, the more powerful and the greater the area of effect of the explosion. This resonating material will give your deceptively small light skirmisher the ability to punch far above his own weight class."

The projection played another footage where an ace mech approached a large alien battleship.

The ace mech first had to go through the transphasic energy shields, but it managed to get past them very quickly!

A rapid series of powerful explosions collapsed the energy barriers when the ace mech struck with a pair of hammers!

Once the ace mech reached the side of the enemy ship, the machine gain to strike the hull with its hammer.

A succession of large explosions wrecked the interior of the battleship as the resonance-empowered strikes released energies that could rival that of tactical weapons of mass destruction!

Though Tusa was not a fan of wielding hammers, he deeply became impressed by how this relatively small ace mech turned into the equivalent of a mighty siege engine with the help of Resoblast Alloy!