[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 56: Streak of Red

Speed changed a lot of things when applied differently to mechs.

A heavy mech that weighed many tons treated speed like rare animals. Even if their engines doubled in size, the effective increase in speed only amounted to just a dozen percent. Most heavy mechs didn't bother with increasing their speed.

On the other hand, a light mech normally lived for speed. Designers often clenched their teeth when they traded off little bits of speed for additional weapons and armor. They often considered this exercise the most painful one imagine, akin to pulling out one's teeth.

Ves felt as if his entire jaw ached as he firmly cut off portions that made the Octagon strong in the first place. He carefully removed bits of armor here and there while thinning other portions. By the time five days had passed, Ves looked bloodshot at a mech that appeared about 30% thinner than usual.

"I can't do this anymore. I've practically skinned this Octagon to the bone. I can hardly call it a medium mech now."

The new variant's armor took a substantial hit. Though it gained a generous boost in speed and agility in return, it ceased to be a frontline unit. It lacked both the endurance and armor to compete against regular frontline mechs.

The only thing about the armor scheme he left adopted from the Mist Prowler was incorporating a bit of FlexiPlate around the joints and fittings. The flexible armor weighed relatively little, and the joints only required a handful of armor to cover up against most incidental damage. While it wouldn't survive a direct blast, it was better than nothing.

"Now, for the boosters."

As Ves wanted his light mech hunter to close the distance to their prey in one giant dash, he opted to utilize six boosters instead of less. Though it consumed a lot of fuel, all but the lightest armed mechs were in the variant's grasp.

The exact placement of the boosters was kind of tricky. As mechs emulated the human running form, they varied the alignment of their backs when doing different activities. While keeping the back upright was the most efficient way to move in simple runs, most mechs often had to move under enemy fire. The very human tendency to bend forward and keep your head down was a very natural reaction, but one that also stood in the way of good booster management.

Though the nozzles came with a limited range of movement, they could only do so much work. What Ves intended to do was to embed his six boosters in a simple rectangular pattern onto the back. While he could have used more complicated shapes such as a pentagon with a middle booster or a hexagon without one, such designs fared poorly when damaged.

He put the placement of the boosters around the center of gravity, with a slight downward shift. This subtle effect caused the mech to tilt a little upwards when the boosters burned at full force. Ves aimed to achieve such an effect so that the mech could traverse forwards with lighter footsteps, making it easier to go over uneven terrain.

If he went the opposite direction and allow the boosters to push the mech downwards, then they gave it a much better grip. This let the mech take sharper turns at the cost of a reduced speed and increased stresses on the frame.

"While better control over the direction is nice, it's not worth it if my mech loses too much speed. Since the priority is to close the distance from point A to point B as fast as possible, then it's better to go for straight-line acceleration."

In essence, Ves turned his variant into a rocket. One that was really good for flying in a somewhat straight line and nothing else. He figured the mech should have enough grip to make last second turns in case its target abruptly dodged.

Once he finished working on the boosters, he took a step back and looked at his light mech killer. While it should largely function as envisioned, Ves thought it lacked a certain punch.