The Mech Touch - Chapter 6924 - 6924: The Firepower of the Tortuous Scream
Different from the artillery bunkers, the sniper bunkers were designed to accommodate special machines such as the Amaranto Mark III and the upcoming Promethea Mark II.
They offered the ace mechs a stable and protective enclosure to launch attacks with the support of a formidable battleship.
The Amaranto Mark III did not necessarily need the additional support, but she previously struggled to find adequate cover in past engagements.
This was why Ves wanted to provide the powerful ace marksman mech with dedicated bunkers that could put Saint Stark at ease.
As an ace mech that exemplified the concept of extreme firepower, the Amaranto Mark III defenses were not too good, though they were at least a lot better than the previous version.
However, the Amaranto Mark III had yet to benefit from the emergence of superdimensional technology, so the machine could still be threatened in multiple ways.
The protection offered by the sniper bunkers could therefore play a very useful role.
“Compared to the artillery bunkers, the sniper bunkers enjoy much more robust protection.” High Captain Gilbert proudly said. “The sniper bunkers are specifically designed to withstand battleship salvos. While they cannot resist continuous bombardment, they should at least block the first salvos and buy time for the mechs in question to take shelter or eliminate the threat directly.”
Ves observed all of the defensive mechanisms and grew satisfied with what he observed.
“What about offensive enhancements?”
“The Amaranto Mark III should be able to draw upon the power of the battleship herself. The Tortuous Scream will be able to charge up the Instrument of Vengeance directly, allowing the weapon to be fired at a greater frequency than before. The sniper bunkers are also able to siphon heat away considerably faster, which is an important guarantee for the Amaranto and her energy weapon to remain relatively cool.”
This meant that the Amaranto Mark III would be able to fire her primary armament a lot more frequently than before!
Ves could not imagine how much damage she could inflict onto enemy assets once she truly got going!
“Do you think that the firepower of the Amaranto Mark III will be able to match or surpass the firepower of one or multiple primary gun batteries?”
The former Terran naval officer paused in thought. “The comparisons are not simple and direct, sir. The assets you are thinking about are too different from each other. It is no different from comparing apples to oranges. The primary gun batteries that I am about to show you next are on a different level when it comes to scale and absolute damage output. They are the realization of technological brute force. However, they lack the speed and surgical precision of high-ranking mechs. The Amaranto Mark III in a sniper bunker may not be as good at destroying cities or large space stations, but her highly precise and focused burst of resonance-empowered energy beams are much better at damaging and eliminating enemy champions, no matter whether they are rival ace mechs or murderous phase lords.”
With such a powerful ace marksman mech at her disposal, the Tortuous Scream became a lot more effective when employed to fight against other warships as well as phase leaders.
However, as the high captain mentioned, the Amaranto Mark III was ultimately an ace marksman mech and should be used like one.
This meant that Saint Davia Stark had to fight with precision. She might even have to withhold her formidable firepower for a long time in order to avoid tipping off the enemy.
Ves paid closer attention to all of the tech and design features that granted superior protection to the sniper bunkers.
From stronger access to the ship’s potent power sources to multiple layers of defenses, the sniper bunkers promised to boost the Amaranto Mark III’s offensive and defensive parameters at the cost of sacrificing her mobility.
That said, the designers of the sniper bunkers had also included several convenient escape channels. This would bring the affected personnel to safety before anything catastrophic occurred.
Ves approved of these measures. The value of the Amaranto Mark III and Saint Davia Stark could already come close to the value of the Tortuous Scream as a whole!
In fact, Ves had a hard time deciding which one he preferred to have more. It was rare for a private individual and organization to have a genuine battleship, but it was hard to defend such a possession without the deterrence of several high-ranking mech pilots.
This reminded Ves that they actually synergized well with each other. It was best to combine the two as much as possible.
Ves knew quite well that if he removed the high-ranking mechs from the picture, the Tortuous Scream would barely be able to distinguish herself from the other alien battleships employed in the invasion.
This was not good for the Larkinson Clan as it would have been too difficult to defend the Tortuous Scream without any additional support!
“It would have been great if we had our own expert heavy artillery mech specialists.” Ves sighed. “The sniper bunkers would have become truly powerful in that case.”
Expert or ace heavy artillery mechs came closest to replicating the firepower of primary gun batteries.
If Venerable Taon Melin did not suddenly make an unforgivable mistake during an ill-fated mission, a version of the Zeal would have been here by now to lend her formidable firepower to the Tortuous Scream.
Ves could already imagine it. If he truly upgraded the Zeal into a first-class expert heavy artillery mech, then this monstrosity would definitely be able to function as the main weapon against the enemy!
Alas, the Zeal broke and Taon got ‘exiled’ to the New Rubarth Empire.
Ves no longer kept track of Taon Melin’s career at that point. The Larkinson Clan only knew that the Destroyer of Worlds had directly taken the former Larkinson mech pilot under her wing.
These days, if Taon gained a new expert mech, he must be fighting hard against the incoming native aliens.
Although his breakthrough happened many years later than the other young Larkinsons, he had a great opportunity to catch up by taking advantage of the resources and training of the New Rubarth Empire.
As Ves observed the sniper bunker, he did not forget about another pilot and mech combination.
“How well will the sniper bunkers be able to accommodate Saint Isobel Kotin?”
“Saint Isobel and her future ranged mech will not be able to offer as much value to them.” THe high captain answered. “If the Promethea Mark II will be similar to the Mark I, then her mobility will not be weak. It may be better to enable this machine to roam and attack the enemy from unexpected angles.”
That aligned with Ves’ assessment. His vision for the Promethea Mark II did not account for many instances where she would huddle inside a bunker.
“You are correct, high captain. That said, you should take this possibility into account. There may be times where the Promethea Mark II truly cannot enter the field for fear of provoking a disproportionate response from the enemy.”
After completing his inspection of one of the four crucial sniper bunkers, Ves and his family soon began to visit the most exciting part of the Tortuous Scream.
“So big…” Marvaine admiringly said as he beheld a portion of the massive turret structure.
They were all staring at the housing and components of an enormous plasma cannon battery.
Several massive barrels were grouped together and could fire multiple plasma bolts that were so large and powerful that they could burn half a city upon impact!
These were extremely potent when used in sieges as well as naval battles against other warships!
“During the refit and particle conversion, the shipbuilders prioritized the performance of primary gun batteries. Without mechs, the Tortuous Scream would struggle much more extensively when trying to take down tough enemies. We have tried our best to apply fast and convenient upgrades to the primary gun batteries and supporting systems. They perform considerably better than alien equivalents, but we expect this distance to narrow as our enemies will catch up one way or another.”
It was difficult for Ves to fully visualize the power of these massive cannons. He was not too familiar with first-class starships.
He had seen plenty of alien battleships in action, but they were often suppressed by swarms of mechs.
Perhaps this had given him the faulty assumption that once he took control of the Tortuous Scream, commanding all of those gun batteries was no big deal since certain ace mechs were capable of accomplishing more!
“The Tortuous Scream will likely undergo a baptism of fire.” Ves revealed to the man who was responsible for commanding the warship. “We do not have time to perform proper months-long trials. We can only fight and hope that the warship will not suffer a catastrophic malfunction.”
Ves continued to listen as High Captain Gilbert continued to lecture about the strengths and more importantly the limitations of the primary gun batteries.
Their enormously slow and sluggish tracking and turning parameters made them completely unsuitable for attacking fast-moving targets.
Even if their tracking was a lot better, their lack of fine precision made them terrible at swatting smaller targets at most distances!
“It is best to treat them as siege weapons, sir. They are best used against static fortifications. They are also good when used against enemy warships, but the problem with that is that if the Tortuous Scream can bombard an enemy warship, our adversaries can fire back. This is a considerable risk if the enemy outnumbers us in terms of warships.”
“I am aware of the potential problems.” Ves said. “I do not intend for the Tortuous Scream to take too many risks. It is best to keep her in the rear and rely mostly on our mechs to eliminate our enemies. That said, our battleship should not remain completely passive. If there is a good opportunity, I expect our warship to advance if doing so is to our advantage.”
The high captain did not entirely look comfortable with this approach.
“The orvens have designed this battleship as a command vessel. She is not designed to serve in the vanguard. While she can still fulfill this role, it will be difficult to keep her completely unscathed unless we upgrade her defenses.”
“Speaking of upgrades, is there any way for us to upgrade and modernize her primary gun batteries?”
“Not easily, sir. The E-66 Experimental Shipyard has already attempted to incorporate more extensive applications of hyper technology into them, but this has only produced limited results. Properly modernizing the gun turrets will require much deeper overhauls. I suggest you wait and observe the Tortuous Scream in action. I have no doubt that she will expose greater flaws and shortcomings in future battles. We should collect our findings and specify revisions based on the actual performance of the warship.”
Ves grew disappointed when he heard that it was not easy for them to further upgrade the primary weapon batteries.
It made sense, though. They were so big and massive that it was very difficult to dismantle them or work on them outside of a drydock environment.
This was one of the reasons why Ves had tasked his shipbuilders to develop a proper battlecruiser for the Larkinson Clan.
Such a vessel would definitely perform much better than a stopgap solution like the Tortuous Scream!
Unfortunately, Ves had already heard that it would take at least 5 years or maybe double for the shipbuilders to complete such an ambitious project.
The timeframe may change for the worse as the Red War progressed. It took a lot of infrastructure, resources and stability to construct a huge warship.
The native aliens would never allow the humans to complete such a threatening vessel!
These concerns and more made Ves afraid that he would end up stuck with the Tortuous Scream for more years than necessary.
This meant that Ves had to be more serious about upgrading the battleship!
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