The Mech Touch

Chapter 6036 The Ultimate Sniper

It made a lot of sense to convert the weapons of the Amaranto into Ultimate Modules.

After all, the expert marksman mech did not really need to gain an auxiliary function or an alternate attack mode like the Dark Zephyr Mark III.

The Amaranto only needed to do one job really well. Every other aspect ranked lower in priority.

While the Dark Zephyr was a specialized mech, it was less extreme than the Amaranto due to the need to perform well in multiple different situations.

Since the Amaranto was already highly focused towards offense, then why not go all the way?

The only question now was whether it was even possible for him to incorporate the technological features of Ultimate Modules into luminar crystal weapons.

"I think… it might be easier than you think." Ves judged after half a minute of thought.

"Oh? I thought the opposite was the case. Why do you think it would be easy?"

"Ultimate Modules are advanced applications of hyper technology and E-technology, remember? The Instrument of Vengeance and the Instrument of Doom both happen to lean heavily in these directions already. The latter is especially interesting as it is also a blessed weapon that can draw power directly from the Phase King. I can make use of that existing foundation and go a step further by creating subordinate spirits that can inhabit the weapons on a more permanent basis so that they can gather their own Ultimate Runes."

"Is it necessary for you to create a subordinate spirit for every weapon? I am not complaining about this design choice, but I want to make certain that you are committed to this endeavor. The Amaranto only ever makes use of one of them at a time. It should be sufficient to create a single subordinate spirit that is compatible with both armaments."

"That is indeed possible, but I think the extra effort is worth it in this case." Ves replied. "It will take slower for either weapon to develop, but the Ultimate Runes they accumulate over usage will perfectly fit their circumstances, which should be much more to your liking."

His wife nodded in confirmation. "It will slow their development, but I am of the belief that achieving a more perfect fit is a more worthwhile pursuit than making faster but much less fitting gains."

"The next issue that we need to decide is how to differentiate the two weapons and what aspects I should focus on strengthening when I rework them into Ultimate Modules. I don't think amplifying their firepower is the universal solution. The two weapons are designed for slightly different purposes, so their evolutions should make their strengths more pronounced."

Gloriana already had clear ideas on how to differentiate the two weapons even further. She tapped the projection of the mech rifle, causing it to become larger.

"The Instrument of Vengeance is the original weapon that we have paired with the Amaranto. Its firepower is no longer the strongest, but even if it is older, it outperforms the Instrument of Doom in terms of accuracy and precision. Not only is Venerable Stark able to achieve a higher hit rate at much more distant targets with this weapon, she is also better able to land her shots of small and fast-moving targets such as the Dark Zephyr."

In other words, the Instrument of Vengeance allowed the Amaranto to hit targets that other ranged mechs could not accomplish. This was the original strength of the expert marksman mech and turned Venerable Stark into a highly precise threat at range. The fact that the Instrument of Vengeance could also grant the Amaranto the ability to bend any energy beam attack further enhanced the living mech's ability to target weak points.

Unfortunately, the Instrument of Vengeance was a weapon designed to counter powerful mechs for the most part. As the Larkinson Clan started to confront alien warships and phase leaders to an increasing degree, the luminar crystal rifle's strengths no longer seemed to matter all that much.

The two principal enemy types of the native aliens were huge and relatively sluggish. They were much easier to hit at range than extreme accuracy and precision no longer seemed necessary anymore.

On top of that, the native aliens relied so heavily on energy defenses that the Amaranto was effectively unable to target the weak points of her enemies.

This was why Ves developed the Instrument of Doom for the Amaranto. The much larger cannon made up for the expert marksman mech's firepower deficiency and increased her relevance against the enemies that the Larkinsons fought nowadays.

Gloriana understood this truth as well as Ves.

"The Instrument of Vengeance is not as useful today, but that is not necessarily the case in the future." She said. "When we upgrade this weapon, I believe it is important to preserve its original character but make its strengths more pronounced. My idea is to make the Instrument of Vengeance excel at striking targets at much more extreme ranges than it is capable of in the present."

"How extreme are we talking about, Gloriana?"

"Several light-seconds. Over a million kilometers."

"What?!" Ves almost spluttered when he heard that figure. "That… that is insane! Just the tiniest bump or mechanical discrepancy can already make the Amaranto miss her target by tens of thousands of kilometers!"

His wife smirked at Ves. "High-ranking mech pilots regularly make the impossible happen. Why not this? I am confident that we have the tools we need to turn the Instrument of Vengeance into a ranged precision weapon that holds the record for possessing the longest effective range in non-siege combat!"

In other words, Gloriana truly believed that the Amaranto armed with the Instrument of Vengeance could snipe targets like moving mechs or starships at a range where the enemy effectively had no chance of making a counter-attack!

"Even if the Amaranto is able to attain extreme scores in accuracy and precision, how will she know where to shoot? Wait… are you thinking about…"

"The Illustrious One is the principal design spirit of the Amaranto." Gloriana stated. "I do not intend to change that. However, that has not prevented Stark and her battle partner from cooperating with the Phase King whenever they make use of the Instrument of Doom. I understand that the Eye of Ylvaine makes heavy use of the Great Prophet, but this design spirit should not be exclusive to that mech legion. I am sure that he would be happy to guide Venerable Davia Stark's aim in exchange for her powerful feedback."

The addition of Ylvaine was the final piece of the puzzle that could transform the reworked Instrument of Vengeance into the ultimate sniping weapon.

No ace mech or greater phase lord had any chance of retaliating against the Amaranto if the latter started to open fire at such a ludicrous range!

In fact, even if the first shot missed or failed to breach the target's defenses, the Amaranto would still be able to fire a lot more shots without needing to fear reprisal.

This was because it took a large amount of time for most enemies to transverse several light-seconds in an instant!

Even if the powerful enemy possessed teleportation capabilities, the Amaranto or an accompanying mech or ship merely had to produce a powerful enough warp interdiction field to make instant interception impossible.

As Ves continued to work out this very ludicrous-sounding scenario, he understood that this could definitely turn the Amaranto into the ultimate sniper among her peers!

To be able to snipe at targets at interstellar distances was a whole new game!

"If… if Ylvaine agrees to lend his power to the Amaranto in this way, then I think that there is definitely a reason to make use of the Instrument of Vengeance again." Ves concluded after a bit of thought. "The Amaranto was not originally designed to function as a cannoneer mech. I am glad that you came up with a very special concept that gives her a compelling reason to pick up her old rifle again. I can think of many different scenarios where the ability to strike at targets at ranges far beyond any human or alien imagination can be of use. No one else will be able to rival the Amaranto when it comes to taking out powerful targets that are located light-seconds away aside from ancient phase whales and god mechs!"

Although Ves could not say for certain whether this was the case, he truly believed it was difficult for any other ranged ace mech to be able to match or exceed the performance of the Amaranto in this regard!

She would become a completely unique existence with an unrivaled advantage!

The best part about this was that reworking the Instrument of Vengeance in this manner also enabled her to return to her roots!

"Damn, I'm so excited by this implementation of the Instrument of Vengeance that I cannot wait to go back to the design lab. I am much more confident about our chances of pulling off a successful deep strike expedition when I can add such a killer asset to our first-class fleet!"

Of course, that assumed that Venerable Davia Stark managed to break through and become an ace pilot in the next few years.

Somehow, Ves had absolutely no doubt that she would be able to break through. The main reason why she was held back for the time being was because the Amaranto had not fully kept up with her growth.

Once she managed to get her hands on the Amaranto Mark III and learned how much further her effective range had grown, she would probably break through on the spot!

Both Ves and Gloriana grinned at each other as they wordlessly envisioned this future scenario.

Once they calmed down a bit, they directed their attention to the Amaranto's second weapon.

Gloriana changed the projection to display a large luminar crystal cannon.

"When the Amaranto participates in direct action against alien warfleets or phase leaders at more conventional ranges, the advantages of the Instrument of Vengeance are no longer as relevant as before. This is where the Instrument of Doom comes in. I still intend to turn it into the premier solution when absolute firepower is a higher priority than extreme precision. The upgrades to the oversized luminar crystal cannon should therefore focus entirely on amplifying its power and penetration characteristics. As a blessed weapon tied to the Phase King, it already scores well in those two areas, but my ambition is to turn the Instrument of Doom to become the mech version of the spinal cannon of the Doom of Xenos!"

Gloriana certainly did not hold any modest ambitions.

The Doom of Xenos was the dreadnought with the most powerful single attack capabilities! Her massive hull was built entirely around a spinal cannon that ran from one end to the other end of the ship!

Needless to say, a single shot from the dreadnought's main cannon was enough to crack an entire planet, all without relying on a God Kingdom like the Destroyer of Worlds!

"The Instrument of Doom is already a highly-tuned luminar crystal cannon." Ves said in thought. "I can comprehensively upgrade its firepower by replacing the cheaper luminar crystals with much more expensive ones. However, I am not very confident in increasing its penetration capabilities. I can't stuff more phasewater into it without making the weapon unstable, and I can only moderately increase the amplification provided by the Phase King by utilizing more superior high- grade hyper materials. In short, I cannot improve the performance of the Instrument of Doom as drastically as the Instrument of Vengeance."

That was not necessarily a big deal. Ves developed the Instrument of Doom years after the initial completion of the Amaranto, so the massive cannon was already much further ahead of the tech curve.

Even so, Ves felt it was an insult to his status as a mech designer if he did not produce more qualitative improvements when he updated the Instrument of Doom!

How could he improve it so that there was a much clearer distinction between its old and new version?