Chapter 858. Doom Crawler (1/2)

Ves did not choose to optimize the design as of yet. Instead, he put the current iteration of the Enduring Protector through its paces by subjecting it to several extreme simulations.

He skipped out on most simulations that a mech designer normally subjected their designs to because there was no point. ”It's not like we're going to deploy the Enduring Protector on a low gravity moon or in an arctic environment or anything.”

With the Blackbeak and the Crystal Lord designs, Ves needed to account to a wide variety of environments where they could be deployed. Short of extreme environments such as volcano planets and Super Earths, Ves simulated their performance in many different locales, each of which different in terms of temperature, climate, air pressure, corrosive elements and more.

As for the Enduring Protector, Ves did not envision deploying it anywhere else than the red zone of the Starlight Megalodon. Although the Flagrant Swordmaidens hadn't reached the red zone as of yet, they did model its approximate environmental conditions based on the conditions elsewhere on the planet.

Ves didn't see anything too exotic besides the warnings about rugged terrain and the all-too-obvious breakdown effect.

Therefore, he put the first iteration of the design through a battery of tests to get a read on the mech's approximate performance in temperate environments under heavy gravity.

Ves took note of the simulations. The four crawler-type legs that Ves adapted from an old component design provided the Enduring Protector with exceptional stability.

However, it also moved fairly slow under heavy gravity. In fact, it moved slower than he initially anticipated.

In order to save energy, the quadruped mech moved forward by lifting only one of its legs at a time. Whether it moved its front limbs first and its rear limbs afterwards, or if it moved its left side first and its right side next, each time the mech only lifted one of the legs at a time.

It was slow. Really slow.

However, it also spared the mech from wasting its energy. This movement pattern was very efficient and allowed the mech to sustain operations for a lengthy period of time.

This was very important to Ves because the Enduring Protector relied on its laser armaments to fight. Any mech that depended on energy weapons to fight only remained relevant as long as it possessed enough juice to power both its movements and its weapons!

”What's the point of reaching their destination faster if they only have enough energy to fire a couple of salvos?”

Ves likened the current performance of the Enduring Protector in the simulations to a type of heavy mechs referred to as Doom Crawlers.

As their overly-dramatic nickname alluded to, Doom Crawlers represented certain death to any enemies they met on their way.

These heavy mechs that came in shapes that resembled crabs, turtles or spiders moved slowly. Mobility wasn't their strong suit.

Yet their armor made up for this deficiency, possessing enough frontal armor to resist a squad of medium mechs for a short period of time.

Of course, Doom Crawlers didn't get their name from being vegetarians. Their designers mounted them with powerful medium armament that blasted apart any mech in their way!

Doom Crawlers distinguished themselves from regular artillery mechs in that they excelled in direct combat. They gave up long-ranged weapon systems that could deliver death from afar and preferred to stare death in the face.

If enemies figured they could easily dismantle the Doom Crawlers at close range, they were mistaken. The armaments of Doom Crawlers hit harder at closer range, and they possessed a variety of weapon options that allowed them to track nearer targets that moved at high speeds.

For all of their might, Doom Crawlers did suffer from a couple of disadvantages. Their low mobility combined with their lack of long-ranged options, particularly over the horizon, made them exceptionally vulnerable to long-ranged shelling or missile bombardment. They couldn't effectively retaliate against any mech or weapon system that outraged them. While their plentiful armor allowed them to resist a couple of volleys of fire, even an elephant could be felled by a million mosquito bites.

The second major downside was their cost. Not only did Doom Crawlers demand the best heavy armor, they also demanded hard-hitting weapons that could wipe out any enemy in their way before the enemy inflicted serious damage. All of these capabilities added to the cost of such a powerful heavy mech.

Heavy mechs already cost way much more than the other weight classes. Developing and deploying something as expensive as Doom Crawlers was generally considered as a foolish decision. It was like putting all of your eggs in a single basket. As long as the Doom Crawlers engaged the enemy in a frontal clash, they nearly always won.

However, their abysmal mobility and vulnerability to long-ranged bombardment allowed enemies to circumvent them or destroy them from a comfortable range as long as they came prepared.

It made more sense to most mech militaries to specialize their heavy mechs into either heavy knights or artillery mechs. The former retained the heavy armor but sacrificed every ranged weapon option. The latter excelled destroying enemies from extreme ranges but turned into sitting ducks if any enemy mechs came close.

However, all of these weaknesses could be dealt with as long as a force combined different mech types together. It was the same story with Qilanxo and the Enduring Protector.

”It's too bad that the Enduring Protector, for all its resemblance to a Doom Crawler, fails to live up to their battle prowess.”

Still, the beauty of the situation was that the Enduring Protectors could still replicate the performance of Doom Crawler-type mechs if they fell under the protective umbrella of Qilanxo's space barrier.

”Qilanxo's space barrier is the strongest form of defense we've ever encountered on Seven. Even if the Vesians or anyone else shows up with loads of artillery mechs, we can still withstand the bombardment with plenty of time to spare.”

Indeed, as Ves inserted something akin to a space barrier into the simulations, the performance of the Enduring Protector soared. In many battle simulations, they all got felled within the first minute if they faced ranged opponents that occupied the high ground.

With the space barrier, the Enduring Protectors could leisurely take their time to maneuver to better positions or angles. While the inability for the Enduring Protectors to fire their lasers through the space barrier was a major drawback, as long as the frontline mechs took advantage of it to save themselves from heavy shelling or moving to a better position made a huge difference.