The Mech Touch

The Aurora Titan prototype began to impress the specialists at the testing facility more and more as time went on. As the tests became more arduous, its performance continued to perform just as well if not better than Professor Ventag's regular designs!

Its highly efficient and damage-resistant internal architecture allowed the mech to hold up even against severe shocks. This was an essential requirement for any defensive mech and Ves became reassured that the professor's work allowed the Aurora Titan to hold up adequately against physical damage.

It helped that the test pilot became increasingly proficient in piloting the Aurora Titan. The super-medium space knight piloted differently than any other regular medium space knight, to the point where she needed to unlearn some of her old habits.

The mech simply did not exhibit the mobility required to perform various standard maneuvers! It moved much like a heavy mech in a sense, but fortunately the test pilot had also tested a few heavy mechs now and then so she only took a day to adjust.

Another change that helped the prototype excel was that the test pilot became increasingly more comfortable with the unusual sensations coming from her mech. Rather than distrust it, she achieved much better results by opening herself up to the machine.

Human and mech began to accept each other. While no one paid attention to the alignment between the test pilot and the prototype, Ves paid keen attention to this relationship.

The more the test pilot embraced the prototype, the more intuitive her reactions became. This played an especially significant role when subjected to fire from all sides. The test pilot was able to call up and redirect multiple polarization fields when needed.

"I have to say, at first I did not think that the Aurora Titan can do much." The station manager told Ves. "A mech that's heavier than a medium mech but lighter than a heavier mech should ordinarily exhibit the worst of both weight classes. Yet now I see that the Aurora Titan's defensive prowess is sufficient to call it a pocket heavy mech. While it is nowhere near as resilient as a genuine heavy space knight, it still offers more than enough protection to justify its value."

Ves nodded in agreement. He liked the word pocket heavy mech. "Super-medium mechs don't make sense to powers that have the ability to field heavy mechs. In the past, the specs of super-medium mechs simply aren't good enough to justify a mech of this weight class. However, better materials and the use of defensive tech allows it to provide just enough protection while not being bogged down to a total crawl."

If Ves designed a super-medium space knight a hundred years ago, then the mech wouldn't be able to present a good value proposition. It would have been weighed down too much by heavy armor plating that didn't offer a sufficient amount of protection.

Even so, a regular third-class mech of this weight class still presented a rather unattractive package. If Ves allocated much of the space taken by the polarizing module into thicker armor, then sure the resulting mech would be able to sustain more damage.

The only problem there was that the mech's mobility reduced even further, to the point where it could only be used to defend relatively fixed objects such as space stations. Another factor that made it unattractive was that all of that armor not only increased its upfront cost enormously, but also made it very expensive to repair when it sustained serious damage!

Losing five or more medium space knights was cheaper than repairing a heavily damaged super-medium mech that largely consisted of armor!

The charm of the Aurora Titan was that while it may be larger, it wasn't as weighed down by armor so much. While its polarizing module took up a lot of internal volume, it wasn't as dense and heavy as an equivalent amount of armor plating!

The polarizing module allowed the Aurora Titan to act as a defensive mech without breaking the bank for the outfit that fielded it. The mech operated best during short raids and skirmishes where neither side committed to an all-out attack. As long as the polarizing fields absorbed all the damage, its expensive armor plating required little to no repairs.

The station manager praised the utility of this feature. "The polarizing fields perform quite well. It is interesting to see the mech be able to absorb lasers with ease. Those strange crystal of yours helps out the mech as well, though I am not sure whether they are completely necessary. This mech is highly capable in absorbing energy damage, but it does not offer anything special aside from its thick compressed armor to withstand kinetic and explosive damage."

The increasingly arduous tests made that clear. The polarizing field could negate some physical damage. It fared better against ballistic shells and missiles as their explosive damage was usually spread across a wider surface area.

However, kinetic weapons and railguns formed a substantial threat to the Aurora Titan due to their highly concentrated damage projection. A polarizing field was like skin which could easily hold up against a slap or a punch but pricked easily when being poked by a needle.

The only consolation was that the Pisaro armor system fared decently against physical damage, so it wasn't as if the Aurora Titan fell apart when hit by a couple of kinetic rounds.

"Unfortunate, with the way that space battles are being fought, kinetic weapons and melee weapons will be its downfall. The only way for the Aurora Titan to remain viable is if it is paired with mechs that can divert these threats." The station manager concluded.

Ves never intended the Aurora Titan to be deployed in isolation. It was a mech that worked best when protecting other assets. Its relative vulnerability to physical damage and its ineptness in melee combat sounded rather bad, but no mech was perfect.

The key to any modern mech force was to employ combined arms that integrated multiple mech types to cover each other's weaknesses while achieving synergies in the areas they were good at. With the upcoming generation rumored to herald a golden era for laser weapons, a mech which excelled against lasers should turn into a very appealing product.

After three weeks of thorough testing, the prototype endured so much damage that much of its internal compartments became exposed. When Ves, Ketis and the station manager paid a visit to the hangar bay just as the mech returned from its final round of testing, they both gazed up at the massive mech and its scorched, cracked and hole-laden exterior.

"Wow." She said. She couldn't stop saying that word when she witnessed the prototype's performance. "The testers threw so much firepower at the mech, but it still managed to limp its way back to the hangar bay."

The heavily-damaged prototype took its time to return, as heavy damage from the rear damaged the flight system to such an extent that they looked like stubby wings. Its propulsion was so weak that it took five times as long to return than if its wings were still intact.

"The flight system is still too vulnerable from attacks from the rear." Ves shook his head.

Every spaceborn mech shared the same common weakness. The more defense-oriented mechs might come equipped with more robust flight systems, but they could only be reinforced so much before their propulsion power took a nosedive.

Overall, Ves became very satisfied with the results of the tests. NORA Consolidated's professionals did a great job in testing almost every single feature to their limits. The Aurora Titan performed well in the areas that Ves expected to do well.

Of course, the prototype also exhibited some reactions that neither Ves or Professor Ventag expected to happen. While the inconsistencies were fairly minor, they became increasingly more impactful as the mech sustained more damage.

The simulations of the Aurora Titan generally modeled the mech's performance adequately when it was at its peak state. As the mech sustained serious damage, its actual performance began to deviate from its simulated results.

These discrepancies became bigger as the mech sustained more damage. However, what surprised Ves the most was that in many cases, the mech actually held up better than the simulators predicted.

Even though the mathematical models employed by NORA Consolidated approximated the effects of Professor Ventag's design philosophy very accurately, they still failed to encompass every inexplicable effect.

In fact, even the station manager exhibited some surprise. "We all know what to expect from Professor Ventag's designs. His mechs always seem to be able to hold up better against damage than normal, and we have tweaked our tests to take these qualities into account. Even so, the Aurora Titan fares just a little bit better than what we are used to seeing in the professor's work."

That sounded a bit unusual to Ves. "The Aurora Titan is a mech that is almost completely geared towards defense. It shouldn't be much of a surprise to see it working well even if it looks like it is falling apart."

"It's more than that." The older man said while gesturing towards the damaged prototype that was shutting down. "Our testing facility knows what to expect from Professor Ventag's defensive mechs. We have already calibrated all of our tests and instruments to account for their increased performance with regards to damage control. Nonetheless, there is a small but significant improvement. Either collaborating with you has brought more benefits to the design than expected, or the professor has achieved a new milestone in his research."

Ves did not think that Professor Ventag achieved anything notable recently. If the Senior did make a breakthrough in his research, then he would have showed it in his behavior.

Even though these results were rather unexpected, the whole point of testing the prototype in realspace conditions was to unearth these kinds of surprises.

Not all of the unexpected results turned out well for the Aurora Titan. If there was one area which the prototype disappointed Ves, then it had to be how fast its energy cells drained when employing its polarizing fields.

"This is a really energy-hungry mech." He remarked. "The prototype showed that all the extra energy cells I've added barely manages to extend its operating time when subjected to a lot of incoming fire."

Ves could foresee that in some situations, it was better for the mech pilots of the Aurora Titan to turn the polarizing module off and tank the damage with the Pisaro armor plating. Even though it cost an outfit a lot more money to repair the damaged armor plating, the mech would at least be able to remain on the battlefield for a while longer.

"Well, we've gathered enough data to tweak the design." Ves stated with satisfaction. "What is the usual procedure when it comes to handling the prototypes?"

"They usually end up in such a damaged state that we will immediately recycle them down. We know it's important to deconstruct them as fast as possible in order to minimize its exposure to spies." The station manager explained.

Ves agreed with that approach. "Please see to the processing of the prototype. At its current state, it is too damaged to be of any use."

He found it somewhat regretful to consign the prototype to a quick death after a short period of existence, but the station manager had a point. At this stage, Ves wasn't ready to publish the design.

As a number of mech technicians already started to assess the prototype for dismantlement, Ves, Ketis and Lucky bid farewell to the testing facility and returned to the Barracuda.

"Captain Silvestra, please take us back to Cloudy Curtain."

"Aye aye, sir. We've already locked in our route."

Ves already entered his stateroom aboard his corvette and began to study the abundant amount of data he received from the testing facility. Almost every aspect about the mech's actual performance became known to him. With so much data at his fingertips, Ves would be able to implement a lot of small improvements.

"The Aurora Titan will definitely become more perfect after my second pass on the design."