Not every mech design project was as convoluted and difficult as the Devious design.

The other two Hexer mech designs yielded much more straightforward results during the tests.

For example, the new communications mech codenamed Cherub completely matched the expectations of its designers.

It was just a simple unarmed auxiliary light mech that didn't carry much except for a decent set of sensor, communication and ECM systems.

They weren't very good, honestly. There was only so much quality that Ves could afford for a mech with a design budget of 55 million hex credits!

If this was all, the Hex Army would never adopt the Cherub. Affordable or not, its performance parameters were too poor to counteract all of the difficulties on the battlefield. The inability to transmit signals under heavy jamming was an outright failure for a communications mech designed for the battlefield!

Yet neither Ves nor Gloriana showed any dissatisfaction with this simplistic mech design.

They watched on as the Cherub succeeded in transmitting complete data packages over various distances under extremely heavy interference.

In order to simulate the toughest possible environment the Cherub model might encounter, Ves rented some special signal interference devices the size of shuttles. When multiple of them activated all at once, the entire testing area became filled with an abundance of disruptive energy waves that visibly discomfited any human inside!

However, whether it was short-ranged communications or long-ranged communications, different Cherub mechs always succeeded in exchanging messages back and forth!

The mech was even capable of transmitting messages even when there was a source of spiritual instability nearby.

Glows and force of wills hardly affected the integrity of the signals being transmitted. This was because the communication signals largely passed through a sub-network of the Superior Mother.

The exact mechanics behind this phenomenon was actually a bit more complicated than it sounded. Ves had to put careful thought in how he designed the sub-network and how to keep the Cherubs connected even in the face of several circumstances.

He even made sure to encrypt the transmissions so that a spiritually-sensitive entity wouldn't be able to decipher any intercepted messages in a short amount of time.

The only shortcoming that disappointed Ves was the relatively low bandwidth of the communication network.

"The limited bandwidth that our Cherubs have access to will largely confine the transmissions to highly-compressed footage or data logs."

This was not that big of a deal. When the Hexers had to choose between receiving some details or no details, they would definitely opt for the former!

Any information was better than no information at all. Even a few pages worth of material was enough to increase the response times of crucial reinforcements or provide more warning time to units that were about to be attacked.

Ves looked satisfied at the results. "The Cherub is not a flashy mech, but one that can serve a very useful purpose."

"That's the case with most auxiliary mechs." Gloriana affirmed. She was quite happy with the results as well even though she didn't feel challenged enough when she worked on this project. "If the Hex Army isn't able to counter enemy expert mechs directly, then we can at least provide it with a better means of staying in touch with different units. Better communications will lead to better and more timely commands. Hopefully, that will prevent some needless casualties and deliver some much-needed victories."

While the Cherubs could definitely change the course of a lot of battles, there was only so much influence an auxiliary mech could exert.

In massive conflicts like the Komodo War, clever stratagems and brilliant plans could only do so much to affect the overall trend.

Most large-scale clashes turned into grueling battles of attrition where the side with the tougher mechs, biggest guns and more skilled mech pilots gained the upper hand.

As auxiliary mechs, the Blinding Mech, Cherub and Devious weren't capable of achieving an instant, substantial impact.

There was one mech that might be different, though.

When Ves and Gloriana moved to a different part of the testing facility, they witnessed a handful of thick and sturdy ranged mechs lining up while bringing their massive cannons to bear.

Unlike the rifleman mech configuration of the new Bright Warrior, the Giant Killer possessed substantially more mass.

As a cannoneer mech, the Giant Killer had to be able to carry larger caliber weapons that introduced a lot of heft.

It took a lot of strength for the cannoneer mechs to carry their massive Samheim gauss cannons on land.

The few times it attempted to engage its flight system and lift up in the air, the results weren't pretty. The Giant Killer flew so slowly and ungainly that any decent ranged or aerial mech was capable of defeating it with ease!

Gloriana looked disgusted. "This mech is awful in the air."

"I think it is best to remove the flight system or limit its flight capabilities for repositioning purposes only." Ves concluded.

It was too easy to take down the Giant Killers when these sluggish mechs attempted to fight in the air. They flew like flying pigs. Even if their elevation granted them a favorable angle against their targets, it simply wasn't worth it to expose them in such an easy fashion.

At least on land the cannoneer mechs could take cover and hide its presence behind natural or artificial terrain features.

Still, the fact that the mech was designed to accommodate multiple environments meant that it didn't really perform that well on land either.

As the Giant Killer prototypes showed what they were capable of in the testing grounds, Ves felt they were merely serviceable. While they didn't perform too badly on land, there were better alternatives on the markets.

"True landbound cannoneer mechs are faster, more energy efficient and possess a higher damage capacity." Gloriana pointed out.

"Maybe we shouldn't have bothered to make it land-capable to begin with. If we need heavy artillery, the Transcendent Punisher is actually a superior option in most aspects. It has six legs which actually affords a lot of stability and decent locomotion to this heavy mech."

"The Giant Killer is still lighter in absolute terms. That makes it marginally more useful in terrain which imposes limits on how much mass it can bear."

"There's also another advantage to the Giant Killer. Its codename isn't called like this for nothing."

While the Giant Killer only possesses a single primary armament as opposed to the four big guns on the Transcendent Punisher, the cannoneer mech excelled at punching through tough targets!

The firing tests were Ves' favorite moments. Each time a Giant Killer aimed its formidable and expensive cannon at a target, his anticipation steadily increased.

BOOM!

The immense gauss cannon discharged a fat projective at a speed that was enough to ignite a huge swathe of air wherever it passed!

It was as if the Giant Killer unleashed a huge ray of fire instead of a solid round!

The specialized Sarun round that cost more than other kinds of gauss rounds almost instantly reached the other end of the firing range where a prototype Bright Warrior Version B had been parked.

Upon impact, a huge hole had been blasted through its lower torso!

The force of the collision was so great that the Bright Warrior tipped over! Even though the mech could have remained upright if a mech pilot was there to help the machine maintain its balance, it was still incredible that a cannoneer mech was able to lay a single opposing mech flat!

"Incredible." Gloriana sighed.

She wasn't very enthusiastic about this project at first, but now that she saw how much damage the Giant Killer could inflict with a single attack, she quickly changed her tune!

"The Transcendent Punisher isn't capable of penetrating through so much armor with a single salvo. If we had this mech back during the Battle of Reckoning, we would have been able to wear down the enemy expert mechs faster."

This mech was exactly what the Larkinson Clan needed to face the threats of the future. While its massive cannon was overkill against ordinary rabble, Ves was never worried about fighting space scum in the first place.

His true opponents were states like the Friday Coalition and other powers who were capable of fielding expert mechs!

Yet what made the Giant Killers truly special was not a big gun. The Samheims were indeed formidable, but that was to be expected for a mech that cost 800 million hex credits to build!

While this was way more expensive than any cannoneer mech sold in the mech market, it was not that special once its considerable cost was taken into account.

What really caused the mech to stand out was that it was completely tailored to the Penitent Sisters.

Ves actually didn't dare to test the strongest and most potent function of the Giant Killer. He was afraid that the results might leak out and expose a new trump card that he did not want his enemies to find out.

"Why aren't you proceeding, Ves?"

"I'm afraid of tearing a hole through the terrain. Even though this site is highly confidential, some moves simply can't be kept under wraps."

He was willing to wait until they resumed their grand expedition and reached a quiet star system to witness the Giant Killers at their peak!

As long as the Giant Killers and their mech pilots connected to the Superior Mother's battle network, they would be capable of unleashing an augmented physical attack that could potentially punch through any armor!

Perhaps not even Unending armor would be able to remain unscathed if it was on the receiving end of this potent battle formation!

When Gloriana recalled how the Valkyrie Redeemers wiped out the entire crew of the Auralis, she tried to imagine how much more damage the Giant Killers could do. Unlike the marauder mechs, the cannoneer mechs were dedicated ranged mechs to begin with. Their ability to project damage at range was much greater!

"Ves?"

"Yes, honey?"

"Why.. why don't we repurpose the Giant Killer for the Hex Army as well? It's a Hexer mech design, right? While we are at it, can't we enable the Hexers from my home state to engage in battle formations. You already did so with the Glory Seekers, so I don't see any reason why you can't extend that to the rest of the Hex Army!"

"Absolutely not!" Ves put his foot down. "I already explained to you why that's unacceptable! Battle networks only have a limited capacity due to their greater focus. They should primarily be reserved for our own use. They are also incredibly energy intensive. The Superior Mother would never be able to maintain a frequent rate of activation."

While he didn't want the Hegemony to lose the war, he was still unwilling to share his best products and innovations to others!

Battle formations were still rough and immature in his opinion. It was very irresponsible to share them to the Hexers. If they were being used too often, his enemies would quickly be able to figure out their strengths and weaknesses, thereby making it much harder to wipe them out in the future!

At least now there was a lot of mystique surrounding the capabilities of the Larkinson Clan. Any enemy had to think twice about attacking the Larkinsons due to their inability to figure out how to protect their own ships from getting cleared of all life in a single blow.

After Gloriana failed to persuade Ves to share his battle networks, she reluctantly took a step back and made a more modest request.

"What if we just hand over the Giant Killer design by itself? I'm sure you can tweak it so that it's compatible with all Hexers instead of just the Penitent Sisters. You'll be able to fulfill an extra quota in advance while the Hex Army obtains another mech that may possibly be able to synergize well with the Blinding Mech."

Ves hesitated when he thought about her proposal. "That's.. doesn't sound too bad, but it's not a good idea. The Giant Killer is designed for short, intensive engagements. The Komodo War features too many drawn-out battles where endurance and efficiency are much more important. Besides, without battle formations, the Giant Killer probably performs worse than comparable ranged mechs fielded by the Hex Army. There is no other reason for the Hex Army to field the Giant Killer other than to obtain another mech that can project a glow."

"It's better than nothing, though. I think we should really consider this option. We should at least show some details to the Hex Army so that their leaders can decide whether they need our work."