Chapter 6871 Omega Laser Weapon Technology Compared to the colorful and charming Dracoloid, the Omega Thresher and the E-MULE were lacking in character and personality. That did not necessarily make them bad mechs. They certainly did their jobs well, but… Ves simply found them a bit too bland for his sensibilities. As the Saint Commander moved on from visual inspections to taking out the mechs for a spin, Ves continued to gather more insights on the different first-class mechs. The designers of the Omega Thresher very clearly positioned it as a mid-range energy weapon platform. It was capable of defending itself at close range, and it was also able to output a respectable amount of firepower at longer ranges, but it reached maximum efficiency at a range where it could comfortably employ its Datura Gravity Well Caster. "The Omega Thresher initially appears to be designed around its 6 integrated Omega Laser Cannons." Gloriana observed as he saw Casella performing extreme maneuvers while firing its armaments at various floating target bots. "However, it is actually meant to work in conjunction with that large and overengineered contraption in its arms." The Datura looked like a beast. It was a clear centerpiece of the multipurpose mech. Its effects fully justified the resources put into its development and production. The Omega Thresher aimed the barrel of its Datura at a cluster of target dummies. The device accumulated a considerable amount of energy before launching a space-warping energy ball that rapidly traversed forward before striking the ground, causing all of the disposable bots in the vicinity to violently converge and collide against each other! Both Ves and Gloriana not only took in the sights, but also studied the data. They paid close attention to the degree of physical deformities and the kinetic forces generated by the spatial anomaly. 10:08 "The 'weapon' is powerful enough to pull alien phasefighter off their trajectories, but their frames should still be able to withstand these forces." Gloriana concluded. "Most modern energy shields will be able to block a gravity well with ease. The effects of a gravity well are too dispersed. The lack of concentration of power makes it difficult to wear down most defenses. Its effects against physical targets are better. Under certain circumstances, the gravity wells can bypass hard armor layers and inflict effect damage against the softer internals. It won't work against archetech, but most alien races do not make use of this tech." The gravity well caster was a decent attempt at replicating the spatial abilities of phase leaders. The weapon system was a bit too big and expensive, making it clear that it was still in the early phase of its product life cycle. "I agree that a single Datura Gravity Well Caster in isolation is pretty useless, but that's the thing." Ves gestured at the first-class multipurpose mech being put through its paces. "This testing session isn't able to display the full value of this gravitic weapon because it is inherently designed to work in conjunction with many other Daturas. We will need to gather at least an entire mech company of Omega Threshers before we get to see its true potential." The gravity wells launched by the Daturas could be combined to form a much bigger and more powerful gravity well. That would make them much closer to the spatial anomalies generated by phase lords and phase whales. However, it was not that easy to create them. The weapons needed to be configured in the right settings. They also had to launch their gravity wells at precise angles and with the right timing. Any misalignment could easily cause them to fail to combine, thereby causing them to waste their potential. It was a weapon system that could only prove its value when utilized by mech forces that possessed excellent coordination. Ves became impressed by the armed forces of the Red Association for being able to train mech pilots that worked so well with each other that they could make good use of the Datura Gravity Well Casters. The Premier Fleet could only produce comparable results by relying on Casella's Command Field. After Ves completed his cursory examination of the Datura, he began to focus his attention on the Omega Laser Cannons. These were not ordinary laser weapons that just happened to possess fancy branding. They incorporated multiple forms of high technology to drastically increase their firepower, thereby making them much more viable for first-class combat. Laser weapons existed for a long time. They were one of the most common and versatile weapon systems used by humanity since the Age of Stars. Many alien races encountered by the human race utilized their own form of laser weapons, but their applications remained remarkably uniform due to their relatively simple and straightforward principles. However, as humans advanced their technologies, they no longer became satisfied with regular applications of laser weapons. In a concerted attempt to push laser weapon tech to the next level, the mechers and many other groups sought to develop superior versions that could take the same foundation to the next level. Omega laser weapon technology was one of the successful results of this effort. On the surface, it sounded like a rather normal tradeoff between power and firing rate. However, Omega laser weapons went beyond standard solutions and relied on multiple implementations of advanced technology to raise their firepower to heights that were previously impossible to attain. Ves noted to his surprise that the maximum energy limit of the Omega Laser Cannons actually exceeded that of the Instrument of Vengeance! If not for the fact that the Amaranto Mark III's primary armament relied on the true resonance of an ace pilot along with other exotic design applications, the Omega Thresher may have been able to outshoot the ace mech! "These Omega Laser Cannons are much more complicated than a luminar crystal weapon." Ves commented. "It is all worth it because the firepower of a single full-powered attack is much greater than anything I have seen." The way the Omega Thresher under the control of the Saint Commander absolutely vaporized the target dummies and whatever soil was underneath underscored how these advanced laser weapons could not be judged according to normal standards. His wife nodded in agreement as she studied the numbers. "These Omega laser weapons solve several problems that plague ordinary laser weapons. They are powerful enough that they can instantly collapse the azure energy shields of most phasefighters if they all happened to hit the same target. They are also remarkably effective at penetrating through armor. It is remarkable how much Omega laser weapons have compressed the discharge time to such an extent. That greatly helps to minimize dispersion." One of the problems with laser weapons, especially ones that launched sustained beams, was that it was difficult to keep them on target. Instead of punching a hole through armor plating, they could instead drift across the exterior, thereby causing the obstacle to resist the damage a lot more effectively. Omega lasers tried to minimize this problem much better than ordinary laser weapons. Their advanced components invested heavily into discharging as much energy at once. The strain this put on the components of the weapon system was high. The power of an Omega laser cannon was so great that only the most heat-resistant materials could be used to prevent it all from blowing up or melting down. "The 6 integrated Omega Laser Cannons will serve as the primary source of damage for the Omega Thresher model." Ves said. "They are designed for power rather than precision, so they are not too accurate at longer ranges. Perhaps they will be able to achieve a higher hit rate at further distances when they are under the control of Casella, but I don't expect the Omega Threshers to be able to imitate the Amaranto Mark III. What matters is that their damage profiles allow them to take out elite phasefighters quite easily as long as they land their shots, but also enables them to wear down the defenses of enemy warships." The Omega Thresher model clearly synergized well with Casella's Command Field. Ves already looked forward to seeing a couple of hundred of them getting empowered by true resonance before showering hapless enemy units with coordinated energy attacks. His wife did not look as optimistic. "The Omega Threshers can theoretically perform extremely well against both phasefighters and warships, but only when they are empowered by the Minerva Mark II. Outside of that, their performance becomes much worse. Most of their armaments are tuned for power. The firing rates of their Phase Disintegrator Guns, integrated plasma cannons and Omega Laser Cannons are all low. That makes it much harder for them to hit small and fast-moving targets. They are only truly effective against larger targets such as warships under these conditions." She was right. The Omega Threshers became a lot less remarkable if they had to fight by themselves. The Larkinsons needed to take its weaknesses into account in order to prevent them from getting demolished with ease if they ever had to fight without the Saint Commander's blessing. Ves paid closer attention to one of the more exotic energy weapons of the Omega Thresher. "These 'Phase Disintegrator Guns' are quite new to us. According to the descriptions, the high-tech guns launch some kind of spatial energy bolt that can disintegrate matter by shaking the fabric of space occupied by the target obstacle. They also happen to inflict excellent damage against transphasic energy defenses. This makes them an excellent weapon to use against azure energy shields as well as armor that is normally impervious against other attacks." The performance of the Phase Disintegrator Guns was quite interesting. They performed well against transphasic defenses, but they were not that special when used against non-transphasic defenses. The guns were solely added to the Omega Thresher in order to serve as specialized counters against native alien assets. "To put it differently, the Omega Threshers are excellent when used to fight against the native aliens, but they are relatively awful when used against human mech forces." Gloriana remarked. "Only if the Saint Commander is left out of the picture." Ves added. "This is an important distinction. As long as Casella is able to Commandeer or Enfeoff the Omega Threshers, most of their weaknesses will simply evaporate. Under her exquisite command, the multipurpose mechs will be able to attain much higher hit rates against fast and mobile mechs. The Omega Threshers will also be able to handle enemy mechs that prefer to fight with melee weapons far better as well. The differences in hard performance as well as control will be too great. Only overwhelming numbers can defeat a force of Omega Threshers." Ves already started to think about what kind of mech he would design as a replacement for the Omega Thresher model. He couldn't think of any good ideas at the moment. He needed to come up with a design concept that promised a better value proposition than the Omega Thresher. It was difficult for Ves to figure out weapon technologies that could surpass the ingenuity put into the Omega Thresher design. Whether it was the Datura Gravity Well Caster, the Omega Laser Cannons or the Phase Disintegrator Guns, Ves could not think of any weapons tech that could match the aforementioned arms in terms of power. Luminar crystal weapons might theoretically be able to match the awesome power or special properties of some of them, but Ves had never raised their performance to such a height. The Instrument of Vengeance was an incredibly powerful luminar crystal weapon, but it was also relatively large and heavy. The Omega Laser Cannons were much slimmer and lighter in comparison! Ves was not sure whether he, or rather Harry Kaikkonen, could advance the development of luminar crystal weapons to the point where they could match the performance of Omega laser weapons. It would definitely require a lot of effort from his R&D institutions. Ves was not sure whether the pace of development could keep up with the Larkinson Clan's ambitions.