6875 Superdimensional Regalia Witnessing Lucky's reaction to eating a tiny amount of weapon-grade superdimensional matter was entertaining. It also generated a few questions. Ves took a second look at the metal bar. It did not look as pristine as before now that a certain gem cat had nibbled off a small corner. Well, at least he wouldn't have to be afraid of Lucky devouring his entire stash one day. It also dashed his hopes that Lucky would be able to turn into a full superdimensional gem cat in the short term. Hopefully, his stomach would get a few upgrades out of this that would make it a lot easier to devour and digest superdimensional matter next time. With that distraction out of the way, Ves turned back to his current priority. The real reason why he spent time on researching superdimensional matter was because he wanted to use it for his own purposes. Now that he was about to lead the Premier Fleet into combat, he wanted to take all contingencies into account. This included a comprehensive upgrade of his combat gear. Although it should never be necessary for him to enter the battlefield in person when he already enjoyed the protection of the Minerva Mark II and the First Sword Mark III, who knew what might happen on the battlefield. Despite all of his preparations, he had found himself forced to defend himself on far too many occasions. It was not in his nature to let himself remain so unprepared for the next fight. Ves decided to tackle two different projects. He first sought to upgrade his infantry gear. The Unending Regalia was long overdue for an upgrade. While he was at it, he also intended to upgrade the suits of his wife and children so that they enjoyed the highest level of protection. It would be even better if they wore a vacsuit or other forms of clothing that was made out of superdimensional matter. After he tackled all of the infantry-grade gear, he intended to upgrade his phase lord equipment. His raiment was pretty much an improvised product. He originally intended to develop a special version of a Polymetal 'mech' to serve as the replacement for his raiment, but that would take far too much time to complete. Now that superdimensional matter became available, he did not want to make his Polymetal mech out of inferior materials. He needed to wait until the Red Association figured out how to make stable superdimensional nanomachines. Superdimensional matter presented a lot of new challenges to smart metal specialists. They were currently working hard to solve all of the new problems that stood in the way of the rise of superdimensional smart mech mechs. "I guess I will settle for another stopgap solution for now." He let out a deep breath. It should be simple enough to devise a more optimized raiment that was covered with superdimensional armor plating. Considering the scarcity of armor-grade and weapon-grade superdimensional matter, Ves believed it was better to settle for using hull-grade superdimensional matter for this project. He would ideally want to make use of high-grade superdimensional matter, but he could not justify the investment. He would have to use up far too many resources for a project that might not be put to use for a long time. It was a much better idea to upgrade the expert mechs and ace mechs with superdimensional matter. The ambitious high-ranking mech pilots could squeeze much more value out of these potent materials. As a mech designer, he felt it was unforgivable to keep the good stuff for his own raiment while letting his champions settle with subpar alternatives. Of course, that rule did not apply to infantry gear such as his Unending Regalia. Any upgrades would expend a fraction of the high-grade materials that would normally be needed to build superdimensional mechs. Perhaps Ves might be able to justify the use of high-grade superdimensional matter to upgrade his own raiment first. He was the most important member of the Larkinson Clan and offered a lot of value to red humanity. However, even if he kitted himself out with full superdimensional gear, he wouldn't be able to defeat his enemies as effectively as a superdimensional expert mech or ace mech. It was best to leave the business of fighting and killing to the experts. The primary reason to develop superdimensional gear for himself was to keep him alive long enough for others to come to the rescue. The secondary reason to develop all of this expensive gear was to create enough space for him to evacuate the battlefield. The tertiary reason to develop superdimensional gear for himself was to give him a chance to eliminate the threat in person if no other option existed. "I'll need to design a raiment that is flexible enough for me to maneuver with." He decided. "I will also have to design a weapon or preferably two weapons that I can use to end the threat to my life." This was not a trivial project. Ves needed to put real thought into upgrading his phase lord gear. He did not even have a clue what sort of weapons he needed to design for himself. "I need to develop a superdimensional melee weapon for myself that is easy to use. How about… a spear? I just need to stab it at the enemy in order to make use of it. Then again… the shaft could break if it is made of lower grades of superdimensional matter. Maybe it is better to use a mace. It is a lot more difficult for such a weapon to break. Its thickness will make it more idiot proof." Aside from that, he also wanted to design a ranged weapon to give him more options than to charge straight at an enemy phase lord. "It will have to be a kinetic weapon that launches superdimensional projectiles. It is wasteful to use superdimensional matter as consumables, but I can probably get away with it if I make it out of the structure-grade or hull-grade variety. Perhaps I can make use of the good stuff if the projectile is retrievable somehow." He needed more time to figure this all out. Working on his infantry gear was a good way to mull over his choices for his next project. Ves decided to start by materializing the Unending Regalia from his Vault. He immediately looked at it from a critical perspective and winced. "What a kludgy mess." It started out elegantly enough as a relatively light suit of combat armor that primarily relied on Unending alloy as its primary form of protection. During the Phasewater Generation, he hastily upgraded a handful of modules while replacing the exterior Unending armor plating with high-grade transphasic armor plating. While the new armor plating offered far better protection against transphasic attacks, the rest of the armor did not keep up with all of the improvements. Now that he looked at his Unending Regalia from his current perspective, he spotted way too many flaws and shortcomings. The Gloriana side of himself wanted to tear it all apart and rebuild it from scratch! Ves shook his head. "That is silly. This armor is alive." While the Unending Regalia was not as alive as a third order living mech, it would be a shame to throw away so much accumulation. "Let's make it better." Ves began to sketch out a draft design. He did not apply too many demands considering that he was a phase lord himself. The only reason to make use of the Unending Regalia as opposed to his much larger raiment was because he was stuck indoors. He might not be able to unfold his true body for fear of collapsing an entire structure or jamming his body against armored bulkheads that were far too strong to break through. He was not too worried about his own protection if he remained human-scaled. While his body was a bit more vulnerable at this size, he was still not as easy to assassinate as before. Ves felt much more concerned about his family. There was a good chance that any threat to his life might threaten his wife and children if they happened to be close at hand. "Besides, even if they are not close, they can still be targeted separately." This was why he intended to design similar suits of combat for his wife and children as well. "I have to make sure that the suits for my children can be resized to keep up with their growth." He reminded himself. It would be best if he involved his wife in this follow-up project, but not right away. It would be best if he completed his own superdimensional combat armor first so that he could present a concrete example to Gloriana. As Ves continued to sketch out his draft design, he soon came across a few problems. "Should I add the Battle Skirt System to the design? If I do so, I might as well make the Unending Regalia completely modular." This was not a small decision. Switching to a modular armor system would make it easier to repair it in the field. He could just fabricate spare superdimensional armor plating and store it inside the Vault of Eternity. If he ever ran short of intact plating, he could just pull up replacements from the System Space and instantly restore his physical protection. He was not the best at designing modular armor systems, though. He usually left this responsibility to the armor specialists in his clan. "I will have to call over Beatrice Hendrix if this is the case." Ves originally wanted to tackle this job as a solo project because the Unending Regalia had always been one of his personal projects. However, given that he wanted to give his wife and children the best possible protection, he could not think of many reasons why he should skip the Battle Skirt System. If it was good enough to protect the Minerva Mark II, then it should be good enough to use on the Unending Regalia! Once he opened up the possibility of involving other mech designers, Ves began to think about who else he should invite to upgrade his personal gear. "I should probably invite Harry Kaikkonen to upgrade my Amastendira." The Amastendira had saved his life more than once in the early days, but it had turned into a completely outdated weapon in the current day and age. It had completely missed out on the benefits of the Phasewater Generation and the Hyper Generation. The sidearms wielded by his bodyguards from the 2nd Apocalypse Warden Battalion were frankly more effective than his old energy pistol! Although a part of him wanted to upgrade his Amastendira into a fourth generation luminar crystal weapon, the more sensible side of himself recognized that he was no longer the best Larkinson for the job. Perhaps very little of the original Amastendira would be left once Harry upgraded it into a modern luminar crystal weapon, but Ves was fine with such a transformation. 21:39 Perhaps very little of the original Amastendira would be left once Harry upgraded it into a modern luminar crystal weapon, but Ves was fine with such a transformation. Ves continued to formulate more plans and ideas as he steadily completed his draft design. The conversion to a modular armor system complete with the Battle Skirt System caused his original suit of combat armor to gain a substantially different look and vibe. He had been a little afraid that the addition of a Battle Skirt made out of spare modular armor plates would give his suit a more feminine silhouette, but he had referenced the designs of plenty of ancient armor that also happened to possess this feature. As long as the Battle Skirt did not flare out too much to the sides, it hardly attracted any attention. Maintaining the straightest possible rectangular silhouette was the way to go. He felt he did a decent enough job in preserving the Unending Regalia's masculine appearance. Ves suddenly frowned. "It's not appropriate to call it the Unending Regalia when there is no Unending alloy left in the design." He decided to call it the Superdimensional Regalia instead. Thank you for reading my work. If you wish to support The Mech Touch, please vote with your golden tickets! Purchase Privilege for The Mech Touch! Read a varying amount of chapters ahead of regular readers while enjoying a 99% discount on unlocking new chapters! Join The Mech Touch's unofficial Discord server: https://discord.gg/APB5KCU Exlor