However, the submachine gun was not the Valkyrie Redeemer's primary focus. It merely offered the aerial mech a way to defend itself against more mobile targets and harass tougher opponents.
The real focus of the mech was its iconic-looking spear and shield. The latter was curved and shaped like a hexagon. There was nothing else going for it aside for being rather modest in size.
The spear was also rather simple. It was shorter than most spears, but long enough to function as a very potent stabbing implement.
Taken together, the spear and shield granted the Valkyrie Redeemer a lot of assault choices.
Gloriana's Valkyrie Redeemer was merely inspired by the Seraphim. What worked in Iron Spirit might not necessarily work that well in the Komodo War. That, or the Hexers already fielded a very good light aerial marksman mech.
When Ves tried to imagine the Valkyrie Redeemers on the battlefield, he became immersed by their dazzling performance.
Squads of Valkyrie Redeemers would prowl the air. Though slower than light mechs, they were still fast enough to evade powerful enemies and fortified defense posts.
Instead, they would prowl the flanks of the battlefield and look out for opportunities. As soon as they spotted an enemy on the ground that they could take, they would begin to dive to the surface while firing their submachine guns to herald their incoming charge.
Once they got close enough and built up some momentum, they would holster their submachine guns and take up their spears and shields.
With gravity assisting their dive, they closed in on their targets like a charging formation of lancer mechs!
If a number of enemy mechs survived the inevitable collisions, the Valkyrie Redeemers weren't helpless in melee combat. With their spears and shields, they were able to adopt several different fighting styles in order to tackle their opponents!
The Valkyrie Redeemer was not a marksman mech. It was not a spearman mech or a lancer mech either.
"It's an aerial marauder mech." Ves concluded.
Unlike light skirmishers, the Valkyrie Redeemer placed a bit more emphasis on its ranged capabilities. As long as he could pair the mech with a second-class pulse submachine gun, then it could pose a considerable threat to any opponent at medium range!
Sure, the weapon wasn't suited to pierce through thick defenses, but that wasn't the point. The Valkyrie Redeemer possessed superior mobility due to its powerful flight system and should take full advantage of this strength to attack the enemy's flanks.
If the Valkyrie Redeemer wasn't able to crack a tough defense, then that was when it should employ its dive attack! With a charge that was not that much inferior to the charge of a lancer mech, the Valkyrie Redeemer should easily be able to break the shield of a knight mech.
In order to finish off exposed enemies, the Valkyrie Redeemers should possess enough strength to overwhelm them at close range.
"Their strength lies in their versatility." Ves concluded. "With at least three different modes of attack, the Valkyrie Redeemer can pose a threat to almost any weaker target."
Though Ves was confident he could fulfill the offensive criteria of this mech concept, he knew that it would come at the cost of defense.
Even if second-class armor systems were incomparably resilient compared to third-class armor systems, the weapons they faced were significantly more powerful as well.
No matter what, the Valkyrie Redeemer was not a mech that could take a lot of hits. The only way the mech could mitigate some of the incoming damage was to rely on its hexagon-shaped shield.
Even then, in order to preserve the mobility of the mech, Ves couldn't pair it with a thick and heavy tower shield.
Overall, the Valkyrie Redeemer emphasized both offense and mobility. It was not designed to absorb a lot of hits, just like other marauder mechs.
"It's a mech designed to pick a battle of its own choosing, just like pirates." Ves chuckled. He found the comparison to be apt. "Maybe that is why marauder mechs are called this way."
When Ves began to evaluate the difficulty of this design project, he knew that he had a challenge on his hands.
The capacity of the mech was too small for his liking!