The next morning, the whole moon base was up bright and early. Absolution had transferred them dozens of new schematics to work with, as well as the majority of their research staff, and Nico had booked one of the larger labs so that they could work on Max's idea for a variable pattern energy weapon.
That was their highest priority, according to Nico, as the energy weapon would be capable of taking on all enemies without modifying the Mecha between battles, and it would save thousands of lives in the next large encounter like the one at the Rift.
The inability to target every species effectively due to their various weapon resistances was the downfall of many of the species along the lines who didn't have the diversity of firepower or the backup to adjust to the situation.
So, before the next battle, they would be sure that the human fleet was not going to become one of those species, and then they would spread the knowledge to the other species that they were allied with in hopes that someone would either find it useful or come up with an improved version that they could reverse engineer into something amazing.
Even with all of the brilliant minds in the room and the experience of the Darklings on their side, there was a chance that another species would come up with something positively amazing that they had never thought of.
Max was in the locker room, changing into a pair of utility coveralls and a Tech Adept Harness, the usual wear of the research teams here, while Ranarth was completely engrossed in the multi-armed exoskeleton.
"You made these just to make development work easier when you have the Replicators?" He asked curiously.
"At the time, our replication technology wasn't as good at complex alloys or reformatting at the atomic level as it is now. We were still reliant on a number of base materials to create our equipment. So, this helped a lot in the design phases, especially for smaller adjustments that didn't require a full rebuild.
Now, it makes assembly and adjustments easier and gives the team a visual aid instead of doing everything in virtual reality and then assembling the final product." Max explained.
"Plus, if it doesn't work, we can make adjustments on the spot. When we're working with little things, we don't use the harness, but today, we're building Mecha weapons, and those parts can be too big for us to carry on our own." One of the Innu announced.
The Darkling smiled and patted her head.
"These creatures are adorable. I can see why you like them." He informed Max.
The Innu giggled and finished getting her harness on before racing out to join her team.
"They've got a great culture, focused on being helpful and innovative. You just need to watch how much caffeine you give them because they're very high energy to start with." Max agreed.
"A minor drawback, all things considered. I have analyzed their genetic augmentations, and I must say that the ability to directly interface with technology is a brilliant one. It's a variation on the genetic sequencing for telepathy like your Illithid friend has, but it only operates on a set group of frequencies.
If you alter your technology in certain ways, it's completely feasible to block them out entirely, but the advantages of using firewalls and programming to keep items secure instead make for much more efficient maintenance."
Max hadn't known that there was a way to keep them out entirely. He simply had never considered trying. But it made sense that if you weren't allied with them, you would want to. Their hacking skills were a menace to their enemies.
Max and Ranarth were among the last to arrive at their workstation, where Nico and Uncle Lu were at the front of the room, ready to address the team.
"Good morning everyone. I trust that you have all read up on the work that we are going to be starting here today, so I will jump ahead to the good parts.
We are going to be starting with three weapons that we are hoping to integrate into one system. The Heavy Ion Destroyer, the Plasma Fusillade from the Cutter Class Ships, and a Disintegrator-based Orbital Lance."
If any sane and reasonable species had heard those words, they would be crying tears of frustration right now, Max knew, but Ranarth was enthralled by the prospect.
"You know, I'm not even sure that is possible. The Ion Destroyer and the Disintegrator are compatible for certain, but the Plasma Weapons are more of a superheated mass projectile. Being able to vary your output between the three is a very interesting idea.
Give me a second, and I will pull up some schematics that are related to the topic."
Ranarth sent the data to the holographic emitter on the table behind Nico, who started to examine it in the middle of Uncle Lu's continued instructions to the team.
"Mister Ranarth has saved us a lot of time this morning. He already has the data on how to integrate the Ion and Disintegrator weapons. So, group one will start by using that data as a base set and then attempt to improve the energy efficiency and destructive capability, while group two will work on ways to integrate either Plasma or a Fusion type weapon to it for species that are more vulnerable to temperature than pure energy." Nico explained.
Ranarth laughed as the team cheered and then took a seat in the viewing area to go through his data and look for something else that the humans and their allies might find useful in this situation.
Max left him to his study and joined team two, while Nico had gone to team one with Uncle Lu. That team was working with all new data, something that they had never personally built before, but Max had [Battle Optimization] Rank Max to work with.
He got his system right to work trying to find a way to integrate the Orbital Lance and the Plasma Fusillade while helping the team analyze the circuitry of the energy emitters and relays to see what could be combined and overlayed to create a combination weapon.
That wasn't their true goal for the experiment, but it would be a good first step along the way to finding a truly variable emission weapon.
