Legacy of the Void Fleet

Thoughts like these continuously surfaced within their minds.

Even Kronos himself was not spared, his head buzzing nonstop from everything he had witnessed today.

Then she moved toward another section of the cargo area of the mothership, where on both sides and even through the middle, numerous mechs were placed in orderly rows.

Each mech had an average height of thirty-six metres and possessed a slender profile.

While some were a few metres taller and far bulkier than the slimmer variants, carrying massive shields on one arm along with two enormous large-calibre cannons and another giant arm-mounted gun, with an energy sword holder attached at the waist.

Luna initially seemed about to begin the introduction herself, but instead she turned toward the creator of these mechs, the representative behind Knight Mech Corporation, Julie.

”Ahem!! Friends from the Azura Imperium, I am Julie, chief architect behind the Knight Mech Corporation!!

I am proud to introduce you to our designs, created specifically with your demands in mind! It is named the Guardian.

The Guardian-class mech is a heavy-class Knight Mech produced entirely with mature Tier 3 technology and equipped with special-grade neural interfaces that outperform the ones currently used by you all by nearly eighty percent if we compare them directly.

Not only that, but it establishes a much higher level of man-machine connection between the pilot and the mech itself, making the synchronisation not only more stable but also significantly safer.

At critical moments or in cases of severe damage, it can protect and safeguard the pilot’s brain, thus saving them and preventing recurring tragic incidents from happening.

After all, mech pilots cannot be just anyone. They are precious assets.

The more a power loses them, the weaker it becomes in the short term, because replacements at higher levels are not easy to find, no?”

Hearing this, Kronos and the others nodded with excited expressions on their faces.

A sharp gleam even passed through Kronos’s eyes as an idea formed within his mind, something he wanted to bring up and capitalise upon later. But knowing the timing was not right, he suppressed it for now.

”Now then, let us move onto the mech itself! After all, it is not like the neural interface is our creation’s main highlight, nor the true star of this introduction!”

”The Guardian mech, standing forty metres tall, is made up of...”

Like that, Julie spent nearly ten minutes completing the introduction of her company’s product, developed specifically for the Imperium based on their demands.

And from the satisfied expressions on the faces of the Azura people, especially the mech pilots who specialised in piloting these kinds of heavy mechs, it was obvious they were extremely excited and pleased.

So much so that some of them immediately asked whether the Knight Mech Corporation could customise their mechs based on personal demands and design preferences while keeping the Guardian framework as the base.

To this, Julie happily replied,

”Of course!! We do take customisation orders, and we would gladly do that for you all if you wish!”

”What would the cost be, if you can tell us?” one of the pilots asked, barely containing his excitement.

”It would remain within your expectations based on galactic standards.

A standard Tier 3 mech generally costs between three thousand to five thousand Galactic Credits on average, which translates to around three million Imperium State Credits.

(For reference, one Galactic Credit equals around ten thousand State Credits for a Tier 2 state. If it is a Tier 3 state, then the ratio is roughly halved, making one Galactic Credit equal to about five thousand Tier 1 State Credits.)”

Though it differs slightly based on every state, its economy, and other relevant factors, it usually does not stray too far from the galactic standards.

After all, this is also one of the conditions required for becoming a greater power and civilisation.

Not only do military strength and technology need to reach higher levels, but the economy must also follow behind and not fall short!!

”Though our Guardian mech costs more than the galactic standard, I believe I need not mention why. After all, you all can judge that much yourselves, no?” Julie said with some pride.

At the same time, she deliberately avoided mentioning the precise cost immediately, instead allowing the Imperium people to think it over for a while.

”Give us a clear figure, Miss Julie!” one of the pilots finally spoke up. ”While it is clear to us that the performance of your mech far outdoes most mechs within the same class, and its price obviously cannot be at the level of an average Tier 3 mech...”

Even as he spoke calmly, the pilot was already gritting his teeth internally, mentally preparing himself to hear absurd numbers around twenty-five million or even higher.

”Haha! Then I shall tell you,” Julie laughed before speaking plainly.

”It would be, give or take, around fifteen million to at most eighteen million for the standard variants, and no more than that.

Though if it is a heavily customised high-end version, then upwards of fifty million is also possible.”

”How about that? A good price, no?” she said with a grin while looking toward the pilot and the others.

”Far lower than the mechs with similar performance levels, which, mind you, can only be classified as quasi-Tier 4 or peak Tier 3 mechs. And their prices...” she paused slightly before smiling wider, ”I think I need not say more since you all are already aware of them.”

”Hisss...”

The pilot hearing this was utterly dumbfounded.

He had thought the number would be even more absurd, but only eighteen million at maximum?

Thinking he had heard wrong or was perhaps dreaming, he even pinched himself hard before finally realising it was all real.

He could not help but gulp.

”Lady Julie... a-are you truly sure about this price? Or are you joking with us? With your specifications, you could easily charge twenty-five million and upwards, yet only eighteen million max? A-are you really sure?”

”Well, of course!” Julie replied casually. ”What I say is no joke at all. It might be expensive outside, but for us it is not that big of a deal.

What is truly expensive are the materials,” she said with a sigh.

”If we had easier access to them, we could probably lower the cost by another twenty percent!!”

Hearing this, the pilot’s eyes immediately lit up, and he held his breath while looking toward the middle-aged man standing beside him, the vice commander of the mech forces.

The vice commander himself was equally excited, the gears within his mind already spinning rapidly.

At that moment, he finally realised why the Void Humans held such a strong interest in material resources.

And upon hearing about a possible twenty percent reduction in cost, he instantly understood how they could capitalise on this opportunity.

Excited, he threw a glance toward Kronos.

Kronos immediately understood his meaning from that single look alone and subtly returned a reassuring gaze filled with approval.

This only made the vice commander even more excited.

Still, he did not immediately voice his thoughts. Instead, he continued observing the other mechs while patiently waiting for this exchange to end before discussing the idea he had with Lady Luna and seeing what kind of cooperation both sides could reach for their mutual benefit.

They all quickly moved on toward the others, such as Benjamin and his swordsman-type mech, drawing even more gasps of astonishment when they heard the performance parameters of the mech and its terrifying killing capabilities.

The Imperium people were immediately shell-shocked once again.

Then came the other models, each shocking them just as much, so much so that many of them had already become numb from the constant waves of disbelief.

Even their walking had gradually turned robotic and stiff from the sheer number of shocks they had received today.

Soon, they moved onto another section, where groups of two different types of starfighters were lined up together, numbering in the thousands.

Their performance, just like everything else they had witnessed so far, was overwhelmingly powerful and did not disappoint the Imperium people even in the slightest.

Instead, it raised their expectations by quite a bit.

At the same time, it also made them increasingly interested in the creators behind these designs, people like Julie and the others.

More specifically, they became deeply interested in the institutions capable of nurturing such geniuses, individuals able to create machines and technologies like these.

And because of that, several new ideas quickly began formulating within their minds.

Adding yet another request they wanted to follow up on as soon as possible.

Finally, it was the turn of the planetary-level weapon systems, both offensive and defensive in nature.

One was a grouped planetary defensive weapon system capable of holding its own even against a full-scale fleet assault.

And the other was a planetary defence shield, powerful enough to withstand even barrages from planet-killer-class weapons.