Chapter 925: Watching The Girls Test Theirs
I have to say... The Exo-Knights were completely awesome.
As I expected, Amber’s Exo-Knight focused on speed and she was flitting all around the asteroid field and shooting them down with her autocannons and also using some energy blades attached to her hands and elbows to slice them up.
She was basically a golden blur dancing through the asteroid field and it looked like she was really satisfied with her machine’s controls with how she was laughing the entire time.
Lea was, as expected, operating her Exo-Knight like a long range sniper unit with her Exo-Knight.
I got to watch her brace the rifle that was even longer than I thought it was when fully assembled before she fired out a beam that pierced through the entire width of the asteroid field and broke several dozens of asteroids without dissipating.
I believe at the cost of not having any other weapons aside from that rifle and a cloaking module that functions the same way that her personal shield does, she gets to have a gun that has the same firepower as a Battleship’s main cannon.
Ries was also a sight to see since she obviously went to tell Rosalia and Freiderike to give her the biggest guns possible and that’s what she got.
She was basically a mobile artillery platform as she fired kinetic, laser and rail cannons that were mounted on her arms and hips while shoulder mounted rocket launchers also fired at her targets.
While she might not have the range of Lea’s or the speed of Amber’s Exo-Knight, she could probably suppress an entire fleet on her own if she had a good position to start with.
As for Mara... It was as I thought. Her unit was primarily meant for support purposes where the gun in her hand was meant to shoot a capsule of nanobots that can be used to repair or resupply allies in a prolonged fight.
That wasn’t to say she was defenceless as the nanobots could also be used to disassemble enemy Exo-Knights though it wouldn’t be as effective as, say, shooting a kinetic shell through their torso.
Anyway, both Amber’s and Mara’s Exo-Knights also featured the same Psionic enhancers where they could also use their Exo-Knight to project their telekinesis outside anyway. So in the worst case scenario, she can still resort to that.
Yumiko was as cool as I thought she would be.
Seriously... I already thought she was already pretty cool with how she fights personally but with the Exo-Knight that had four arms? She was basically a whirlwind of death.
If I thought Amber was fast, Yumiko was even faster as she could move across the field in a blink and several asteroids to the left and right would be sliced apart in an instant.
And her Exo-Knight looked so good doing that too.
Not that my other girls don’t look good but if I were to be honest, Yumiko’s Exo-Knight designs were just the best.
I think she has a knack for designing stuff if you ask me.
Renata’s Exo-Knight wasn’t really anything to write home about since hers was just a standard model. Until her Exo-Knight suddenly had a black blob pop out from her shoulder to transform into a large cannon which she fired, blasting several of the asteroids apart with a single shot.
I then recalled this was one of the main turrets on the Destroyer that she ate and needless to say... She’s definitely making full use of her capabilities for this.
Once everyone was satisfied with testing their Exo-Knights, we flew back to our ships that were still floating along where we left it.
Renata helped us activate the hangar doors on the Drow of Dawn, the sides of the ship sliding open which was ironically the first time I got to witness how this ship launches the Exo-Knights despite having obtained this ship for quite a while now.
I led the way towards the doors and stepped onto the hangar bay of the ship, choosing one of the Exo-Knight bays to dock the machine.
"Mmm... You certainly look like you’re really experienced in this, Tera. Are you sure this is your first time piloting it?"
It took me a moment to figure out the voice was coming from Vier who was seated behind my physical body since my consciousness was still controlling the Exo-Knight itself.
"I think this is more because of how a Psionic controls these machines. It feels like I’m actually controlling it like my body instead of using levers and joysticks so it feels more natural. The fact that the machine can also move just like a normal body is what is really impressive about it."
"I heard from the other girls that it was primarily thanks to you that they were able to make something like this in the first place. That’s why they agreed to custom build six of these Exo-Knights for you."
"Something like that..." I agreed, moving the Exo-Knight to stand on the docking platform.
I let the arms lock themselves into place on the Exo-Knight before I closed my eyes and focused on shutting the machine down.
There was a low whine as the machine powered down and I opened my eyes again to see myself in the cockpit once again.
I slowly got up on my feet and stretched, turning to see Vier get out of her own seat to move towards me.
"Hmm... Do you want your own Exo-Knight, Vier? I’m sure if we ask Rosalia and Friederike, they would be happy to make one for you as well. We can afford it after all."
Vier tilted her head at me, "Ara? Fufufu~ I’m sorry, Tera, but I don’t think I’m the type of person that is suitable to stand on the frontlines of a fight. I’m just a mere logistics officer after all~"
Ah... Right. I just realised she isn’t here because of her combat capabilities... It’s just that everyone on my crew so far is able to engage in combat scenarios that I forgot Vier was basically a civilian.
Well... I guess technically so are Ries and Mara as well but Mara is a Psionic so she could handle herself and Ries likes shooting big guns which is why she was already making a new Power Armour for herself from what I heard.
Now I’m wondering if I should assign some kind of protection for Vier...
As though reading my mind, the black Dragonling smiled and moved close to give me a kiss on the lips before pulling away.
"Don’t worry, Tera. I can handle myself if a fight happens. I’m not some helpless little girl after all. I’ve faced my shares of attempted assassinations so I’m not a stranger to violence.
Without waiting for a response, she stepped towards the exit of the cockpit as it hissed open, allowing her to climb outside and onto the boarding ramp.
I followed after her and I got to see the rows of Exo-Knights all lined up beside mine looking especially cool. Hey, you can’t deny that seeing a row of giant fighting robots all lined up like this isn’t cool!
Ahem...
We boarded the elevator platform and stepped onto the ground level right as Amber flew over from her side to appear in front of me, still going on with her usual thing where she tries to be the first to welcome me back onto the ship.
"Welcome back, Tera~" She giggled, giving me a mischievous smile.
I let her hug me and kiss me before she stepped back to giggle, "Ehehehe~ I have to say though. Your Exo-Knight looks really cool~"
Vier nodded before I could say anything, "White really suits you, Tera. And although it’s not as beautiful as you are, it does accentuate your charms."
I have no idea how that even works but ok?
The rest of the girls also got off their Exo-Knights and came over to join us, all of them looking very satisfied with the performance of their machines.
Ries was the most excited one as she was hopping up and down in front of me, "Boss! Boss!! Did you see my Exo-Knight?! Especially when I went full ’guns mode’?! Everything was exploding and shooting and blowing up and lasers and rockets... Ahhhhh!! It was the best!!"
Mmhmm.. She’s still cute.
"Renata, set a course for our destination. We’re heading out now," I ordered.
As planned we weren’t staying here longer than necessary so we would be leaving the moment our work here was concluded.
On another note... Seeing everyone was quite happy with the Exo-Knights we’ve received, I guess this might be cause for a celebration.
I’ll just go ahead and cook up a feast for everyone today and we can celebrate together.
Hmm... I haven’t seen Vier try to mix any drinks yet... And she hasn’t copied my teppan cooking either... I wonder if she can do both?
Welp... I guess there’s only one way to find out~
