Once Nico had the array set up all around the room, she started to create the first structural pieces of a much smaller Mecha. Either it was a scale prototype, or she was going to build a Line Mecha-sized variant first to test the changes to basic systems before she implemented them into a larger Mecha.
Not everything would scale well, but if it didn't work at Line Mecha sized, the chances that it would start to work once it got to Super Heavy or Titan Class sized was incredibly small.
She started with the basic skeletal structure, made of the Monomolecular material she had been building ships out of, and which the Arisen used for many of their constructs. Their version wasn't exactly the same, but it was similar enough for Max to call them the same category of materials, at least.
The skeleton made a basic bipedal Mecha, two arms and two legs, with the usual seated posture for the Pilot. But instead of elongating the torso or making it thicker, Nico moved most of the power systems to a backpack-style attachment with multiple thrusters, wings and Warp Nacelles.
The wings folded down behind the Mecha when it needed to maneuver in tight quarters, like inside a ship or repair bay, but there were a pair of light projectile guns mounted at the wingtips, according to the design schematics that Nico had put up on the screens.
Once she had the main structure completed, Nico started on the cockpit interior, giving it a durable but luxurious feeling, like the inside of a sports car instead of a basic military vehicle. It was a prototype, so that wasn't really necessary, but to Nico, it was important to give the design personality as she worked.
The controls were standard Super Heavy style combined neural link and manual controls, so nearly any Pilot, no matter where they were trained, should be able to operate the Mecha with some degree of skill.
Once that was complete, she built the Pilot's Pod, the armoured encasement that went around the cockpit and would sustain the Pilot's life if the Mecha were destroyed, and which could be ejected in the case of catastrophic damage.
Then it was placed into the skeleton, and Nico began on the power plant and thruster combo unit, which would go into the backpack.
It was a simple Warp Crystal Matrix design, as small as the one in a shuttle, but more than enough for a Line Mecha, as long as it didn't have any weapons with a massive power draw.
She didn't activate the array right away. Instead, she built the Warp Nacelles and thrusters first, and mounted it all in the pack, then started to work on a new feature which no Line Mecha had ever been graced with.
The prototype received an area Replication system, which could rebuild its own structure and armour plating as long as the power supply stayed online.
It would need raw materials, but they could be grabbed from anywhere if they were on a planet's surface or scavenged from destroyed Mecha if they were in space.
That was placed into the core of the Mecha, below the Pilot's compartment, and linked to the power plant. Then she got to work building the ammunition tracks for the wing-mounted guns.
They looked like pellet guns, firing tiny .22 calibre projectiles, but with the technology of a Mass Driver, they would do a huge amount of damage.
That wasn't enough for Nico, though. The guns for the wingtips were created and linked to the Warp Nacelles, allowing them to fire projectiles through an unstable warp bubble. It would collapse immediately after leaving the barrel, but the rounds would only drop out of Warp at that point and would be going very near the speed of light.
Against a standard target, that would be devastating. It couldn't be used in an atmosphere, as it would set the air on fire, but the Mass Driver itself should cause enough damage against terrestrial targets.
Nico got them mounted in the wings and then began adding the movement controls to the frame. There was nothing special about that. It was the same setup she had used for Shattered Pride, just in miniature. It was still a huge improvement from a standard Line Mecha, though.
Then she ran power lines down to the forearms to add a pair of light Disintegrators, the same pattern that Cleansing Light and Shattered Pride both had, resized to fit, and then started to work on the outer armour plating.
Created in segments, it could be easily and quickly replaced by any technician and gave the Line Mecha an aggressive and angular profile that reminded Max of the Supercars that he had seen on television as a kid. The sort that millionaires and movie stars drove to public events.
It was pretty cool looking, and Max couldn't help but be impressed.
He had been so engrossed in watching Nico work on the Mecha design that he hadn't even noticed that they had been at it for nearly thirty hours until the Admiral came to see how their first day had gone.
"Ah, good morning. Or is it afternoon now? We have a Line Mecha prototype as a proof of concept to test out the most basic of features that I want to include in the new Mecha. It is easier and less resource intensive to test them at this scale." Nico greeted him with a smile, though she didn't stop working on the precision fitment of the last few armour plates, which she had been unhappy with.
They joined over a vulnerable spot in the structure, so though it was the best place to have a joint, by geometry, she decided to modify them so that a damaged edge didn't expose a vulnerable joint and lines.
"That was incredibly fast. I know you had most of the plan in advance, but I thought it would take longer to get a prototype mocked up." He responded as he walked over to inspect the three-metre tall Mecha.
"Well, we don't know if it works yet. I have confidence that it will at least walk, but all of the other systems have been purely theoretical up until now." Nico reminded him.
"Well, there is only one way to know for sure," Max told her with a wink.
There was an asteroid field not too far away that would be perfect for testing out their new gear, away from prying eyes.
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