The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

5619 Need More Hulls

As the Bluejay Fleet continued to journey back to New Constantinople VIII, Ves busied himself with checking up on his projects and various other developments.

For example, Ves received an update on the matter of Vulcanites sending their Novice Mech Designers to him in order to benefit from his teachings.

"The Eternal Vulcan Empire is based further away, so it will take time for the Novices to arrive in the New Constantinople System." Gavin reported to Ves. "The Vulcanites expect a lot from you. They hope that at least two or three of the young dwarven mech designers will be able to design living mechs by the end of their stay. As long as you can satisfy this demand, we will gain ownership of a serviceable first-class fleet carrier. The Vulcanites are even willing to refit the ship to fit our needs."

"I really hope those dwarven Novices are competent enough." Ves said. "I can't guarantee any results. I can only try and do my best. We should look to obtain additional first-class ships from other parties. We can't rely on the Vulcanites alone to fulfill our first-class ship needs. They probably aren't willing to give us another ship after they have given up a strategic fleet carrier."

The value of first-class starships was too great. Everyone needed more of them. The more first-class hulls under their control, the stronger their ability to weather the ongoing storm!

Gavin had his own ideas on how to address this issue. "Our position has improved by a lot compared to before. The success of the Fey Fianna, your relationship with the Destroyer of Worlds and our newly obtained stake in Isthmus Manufacturing has elevated our reputation and prestige to a whole new level. It should be possible for us to approach major parties and trade their shipbuilding services for other major favors."

He was right. Ever since Ves got promoted to a tier 3 galactic citizen, he already had the option to cooperate with other groups on this level.

However, his background and backing were still too thin for him to establish a stronger bargaining position. He would have to make heavy concessions in order to obtain even a single first-class hull.

This time was different. The deal he had made with the Vulcanites might be affected by other factors, but the fact that he was able to trade a simple teaching obligation for outright ownership of a first-class fleet carrier was a definite sign that people really started to take him seriously this time!

Ves felt much more confident in his ability to negotiate much more lucrative deals with major players.

"I have been thinking about forming new deals with the Terrans and the Rubarthans respectively." Ves spoke. "I don't entirely trust the Impresario Prince, but it is undeniable that he carries a certain amount of weight in the Rubarthan Pact. He can definitely arrange a shipyard to build a new first-class combat carrier or fleet carrier for us. The only concern is what we need to pay in exchange for this expensive deal."

Gavin grimaced when he thought about the prices of those vessels.

"The price of a proper first-class warship fluctuates widely depending on the volume, the chosen materials and the chosen modules of the vessel. Even if you are fine with buying a first-class combat carrier on the cheap, you are still looking at a hull that costs at least a billion MTA credits to construct from beginning to end."

A first-class combat carrier was so much more expensive than a second-class equivalent that it wasn't even funny!

A billion MTA credits!

That was an unimaginable sum to Ves in the past!

It was surprising how quickly his horizons had widened. It might not be possible for the LMC to earn a billion MTA credits in profit by selling a lot of copies of the Fey Fianna and Supremo Projects, but it was only a matter of time before his partnership with Isthmus Manufacturing gave Ves the needed funds.

This was because Isthmus Manufacturing earned revenue from selling other mech lines, including first-class ones!

The profits of selling first-class mechs was always high, particularly if they were mainstream models that were always in demand.

This was one of the real benefits of gaining a whopping 20 percent stake in the Rubarthan mech company.

The Larkinson Clan could effectively earn a hefty share of profits from business activities that were not related to any of its living mechs!

Of course, the Rubathans weren't stupid. They made sure to demand that Ves continued to supply Isthmus with commercial mech designs for many years in order to retain the right to own all of those shares.

The entire deal was structured in a way that effectively turned Ves into a retainer of the Rubarthans and more specifically the Impresario Prince.

Ves provides his services by designing living mechs. He received a huge amount of payment and possibly other benefits for his efforts.

Right now, Ves wondered whether he should leverage this new relationship to ask for a first-class starship.

"First-class starships should be in short supply in the Rubarthan Pact as well, right?"

"That goes without saying. It should theoretically be possible for you to order a starship from them, but the rules of supply and demand still apply." Gavin replied.

"Hmmm."

"I have a suggestion."

"Please tell me your thoughts."

"Ordering the construction of a new first-class starship is a massive undertaking. The Rubarthans will be highly reluctant to spend so much time and starship production capacity to fulfill our demands. Instead of going for a new starship, we can ask them to upgrade one of our existing vessels. We just happen to have a very suitable hull that has recently been refurbished for this precise eventuality."

"The Spirit of Bentheim!" Ves gasped.

"Yes!" Gavin grinned. "The mechers have already reinvented it as a quasi-first-class starship. I am not an expert on all of the technical stuff, but from what I have heard, it only takes a relatively short time in a shipyard in order to upgrade our factory ship into a true first-class vessel!"

The most difficult and time-consuming changes had already been made. The entire hull and internal structure had been upgraded to first-class standard, if only reluctantly.

Completing the first-class upgrade process was as simple as replacing the remaining second-class systems with first-class equivalents. Since the Spirit of Bentheim was highly modular, the replacement process should not pose too many hindrances.

The biggest concern was whether the Spirit of Bentheim remained safe and reliable after acquiring a lot of really powerful modules and systems. The performance difference was so high that a lot of new problems were bound to emerge!

Even so, it was still worth it for the Larkinson Clan to upgrade its factory ship!

"There is no need to hurry." Ves quickly said as a few other thoughts crossed his mind. "The rise of hyper technology is revolutionizing the shipbuilding industry as well. It is best to wait a few years for the rapid pace of innovation to slow. By then, the shipbuilding sector should be able to offer a lot more powerful upgrade solutions than before."

"The more elaborate the upgrades, the longer it takes to complete all of the upgrades." Gavin frowned. "If you have a need of the Spirit of Bentheim, it is best to start its refit process sooner rather than later."

His personal assistant made a good point. Ves had great plans for the next decade.

Once the greater beyonder gate opened up, the era of warlords would begin in truth!

That was the time where many different human powers would compete against each other for supremacy!

It would be a lot more convenient if the Spirit of Bentheim became available for the riskiest and most lucrative missions.

"I'll think about it." Ves eventually said. "It may be possible for us to apply certain upgrades ourselves. The Diligent Ovenbird grants our clan limited shipbuilding capabilities. As long as we implement all of the simpler upgrades ourselves, it will take a lot less time and effort for a real first-class shipyard to implement the remaining upgrades."

He even thought about applying this approach to other Larkinson ships, but he quickly dismissed this option.

Ships such as the Vivacious Wai and the Dragon's Den were second-class starships from top to bottom. Upgrading them to first-class standards would require a complete rebuild.

A shipyard might as well construct a brand-new first-class capital ship if that was the case!

Ves and Gavin talked about other possible opportunities to acquire additional first-class starships.

"Don't forget about the Terrans." Gavin reminded Ves. "Now that we have formed strong relationships with the Rubarthans, the Terrans must be really anxious about deepening their own relationship with you. You should take advantage of their desperation and see if you can add a first-class starship or two in your negotiations with them. The Devos Ancient Clan is currently in a tight spot, but there are several larger Terran clans that should have the room to build a starship for our clan."

That was certainly a viable option, but it was questionable whether the Larkinsons could gain more than one or two first-class hulls from these deals.

"This is too slow." Ves voiced his dissatisfaction. "What about second-hand starships? It should be much easier and faster for us to snap up a collection of previously owned hulls."

"Don't get your hopes up, Ves. We are far from the only ones who have this idea. The best starships tend to be traded directly between different high-level organizations. The remaining second-hand starships in good condition are actually being put on auction as of late. The seller wants to earn the greatest amount of profit possible, and auctions are always effective at driving up the price."

Ves immediately lost his mood when he heard that. The Larkinson Clan should be able meet the requirements to attend these exclusive auctions, but whether it could win a bid was another matter!

"I see. Please pay attention to these auctions and tell me if one is starting in the near future. I might want to take a look and see how much money is willing to pay for a used first-class starship. I take it that lots of other goods get sold during these auctions as well."

"I presume that is the case. Alexa Streon can probably tell you more about them. I don't advise you to participate in an auction too soon. It is better for you to build a warchest first. If you attend one too soon, you might get distracted and depressed by how much money you need to earn in order to exchange for anything good."

Ves did not quite agree with this argument. He felt it was better to gather intelligence in advance so that he knew what to expect when he participated in earnest next time.

He suddenly came up with another idea. "If these high-level auctions center around putting rare and highly desirable goods up for bidding, then we might be able to earn at least a part of the necessary funds!"

Of course, this was easier said than done. Ves was sure that he could earn a lot of MTA credits from selling the opportunity to obtain a companion spirit, but the Red Association restricted him from handing out this reward to outsiders.

Without this obvious solution, it would take a lot more effort for Ves to come up with goods that could sell for hundreds of millions of MTA credits.

Gavin was clearly skeptical about this idea. "It will take more than a masterwork mech or art piece to raise the necessary funds. The clients who take part in these auctions are not stupid. They are not willing to squander exorbitant amounts of money on second-class luxury products. We are in wartime now, so the most desired goods are those that can directly increase people's chances of surviving the Red War."

.