The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

5813 Expanding Capabilities

Having big capital ships would be really nice.

The royal shipyard was substantially bigger than the E-66 Experimental Yard.

The former was a fully-fledged military production facility.

The latter was an oversized R&D facility.

That meant that the royal shipyard was not only able to construct bigger capital ships, but complete them at a faster rate so long as it remained well-supplied.

What was also important to note was that the royal shipyard's internal construction space was not only longer, but also wider. That meant that it could make thicker and fatter capital ships that offered a lot more internal volume than was normally the case.

If Ves wanted cram as many mechs and other stuff inside his hulls, then the royal shipyard was the best choice without a doubt!

However, the E-66 Experimental Yard's shipbuilders and other scientists were much smarter and more creative than the professional staff over at the royal shipyard.

There were major differences in terms of training, experience and expertise.

From what Ves was able to surmise based on the information he had available to him, the Octaran shipbuilders excelled at working quickly and efficiently. They were good at following instructions and could easily interpret completed blueprints of existing ship classes.

The possibility of effectively incorporating more exotic or even outright alien technologies into his starships was a huge attraction point to Ves. Standard human starships were fine, but they did not bestow any substantial advantages over other rival groups.

If Ves wanted to build a fleet that was unique of his own, then he needed to take risks and be willing to experiment on starships a lot further than anyone was comfortable with. This was a lot easier to accomplish if he took possession of an experimental shipyard that was already engaging in similar activities.

The flipside was that the more experimental and research-

oriented Rubarthan shipbuilders were not too accustomed to working on tight deadlines and strict budgets. They were used to enjoying significant allowances in both, so Ves did not expect the nerds who worked over at E-66 to be as tight and disciplined in their work as the ones working for the royal shipyard.

It ultimately came down on what Ves wanted more. Did he want to field a large fleet of big, fat 3-kilometer capital ships, or would he be content with owning a smaller fleet of faster, tougher and more specialized 2.3-kilometer capital ships?

Ves found it incredibly hard to make up his mind. Both strategies had their merits.

There was a strong sense of simplicity and practicality for going with the more straightforward option. The royal shipyard would always be able to churn out sizable capital ships so long as the Octara Kingdom remained standing. When survival was the overarching priority, it helped a lot if the Larkinsons could carry more mechs, shuttles, supplies, spare materials, personnel and other goods.

However, the E-66 Experimental Yard presented Ves with riskier and more exciting options. No two starships produced from this Rubarthan facility would be identical to each other. Even if its output rate was inferior, every hull that flew out of this facility would possess a special charm that set it apart from all of the other human starships in the Red Ocean.

Ves thought back on the political gains he could make with either choice.

Gaining a lot of influence in a small first-rate state that possessed weak institutions would allow him to subsume it, especially if he managed to gain control over the Young King.

He was not sure how useful it would be to have the Octara Kingdom in his pocket. Its location was a bit too close to the frontlines than he was comfortable with. All of his schemes as well as his royal shipyard could go up in smoke if the aliens managed to make substantial gains.

Ves had less concerns about losing the E-66 Experimental Yard. The entire Rubarthan Pact was highly invested in persevering its territory. The Inferno Spear Prince was one of the superstate's most powerful ace pilots after the god pilots and could defeat damn near anything short of ancient phase whales.

While it was nice to be able to lean on the potent protection of the Rubarthans, it would be hard for him to gain more influence over them because they were already powerful in so many ways.

In short, if Ves acquired the E-66 Experimental Yard, he should not expect to make too many diplomatic and political gains.

Ves rubbed his hairless chin in thought. The entire upper hall had descended into silence as they wanted for him to make up his choice.

In an ideal situation, he would have preferred to throw this problem to his analysts and have them calculate every possible factor that they could imagine. It would be a lot easier for him to make up his choice if he had detailed data and recommendations in his hands.

The downside of conducting these transactions in an auction house of all places was that many decisions had to be made on the spot. It was part of the 'experience'.

Ves needed to make up his mind quickly. Since that was the case, he primarily needed to make a decision with his gut rather than with his mind.

His lips curled into a smile.

"Thank you for your patience. I am ready to announce my choices. Earlier, I announced slight changes in the bidding process. The three bids offered for my company shares are all compelling enough to earn serious consideration. After I have carefully weighed every choice, I have chosen to embrace two of them, thereby rejecting the remaining bid."

He turned towards Duke Elijah Von Reevus of the Octara Kingdom and made a slight bow.

"I am honored by your kingdom's trust and willingness to cooperate with me, but I am afraid that your offer does not entirely align with my priorities. I must regretfully inform you that my clan and I are unable to cooperate with the Octara Kingdom to the extent that you have proposed. My clan is unable to undertake the burden of managing a third shipyard, and a big one at that, at this time."

The duke did not display any strong reaction to this response. He merely dipped his head in understanding.

"That is regretful to hear. We are more than willing to keep our royal shipyard in reserve until your clan's conditions have improved to the point where it is able to accept our original offer. The Young King is a great admirer of your spirit, and wishes to be your friend as well as ally."

Ves smiled back. "We may just take you on your offer in a few years. It depends on how the future will unfold."

"Let us exchange contact information so that we can remain in touch."

Once Ves handled the representative of the Octara Kingdom in a gracious manner, he turned to the other representatives who looked a lot happier that their bids got accepted.

"Master Castillo, Mr. Terrier, I have decided to accept your respective bids. I have judged that the Starfarer Berth and the E-66 Experimental Yard will both serve my clan well in the coming years. I would be happy to take ownership of your shipyards in exchange for minority stakes in the LMC."

Neither the Adaptive Scale nor the Rubarthan senior aide made any attempts to pull out at this junction.

The two would have to pay a huge penalty if they placed bids that turned out to be fraudulent, but it was always possible for people to second-guess themselves.

That did not take place this time.

"The Inferno Spear Prince does not take action without fully committing to it." Robin Terrier assured Ves. "We have every intention of concluding this transaction without delay. Our staff have already begun to draft the relevant contracts under the supervision of the lawyers working for Estaban Leeds. Full operational control of the E-66 Experimental Yard can be transferred within 3 months at the earliest. It must still complete its remaining secret project and make preparations for a transfer in ownership."

"I have no objections to that. Please give my compliments to the Inferno Spear Prince for his cooperation. I would like to speak to him after this grand auction to discuss further cooperation in relation to the E-66 Experimental Yard."

"That can be arranged. The 2016th Prince has informed me that he is able to speak at a time at your convenience for the remainder of the day."

Ves nodded and turned to the Adaptive Scale.

"Master Castillo, how soon will I be able to gain effective control over the Starfarer Berth?"

"My shipyard is also working on an ongoing order, but it will only take 20 days to complete it. If you have no objections to keeping on its original staff, then the Starfarer Berth can quickly begin production of a sub-capital ship based on one of the many ship classes on archive. If you are not satisfied with our existing range of ship classes, you can task our shipwrights to design or modify other ship classes, but it may take months to complete the work depending on the nature of your requests."

That made sense. Ves was not sure whether he was willing to stick to producing standard combat carriers with little flavor to them other than their special hull plating. He wasn't sure whether he could afford to incur delays just because he insisted on pushing through changes.

He would have to make that determination later.

"I would like to know more about your staff and speak to them if possible."

"That will not be a problem." The Adaptive Scale smiled. "Do not hesitate to request technologies and features that are exclusive to the Red Association. As an honorary member as well as a tier 3 galactic citizen, you have extensive access to our exclusive ship-based solutions. If we have a capability that you currently do not have access to, then you always have the option of spending large amounts of MTA merits to unlock permissions to have Starfarer Berth include the relevant tech in your future starships."

That was actually really useful. Ves had been accumulating a lot of MTA merits, but was reluctant to spend them because he had already grown to the point where he could spend MTA credits to obtain much of what he needed.

However, Ves could not spend money to gain access to a lot of perks offered by the Red Association. He would have to make actual contributions in order to gain access to much better tech.

"Does this include access to support link technology?"

"Yes." The Adaptive Scale smiled. "It is a standard feature on many starships built for the Red Association. Do keep in mind that the modules are expensive and impose a serious burden on the power generators and energy infrastructure of any vessel. The smaller the starship, the greater the relative strain. A typical first-class combat carrier will not be able to support the operation of as many azure shield generators. First-class starships are not exempt from limitations."

That was an important factor to keep in mind. It made sense that support link technology would drain a lot of energy. It was not easy to transfer so much stuff across larger distances in space.

Ves was incredibly glad that he was finally on the cusp of building up a first-class fleet that was able to employ shield link technology. The inclusion of this high technology alone would definitely increase the survival of his people and assets to a massive degree!

Ves did not even consider first-class fleets or mech forces that lacked the benefit of shield link technology to be all that strong.

This was a clear indication of the importance of the signature works of the Web Mistress. Her efforts to improve and popularize support link technology had saved more lived and delivered more victories than almost any other singular high technology!