The Mech Touch

The tense officer coughed. "My apologies, my lord. I mean to say that the 'involuntary retirement' of your still living father has largely decapitated what is left of our fleet and organization. When the alien warship destroyed our flagship and everyone serving aboard her, we lost far too many senior leaders and highly skilled professionals. Your father preferred to keep his cadre close to him. The Seeker of Wealth was by far our strongest and most survivable ship, so there were good reasons to put our eggs in our strongest basket."

Yet there were also reasons why it was best to never put too many eggs in a single basket, no matter how strong it purported to be. As much as Otrus Magrin guarded his flagship against the threat of fellow humans, he failed to take into account the upper boundary of alien opponents his fleet could face in the Red Ocean.

Saint Neville Magrin did not even think this way. His father had decided that it was best to concentrate his best men on his own flagship, so his decision was right. It was the fault of the Golden Skull Alliance for turning this strength into a weakness!

Neville adjusted his position on the new command throne that his men had hastily fabricated after modeling it off the original one his father often liked to employ.

The cold, metal throne did not offer that much comfort, but that had never been the point. A strong and hard leader needed to be able to endure discomfort if he wanted to overcome the more difficult problems in his work. That was what his father had taught him a few decades ago.

"Stop talking about our losses." The ace pilot and newly ascended leader of his father's business empire spoke. "Tell me about what we have left."

"We have retained one fleet carrier, which is the one we are currently on, as well as 23 combat carriers, of which half are in serious condition. We need to return to a port system or industrial system as soon as possible, or else our damaged vessels will fall apart."

"How many mechs?"

"We have suffered fairly little losses in the mech department as the alien battleship did not bother to aim her guns at our mech units. All of our carriers are at full capacity, so that amounts to around 1500 mechs, which also included all of our expert mechs."

"How many mech pilots do we still have?"

"We currently only have around 3400 mech pilots on our ships, which is more than enough to meet the needs of our diminished fleet, but… it should have been more." The officer guiltily looked down. We were forced to leave many intact mechs behind in the star system where the battle unfolded. Despite ordering the majority of our mech pilots to eject their cockpits and return to the nearest friendly carrier without their mechs, not all of them have made it back in time. The same goes for our pals that have reached the escape pods in time only to get stranded in open space because their craft weren't fast enough to catch up to our fleeing carriers."

That was especially painful to many members of Cenatus Prospecting. The comrades they worked and fought alongside with for many years had ultimately been abandoned in droves.

Pain marred Saint Neville's face.

On one hand, he understood the necessity of preserving the people and ships that could still be saved. The loyal men aboard the ships that remained intact only managed to escape the wrath of the alien battleship because they had run out of the monstrous warship's effective range quickly enough.

On the other hand, even a minute or two of slowdown would have been enough to save hundreds if not more lives! If Neville and his Unrelenting managed to persist longer in the fight, then he might not have to bear with the guilt of abandoning so many dependents.

What would his father do in this situation?

He would stop moping around and start fixing what needed to be fixed.

With that in mind, Saint Neville channeled his sheer willpower to dampen any depression. He needed to focus on the immediate business instead of wallowing in the decisions he could have made at the time.

"How is our company faring?"

"Better than we could have hoped for, my lord. Sure, the fleet has been stripped bare, but we still retain ownership of all of our other fixed and liquid assets. This includes your father's extensive bank accounts, financial investments, real estate and subsidiary companies. With our company's current financial outlook, we are easily able to pay our bills, especially since our fleet upkeep has decreased by an enormous degree. This is despite the pensions we need to pay to the designated families of the deceased."

"What are our immediate challenges?" Saint Neville asked.

The officer's face turned grim again. "If we want to make Cenatus Prospecting great again, we must address two separate problems in the near future."

"Explain."

"The most immediate priority is to stabilize our company and prevent it from backsliding any further. Our employees and business partners have lost a lot of confidence after your father's… extended vacation."

"I am the official heir of Otrus Magrin." Saint Neville declared with a voice that tolerated no dissent. His fists pounded the throne with greater force than usual. "These people should devote themselves to me in the same way they did my father!"

Why were his people not falling in line without hesitation?! His father was still with him! Otrus was just stuck inside his mech, that was all.

Once Saint Neville became strong enough, he would find a way to rescue his father and return him to a normal human form. This was his ultimate goal!

The officer reporting to the new CEO of Cenatus Prospecting tried to formulate his words carefully.

"No one is questioning your right to take over your father's property, my lord. However, their concerns lie with your ability to lead us in the future. We are all aware of your formidable prowess on the battlefield, but the main reason why we have always admired and looked up to your father was how successful he was in the business and social arenas. It takes an entirely different skill set to excel in those areas. Since you have become the primary decision maker of our company and fleet without ever having a chance to prove your mettle outside combat, we are wrapped in a cloud of uncertainty. That is not good for our long-term health and viability."

As much as Saint Neville wanted to refute the implication that he was not good at leading the company, he knew that he was never his father's equal in the aforementioned areas.

His father was better. His father was always better. No one could equal him in navigating the civilian landscape.

"Has my father not staffed our organization with many talented, experienced and competent middle-level executives?" Neville questioned. "Not all of them should have perished in the last battle. I know for a fact that there are still many executives who are stationed at our fixed properties located on different planets."

"That is true, my lord, but… their seniority and experience are lacking. Many of them have to be promoted to high positions that they should have worked towards over many decades of loyal and diligent service. It is highly uncertain whether they will be able to handle their responsibilities."

A lot of people abruptly had to be elevated into positions that they weren't ready for, Neville included.

"We will pull through this period of turmoil." Saint Neville spoke with conviction. "I do not know as much about business, finance and balance sheets as my father, but I know that our fundamentals should still be solid. Cenatus Prospecting's greatest asset is myself. An ace pilot and an ace mech are always valuable. I will hire myself out if necessary. My point is that we can rebuild and regain what we have lost. We only need to calm everyone down and focus on our mission.

The officer paused for a few seconds. "I think we can settle the unrest in our company by rebuilding our fleet. The sooner we can field 6000 mechs again in space, the more our stakeholders will be convinced that Cenatus Prospecting will have a bright future under your leadership."

"Then do it." Saint Neville waved his hand as if issuing an order. "Put our new executives and leaders on this job. There must be at least one smart enough head among them that is competent enough to solve our challenges."

"It is not as simple as that, my lord." The officer winced. "The circumstances we are suffering are more dire than usual. We cannot easily purchase the ships we need because every shipbuilding company is swamped with orders from other parties. It may have been possible to gain priority on our orders back when your father was at the helm and our company still enjoyed a reputation for success, but neither of those factors are valid anymore. Now that we are beaten and down on our luck, none of our existing business partners are willing to go out of their way to help us recover."

Saint Neville Magrin snarled. "Are you telling me we are being forsaken by those who have profited from our business?"

"Not exactly! They are still abiding by the terms of our ongoing agreements, but we have picked up clear signals that our partners are more than ready to abandon ship as soon as the contracts expire."

The weak but noticeable Saint Kingdom around the ace pilot shook and vibrated as Saint Neville tried his best to withhold his mounting fury.

"Traitors!"

"Please calm down, my lord! Lashing out will not help. Though none of our contracts are slated to expire in the short term, we must work quickly to restore the optimism of our company if we want to prevent too many of our existing business partners from going over our competitors. Until then, they will not go out of their way to help us acquire the ships we need."

As Saint Neville asked more questions, it became clear that rebuilding a fleet was not a matter of telling his men to get it done. There were so many different variables and interests at play that he admired his father even more for being able to make sense of it all for so long!

As both Neville and the officer contemplated numerous possible ideas on how to dig their way out of this hole, a messenger arrived to pass on an important message.

"Our interim managers have just received a massive offer from an unfamiliar party. As soon as they received it and verified the message's authenticity, they saw fit to pass it on to you, Saint."

Saint Neville frowned. "What does this offer entail?"

"A pioneering organization based in a port system called Karlach have heard of our… predicament. The coalition that this pioneer represents is willing to help us rebuild and expand our fleet and mech forces without payment. The Karlachs are also allowing us to build major commercial, industrial and military hubs in their port system."

That sounded exactly what Cenatus Prospecting needed to get back up to its feet!

However, Saint Neville didn't make it this far in his career without developing the ability to detect a trap.

"What is the catch?" The ace pilot asked in a critical voice.

"You and the rest of us must join the coalition. If we do this, then we will eventually become a part of a future state in the Krakatoa Middle Zone."

Though Saint Neville did not have a particularly strong objection to attaching himself to a state that was early in its development, he did not like the way the Karlachs were profiting off his company's weakness.

As an ace pilot of a notorious vulture fleet, he could easily recognize when he was being preyed on by other scavengers.

"Why does Karlach think we would ever take this offer seriously?"

"I still have to add one more detail. The Karlach System is in direct opposition to the Davute System. Both of them have already begun to vie for dominance in the Krakatoa Middle Zone. What makes the latter special is that it is one of the home bases of the Golden Skull Alliance. It has invested in an abundant amount of factories and housing. If you want to start with pursuing your revenge against the Larkinson Clan, Glory Seekers and Cross Clan, then attacking their branch holdings in the Davute System is an excellent way to hurt your enemies."

Saint Neville's eyes gleamed. It was one thing to pursue a vendetta alone. It was another thing to work together with the common enemies of the Golden Skull Alliance in order to fulfill a common goal!

"Schedule a meeting with a representative from Karlach. I want to hear their proposals in person."

This may be the first step to restoring his father's organization!