The Mech Touch

Though Ves had already granted his chief ministers and other important leaders a lot of autonomy, what happened with Ark Larkinson was a warning of what might happen if no one kept these people in check.

For better or worse, Ves needed to take back some of the reins and exert more oversight over the people he empowered to make decisions for the clan.

This was not a trivial change. The clan had grown to the size of a small city-state up to this point. The sheer amount of departments that rose up during this time had become massive entities that spent thousands of MTA credits like running water.

It was impossible for Ves to zoom in and devote his precious time on every single affair, so he still needed to rely on trusty assistants like Gavin and his team to filter all of the irrelevant crap and pass on all of the truly important stuff.

Ves had already given his assistant an order to present a broad and varied selection of dossiers that provided an up to date snapshot of what was taking place in the clan these days.

It took several hours to patiently go over these dossiers. Ves began to learn more and more about the happenings surrounding the individual mech legions, the clan administration, the Larkinson Biotech Institute and many other departments and daughter organizations.

He learned plenty of interesting developments that he hadn't been aware of in the past. He would have never thought that all of this had begun to happen if he did not specifically request an update rather than let his subordinates make all of the decisions under the supervision of the chief ministers.

"What is this about our local mech academy becoming an official affiliate of the Federal Military of Davute?" Ves questioned in a suspicious tone.

"Oh, that. It is a recent change made with the help of General Ark Larkinson." Gavin explained. "The mech academy that we have founded on the outskirts of Davute hasn't been operating that long, but the extensive use of War Squires and the Mental Simulation Training System has caused its mech cadets to improve at a rapid rate. During many periodic contests where mech cadets from different schools compete against each other, the cadets of our First Star Mech Academy have consistently won. It has made our school a lot more popular to the point where the local military has gained a strong interest."

"So what, the newly-named Federal Military wants to take over my mech academy, just like that?" Ves grew upset. "I funded the establishment of this mech academy early on so that it could turn into an in-house talent factory for our clan. We invested in expansive and superior facilities so that its graduates have become so well-versed in piloting the mechs of our clan. The ultimate purpose is to provide us with lots of ready-made mech pilots that can instantly slot into our Larkinson Army. Now you are telling me that Davute wants to subvert one of my prime sources of mech pilots?"

Gavin blinked. He did not realize that a 'mere' mech academy played such an important role to Ves. Perhaps many other Larkinsons dismissed the local mech academy as a side venture.

"It is not unusual for states to sponsor mech academies that it has faith in." The assistant replied. "Military academies do not always have to be wholly owned by the militaries they are tied to. It is much more common for the military to only become partially involved, and that is exactly the case for the First Star Mech Academy."

Ves grimaced even further. "How much of its budget is the government prepared to subsidize?"

"30 percent."

"Too much! I am not going to let these Davutans use their money, instructors and other resources to claim all of the best graduates for themselves! Limit the funding to 20 percent and make sure that the Federal Military can only make suggestions with regards to the curriculum and teaching methods of our mech academy."

"Those are heavy changes, boss." Gavin said with a serious expression. "You will be overriding the agreements that the Davute Branch has already made with the relevant institutions. You can't just do that without suffering serious consequences."

Ves snorted. "I don't give a damn what the government thinks. They should keep their grubby hands away from our mech academy. It may be based on this planet, but that doesn't mean the local branch can treat it like any other side business. You may think that I am being overdramatic with regards to a simple school, but it is part of a deliberate strategy to reduce our dependence on external recruitment to replenish and expand our ranks of mech pilots. Rather than continuing to rely on recruiting random batches of mech pilots with lots of random skill sets, it is better to start early and focus on recruiting mech pilots that are not only familiar with our approach to mech combat, but are also compatible with our values. For example, we need to focus on acquiring more personnel that are open to living the spaceborn life."

"I see. I will make sure to pass that on to the Education Ministry. No, I should probably pay it a visit so that I can make sure to convey your policies and stances in person. We should draw up a framework and clarify that all of the mech academies that we run in the future will also prioritize the needs of our fleet over more local concerns."

"That is the kind of initiative that I am looking for in a handy helper, Benny. Make sure this is the only time I encounter this problem. Manpower is important, and our internal training is not enough to meet our future needs. With the way we are going, we will probably expand explosively in the future. I don't want our growth to be limited by a lack of preparation."

Once he handled this matter, Ves directed his attention to other important affairs.

After going through a number of minor dossiers that did not really matter too much to Ves, he finally encountered another topic that interested him a bit more.

"Ah, the Murphy Family. I haven't seen this name in a while. What is up with them? Are there any developments in our relationship with our clan and their shipyards?"

Gavin nodded. "First, let me remind you that while Murphy & Sons currently operate two orbital shipyards, of which one of them is rated for capital ships, the government has already begun to help the company build two more capital-grade shipyards. It will take time for the Murphys to construct four ships at a time, but by then they will be able to work on four starships at a time."

"I already know that. What is new?"

"Well, the Murphy Family wants to collaborate with our clan on co-developing a new line of starships. The Murphy family members believe that they can combine their competitive advantages with ours to develop starships that not only fit our needs the best, but also turn into viable and more profitable starships."

That certainly sounded ambitious. "We don't have a strong shipbuilding tradition, Benny. We may have the Diligent Ovenbird, but that is far from enough. Let me guess what these Murphys want. They want me to combine my glows with their starships."

"The Murphy Family has seen how well glows can work in jointly developed mechs such as the Pacifier. For example, if you can employ totems in a clever manner to improve the effective performance of a starship, the Murphys can increase her sale value without increasing her production cost by too much. Their shipbuilding company is already known for building conservative but affordable starships. Take a look at one of the concept blueprints they sent with their offer."

Though Ves couldn't care less about the petty profits that his clan could make by helping Murphy & Sons beat the competition, he became a lot more interested as soon as his assistant mentioned the word 'blueprint'.

Perhaps the Murphys knew the Larkinson Patriarch so well that they already knew that technical designs were bound to attract his interest.

"Show me." Ves ordered.

A new projection came to life that displayed an annotated schematic and virtual model of such a starship. The fake vessel was clearly modified from an existing design, but the interior featured a large number of small and subtle modifications that drastically altered the livability and operations of the concept ship!

"These Murphys have certainly done their homework, but…"

The ship design was radical in how thoroughly it integrated glows. The schematic showed a simple combat carrier that relied on hundreds of totems to provide many different glow effects!

For example, the exterior was covered by a large array of totems that could produce disorientation glows.

This would help the starship repel enemy intruders that managed to get too close to the hull for their own good.

Totems of Lufa covered the infirmaries as well as certain pilot ready rooms so that they could give people peace.

Certain meeting rooms tried to do the opposite and get people riled up instead. Totems of Zeigra or Bravo made sure that mech pilots and other personnel became more ready and eager to fight!

There were many more examples like these throughout the entire hull of the concept starship. Ves admired the gumption of those who worked on the design. Even the resident shipwrights of the Larkinson Clan had never proposed to go this far in integrating glows into starships!

As much as Ves was interested to see how such a ship would work out in practice, he reluctantly shook his head.

"No. We will not work on this project."

"Uhm, very well. Are you willing to disclose the reasons why so that we can explain to one of our shipbuilding partners why we are unwilling to cooperate on a joint project?"

"It's not that hard to guess." Ves replied in a bored tone. "First, the Murphys get way more out of this deal than us. They have every reason to cooperate with us, but the same is not true in reverse. We are no longer dependent on a single shipbuilding company to supply us with additional starships."

"That may be true to an extent, but every capital ship counts."

"I do not deny that, but I don't want us to get taken advantage of by the Murphys. Besides, the amount of totems required to produce enough glows to cover much of the internal spaces of a starship is excessive. Even if one of our craftsmen employed by the Creation Association has figured out the knack for mass producing totems, they are not commodities."

"What if these totems of yours can be mass produced in the future?"

"...Then my answer would still be no." Ves replied. "Glows should not be abused to this extent. Constant exposure to them can damage the sanity of any ordinary person. What do you think will happen if they are constantly exposed to the same influences on a constant basis? It will distort their personalities and who knows what else."

"I didn't expect a glow merchant like you to hold such a stance." His personal assistance reacted with surprise.

"It is fine to make widespread use of glows in mech combat and other specific work circumstances. However, it should always be used in moderation as I do not want mech pilots to become dependent on this gimmick. They should be able to function well enough without them. This is why I have always made sure that the mechs of the Larkinson Army can still put up a good fight even if they lose all of their glows one day."

"I see…"