The Mech Touch

"One of our aims to visit the Life Research Association is to recruit a large number of doctors, exobiologists, geneticists, implant surgeons, veterinarians and other life science professionals, correct?"

Ves nodded as he stroked Lucky's back. The lazy cat had settled on his l.a.p.

"That is indeed the case. I don't want to hire a bunch of average biotech experts at every stop. Since we have the resources and the opportunity to do so, I want to absorb a lot of doctors, specialists and researchers in a single go. Our demand for their services is already high and will definitely go higher in the future."

"Then having the Dragon's Den will definitely persuade the more skilled and proficient professionals to join our clan. Have you ever checked to see how the recruitment of biotech experts is going right now?"

"They're not doing so well, but that is mostly because we don't have permission to hire the better ones in the first place. All we are getting so far are the rejects and the dregs."

Vivian shook her head. "Even if you gain permission, the recruiters still aren't optimistic. Think about the working conditions we offer. What are we depending on to attract new hires?"

"Money. A path to greatness. Becoming part of a rising clan. Leaving behind the familiar in order to start a new life in the Red Ocean."

"A lot of people are attracted to these conditions to be sure, but the group you are targeting are different. Think about it. Lifers live in a state where biotechnology is ubiquitous. Will these professionals who are used to living in an environment where beetles take the place of cleaner bots want to live in a cold metal coffin in space? It is as alien as us trying to live on a bioship. Would you like to spend your years on an icky organic vessel that is made out of living flesh and bone?"

"No. I wouldn't."

Vivian made a good point. The best and most competent Lifers available for hire wouldn't feel comfortable if they were assigned to live and work on a classical starship.

While ordinary people like Ves and many other Larkinsons weren't bothered by living in a completely artificial environment that was mostly made out of metal, the locals thought differently!

It was a lot more attractive for them to work aboard a ship with very clear biotech traits. The Dragon's Den was actually a hybrid ship in this regard. Her core structure and exterior were made out of metal, but her interior was made out of organic matter that would ensure that any Lifer would feel at home inside.

"The Dragon's Den is not fully made out of biomatter, which is an advantage to us." The shipwright told him. "It is easier for us to repair, maintain and upgrade most of her ship systems. As for her organic aspects, the biotech experts that will hopefully crew this vessel can take care of this need. I think it will make them very happy if they are responsible for decorating and setting up their own home."

It wasn't just the living environment that made the Dragon's Den compelling in the eyes of the Lifers. The previous owners and users of the bioresearch vessel were probably senior beast designers or something, because there was a lot of high-end lab equipment that ordinary researchers could only dream about!

The facilities were so comprehensive that they were able to accommodate many other disciplines aside from beast design. Anyone involved in human augmentation, medical treatment, cloning and even food cultivation would practically feel as if they had entered paradise if they stepped aboard the Dragon's Den!

On top of that, the capital ship was big. With a total length of 3.3 kilometers, the vessel was capable of carrying a lot of organic cargo. She could even be used to transport non-living cargo if the Larkinson Clan urgently needed the extra space.

All in all, it was very hard to encounter a bioresearch ship that was so large and well-equipped that she was capable of supporting an entire bioindustry chain!

All of this sounded great, but Ves grew a bit suspicious. "What are the downsides of the Dragon's Den?"

"Well, it's quite obvious if you look at the projected schematic." Vivian answered and pointed her finger at the exterior layer of the vessel. "As you can see, the thickness and sturdiness of her hull plating is incomparable to the Graveyard. She's not designed for combat at all. She's a purely civilization research vessel that only possesses nominal capital-grade hull plating."

"What does that mean? What is nominal capital-grade hull plating?"

"It means that the Dragon's Den is clad with the least amount of plating she can get away with. Her exterior shell has to be sturdy enough to support her inner structure and prevent any compartments from shifting. Her hull also has to be sturdy enough to withstand ordinary environmental hazards in space. Think of space junk, space dust, cosmic radiation, dangerous anomalies and so on. It's also helpful to have at least some mass to defend against incidental attacks from mechs."

Thin hull plating to capital sh.i.p.s was actually rather thick for sub-capital sh.i.p.s. The Dragon's Den wasn't fragile at all in absolute terms. It was just that she was much less capable of resisting damage than sturdier capital sh.i.p.s.

In any case, as long as the Dragon's Den was put in the rear, her poor defenses wouldn't be a problem.

"Are there any other concerns that I should know?"

"Hmmm. Not as such. There are numerous complications due to her hybrid construction, but they are manageable. Despite her apparent sophistication, the Dragon's Den is quite a simple vessel in shipbuilding terms. You don't need to design a complex internal structure when the ship is only meant to carry beasts and serve as a research base."

"I see. I think I've heard enough. Let me think about this option."

Even though Ves wasn't really interested in starting up a large biotech operation at the moment, that would definitely change in the future.

Aside from accommodating the Larkinson Clan's crucial biotech professionals, Ves also needed a place to carry his future collection of beasts.

It was only a matter of time before he encountered more exceptional beasts like Arnold. While accommodating a tiny cat-sized exobeast wasn't very difficult, what if he obtained an exobeast as massive as Zeigra?

Ves always had a soft spot for powerful exobeasts that were at least as large as mechs. They tended to be more complex lifeforms who developed very powerful abilities.

How would he be able to keep them all happy if he stuffed them into cramped biomes aboard smaller sub-capital sh.i.p.s? It was better to get a bigger vessel right away in order to be ready to accommodate any large and powerful beast he might get his hands on in the future!

Even though these considerations weren't enough for Ves to view the Dragon's Den as an essential acquisition, he was nonetheless onboard with gaining possession of her as part of a trade deal.

"It's a good mix of sh.i.p.s." Ves murmured. "The Graveyard will definitely serve a critical purpose in the short term while the Dragon's Den has the potential to become a strong asset in the long run. Still, I can't help but wish for a fleet carrier instead."

"The fleet carriers currently being offered won't fit out needs." Vivian shook her head. "This is the LRA. The fleet carriers built by the Lifers are designed to accommodate biomechs. Unless you intend to field a large amount of biomechs yourself, we are better off with setting our sights on other vessels."

The regional ship market was largely dominated by biosh.i.p.s. There were only a modest number of hybrid sh.i.p.s like the Dragon's Den or foreign-built vessels like the Graveyard.

If the Larkinsons wanted access to a greater selection of mechanical sh.i.p.s, then they were better off visiting another state!

"I'll take that into account." Ves murmured after he made this realization. "We still have plenty of time to fill up our capital ship quota. Now that I'm here, I'd like to ask you whether you have made any progress on our inhouse projects."

A proud smile appeared on Vivian's face.

"The ship designs for the Gorgoneion and Diligent Ovenbird are almost finished. Their overall properties haven't changed from when I initially introduced them to you. We have just made a lot of smaller refinements as we have fleshed out their designs."

"How soon can you complete them, Miss Tsai?"

"We can finish them in a matter of weeks. We can deliver a design faster if we concentrate on finishing one of them first. In fact, even if we complete them, we can still continue our optimization work. The more time you give us, the more we are able to refine the two ship designs. Both the defensive ship and the fleet repair ship contain many complex implementations that can surely be improved."

As a mech designer, Ves understood what she was talking about. It was actually the same for mechs. If he wanted to, he could continue to work on the mech designs that he had recently completed in order to squeeze out more performance out of them. There were some mech designers who adopted this continuous improvement model.

Ves wasn't a fan of it. He preferred to update his mech designs with major revisions.

"Are we in a position to order the construction of the Gorgoneion and the Diligent Ovenbird?"

"We are." She nodded. "We have made contact with several shipyards hailing from the star cl.u.s.ters along our overall route. Several of them are open to building one or two capital sh.i.p.s according to the design that we have specific. It's just that…"

"It's going to cost us, am I right?"

"Yes. The two sh.i.p.s aren't cheap. I've already mentioned how much they cost in a previous meeting. The Gorgoneion will cost at least 3.2 trillion hex credits while the Diligent Ovenbird costs 1.7 trillion hex credits. Mind you, this is only the minimum. You want to add various upgrades and addons to the sh.i.p.s, then you should be prepared to pay double."

Ves pressed his fingers against his face. "Ugh. While we aren't exactly short on money, it's not that easy to gather so much money at this time. We can either wait or we can apply for a loan."

This was his problem, not hers. Vivian Tsai was only responsible for providing him with ship-related options. It was up to him and other Larkinsons to fund the shipbuilding projects.

"I'll try to secure the funding for these vessels as soon as possible." He promised. "I don't want to wait too long to obtain these two sh.i.p.s. The Gorgoneion is an excellent complement to the Graveyard. With two defense-oriented capital sh.i.p.s in our fleet, we'll possess an undeniable edge in battle!"

The Battle of Reckoning already showed that the Larkinson fleet was not adequate enough. Ves wanted to reduce his dependence on third-party services, and the only way to do so was to develop substitutes within the clan.

Despite her silly name, the Diligent Ovenbird would probably play a key role in his fleet. The ability to repair and potentially build new sh.i.p.s was just too compelling to Ves! He might not even need to purchase any ship again.

After all, if he had the choice, he would definitely prefer to make use of starsh.i.p.s developed in-house!

Before he left, Ves briefly inquired on the plan to repurpose the long-range FTL drives pilfered from the Auralis. With complex ship components like these, it was impossible to slot them into the Spirit of Bentheim and expect them to work straight away!

Vivian sighed. "It will take years to prepare the long-range FTL drives for use. We have to disassemble them, inspect every single component and comb over and potentially rewrite all of her software. We can speed up the work if we hire more engineers and FTL drive specialists, but don't expect any miracles."

"Damn."