The Mech Touch

The Larkinson Clan had made clear progress in expanding its fleet. The addition of the new fleet carrier along with all of the new combat carriers made Ves feel a lot more confident about heading deeper into the Red Ocean.

Though he didn't intend to travel to any hotspots, he did not want to spend all of his time holing up in a boring area. There were so many curiosities and wonders in the new frontier that any of them could give him the inspiration he needed to boost his progression towards Senior!

The clan was already doing well enough in prepping the new carriers. Ves did not need to supervise this process.

The same could not be said for another priority of the Larkinson Clan.

Over the course of the Larkinson Clan's stay in Vulit, Ves and several other clansmen succeeded in building up their reputation in the regional community.

Many people learned of the existence of the Larkinson Clan. Even more were able to recognize individual stars such as Ketis Larkinson and Commander Casella Ingvar!

The successes they achieved attracted a lot of attention to the clan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to work overtime in order to follow up on all of the parties that had approached the Larkinson Clan in recent weeks.

Ves managed to meet with his busy foreign minister in order to discuss the most promising entreaties.

"You look better than I thought."

"Heh. Don't be fooled." The old diplomat responded. "I have been running on stimulants on a regular basis. Ordinarily, I try to avoid this measure as I do not wish to impair my judgment with artificial chemicals, but the current situation leaves me with no choice."

"How so?"

"You should realize that all of the interest in our clan is not permanent. People's memories are fickle. Once we depart Chance Bay, the public will soon shift their short attention span away from us and direct it towards the next big idol or success story. In a single month, ninety percent of the people who are fans of us will have forgotten our existence."

That was a harsh and cynical description of human behavior. Though Ves wanted to believe that people were better than that, he agreed with Shederin's assessment.

Chance Bay would continue to hold a lot of tournaments after the Larkinsons left the central star node. New heroes and winners would emerge soon after and the press would doubtlessly focus intensely on their latest toys!

"What does this mean for us, exactly?"

"It means we need to take advantage of the heat of the moment." The minister answered. "Our apparent value in other people's eyes has currently reached a peak. This is the time when our leverage is the highest and when our negotiating power is strong enough to extract favorable concessions from potential business partners."

"I see. I take it that you have already worked on a number of deals for our clan."

Shederin nodded. "My staff and I have already facilitated dozens of minor deals. None of them are too significant. They amount to giving us access to material suppliers to giving us access to exclusive marketplaces."

"Are there any deals that give us an opportunity to acquire more starships?"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but starships and especially carrier vessels are still out of our reach. Don't let the current situation warp your expectations. The organizations that hold tournaments are much more powerful than you can imagine. They often own and operate their own shipyards. While there are various reasons why they are willing to give them away as tournament prizes, they are much more reticent about selling them to third parties."

"They also need the ships." Ves guessed.

"Correct. Not only that, they also wish to avoid strengthening too many strangers. It's an open conspiracy if you can call it that. Those with the capability to build starships seek to widen the gap between themselves and others. Currently, our clan firmly falls in the category of 'other', so don't expect anyone to build up a future rival."

This was not good news to Ves. It appeared that it was a lot more difficult to convince a shipbuilding company to produce additional combat carriers for the Larkinson Clan.

"Okay, let's put this topic aside. Can you present anything promising to me? Surely we must have succeeded on other fronts."

Shederin smiled. "We do. Let's start with the biggest potential trade deal. Do you recall the Wild Fighter Association?"

"I do. It's not easy for me to forget the only mech design tournament where I managed to reach first place. Admittedly, Ketis contributed the most back then, but it is still a highlight of my stay in Chance Bay."

"Well, Director Kadar and his negotiators have been in touch with us. The Wild Fighter Association and more specifically the regional director is highly interested in obtaining our mechs."

"I know. The director mentioned that to me at the end of the Wild Brawl Bowl. He talked about the possibility of selling or using our mechs."

"We have learned much about each other during our talks over the last weeks. It has become clear that our clan is mainly interested in generating revenue while the Wild Fighter Association wishes to acquire one of Ketis Larkinson's swordsman mech designs. We have regularly consulted with the young woman in order to see what kind of arrangement that we can make."

The Wild Fighters were much more enamored with Ketis than Ves! Living mechs alone didn't hold their interest. They wanted to get their hands on a mech that could visibly improve their swordsmanship like the Heart of Victor!

"What are the results of all of these talks?"

Minister Shederin projected the outline of a contract in front of Ves. "We have developed a basic framework for a lucrative business deal. For now, the scope of this agreement is limited, but as long as both sides are happy with it, there is always a possibility for follow-up deals."

Ves quickly skimmed through the document. He quickly understood that it centered around commercializing one of Ketis' mech designs.

"She's found a market for her Monster Slayer design!"

He knew how much she cared about this upcoming design project. Ketis became inspired to design a landbound swordsman mech that excelled at dueling after surviving a battle in the Nyxian Gap.

Back then, she didn't have the confidence to design the mech of her dreams, but it was different now that she had become a Journeyman!

There was no reason for her to delay this project any further. The only major uncertainty was how she could put her work in the hands of mech pilots. That had always been a question mark to her. Ves was happy now that she found a readily available market for her first solo commercial mech design.

As Ves continued to study the document, Shederin began to explain the highlights.

"We have formulated a number of different proposals. Each of them differ by how extensively you are willing to cooperate with the Wild Fighter Association and how much control you wish to retain over Ketis' work."

"Tell me about the most lucrative plan in monetary terms."

"The plan that can potentially maximize our earnings is also the most difficult to realize." Shederin warned. "In summary, it entails retaining the rights to the Monster Slayer design and mass producing its copies through our own efforts."

"Do we even need the Wild Fighters for that?"

"We do. If we wish to mass produce the Monster Slayer and distribute it to customers across the Red Ocean, we will have to cooperate with partners such as the Wild Fighters. They can help us purchase land and set up a large manufacturing complex on a friendly industrial planet. They can also assume responsibility for selling and distributing the Monster Slayers. Currently we lack the capability of doing this ourselves, so this is a good solution."

Ves frowned. "I thought I already told you guys that I don't want our clan to set up any facilities at fixed locations. A manufacturing complex on a planet that we don't own is bound to anchor our fleet!"

"It doesn't have to go that far, sir. If you do not agree with this measure, then we can change to a variation of this business plan. We can either set up a subsidiary company that will mass produce our commercial mech models on our behalf or we can outsource production to one of the affiliated companies of the Wild Fighter Association. The downside of these options is that we will have to reduce our share of the profits of this venture."

That was logical. The less the Larkinsons did themselves, the more they had to pay others to do the work.

Though Ves wanted to control everything, he knew quite well that it conflicted with his desire to keep his entire clan mobile. With all of the bad experiences of the past, he strenuously objected to any plan that entailed leaving behind Larkinsons on vulnerable planets!

"It sounds like you have formulated additional options." He said. "What is the least troublesome plan?"

"Well, if you truly wish to minimize as much risk and entanglement as possible, then we can simply treat this trade agreement as a commission. In short, the Wild Fighter Association will commission a second-class landbound swordsman mech from Miss Ketis. Once she has completed the design, we will transfer all of the rights pertaining to its production, distribution, sale and use to the Wild Fighter Association. It is up to our business partner to decide what they wish to do with the Monster Slayer design. The Wild Fighters can choose to commercialize it themselves or retain it as one of their exclusive member-only perks. Regardless, we will receive a generous lump sum in addition to royalties each time they produce a copy of the Monster Slayer."

This was the laziest and least profitable option. It essentially reduced the Larkinson Clan's role to a design studio. Once Ketis handed over the completed design, the Larkinsons did not have to do anything else except sit back and collect the royalties!

That didn't mean it was a bad plan, though. The Larkinson Clan already had a lot of issues on its plate. The LMC might be a ubiquitous presence in the Yeina Star Cluster, but it was a complete newcomer in the Red Ocean!

The mech company had no permanent offices, no manufacturing complexes, no distribution networks, no sales channels and no brand presence in this completely new area!

It would take an inordinate amount of time and effort to build all of this up, especially if Ves wanted to outsource almost every responsibility to third parties.

Rather than go through all of that effort, Ves vastly preferred to shove all of this trouble to a willing partner such as the Wild Fighter Association.

Ves rubbed his smooth-shaven chin. "I think… it's best to start with a more modest plan. This is our first major business deal in the Red Ocean. We need to build up our reputation and make sure that we can deliver on our promises. I don't think it is wise to make too many commitments. What if we cannot uphold our end of the deal due to unexpected problems and incidents? Let's not forget that the situation in this dwarf galaxy is a lot more volatile than in the Milky Way. In my opinion, we should follow up on the latest plan you've mentioned. I prefer to expand it a bit and add additional clauses to the contract, but in general, I'm in favor of just letting Ketis treat this job as a one-time commission. The burden on her will also be much less as a result."

All of this was quite new to Ketis. He did not wish to overwhelm her with too many distractions.

"I will pass your decision on to the relevant parties." Minister Shederin promised. "Do keep in mind that we will forgo the opportunity to earn up to ten times more profit if we treat this deal as a commission. The royalties that the Wild Fighter Association are obligated to pay to us will only amount to a couple of million hex credits per copy."

That was quite a meager sum. If the LMC chose to produce and sell the Monster Slayer themselves, then the company could easily earn a profit of 50 million per copy!