The Mech Touch

The arrival of the fleet organized by Murphy & Sons and the RTG Group fully freed up the Golden Skull Alliance. There was no more need for the Larkinsons and their allies to linger any longer in this empty star system.

While the salvage teams surveyed and broke down the captured pakklaton ships, Ves continued to converse with Melaia Murphy.

During his initial meetings with the Murphies, they always acted aloof and superior towards others. Shipbuilders were much more needed in the Red Ocean, hence it shouldn't have been a surprise that they acted as if they owned the place.

However, now that Murphy & Sons became one of the founding members of the Open Consortium, the Murphies treated the Larkinsons with a lot more warmth.

"Many of the issues that previously plagued us are no longer bothering us as much." Melaia Murphy explained as she and Ves toured the Spirit of Bentheim. "Our shipyard will be ready to begin operations and we have already collected an enormous amount of prepayments for future orders. As long as we deliver the first batch of orders to the members of the Open Consortium, we will not only be able to pay off all of our debts, but also accumulate a healthy surplus that we can invest back into our company."

Ves wanted to hear more. "Where will you invest your money? Will you upgrade your shipyard's existing capabilities or will you work towards building a second shipyard?"

He had his guesses, but he was curious to hear what Melaia Murphy had to say. Her response would reveal much about the strategic direction of Murphy & Sons.

"We have not made any definite plans, but we are seriously considering whether we should build a second shipyard. With an additional shipbuilding facility, we can double our production volume. This will double our income, which we can use to invest in another set of shipyards. If this goes on long enough, well, you can probably imagine how many ships we can produce per year."

The profits would definitely be astounding at that point! If there was one commodity that would always be in short supply in the Red Ocean, it was starships!

The ability to ship goods and mechs from point A to point B was so essential to the functioning of different colonies that the amount of starships a pioneer possessed directly determined their power!

Therefore, Murphy & Sons and all of the other shipbuilding companies in the Red Ocean did not have to worry about oversaturing the starship market for many years!

Still, with his background and experience in the mech industry, Ves recognized that the shipbuilding industry could not expand at a geometric rate without limit!

"I can see the benefit of building multiple shipyards, but how will your company be able to staff them all?" Ves asked. "From what I heard, naval engineers are extremely hard to come by. In addition, increasing the amount of shipyards will also increase the amount of input you require. The supply of materials will never grow at the same rate. Besides, all of your competitors will probably be pursuing the same strategy. Soon enough, there will be way too many shipyards in Davute but not enough materials to go around. Prices will skyrocket."

Melaia Murphy nodded. She did not look surprised. Any insider in the shipbuilding industry could foresee this much.

"The first phase of our establishment in the Red Ocean is centered around building up a basic foundation in the local industry. Relying on a single shipyard for all of our business is too precarious. As long as we have a couple more of them in our possession, we will become less susceptible to falling in the same dire straits as before."

That was understandable. A proper company should never put all of its eggs in a single basket.

"If this is the first phase, what is your second phase?"

She smiled. "Once we have obtained a measure of economic security in the new frontier, we can begin to invest in our product development and quality of our production. Our aim is to develop more diverse and unique ship classes so that we can begin to stand out from the pack. This way, we can build up a more loyal and dedicated clientele that will allow our business to be more resilient in the face of sudden changes in the shipbuilding market."

That was basically the strategy that Ves had suggested to the Murphies.

Of course, Murphy & Sons planned to invest its money on a lot more areas. Since the company's spending power was so high, it would be a waste to pursue only a single strategy!

Ves envied Murphy & Sons. Ships were in much shorter supply and even the crappier ones could be sold for a fortune in the Red Ocean.

In contrast, the mech industry was already running at full tilt. The barrier to entry in this sector was much lower so the competition was already extremely high.

If the LMC wanted to stand out in the regional mech market, Ves had to come up with products that could seriously impress potential buyers!

Ves asked a few more questions, but the chief shipbuilder did not give out many hints.

Even though they were part of the same consortium, they were not that close. It was not wise for Murphy & Sons to reveal all of their long-term plans to the Larkinson Clan.

Who knew whether their direct competitors would get their hands on this sensitive information one day!

Since Murphy & Sons was not in business yet, Ves and Melaia soon ran out of topics to discuss.

The Open Consortium was almost a month old. Hardly anything happened as of late and this particular cooperation was the first of this kind to happen.

The only part of the conversation that interested Ves was when they both looked out in the distance where the salvaging fleet was slowly breaking down the crippled or ruined starships of the pakklaton race.

Melaia displayed a lot of interest in the alien vessels.

"You've given us an interesting puzzle, Patriarch Ves. While the MTA has published a large amount of data on the pakklaton starships, it is much easier to study their nuances with actual examples before me. Ships equipped with warp drives are always designed in a different manner than ships equipped with FTL drives. Though we already studied the basic theories, the pakklatons have a wealth of practical experience in optimizing their starships for warp travel."

This might not be important for building ships with regular FTL drives, but once phasewater became more ubiquitous, this was bound to change.

The direct combat applications of warp drives was too great! The Murphies could already foresee that military vessels equipped with either warp drives or superdrives would become insanely popular in a few decades!

Even though that sounded like a huge amount of time, the Murphies did not wish to slack off. They had to start as early as possible in order to make sure that their company would be able to keep up with changing market trends!

Through this conversation, Ves not only learned the importance of studying intact alien starships, but also gained more insight into the future pattern of the starship market.

Once the time had come for both of them to part ways, Melaia Murphy shook hands with Ves once again.

"Thank you again for what you have done for our Murphy Family. My mother has been less strict as of late. My sister and I have obtained considerably more leeway in what we can do in our respective positions. The Open Consortium is also working out a lot better than we hoped, though it is too early to make a definite conclusion."

"The Open Consortium will stand the test of time." Ves confidently stated. "It is one of the few organizations that is truly bound by trust. Every consortium partner can do business with each other with the assurance that none of them will backstab each other. There aren't many organizations at this level that can make the same promise."

"That is so, but there are more factors at play than trust, Patriarch Ves. Power, connections and wealth are also indispensable, and we are currently short in all of these areas."

Ves thought about her words when Melaia and her people boarded a shuttle and flew back to the salvage fleet.

The Open Consortium was still on shaky grounds due to the lack of those fundamentals. Ves wasn't sure whether Chairwoman Calsie could hold down the fort without the proximity of the rest of the Larkinson Clan.

"I hope she can surprise me." Ves muttered under her breath.

To most of the people in the expeditionary fleet, the saga surrounding the pakklaton refugee fleet had finally come to a close. The expeditionary fleet had already prepared a long time ago and finally transitioned back into FTL travel.

The expedition to the deeper parts of the Krakatoa Middle Zone was back on track!

At this time, Ves juggled several responsibilities. He not only helped with setting up the T Institute, but also had to make sure the pakklaton prisoners were taken care of while they remained captive inside the Dragon's Den.

That latter group was providing Ves with a lot of headaches.

Director Ranya expressed more and more frustration with what the Larkinsons were even supposed to do with the aliens.

"We never anticipated that we would host so many alien 'guests' on our ship. Do you know what it means to host tens of thousands of pakklatons? Once the initial panic has died down, they have begun to stir up trouble. Even though we continually emphasize that they should obey our arrangements, these avian aliens are highly emotional and react differently to what has happened to them. I hope you know where we should put them, because we do not have the manpower or facilities to house the pakklaton prisoners in the long-term!"

Ves let out a deep breath. "I can understand your difficulties, but try your best to cope with the situation. If the Larkinson Biotech Institute is short on manpower, then ask for help from the Larkinson Army. Try your best to keep the pakklatons in line. I have a few plans in store for them but many of them will require us to host the aliens in our fleet for at least a year and likely more."

"Why so, sir?"

"Because they will soon be used as test subjects."

"...Clever." Dr. Ranya said. "Human rights don't apply to aliens because they are literally not human. Hence, we can perform any experiments on them as we like. With aliens, we do not have to be concerned about violating any ethical or legal boundaries. As long as we refrain from researching weapons of mass destruction, we can get away with anything. The only concern here is whether your experiments on the pakklatons will have any relevance on other species."

"You don't need to be worried about that." Ves told her. "The pakklatons are similar enough to humans in terms of their mentalities that they can definitely provide a lot of research data. I just need to set up the right research institution to conduct the necessary studies."

The news that Ves planned to create the T Institute came as a surprise to Dr. Ranya.

She initially argued that the preparations she had made should already be sufficient to allow the Larkinson Biotech Institute to conduct this research, but Ves was adamant in his choice.

"The emphasis on the two institutes are substantially different. I don't want you guys to split your focus. The T Institute also requires researchers who possess different specialties."

Though Dr. Ranya was concerned that the status of the Larkinson Biotech Institute would fall because of this, Ves quickly reassured her. The LBI would remain important for times to come.

"There may even be research projects where both research institutes will have to work together. You won't be left out, Ranya."

"I hope that is the case."