The Mech Touch

The Golden Skull Alliance organized a small scouting mission to Auralis, the first planet in the Garimel System.

Such an exploration task ordinarily shouldn't have attracted a lot of attention. Auralis was presumably filled with heavy metals, but its orbit was a bit too close to the blue supergiant star to make the trip pleasant.

However, once the Larkinsons figured out that the abnormal space rock may have originated from this heavy terrestrial planet, Ves developed a greater need to explore this former rogue planet.

The difficult part was to pick who should perform this mission.

The Flagrant Vandals bravely took up this task and dispatched a modified combat carrier to Auralis. They weren't going alone as small mech detachments from the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan transferred to the vessel as well.

"Whatever secrets you Larkinsons stumble upon, we want in on it as well. Don't think of keeping all of the good stuff to yourself."

The departure of the combat carrier put a heavy weight on Ves.

If the ship and personnel suffered an accident at Auralis, then he would definitely be responsible for sending his people to their deaths.

On the other hand, it was their job to brave these kinds of risks. Auralis needed to be explored and the automated drones in the hands of the Golden Skull Alliance didn't cut it. Sending in an old-fashioned ship was the only realistic way to explore the planet that was being obscured in an abundance of radiation and interference that generated large concentrations of exotic materials.

As Ves watched the reinforced combat carrier depart from the main fleet, he wondered if he had made the right choice. He could have resisted the urge to explore this unknown planet and make everyone keep their distance.

If the exploration mission inadvertently triggered a dangerous response, then not just the combat carrier, but also the rest of the expeditionary fleet might come under threat!

"You made a decision that made sense to you given the information you have available to you." Calabast quietly spoke as she stood at his side. "There is little point in obsessing over what-ifs. Whether the outcome is good or bad, you need to roll with it and continue to do what you think is best."

She was right. Leadership was never easy. Hard choices couldn't be avoided and mistakes were always possible.

"We need to remain alert and be ready to move or defend ourselves." Ves sighed. "Our stay in this star system will only grow tenser."

"We can endure the hardships and inconveniences. The clan you've built is not weak anymore." Calabast spoke with genuine pride.

As one of the founding members of the Larkinson Clan, she played a major role in shaping it into its current form.

The only issue was that her influence wasn't as noticeable as that of the patriarch due to the nature of her responsibilities.

Where there was light, there was darkness.

Calabast was the shadow of the Larkinson Clan.

Her role was essential in a clan that consisted of a lot of upright soldiers and warriors. Ves was not short of Larkinsons who excelled in fighting and winning battles against powerful mech forces or alien fleets.

What the Larkinsons were not good at was the kind of subterfuge and shadow wars that every organization participated in when it reached a certain scale.

Peace was a lie. Groups constantly struggled against each other even if they acted politely towards each other in public. Ves was vaguely aware that competition for territory, influence, market share and wealth constantly took place behind closed doors.

Ves already understood that the Larkinson Clan was already beginning to reach a point where its continued growth would threaten the interests of competing organizations.

The rise of the Open Consortium had already ruffled the feathers of competitors in the Davute Star System such as ZZR Heavy Manufacturing.

From the periodic reports he received from Chairwoman Calsie Doornbos, the Open Consortium was facing increasing difficulties in securing trade deals due to the pushback generated by a number of new and old enemies.

A particularly prominent obstacle was the increasingly more aggressive posture of ZZR Heavy Manufacturing. The industrial company led by that insufferable Tyana Delcrost banded together with other allied companies in order to check the growth of their competitors.

Since the Open Consortium mostly consisted of companies that weren't strong enough to stand on their own, it could not shrug off this threat.

If the Black Cats expanded their presence in Davute, then the Open Consortium would have a much better chance at resisting both veiled and open attacks.

The Larkinsons might even choose to strike back themselves!

Given that the Larkinson Clan would have to rely on the Black Cats even more, Ves did not immediately dismiss Calabast after she had reported to him in person.

He grew curious about the current state of the Black Cats. He hadn't visited them in a while and did not have a clear impression about where they stood at this point in time.

Hearing about them from Calabast was only one way of gathering information. Since Ves had a more relaxed schedule after ending the last design round, he could afford to make a trip to the Blinding Banshee.

He shuttled over to the unusually narrow capital ship. Her large and abundant sensor arrays, which had all been modified to prevent themselves from getting blinded by overly powerful signal sources, were continuing to map out the star system while trying to detect as many abnormalities as possible in the space surrounding Lemogo Distat.

The gas giant was not that interesting in itself, but its larger moons were roughly the size of smaller planets. Satellites of that size were bound to contain a larger variety of materials and possibly other interesting properties.

While the Larkinson Clan's new scout mechs surveyed the moons close to the surface, the Blinding Banshee did her own part by performing large-scale distance scanning.

Aside from investigating the moons, the Blinding Banshee also kept a close eye on the surrounding space environment. Every threat that entered the perimeter of the expeditionary fleet had to be detected before it could inflict any damage!

"Are you satisfied with the Blinding Banshee?" Ves inquired.

"She has served us well so far, but… her sensor arrays and analytical systems are already showing their age." Calabast seriously answered. "Their performance would be adequate if we remained in the galactic rim, but now that we have entered a bigger and more dangerous playground, we need to upgrade her main systems so that she can keep up with our growing demands. Not only will we be able to detect or deter the approach of more advanced stealth vehicles, we will also be able to gather more detailed and accurate observation data."

As someone who briefly contributed to the Light Hunter and Signal Bearer designs, Ves understood the differences between basic and more advanced sensor systems.

The Blinding Banshee was a second-hand capital ship to begin with that had already been in service for numerous years.

Ever since the Larkinson Clan took possession of her, she did not receive any comprehensive upgrades. Much of her hardware still consisted of effective but aging rim-level technology.

Ves looked at the needle-shaped capital ship and tried to estimate the cost and time of refitting the entire hull.

If the clan undertook this major step, then he did not want to start a half-hearted upgrade program. The capital ship would be out of action for several months at the very least, so he might as well invest big while the Blinding Banshee was out of action.

Calabast had apparently anticipated the direction of his thoughts because she soon transmitted a document to his comm.

"What's this?" Ves asked as he projected the new file in front of his face.

"I consulted with Chief Shipwright Vivian Tsai on how we can realistically upgrade the Blinding Banshee. While she is technically classified as a capital ship, her exceptionally narrow hull makes it easier for shipbuilding companies to upgrade her systems. We can even perform many of them on our own if we are willing to leave the Diligent Ovenbird in Davute."

Ves quickly skimmed through the report. It outlined several different proposals on how to upgrade the Blinding Banshee.

"The most basic proposal is budgeted at around 5000 MTA credits." Calabast explained. "While this is a fairly hefty sum to spend on a single auxiliary capital ship, we can replace many of our aging rim-level ship parts with more modern heartland-level equivalents. The prices are high but the performance of all of the new systems will ensure that they will be able to keep up with our demands for the remainder of the current generation."

That was quite an impressive boast, especially when Ves noted from the report that the proposal did not seek to buy the top-of-the-shelf ship components.

Ves was quite satisfied with the cost-effectiveness of this plan. "This is quite a bargain. Sensor systems, scanning systems, ECM systems, ECCM systems, analytical engines and many other systems will all perform around 50 percent better on average. What about the more expensive proposals?"

"They're meant to keep the Blinding Banshee relevant and up to date for up to half a century if our standards haven't grown since then." Calabast grinned. "With 30,000 to 40,000 MTA credits, we can not only buy the more premium ship components, but also upgrade the hull and structural integrity of our espionage ship. Making her tougher will not only help with increasing her survivability in battle, but it will also allow her to enter more hazardous areas where her excellent detection capabilities can play an essential role."

The scouting mission to Auralis was a typical example of that. Ves had thought about sending in the Blinding Banshee, but had no choice but to dismiss this option as her hull offered insufficient protection against the heat and energies released by the blue supergiant star!

Although Ves was attracted by the prospect of rebirthing one of his older and weaker capital ships, the price tags of the more expensive proposals gave him a lot of pain.

"Our spending capacity isn't great at the moment." He slowly said. "Personally, I think it is worthwhile for us to invest 30,000 MTA credits into upgrading your mobile headquarters. Capital ships are extremely hard to obtain in the Red Ocean and a ship that excels in reconnaissance and espionage-related functions rarely enters the civilian ship market."

The Blinding Banshee might not be the best or the most up to date of her kind, but these were shortcomings that could always be addressed with enough upgrades. The Larkinsons just needed to be willing to spend enough time and money to make everything happen.

"Our clan's financial situation will probably see a massive improvement once you have released your next batch of commercial mechs." Calabast stated. "Given your track record and the excellent value of your products, I have little doubt you will find a way to increase our income by an order of magnitude."

"Whoa, there, Calabast. Let's not get too excited here. Increasing our monthly income by a factor of ten is not a given considering all of the competition we face. The Red Ocean's mech market will be especially difficult to enter due to how much it is dominated by larger and much more established mech companies."

There was much less room at the bottom in the new frontier because of all of the powerful pioneering organizations that have passed through the beyonder gate. They all held high standards towards their mechs and were much less reluctant to settle for rougher products designed by younger mech designers.

The LMC would have to fight tooth and nail if it wanted to establish its brand and build a loyal customer base in the Krakatoa Middle Zone and possibly beyond!

"You won't be alone in this." Calabast told him. "My Black Cats and I will support your business endeavors as much as we can. Helping you grow your sales will bring us closer to upgrading our Blinding Banshee, after all. We will not miss this opportunity to obtain a more powerful espionage ship!"