The Mech Touch

Silence fell inside Calabast's office as Ves contemplated his spymaster's ambitious master plan.

He found that Calabast had actually come up with a realistic and doable set of steps. While she wasn't completely able to account for the responses from the competition and the enemies that the Larkinsons would certainly make, nothing of what she demanded from Ves and the clan was impossible to fulfill!

Her arguments were sound and her answers to the various problems he voiced earlier were all logical.

She was also right about the certainty of earning a huge sum of money in the initial months after the release of his ECM mechs.

Setting it up was difficult and required a lot of effort from the Larkinsons. They not only had to launch an enormous publicity campaign, but also conclude enough business deals with as many third-party manufacturers as possible.

The latter step was the most crucial one as the window of opportunity to earn a lot of easy profit would only be valid for a couple of months at most!

After that, the competition would certainly strike back with a vengeance. Those clever and brilliant Masters would definitely come up with a way to restore the viability of their own products.

Although the chance that his new commercial ECM mech models would stop earning money entirely was low, Calabast was right that it did not matter even if Ves pulled them from his product catalog.

Compared to the measly 5000 MTA credits that the LMC was earning from the Yeina Star Cluster, the huge windfall earned in the opening months was enough to upgrade and maybe even expand the expeditionary fleet!

The productivity of ships such as the Spirit of Bentheim could easily quadruple!

The replacement of lower-performing ship parts with higher-performing ones would likely make the fleet at least three times more capable of navigating dangerous situations!

The Larkinson Clan could even equip all of the capital ships with warp drives or superdrives as long as the profits exceeded everyone's expectations!

Providing his fleet with warping capabilities made it much easier to run away from threats, thereby boosting the clan's survivability to a massive degree!

Ves always considered his fleet to be his home base and his stronghold. Strengthening it by loading up on expensive and luxurious goodies was a highly attractive prospect!

Yet… he couldn't ignore the heavy price that he and his clan would have to pay.

"Can we afford to divert so many profits from the pockets of Tiamon Dynamics?" He asked his strategic partner. "I am extremely reluctant to stand out so much when we aren't ready to handle so much heat. I planned to enter the mech market gradually by starting from the bottom and working my way up. We won't be able to earn as much money so fast, but we don't have to watch over our shoulders all of the time. By the time our brand becomes a household name in the Krakatoa mech market, our clan will have grown to the point where we can handle the pressure. Disrupting the market when we are still small fry is highly precarious!"

"You are overestimating the dangers." Calabast retorted as she stepped closer to his seated position. "To be more precise, you are not accounting for all of the ways that we can mitigate the pressure. We are not alone, Ves. Do you think that Master Parian Hao, Master Rievan Miller and Tiamon Dynamics get along well with everybody? There are many people and organizations that cannot wait to tear them down! If my guess is right, as soon as we prove that our new products have the ability to compete against the Xaxu Specter line, we will receive a huge amount of support."

That was another bold statement from Calabast. Ves and his clan had struggled to make friends with local organizations ever since they arrived in the Red Ocean.

While they managed to break the blockade after the Open Consortium went into operation, that still didn't change the fact that the Larkinson Clan was hardly on friendly terms with any of the major players in the region!

Calabast smiled and activated a projection that displayed a map of the Krakatoa Middle Zone.

She pointed at Davute. "This location should be familiar to you. This is the port system where we have decided to operate from. We have not only founded the Open Consortium in this trading center, but are also in the process of setting up a major business operation here. This means that we have joined the camp of Davute for all intents and purposes."

Ves didn't quite agree with that. To him, the Larkinson fleet was his true base, and its mobile nature meant that he would never have to permanently commit to any side.

Still, he did not refute Calabast's words. Others would think differently after seeing what the Larkinsons intended to do in Davute.

The spymaster pointed towards a star system that was located in a different but still fairly central part of Krakatoa.

"This is the Karlach System, which is another port system that a group of powerful pioneers have built up as another major trading nexus. In the future, it is conceivable that both port systems will eventually turn into the economic hubs of emerging second-rate states."

Now that she pointed it out, Ves could indeed imagine this happening in the future. It was too difficult for single star systems to survive and grow when they stood on their own. Mere trade and friendly relations wasn't enough to keep them stable and secure. Only by joining an actual state would these colonies form into proper settlements!

The distance between Davute and Karlach happened to be tricky.

The two port systems were situated far enough away that it would be difficult for them to become a part of the same state.

However, they also happened to be close enough that they were destined to compete against each other in order to capture the greatest share of trade flowing through the Krakatoa Middle Zone!

"I see what you mean." Ves furrowed his brows. "Davute and Karlach are already bitter enemies against each other. Even if they haven't initiated any hostilities yet, it is only a matter of time before the pioneers behind them will fight to establish their hegemony in this zone!"

The pattern of this looming conflict looked familiar to Ves. It was the same sort of rivalry that evoked conflict between the Friday Coalition and the Hexadric Hegemony.

There could be only one!

Neither side was content to share all of the benefits of a region with their neighbors. They wanted it all, and they were quite willing to fight and bet everything they built in order to claim the ultimate prize!

"Ugh." Ves lowered his head. "I am not looking forward to seeing a return to the same stupid wars that divide people in the old galaxy. Why are people so greedy? Why can't we just live in peace and be content with what we have?"

That was quite rich coming from him. Calabast resisted the urge to snort.

"This trend is unstoppable, Ves. What matters is what we do in response to this development. The safest choice is to maintain a neutral posture, but is that truly our best choice?"

"Uhm, yes?"

"It is only safe if you are willing to lay low for a century. Our development prospects will remain slow and sluggish if we don't take any sides. You pay so much attention to planting seeds and waiting for them to grow that you are too quick to dismiss more immediate opportunities. I would not have any objections to your strategy if we are weak. We are stronger than that, though. We can play a much bigger game and win a much larger prize pool as long as you play your cards right!"

"What cards are you talking about?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Calabast grinned. "I'm talking about taking a side. By banding together with the groups that are tied to Davute's success, we can expect to receive a lot of support from them. They have no incentive to make it difficult for us to produce and sell our new mechs en masse. In fact, it is the opposite. They have many reasons to prop up any new ECM mech model that can dethrone the Xaxu Specter line. Not only will the critical success of our new models generate a lot more economic activity in Davute, it will also deprive their direct rivals over at Karlach of much of their current earnings!"

This was the nature of competition. The success of one mech company inevitably meant that another mech company got stepped upon!

When Calabast tied this dynamic to regional rivalries, her argument made a lot more sense to Ves. He could easily foresee that the business community in Davute would be glad to see the LMC rise at the expense of Tiamon Dynamics!

From this perspective, the competition between the LMC and Tiamon Dynamics would actually serve as one of the many proxy wars between the two rising regional powers!

Ves momentarily felt overwhelmed again. Since when did a simple desire to design an ECM mech morph into an elaborate attempt to insert the Larkinson Clan into a rising conflict between two future states?

"This sounds similar to how we got involved in the Hexadric Hegemony! Do we really need to wade into another mud pool once again?"

"You profited immensely from your dealings with the Hexadic Hegemony." Calabast reminded him. "The rewards and support the Hexers have provided you has allowed you to jump from an obscure third-class mech designer to a highly successful second-class mech designer that has managed to enter the Red Ocean largely through his own efforts. Best of all, you have managed to do this while maintaining enough distance from the state that you have associated with. I do not see any reason why you cannot repeat this successful business model once again."

She made yet another clever point. The strategy had worked once and it could work again as long as Ves was able to make his products useful to the local powers!

As long as the Larkinsons didn't become too entrenched in Davute, they could always cut their losses and run to another zone if the situation went downhill!

In the meantime, the Larkinsons could earn a huge amount of profit by working alongside pioneers and organizations that were aiming to achieve dominance in the Krakatoa Middle Zone!

As Ves continued to go over Calabast's various suggestions and answers to remarks, he found that she had done a good job at swaying him to her side!

Who was the actual Devil Tongue in this compartment?

Calabast had him all figured out! There was no way to win a verbal argument against an actual master of the dark arts of persuasion!

"Okay." Ves sighed. "I no longer have much doubt about the viability of your plan. We'll be playing with fire if we go through with this, but if we can earn at least a couple of million MTA credits from this ambitious venture, then I suppose it is worth the attempt. There's just one question, though."

"Hm?"

"Why?"

"You need to clarify that, Ves."

"Why are you in such a hurry all of a sudden? Why do you want us to forgo a safer development trajectory and increase our income by at least a thousand times so quickly?"

"That is a good question." Calabast paced her office as she crossed her arms. "I believe we can afford to take calculated risks. The business strategies you have in mind are too conservative. While I would have no complaints if you are only a regular Journeyman, we both know you are not. You have the spark of greatness in you. The successes that you have achieved in the old galaxy more than proves your potential to rise up in the Red Ocean. This makes you qualified to compete for market domination when the mech market in this dwarf galaxy is still in flux. Once you are able to sit on the throne that you have usurped, you and everyone else who follows you will become a part of the emerging power structure of the new frontier!"