The Mech Touch

Ves and Matriarch Rezzie Boojay continued to haggle the broad strokes of their agreement in the next ten minutes.

They debated on many different points and constantly made compromises in order to reluctantly satisfy both of their needs.

However, neither side wanted to walk away from this mutually beneficial deal so easily, so they kept pressing on in order to finalize a general framework of their agreement.

In the end, the Larkinson Clan ultimately agreed to bless a single ace mech-grade weapon and a single expert-grade mech weapon for the Boojay Family.

"I would be happy to upgrade the main weapon of the Royal Jeem as well as that of your high-tier expert space knight." Ves smiled like a salesman that had just closed a massive deal where he was bound to earn a lot of commission.

Matriarch Rezzie Boojay did not look entirely happy. "What of our expert missileer mech? Why are you unable to provide the same service to this machine?"

Ves sighed. "I am sad to say that I am probably unable to be of any use to your expert missileer mech. Missile launchers are glorified collections of tubes and don't really play a significant role in the firepower or penetration properties of their damage output. The only way to apply my new method to this expert mech is to 'bless' each and every individual consumable missile. This is an enormous waste of time and resources. Not only do I have to work on an excessive number of missiles, they won't even last as they will blow up as soon as they are put to use against enemy targets. Why not consider other expert mechs?"

"No. Two orders will be enough for us, then. What are your prices in phasewater?"

"I charge 50 kilograms of phasewater to augment an ace mech-grade weapon and 10 kilograms of phasewater to do the same for an expert mech-grade weapon."

The matriarch of the Boojay Family momentarily exposed her shock at the high price tag.

"That is excessive, Patriarch Larkinson! It is much more reasonable to charge 10 kilograms for our largest order. You are only applying your method to a single weapon, not an entire mech. I doubt this costs as much as you want us to believe."

Ves snorted. "You are welcome to turn to other suppliers if you want to get a better deal. Don't think about what you are giving up. Think about what you are getting in return. 50 kilograms of phasewater will turn your Royal Jeem into an unstoppable offensive powerhouse that can defeat pretty much every other ace mech at its level. Doesn't that sound much more valuable than risking the life of your ace pilot and the rest of your fleet?"

The two continued to haggle until they finalized their agreement.

Ves had eventually been persuaded to lower his prices to 40 kilograms to augment the spear of the Royal of the Royal Jeem and 7 kilograms of phasewater to do the same for the mech sword of a high-tier expert space knight.

In exchange, Ves received all of the payment upfront, and also took responsibility if he somehow ruined the weapons when they were temporarily under his care.

Of course, the Boojay Family couldn't arbitrarily declare the weapons ruined when they finally received them again. Ves especially did not want the Boojays to blame him if Saint Kalasandra Boojay somehow couldn't get along with her new living weapon and its attached design spirit.

If any disputes took place, both sides would present their case to the MTA so that they could obtain a fair and impartial judgment.

Arbitrating disputes relating to mechs was one of the core functions of the Mech Trade Association. The mechers had worked hard to build up a reputation of neutrality. They could be trusted to refrain from playing favorites, even if the Larkinson Clan was much closer to the MTA than the Boojay Family.

Although the two sides hadn't signed a formal agreement yet, it was only a matter of time before the lawyers and nitpickers of the Larkinson Clan and the Boojay Family finalized a formal contract.

Ves and Matriarch Rezzie Boojay already shook hands with each other. This turned out to be a little awkward due to their protective gear.

"We will transport 47 kilograms of phasewater as well as the two mech weapons to your fleet as soon as our contract goes in effect." The leader of the Boojay Family said. "We trust you not to renege on this deal. The main reason why I agreed to pay upfront to begin with is because you have developed a good reputation in your business dealings. It surprises me that you are much less volatile outside of combat and mech design."

"I started from the bottom, matriarch, so I have a great understanding of the necessity of money, resources, assets and relationships in my business ventures. I can't play around as much if I'm broke. You can rest assured that I will make excellent use of the 47 kilograms of phasewater that will enter my vault soon."

"Please do not remind me of how much of our spoils we have given up in exchange for your services."

Ves chuckled as the matriarch finally went away.

He still couldn't believe that he actually managed to force the Boojay Family to cough up 47 kilograms of phasewater!

He had almost doubled his initial share of phasewater for participating in Operation Lighthouse!

This was a much greater sacrifice than the annual sum of phasewater the Hex Federation paid to the Larkinson Clan in exchange for the right to gain access to the proprietary Mental Simulation Training System!

Ves metaphorically rubbed his palms as the next potential customer walked up to his position.

The man looked different from the rest as he wore a ceremonial version of a white lab coat over a more protective suit that was mainly designed to cope with laboratory accidents.

It was clear to see that the man was much more at home in a research lab as opposed to a boardroom.

"Patriarch Larkinson. I am Stanley Goetha, a vice director of the Xenoarchaeology Division of the Lehrer Foundation. You have mentioned earlier that you are willing to take alternative forms of payment for your services, including knowledge on various subjects, is that correct?"

Ves smiled in return. "That is correct, though I want to make it clear that I won't accept a crummy pile of outdated university-level textbooks that will not be able to help our clan develop stronger mechs. I am primarily interested in any R&D related to transphasic mech systems."

"The Lehrer Foundation does not put too much emphasis in this field." Vice Director Goetha replied in a firm tone. "We can offer other advancements in fields that are much more infrastructural in nature. For example, I am authorized to share useful research and powerful applications related to robotics, automation and industrial processes."

"That sounds interesting, but it won't make our mechs stronger. I am looking for innovations that will allow us to gain a greater advantage on the battlefield. All of that fancy tech that you have mentioned earlier won't be any use of a powerful alien fleet that has smashed through our mech forces and pounded our starships into scrap."

"Do not be in a hurry to dismiss our offer." Vice Director Goetha calmly said. "For example, not all of our robotics and automation projects are civilian in nature. We have developed plenty of products that are relevant on the battlefield as well."

The man waved his arm, exposing numerous mechs that carried extra modules on their backs.

The live test footage showed different prototype mechs fighting against many different opponents.

While the prototype mechs were mostly armed with rifles that allow them to take potshots at long range, their primary weapon systems turned out to be combat drones!

These weren't the standalone starfighter-sized drones employed by the alien pirates during the Battle of the Boryan Belt.

The drones developed by the Lehrer Foundation were instead designed to be paired with specialized drone-carrying mechs.

Although Ves could easily design a mech with a similar configuration, it was pretty much impossible for him to develop a drone mech as good as the ones developed by the Lehrer Foundation!

As Ves carefully studied the edited footage, he could clearly see that the drones looked like they were excellently controlled. They moved and fought far better than typical off-the-shelf combat drones.

He was especially impressed by how well they coordinated with each other!

The more combat drones on the battlefield, the greater their cooperation!

"It would take weeks if not months to explain all of the nuances and technical innovations that make our drones so effective." Vice Director Goetha said with a smile when he noticed that Ves had become fascinated with what he saw. "In the interest of brevity, I will mention three key systems that are key components to our drone mechs."

The man swiped his finger. The projection changed to display specialized AI processors.

"It begins with the AIs that independently govern the behavior of the combat drones. Their movements, their damage mitigation actions, their targeting priority, their aiming systems and more must all be accomplished by the drones themselves in order to ensure minimum latency. Networking is too unreliable as heavy jamming is prevalent in congested battlefields. Our investment in AIs is so great that each of the ones that we have developed for every individual combat drone performs no worse than if it was controlled by a professional mech pilot."

"That is a bold claim." Ves said.

"I am not in the habit of making statements that are groundless. I can provide you with sufficient data to prove my assertions."

"I get it. Can you continue?"

"Very well, patriarch." The older man swiped his finger again. "Next is the specialized neural interface. You see, our foundation does not support total automation, not just because it is dangerous, but also because we believe that human direction will complement our combat drones."

Ves took a closer look at the projection of the neural interface. "How much control can the pilot exert over the combat drones? How much of a burden do they need to endure to keep track of so many individual machines?"

"It is not as difficult as it looks. We have worked hard to reduce the mental burden to the mech pilot as much as possible. The pilot will only receive filtered input from the combat drones, and should exert enough control over them by issuing simple commands that the AIs will interpret to the best of their abilities. We liken it to a mech officer that is issuing orders to a mech squad. We also provide the possibility for the pilot to assume more direct control over the combat drones, but the burden on the mind can quickly escalate. In practice, only mech pilots with above average genetic aptitudes can pilot mechs paired with more than two combat drones."

That was certainly impressive. Ves already began to entertain many new ideas as he grew fascinated with the possibilities opened up by drone mechs.

"What is the third component of your drone system?"

"The designs of our combat drones themselves." Vice Director Goetha smiled as the projection changed to display the exterior of numerous existing models. "We are aware that you and your clan excel at mech design, but combat drones are substantially different products. Perhaps your design teams will be able to develop fantastic combat drones after spending decades on developing the right competences, but we can give you a considerable head-start by transferring our designs of our older generation drone products."

Ves furrowed his brows. "I can obtain combat drone designs from many different channels."

"That is true, but we will provide detailed annotations with ours. Please remember that our combat drones are specifically designed to work with our distinctive drone systems. The advanced AIs and the specialized neural interfaces will not be able to display their full potential when paired with generic combat drones."

"I see."