The Mech Touch

"Your wife has the right idea, boss. Your living mech models are in high demand, especially now that you have become a household name to red humanity. Many people have come to believe that a mech designer who happened to become a tier 3 galactic citizen in record time shouldn't be that bad at his job. In fact, sales of all our the LMC's products have skyrocketed."

After Gloriana gave him the idea of selling more of his works on the mech market, Ves decided to meet with his personal assistant in order to explore the viability of this strategy.

With everything that had happened as of late, Ves had neglected the business side of his clan. It couldn't be helped. His attention span was limited and too many changes had occurred. The income provided by the Living Mech Corporation also increasingly fell behind his clan's growing needs.

The income and merits earned from the last two battles far exceeded the earning potential of the EMC in its current state!

Unless its sales volume reached a titanic height, it was difficult to earn a lol of profit from selling mechs.

A typical second-class mech sold for around 1 MTA credit. While the profit margin was quite good at first glance, there were too many factors that reduced it by a considerable extent.

The biggest limitation at the moment was the lack of direct production. Aside from the Cat Nest and various other manufacturing complexes set up on a number of other planets, the EMC simply didn't have enough factories to meet the enormous demand.

This forced the LMC to outsource a lot of production to third-party manufacturers, which brought its own share of headaches as living mechs had to be produced in a specific manner in order to guarantee its quality.

In addition, materials become scarcer and more difficult to source over time. If not for the fact that Ves and the Larkinson Clan earned so much prestige that they were able to secure the cooperation of more material suppliers, they wouldn't have been able to increase their production any further!

Gavin patiently explained the changing dynamic in the mech market and mech industry.

"All of our bestsellers have experienced a resurgence. From budget models such as the Desolate Soldier to more premium mechs such as the Ferocious Piranha, they are all being bought at higher rates, so much so that the LMC is looking to raise their prices yet again. What is interesting is that the growing demand doesn't come from the Krakatoa and Magalr Middle Zones anymore. We have pretty much reached saturation in those markets. It is the more distant middle zones that are truly becoming aware of our product lines and what they have to offer to them. While certain models such as the Pacifier have already penetrated those markets in advance, our other offerings are beginning to get sold in greater numbers as well."

It was a bit troublesome to supply mechs to those distant markets. Shipping across different zones was expensive and troublesome. The only way the LMC could properly profit from this rapidly growing trend was to build new factories in distant branches or contract a host of regional third-party manufacturers to do all of the work.

In any case, the LMC was bound to become a brand that would have a presence in every middle zone, including the ones that foil under the spheres of influence of the Terrans and the Rubarthans!

Though Ves did not really appreciate the profits earned from selling second-class mechs, he knew that it was still necessary for the LMC to remain fresh and relevant.

Mech designers existed to serve mech pilots. That meant that the more mech pilots came into contact with his mechs, the more validation Ves would receive in turn!

The Kingdom of Mechs and by extension the Red Kingdom tracked everything related to mechs.

Not only that, they issued rewards based on how much a mech designer contributed to the mech community and society as a whole.

Ves gained a clearer understanding why mech designers who mostly played around with virtual mechs found It much more difficult to advance up the ranks. He also understood why mech designers who worked at design studios broke through at a slower rate despite working on lots of projects.

The second-class mech market still held a lot of value to mech designers like Ves.

The same could be said for third-class mech markets, though to a lesser degree. He figured that the Red Kingdom weighed every contribution based on its positive impact on human society. Third-class mechs were too weak to significantly affect the overall destiny of red humanity.

"Are there any market trends that we should pay attention to, Benny?" Ves asked. "For example, what sort of products is the market looking forward to the most?"

Gavin smiled at Ves. "The New Elites Program has changed demand practically overnight. For better or worse, many people are scrambling to become linefighters or warfighters. However, it is not easy for mech forces to obtain larger quantities of carrier vessels. Unlike before, many wealthy and powerful leaders are being pressured to lake part in these dangerous incursions. They don't want to bet their lives on a limited amount of shaky mechs that are completely unsuited to fight against warships. They are willing to invest big money into the most premium machines they can obtain. The demand and market viability of quasi-first-class mechs like the ones you are working on have become a lot more attractive as of late."

Ves nodded in understanding. Perhaps his understanding of the second-class mech market had become outdated.

"What do you recommend we do, Benny? You should possess a sufficient understanding of the state of the LMC and the products we can release on the market. Are there any mech models of ours that you think will sell extremely well if we put them up for sale?"

Gavin paused in thought. "1 can think of a handful of niche products that can refresh our product catalog and sell decently well. The Stormblade Samurai designed by Ketis is relatively cheap and economical in relation to its power. The use of stormblade technology enables these mechs to wear down transphasic energy shields faster without relying on phasewarer. However, this is not what the would-be warlords are looking for. The Storm Sword Project that your former protege is working on is much more in line with their needs."

The Storm Sword Project promised to become one of the most powerful standard melee mech models of the current generation. Ketis wanted to combine the best traits of the Second Sword and the Stormblade Samurai in a single quasi-first-class transphasic mech frame!

Ves could not imagine how effectively the Storm Swords would be able to overwhelm the defenses of alien warships once Ketis had completed her project!

"I can see what you mean, bur as far as I know, Ketis only has the Swordmaidens in mind when it conies to this project. The skill requirements are too high and specific. General swordsman mech pilots won't be able to handle the Storm Swords proficient enough."

"Perhaps you can encourage her to design a commercial variant of the Storm Sword Project once she is done." Gavin suggested. "She doesn't have to do much to make it ready for the market. She can keep much of the same tech, but make it more compatible with a variety of sword types."

"That sounds great, but we should leave this decision to Ketis. The Storm Sword Project is her baby. You can pass on your suggestion to her, and let her decide whether she wants to release another powerful swordsman mech onto the market. Her Monster slayer model is still doing well, right?"

"It is, but not as much as we hoped. The Monster Slayer is not the most suitable mech to fight against the aliens. It is purely landbound, which means it can only fight against alien troops that have bothered to deploy onto the surface of a planet. It is also a pure melee mech, which means it has to get within striking distance in order to fulfill its purpose. Most of the alien raiding fleets that have showed up so far rarely give landbound melee mechs a chance to strike. They just rely on orbital bombardment to soften up the defenses of a colony before launching lots of starfighters to achieve air superiority."

While it was possible for landbotmd mechs to equijt merit rifles in a hurry, their accuracy and other parameters would definitely not be good. It would have been much better to field dedicated ranged mechs instead.

"What do you think about the sales potential of the Fey Project?"

"It is difficult to say." The assistant frowned. "We have yet to conduct any serious market research because we did not expect you to think about putting it up for sale. Our marketing managers are not familiar with the market conditions of drone mechs, and yours is a lot more special due to designing it as a quasi-first-class mech. My gut feeling says that as long as it is good enough, it has the potential to become a must-have for any leader who is trying to become a warlord."

The Fey Project offered many different ways to mitigate losses in battles against formidable alien warships.

From disguising its semi-disposable fey as fully capable mechs to adding extra firepower to any force, the Fey Project had the potential to become a lifesaver to its users!

If Ves remained as selfish as before, he would have never put any serious thought about selling it on the market. He did not want his rivals to learn about strengths and weaknesses so that they could develop counters in advance.

However, now that the Red Two frowned upon conflict between human forces, Ves no longer had as much concerns as before.

So what if he sold the Fey Project? Spreading them out among the second-class forces that needed its capabilities the most was not only profitable, but would definitely save the lives of a lot of New Elites!

"Alright. I am convinced. Let's reorient the Fey Project as a commercial product." Ves spoke in a more decisive tone now that he had made up his mind. "With my reputation, I don't think we have to worry about lack of sales. So long as its performance is up to our expectations, it shouldn't matter too much if its price is too exorbitant. The premium on phasewater also shouldn't be too much of an issue. I will make sure the Fey Project is powerful enough to justify this added cost!"

Ves possessed a lot of confidence in the power of the Fey Project. Although he hadn't been able to make much progress since he conceived of this mech design, he was confident that he could solve all of the challenges as long as he spent enough time!

After Ves dealt with the Fey Project, he recalled another commercial mech that the LMC released in recent times.

"How are the sales of the Second Eye, Benny?"

"Sales used to be slow, but they are starting to ramp up. This is mostly due to your reputation instead of a growing appreciation for its unique feature. Personally, I expect this to change. From the handful of positive reports I have read, the Second Eye is particularly useful in identifying the weak points of unshielded alien warships as well as alien fortifications. Its effectiveness is not great against alien energy shields despite having a heavy laser luminar crystal rifle in its default loadout, but the story is different once their owners have swapped out the weapons with transphasic rifles."

Ves designed the Second Eye with different circumstances in mind. How could he know that the Great Severing as well as the New Elites Program would induce so many changes in demand?

still, it was a good idea to equip the Second Eye with transphasic armaments. It was not necessary for the LMC to supply these high-end weapons. Most organizations that were able to afford high-end transphasic weapons could usually obtain them from their own channels!

"Hopefully, enough New Elites will recognize how much value the Second Eye can bring to their operations."