The Mech Touch

s.
”However, I intend to make a stop at Leemar before returning to the Bright Republic.
Please set course to the Leemar System first. ”

The Barracuda was his ship to begin with, so he could do whatever he wanted.
Right now, Ves wished to pay a visit to his master and ask for help in studying his condition.
The CFA never really bothered keeping Ves up to date with all of the details, so he hoped to borrow Master Olson ’s influence in making sure they hadn ’t messed up his body.

In addition, Ves also planned to pay a visit to the Clifford Society ’s club house on Leemar II.
He didn ’t forget why he signed on to the expedition in the first place.

”Four-hundred merits.
I can buy almost anything with this much wealth. ”

Even a single merit held significant value, because they allowed members access to some of the restricted books in the libraries.
Having several hundred merits all at once meant that if Ves so decided, he could hole up in the Moon Library pretty much forever.

”I can ’t really do that without leaving my Living Mech Corporation out to dry.
It badly needs to expand its catalog of designs. ”

Ves always planned to pave the way for him to design an original mech.
By shaking himself loose from the restrictions revolving around designing variants off other people ’s work, he ’d save billions up-front and a few hundred-thousand credits more with each mech sale!

”At the very least, I ’ll have to hire a hacker to unlock the restriction on my recovered Dortmund printer.
Then, I ’ll have to purchase a high-quality alloy compressor and chemical treatment machine. ”

The latter two machines allowed him to fabricate mechs for the premium segment.
While they demanded a higher standard of quality, they also boasted much higher profit margins, which would be of great help in a time when the cost of resources kept going up.

Besides acquiring new machines, Ves also wanted to browse their library of component licenses.
The Leemar Institute of Technology maintained a large network of mech designers and developers who both offered each other what they needed.
He looked forward to see if he could pick up a bargain.

As the Barracuda prepared to transition into FTL, Ves first caught up with his subordinates.
First, he inquired Captain Silvestra on what his corvette experienced during his stay on Groening IV.

”We stayed out of the fighting, if that ’s what you ’re concerned.
We mainly acted as forward scouts that explored the star systems surrounding the Groening System in order to send back word of any incoming threats.
When the expeditionary fleet suffered a defeat, the Barracuda received orders to stay behind and maintain her post. ”

Nothing exciting happened to his ship, to his relief.
”Did you get into trouble with the liaison sent by House Kaine? ”

”No, sir.
He kept to himself and behaved cordially among us women.
Security Officer Sipos made sure he didn ’t get the opportunity to access any restricted systems. ”

”Good.
Continue onwards to Leemar.
I don ’t mind if you splurge on the fuel, just get me there quickly. ”

”It ’s not advisable to travel outside of a convoy, sir.
I highly suggest you wait and join a well-protected group of trade vessels. ”

While she had a good point, she also boasted many times that his corvette could avoid and outrun any possible pirate ambushes.
”I ’m short on time and I really need to get to my destination quickly.
Sticking to a convoy means that we ’ll be shackled to the slowest ship in the group. ”

The captain relented after Ves insisted.
With that out of the way, he returned to his stateroom.
Lucky lounged on his bed, but after he came in the cat jumped aside and greeted him with a rub.

”Hey there buddy.
I ’ve missed you too. ” Ves said and picked up his mechanical cat.
”Have you produced a lot of gems yet? ”

The cat meowed at him in an an affirmative tone and padded over to a box filled with a couple of gems.
Ves also found his comm among the jewels, which he quickly picked up and put over his wrist.

”I ’ve missed you too, System. ”

After playing around with Lucky for a few minutes, Ves approached his desk and sat down behind his terminal.
It had been a long time since he last checked in on his business.
The first person he called was Carlos, who appeared on the projector after a few seconds.

”Ves! You ’re back on the grid! ”

”It ’s been rough out here, but I ’ve survived. ” He replied with a smile.
”Is the workshop still intact? ”

”Nothing happened.
It ’s business at usual around here.
I ’ve been churning out the silver label Mark II ’s for over three months. ”

Carlos laid out the numbers to him.
He fabricated and delivered seventeen Mark II ’s, which largely adhered to the schedule Ves had laid out.
Each Mark II sold for 28 million credits, but the cost of raw materials had also risen in recent times, so the average costs amount to around 19 million credits per mech.

After deducting some of his costs such as his mech broker ’s cut, the Living Mech Corporation earned an overall profit of 120 million credits.
This was a generous sum of money, but Ves found it to be a little meager.

Added up with what he saved in his piggy bank as well as his family ’s investment, Ves had around 668 million credits at his disposal.
Such a vast sum of money dried up very fast if he started shopping around some decent component licenses.

Ves nodded at Carlos while he continued to run the numbers in his mind.
”Continue on with your work.
You did well with keeping up with a stable rate of production.
Once I return, I ’ll make some changes to our working environment. ”

After Ves signed off, he leaned back in his chair and considered his financial situation.
He possessed decent sum of money and merits, but not enough.
If he wanted to fulfill his dream of designing an original mech, he had to acquire a lot more money at the very least.

”I ’ve learned a lot from my recent trip, and my skills have matured a bit.
I should make use of my improved capabilities. ”

While Ves could scrounge up some money by fabricating a handful of gold label mechs, their shrinking profit margins made it a thankless job.
Ves had no enthusiasm of relegating himself to a full-time fabricator.

What he really needed was to fabricate a high-margin product like his planned-for but never-seen ruby label product line.
It was time for him to call Marcella and see whether she could find a client for him that was willing to spend a lot of credits.