Prev Next
Published at 24th of June 2019 03:05:12 PM
Chapter 574
If Ves had to describe the mech industry, he would equate it to a pyramid .

Sponsored Content

The massive trans-galactic corporations sat at the top . Their businesses spanned entire star sectors and copies of their supremely optimised mechs got sold by the trillions every day .

The next tier of companies consisted of trans-sector corporations . Their activities transcended the borders between star sectors, and they always took advantage of the different conditions of each star sector .

Further down the pyramid, there were the sector-wide, state-wide, system-wide and planet-based corporations . The lower their tiers, the more of them existed . Technically, the Living Mech Corporation could be counted as a sector-wide corporation, which gave his company a lot of prestige .

At the bottom-most tier, the MTA couldn't even count how many independent mech workshops operated within all of human space . The base of the pyramid was doubtlessly incredibly wide .

Yet the top of the pyramid was rather fat as well . A lot of competition existed in each tier, and no single mech corporation held absolute sway over their markets unless a state had conferred a monopoly to them . All of this activity led to a very high level of friction .

Even with the MTA taking an active hand in regulating all of the mech businesses, their energy could only be spent on so many concerns . They shouldered a lot of responsibilities and generally didn't bother with petty offenses . The association basically handed over responsibility of policing such matters to the local states .

Some states proved to be less diligent than others . Particularly in third-rate states, enforcement of all kinds of rules could be spotty or lax . This opened the door to all sorts of scummy business practices .

A basic way for a company to stiff a customer was to do a sub-par job . For example, instead of delivering a mech worth 40 million Reinaldan marks, they secretly cut some corners and delivered a mech that should actually be valued at 30 million marks instead .

Of course, any mech business that wanted to sell a first-hand mech that was fresh off the production line needed to send it to the MTA for certification . This provided some protection to consumers, but this limited activity didn't cover the entire scope of the mech industry .

"Buying a first-hand mech is safe . Everything else is fraught with scams or rip offs . "

If someone wanted to sell a second-hand mech, they could send it back to the MTA to certify it again for a fee .

Sponsored Content

Most didn't want to pay for the fee or lacked the funds to cover the cost .

Cheapskates that wanted to have it all therefore tended to sell their second-hand mechs directly to buyers through various ways . Of course, without a stamp of approval from the MTA, buyers needed to rely on their own judgement to determine whether they bought the product they expected to receive .

Whiny stories about customers who thought they bought a thoroughbred only to receive mule was widespread on the galactic net . If Ves wanted to have a laugh, he could always visit the forums where scam victims vented their frustrations .


"The second-hand mech market is fraught with both risk and opportunity . "

Sometimes, the seller screwed up . Either they needed to get rid of their mechs in a hurry, or they didn't fully understand the value of the mechs they wanted to sell . Keen buyers could easily pick up a bargain if they watched the market closely . Some fallen mech designers even shifted their careers into full-time mech appraisers to speculate on second-hand mechs or advise other buyers into making a prudent purchase .

"The repair market is also surrounded with pitfalls . "

Mechs suffered damage all the time . They were primarily built for battle, so it shouldn't be any surprise for them to return in a less-than-pristine state . Mech technicians in the employ of smaller outfits only possessed the capacity to perform surface repairs . Anything deeper and more extensive required a full-fledged maintenance department or help from others .

Lots of mech repair businesses set up shop on each planet with a large concentration of mechs and mech pilots . One of the hallmarks of the repair industry was that it suffered from a rock-bottom reputation . Not only were they widely-known as scammers, the sector was also plagued by a lack of capability .

Those in charge of the repair work in these businesses mostly turned out to be retired chief technicians or failed mech designers . Neither of these two types of people possessed any remarkable capabilities compared to a successful mech designer such as Ves . Their prestige was low and their profit margins were even lower due to all of the competition .

The only reliable repair businesses only accepted fixed contracts from long-standing customers . Since the Vandals only visited the Harkensen System sporadically, they fell outside of their ideal customer base .


Sponsored Content
Ves shook his head and readied himself for a long research slog . "I'll have to go dumpster diving . "

He cast his sight on the larger businesses at first . Though they always charged more than their smaller counterparts, they at least had a reputation to uphold since their revenue was substantial and were responsible for employing thousands of mech technicians .

"The only problem is that their premium is too much . "

Picking a larger company wasn't necessarily a good deed . These companies ripped their customers off in more sophisticated ways . If a customer brought up any wrongdoing, the company could basically shrug them off without suffering any loss of business as long as it didn't happen too often .

Many of these repair businesses also had deep ties to various organizations and influences, chief among them was the Reinaldan government . The risk of bumping into a spy or informer was too high for Ves to entrust them with fixing up the Vandal mechs . Even under supervision, there were too many ways for mech technicians to fudge a component or two .

"The smaller businesses aren't any better either . "

Two problems resulted from contracting the smaller companies .

First, they only possessed a limited capacity . As Ves wanted to completely restore at least six-hundred mechs, he would need to contract over a hundred workshops . This kind of sprawl was too burdensome to deal with, as each workshop only employed a few mech technicians each that could only do so much work at a time .

The second and more serious problem was that the smaller workshops largely remained small due to their lack of competitiveness . This mostly translated into lack of capability or incompetence .

None of the mech models that the Vandals worked with were simple . The designs of military-grade mechs incorporated lots of sophisticated components and systems that washed out novice mech designers shouldn't be allowed to get in touch with . Although the smaller businesses often charged the lowest rates, in this case you really got what you paid for . Ves could likely get a better result if he entrusted the work to a monkey with a multitool .

In addition, their lack of business made them highly susceptible to bribes . Anyone that wanted to fudge the Vandal mechs could easily throw a bag of Reinaldan marks at these money-starved beggars . The bag didn't even have to be too big to get a good result .


Sponsored Content
"This leaves me with the midrange repair businesses . "

Overall, the mid-sized companies fell between the two extremes in terms of pricing and other criteria . Ves judged that most employed sufficiently competent mech technicians to perform competent repairs . Yet he also needed to maintain his vigilance around them . They might not be as shrewd as their larger counterparts, but having grown to such a scale gave them a good instinct of how far they could push the boundaries .

Picking the right companies involved a careful selection process where Ves had to dig through the details of each company within the right range . Harkensen III possessed quite a lively mech scene that wasn't too worse off compared to Bentheim, so he had about a hundred companies to consider .

Rick's Repairs, Lovo-Opto Mech Restoration, the Mech Fixers, Argulant Workshop, the names went on and on . Most of the official data only told an incomplete story to Ves . He had to dig deep in the galactic net to get a better picture of their business practices . He ruled out any company with a mountain of recent complaints, which happened to cut his list in half .

Ves then looked at the price quotes, and he cut off those who charged too much of a premium or those who had a habit of adding too many surcharges on their work . This cut his list in half yet again .

He then picked out five companies that delivered decent work while adhering to fairly competitive prices .

"This may not be the most optimal selection, but it will do . "

The only thing he couldn't investigate was their discretion . Perhaps one company was secretly a front for the Vesians, while another opened up their database to a Reinaldan intelligence agency . It was impossible for Ves to uncover these kinds of secrets from the galactic net .

"Paying a visit to each of the five repair businesses will take up too much time . "

Considering that relatively few customers complained about the businesses he selected, Ves thought it would be sufficient if the Vandals supervised and participated in the repairs .

Ves straightened out the details in the next hours . He sorted out the mechs according to their type, their damage and the ease of repair . He then contacted each business and sounded them out . Some companies preferred to work with light mechs, while other companies didn't allow any outsiders to interfere with their work .

"What a mess . "

All of these complications made him want to tear his hair out . Ves had to go back to his list and select other companies to substitute for his initial selections that didn't pan out .

His persistence eventually paid off . He came to a preliminary agreement with five companies that looked good to Ves . Once he determined there was a basis of cooperation with his final selection, he passed the details over to the logistics department to hash out the details .

"My work is done . Lieutenant Commander Soapstone should be able to negotiate some good deals with the parameters I've provided . "

His job as a mech designer only extended to mechs . Issues concerning contracts, purchasing, financing and the like fell under the purview of the bean counters of the Vandals . At the very least, Ves expected them to be glad that his careful market research resulted in substantial savings .

"If the bean counters don't drop the ball, they should achieve cost savings up to sixty percent . "

This would bring the final cost of repairs down to a competitive sum . Ves leaned back against his chair and mentally patted himself on the back . Only a mech designer who entered the mech industry and engaged in many transactions in the private market could be so astute . The careerist mech designers in the Mech Corps were practically dummies in comparison .

"Careerists have their own strengths, but when it comes to the private market, even a Journeyman like Alloc doesn't know any better . "

His good mood evaporated after Alloc's name popped up in his mind . The Journeyman Mech Designer still hadn't showed up on any lists . Two months since the Detemen Operation, the Vesians hadn't sent any indications that he was a prisoner of war .

After so much time without any news, Ves had to assume the worst . Though he held onto lots of impractical beliefs, he could be highly practical in other matters . He wasn't the type to hope in vain .

Alloc's status as missing in action appeared feebler and feebler as time went on . In his mind, Ves had already replaced his status with deceased .

Though the Vandals lost a lot of mech pilots recently, none of their deaths really mattered to Ves . Yet the loss of a single mech designer impacted him a lot . Though mech designers were technically noncombatants, the battlefield was far too cruel . It reminded him of the danger of serving with the Vandals .

Harkensen System looked peaceful at first glance . Yet Ves felt as if he had entered into another battlefield .

Report error

If you found broken links, wrong episode or any other problems in a anime/cartoon, please tell us. We will try to solve them the first time.

Email:

SubmitCancel

Share