The Mech Touch

Projections of dozens of ship designs filled the work compartment. A dizzying variety of virtual starships flew around Ves as he tried to evaluate the vessels from a design and engineering standpoint.

The ship designs weren't too detailed, but the drafts and broad strokes revealed plenty for Ves to develop an overall impression on their designer.

As a fellow creator, he knew that every person possessed an individual touch. They developed their own habits, adopted their own preferences and favored certain solutions. As long as Ves was good enough, he could recognize these touches and understand a different creator's style.

While Ves was not too versed in ship design, starships were still machines. Even if their scale was on another level, much of the science and engineering was still the same whether he looked at mechs or space-faring vessels.

A few immediate properties stood out to Ves. Many of the ships projected in his view were distinct.

They seemed to deviate from the norm. Their exterior and interior were not very comparable to other ships, particularly the standard ones adopted by the mainstream.

"These ships look.. artisanal. They are unique, individual designs." Ves remarked.

Erander nodded with a smile. "Many capital ships are unique. Even vessels from the same series exhibit at least some variation due to updates in their design, the introduction of new technologies, changing specifications and so on. It is customary in our industry to treat each capital ship as precious, valuable and worthy of continued investment."

"That sounds similar to how my mech company aspires its customers to treat its mechs. We believe that mechs are alive, and should be treated with respect."

"I am aware. I admire your outlook. In the shipbuilding industry, your views are not exotic. Some of it is due to their size. We small humans simply can't imagine that ships that are taller than many skyscrapers are dull. Another factor is the great expense needed to build a single capital ship. They are the opposite of disposable products. It is not uncommon to see capital ships in the galaxy that are over several centuries old. As long as their owners maintain them well and keep their parts up to date, it is not impossible for these aged ladies to eke out another century."

Ves looked quite impressed. "It's hard for anyone in the mech industry to hang on to an existing mech that long. In fact, mechs that are in use for over twenty years are already ancient in many people's eyes!"

Talking to an engineer who specialized in another field was always interesting to Ves. Comparing his experiences to that of Mr. Tsai's allowed both of them to look at their work from a different perspective. Sometimes, contrasts produced the most surprising insights.

As Ves continued to exchange with the senior shipwright, he began to pick out and examine some of the more interesting-looking ship designs in greater detail.

"That's the Cunning Lizard, one of my draft designs." Vivian Tsai spoke out, breaking her long silence. "I designed her for clients who intend to travel to the Red Ocean like you. The Cunning Lizard can best be described as a carrier and mobile base."

"This ship looks.. Very complicated. I see she's made up of two distinct halves."

"The forward half of the Cunning Lizard is actually a sub-capital ship. This section contains plenty of living space and production capacity." Vivian became more engaged as she presented her work to someone who might be able to realize her work. "While that doesn't sound remarkable, the forward half exists to facilitate the operation of the rear half."

The rear of the Cunning Lizard was a lot bigger in terms of volume. Twenty identical sections lined the rear. They not only stretched far, but were also affixed to giant rails along the hull.

Ves grew puzzled.

"What is the purpose of these…"

"They are docking stations. Smaller sub-capital ships are able to shelter in them. The Cunning Lizard can even engage in FTL travel in this configuration, allowing the crews of the smaller vessels to transfer to other ships or mingle with each other in the common areas of the Cunning Lizard. This way, the normally-isolated crews and passengers of the sub-capital ships won't be cooked up by themselves!"

Ves looked quite shocked at this elaborate arrangement. He couldn't imagine how much effort Vivian Tsai had to put into her studies of FTL drive technology to accomplish such a great feat!

"The concept is still incomplete." Erander Tsai couldn't help but inform Ves. "Humanity has built ships like these before, but the technical challenges are immense."

"I can see the potential uses of this ship. It is a great solution to improve the livability of a fleet. However, is this the extent of the Cunning Lizard's role?"

"There is more." Vivian said. "The primary purpose of my ship design is to increase survivability, not comfort. Due to the extensive propulsion systems and FTL drives of the Cunning Lizard which allows for consecutive jumps, she can easily help a large number of sub-capital ships flee to safety! After performing two FTL transitions in quick succession, the rear section, which I call the Lizard's Tail, can be ejected from the Cunning Lizard. The latter possesses a smaller FTL drive that allows the most important half of the ship to immediately transition into FTL. The sub-capital ships that were previously docked with my ship can engage in FTL as well."

"What about the Lizard's Tail?"

"It's deadweight at this point." Vivian shrugged. "While the Lizard Tail looks big, I deliberately designed this section to be expendable. As long as your crew take out her strained FTL drives, only pure structure is left. Any enemies who are chasing us won't earn much of a profit from capturing this unimportant tail. Once the chase is over, you can easily build another Lizard Tail."

Ves had never come across a ship concept as unique and eccentric as the Cunning Lizard. Though the concept's logic was plausible, the practicality of this ship design left much to be desired!

"Although I'm not too familiar with second-class starships, the high requirements and sheer amount of variables involved is very considerable. Can this ship even work?" He asked.

Both father and daughter looked at each other.

"My daughter's work is more of a mental exercise than anything. While it is possible to construct a working version of the Cunning Lizard, we will have to invest an enormous amount of funding and years worth of research to solve all of the technical challenges."

Ves grimaced at this verdict. "The amount of effort required to realize this concept is not worth it. Although I applaud the creativity and imagination of this ship concept, our Larkinson Clan isn't in the market for impractical ships. We need ships that work."

Vivian looked disappointed. "I have better ship designs!"

"I know. I just focused my attention on this Cunning Lizard because it is different from anything I've seen before. Can you show me your proudest work? I want to see your best."

A competitive fire burned within Vivian. "Over here!"

Ves smiled. It didn't take much effort to rouse Vivian's pride. As a mech designer, Ves was keenly aware of the thoughts and desires driving other creators.

No matter if someone designed mechs or ships, they all wanted to gain other people's approval. Just like Ves, Vivian craved validation.

By picking apart one of her most eccentric and impractical designs, Ves caused the woman to feel professionally challenged. She no longer became caught up in her doubts and reluctance about joining the Larkinson.

Now, she just wanted to prove this outsider that she was a capable shipwright!

Vivian quickly showed him a projection of a defensive capital ship.

"This is my concept for the Graveyard, a scavenger vessel that can easily upgrade herself by incorporating the debris of fallen mechs and ships! She differs from other improvised ships by incorporating a deliberate layout and systems that allows for a strong cohesive inner structure to bear a large amount of mixed and uneven materials that may or may not have been added to the ship in haste. There is also room for plenty of bunkers to further increase her defensive power. In order to facilitate this transformation, the Graveyard possessed enough production and processing capacity to support a complete scavenging and recycling operation."

Ves had to admit that the Graveyard sounded like a much more practical design. Sure, this ship concept had its problem. The Graveyard's mixed outer hull led to very difficult handling and traversal. It was probably going to be a pain to keep the Graveyard on course when engaging in  FTL travel.

The Graveyard was an inefficient ship design. Her biggest flaw was that she tried to incorporate both defensive and scavenging capabilities into a single hull. This unavoidably resulted in a lot of compromises that detracted from the ship's overall performance.

As someone who highly prized specialization, Ves would rather obtain a dedicated defensive ship and a dedicated scavenging ship than a Frankenstein creation that attempted to be both.

Yet… thinking about the ship quota made Ves pause his initial judgement.

While it was true that obtaining two specialized ships was the better choice, the different functions of the Graveyard ship concept just happened to complement each other.

Not only that, a ship like this that did not need to rely on large and dedicated shipyards to perform comprehensive upgrades and repairs on her hull was ideal for travelling through a dangerous frontier.

This was a highly self-sufficient ship!

"I like this design." Ves honestly admitted. "Your work offers good value. While it is expensive to construct the Graveyard, after she can easily become a lot tougher by relying on her own capabilities. Her purpose is clear. In battle, she functions as a shield. Out of battle, she can play a vital logistical role. While she can perform multiple functions, they are cohesive, not irrelevant or superfluous. Perhaps the most serious flaw of this ship design is that her structural integrity cannot match a standard defensive ship. However, considering how cost-efficient the Graveyard might be, this is a forgivable flaw."

His mostly positive evaluation provided a lot of validation to Vivian. She practically beamed with pride as Ves did not hold back in showering praise to her best work.

"Now that you have inspected my daughter's work closely, what do you think, Patriarch Larkinson? Are you willing to take her in and make use of her talents?"

That was not a simple matter. Ves looked thoughtfully at the two Majestic Tealers.

Though Ves had not heard much good about the star sector they came from, most of the awful rumors centered around the rulers and those in charge. People like Erander and Vivian Tsai came across as normal enough, so there shouldn't be too many problems concerning their personalities.

Ves looked around and briefly studied the projections of the other ship designs. Few of them looked normal. It seemed that Vivian was a very creative shipwright who wasn't satisfied with designing standard starships.

Was there anything wrong with that? Not necessary. One of the main reasons why Ves wanted to hire a shipwright was because he wanted to acquire unique capital ships that added strong and unique benefits to his fleet!

If he just wanted a plain old boring fleet carrier or mining ship, then he didn't have to go through so much trouble. He could just order a standardized or partially-modular capital ship from a commercial shipbuilder.

Ves wasn't happy with this solution! Ever since he specified his requirements for his factory ship to the Hexers, he already planned to modify and upgrade her once he got his hands on his future flagship.

Therefore, he would gladly accept people like Vivian.

He smiled at the junior shipwright. "If you are willing to help us expand our fleet, then we will be glad to take you in. I promise that your work will not be confined to tinkering with our existing vessels. You will have plenty of opportunities to design your own ships in our clan! So what do you say?"