The Mech Touch

The Cherub Design Project actually called for designing two versions of the same mech, which was something Ves had never done before.

He learned from his project management lessons that this was not an unusual approach in larger design teams or mech companies.

Even if he limited the project to a single version, the Hegemony would definitely knock on his doors and request a variant that was optimized for a different environment.

Instead of going through all of that trouble, the Design Department might as well work on a base model and a variant concurrently so that it could deliver both mech designs to the client at once.

"What budget do you have in mind for the Cherub?" Ves asked.

"Hmm. I'm aiming for a maximum production cost of 50 million hex credits for the landbound version and up to 55 million hex credits for the spaceborn version."

"That's very tight!" Ves exclaimed. "The frame of the Cherub might be simple, but all of those auxiliary modules aren't cheap. We'll have to impose a lot of limits in order to keep the cost of the mech within those ranges."

"I'm confident we can do it. All of those times spent on designing third-class mechs has made me a lot more budget conscious. If you think about it, designing the Cherub is not that different from designing a lesser mech. We just have to curb our desires and plan ahead."

She had a point. Now that she pointed this out, Ves calmed down. The Cherub may still be a second-class mech design by virtue of its tech and its components, but its overall scope and complexity was closer to that of a third-class mech design.

"I think it won't take much time to complete this project either." He muttered.

As Ves constructed a schedule by estimating how much time it took to design each aspect of the Cherub, he found out that it still entailed considerably less effort than usual.

It didn't matter if they had to design two different but related mechs at the same time. From a complexity angle, the Cherub was as easy to design as a mech from two centuries ago. Its design stripped a lot of refined features that were quite challenging to incorporate.

This was good news to Ves and the rest of the Design Department. They could spend additional time on completing other tasks. Unlike the Cherub, the other five design projects were fully modern! Depending on their complexity, Ves and his fellow lead designers might be forced to allocate extra time to the projects.

"Juggling six major projects at the same time isn't easy." He sighed.

After Ves worked with Gloriana to define their vision for the Cherub, they moved on to specifying some of their other mech designs.

Of the six projects they were tackling for this round, two of them happened to be based on existing models.

The Bright Warrior Mark II and the Ferocious Piranha Mark II were largely based on their older equivalents. The major difference was that Ves wanted to translate their mech concepts to a higher class.

The second-class versions of the Bright Warrior and the Ferocious Piranha were meant to become the backbone of the Larkinson Clan. Since they played such an important role in the defense of his fleet, Ves did not dare to neglect them despite their familiar nature.

It didn't take much time to set some solid targets for the two design projects. Ves had already done a lot of preparation work in defining the new place for the Bright Warrior Mark II

"Downgrading the status of the Bright Warrior Mark II is a harsh decision. You're going against the spirit of its original vision." Gloriana carefully pointed out.

Ves ruefully smiled. "We've already discussed this. The Bright Warrior Mark II will become the basic generalist mech platform for our clan. I know the Mark I is a beloved mech among the Avatars of Myth, but I don't want them to pilot the Mark II. Elite mech pilots ought to be paired with elite, high-performing mech models. The Ferocious Piranha Mark II is a good example of that. The Mark I is already raising hell in the third-class mech market. With this uplifted version, our clan can shake the hearts of any second-class opponents!"

He did not believe the Ferocious Piranha's glow was capable of disabling second-class mech pilots. Their training level and mental discipline was a lot higher than third-class riffraff.

That did not detract too much from the Ferocious Piranha Mark II's value. As the Valkyrie mechs had already proved in the Komodo War, any enemy affected by a hostile glow experienced varying degrees of discomfort.

It was very difficult for even the most well-trained mech pilots to shrug off all of the negative effects!

"Hehehe…"

Just thinking about all of the opponents it could sabotage in the future brought Ves a lot of satisfaction!

Gloriana thrust her elbow against his side.

"Hey! What was that all about!?"

"You weren't listening to me, Ves."

"Oh sorry. You were saying?"

"I was just trying to tell you that your naming system sucks."

"What?!"

"Hear me out first." She raised her finger. "The Crystal Lord Mark I is a third-class mech design, correct?"

He nodded. "Correct."

"The Crystal Lord Mark II is also a third-class mech design."

"That's true. We just released it not too long ago. Even though the Crystal Lord Mark II hasn't caught as much attention as the Ferocious Piranha, it's quietly ramping up as well. The Marketing Department intends to hold off on promoting the new Crystal Lord model until the hype surrounding the Ferocious Piranha finally begins to fade."

It was too difficult for the Crystal Lord Mark II to escape the shadow of the much more attention-grabbing light skirmisher. In hindsight, the LMC should have just released the Crystal Lord Mark II first so that it enjoyed plenty of time in the limelight.

Oh well.

"Now think about the Bright Warrior line and the Ferocious Piranha line. The Mark I versions are third-class mechs, but what about the Mark II versions?"

"They're both second-class mech designs."

"Don't you see the inconsistency here? You're breaking the pattern you've established before! A lot of people, from customers to our own clansmen, will quickly become confused whether a mech is supposed to be second-class or third-class!"

"I haven't fully thought about that." Ves admitted.

"Then correct it. You need to develop a more systematic naming scheme in order to keep our product lineup as clear as possible. Otherwise, misunderstandings might result where people expect a third-class mech only to get a second-class one or vice versa. By the way, are you determined to keep our third-class mechs up to date?"

"I do. As products such as the Desolate Soldier, Doom Guard and Ferocious Piranha have already proven, it's very easy to break into a lot of third-class mech markets at once. The profit from selling a single unit is low, but when monthly sales surpass 1 million copies, we are easily able to afford decent capital ships. As long as our current business model remains viable, we can keep treating the Yeina Star Cluster as our perennial cash cow."

There was no way he wanted to abandon all of the market share the LMC had captured in this region. Even if Ves set his sights on the Red Ocean, he knew that he needed to continue upgrading his fleet in order to face dangers that thrived in the new frontier.

Forget about battling against first-class opponents and remnant alien survivors. Just the second-class opponents from the galactic center were far more advanced than the backwater Hexers and Fridaymen!

The Red Ocean was open to all of human space. Those who originated closer to the center of the galaxy were much further ahead when it came to tech, assets and manpower.

If the Larkinson Clan wanted to establish its footing in the Red Ocean, then it had to continue with earning a lot of money. Due to the law of diminishing returns, it cost an astronomical amount of money just to strengthen his fleet by a modest amount.

Ves could not let go of any revenue stream if that was the case!

"Since you are determined to exploit the third-class mech market, then you need to establish a better naming system straight away. Don't let this contradiction unfold and cause mass confusion."

Ves bent his head in thought. "Do you have any ideas?"

"In fact, I do." His wife responded with a smug grin. "In the mech industry, there are various ways to differentiate different products that are related to each other. Right now, make use of Marks to designate generational advancements of the same mech. I don't have a problem with that as long as we apply it consistently. What we need is a second method to distinguish mechs from the same product line that are differentiated by class. I'm thinking about using Version A, Version B and Version C."

Ves frowned. "That sounds rather clunky, Gloriana. What do you call the Bright Warrior Mark I, then?"

"In my proposed naming system, its full name would be the Bright Warrior Mark I Version C, or Bright Warrior IC for short. The second-class version you're working on right now is not a generational advancement, so it is still a Mark I product. However, it's of a higher class, so it is designated as Version B. Its full name is therefore the Bright Warrior Mark I Version B."

"That's a bit of a mouthful. I think everyone will just call it the IB for short."

He had to admit that Gloriana's naming scheme was very handy once he got used to it. The point of it was to distinguish the placement of a particular mech within its product line.

Perhaps it might not be a big deal at the start, but once a few decades went by, a lot of people would depend on the clarity of this naming scheme.

Not every mech company abided by such a transparent and convenient naming system. Sometimes, the mech company didn't want to attract too much attention to the exact version of the mech. This made it easier for them to sell older and outdated mechs.

What also complicated the naming situation was that not every mech company adopted the same model with regards to product development.

What the LMC did was fairly typical. Once it designed a mech like the original Ferocious Piranha, Ves had no intentions of tinkering with its design. He wanted to wait for at least 5 years but ideally an entire generation before he would design an update.

Other mech companies didn't wait that long to come up with a new product. For example, continuous product development schedules called for publishing version 1.0, version 1.01, version 1.02, version 1.03 and so on at month-long intervals or something.

The naming schemes that mech companies adopted to distinguish or obfuscate their placement became quite confusing sometimes.

This was on purpose.

The less average people understood, the more the companies in question looked down on its customers.

Suffice to say, Ves and Gloriana opposed this outlook. They had enough confidence in their products that even their older mechs would still be able to earn some appreciation from the mech market.

After considering Gloriana's proposal a bit further, Ves eventually accepted her system. He was satisfied with the clarity it provided. As long as people learned what versions A, B, and C stood for, they could easily comprehend the LMC's entire mech catalog.

He updated his administration and sent some memos to Raymond and Gavin to inform him of the change. Even though it would take a long time for him to complete the Bright Warrior IB and the Ferocious Piranha IB, it was best to plan ahead."

After handling this issue, the newlyweds proceeded to discuss some other details about the two second-class mech design projects.