Chapter 28
Date: January 3, 3029
Location: Kalidasa, Free Worlds League
It was good to see everyone back in town and celebrating the remainder of the holidays with us. Sylvie and Eddie had done a great job of securing the lines that would become the new MilitiaMech that was the rebuilt Phoenix.
However, there were still some things that Sylvie needed to learn about the world, and hopefully this was one lesson that would stick. While I might despise having to feed corruption, sometimes, most of the time, it was easier to just bypass it by doing what you needed to in the moment before dealing with the source of the corruption later.
A part of me wanted to rush to the Militia and local governments, to call in favors and get my gear back out as fast as possible. The more reasonable and logical part of me knew that having extra time to ensure that our reprogramming was good for the new-to-us factory lines and that our people were trained was more important than setting up the new lines as soon as possible.
The profits from the sale of the Phoenix were going to be good. We'd done some pretesting of the market, and with the 4th Succession War now beginning to take shape, the chance to really make some money was at hand.
Also, the Mercury factory we were constructing with Skobel wasn't going to be ready until next year or the year after depending on construction delays. So, I was going to focus on what we could get running and selling now versus later.
That said, while I was eager to get started, and I knew that the training and prep work was important, I didn't want to burn all of my people out. So, they'd been on a long needed break since the week before Christmas until next week. Which left me at the office in the factory finishing up some final steps before we got started next Monday.
It was mostly housekeeping. Finishing a final audit of payroll and HR to make sure we weren't underpaying our employees, making sure we had copies of the information on how to fix any lines that broke in a similar way to the large laser line we'd just fixed, and doing a handful of things to keep myself busy for the day. I had plans after this to spend the remainder of this week with Rebecca. So, I wanted to make sure I had all of the work prepped and lined up before heading out and forgetting about it for a little while.
Sure, we were probably going to be losing out on a little bit of money by closing down for a little bit. But in the greater scheme of things, we were setting ourselves up for success, and that's what was important.
After finishing up the last of the work I had done, I nodded to the people who I couldn't give the day off to. The security personnel that we'd hired were required to be present at all times. Just like they had been back on Earth before I'd been run over.
Hitting the button to call the elevator, I turned around and looked at the underground section of the factory. Just taking a moment to appreciate just how cool this was. Last I'd checked, not even Elon Musk had built an underground lair for a factory back home, and here I was with an expanded cavern that was about to be responsible for manufacturing the critical components of two different 'mechs.
The Actuators, armor, and a mix of the myomers were made in the topside facilities. Down here, the autocannons, the lasers, and our homebrewed medium blazers were manufactured from raw materials and then assembled into a working skeleton and 'mech up top before they were armored, painted and shipped off.
It almost looked like that scene out of Star Wars where Anakin and Padme were stuck in the droid factories. Only, we had a lot more safety features around and less molten metal to handle outside of some specific parts that were injection molded.
Stepping in the elevator, I took the ride up and stepped into the entryway, the polished crystal armor of the Mackie on display was one of the best things we'd ever done. Jus the tourism from kids wanting to see a real 'mech up close generated a positive feedback loop that might have those kids wanting to grow up and work in factories like mine with their fathers.
What was concealed behind a wall, a security door, and everything else was the finishing and production room. Gantries covered that room, stretching several stories up. It was there that the armor was hung, our factory green paint applied, and the final weapons and fusion reactor testes happened.
It was a shame that I wasn't found to be neurohelmet compatible when we'd tested. Being able to stomp around looked like a ton of fun. Regardless of that though, I was in love with my life in every way that I could be, and was ready for the next challenges that life and Murphy would throw my way.
Just so long as it wasn't another truck. That had sucked…
Date: January 28, 3029
Location: Atreus, Free Worlds League
"What is it this time?" Defense Minister Samuel Stewart asked, resting his head against his desk as one of his secretaries entered the room. "I've already gone through every procurement request the military has put forth. "
"This isn't a request from the Federal side of things, sir," Sharon Webley replied. "This is a request for funds to be allotted to militia units on the Lyran Commonwealth border. They're not even requesting bulk funding for once. More than one of them have specific requests for new 'mechs."
"Who doesn't?" Samuel asked with a scoff. "Billions of Eagles towards purchasing everything everyone can build. There's just not enough to go around. They'll have to settle for tanks like everyone else."
"Minister, you may want to take a look at the request," Sharon responded. "It seems they're not looking to purchase battlemechs, though they probably wouldn't protest it. No, they're manufacturing Militiamechs."
"Militiamechs are a dead end," Samuel shook his head. "They're not viable for combat."
"That's not what the attached report from SAFE and Colonel Lezzhov says," Sharon handed over the request. "I think we should look further into this."
"Fine," Samuel held his hand out for the paper before burying his head in his elbow again. "I'll take a look at it sometime tomorrow. If the proposals are reasonable and the funds are still there, I'll consider it."
"I believe militia units are used to procuring their on means of funding what they require," Samuel sighed. "I'll add it to the stack. "
"That's all they can ask for," Sharon said. "The company mentioned plans to have a light 'mech available."
"If they can add another light 'mech, then they'll be able to get funding from some grants, that's assuming they aren't already getting money from Federal Grants that are available," Samuel stroked at his goatee. "Does the paperwork specify what 'mech they're going to be manufacturing?"
"The Mercury," Sharon replied. "They apparently managed to wrangle a license and some assistance out of them and are going to go public with the first ones off the factory floor in 3031. SAFE has made their full briefing available to us."
"Any response from other defense manufacturing plants?" Samuel flipped through the pages, skimming as if to glean the secrets of the universe.
"Nothing yet," the secretary shrugged. "According to SAFE, Corean's apparently paying attention to what they're doing and working on reviving an older design, or are looking into licensing it to some industrialmech manufacturers."
"What design would that be?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "This Siler's Salvage and Assembly seems to be using designs from the defunct Hegemony and Rim Worlds Republic. This Mackie and Phoenixappear to be sufficient to stave off pirates or assist in retaining worlds, but not much more than that."
"The Sarissa," Sharon handed over another document. "It's a 'mech design that originated around the same time frame as the others you just named. Corean doesn't seem to be concerned with making the design themselves, and are handing out licenses for it to a handful of industrialmech manufacturers to take advantage of the new market that Siler's has opened up."
"Forward all of these reports to Taxation and Trade," Samuel sat up and began writing out a list of things he wanted the ministry to start working on. "See if we can free up some more funds to push this agenda. With the Lyrans becoming aggressive again, having battlemechs that are working for the militia replaced by these militiamechs will enable us to have a higher amount of readiness."
Waving Sharon out of his office, Samuel reached for his phone and dialed a number. Listening to it ring before his father answered the phone.
"This is the Defense minister, please connect me to the Earl of Stewart," Samuel stated as the receptionist answered. "Yes, I'll hold."
"Hector speaking."
"Father, we have an opportunity to make money and assist the Free Worlds League simultaneously. You have Janos's ear, and I believe he'll be willing to listen to this."
"I'm listening…"
Date: January 31, 3029
Location: Kalidasa, Free Worlds League
"This shouldn't work," Sylvie said, watching as Eddie picked up the top half of a 50-ton Rifleman RFL-2N they'd bought from a passing merchant with his crane. "We're going to have to recalibrate everything!"
Now that the torso, (missing one half of the gun arm, and the fusion engine) was suspended, they could get to work on cleaning it up, replacing the fusion engine, and stripping weapons out and adding new ones in.
In another gantry beside the first one, there was a set of legs pulled from a Longbow. The 85 tonner had suffered an ammo detonation before being retired to the salvage yard, and they hadn't been able to sell the legs off as of yet.
The thing that made this even worth attempting was the fact that the legs were similar enough between the Warhammer, Longbow, and all three variants of the Rifleman that they all attached to the center torso in much the same way. Allowing for a frankenmech like this to be constructed.
"We have two Donal PPCs that are in need of repair," Eddie said as he stepped back and looked at the half-destroyed 'mech that hadn't been cleaned up yet. " We will replace the stock PPCs with them. Should allow for more heat sinks, armor, and other features."
"I don't think this is going to work the way you think it is," Sylvie chuckled. "But if you're convinced, I've got faith in you."
They had all gotten together and decided that they were going to be at the next Solaris Championships. For that, they needed a good 'mech, a stable on the nearby world, and one helluva mechwarrior to drive the 'mech they made.
All they really needed to do right now was finish the 'mech. Edmund and Rebecca were handling the Stable, and Justin Hammer was reaching out to some of his friends to track down a good pilot.
But first, they needed to actually get this done.
"I'll get the hose," Sylvie sighed. " You work on those PPCs and the connection point. This is crazy, and I hope you're right…"