The Mech Touch novel Chapter 201

Before he called Marcella, he reminded himself that he had to get in touch with his other employees as well. He assigned both Calsie and Gavin on the important task of shaping public opinion.

"Hey boss! You’re back!" Calsie perked up when she received his call.

"How is Cloudy Curtain’s business climate these days?"

"It’s not looking too well." She grimaced. "The war fever is dividing the population in two. You’ve got the younger generation who are all enthusiasts about mechs and the older folk who wants their planet to be left alone. The problem is that the latter group is holding the reins of power."

The Greens and the White Doves formulated an effective strategy to fight against the creeping push of mechs onto their world. They gave up on the young folk who had never experienced a war in their lifetime and focused on the jaded parents and grandparents who personally lived through the previous Bright-Vesia Wars.

Ves frowned at the news. "Is the Republican Commissioner letting them get away with it?"

"That geezer is deliberately acting obtuse when we met with him." Calsie said angrily. "He only offered vague platitudes and stuck to his opinion that he shouldn’t involve himself in local politics. Hah! If I didn’t know any better, the ruling coalition has him in their pockets. Too bad I don’t have any proof."

That sounded highly disturbing because the Commissioner was supposed to keep the locals in check, not the other way around.

"Are there any worries in the short term?"

"Not at the moment. The tax bill has stalled due to a lack of overall support. Recently, the Pioneers took advantage of the situation and expanded their influence. They’ve been a great help in protecting the local businesses."

Ves sneered at the actions of the Pioneers. They only stepped in once Ves paved the way. Their shameless opportunism knew no limits.

They discussed a few matters but Ves wanted to return home before making any major decisions.

In truth, Ves had already taken measures to distract the Greens and the White Doves from pushing through their plans. If Dietrich did what he asked, the Consortiums pulling the strings behind the ruling coalition should find themselves in a spot of trouble with Walter’s Whalers.

After remotely checking up his accounts and his administration, Ves decided to call Marcella. He had been out of the loop for a while and wanted to hear from her own mouth how the current market had developed these last few months.

His mech broker picked up his call after a minute. "Good to see you in one piece, Ves! I’m glad to see the frontier hasn’t bit you in half!"

"I didn’t get bit, but I also didn’t come off unscathed." He responded with a rueful laugh. He briefly filled her in on what he experienced.

"I can see why you’re concerned about the Fleet. You have to remember that they serve their own interests above anyone else’s."

Once they moved on to business, Marcella filled him in on his latest sales. "Both your gold and silver label mechs are starting to appear in public. None of your Mark II’s have seen any major action so far, but they are performing well enough in training exercises. The customers who bought your gold label mechs are especially satisfied with their comfort."

"That’s to be expected. I specifically fabricated them to fit their operators well." Ves replied with a nod. The X-Factor was one of his secret weapons and showed their true worth in the machines he fabricated himself by hand. "What about the silver label mechs?"

"Carlos is making them up to spec, more or less. Occasionally, minor defects pop up here and there, but as long as the machines pass certification, it’s not a big deal. Nevertheless, the current market for lastgen mechs is cratering pretty fast. I’ve already lowered the price from 30 million credits to 28 million credits."

In the meantime, the cost of raw materials had also gone up. Both trends had already started squeezing out the mech designers who had barely been hanging on. They simply couldn’t sell their products at a sustainable profit anymore.

Ves risked following in their footsteps if he waited too long on coming up with a new design.

"You should take a look at these when you can." Marcella sent him some reports over the communications channel. "They’re the latest projections on the current market trends in the Bright Republic and throughout the Komodo Star Sector. Sales are up, but they’re mainly driven by mass purchase orders of frontline mechs. The middle segment of the market in which your Mark II falls under is seeing a major slump in sales and interest."

He expected this to happen. During wartime, the side with the most mechs held a decisive advantage. People might scoff at a frontline mech that cost only 15 million credits or less, but you could easily field thousands of them at once as long as you can scrounge up enough mech pilots.

While he read through some of the reports, Ves asked another question. "I’m in need of a lot of cash, since I’m preparing to design an original mech. Do you have any leads on when I can receive an order for my ruby label product line?"

Marcella grimaced at him over the projection. "Like your gold label mechs, the price premium for your ruby label line is too optimistic, especially considering the market’s current appetite for luxury mechs. You have to come up with a better value proposition."

The main problem with the ruby label product line was that Ves did not have the opportunity to demonstrate its strength. Without a real example for people to point at, no one would know of the mutually reinforcing aspect of the X-Factor.