The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1355

Ves and Gavin held a very fruitful discussion about maintaining the stability and continuity of the LMC if the grand expedition ever took place.

Obviously, the LMC likely wouldn’t be as it once were, but perhaps that was for the better. By slowly implementing multiple policies over the following years, Ves might be able to minimize the shock of the sudden departure of the lead designer.

"Right now, the LMC is very much centered around you." Gavin noted. "That’s not inherently bad because it simply reflects the truth that mech companies are all about their mech designers."

The lack of mech designers under the LMC’s employ had been a consistent weak point for Ves. When he left the Komodo Star Sector in order to go on his grand expedition, he would not only deprive the LMC of the personal presence of its founder and CEO, but also its sole lead designer!

Naturally, Ves could still remain in touch via comm calls and remote conferencing and the like.

However, time and time again it has been proved that running a company completely by remote was not a healthy development for the long term. This made it all the more important that he placed competent surrogates in the positions he left behind.

In essence, this not only meant he had to prioritize the director, but also the presiding mech designer at the Mech Nursery!

Right now, Ves could at least resort to promoting a proven Larkinson as the director of his company. Yet who could fill the huge void he left behind in his paltry design team?

Ketis would have been perfect for the position. Bright, resourceful and loyal, she was the perfect candidate to head all mech design-related matters that needed to be addressed back home.

Yet she had made her opinion about returning to the Swordmaidens abundantly clear. Her attachment to Ves and the LMC could never overcome her devotion to her fellow sisters.

It would have been great if the Swordmaidens moved to Cloudy Curtain...

The idea suddenly interrupted his train of thought. What if it was possible to take the Swordmaidens out of the frontier and place them in civilized space?

Such an operation would not be easy. Civilized space repelled pirates for a very good reason. Smuggling in Ketis might have been okay as she was just a single person with a very good counterfeit identity. Smuggling in hundreds of slaving, robbing pirates was another thing altogether!

Even if Ves somehow found a way to forge the identities of so many women who popped up out of nowhere, would they even agree? The Swordmaidens explicitly fought for the daughters of the frontier who lived much worse lives than the women in civilized space. Their central mission was incompatible to moving to civilized space.

The only way the Swordmaidens might willingly decide to accept the offer to move to civilized space was if they were no longer able to survive in the frontier.

Whether this would happen or not depended on how well Commander Dise managed her outfit’s relations with the local pirate powers of the Faris Star Region.

Ves mentally put this unrealistic option aside. He couldn’t rely on lucky breaks to retain Ketis in his company. He would have to find someone else who could take his place and address any acute design-related problems at the Mech Nursery.

After swapping a few ideas with Gavin, the executive assistant came with another surprising idea.

"Why not resort to your family again, boss? Aren’t your relatives in the process of raising a few bright seeds to potentially inherit your mantle?"

The suggestion had some merit, but Ves quickly shook his head. "The young Larkinsons being nurtured as mech designers are way too juvenile. Even if they can graduate from a good mech university in time, they’ll be way too green to handle most of the problems that might pop up from time to time."

"They can always call you if they need your help."

"That’s true, but I’m not always available. What if I end up in an anomalous zone? What if the expeditionary fleet is being pursued by pirates? A lot can happen when I’m away from the Mech Nursery. The mech designers that I’ve left behind will have to be adaptable and resourceful enough to handle all kinds of difficult technical problems."

Perhaps one way to solve this problem was to feed some candies to the young seeds. With brighter minds, they could breeze through their mech design courses and maybe even receive additional nurturing.

Yet the lack of struggle in learning might breed arrogance and complacency in the seeds. Ves encountered plenty of spoiled brats in his profession to realize that it was better if mech designers were tested beforehand than if they were thrown head-first in a situation where mistakes could plunge the LMC into ruin!

Someone like his old friend Carlos would have been a great choice. Hardened by his wartime experience, his friend possessed a much greater practical grasp on mech design than any fresh graduate.

Yet that was not an option in this case.

Ves sighed. He still had a decade to address this problem, so his current lack of choices did not reflect the future.

"Let’s shelve this issue for later. We might not have a dearth of candidates when the time comes to make a decision. Is there anything else you believe we need to address?"

"Hmm..." Gavin thought for a moment. In truth, he still worried about many issues, but most of those problems could be solved by others. Only a few required special attention. "You’ve already thought about most of the critical issues, but what about your destination?"

"I’ve already selected some options, but I haven’t made up my mind yet." Ves admitted. "There are too many choices, to be honest. Many star sectors in the galactic rim have their own distinct inclinations. It’s too difficult to make a choice right now."

Star clusters usually consisted of multiple varied star sectors. It was quite rare to see a homogenous star cluster unless a powerful first-rate state gobbled everything up and turned it into their own playground.

Most star sectors developed rather independently from each other. While the Komodo Star Sector lacked a distinguishing trait due to its relative youth, other star sectors may be different.

With a lot more history under their belt, older star sectors already developed a lot of distinctive characteristics.

Each of them offered very interesting circumstances for him to focus his exploration towards.

For example, one star sector might be filled with religious states, while another had fully converted to the bestial supremacy movement.