[Arthur Corean]
[Corean Enterprises R&D Bldg; "Colonial/Expeditionary Division"]
[New Avalon, New Avalon System, Federated Suns]
[April 15th, 3028]
"I do not know where you found all of those White Papers, Mister Corean, but I must say that I am quite thankful for them." Doctor Thurgood Reisen smiled broadly as he shook my hand, "Pushed us forward two, no, three years ahead of schedule! When combined with the rapid prototyping capabilities of the Augusta and Henan processes? Well, we were able to get everything you asked for and more in less than a year."
"I am impressed, Doctor." I hummed as I followed behind him toward the Colonial and Expeditionary Division's Research and Development showcase. "To be able to get this much done so quickly? Extraordinary."
And I was impressed because I had barely any direct hand in this at all besides throwing all related research papers from the Helm and Graus memory cores... and giving them access to all of the tools, resources, and funding they could ever ask for. In fact, I'd only given them the research documentation a scant few months ago, but having given everything I'd handed over a rough perusal I could see just how it sped them up— the Star League's documents, if they didn't contain successes, at the very least always contained failures. Knowing what road has already been trodden in terms of science was just as helpful if not more so in certain cases.
He showed me around the little expo, from heavily ruggedized, larger, and more powerful communications packages capable of reaching High Planetary Orbit, to reborn Star League-era mobile water purification modules that could fit inside two 15-meter shipping containers. The containers were a scant 10 tons each, less than half the weight of a similar mobile setup on account of not only were the trailers themselves Andosteel, but the components were made from Andosteel and Henan crystal entirely. The crystalline bits were all in areas where being able to see the status of filters and valves was an additional sanity check beyond the rudimentary sensors.
Just one of those Water Purification pairs could clean the water of over 1,000 souls while operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
He even managed to find a way to make multi-stage pre-filters out of Henan crystal cores, and when those were too gunked up to function they could be cleaned in a hydrosonic tank filled with a rather caustic solution— the exceptionally strong battlemech grade glass able to withstand this strenuous cleaning with ease. At least for twenty cleanings. After that, they would need to be shipped back to us where we could grind them up and either recycle the materials or simply disburse the dust to the winds. However, unless you were sucking water from the bottom of a bog the pre-filters should last at least thirty days between cleanings.
Given the exorbitant costs of current water purification technologies, there was no doubt in my mind that we'd be selling every unit that rolled out the assembly lines, especially since we weren't going to be charging an arm and a leg for them.
Then there were the numerous designs for self-contained, environmentally sealed housing blocks that also followed the shipping container form factor; the easier these units could be racked and stacked the more likely expeditions and settlements were likely to purchase them. Single container designs, dual over-under designs, quad-2x2 designs, and even a circular hub that could extend environmentally sealed spokes to the other modules like the spokes of a wagon wheel. Thanks to our ability to print most of the sections as a singular unit, ours had three closed-cell walls for a double gap— the exterior of which was filled with a thermally non-conductive gel and the interior gap had an expanding metallo-foam that could seal any small breech. Lastly, all of our modules were lovingly swaddled in two tons of Battlemech-grade armor plating, both to protect the Andosteel walls and also to ensure these container homes would be able to withstand some of the harshest environments known to man.
Given this was the Inner Sphere, where crazy bastards decided that settling on a damn lava planet was a sane thing to do because of the rare earth metals that were spat out into their laps... or frozen ice ball worlds— read: Tharkad— nothing was off the table. Not crazy impossible fauna or worlds where the entire planet is overcast... 'cloudy with a chance of acid rain'. Things like micrometeorite showers were part and parcel of some worlds, so having your home survive a direct strike would be a huge plus— doubly so since you were likely to have Battlemechs or Industrialmechs on hand anyway, and if you could repair armor on either of those then you could do the same on one of these Colonial Modules.
However, for those who simply found a nice garden world, Well then you'd have a very strong, durable, and long-lasting structure that could likely keep you safe from Pirates or other marauders at least; most tended not to carry hand tools capable of cracking open Battlemech armor, though they might just have their Locust jockey peel the armor away with his medium laser. In that scenario there likely wasn't much that could have been done for you anyway.
He continued showing me the little bits and bobs, odds and ends that they had found the time to improve with Andosteel and Henan crystal, and that carried on for another forty minutes before we finally made it to what drew me down here in the first place— the solar cells.
The Star League had never really bothered to improve solar panel technology that much. Of course, they did make incremental improvements over the years, but they had been small and slow going; with how small and portable fusion generators had gotten you could run a home for decades with just a few kilograms of Protium. However, fusion plants required specialized training and equipment to maintain and weren't all that cheap compared to other options, so solar cells and even diesel/hydrogen generators still persist to this day. Given the austerity of more than half of the Inner Sphere, the fewer maintenance requirements your power sources had the better.
However, since the fall of the Star League, the capacity to manufacture the outstanding 46% panels was lost, and the Successor Houses had to make do with the 33% panels that were just north of profitable to use.
To that end, what Doctor Reisen and his crew had managed was even far outside of my expectations.
With the ability to finely grow the panels— adjusting materials compositions at will throughout the growth process— and using Star League research as the litmus test... they created a solar panel that was 61% efficient. With its layered design, it could capture almost every wavelength of the light spectrum, and because it was made out of Battlemech-grade materials it could withstand high heat loads that would cause most other solar cells to fail; an optional heatsink for integration into a coolant loop would allow them to function in even some of the hottest environments. It could even be made custom depending on the class of star that the panels were destined for, and for planets with what one might call 'too much' exposure, the panels could be polarized to block some of the incoming light to maintain optimum performance.
That additional layers of pure Henan crystal could be layered over the top and slightly gapped to give it exceptional durability meant that these panels would be a huge boon for orbitals and satellites as well.
I inhaled slowly as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Now that I'm not assisting my brother with our little bonding project... I'm going to spend the next two weeks with you and your team here. The charge controller and battery system you have are nice but I think they can be improved."
The Chief of the Colonial Division bobbed his head, "We'll be excited to work directly with you, Mister Corean."
"Secondly... I reckon that we could fit at least eight thousand Medium-sized Henan growth tanks in the sub-basement of an SCMF, so I'll be penciling in the entirety of SCMF #6 for the Colonial Division." I turned my blue eyes onto him, causing him to perk up in surprise. "I want these new panels and everything else starting mass production in four months, so I'll be forwarding all future medium-sized Henan growth tanks in your direction."
"Mister Corean... there are still ways I think we can improve the panels. These are hardly what I would consider 'finalized'." He reached up and adjusted his thick-rimmed glasses before swiping at a bead of sweat on his brow with a thumb. "And four months is hardly a lot of time for testing and evaluation, let alone developing a mass production pipeline."
"Which is why I'm going to spend so much time here, however..." I considered it for a few moments before pinching my lower lip between a thumb and forefinger. "Are any of the improvements going to add more than 5% to the panel's collection ability? Are there any structural issues in the crystal layouts that might compromise durability or degrade performance over say... a 50-year period?"
He blinked, his lips parting before firming into a thin line, and he pulled the clipboard he'd been carrying away from his chest and started flipping through the pages.
While he looked through his documentation I took the opportunity to elaborate, "To make it even simpler: Would you trust the panels as they are now to supply an off-the-grid setup on a... semi-hostile environment?"
"Well that depends on the definition of 'semi-hostile'..." The Doctor hummed before he lowered the pages and looked at me, "And to answer your other questions... 'No', 'No', and 'Yes'. I had some different layering and material composition choices I wanted to test out— some personal feelings led me to believe that we can eke out three, maybe even four percent additional collection volume. And I don't think there is anything we can do to make them more durable, given how exceptional the Henan crystal is already."
The good doctor lowered the clipboard and placed his fists on his hips, "While repair isn't possible given the nature of the crystalline structure, each cell is individually wired so even if there is a cell failure the other 2,047 cells will continue functioning. We also took one of these panels down to the test range and most small arms fire didn't even cause the crystal to chip so... yes. I would trust these panels to supply power to my camp no problem."
"Then the course is clear: We spin up production of these panels post-haste. 'Perfection is the enemy of good enough', and while I would love to be as close to perfect as we can be the fact remains that what we have is more than good enough to ship. Don't worry, you'll still be able to follow your hunch, Doctor." I reached up and patted the man on his shoulder, a wry smile on my lips as I leaned in.
"In fact, if you can get those performance gains we can package those panels as a 'Premium' option for colonial kits... I'll make sure you get a percent of the royalties added onto your paycheck and retirement for as long as you live. Two percent for every one percent in efficiency gains you make." I looked back at Samantha, "Did you hear that, darling?"
She adjusted her glasses and gave me a small smirk, "I did, Mister Corean. I've made a note of it and will send an email to HR and Payroll to let them make the addendum to his contract."
Doctor Reiner's jaw was almost on the floor and I chuckled as I patted his shoulder once more before showing myself out.
Of my fellow industrialists I think there was only a handful who would do what I do, but I never got tired of doing it because it just made everyone work that much harder for me.
Arthur Corean rewarded success and hard work, even if it meant I'd have to let go of a few handfuls of C-Bills to get it.
[Arthur Corean]
[Corean Enterprises North Airfield]
[New Avalon, New Avalon System, Federated Suns]
[April 15th, 3028]
"— And I want you to know that those vehicles in those containers?" I had a hand resting on the shoulders of two young adults as I jerked my head toward the shipping container where our race vehicles were stored. "They don't mean shit to me. They're just cars. Metal. I can rebuild them, or scrap them and use the parts to make something useful out of their carcasses. The two of you, however, are priceless. So I expect you to drive hard and go for the win, but not at the cost of your life. Remember, even with the safety equipment inside there have been fatalities, so if you are faced with a situation between the Title and your life I will expect you to live. Do you understand?"
Kevin and Duncan Lancaster were two brothers from Petrolia, my world, who were regarded as the best racers on the planet. I'd contacted my Steward, Acting Duke Mathias Matrim— Heir to the County of Boondock, and had him arrange a quick set of races to determine the two best drivers on the planet before shipping them to me here on New Avalon. I'd also reached out to Derek Pendergast, a four-time winner of the Grande Circuit Challenge Series (3016, 3018, 3021, and 3024), to serve as Team Corean's spare driver and coach. I had to pay him a lot of money, almost a million Pounds to come out of retirement, but upon hearing about my cars and who he would be training he gladly hopped on board.
After my check cleared, of course.
The thought of training two backwater boys to be champions seemed to tickle him pink, and he put the six weeks he had with them to good use.
It would take almost two months for them to reach the planet of Freedom before the races started, and they would be drilled relentlessly on the course and in the Sim pods for the whole trip. To ferry them, the CDM mechanic and pit crew, support vehicles, a Marten Scout VTOL, and two Security Lances— one of Mechs and the other Combat Vehicles— the Race team would get to travel in one of my redesigned Leopards. Not only would they get to travel far more comfortably than I ever did with a platoon of Corean Security to protect the premises, but they'd have the company of two of our Royal Chippewas to keep them safe in the void with Corean Weapon and armor reconfigurations.
"I think they'll be just fine, Arthur." Yuri chuckled as he pushed my hand out of the way so that he could wrap his arms around their shoulders; given the three of them were in the same age bracket it didn't take long for them to become fast friends. "Even the stock Everyman will blow the fastest racer out of the water, and with Duncan behind the wheel of the custom job? I think both will not only take home the crowns but set two unbeatable course records while they're at it. Now, enough pestering, and let me show these boys their new digs for the next few months."
Yuri quickly led them away toward the Leopard on the tarmac, but given the way he was slightly hunched over I could tell he was still a bit bummed that he couldn't go.
Or to be more accurate, he was a bit bummed that I wouldn't lean on anyone at NAU to let him out of classes for four months so that he could go. However, we have these little pesky things called 'Duties and Responsibilities', and dipping out of both work and school for four months was hardly the responsible thing to do. So like me, he'll just have to settle for seeing ComStar broadcasts of the races from the safety and comfort of my Ducal Manse on Augusta.
"Do you think we have enough security?" A posh British voice quipped as footsteps approached me from behind, and I looked over my shoulder to see Derek Pendergast approaching in blue jeans and a thin but luxurious leather jacket.
"I think that it's enough security. I'd give you more but I can't really justify more expenses than this." I looked back at the Dropship to see the four Battlemechs lining up behind the quartet of Manticore Heavy Tanks— a Royal Marauder for Captain Shellenburg, an Archer, a Rifleman, and a Centurion. All of these had been upgraded with Corean weapons, which gave additional tonnage for more armor, cooling, or ammunition. The infantry platoon likewise had improved body armor, newer radio equipment, and of course, were all rocking our new infantry weapons... including a healthy stock of the X-5 missile tubes.
They'd be stuffing a MASH vehicle along with an away team of Corean-paid nurses and doctors wherever they could fit them, but the Leopard's Captain assured me that they had plenty of room for them thanks to the redesigns.
All in all, this little venture was going to cost me almost twenty million Pounds for the jumps, parts, pay, and fuel, but considering I wouldn't even have to pay for advertising if we won the competition?
I'd save oodles of cash.
The man crossed his arms over his chest and snorted, "Damn. My last race? You know what we had for security? A single bug mech and ten guys we found at a bar that looked trustworthy enough to handle some guns and keep our shop secure."
"Well, I have enemies, and Corean has competitors." I shrugged in response, "What do you think is going to be the response once Corean-Dimurot Motors wins the first race?"
His handlebar mustache twitched as he mulled the question over. "For the prices you're going to be offering those vehicles for? Well, I think that the entire automotive industry is going to be quaking in their little boots. Especially since I have a feeling the Everyman's Classic victory will only make those in the Open circuit all the more nervous; if the mass production model can leave their luxury sports cars in the dust then what could the tuned model do?"
"My thoughts exactly." I nodded as I turned my attention to the semi-retired professional driver, "While my boys keep our ship and garages safe, I'm going to count on you to keep them safe. And out of trouble. Mostly the latter and less of the former. They're small town, small planet boys as you may know..."
"I'll keep an eye out for 'im. Make sure they don't get too drunk or end up putting a kid in some groupie." He grunted as he bent down, grabbed a large duffle bag, and slung it over his shoulder before walking toward the Leopard. "Enjoy the show, Mister Corean."
"I will."
That is if I wasn't so busy that I could watch it... so many plates were high up in the air and it felt like I was struggling to catch them all.
[Arthur Corean]
[Corean Enterprises "Heavy-5" Large Orbital; High Planetary Orbit]
[New Avalon, New Avalon System, Federated Suns]
[May 14th, 3028]
While the Dropship Dropshop was getting refitted with all of its toys, the northern airfield was host to a Mule dropship, this one from Panpour. Contained within it was all of the equipment necessary to build the Centurion aerospace fighter, complete with its heavy machinery, computers, QC systems, and all the other bits and bobs. Once the Mule was empty of its Centurion aerospace line it would instead be filled up with the Corean Centurion battlemech line to take back to Panpour.
While the terms of my agreement with Jalastar Aerospace didn't exactly include all of our old equipment, given the Centurion 'mech line construction operations had already transitioned to SCMF #5 which had just finished construction two weeks ago... we didn't exactly need all of the manually operated equipment anymore. So including it as part of a freebie to Jalastar not only garnered me some goodwill from the soon-to-be Battlemech manufacturer, but it would also push their operational start-up forward by almost a year and a half.
The sooner they got operations up and running the sooner they could start producing 'Mechs and selling them to the AFFS and various FedSuns-aligned mercenary commands.
In other news, I'm fairly certain that the Battle of Misery had begun by now, but other than saying a small prayer for Mason's Marauders and my family Mule's dropship crew... I could hardly be arsed to care about it. Intellectually I knew that the Dragoons, despite all their faults, were going to be key players in the Fourth Succession War and the Clan Invasion to follow, but I still disliked them intensely. Not only had they fumbled the ball in terms of Khan Ward's command to prepare the Inner Sphere, but they also were limp-wristed in their approach in carrying out their precious Khan's will.
I'm fairly certain he had a bit more in mind when he told Colonel Jamie Wolf to 'prepare the Inner Sphere' for the Clan's arrival more than simply acting as OpFor and giving a briefing to the Second Star League just before or just after the Clans arrived. My memory was more than a bit hazy on the particulars as I'd never been a Wolf fanboy and my time with the lore involving the Dragoons was pretty lackluster. What I did remember was the fact that the Dragoons did have Clan tech with them— if I remember correctly didn't they give a whole Clan tech Direwolf mech to one of the Steiner-Davion kids?
Regardless, they had access to Clan Tech and could have given the FedCom— the only employers who gave them relief and actually treated them with some damned respect— a leg up on their competition in preparation for the Invasion, but no. They withheld all of that information and data, for reasons. Something, something 'might stifle innovation' or some other such bullshit. While that certainly might have been the case in the beginning, over time the FedCom would have started branching out sooner rather than later— Hanse was loath to rest on his laurels, and they would have been fine in the long run. The main key was preparing the Federated Commonwealth for the Clan Invasion and in my personal opinion they failed miserably at it.
So yeah, more than a little salty at the Stoopid Dogs, but if there was anything that could help turn the tide against the Kuritans it would be all of the help that Hanse sent to them. Including the multiple wings of ASFs, the two battalions of Mechs, and the Company from the Crater Cobras and Mason's Marauders. They'd still be badly dinged up, as you don't tussle with something like nine or ten enemy regiments while you only had five and come out unscathed, but if they're able to keep their very best Mechwarriors rotated in and out of fresh machines while their other rides were getting repairs then the Dragoons should make out far better this time around.
Regardless, I had much more important things to worry about, but before I delve into that, a quick side-tangent: Hanse had been by last week to inform me that our ploy with Phoenix Heavy Industries had been a 'smashing success'.
Colonel Theodore Strong, the CEO of PHI and a former Regimental Commander of the Capellan March, had been quite pleased to work with myself and MIIO in ferreting out the spy that had leaked the design plans of his company's Suburbanmech many years ago. When we'd spoken in December I'd promised him my support in making an Urbanmech design with him that would really put his company's sole 'Mech on the map, and in exchange, he'd leak selective bits of information to a handful of people on a list. Having been a career AFFS soldier and not one of the Capellan March's Militia he had little of the stalwart loyalty that would have made such a ploy infeasible.
According to Hanse, MIIO had received word from their spies in the Capellan Confederation that 'fresh intel' about a Suburbanmech redesign was going to be coming down the pike with the exact specifications that had been leaked directly to a singular individual... though a few other corporate spies had inadvertently been caught in the dragnet. They were mostly, funnily enough, spies who were selling information to Lyran companies, and as it turned out the Archon hadn't deigned to inform her industrial base of the impending merger like we had with ours. That would likely cause some friction later on down the road, but I shudder to imagine what levels of corporate fuckery Defiance Industries would have gotten up to if it knew that it was going to have a whole lot more competition.
Regardless, while Hanse didn't name names, he was confident that he had enough to nail Michael Hasek-Davion to the wall but was more than happy to kick back and continue to let the man build the case for his own execution. I wasn't too worried, as all of the plans we drew up on the redesign were false and would only introduce severe frame stresses if they were ever implemented. I wasn't sure if the Capellans would catch on or not, but if they didn't and implement the changes then they would likely have a sudden rash of Suburbanmechs sheering at the legs.
It would be hilarious, as it wouldn't be readily apparent until after a few years of normal use, and even then their Mechtechs might not even catch onto it until it was too late.
"Mister Corean? We are ready to begin." A nervous voice to my left snapped me out of my reverie, and rather than act shocked at the sudden intrusion on my thoughts I merely nodded and hummed.
"Proceed."
Confidence was key.
Directly after my stint with the Colonial Division, I had spent the past two weeks here on "Corean Heavy-5", one of the company's five large orbital manufacturing stations that hung suspended in the void over New Avalon's South Pole. They had been mothballed for multiple centuries since we'd lost the knowledge to produce Endosteel and most other important industrial processes that required microgravity to function. Since I knew of the Helm Memory Core's arrival I had quietly begun their reopening and started bringing them all back up to spec. It had taken the better part of eight months to do so, with some thorough repairs to critical systems due to the centuries of neglect in the void, but just as I'd told my fellow industrialists they were up and running by February.
"Initializing... inputting mixture requirements and uploading injector parameters..." A hard voice somewhere in the technician pit spoke out.
Unlike most of our competitors, our facilities had been completely intact, we'd just lost the data and personnel who were knowledgeable enough about the process to actually carry out the operations. Looking back at historical archives... several senior Corean engineers and technicians had all died of mysterious accidents or outright assassinations in the waning years of the Second Succession War. Enough that my ancestor, Darius Corean, didn't feel comfortable trying to manufacture expensive Endosteel with only a meager skeleton crew and no leadership left who actually knew what they were doing, so he shuttered them entirely and closed the doors instead. He also was a smart man, in my opinion, because it was likely if he'd tried to keep going ROM, the Dracs, or Cappies would have found a way to damage or destroy them anyway.
At least this way they were 'defunct and inoperable' on all public records and for the time being it would stay that way; the AFFS space station and MIIO listening outpost that was parked right next door to us would serve as the shield for dropship traffic. Ground-to-Orbital and Orbital-to-Ground dropship insertions were a lot easier to track, so all shipments to and from the five Corean-Heavy orbital facilities would go through the AFFS Armstrong Station. That way if there was anyone watching they'd really only have hard data for the dropship traffic to and from Armstrong station; dropships could be sneaky when they wanted to be, and given the distance between us was barely twenty-five thousand kilometers short burns were all that were needed to initiate transit between the two stations.
So once I had my unredacted copy of the Helm Memory Core in hand, I pulled every relevant scrap of scientific and manufacturing data from the Core and the company archives and set my team on it like a pack of hounds. Given the Snakes had managed to begin mass production of Endosteel just a few short years after getting their ganked-up copy of the Helm Memory Core— likely with more than a small bit of ComStar assistance— I was confident that we could do much, much better. We already had the facilities for it, they were operational, and we also had the White Papers, historical company documentation... and most importantly?
We had me.
While the Corean Yellow Paper, a foundational document that detailed every step of our company's industrial process, on Endosteel was badly corrupted— most assuredly due to sabotage— what wasn't corrupted was the shipping manifests to and from the five Corean Heavy stations. On those manifests, we had every bit of materials data and their quantities as delivered to the station, as well as the number of Endosteel blanks that were sent back down to our terrestrial warehouses for delivery. We also had the all-too-important data regarding our failure rate...
Did you know that one of the primary reasons why Endosteel was so expensive was that it had a 40% failure rate?
Well, to be charitable, that was a bit of an exaggeration.
The actual process of creating Endosteel blanks— injecting a metal foam in a microgravity environment with inert gasses inside of a mold— only had a 30% failure rate. Usually things like larger-than-specification cells from improper structural formation; given machines were the ones measuring the ingredients and preparing the foam the chances of it being the foam itself that wasn't mixed properly was fairly low. The other 10% actually came from mistakes in the machining process, that is small errors where the blank was improperly shaped and cut to make the appropriate component.
The primary problem with it all was that there was no discernable way of knowing which blanks didn't pass muster until the machining of the blank— the imperfections revealed once the foam was cut away to reveal the failed structures underneath. According to Star League regulations, any Class B structural gap— that being any gap larger than 15 centimeters— was an automatic failure of the blank; smaller gaps that are revealed as the part is machined are to be given a pass as long as no discernable pits are seen on the finished product and it is within 10 kilograms of the ideal weight.
So that additional 10% was quite a bit more costly because it meant that the blocks were shipped to a machine shop, and hours were wasted machining the piece, only to be revealed to be a failure. The failed block would then have to be transported back up into orbit where it would be then rendered down for materials once more. A costly expense when factoring in fuel costs and space wasted on failed blanks.
That meant out of every ten Endosteel blanks we produced, three of them would not pass muster, and the last one would only be found as a failure after the fact.
I believed I had an idea as to how to check the blanks prior to them being shipped down, and said idea required some electrical testing equipment and a Beagle Active Probe. If I could scan a Vac-Stack in active use and make a map of it so accurately that I could make a crystal processor using that data, then I'm certain that I could do the same with that equipment and some Nirasaki computers to crunch the numbers. This meant I'd have to make another 1-to-1 copy of that SDS computer (which would be a whole week of my life) and build another frankenmachine... though this time it wouldn't look like spanked ass!
"Injection complete... purging gases."
"Gas filtration system online and... operating nominally. Estimated 99.9% recaptured!"
Wow, sounding way too plucky there, and over inert gas recovery too... that shit was so plentiful the provider practically paid me to get the canisters out of their warehouses. And by me I meant Corean.
"Line disconnects completed. Moving the mold to the curing station."
It was a very long three-hour wait for the Endosteel blank to finish curing, but I spent that time talking to my engineers, technicians, and my Endosteel science team while we waited.
Given the prevalence of Vanadium in Clan Tech components, I had a hunch that if we put in just a pinch of that fairy dust into the mixture we could likely make some improvements to the overall formula.
Typical Endosteel was a mixture of mid-carbon steel, usually M17 or M131 for Battlemechs, M13-grade titanium, and M09 or M11 aluminum; refined Rhenium is an additive that speeds along the formation of the cells and promotes solid bonds during the curing process in a high-temp heating coil. The ratio was 80% steel, 10% titanium, 8% aluminum, and 2% rhenium, but after seeing the dreaded 30% failure rate... I am my metallurgy nerds got together and started making some adjustments to the formula.
Of course, the Star League had plenty of papers experimenting with various mineral distributions in Endosteel, always seeking out a way to make it better or cheaper. Mostly cheaper, but better was acceptable. However, some of the best ways to make it better— usually by adding more titanium— ended up making it more costly at scale and thus unviable as an alternative. One of the most attractive features of Endosteel, beyond saving half the weight on a Battlemech frame, was the simple fact that it was made with inexpensive materials... or at least small amounts of more expensive materials.
The particular block of Endosteel we were waiting on was 75% steel, 15% titanium, 5% aluminum, and 2.5% of both vanadium and rhenium.
Given we had futzed around with twenty-nine different variations of this formula I had a good feeling about #30, as #29 had been almost where we needed it to be.
"Alright then boys and girls, let's go see the results."
[Arthur Corean]
[Corean Enterprises Admin Bldg; Arthur's Office]
[New Avalon, New Avalon System, Federated Suns]
[May 20th, 3028]
"This is going to be expensive for me, Arthur." Baroness Geraldine "Jerri" Moore looked over the design plans I had in mind on a noteputer, which included aerial and satellite photographs of the newly proposed layout for Corean's Hamilton City rebuild.
"It's going to be expensive for me."
"I meant in taxes and lost wages for my people, and you know it."
I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest, "But it must be done. If we don't start the building process to modernize the Corean facilities there you will be left behind, and if I'm going to have to spend a lot of Pounds to revamp them I might as well build them in such a way if something ever happened to our facilities here then Corean on New Avalon could still persist through Hamilton City."
We were in my primary office, one that had been heavily upgraded in the wake of Comstar's attempt on my life; I rarely used it these days given I was always running about and working in different departments to see if I couldn't kickstart a brain wave in my research employees. We sat on a very comfy leather loveseat, two freshly delivered coffee cups steaming on the Battlemech-grade steel coffee table in front of us.
The Baroness sat the noteputer down on the table, and picked up her ceramic cup before sipping. "You really think something could happen to the facilities here?"
I made a point of slowly looking at the heavily reinforced window of my office before looking at her. "If you had asked me that question more than a year ago... I still would have said 'Yes'. All it would take to damage Corean Enterprises would be a suicidal dropship laden with a nuke and our operations would have to be called to a halt for years... maybe even decades. You should know as well as I do that the path we are walking is going to make us a lot of enemies... and make the enemies we already do have want to kill us that much more. So yes, I do think this would be the best course of action."
The much older woman hummed as she tapped at the rim of her cup with a finger. "A fully fledged SCMF and four of the... Mini-SCMFs? That would take at least two years for our contractors to build."
"Or we could fit eight Mini-SCMFs on the same plot of land and have them finished in a year and a half," I shrugged and threw an arm over the back of the chair. "However, I would much prefer to have a full-sized SCMF away from my facilities here. If push came to shove, a full-sized SCMF would be wholly capable of rebuilding all of the largest tools and structural equipment that we would need to rebuild everything. It would take time, yes, but as long as one remains fully operational Corean could recover even if we got hammered by unforeseen events."
The Taurians did the suicide dropship thing sometime in the 3060s that brought Corean low, and of course we had the Blakists and their love of WMDs to account for. Even if I built my facility to be a veritable fortress that would savage any attempt to assault it conventionally, the list of unconventional ways to blow shit up was as numerous as the day was long. So having a fully completed SCMF complex a thousand kilometers away was a no-brainer insurance policy; a fully operational SCMF was more than capable of building all of the tools needed to build the tools that would revitalize us in the case of the unthinkable.
However, I wasn't lying when I said they'd fall behind.
The Hamilton City facilities were almost solely focused on electronics packages, from Targeting and Tracking Systems to Communications packages, and they didn't manufacture just Corean products either— we still had two to five years left on a bevy of smaller contracts for various New Avalon corporations who outsourced their work to us. It was almost 60% of HC Plant's work at this point, and the pay was lower than it would be if we were just making Corean products. Those contracts would expire, and because the facilities were older and wouldn't be up to MIIO's specifications for security... there would be very little we could do to justify keeping the factories open and those people employed.
Virtually everything we would make in the future would have Andosteel or Henan crystal in it, and those required the necessary security to protect those state secrets.
"Really, we're just ripping the band-aid off. Better to start construction now than to wait until later. Besides, this will almost triple the number of people that we can employ there, and depending on what workloads the Hamilton City facilities get it could open up doors for a lot of your people to get trained and certified on all sorts of products that normally would have been closed to them due to geography."
Ceramic clinked as she set the mug down with a sigh. "Yes, that it true. We have plenty of people certified for electronics, but with Battlemech, Combat Vehicle, and Aerospace certifications on the table it would certainly be foolish to reject it outright..."
"That and we have the whole Colonial Division and what they're working on. Or the Agristar production line can be cloned and sent your way— if there is one thing that will never go out of business it is agricultural equipment." I tilted my head with a wry smile on my lips. "It would see your people employed for centuries to come, and would free up my more vital plants for other important work."
"A Battlemech line would be preferable. Or an Aerospace line." She crossed her arms underneath her breasts as she leaned back, "Something that would give my plants some prestige. Then you can do with the other plants what you require."
"Done and done. I'll give you a Marauder line for your SCMF, two Agristar lines, and two Sunchaser lines for the Minis..." I pinched my lower lip as I squinted at her, "And if you let me purchase the land next door... four medium M3Ps for ammunition production and a small hardened plant that will handle the needs for both the fusion and Ando-ICE engines."
"You know that I don't own the land next to the complex, Arthur." Jerri cupped her cheek and sighed.
"But you can find out who does and give me their contact information so I can buy it from them," I grunted as I popped my neck. "Seriously, it's just an empty grassy meadow! Nobody even goes there or does anything with it! It just sits there, empty and unused, and since it's in the industrial district no one even goes there to look at it! Not using that space is downright criminal!"
"There is land for sale in the industrial park on the other side of Hamilton City." She chided me, as if we'd had this argument a half-dozen times before.
Which we hadn't.
This was a totally new discussion, the ground completely unbroken.
"And why would I build an entirely separate facility which I'll have to staff and secure when there is land right next to me that is just sitting there empty?"
Besides, the Real Estate company who was offering that land for sale wanted an astronomical sum for the property, and since there was a small puddle of water called a 'pond' on the land there was a whole host of ecological restrictions and planetary ordnances we'd have to adhere to. I am all for keeping a beautiful land beautiful, and I do very much care about the environment, but the restrictions placed upon New Avalon businesses could be absolutely ruinous if the wrong bureaucrat got their feathers ruffled... and the environmentalists on New Avalon were almost as bad as those ponces on Numenor.
Almost.
"I don't know, but I will find out for you and have them contact your office. Now, are my local firms going to get any assistance or will we be going at it alone?"
"I already have a team assembled from Bauer to handle oversight of the excavation, and Hetzmand and Highrise have a team ready to go once we get to their stages of the construction—"
"That is a block of Endosteel."
I smiled.
"Yes, my dear Ardan, it most certainly is."
Breaking that man's brain would never not be entertaining— if only my dear Colonel Ming was here to appreciate it with me...
"Now, that is not the only thing I wish to show off, but it certainly is the most important. At least concerning Battlemechs. We've made quite a few rediscoveries and advancements, but we'll start at the far end of the line and work our way over the Endosteel." I pointed my Prince and Marshal Sortek toward the far end of my rows of ever-faithful white plastic tables. "Over there."
With hands clasped at the small of his back, First Prince Hanse Davion confidently strode to the end of the row with a small smile on his lips. "Come along, Ardan. Let's see what else Arthur has in store for us... it's only been a month but I already see so many new things."
"But! My Prince! Endosteel!"
Special thanks to all of my supporters: InsanexSilence, R. Randall, Mioismoe, Southmonk, R. Stilter, Legion_13, A P, Arrorn, PbookR, auraofcalm, Nevets309, Artillery, C. Wiggins, Darkarma, Jasticus, Nobody, Coolman59223, Lictor Magnus, Mortaegus, Robert H., M. Compean, M. McGuire, Stelligerous, Big Tofu, Markus, PenguinQualityTester, shadowsharp, Empty Shelf, Fennik, Random_Debuff, CyberCrisis, K. W., T. Balewood, Blue, Artman, L. Kasser, shabbybook, Robolo42, DrkShdow, eternitynchaos, Dynrakmos, J. Leen, Calleo, The-Anti-Akuma, J.R. Passos, R. Alderman, Zerak, J. Moore, Dominyx Black, C. Theisen, Pope Yoda I, Seagull (aka FriendlyFire), Xodarap4, Zath, G. Johnson, A. Daw, Acrimonious, Flipflop, Lmc9389, P. Mattoon, Chair Connoisseur, skynetgol, B. Bao, Konb, Sylvardrake, A. Andersson, R. Mcmullen, B. Rison, G. Lowery, Melvin, Ajitae, A. Macklin, Bishop7053, B. Bynum, Dinero1121, Gorth 123, J. Huffman, JmB, john the gamer, Killjoy2003!, M. Seifert, M. S. Mifsud, reindeer wrestler, Shurukkah, T. Dewitt, Underworldhr, cailk, Josh, Orchamus, Splendid, David, Mr Crowley, DragonShark-Eater, K Nielsen, J. Goncalves, Fade, Johnworm, 22darthva, aaron1, Retexks, David 6rar, Wing555, JigaWats, A. Murray, B. Halsey, Seadrake, L. Moffat, G. Castro, T. Nilson, Aeonstorm, J. Bently, D4RK L1CH, Applefreakxd, thehangedking, pomegranate horsie, C. Dennis, Aceter, D. Quinn, D. Skalvig, M. Horrichs, Dudedorey, Memnochian, M. Baudean, DaCowGod, Gremlin Jack, B. Turner, Anonymous Daniel, and J. Johansson!
You guys rock!
A/N: Been a while, huh? Though this was a good stopping point for the chapter. The hardest part is trying to review all of my notes and materials and remembering just what the shit was going on and where I was going. lmao. God, I've spent days just looking over all my stuff and re-reading the story just to remember what was going on. I must have gone through like three separate revelations while writing this "Oh, I almost forgot! Oh! I was supposed to start this plot thread too! And that one! Shit, its a good thing I remembered!" So I'm going to use the next chapter to reformulate those and get the ball rolling before we jet off to Petrolia for the wedding.
And this is "Star League Era Endosteel", not the improved Corean I-Endosteel. That will take more research and playing around with materials and ratios as well as the Frankenmachine to help fine-tune everything, but it will come soon.