The Mech Touch (Web Novel)
chapter-2771

The Graveyard offered a compelling package to organizations that needed a self-sufficient capital ship.

While the Graveyard still required deep maintenance every now and then to keep her systems in good condition, the fact that she was not dependent on shipyards to replace or beef up her armor was a major benefit!

Yet an unconventional ship like the Graveyard always always came with a host of limitations that complicated her use. If this wasn't the case, then scavenger ships with armor belts made out of scrap would have been much more common in space!

Vivian was all too well aware of the various shortcomings and problematic aspects of the Graveyard.

She pointed at the wireframe schematics of the Graveyard. "Properly speaking, the Graveyard is built for danger, but not for war."

"Is there a difference?" Ves raised his eyebrow as he petted an unruly Lucky.

"There is. The difference is quite substantial. The Graveyard is not designed and built by a military organization, so she is incomparable to the Auralis when it comes to the defensiveness of her inner hull structure."

"What does this all mean?"

"If an enemy manages to penetrate her exterior plating, the Graveyard's core compartments are less well protected than the inner structure of true fleet carriers. The salvage processing machines and the engineering bay are just some of the systems and compartments that can get trashed."

That was indeed a serious concern. All of this meant that the Graveyard had to prevent the enemy from digging through her armor belt at all cost. While every ship suffered if an enemy force managed to open a hole through their defenses, combat vessels were highly compartmentalized and possessed a lot of interior reinforcement to limit spillover damage.

Since combat vessels such as fleet carriers were built for combat, the shipwrights designed them to retain as many core functions as possible in the event they incurred heavy damage!

In general, this was not a luxury provided to non-combat vessels. Developing a more damage-resistant internal structure massively drove up the cost. All of that extra spending hurt the pocketbooks of the clients and wasn't even necessary if the vessel didn't participate in combat.

While the Graveyard was different in that it was designed to play an active role in battle, she was not a military vessel. Her design, ship components, material usage and standards completely conformed to the private sector.

This meant that the Larkinson Clan would lose a considerable degree of defensive capabilities if it traded out the Auralis for the Graveyard.

Ves frowned and rubbed his smooth-shaven cheek. "What's your opinion on this matter?"

"The Graveyard is not a bad ship because of this design limitation, sir." She answered. "Her vulnerable core won't be an issue if we don't let her armor belt get penetrated in the first place. That means we need to proactively invest in her exterior and continue to pile up higher quality alloys."

That sounded familiar to Ves. Wasn't this how his Devil Tiger worked?

"I see. It will cost a lot of salvage, but it can make a big difference to the Graveyard if we outfit it with armor plates that are made from premium materials."

Ves thought that Breyer alloy might be a good option for this. The only issue was that it would take many years to cover the Graveyard entirely with this material.

In any case, the premise she presented was not wrong. Yet enemies rarely acted according to the intentions of the opposite side.

"It's not going to be easy to protect the Graveyard's internals. This is especially if we wish to employ her as one of our main defensive bulwarks in battle. We can't keep her out of the line of fire because we are afraid of giving our foes the opportunity to break her shell."

"Then we just have to keep upgrading the shell so that it never has the chance to break entirely. This is why I said that she is suited for danger but not war. She won't fare well if she is pulled into severely high-intensive battles in quick succession. However, as long as we have time to repair our battle damage after an engagement, she can serve her purpose at maximum efficiency in the subsequent battle."

This suited the Larkinson Clan more. Ves did not expect his expeditionary fleet to enter into a feud with some other powerful faction and get entangled in lots of fights. It was much more likely that his clan would get caught in some major friction against other pioneers every now and then. There weren't any established states in the Red Ocean that could dispatch a continuous flood of powerful fleets!

"The Graveyard is continuously upgradable." The female shipwright emphasized. "Her wide tolerance for different exteriors means that it is very simple for us to upgrade her current basic armor belt with one that is made out of premium second-class materials. We can make the Graveyard twice, thrice or even ten times more resilient without ever needing to put her into a drydock!"

Ves widened his eyes. This definitely sounded interesting to him. Other ships were more strict and limited in this regard. Every major overhaul demanded shipyard services in order to perform the necessary operations.

"The Graveyard is also versatile in other ways, sir. In her current configuration, her armor belt is quite thick, which has a considerable impact on her mobility. If you speed the ship up, you can shed some of her mass and reduce her armor. If you think you need solid protection again, you can mount it up with thicker and more massive armor plating again."

This was a great advantage. Her adaptability and ease of modification meant she could turn into different vessels at different times.

The configuration of her armor belt could take on so many forms that the Graveyard would always be useful regardless of the situation. If the Larkinson Clan didn't like how she currently performed, then the salvage ship could just take on another form in a matter of days or weeks!

This was a ship that had the potential to remain relevant to the Larkinson Clan for many decades. Even if her current configuration and systems were rather basic, it was not impossible to upgrade them over time, especially if Ves found a drydock to perform the desired improvements.

What mattered was that the core concept and base of the vessel were solid.

However, the Graveyard also came with other caveats.

"There are some other downsides that you should take into account, sir. The ship is 2.1 kilometers long and much of her internal space is taken up by her salvage processing machines and cargo holds. She doesn't possess a substantial mech hangar and is only designed to accommodate 50 bunker mechs."

A total number of 50 bunker mechs was on the smaller side for a capital ship of this size. The Graveyard was designed to withstand incoming fire. Adding too many bunkers to a starship weakened her armor integrity and introduced more exploitable weak points.

Ves frowned. "Fifty bunkers are not good enough, and the fact that she isn't designed to carry more mechs will substantially weaken her usefulness."

This meant that the Graveyard always needed to be escorted by other carriers if she was tasked with a special mission. Bunker mechs weren't enough to protect her from opportunistic raiders who wanted to capture a fairly valuable capital ship.

Ves and Vivian entered into a deeper discussion on the salvage ship. Both of them began to go over several nuances and important properties of the vessel on offer.

"The Graveyard is 47 years old." Vivian stated. "The ship is definitely in a used condition, so her maintenance burden is slightly higher than when she was brand new. In another half-century, it becomes more strenuous to keep her systems running unless she undergoes an extensive overhaul. That said, I think this ship can definitely operate for decades at a time without exhibiting any serious defects as long as we care for her. Her adaptability also makes it easy for us to apply continuous upgrades that can extend her usefulness."

This was a ship that the Larkinson Clan could use for quite some time. Even if the Graveyard would eventually be surpassed by better ships, she could still play a useful background role. Her functionality as a salvage ship always remained useful no matter where the expedition fleet traveled to. This was because the vessel also possessed limited ore processing capabilities. This paired well with a mining ship.

Eventually, Ves gained a good overview of the capital-sized salvage ship. Despite her many limitations that might hamper her usefulness in the long-term, she was an excellent short and medium-term addition to his expeditionary fleet.

Ves urgently needed to bolster the defenses and capabilities of his fleet, and adding the Graveyard would make a considerable difference on and off the battlefield.

However, the Auralis was worth way more than the Graveyard. Ves did not want to trade his precious prize at a loss.

"Enough about the Graveyard. I already know enough to make a judgement about it. Please tell me about the other vessel that is bundled into this deal."

Vivian pointed at the second projection. "This vessel isn't designed for combat. Instead, she is designed for beast transportation and bioresearch."

"Is this an LRA vessel?"

"Correct." Vivian nodded. "Bioresearch vessels like these are quite common in the Life Research Association. While most organic products are shipped in frozen containers and such, there are many instances where the animals have to be alive and well. High-value exobeasts and designer beasts require special accommodations and some biotech companies are willing to invest in good ships in order to accommodate this need."

"I see. It's still a bit extravagant to resort to a capital ship as opposed to a small ship class."

"This is why they are also used as bioresearch facilities, sir. Think of them as moving research bases. They can be moved into the orbit of any life-bearing planet in order to conduct specialized research on the flora and fauna found on the surface. They can also be moved to an isolated star system in order to conduct sensitive studies."

"Ah." Ves suddenly smirked. "That makes more sense. Their mobile nature and extensive research facilities make them ideal for secret research. This is especially handy if said research is of the shady kind."

"Indeed. The Dragon's Den is kind of secure, actually. She possesses a lot of accommodations that serve to isolate signals, prevent unwanted snooping and halts any infiltrators in their tracks. Her original owners were quite keen to maintain their privacy."

"Why did such a vessel become available, then?"

"The owners I just talked about had been sentenced for very grave crimes against humanity. While much of the records aren't made public, according to what I heard, the previous users of the Dragon's Den conducted illicit research."

"Figures."

The Dragon's Den was considerably bigger and more sophisticated than the Graveyard. Her age was also quite tolerable. Despite her sordid history, all of her advanced lab equipment were completely intact and still in their original conditions.

While the ship was quite valuable, there was a very serious issue that made Ves hesitant to examine her further.

"I'm sure the Dragon's Den is a good platform to conduct advanced bioresearch and transport lots of beasts, but I'm questioning whether we actually need her. Bioresearch is not one of our core activities at this time. Staffing her and maintaining her is a considerable burden, and she isn't even useful in combat situations. Why should we prioritize her acquisition over other possible capital ships?"

Vivian did not look admonished. "My department has thought carefully about this issue. We have also consulted with Dr. Ranya Wodin and General Verle among other clan officials. There is a good reason to acquire bioresearch vessels such as the Dragon's Den right now instead of years from now. We can use her to attract a horde of skilled biotech researchers!"