As Ves and Gloriana slowly patched up their relationship, the Design Department almost completed the preparations for the second round of design projects.

He knew that the Braves and Erudites had to work harder than ever this time. All of them were just third-class mech designers not too long ago. Though they had prospered greatly after gaining access to the abundant learning resources of the Larkinson Clan, they had yet to receive any significant augmentations.

This meant that the assistant mech designers wouldn't be able to provide as much help as before. With their insufficient knowledge and judgement, their design choices simply couldn't be trusted.

The three lead designers who were qualified to design second-class mechs had to take on a much more hands-on approach as a result. Not being able to delegate a lot of challenging work to their assistants meant they had to commit a lot of time in order to complete the projects within the deadline.

While Ves wanted to obtain some great mech designs, he did not want to sink an excessive amount of time in their development. Designing mechs was not just about coming up with the best products. It was also about completing their designs in a timely manner. Every mech designer had to make compromises in order to balance these two priorities.

This time, he prioritized haste. He was lagging behind schedule when it came to designing second-class mechs. His mech forces urgently needed some second-class LMC mechs and he was very keen on completing his obligations to the Hexadric Hegemony as soon as possible.

"Attaining the greatest possible quality is not a big concern this time." He muttered.

Lucky, who was lounging on his shoulder, issued a warning.

"Meow."

"It's fine. It won't hurt as long as I don't say anything to Gloriana."

He knew his new wife would not be pleased if she found out that Ves intended to rush his projects. This was why he was determined to stay mum and pretend to design his mechs as usual. Once the deadline came close, he would keep urging her on and force her to end her work.

No matter how much she wanted to perfect her work, she always surrendered to his persuasion in the end. This was because he always held more say when it came to designing mass-produced mechs.

However, once they started to design some custom mechs and expert mechs, Gloriana would certainly insist on spending more time to optimize them. This was fine to Ves as it was very important to achieve the greatest possible quality for these high-performing machines.

"That's something to consider for the future."

Once he completed the current round of projects, he intended to design his first expert mechs. With the help of Master Willix, Ves had very high expectations for his first batch or projects.

In the meantime, he tasked the LMC's Procurement Department to be on the lookout for exceptionally valuable materials that conformed to the criteria he set. Many of the exotics Ves was looking for were regarded as strategic materials by states, so obtaining them was anything but trivial. The chances of any of them showing up on the open market or semi-open venues such as auction houses were too slim.

Still, as long as there was a chance, there was hope of obtaining enough materials in the next half-year. The Procurement Department hired or dispatched agents throughout the Yeina Star Cluster in order to approach various states and institutions for their strategic materials. Perhaps it was possible to make some private deals with them. The Larkinson Clan possessed a lot more clout these days.

With the establishment and expansion of several new departments, Ves felt assured about delegating more tasks to others. It was completely unnecessary for him to waste his precious time on performing market research or begging for strategic materials. The LMC hired plenty of professionals who could do a much better job of performing these tasks.

Ves and his fellow mech designers just needed to design their mechs, and that suited everyone fine.

Speaking of procurement, the Larkinson Clan's initial batch of purchases finally arrived. Large amounts of starships entered the Cinach System and flew to the inner system.

Many of them were massive cargo haulers. Their large, cavernous cargo hulls stored rows and rows of large-sized containers.

When the cargo haulers delivered them to a large civilian space station, Ves and his mech commanders eagerly visited one of the warehouses to inspect the new goods.

Large teams of mech technicians were already crawling over the containers. They inspected the goods and began to open some of the containers.

Soon enough, the mech technicians swiftly assembled the mechs stored inside. Several different mechs stood before the Larkinsons.

These were the imported products that the Larkinson Clan had ordered. The initial shipment brought over a thousand second-mechs, which significantly alleviated everyone's security concerns.

"So these are our next fighting machines." Commander Melkor observed as his visor continually scanned the hastily-assembled mechs. "No offense, Ves, but they look a bit more basic than I expected."

"The mechs of the Cross Clan are at least four times as impressive." Commander Cinnabar grunted.

Ves helplessly spread his hands. "These are stopgap mechs. We're just using them until my Design Department completes some suitable second-class mechs that you can use. Once you get your Bright Warrior Mark II's, we'll have to dispose of these mechs in some way. Whether we resell them, recycle them or hand them down to someone else, we won't be able to recoup the cost of procuring them in the first place. It's best to go cheap under these circumstances."

The newest mech commander nodded. "I believe it is good to start with basic models. The high-end mechs used by the Cross Clan, the Friday Coalition and the Hexadric Hegemony are challenging to control. Most of our mech pilots won't be able to utilize more than a fraction of their potential. We might as well make use of something easier and get accustomed to piloting second-class mechs before we move up to better models."

Commander Sendra snorted. "Don't equate your Living Sentinels to the rest of us, Casella. The Swordmaidens don't need training mechs. We are more than ready enough to harness real battle machines!"

The argument continued for some time until Ves raised his palm. "Quiet down. The choice lies with me. While I am aware of your requirements, it simply isn't possible to fulfill all of them, especially since I have opted to purchase these products in bulk this time. Be patient and wait for some time. Once we have freed some design capacity, I will start some projects that are tailored to the needs of your troops."

That shut them down. Each mech commander knew that a mech designed in-house was the ultimate product they could get their hands on. With all of the advantages they conveyed, the Larkinson Clan would definitely soar in strength once it obtained more LMC mech models.

The newly-released Transcendent Punisher model already gave them a nice preview! The Larkinson Clan's new artillery mech might be incredibly unwieldy and difficult to fabricate, but its power and functions were undeniable!

In the initial test run of the first production copy, the mech was capable of tracking even the trickiest practice targets!

Its uncanny 'Ylvainan' targeting and aim assistance allowed it to nail distant light mechs with a surprising degree of success.

If the other LMC mechs possessed similar features, then the continued rise of the Larkinson Clan was assured!

Of course, all of that took time. For now, the mech forces had to settle for what passed for budget mechs in the second-class mech market.

The first model that Ves and his commanders inspected was a rather slim swordsman mech.

"This is the Princess Jecka AR-0005-PMSE." Ves presented to the others as he called up a projection of the model's spec sheet. "It's designed and produced by Merrin Systems, which is based in Vicious Mountain. Its performance is moderately slanted towards offense. Its armor system isn't very impressive, but that is also the reason why it is priced at 59 million hex credits per copy."

Everyone turned to Commander Sendra. As the new leader of the Swordmaidens, she would be relying heavily on these foreign-made mechs.

"They look.. usable." The tall and athletic woman stated with a hint of reluctance. A grimace formed on her tanned face. "I've seen better second-class mechs. I give credit to Merrin Systems. The mech designers there truly know what swordsman mech pilots want to see in their machines. It's just that these Princess Jecka mechs are too damned cheap!"

Compared to the mech models of her dreams, the Princess Jecka model possessed lackluster armor, average mobility and a lack of interesting modules. Its budget was simply too small to accommodate more features.

It still had a few good upsides, though. Otherwise, Ves wouldn't have spent his money on this particular model.

Just like many of the other mech models he procured, the Princess Jecka was cheap, easy to maintain, easy to pilot and possessed surprisingly high arm strength. The offensive power of this spaceborn swordsman mech model allowed it to burst out a considerable amount of damage.

That last bit barely placated the Swordmaidens. The other mech forces would also be making use of the Princess Jecka, though to a lesser degree.

The commanders inspected another model.

At 48 million hex credits per copy, the ANX Corp Vima Sun RT-556L was even cheaper than the Princess Jecka.

The Vima Sun was a classic second-class spaceborn rifleman mech model. It boasted high firepower, above-average mobility but very poor defense.

The ranged mech excelled in wielding laser weapons. Its high-powered laser rifles boasted high alpha damage, allowing it to vaporize or melt through tougher obstacles.

The tradeoff was that the Vima Sun's energy reserves drained quickly when the rifles fired continuously at their highest setting. The rifleman mech's shape did not offer that much capacity, and its affordable energy cells weren't known for their abundant storage.

The heat management of this model was also rather poor, especially in open space. The only mitigating factor was that the Vima Sun was fairly good at shunting its excess heat into any starship hull, asteroid or other solid object it came into contact with. Therefore, these Vima Suns were destined to take cover behind combat carriers in most combat situations.

"These Vima Suns are completely inadequate for Avatars of Myth." Melkor distastefully frowned. As a rifleman mech specialist, he had a better feel for ranged mechs. "Their defense is so poor that their good mobility doesn't matter."

"They are serviceable to the Living Sentinels." Commander Casella Ingvar judged. "While I agree with the Avatar Commander, the needs of my Sentinels aren't as high. We can make due with the Vima Suns."

Ves already expected to hear such answers. "You don't have to settle for the base model. If your men have enough spare time, you can tell them to upgrade or modify your new mechs as you wish. Part of the reasons why I chose to procure the Princess Jecka and the Vima Sun models is because they're easy to modify and improve. Their relatively simple and uncomplicated designs lend themselves well to extensive upgrades."

That mollified the mech commanders a bit more. Personally, Ves felt it was a waste of time to upgrade these stopgap mechs, but he did not forbid it. The mech forces each needed to keep themselves busy somehow. Upgrading the new products also allowed the maintenance departments of the different mech forces to accrue more practical experience.

The third important model they checked was a space knight model.

"This is another product of Merrin Systems." Ves introduced. "I took a fancy to the Tamris Stellar 

TR-1013-TLAZ because it features the same clean and basic design style as the Princess Jecka. It's a generic offensive mech model that boasts relatively high defense, decent mobility for a hefty mech and poor offensive capabilities."

"Is there anything special to this space knight?" Commander Abis Firelight asked. The Flagrant Vandal Commander was not impressed by the model. "Its shield looks rather thin."

"That's why it is priced at just 67 million hex credits. That's a bargain in my eyes. There are no gimmicks to this mech worth noting. If you aren't satisfied with its shield, then you can easily replace it with something better."

Every mech commander knew that their troops had a lot of work on their hands. Even if they wouldn't be using these affordable mechs for a very long time, none of them felt assured by their factory specs!