Bristol 1.7
Hanse looked back fondly to the boyhood days ... it had been easier on the both of them. They, he and Ian had still had responsibility towards things but his time at school, and Ian's time at school had been breathing space beyond things. "We have a couple of months until your friends graduate," He began after getting comfortable in the seat. The papers on the desk... that he wasn't spying on, just that they were out there in the open were about small scale fusion engine production, and lighter vehicles. The papers scribbled on, subject to scratches from an ink pen out of probably boredom... there was a tedium to dealing with Industry and managing that something Hanse was familiar with... New Avalon was always a tide of action, but since Michael had becoming Duke of New Syrtis and the duties that entailed... Ian as was his right as First Prince had looked elsewhere for the tasks Michael had filled.
... not that either of the brothers thought of the original post as some kind of sinecure. Michael did seem to have demonstrated that he had all the requisite experience to handle being the federal trade minister. But there was competency and then there was dependability, and Michael was somewhat out of the good graces of his brothers in law and had insisted on digging the hole deeper. That was part of the reason Hanse was doing the job, what had probably started as a temporary posting to shore up the change and then the large battles had played out.
There was a grunt as from behind his overflowing desk Henry stretched cracking his neck from one side in a gesture that seemed entirely too old. "Yeah," He replied rubbing his temples, "I've been looking at that, "I've been thinking that given some of the parts, I think that Blackwell would probably be the most effective secondary manufacturer of the Cataphract. They have a history as a spare parts manufacturer, and in terms of larger companies there is always General Motors. License trading is fairly normal but it takes time and negotiations... and GM should be able to manufacture the Marauder II right now though 300 rating Fusion Engines would probably overtax wider production at this point. If anything I think the best option would be to expand Nissan 200 production on Robinson and manufacturing for Mk III Large Lasers,"
"This is about Auto Cannons?"
"Its about need ammunition to keep them functioning, the Rifleman Trooper we talked about if I can get Kallon to agree to factory manufacturing or we can produce refit kits still can fill the air defense niche while making it more effective in BattleMech engagements," And Henry was repeating himself... Hanse had been briefed that besides the Rabid Fox Clay's default mech was a Rifleman from the Academy Yvonne had mentioned that months ago.
"Do you plant convert Sakhara's rifleman mechs first?" Hanse asked diverting slightly, but it was more personal curiosity than anything.
He shook his head, "Not all of them, there is some conventional, and justified opposition in that the standard Rifleman is common. They might pickup bad habits from the Trooper variant... no its just not acceptable to the other instructors. Its the exact opposite with the cataphract, if its there as a training mech then any number of varieties can be put there."
"I was under the impression Centurion production was coming online in the fall,"Hanse remarked.
"200 Engine production isn't a problem, part of the incoming class will receive Centurions," Which from what Hanse understood there was talking going on back and forth if they went to Sakhara's prestigious cadre or otherwise graduated with honors those mechs could be furnished to the graduates." That would still be four years of training, but it would be a gradual expansion of the number of horsed 'mechwarriors available to the Federated Suns while they were apart of the AFFS...and some of those graduates after their tour of duty might go mercenary or go home to their families but that was acceptable. It certainly wasn't something to complain about. The RBA wouldn't be able to afford that kind of industrial distribution, "There are some talks with Northwind, I think those would be further along if we'd stayed for the entirety of the tournament but I think Aaron has that covered..."
"Could Highlander production be restarted?"
"We're going to," Gonna was what it sound like through a stifled yawn, "need a few years. Even if Northwind's government was prepared for it, the fusion engine is still the bottle neck, Achernar," 's branch On, "New Avalon manufactures the engine for the Phoenix Hawk so there is a way forward, its just a question of investing the time and resources."
"Northwind is close to the front."
"I know, and I don't think we should have any one planet being the single source of parts or line for anything critical. Hence building factories forthe Centurion on Sakhara and Robinson both... I'd like it if the Northwind talks get another Centurion line up and running yeah they're close to the front... but once the lines on Robinson are providing mechs I doubt it'll draw the same kind of heat as an assault mech... and we can always sink capital in Northwind to just make spare parts for now. That's honestly I think the best option."
Which was just back down the rabbit hole of spare parts, and techs to work on machines to rebuild all the machines that were on lists but needed repairs, or replacements, never mind the ones which were in fighting condition but had been or had had replacement parts that weren't standard. It was exhausting... and it had become the norm over the centuries. People accepted it it because it was how things were.
Henry understoodthat academically but looking to fix the problem meant starting from the bottom... and the biggest ...well cheat he had was his essence, and Hanse didn't know about that. Henry knew that getting the other manufacturers to follow suit and invest money in production meant showing that that was safe... or that it was safe enough to put that money in it rather than buy another mansion, or other social spending; or whatever.
Hanse didn't speak up so he continued, probably the Fox had left the gap there so he would talk, but really, "Sakhara has enough infrastructure on it to be a target... we had the machinery putting it to use made sense..." he half justified his actions, "But I am going to need to expand the defenses there with tanks, and tanks for here. Fusion engine production is the main priority, get Blackwell and Pratt & Whitney to expand spare parts production start trying to encourage others we can push for Kallon and so one over all."
Hanse nodded, not commenting but considering to himself at least that if Blackwell did get absorbed... which wasn't Henry's intention at all, that it might help smooth things over with GM, "I already had recognized that we have a great deal of work to do, and yes Blackwell and the Wolf Dragoons are very much something my brother would like to focus on if he can have the time to do so. You may be needed on New Avalon, given the circuit in place that should be an issue, but it shouldn't be at least for another few months."
He reciprocated the nod. The question was how many months. They had started construction of the first, the replacement JumpShip before he'd figured out the trick to the essence of selling off HPGs and getting cash to buy comparatively higher BV equipment, which could be sold for that to bank for other things... he blinked the balance sheet away before his vision was overwhelmed by the numbers, "The Star Lord won't be ready for several months, there are safety checks we want to be sure for the yard before we will be comfortable launching it. It will take time from there, and it won't be until next year that we're in a position to begin full scale production."
Hanse shrugged, "We have complete confidence in you." Then a pause, "This will more likely be of a more martial conversation than of JumpShips, and there are other discussions." It was more than just striking a blow against house Kurita. "I know it has been mentioned but my brother has his Kell Hounds looking at machines... lets just say its more than he's let on so far." Much more Hanse knew... having mercenaries that answered directly to the First Prince was a way to get around Field Marshals, but Henry didn't explicitly told that... but Michael would get the implication...