Chapter 10
Date: April 14, 3026
"It's amazing what is buried underneath some of the filth back here," Billy commented as we hooked up the leg of a 'mech we couldn't even see the torso of to a hitch and slapped the side of the truck to began dragging it out of the mound of sand it had been buried in.
"You're telling me," I laughed as we slowly pulled a Crusader out of the dark, oily sand. "This is what, the third one we've found underneath junk that we couldn't use?"
"Fourth," Billy replied. "Eddy seems to have a knack for finding the damned things!"
"Well, start hauling it on back to the shop. I'm going to head to the office, I've got to see if the numbers line up," I replied. We'd made two more deals and sold another pair of lances. One of lights, one of heavies. But that'd only brought us up to about sixty million C-Bills or so. Which if I were honest was actually well above what we should have gotten for them in the first place. The problem was, we were starting to run out of full tanks, 'mechsm and vehicles to repair in the yard. Sure, there were plenty of parts to pull off and restore for sale to an enterprising merc unit when they dropped by. But it wasn't going to net us the amount of cash we would need to buy out the industrialmech factory. The heavy lance would be our last sale, and even then, Sylvie was telling me that we should hold onto some of them for use with our security forces.
Thankfully, it was a long walk back to the office portion of the workshop, and I had plenty of time to mull over our options. There was a part of me that was hesitant to push for searching out loans and grants with the government. I still just wasn't familiar enough with the local and federal government to trust them.
At the same time, I knew that there was probably several loans and grants designed for smaller manufacturers to begin working towards supplying military hardware. I was just going to need to do a lot of research before opting into any of them.
"You look upset," Sylvie said when I enterd the air-conditioned office space. "What's wrong."
"Nothing's wrong, per se," I replied. "You were right, we're going to have to push for some sort of grant to get the funding we need for the factory. Way I see it, we've got two options, and we're going to need lawyers for both."
"Okay," Sylvie leaned forward. "What do you think our options are? I'll point out anything stupid."
"Option one, we look into private investors," I hated this option the most. "And give up equity in the company in exchange for them providing us with the capital. This one will work, but it means we don't get to make all of the decisions anymore. Even if we do retain more of the equity."
I sat down across from her and enjoyed the cold air.
"Option two, we look into government grants or loans and figure out how to use those to get what we want," I continued. "Now, I know that most of us dislike the feds, but I think they're going to be our best option here. They'll have the money and grants we need to get our feet in the door and begin working on expansion in a way that we didn't originally plan for."
"And we'll need a lawyer for both of them," Sylvie swallowed.
"We're going to need lawyers regardless," I admitted. "We should probably start looking at firms that deal with Comstar, government contracts, and then cvilian legalese. They're going to provide us with the resources and information we need to succeed. Because as long as we're getting paid and making money, that firm is going to be making money as well. So, they'll be incentivized to keep us in business and making money."
"Okay," Sylvie sighed. "My grandfather used to spend some time with lawyers, and he left some notes on who was trustworthy. Do you want to go over them and start making calls?"
"I think I can help with that after I make sure the guys are squared away with the lance in the bays," I replied. "As soon as I'm done with that, I'll be over to get this figured out."
"Alternatively," Sylvie held up a hand. "You, can sit here doing paperwork for the rest of the day while I enjoy working with the grease monkeys. The numbers are starting to make my head hurt and my vision's swimming. I'd rather turn a wrench than make a call or look at another piece of paper right now."
"Fair enough," I smiled. "I'll handle the paperwork and phone calls. Just point me to where your grandfather's notes are."
Date: May 17, 3026
In the end, I did end up looking into grants and loans that were provided by the Free Worlds League Federal government as well as what might be available locally. The salvage yard just didn't have enough 'mechs for us to sell to pay for the industrialmech factory we wanted. Not to mention we'd also need capital for raw resources and the extra money to found what was essentially going to be a server farm of some description. Writing down all of the information on what we were going to do was useful, but I only had the one notebook, and only one or two people could look over my notes at a time.
Eventually, my goal was to have a full database of how to repair 'mechs, vehicles, and anything else that showed up. I'd also done some reading and discoverd how much factories were targeted in the endless war that seemed to rage on around this universe. If our factory got targeted, I wanted us to be able to repair it.
Anyway, to get back to the main focus, my initial concernes about the larger manufacturers interfering with our loans or grants were unfounded. Instead, it seemed that most large-scale manufacturers were happy to hand off some of the manufacturing burden for components to smaller companies. For instance, apparently actuators for all the varying 'mechs were made by a ton of different companies and were sold in large numbers to big manufacturers and small ones alike. It was also one of the few things that didn't require a license or patent to make. The plans were public domain, and no one seemed to target those manufacturers.
"Mister Blaze," A voice shook me out of my thoughts on the future, causing me to stand up and brush some imaginary dust off my suit. It was one of the few things I had from my old life, and it had been in use for a long time. It also was one of the first and only things I'd spent good money on back in my old life. It was a custom tailored suit that had cost a few thousand dollars back in the day.
"Yes, sir?" I shook the woolgathering away again and asked.
"You're next on the list here," a large man said, gesturing for me to follow him to the receptionist desk. "It says you're applying for the AEGIS, ICARUS, and REIC grants. Do you have the paperwork for all of those with you."
"I do," I snapped open my briefcase and handed the completed forms over. Both Sylvie and I had gone over them with a fine-toothed comb, looking over every single bit of legalese, fine print, and anything else.
As it turned out, the FWL had protections for smaller manufacturers to break through the glass ceiling and make an impact. Among those was the ICARUS grant, named after one of the first battlemechs developed in the Free Worlds League, the grant provided funds for legal assistance in navigating the harsh licensing and sue-happy culture of the galaxy.
The AEGIS grant would be providing the remaining funds we needed to purchase the industrialmech factory. We'd managed to scrounge up about a hundred and fifty million, but the rest was going to be provided by this grant.
Then there was the Rapid Expansion of Industrial Capacity grant, or REIC (Pronounced like Rice). The Government and their acronyms. That one would be what gave us enough of a funding push to modernize and add weapons plants to the industrialmech factory side of things, as well as help us find and locate people to provide us with direct access to the raw materials we'd need.
"Alright," the Secretary nodded, looking through the paperwork with a highlighter. "I'll have to go over this more thoroughly before we continue with the next part of the process. Then you'll have the inerview with the local Federal Representative to present your case. Finally, it'll go to the Committee for small Industry for final approval. Now, that only applies to the AEGIS and ICARUS grants. Once we've verified the paperwork and ability to begin expansion, we can go ahead and approve the REIC grant and start getting you access to those funds."
The man paused.
"Now, due to previous issues regarding fraud, you are required to provide exact purchases, deals, and anything that these funds are utilized for. If at any point in time you are found to be acting against the government of Kalidasa or the Free Worlds League, all equipment and production will be seized and your business will be turned over to the government as compensation."
"I understand," I nodded. "Do you need me to remain here while you go over everything, or do you want me to return to my seat?"
"The Representative will see you now," The Secretary shook his head. "He'll be conducting the interview regardless of the status on the other two grants."
With that, he pointed me towards the correct door and I stepped through. Ready to argue, fight, and work towards the future of Siler's Salvage and Assembly.