Star Citizen Online: Isekai Edition

Chapter 97: Licensing and Shopping

The design of the headquarters of Starlight Drive Yard Industries was rather simplistic, utilitarian, and minimalistic, with white walls and practically zero to no decorations, which was rather unusual for the headquarters of an enormous corporation like Starlight Drive Yard Industries.

The sole decorations that were in this space were the holographic projections of the various products of the Starlight Drive Yard Industries, and there were also several paintings that were hung on the walls, displaying various starships and the most advanced weapons produced by them.

There were also several paintings from famous painters of the Eternal Empire of the Asurya, displaying the destruction of the entire planet by the Colossus World Destroyer Ships or how the entire stars were literally eaten by the Star Eater Class Ships.

Certainly, the place had its own charms that he had to give them.

Because Arcturus had an appointment with one of the Senior Executives of the Starlight Drive Yard Industries, they went through the reception and headed toward one of the upper floors of the building.

What was rather surprising for Arcturus was that the name of the Senior Executive was the same as the Branch Manager of the Starlight Drive Yard Industries Branch at the Starfort Lycurgos in the Alaric Star Domain.

That was something that he would have overlooked already if not for the Red Queen warning him about the fact that the Senior Executive who would be meeting them on the topic of Patent Licensing and so on was Karleon Alvix.

Normally, he would have just thought that they only had the same name, which was rather a common occurrence in his past life, but when he remembered that the elderly man was Highborne Asuryani, he realized that it wasn't the case.

So it was then made clear to him that it was indeed the Karleon Alvix, the man whom he met at the Alaric Star Domain. This made Valkorion even more curious because it seemed that he was someone very important within the Starlight Drive Yard Industries.

Arcturus even ordered Red Queen to search for information on the Starlight Drive Yard Industries, and he found that, as he suspected, the Alvix name was the name of the very important Mercantile Clan within the Eternal Empire of the Asurya.

While they were not the Bloodline Aristocracy, they were not really much different from them, the sole reason why the House Alvix wasn't listed among the Bloodline Aristocracy was the sole fact that neither of their members were enlisting in the military service, but instead turned their attention to business.

Still, they were immensely rich, and Karleon Alvix was one of the Elders of the House Alvix and was one of the most influential men in the entire House because he was also the father of the current patriarch of the House Alvix.

Due to his advanced age, he mostly retired and was only taking care of the family shares within the Starlight Drive Yard Industries, as that was one of their most important ventures; thus, he was taking care of them personally and even had an official position within the Starlight Drive Yard Industries as one of the Senior Executives.

When they arrived at the office of the Karleon Alvix, it was located at the top of the building with a nice view of the panorama of the entire city because the headquarters of the Starlight Drive Yard Industries was a very tall building compared to the rest of the city.

As they entered, he was met with the familiar visage of the Karleon Alvix as the elderly man was looking over something through the Imperial NetSphere.

When Arcturus knocked on the door and opened door, the elderly Highborne Asuryni stopped doing what he was doing as he welcomed the Arcuturs and the delegation of the Imperial Knights into his office.

In fact, Karleon Alvix was surprised to see that the young man that he met several months ago at the Starfort Lycurgos was right now at the Throne World of the Eternal Empire of the Asurya and even escorted personally by the Imperial Knights that were under the direct command of the Lord Padishah-Marshall.

"It has been some time, Sir Alvix"

Arcturus stated that only the Star Knight Neros Thoran remained in the office of the Senior Executive Alvix of the Starlight Drive Yard Industries, while the remaining four Imperial Knights retreated outside of the room as they guarded the entrance.

"It certainly was... who would have thought that the youngster that I made on the fringes of the Imperial Space would make his way here to the Celestara on the Phoenix Prime."

Indeed, it was very surprising because only those who were at the bottom of the Imperial society or those in desperate need of money, lack of talent, or something similar would go into the forces of the Imperial Space and become Star Mercenaries and Bounty Hunters.

So he was rather surprised to see the young man here on the Celestara, much less being in the presence of the Imperial Knights of the Imperial Knight Order, and under their protection, it seemed that the Lord Padishah-Marshall arranged for his personally.

Star Knights within the Imperial Knight Order didn't move unless they were ordered personally to do something.

"Fate has many twists and turns..."

Arcturus stated as he sat down on the sofa across the Karleon Alvix as Star Knight Neros Thoran stood behind Arcturus as part of his protection detail, unmoving like a statue as anything that was taking place didn't really have anything to do with him.

His only duty was Arcturus's protection during the time he was at the Celestara and before he was escorted to the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy and nothing less.

"While I appreciate the sentiments, time is money so that we can go straight to the matter."

Arcturus said as Karleon Alvix nodded because time equaled money, especially for someone like him. As one of the Senior Executives of the Starlight Drive Yard Industries, he was a very busy person, and under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be entraining someone even for a patent license or two.

Such things were typically handled by the General Managers of the respective departments within the company, not the Senior Executives of the Starlight Drive Yard Industries. They had more pressing and important things to do, not attending the meetings that were in the competence of someone else.

Still, he decided to meet with Arcturus personally because it was weird to see someone from the fringes of the Imperial Space arriving at the capital. That certainly meant that he had some sort of skills, power, and background.

With the capabilities of the House Alvix, it didn't take long for someone named Arctrusu Crawford to become a disciple of the Arsit Byrmellir, so it wasn't that hard to put two and two together.

"This is the patent for the upgraded version of the ABD-Spectre MK. I Battle Droids and effectively increased their firepower by 50%. At the same time, the increasement in their reaction capabilities and procession ability is reaching almost 300% after the adjustments to their codes coupled with the upgraded hardware. Overall, the combat capabilities of these Droids are approximately four to five times higher than the old version."

Arcturus showed Senior Executor Alvix the holo projection of the ABD-Spectre MK II. Battle Droids, the upgraded version of the ABD-Spectre MK I. Battle Droids of the Starlight Drive Yard.

What exactly Arcturus had patented were just the concrete upgrades to the ABD-Spectre MK I. Battle Droids and methods of upgrade, not the entire concept of the ABD-Spectre MK II. Battle Droids itself.

"That is certainly a staggering increase in the capabilities of the ABD-Spectre MK I. Battle Droids. I presume that you wish to sell the license to Starlight Drive Yard Industries for the upgrades to build the ABD-Spectre MK II. Battle Droids?"

Hearing the question made Arcturus nod positively to it, as this was his aim.

"Yes, preferably for the indefinite period, and I want to pay a percentage of the sold pieces. Nothing else, no hard payment or upfront payment, just the percentage of the turnover that you make from selling the ABD-Spectre MK II. Battle Droids."

Arcturus stated his request, and hearing that, even Kaelor Alvix was rather surprised hearing that because when he heard the specifications of the ABD-Spectre MK II. Battle Droids and the various upgrades that were shown on the holo-projection, he was determined to obtain this for the Starlight Drive Yard Industries.

While the Battle Droids were not a big part of the income for the Starlight Drive Yard Industries, especially not the ABD-Spectre MK I. Battle Droids, because the income generated from them was abysmal compared to the income from the Starships or advanced weaponry, the real value of selling the Battle Droids was that, it was pure income.

The Starlight Drive Yard Industries invested almost nothing into the protection of the Battle Dorids, and when they were selling them to the different Civilizations and Star Nations, especially the Mid-Level and Low-Level ones, they made a tremendous profit on them.

"How much of a percentage do you have in mind?"

In truth, Arcturus didn't have a concrete number in mind; he was thinking of something around 10% of the turnout, which was more than 10% of the income. But at the same time, he knew that he was providing only a license and nothing else. At the same time, he was also seeking long-term cooperation with Starlight Drive Yard Industries.

"5% of the turnout. Nothing else and nothing more."

From the original idea of the 10%, 5% was more than enough. According to his calculations, even a 5% of the turnout would be an enormous amount, numbering in terms of millions of Universal Credits annually.

"Hmm... that's rather surprising; I would have thought that you would go for at least 15% at minimum, considering the number of the upgrades done to the ABD-Spectre MK I. Battle Droids."

Kaelor Alvix stated neutrally as he looked at the Arcturus, who just nodded and didn't say anything else.

"Okey, 5% of the turnout is doable for the Starlight Drive Yard Induestries."

Even though Kaelor Alvix was surprised by the relatively seemingly low number, in the end, he agreed to it without many problems. Someone as experienced as Kaelor Alvix, he was aware that the primary reason for Arcturus's choice in the lower number was because he wanted to have a very good relationship with the Starlight Drive Yard Industries.

"Then we have an agreement."

As Arcturus stated, the Senior Executive of the Starlight Drive Yard Industries took out a stack of papers and passed them to Arcturus.

"Read through the documents and then you need to sign them in the paper form and in the electronic form. With that, Starlight Drive Yard Industries would obtain the license for the usage of the patent upgrades of the ABD-Spectre MK II. Battle Droids for an indefinite period. This contract would be then stored within the Techno-Cosmic Union for security purposes."

Arcturus nodded and started reading through the contract; as he was an attorney in his past life, this wasn't really that surprising, and these papers that Kaelor Alvix passed to him were the standard licensing contracts according to the Imperial Law as well as the Techno-Cosmic Union Law.

After he read through the contract, three times at that, as he was searching for anything that could bite him in the ass, and he also gave the contract to the Red Queen to check up on the hidden clauses.

When everything was alright, he signed the contract.

"Excellent. Now, in the message that your artificial intelligence sent me, there were mentions of some things that you need to procure for your spaceship."

When the most important thing was finished, Arcturus then passed the list of the materials and things that were needed for the Red Queen to finish the upgrades on the Obscurus so the starship could be classified as a genius Type 3 battleship.

It was rather a long list, and altogether, they had a worth several millions of Universal Credits, which was a tremendous amount, but compared to the standard prices of the top-notch starships of the High-Level Star Nations and High-Level Civilizations, it wasn't really that out of the standards.

"Hmm... we have most of the things in the warehouse across several planets; it would take the time. There are indeed some rare materials that would take some time to procure, but for the Starlight Drive Yard Industries, it isn't much of a problem."

Hearing that made Arcturus sigh in relief because even though he didn't have enough money to buy it all, he knew that he could just take it on credit now that he sold them the licensing right for the patent on the ABD-Spectre MK II. Battle Droids.

"Consider these materials as a gift from the Starlight Drive Yard Industries; the company would cover half of the cost."

Now, that was a real surprise for him, and he was rather glad that he saved a few million Universal Credits with that one move. He didn't expect that the Starlight Drive Yard Industries would pay him half of the cost of the materials.