Kansai Research Institute, Honshu System, Kusari
19/07/833 AS
Free at last! Three long years and too many hours of my blood sweat and tears poured into this accursed photon generation array but at long last the project, and my contract is finished!
For once I must give Father credit. He was correct in saying that with the family's backing or no, Samura's lackeys would try to sabotage my contributions every step of the way. All the whispering behind my back, the permissions for materials granted only at the very last minute, the three separate lockdowns imposed on MY OWN LABORATORY!?
But in the end I had the last laugh. The terms of the contract were set far before they even arrived to the project. The patents are mine, history will remember the Iwakura name and our coffers will grow fatter as the Naval Forces start to field the weapons I helped build.
Furthermore I gained two resources far more important than credits: contacts and rapport. Especially with the myriad of external contractors and experts that our government handlers insisted on wheeling into the labs. They had little input of value to offer most of the time, of course. But there was much to learn from their mere presence, from their number and from the flow of credits you could see therein.
It would seem we are entering something of an arms race. One that leaves plenty of room for smaller actors with the capital, technological expertise and connections to leave a mark. This warrants a bit of exploration. And luckily my schedule just opened up.
Planet Cambridge, Cambridge System, Bretonia
27/01/834 AS
It took a good bit longer than I had hoped, going to useless social events and shaking hands with the Sirius sector's finest bargain bin military industrialists. It was clear they were looking for easy marks. Now I have the contacts for their suppliers and soon, they will be buying from me.
The family would much rather I return to the keiretsu, but they know better than to try to dissuade me by now. Surprisingly, Father even spared some of his assistants to provide support during this phase. Thanks to them studies for the optimal location and suppliers are now underway. I can't tell if the old man is being nice or trying to keep an eye on me. Knowing him, it's both. I should get him something extra nice for New Years.
Even when we sort out our logistics there is something I would like to do. An extra step that is quite difficult to take within the keiretsu. I need a vessel that can take me directly to the source, all the way to the Edge Worlds if need be. I want to be able to talk to my trade partners eye to eye.
To that effect I have acquired the assets of Selwyn Exospace, a recently defunct Bretonian deep space exploration company going through liquidation. They were a small Cambridge-based outfit who won the grant lottery and failed to turn it into a proper business. Typical of academics.
Most of their equipment can be easily reused elsewhere, but the real reason I spent those credits was something else in their catalog: an Oasis liner, converted into a deep space exploration and research vessel. Personally I would have preferred something a bit more luxurious, but when an opportunity falls fully-formed into your lap like this it would be downright criminal not to take it!
I have started reaching out to close associates to assemble a team to crew this "Paracelsus" liner. Commandeering the ship will be easy enough, but I intend to be able to test material strength and purity as well as run advanced equipment diagnostics on-board the ship. The more data we can collect, the more solid the foundation for our future endeavors will be.
Planet Honshu, Honshu System, Kusari
09/04/834 AS
I can now proudly state that Iwakura Armaments is officially incorporated! All is proceeding well within schedule, my now clearly modest expectations had not foreseen this step to arrive for another two or three months. Progress on the next two phases has also been steady, the list for optimal locations for our installations is shrinking by the day and as for staff, I have a plan to get started on that.
While we are not yet at the point where we can start manufacturing ship-grade equipment I have taken the liberty of opening a small planetside facility in Honshu specializing in light arms development. I believe if we buy up licenses for slightly outdated models from Rheinland and Liberty we can easily bring them up to spec using modern components we can acquire cheaply in Honshu. The result should be a competitively-priced product with only minimal R&D.
The benefits for this will be twofold: for one we will get some income to help bootstrap our further operations. Of course, I could easily cover the venture's expenses with the profits from my investments elsewhere, but this is far better for morale. For two this will let us onboard staff and give them hands-on experience before we move on to bigger and better things.
Once I am sure the operation here in Honshu is running smoothly I will once again board the Paracelsus. There are at least two organizations that, from what our market research has shown, will be absolutely vital to our operation. If that is the case, I need to see their operations for myself. Maybe schedule a few meetings.