The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1377

Chapter 1377: Experimental Mech

The fleet crossed into the Sentinel Kingdom without much fanfare. Nonetheless, Ves and the others immediately noticed the difference when they studied the local ship traffic in the Kingdom's star systems.

"There's a lot of military vessels and mechs on patrol." Ves commented as he viewed the local plot on the bridge.

"The Sentinel Kingdom places a lot more emphasis on control." Captain Silvestra noted. "Mercenary corps still exist in the Kingdom, but they're subject to far more restriction. They have to since many mercenary corps in the past used to maintain secret connections with the Nyxian pirates."

The Sentinel Kingdom's proximity to the Nyxian Gap led to a lot of destructive pirate attacks. Instead of compromising with the pirates, Sentinel instead united together to resist them in almost every sphere.

While the Nyxian pirates still managed to bribe or subvert some local Sentinel influences, the noble houses made sure to keep their noses clean.

All of them had to, since the royal house always cracked down on those who got caught with colluding with the pirates!

The most crucial difference between the Sentinel Kingdom and the Vesia Kingdom was that the latter featured a strong royal house. With the monarchy in firm charge over the Kingdom, no noble dared to contradict the monarch who ruled the state with an iron fist!

Of course, the downside was that commercial ventures faced a lot of barriers in the state. The royals and nobles captured the majority of industry and trade. Ambitious commoners and greedy foreigners were left with the most troublesome and unprofitable sectors in the economy.

"Sentinel's economy is closed to most foreigners." Ves remarked with regret. "Mech usage is very high here, but most of the market share is captured by domestic mech companies. Unless I befriend a noble house, I can forget about selling my mechs in Sentinel's lucrative mech market."

Different from the Ylvaine Protectorate, the Sentinel Kingdom's mech market fared a lot better despite the lack of foreign competition. The perpetual fighting against the pirates spilling out of the Nyxian Gap forced the local mech designers to become very good at their jobs.

Those who thought they could coast their way through success would quickly find their products ignored in favor of better-performing models!

When lives were on the lines and battles could be won and lost due to a crucial difference in quality, Sentinel's mech forces couldn't afford to indulge in patronage and other corrupt practices!

Large territory, strong cohesion, a strong central power, persistent external pressure and other conditions shaped the Sentinel Kingdom into arguably the strongest third-rate state in the star sector!

Though their strength and prosperity obviously fell short against the second-rate states, they were still considerably stronger than the Bright Republic and the Vesia Kingdom combined!

Naturally, the Sentinel Kingdom suffered from its problems. Its efficiency in non-military sectors ranked below average as many noble estates derived fat profits from the overall lack of competitive pressure.

In many cases, the prices of many goods did not match their quality levels. Commoners weren't being paid very well and had less money to spend on overpriced goods and services.

Nonetheless, while the lower classes enjoyed considerably less luxuries, their safety and basic needs were fully met. As long as the military did a good job of protecting Sentinel space from pirates, the citizens remained content.

"One important trait to take note of when you visit this state is that Sentinels are very proud of their state, sir. Questioning their rulers or how the Kingdom is being run will attract a lot of animosity from the locals."

"I'm aware, captain. This isn't the first place I've visited where the locals are strongly committed to their state."

It reminded Ves of the Ylvaine Protectorate and how most Ylvainans looked up to the three ruling dynasties. Blending in state and church aided a lot in keeping the local Ylvainans subservient to authority.

One key difference that distinguished Sentinel from Ylvaine and Vesia was the lack of upward mobility.

The commoners from the two neighboring states of the Bright Republic offered various opportunities for the lower classes to climb their way upwards.

In the Ylvaine Protectorate, talents and exceptionally hard-working Ylvainans attracted the attention of one of the leading dynasties. The Poxcos, Curins and Kronons regularly issued invitations to adopt the promising Ylvainans.

In the Vesia Kingdom, commoners who earned a lot of merits in battle or became notable scientists or such might receive a noble title! The state deliberately set up avenues for commoners to promote into nobility in order to keep the masses content and to keep the noble houses from growing too complacent!

The cutthroat infighting within Vesia occasionally led to situations where vigorous common-born nobles had successfully managed to topple established noble houses! Despite their rich heritage, as long as they lost their dynamism, they failed to maintain their standing!

"Within the Sentinel Kingdom, commoners will always remain commoners with almost no exception."

Only high-ranking mech designers and mech pilots had the opportunity to buy or earn their way into nobility, but they all had to contribute a lot to the state in the process.

Nonetheless, even if Ves did not entirely agree with the way the local blue bloods ran their state, it wasn't any of his business. At the very least, the high security and stable economy contrasted sharply with the conditions in Chuko, thereby making it a lot safer for Ves to travel around in the state!

Once Ves finished discussing some matters with the captain, he left the bridge and returned to his stateroom in order to devote the remainder of his time to designing his mech.

As he summoned up his incomplete design schematic, he sighed at the many areas which remained in limbo.

"There's so much I can't decide upon yet without obtaining a solid direction."

Ves adopted a different design process than before. In his previous designs, he always formed his images and obtained his spiritual fragments before he proceeded with the meat of the design process.

Right now, he was embarking on the latter without securing the former. This effectively meant he had been designing his mech without a concrete vision to guide his work!

Normally, Ves opposed designing his mechs half-cocked, but this was a very different situation.

First, he needed to finish his design during his stay in the Sentinel Kingdom. His mech functioned best in only a couple of chaotic planetary environments in the Nyxian Gap. It wouldn't be of much use when employed by a regular mercenary corps or mech regiments.