The Mech Touch novel Chapter 445

"Have you met with these Vesians before, sir?" Ves asked as innociously as possible as he adjusted his formal burgundy uniform.

The 6th Flagrant Vandals regimental colors consisted of wine-red and black, though they mostly wore black uniforms in their day-to-day duties. The formal uniform that Ves just received would only be worn in their first meeting with the rebel delegation. After all the of the pomp and ceremony scheduled for today had passed, Ves would return to his standard dark green working uniform.

"We’ve had dealings with the VRF before. A lot of Vesian rebel movements are localized on a single planet. The bigger players only span the range of a single duchy at most. Culture and customs differ a lot between different duchies, so it’s hard for these rebel groups to find any common ground with each other. The Vesian Revolutionary Front is one of the few exceptions to this rule."

"Are they the most powerful rebel group in Vesian space?"

"They’re not. In fact, groups that span a single duchy can easily mobilize ten times as much mechs and sympathisers than a broader movement like the VRF. They’re too bland and distant in the eyes of the rebels on the ground."

"Then what makes them so valuable to us that we have to greet them with a formal ceremony, sir?" Ves asked with puzzlement in his voice.

"Just because the different rebel movements don’t agree on many matters doesn’t mean that they ignore each other. Sometimes, they want to trade a resource their duchy has in abundance with another resource that can’t be sourced from the same region. To facilitate this kind of trade in a completely lawless undergrounding setting, a trustworthy intermediary is needed."

Ves got it now. "Ah, so the VRF have profiled themselves as bridge builders that can connect different groups together, but only to the extent they are comfortable with. I imagine one of the reasons why they can engender trust is because they aren’t big enough to threaten the position of these regional rebel movements."

"Exactly so." Alloc nodded as they began to move through the corridors. "Regional rivalries exist in any states, but it’s magnified to an extreme extent in the Vesia Kingdom. Nobles fight against nobles and it’s not unheard of for the rebels that exist to overthrow them to get into feuds as well. It’s like internal conflict is baked inside their DNA."

That only made it more admirable for the VRF to stay above the infighting. "So if they aren’t very strong, why are they sending their own mechs to us?"

"It’s one of the demands that Colonel Lowenfield has set. Though we’ve always cooperated with each other without issue, there’s always the possibility that they might stab us in the back. Hosting some of their assets aboard our ships will guarantee us against betrayal."

"So they are hostages?"

"You can look at them in that way, yes, but they are our guests as well. We’ve done well with the help of the FRF so it’s important to treat them cordially at all times. They’ll mostly stick to themselves so you won’t have to be afraid of starting any incidents with them. Just don’t ask them why they joined the VRF. The reasons are often traumatic."

The pair of mech designers in burgundy spent a few more minutes traversing the corridors in silence. Due to the size of the Wolf Mother, it would take them at least fifteen minutes to arrive at their destination on foot.

A proper capital ship incorporated several aids to get people to their destination faster, such as internal trains or lifter platforms. Unfortunately, the Wolf Mother’s ad-hoc expansion hadn’t taken these conveniences into account, and employing devices like lifter platforms posed a potential security risk.

Thus, Ves and Alloc had no choice but to trudge their way down the decks and towards the sides of the Wolf Mother. Walking through her cavernous depths gave Ves the illusion that he was descending into the belly of the beast.

"How are you holding up in your new assignment, Ves?" Alloc asked.

"Not very good." He replied honestly. "I haven’t been off to a good start. Try telling Professor Velten that the development on the Inheritor design needs to undergo a U-turn."

The Journeyman Mech Designer chuckled. "I can imagine why you would suggest that. It’s not the first time such a suggestion has been bandied about."

"If the same suggestion has come up before, why is no one taking it seriously?"

Alloc sighed. "Because it’s about money."

"Everyone always tells me that the Vandals are short on money, but how could they? They have the Wolf Mother! That’s a portable mineral processor and mech factory! They can easily generate a lot of income by fabricating and selling a lot of mechs."

"It’s not so simple." Alloc shook his head. "First, the Mech Corps isn’t allowed to enter the private market. It would open up a lot of can of worms if economic interests started to interfere with purely military interests. Second, let me fill you in on a secret."

What secret did he refer to?

Alloc leaned close to Ves and whispered something in his ear.

"The 6th Flagrant Vandals is heavily indebted. I don’t have an exact figure, but my estimates is that the Vandals owe around 200 to 400 billion bright credits."

Ves almost tripped when he heard that enormous sum. "Billions, sir? Not millions?"

"I didn’t misspeak. It’s billions of bright credits. Yet that’s not the most frightening thing. The question you should be asking is who the Vandals borrowed the money from. I can tell you one thing. It’s not the Mech Corps. They wanted to cut off the funding for the Vandals in the first place, so there’s no way they’ll even consider extending loans to us."