The Mech Touch novel Chapter 553

The Flagrant Vandals feared Hafner for a very good reason. As a border territory of the Vesia Kingdom, the Hafner Duchy differed a lot from the interior duchies.

First and foremost, their main responsibility was to guard the border. Military priorities came first, everything else came second. Thus, it did not matter too much if the border star systems failed to turn a profit. As long as they maintained a sufficient garrison to deter pirate raids and the like, it was fine if they lost a substantial amount of money over time.

The Vesian propensity for infighting was remarkably subdued in the border territories. It was the same at the Bright Republic’s side of the border. With the threat of external enemies so acute, the noble Houses that controlled the border systems had no time to wage pointless rivalries amongst themselves.

Another stabilizing influence was that the Kingdom as a whole subsidized the border territories by funding the military forces that kept the borders safe. This extra income came with many responsibilities, but in turn the noble Houses fielded substantially more mechs than their holdings could support.

Who would want to disturb such a good arrangement? Therefore, most of the star systems in the Hafner Duchy were relatively tranquil, and focused most of their efforts into repelling pirates and foreign invaders.

Furthermore, the differences extended to the regional rebel movements that agitated against the Vesians in Hafner. Iris explained the difference to Ves one day.

"Sir, the rebels in territories like Imodris and Venidse are fighting back against injustice, oppression and inequality. Like my Jupiter family, we are often impacted by these elements, driving us out of the light to seek solace in the dark. Our only goal is to work towards an upheaval in the Kingdom that will lead to the abolishment of the rule of nobles."

Good luck with that, Ves silently thought. Having sampled Vesian culture up close, his impressions of the Kingdom led him to believe that the noble Houses were like inextinguishable roots that had tightly gripped the state they derived their nutrients from. Destroying this pervasive system of governance could only be done if the entire Kingdom fell one day.

That would never happen.

"I’m familiar with this pattern." Ves replied, keeping his opinions about the viability of the rebel cause to himself. "A border territory such as Hafner is run very differently. Rebel movements are more than a nuisance in this kind of place. They can directly threaten their national security. This encourages the Houses here work harder to minimize discontent among the commoners. Receiving all of those subsidies makes this choice a lot easier to pursue."

"That’s exactly right, boss. Yet despite these circumstances, rebel movements still exist in the border territories. Do you know how they are able to remain aloft?"

Ves crunched his brow. He gained some familiarity with Hafner, but he mostly studied their mech doctrine and their mech models. He hadn’t looked too closely at the local rebels, as the central database didn’t contain all that much information about them. The Mech Corps focused mostly on gathering intelligence on the border territories adjacent to the Bright Republic. They couldn’t afford to allocate too many resources to study a border region on the opposite side of the Kingdom.

"I can’t figure it out at the top of my head."

"Then let me tell you the answer, sir. It’s the Reinald Republic. They’ve directly slipped their tentacles in the rebel movements that are causing quite some grief to the Duke of Hafner!"

"That sounds dangerously like an act of war! The Vesians shouldn’t tolerate such a brazen effort at destabilizing their own territories!"

Iris shook her head. "It’s much more complicated than that. Even though Hafner is pretty sure where the local rebels are getting their funding and support, there’s never any hard proof of such. Testimonies are worthless because people can be brainwashed. Recordings are also worthless because they can be manipulated with ease. With how careful Reinald conducts their business, there is no way for Hafner to put the blame on their neighboring state."

"If these rebels are supported by Reinald on the sly, does that mean they are agitating for Hafner to be annexed by their masters?"

"Correct." She nodded. "There’s a large amount of genuine Reinald sympathizers among the lower ranks of these movements. They think that all of their troubles will magically be relieved once they’ve separated from the Vesians and joined the Reinaldans. The upper management on the other hand are likely plants from Reinald. There’s not a single bone of integrity in their bodies."

From the tone of her voice, Ves gathered that Iris didn’t hold the Hafner rebels in high regard. "Why does it sound as if you don’t respect them very much?"

"Because they’re foreign agents in all but name! What they want is very different from what the VRF and the other regional rebel movements want. Though our opinions differ a little among ourselves, It’s not our intention to break apart the Kingdom and integrate with another state. We are Vesians, and we will not allow our unique identity to be subsumed by others."

She didn’t need to say that this counted for the Bright Republic as well. The Vesians would never accept the rule of Brighters, especially since their animosity against each other had grown over several centuries.

Ves still believed that they cause had no way of succeeding though, especially if they explicitly refused outside help. Their delusion was on par with the Bentheim Liberation Movement’s fantasy of ruling the Bentheim region as a separate state.

"What about their mechs? Since they local rebels are being funded by the Reinald Republic, they must surely have some teeth."

"Oh, it’s nothing special. Their mechs aren’t any better from what you’ve seen in Imodris and Venidse. You have to realize that Hafner excels in tracking down pirates. If the rebels attempt to play the same game, they’ll be hunted down and exterminated sooner or later. They play a very different role. While their battle capabilities are rather plain, they’ve infiltrated nearly every layer of Hafner society. There’s no better source of insider information than their spies."

"I can’t tell you that. Every conversation I have on behest of Major Verle is confidential, you know. Even if you’re my boss, I’m still a guest here." _{frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓}