The Mech Touch novel Chapter 571

The tense negotiation finally came to a conclusion. Although the terms were incredibly detailed and abstruse, the basic layout of the agreement sounded simple enough.

First, the Flagrant Vandals officially handed their custody over Venerable Foster to Peace for Hafner. In return, the Flagrant Vandals received a large amount of wealth and resources as well as undisclosed benefits in the Reinald Republic.

The former two quenched the severe shortages that crippled the Vandals from restoring their battle strength. The Vesian rebel group generously paid the Vandals a fortune in Reinaldan marks. Even though two marks was only worth one bright credit, the Vandals still received a considerable sum, though no one leaked out the exact figure.

As for the latter, no one questioned why Peace for Hafner was able to accomplish this promise. While the Reinald Republic opened its doors to every foreigner, that didn’t mean they enjoyed a level playing field.

Native Reinaldans withheld many privileges that foreigners needed to work for in order to enjoy them. These privileges included lower tariffs, less onerous taxes, fewer import and export restrictions, lower waiting times, residency permits and so on.

According to Iris, while Reinald famously levied low tax rates, they were famous for nickeling and diming numerous conceivable charges. If any Reinaldan thought they could charge a fee for something, they would assuredly set a price for it. Most of the more ridiculous charges only applied to foreigners of course. This gave first-time visitors a huge shock once they found their bank accounts empty.

"Still, the Flagrant Vandals still got shafted."

The Vandals needed to repay the generosity provided by Peace for Hafner. Their preparations, intelligence gathering and acts of sabotage all contributed to the capture of Venerable Foster. Even though the Vandals suffered a disproportionate amount of losses, they had been pressured into giving up more meat to the sock puppet rebel group.

Peace for Hafner undoubtedly gained the most out of this trade. Their investment was fairly minimal, all considered. All of the subversive actions they performed during this operation had already been laid out far in advance. It took time to get the right people in the right positions. Besides a handful of highly placed spies, most of their agents were disposable.

Thus, through a minor effort, they reaped a huge reward. An extremely talent expert pilot in the form of Venerable Foster was worth at least twice as a fully mature expert pilot. Her potential and growth rate was astounding, so much so that everyone at the negotiation table regarded her as a potential ace candidate.

Once Peace for Hafner had taken over custody of the expert pilot, they hashed out a second agreement with the Hafner Duchy in turn. Although it would have been better in the long run for them to kill or keep Venerable Foster captive, they couldn’t resist the enticement of rich rewards.

They already provided a lot of compensation to the Flagrant Vandals. If they didn’t make up for their losses, they wouldn’t be able to call themselves proper Reinaldans- ahem, Hafners.

The Vandals didn’t get to hear the exact details of their agreement, but Ves could imagine that the Hafner Duchy bled a pretty penny. However, Ves also admired the farsightedness of the Duke of Hafner who currently suffered a lot of reproach from the rest of the Kingdom.

The value of a future ace candidate was immeasurably high, but that was only a faint possibility at best. For Hafner to grit their teeth and submit to naked extortion from a rebel group that had long been a thorn in their side, their foresight was very great!

Fortunately, this didn’t concern the Vandals very much. The Hafner Duchy was situated on the wrong side of the Kingdom. If Venerable Foster ever became a scourge, she would definitely vent her fury on Reinald’s proxy forces first. As for the Vandals, they were just a bunch of small fries in the greater scheme of things.

The Vandals kept their heads down throughout the final leg of their journey. After making use of the free passage offered by the Hafner Duchy, they met up with ships affiliated with Peace for Hafner and physically transferred over their prize. In return, the Vandal ships loaded up their cargo holds with lots of critical materials.

One more important event took place at that time. The Vesian Revolutionary Front recalled their liaison. An unremarkable corvette arrived in the star system within Reinald’s borders and parked next to the Shield of Hispania.

Down at the combat carrier’s hangar bay, Iris stood beside a shuttle. A pair of luggage coffers floated behind her, though she still held on to the gift box that contained a miniature mech.

"I can’t believe I lived through all of the excitement." She sighed as she recalled what they went through. "It’s a wonder the Flagrant Vandals managed to stay alive after surviving all of those battles."

Ves had accompanied her down the hangar bay. He shook his head when he heard her words.

"This is a one-off occasion for the Vandals. I don’t think they’ll pop up in the news after this. Every serviceman is tired to the bone. I hope Major Verle cuts his men some slack after we arrive at our final destination. Everyone is looking forward to spending some time on Reinald’s famous pleasure planets to recuperate."

Reinald profiled itself as a dangerous but alluring state. The people that tended to visit the little Republic longed to experience some excitement in their lives. Through visiting the same planets frequented by pirates, dark mercenaries and gang members, they gained the opportunity to sample a life where someone might get rich overnight, only to receive a laser beam through their heads the next day.

Remarkably, many tourists departed from the little Republic with their hides intact. The same could not be said for their bank accounts, but when it came to personal safety, Reinald was surprisingly strict in performing their due diligence. Income from tourism was one of the legs that supported the scrappy little state.

Iris directed her luggage coffers to float inside the shuttle and secure themselves onto a rack. She then turned back to Ves. "I hope you enjoy your time in Reinald. Remember not to fall into a debt trap. You don’t want to know what happens when you run out of money in Reinald space."

"What about you? Where will you be going?"

"I’m heading back to Vesian space, though the corvette I’ll be boarding won’t be crossing into Hafner. Their troops are still on high alert, you see."

"Understandable. Have a safe journey, then!"

"It’s too bad I’m not very close to the other mech designers." _{frёewebnoѵēl.com}