The Mech Touch novel Chapter 572

When Ves first received an introduction of the Harkensen System, he felt some deja-vu. In his eyes, the Harkensen System was the poor man’s version of the Bright Republic’s Bentheim Region.

"Harkensen III is a pale copy of Bentheim. Harkensen II is like Rittersberg but a bit less snobby. Harkensen I is like Moira’s Paradise but without the aquatic culture."

Still, copies or not, each of the planets provided something different to the star system. Having them concentrated in a single star system provided enormous conveniences to visitors, especially the bigger ones that brought a whole fleet.

Ves wouldn’t be able to see the thousands of ships that flew back and forth from the viewports, but he easily called up a chart that showed how many vessels were present in the Harkensen System.

The chart depicted thousands of dots, each of which represented a fully capable starship. Many of them were in transit. They either transitioned at the edge of the system and burned their way to the interior, or finished their business at one of the planets and burned towards one of the many highly congested Lagrange points.

One indicator of success to a star system was to see whether congestion took place at their Lagrange points. Considering that the ships needed to wait up to an hour for them to get their turn, Harkensen’s success only paled in comparison to Bentheim.

"This is truly a melting pot of different origins."

Ves casually read through the registries of the ships present in the system. Only a portion hailed from Reinald. Many came from other third-rate states such as the Roppo Principality or the Council Stars of Lisz.

He even spotted lots of trade ships bearing the flag of the Bright Republic! They mostly traveled in convoys escorted by foreign mercenary corps.

A significantly greater amount of Vesian trading vessels flew back and forth as well. It couldn’t be helped as the Reinald Republic was a direct neighbor of the Vesia Kingdom. Even though relations between the two states were rather frosty, that didn’t hinder the pursuit of benefits among their trading conglomerates.

"Earn money first! What? Pirates? Who are you calling pirates?! I’m an honest Reinaldan, I swear to my mother and grandmother! Hey, I’ve got a great deal for you! This five percent discount is yours!"

Although the Vesians and Brighters waged a very intense war against each other, the ships that hailed from the two wartorn states behaved especially discrete.

Neither side attempted to bump into each other, not that their cargo ships could deal a lot of damage in the first place. Reinald’s traffic managers also paid a lot of attention to every ship’s origin. They did their best to separate ships from rival states from each other and forced them to adhere to separate routes.

The Verle Task Force received a lot of attention from the Honored Ones, which was Reinald’s mech military. Every unit of the Honored Ones bore an emblem that consisted of a silhouette of ancient viking warriors.

Just after the Vandals arrived, a patrol squadron flew alongside the Vandals and transferred over a bunch of inspectors. Every mech aboard every Vandal ship needed to be sealed. Ves had already arranged the mech technicians to seal the mechs beforehand, so the inspectors found very few problems.

Of course, people always slipped up. Some of the seals put on damaged mechs didn’t look very proper. These mechs could still inflict a lot of damage at their current state, so the mech technicians worked overtime to fix their mistakes. _{freēwēbηovel.c૦m}

"With the problem cases taken care of, I don’t see any further problems, Mr. Larkinson." An Honored One bearing the uniform of an inspector spoke. His accent bore the clipped and harsh tones of a typical Reinaldan accent.

"I’m glad our condition finally meets your approval." Ves replied as they both arrived at the airlock in one of the corridors of the Shield of Hispania. "We’re all looking forward to entering the Harkensen System."

"You certainly deserve it! I’ve eagerly followed mech regiment’s exploits. You Vandals sure gave the Vesians a good thrashing."

"It wasn’t without cost."

"We understand." The inspector nodded with a smile. "The Harkensen System is always open to warriors with honor such as the Flagrant Vandals. Our berths are already reserved for the arrival of your ships. I understand that many deals are in the works. I hope your mech regiment enjoys doing business here!"

Ves scratched his head once he saw the inspector off. From the information he received from men aboard the other ships, the Reinaldans only exerted their efforts on detecting weapons of mass destruction and making sure the mechs bore the proper seals. Their inspectors barely paid attention to anything else, including other threats or contraband.

Their conduct carried an implicit message. Any visitors could bring as much shady stuff as they wanted, as long as they made an effort into keeping their contraband out of sight.

Ves had no doubt that at least a quarter of the ships paying a visit to the Harkensen System sought to offload their contraband to the grey or black markets. Frankly speaking, the Harkensen System appealed more upright outfits that largely worked within the boundaries of the law. Their grey market was far more prominent than their black market.