Chapter 579
"We're being followed . " Nolsen said as the group made it to the end of one of the mech avenues . "Don't look back, you idiots! It's nothing serious yet if our watcher isn't good enough to hide his presence from me . "
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Ves tried really hard not to turn around . He never had a clue that someone followed their group around .
Trian Earls, one of their mech pilots, spat on the pavement . "Why aren't we doing anything? Let's go beat the fellow up!"
"Making a move in the middle of Black Belle City's shopping district will only land us in trouble . Look at how many patrolmen of the Planetary Guard are patrolling the streets . We'll be sludged and put into custody the second we throw a punch . "
Everyone glanced at the uniformed law enforcement officers . They patrolled in teams of two, and wore enough gear to repel a small riot . In addition to their personal capabilities, they were also followed by a hovering bot armed with non-lethal weaponry .
The bot alone was programmed to instantly stun someone from a distance the moment they pulled out a weapon .
"Who's following us?" Ves asked . "Can you tell?"
The lieutenant furrowed his brows as they pretended to look through the windows of another upscale mech store . "He doesn't look like a pro . Likely a local gang member . Or someone who never intended to hide his presence in the first place . Right now, the fact that someone is tailing us does not mean that we're in danger . For now, we can rely on the Planetary Guards and the Honored Ones to forestall any trouble . "
Half an hour passed by without a single change . The group members calmed down and resumed their window shopping . The mech avenues truly formed a snapshot of all the mech models sold in the Komodo Star Sector .
Studying the mechs the shops had to offer gave Ves a good idea of the state of the mech industry in the Reinald Republic .
Different from larger states such as the Bright Republic and the Vesia Kingdom, the Reinald Republic was too small to foster a strong and relatively independent mech industry . Apart from supporting a couple of crown jewels, the bulk of the businesses operating in their territory consisted of foreign entities .
While the Frozen Leaf Alliance that the Reinald Republic was apart of gave them the strength to contend against the Vesians in a military fashion, it did not do too much beyond that . Each of the three member states still ran their territories as a separate entity . They refused to operate as a single market with shared borders and a unified economy .
This left the Reinald Republic without the strength to punch above its weight . Its own domestic market couldn't possibly satisfy a fully mature domestic mech industry .
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It was a good thing that the Reinald Republic attracted a lot of foreign visitors . Plenty of mercenaries, gang members, treasure hunters and worse visited the small state to do business . Because each of their outfits based themselves in different states, the Reinald Republic attracted foreign mech manufacturers to set up shop in their trading systems .
After walking past numerous shops, Ves finally found a legitimate vendor for the mechs of the LMC . The group entered a store called The Brightest Mech . Both the Blackbeak and the Crystal Lord occupied a prominent place in the store that obviously catered to Brighters and fans of Brighter mechs .
"Wow . Is that your work as well? This knight mech looks so light!"
"Damn! 135 million marks for a Blackbeak? And it's only a bronze label? What a ripoff!"
Ves awkwardly laughed . "These mech models are aimed at the premium market . If you look at the spec sheet, you'll know why they cost so much . "
The Brightest Mech featured tasteful decoration themed around torches and stars . It played out as an exaggerated caricature of Brighter culture, and every Vandal couldn't help but be amused . Whoever operated this shop probably knew nothing about the Bright Republic .
The shop only possessed enough room to showcase half-dozen physical mechs that sold the most . The rest only appeared as scaled-down projections . This also applied to the mechs of the LMC . Their high price tag threw off most potential customers .
"What a shame . "
If The Brightest Mech devoted some of its limited physical space to showcasing a silver label mech of the LMC, a lot of customers would likely be swayed into buying them . The charm of the X-Factor couldn't be perceived from a projection, and even a simulation wasn't able to bring out its full strength .
Ves figured that the LMC might be better off operating their own stores . This allowed the company to exert full control over how to present and sell their offerings . The only issue right now was that his company didn't have enough original models to justify such a plan .
There was another issue as well . The LMC faced various hurdles each time it tried to enter a new foreign market . Sometimes, the only way they could enter the market was if they partnered up with a native company . The mechs would then be sold through the native company's own sales channels .
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If the LMC wanted to keep their cooperation with the locals going, they had to refrain from snatching meat from their partner's mouths .
"How complicated . " He shook his head . Ves left the matter for later .
Once the group of ten had their fill of seeing familiar mechs, they exited the store and wandered around aimlessly for a while . They eventually ate some lunch before deciding to stroll through a non-mech shopping district .
This time they looked at numerous wondrous products, from luxury comm models to mechanical pets that bore a vague resemblance to Lucky . The AIs that operated the tiny puppies and kittens was very sophisticated, enabling them to speak and interact with children .
Larger pets existed as well with some forms of self-defense . Mechanical dogs proved to be the all-time popular, occupying a full third of the entire store . Customers bought many of the dogs in order to enhance the security of their households or provide some protection against random thugs .
Naturally, truly important figures wouldn't resort to mass-market mechanical pets . Any determined hacker would be able to intrude their operating systems, so these pets mostly catered to the lower-middle class .
The most impressive pet model by far was an aircar-sized dragon . Sophisticated anti-grav modules and various other creature comforts turned it into an impressive flying mount .
Few actually bought it though . In order to make it harder for it to be hacked, it ran on a very advanced processor and operating system . Subscribing to the mandatory security suite alone cost more than 100,000 marks a year . This went well above the limits of the middle class .
"I wouldn't know what to do with such an expensive pet . " Ensign Tiss said as she admired the mechanical dragon's exquisite construction . The store normally sold it with a plain metallic surface, but they also offered the option of covering it with life-like dragon scales . "Could you create something like this on your own?"
"Maybe . I'd have to approach it as if I was designing a mech . Hm, if so, it might be feasible . The only area which I'm not very sure of is the operating system . "
Ves realized he might have talent in creating a pet as it wouldn't be too different from designing and fabricating a miniature mech .
Though a lot of mechanical pets got sold each year, their revenue and profit margins paled in comparison to the mech market . Ves had no reason to abandon his current vocation .
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As the Vandals weren't allowed to bring anything back with them, they regretfully had to leave the shop behind . Interacting with all of the friendly pets in the store really helped lift some of their moods .
As the Vandals gawked at various curiosities, Nolsen spoke up again . "Hey, sorry to spoil your moods for a moment, but our watcher has a companion on the opposite street . "
"What are these fellows doing? Can't they observe us from remote?"
The security officer discreetly shook his head . "There are too many ways to spoil such things . My comm contains a security suite that can easily scramble smaller probes . In addition, the Reinaldans won't tolerate excessive use of spying equipment in their shopping districts . The only observation tools allowed belong to the Reinaldans themselves . "
"So are we being watched by someone other than the government?"
"I'd say it's likely, but we can't rule out the government, you know . The spies may be there to act as failsafes if we ever try to scramble all of the sensors in the vicinity . Trust me, my comm can do that . To guard against unexpected equipment failure, some plain humans can keep us under observation while they try to get new bugs on site . "
Ves scratched his head . He hated playing games like this where he ended up in a passive state . He knew more than Lieutenant Feray and the rest of the group .
It caused Ves to see shadows where none should appear . The wide streets became a prison and every casual bystander might actually harbor ill intentions to the Vandals .
A faint instinct of danger tickled his mind . It was not enough for him to suspect a concrete threat, but it might be a sign of what was in store .
Some days ago, Lieutenant Commander Soapstone brought him to help negotiate the purchase of various specialized equipment . Right now, the broker must have started shipping the goods to a warehouse under the control of the Vandals .
Those who kept their eye on the Vandals must be wondering why they sought to procure so much equipment that would only be useful in high gravity environments .
"Don't mind the watchers . We're all innocent Vandals here . We've got nothing to hide . "
They took it easy in the next hours . Besides visiting various stores, they also entered a museum and visited a few monuments that originated from the founding of the Reinald Republic .
None of the states in the Komodo Star Sector was very old . The entire star sector only opened up for colonization shortly after the Age of Mechs commenced .
At the later stages of the Age of Conquest, human warfleets scoured many planets of life . Once the flames of war died down, the MTA and CFA fostered a great undertaking where it became popular to set out for the furthest reaches of the rim to form new colonies .
The Reinald Republic was one of the losers for the mad scramble for stars at the opening of the star sector . The Bright Republic and the Vesia Kingdom might have been bumped from the resource-rich center of the star sector, but they found adequate clusters of stars to settle upon .
The founders of the Reinald Republic fought with the larger third-rate states for a time, but eventually had to admit defeat in yet again . The star systems that encompassed Reinald wasn't promising at all . This gave the smaller state a lot of distress until they found a lifeline in tourism and trade in illicit goods .
When evening came by, the group wanted to experience some of the latter by visiting a grey market . Black Belle City happened to host a modest grey market in a vast tunnel network beneath the capital city .
It was as if they descended into a dungeon . Light was purposefully kept dim, and various invisible defense measures made the tunnels a lot more dangerous than he expected .
Nolsen looked concerned at the people that frequented the grey market . "Tuck your pistols at your side . Don't hide them . You have to show the visitors here that you won't be easy to bully . "
They did what the lieutenant instructed . Once all ten of them showed off their laser or ballistic pistols, the eyes set upon them had diminished by a fair amount . No one wanted to stir up trouble in the grey market either, but the Reinaldans didn't exert a lot of influence here .
Everything that happened in the grey markets came under the purview of the cartels that set them up . Immediately upon entering a large underground hall, Ves had the misconception that he returned to the mech plaza he visited in the morning . A lot of street stalls dotted the humongous underground hall .
"Now this is what I'm talking about!" A Vandal exclaimed . "This feels just like home!"
A lot of things could be bought here so long as they could pay . Ves already widened his eyes when he spotted a lot of high-value goods brought back from the frontier .