User blog comment:HalointheSkye/Volume 3 Chapter 9 - PvP (IN WHICH A LOT OF SH*T IS HAPPENING)/@comment-31.205.75.38-20160119023054/@comment-31.205.75.38-20160120010301

It'd be odd for Vale not to have one. There's an existential threat outside their borders. It's not time to be Iceland. I'd expect some kind of border force at least and that's at a minimum.

Good point on the shields. If the Nevermores poking wasn't doing much, that could explain it (if shields require a great deal of power), since there'd be no point spending resources when they're not needed. And if the power goes down, the shield fails, so perhaps regular composite armour was deemed a wiser solution.

Alternative explanation - because having Roman's shots do no damage and then watching his ship get dogpiled by the rest of the air-fleet doesn't make for much of a threat.

Things may become clearer next episode with regards to a lot of unanswered questions.