A Tale of Travellers (IC)

[TwoCents]

Jane

Jane led the way to the cargo, pointing out the crates to the sergeant. "So, what's like like here? I can read what the libcomp says, but ya know the real deal. Anything really good here? Anything really crappy?" She continued to question the squad in a desultory manner, as she helped them load out their gear. She wasn't trying to interrogate them, just get a sense of mood and any recommendations they might have. "So what's this Duke like?"

[Townopolis]

Vance

Vance retrieves his viewer from the colonel with a brief nod and directs the soldiers to Captain Varnaxx for directions, leaving the captain to delegate the job of tour guide should nobody volunteer for it.

He begins fiddling with the viewer again, locking the information regarding the weapons shipment, then tucking it under one arm.

"We'll be delivering the reactor just as soon as we clear out this shipment." He waves his free hand at the soldiers unloading their crates. "And I'd love to stay a while and visit the old codger. My crew," he glances over his shoulder at them, "are their own masters while on leave."

[Storm Bringer]

the troopers are a chatty bunch, and talk quite merrily as they spilt and move the weapons. You learn quite a lot about the City's nightlife, the local women (and men, if your tastes run that way), the best of the local brews, and the local sports teams. The soldiers appear to be in good morale, with the sargent bearly needing to exercise authority to keep them focused. They are all quite young, with only the sarge over 25.

However, amoungst all the small talk, you manage to glean a few unseful gems. firstly, the Mercurians are unhappy at the lack of action form the Byreti government, which appears to be unwilling to try and make progress with the situation. the Mercurians have offered to train local units, but the byreti ministers seem to be either unable or unwilling to go though with the plan. Also, a high ranking member of the planetry governors cabinet was recently invloved in a messy corruption scandal (of which he appears to be blatently guilty), which has led to his removal.

Also, and rather more seriously, the rumourmill has recently been abuzz with the story that a off-world advisor was captured during a raid on an insurgent base. different people have different ideas as to where this advisor is form, but the consenus appears to be that he was a Zhodani agitator, seeking to keep the Imperium occupied with internal troubles rather than with the Zhodani. The presence of a zhodani merchant ship on the planet has fed into the rumour, with widespread claims the ship is a zhodani extraction team in disguise. The Imperial elements on Byret are concerned that their may be violence agianst the traders, which would be an uneeded diplomatic incident at the present.