Exodus and Exigency
08 Dec 2020Ironwatsas
Treachery and Disorder always know when to strike. Even I could not have predicted the events that would transpire in my absence. I had personally warned the False King and his praetorians what was coming. As soon as Prince Harold was assassinated, it was obvious that He would be their next target. What I had not expected was that their timing would be so… impeccable.
My path has taken me to the furthest depths of the Galaxy, and the farthest flung corners of Colonia. My duties being to forge ties with the Colonia factions, to investigate several ‘anomalies’ which were of paraphysical interest, and various other tasks of which I cannot speak.
The NMLA explicitly knew I would be away and chose their timing well. That the Lord Imperator would be without his Magus. This combined with the delays in my associates’ carrier’s return indicate to me the presence of a Marlinist cell within HIP-114367.
And I already know precisely where to look.
---
The Caeresi Prison Colony, exiled from it’s home system due to the actions of the Red Dragon dictatorship, is among the major factions of the system. They operate out of a local Prison Ship and were among the many political stockades which incarcerated the Nova Imperium sympathizers rounded up in the region following the slaying of Imperator Mordanticus. The CPC has been using these prisoners as forced labor, circumventing Imperial slavery laws and enriching themselves.
The Governor and Conjunct Security Group have, of course, been looking the other way. It had been largely a moot issue until the prisoners began radicalizing.
A few months prior to the first NMLA bombings, the CPC and Xerente Blue Transport Comms had fought two armed conflicts over goods tariffs in the system. The costs of the war had forced the CPC to double down on its forced labor to cover its expenses.
Now, with the Treaty of Paresa in effect and sanctioned directly by the Emperor herself, the CPC refuses to turn over the prisoners. Rumors coming out of their Prison Ship indicate that Marlinist sympathies have grown, either in the inmate population or within the CPC leadership itself.
A Marlinist cell in this system, connected to the one in Paresa, would explain both the timing of the attack and ongoing CPC/XBTC conflicts.
Mister Glover has already expressed concern. And so I will assuage my “Lord’s” worries and quell the unrest in this system. On my terms.
If any Marlinists are indeed present, it will need to be determined what the extent of their intelligence networks are in the region. Cells in HIP-114367 likely mean cells in Kamocan and the other surrounding systems.
Pressure will need to be applied to the CPC and their inmates, to expose the black head of deceit. Nova Imperium will no doubt desire the return of their inmates, and I will require the bodies of Marlinists, for I have offerings to make and dividends of blood to pay to benefactors, political and… otherwise.