Watching the Puppeteer
02 Jul 2022Sumurai8
[..] The headmasters have temporarily suspended public education institutions for the observation of King Delray's Slave Liberation Parade this weekend. As a demonstration of goodwill and cooperation with the Prismatic Imperium, House Delray is freeing all Imperial Slaves from the service of King Delray. [..]
– The Sight Relay
2 July 3308, subspace near Cubeo
CMDR Sumurai8 jumps his Imperial Courier yet another system. The holo emitter to the side goes to a “connection lost - reconnecting” screen while the system frantically tries to find a new node to bounce the signal through. When it comes back he says ”What I don’t understand is what he is trying to accomplish with that parade. I thought tensions were high with that Nobel from Achenar over Evermer. Evermere. However you pronounce that place.”
A women on the other side responds: ”Hard to tell. He might just be taking a page out of Aisling’s book. A publicity stunt - trying to gain favour with the public.” The commander looks over, face unconvinced. ”Even with something as public as this, that is going to be a hard sell in a city so firmly in control of Prismatic Imperium. One moment…” The ship drops out of hyperspace at Chelomey Orbital. ”Astra, please request docking” The ship’s computer responds with an affirmative beep, while the computer negotiates a docking pad with the station controller.
”This parade is tasteless. Instead of setting his slaves free in a way that sets them up for a good life, he parades them around a city as a puppet master.”, he continues, ”A final kick in the teeth for people that have worked for him for generations without any compensation or choice. Instead of doing the good thing, he just seeks to better his image and throw them into chaos.”. The woman shrugs, ”For all we know that might be his only reason for this parade. Hard to tell without eyes there. It would be suicide, both politically as physically, to attack the city. He might abuse their loyalty to employ them as spies or something like that. Maybe he just replaces them with new slaves. I doubt it is a genuine desire to pay and respect his servants.”
Docking clamps close around the landing gear, locking the ship in place on the landing platform. ”Alright, I am here. It’s too crowded planet-side to take my own ship in, so it’s time for lots of taxis and public transport I am afraid.” He turns off the systems. ”Keep the carrier in one piece for me Daria. I expect to be back tomorrow.”.
They exchange some more pleasantries before the commander closes the connection and walks off the ship. It’s going to be a long day in Capital City.