Send 2 troopers to the Tamarian camp to enquire after any attached troopers, if they have any ask them to come with them and bring them to me. If not then report back to me.
Send 2 to guard Viverde and observe the colonel then report anything unusual to me. I and the last one guard Denos and observe the captain.
The troopers disperse, setting off at a casual pace. You and another stormtrooper, a short guy with a heavy brow, go to joint Denos and his party.
"I will give you a chance of explaining yourself before any accusations are pressed." Bartolomeu says calmly, hands on his bolter and sword.
Wait for the man's explanation of what I've found.
Terrez sighs.
"By your tone I can tell that my suspicions are true. Now, you might not believe me, but I had no other choice.
You see, a Munitorum clerk of some rank to whom I owed a bit of a favor asked me to send some of my men for the box - she told me she was shorthanded, which seems like the truth. But she was awfully suspicious about it, refusing to explain what was in it - especially in light of all that contraband that constantly appears here or there. Now, reporting my suspicions or confronting her directly would have been a grave insult to her if I'd been wrong - she's no Barrablancan, but still. Implicating my troopers in a potentially...unwholesome affair was also out of the question. So I found another way to appease my conscience, at some additional risk - I sent you the note.
The woman is called Yensdottir, Scrivener Yensdottir. What's in the wretched crate, anyway? I'd like to know what got me killed...if it does, of course." 'Colonel? I am sorry to bother you, but there is a situation that you should know about. This rivalry with the Tamerians is likely to get out of control if steps are not taken promptly.'
Enter the Colonel's tent. Look around the space to get an idea of the Colonel's habits and personality.
The tent, though large, has no unnecessary decoration on the outside, not counting the standard. On the inside, there's a broad armaplas table and a bureau. On the table several books are stacked neatly - one is a commentary to the
Tactica Imperialis, another a compendium of the poems of Tobias Mar, a Barrablancan priest and conquistador, renowned for his epic
Those Who Crossed the Seas, but who also authored a few lesser-known pieces about choice, loss, and inner freedom, grim but at the same time oddly hopeful. There are others, but their spines bear no titles. There is also a luminator and an autoquill in an ornate holder.
In the corner is a cot, on which the colonel's aide and bodyguard sits polishing his hellgun's scope. The far side of the tent is concealed from sight by a folding screen, from behind which the colonel himself emerges to meet you.
He was probably impressively tall before his legs were replaced by slender double-jointed prosthetics, but now he's almost inhumanly so. He wears the same uniform as any other Barranlancan trooper, except that his brass breastplate is chased with intricate dark patterns. At his belt hangs a slim pistol with a long barrel and wooden grips, and a rapier with a plain hilt that almost certainly conceals a powerfield generator. His head is shaven bald, and he has a luxuriant brown mustache and beard. His eyes are dark green, sitting deep in their sockets below an impressive set of eyebrows. When he speaks, his voice is deep and resonant.
"Ah, commissar Viverde. Has something entirely out of the ordinary happened? If so, I shudder to think what, considering the other fine examples of their soldierly conduct I always read about in your reports. I hope nothing is on fire yet?"A stormtrooper peeks into the tent behind you, then disappears.
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Topic: The Siege of Angazea [7/7] - Back in Black (Read 36830 times)