SID 23110.05

GUNSTAR-CLASS BATTLECRUISER VENGEANCE
PLASMA CANNON TECHNICAL TEAM VTT-10
CT2 ARMIN SHALE

TECHNICIAN'S LOG



Well, the Vizier arrived today, with her retinue. Holy gakk, the retinue! A dozen or more assistants and advisors, all in ceremonial cloaks. A whole company of juiced-up Ghataki, loaded for bear and stewing for a fight (as they always are), the grunts appropriately threatening in their gleaming black and red battle armor. Closest to the Vizier, two dozen guys in plain black uniforms and matching face-masks- Black Legion, I assume. Oh, and the Vizier herself- well, who could even see her, with all these other dudes around? I think I caught a glimpse of her red-hooded figure among the scores of armor-clad bad-asses and menacing cloaked dudes, but who knows? All I can say for certain is that a mass of cloaked folks and armored fellas exited the transport and was greeted by another crowd of the cloaked and armored, all to the accompaniment of a band playing the Imperial Anthem. I think some fighters made a fly-by outside, but I couldn't see it from my vantage point. Isn't it always that way with a parade? You never see the good stuff.

It was something to see, though. All these angry, intimidating-looking dudes piling out of an Imperial shuttle, clown-car style. I see these guys in their somber dark cloaks and shiny, menacing armor, and I ask myself, "Are we the baddies?" Joking, of course, but still, you've got to admit the Imperium does have a certain "look". We're sharp, certainly, but in grim sort of way. Tailored, austere- heck, even our work togs are somber and dignified, yet strangely intimidating. Blacks and grays and splashes of blood red- those are our colors. High collars. Shoulder pads- boy, do we know about shoulder pads. And don't get me started on the helmets and face shields. I suppose it's no wonder the Communies think we're the villains. Better to look like baddies than like gakking homeless hippies. I mean, have you seen some of these Communion losers? I've always assumed they must buy their uniforms in bulk somewhere, maybe by the pound from some Khazgani rag merchant. Poor-quality fabric, loose-knit, cheap-looking. Officers' uniforms look like something a Jessikan hobo wouldn't wear on wash day. Baggy, ill-fitting. Brown, of course (what else?). Honestly, how can you take a military seriously when it doesn't know how to dress?

But, I digress. Lots of excitement and activity on the ship today, even below-decks. Belz and Sikes freaking out, as is their custom whenever we have big-wigs on board, assigning PC and some of the other "non-essential" tech teams (who you calling non-essential?) to look after the systems on level ZZ (where the Vizier is staying). Leeson and I were tasked with (surprise!) climate control, despite the fact that we already have an entire team that only does CC. Of course, everyone on that team is an idiot, which, I guess, is acceptable any other day, but not today. No, today, if the ambient temp fluctuates more than 0.2 degrees from the 20 C target, someone gets disintegrated. No hard feelings, but the Vizier does not perspire, so if you are responsible for a condition that causes her to perspire, well, adios. So, yeah, no pressure.

One good thing to come from the whole gakko-frinage was that I finally had a chance to talk to the cute blonde from AG today, Harriet. Yeah, her name is Harriet, get over it. Anyway, I ran into her this afternoon, or, I guess, she ran into me. I was poking around in a conduit, checking for coolant leaks, when she pretty much just stepped right on my ankle. She was checking for AG fluctuations, taking readings and tapping them into her PAD, totally oblivious to anything else, and she stepped on me. I cried out, she sort of jumped, and then she took off her sensor helm and apologized. Very pretty, blue eyes. I said not to worry about it, no big deal. And, then...well, then she put her helm back on and went back to scanning. Still, it was pretty cool.

One last thing: We learned today that Graeme can't say the word vizier. No, he pronounces it veez-yay, like he's French or something. What an idiot.