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==ZXD/8467 ENCRYPTION DETECTED==
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Ref.: ZN 096.456.432
Class.: SECRET
From: Count Avon Kawling
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My esteemed High Consulate,
Firstly, permit me to offer you some information about the other members of the team to which I have been assigned.

Lt.Cmd H.G.Nelson: The Imperium has placed him in charge of the squad. Given his inexperience at this type of command I find this appointment surprising. However, after seeing the rest of the crew placed at his disposal he is quite clearly the only individual with anything approaching the necessary commander skills. I do not envy his task. I had previously pressed upon the Admiral the importance of myself falling outside of Imperium jurisdiction if I was to properly function as an Ambassador of our people. She was keen to incalculate this into Lt.Cmd. Nelson. At one point she even used the words "diplomatic immunity", which may be of considerable use to us in the future.

Col. Crosshairs: This trigger-happy maniac would be a liability to any squad. These kind of lone cannons are best deployed in solo ops and I am at a loss to understand his placement within this squad. However, he is clearly a useful chap to have on your side in a fire fight. Needless to say Lt.Cmd. Nelson struggled to exert any discipline over Col. Crosshairs.

Vor'Ghar #1: This chap's name is utterly unpronounceable, so I shall refer to him by number. He is a fine starship pilot and navigator, and like all Vor'Ghar has a total disregard for discipline and authority.

Vor'Ghar #2: This chap's name is also unpronounceable, so forgive the number reference. He can pilot the other craft placed at our disposal and is a real computer boff. Like Vor'Ghar #1, he also has a very "relaxed" view of authority.

You can perhaps now understand now why Lt.Cmd.Nelson's assignment is a thankless one.

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Our inaugural mission was to visit the planet PLANET. This particular world is run by a fanatical theocracy. The Imperium weren't particularly interested in it until iridium deposits where discovered there. However, all their trade negotiations failed, so they came up with a laughable plan for our team to sneak into the High Priest's palace and place a holographic image generation device that would present an image of their god telling him to open trade channels with the Imperium.

Although laughable, the plan was audacious, and it might have worked if the stealth aspect of the mission had been adhered to. As you might expect with squad led by a Solomani, no sooner had we infiltrated our way on board the High Priest's palace, which floated above the planet's surface on anti-grav drives, than the fire fights began. The Imperium had equipped the team with silent stun carbines. Not surprisingly Col. Crosshairs neglected to bring his stun carbine along and was armed to the teeth. Unfortunately palace guards were unco-operatively armed with less than silent SMG's, and it only took one guard to resist the effects of the stun carbines for all hell to break lose. The equipment assigned to the squad was clearly not up to the task at hand, and it is not entirely Lt.Cmd. Nelson's fault that events rapidly degenerated into a running battle. Indeed, he himself hit one guard twice with a stun carbine for no discernable effect, which allowed the chap to unleash a noisy burst of SMG fire that alerted every other guard in the immediate area.

Fortunately placing the holographic image generator in the High Priest's bed chamber was a doddle thanks to my psionic teleportation ability. The High Priest's chamber was located significantly far enough away from the ruckus not to have awoken him. It was somewhat embarrassing having to strip to my underpants in order to be able to teleport the device with me, but I had anticipated the moment and worn my silk pair with the Kawling coat-of-arms and the Zhodani flag embroidered on them in gold thread. One must try to preserve one's dignity wherever possible. I shall be concentrating my energies into developing my teleportation abilities to allow me to carry greater loads without needing to strip off first. My great, great Grandfather would turn in his grave!

The Imperium hailed the mission as a success. I am at a loss to understand how this could be the case. The Imperium must imagine that the High Priest is a complete idiot if they believe that he is going to follow the decree of "visitation" from his god when there were at least five guards recovering from the effects of the stun carbines who had clearly seen, and fired at, a group of intruders. How they ever managed to fight us to a ceasefire in the last Frontier War, shall remain a mystery to me!

Your loyal servant,
Count Avon Kawling

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