[TML] A Plague of Spacemen

[shadow at shadowgard.com]

On 5 Oct 2007 at 15:23, royce at efn.org wrote:

>    Also, how does the Imperium view meddling spacemen?  If a patrolling
> naval vessel jumped in & observed the meddling, would the captain
> arrest the spacemen in question?  Or would the captain merely be mildly
> curious as to why said spacemen are wasting their time & risking their
> valuable freighter?  "Whatever are they doing that for?  Well, no
> matter.  Let's complete our sweep and plot course for the next world."

The Imperium is mostly hands off. They certainly don't have a "Prime 
Directive".

That said, I expect they'll merely keep an eye on any who looks to be 
getting space capability. 

Anyone who actually gets it (or who is fighting a war with anybody 
with a spaceport) will have it "gently" explained to them that the 
Imperium doesn't care what the locals do to each other. But they will 
intervene "forcefully" if anyone attacks the port (or ports that have 
extrality areas. 

Attcking spacecraft heading to or from jump, or attacking any 
offworld ships in orbit is apt to be another way to wind up on the 
receiving end of a combat drop by the Imperial Marines.

Interfering in offworld trade in other ways could get you in trouble 
as well. If your woprld's major export is skunkweed oil, then it 
might be a *really* bad idea to damage the plantations. The megacorp 
that buys it might as the Duke to teach you a lesson.

(think of the likely reaction of United Fruit to a Central American 
revolution or war 100 years ago that threatened their banana 
plantations. The combatants were rather apt to have the US Marines 
intervening)

But as long as (offworld) trade and the interrst of the Imperium or 
important companies aren't affected, the Imperoium is likely going to 
ignore things.

So those "Ship's boats" might shoot at each other occasionally. But 
god help them if they fire on a trader...


--
Leonard Erickson (aka shadow)
shadow at shadowgard dot com