The glass was slammed down onto the bar, the bartender giving the client a glare. Penultimo couldn't care less, he hadn't even been on Thuphinda a day and he already hated the planet, it was an uglyand dark place, nothing like sunny Tropico, where the only thing nicer than it's weather were the people (especially the women). At least half of the duo were enjoying themselves though, Penultimo looked over his shoulder at El Presidente, looking as if he'd never left Tropico as he chatted up the clientele throughout the bar, trying to get a gauge at the political situation on the planet.

"So this emperor united all of humanity ten thousand years ago?" El Presidente didn't know what to think, this sounded too far fetched for him, but he saw that they truly believed this so he decided to go along with it.

"God- Emperor actually, and yes he united all of us against the filthy xenos long ago," This man leaned forward, a true believer in this 'god', and looked closely at the ex-dictator, "why did you not know about this?"

El Presidente leaned back and grinned, "eh, well… you see...um...I, I was just wondering…" the grin fell from his face as he realised he didn't have an excuse but he quickly fired back with his own question, "so does this God-Emperor live here?"

One of the other men at the table scoffed "of course not, he lives on Holy Terra-"

"Terra?, You mean Earth?" El Presidente felt lighter all of a sudden, his home still existed, "How can I get there?"

The three men around the table looked at him, their eyes wide, then the short one began laughing, soon they were all laughing. El Presidente grinded his teeth, "This isn't anything to laugh about, I need to get to Earth-"

One of them slowed his laughter, attempting to calm down, "I'm sorry, but no one I know has ever gone to Terra, and those who have attempted the pilgrimage, well… they never come back."

That wouldn't be a problem, Penultimo thought as he overheard the conversation, at least they could maybe get back to their island…

El Presidente had listened to the stories the manufactorum workers had about the emperor and his ilk, clearly it was all ridiculous, told to keep them subservient under their abusive leaders (of course El Presidente had no problem with this, if only he had been able to create such a cult around himself). He leaned forward and asked "If the Emperor is so far away; does he affect this planet in any serious ways?"

The three men put on their thinking faces and they each gave their answer,

"No, not really…"

"Hmmm… no…"

"I don't think so… oh! Other than those black ships though"

One of the workers recoiled and reprimanded him, telling him he couldn't can't about that-

"No no, please, I'd very much like to hear thisstory." The bearded man already could tell this was a controversial topic, a great chance at finding reasons for disconnect these people felt he could exploit later.

"Well," the man started nervously, "the Emperor, in all his glory, has decreed that the mutant shall not live…"

"... Which is what the black ships are for?" El Presidente wanted to move this conversation on, to reach the injustice he could rail against to build his image on this planet.

"Yes, yes, the black ships come and they take the freak children of sinners." The man leaned back, satisfied with his acceptably vague explanation of the topic. El Presidente saw through this easily though.

"And how do they know these children are mutants?"

The man frowned, how was he meant to know? "Well the authorities have some way of figuring it out, I don't know the method though."

"Ah but do these children look any different?, maybe that's the method-"

"Uh no-" the second man blurted out, sheepishly he looked at the first man, now glaring at his colleagues, "- they look like any other children."

I've got them, The bearded man grinned internally, already the seeds of doubt had been planted. "And I gather the parents are distraught when their children are taken from them?"

"Well of course they are, but they're sinners; it isn't my problem." The first man said in a righteous manner. The third man looked nervously at the first man, " well, Stevyn… remember Emelyne? I heard her child was taken by a black ship last cycle." The first man looked surprised.

"Emelyne?, the pretty girl from Sek two-three-four-"

"Now before you all go down memory lane, you know this Emelyne?" This just kept getting better, just his luck he found people who'd been affected by this greatinjustice.

The three men said yes to his question and El Presidente put on a face of sympathy, "Mios Di- By the Emperor, imagine how devastated she must feel…"

"Yes she was distraught, and to think she still has two other children to feed and care for." The third man lamented.

"Ach, the entire family must be at the end of their wits. By the Emperor…" the second man looked up and opened his mouth- then closed it, thinking twice about his choice of words.

"We are all friends here I hope… come, speak your mind." The man opened his mouth

"I think this is all a bit… bad? No? I mean this ship comes, it's not even from here… and it just takes our children, I mean… what's even wrong with them? I've seen the freaks in the underhive, I mean they're the real muties and no black ship ever comes to take them away." The entire table wore faces of deep thought, El Presidente giddy with the ease of springing doubts in the local's minds and the three men conflicted with their recent, treasonous thoughts and the decades of teaching by the local preacher.

"Huh… if only someone would fight for your rights as humans eh?" The Tropican queried the table and as expected, the second man returned with a second set of treasonous thoughts.

"Yeah, he's right, were the Emperor's chosen people and what? We're treated worse than the freaks below us, they're children aren't taken away? they don't have these huge taxes to pay? and last time I checked, I've never seen any of them sign up for the Imperial Guard, I mean have any of you?" This got the two other men nodding in agreement and surprisingly enough, some nearby tables showed appreciation for the thoughts on display.

El Presidente got up, the men looked at him in surprise, "We are you going?" the first man asked.

"Ah well my friend at the bar there says I have an appointment with the...um...doctor?" The ex-dictator swore at himself for such a flimsy excuse, normally he was better than this. Thankfully the three men took this as the truth and bid him farewell, saying he was always welcome at this table with them, El Presidente thanked them and quickly walked out of the bar, Penultimo downing his drink (some disgusting concoction that tasted like gasoline) quickly raced after his boss, leaving some pesoson the bar, ignoring the bartender's confusion at the unknown currency.

"Eh, so Jefe...we good?"

El Presidente laughed "Ah, mi amigo, we are more than 'good', heh, these people are so oppressed; even their children are taken from them!"

Penultimo frowned, "why would kidnapped children be good for us-"

"- If that's just one injustice shown on these people, just imagine how angry they must feel at every other injustice visited upon them." Penultimo was really confused now, "but they look content to me…"

El Presidente sighed at Penultimo's lack of imagination, "They won't be content for long, just as Marx and Engels did, we will teach them of the injustices visited upon them and revolucióncomes we will be at its forefront! In the vanguard!"