Primoday, Rami 22nd 067.M42
Maddy was still gone when I woke up. I hadn't had any dreams, which was good. I'm hoping that it means that for now, I'm out of their reach. She was pretty sure yesterday before she left that because they hadn't actually managed to get direct contact with me that I wasn't actually connected to them and they were mostly using Arlean to link up with me. I was just happy to have an uninterrupted night's sleep. Though being actually well-rested and left without anything to do left me feeling restless this morning.
She'd told me not to contact anyone yesterday, but then she also didn't tell me that she'd be gone for the whole of the night and still not back the next morning. If I'm supposed to be trying to get my family to safety, it's going to take some time to convince them. Especially if I'm not allowed to actually tell them what they're running from, and I have to make it sound like a fun vacation or something of the like.
I spent a couple of hours just sitting around, trying to read the news on my slate. The Feed is just full of reports about the Hadrigans. Word is that they have started moving house troops to secure the rest of their holdings and that they're recalling their ships to jump back into their system. Nobody actually knows how much they have in the way of martial resources, their trade fleet is spread out over Throne knows how many subsectors, possibly even extending as far as some of the surrounding sectors. And each ship they have is capable of holding thousands of troops. Governor Fei is said to be considering mobilising the PDF, there's speculation that that she's petitioned the Imperial Navy for a strike force to take on their ships before they can land troops on the world.
The Hadrigans have also finally made a formal response to the charges. They've made a counter-accusation that the Kai-Tens have fallen to Xeno influence and that they are spreading that corruption to the planetary government and the Arbites stationed on-world. They're claiming that they've reported this to the necessary authorities, and that they are not planning on taking any hostile action at this stage, but that they will not hesitate to defend their fleet and holdings if action is taken against them.
So far there's been no reports of any shortages caused by this conflict - we're lucky that Asphodel has a sizeable agri-hive in Tartarus, and while the Hadrigans have some interest in it, their primary sphere of influence is off-world trading. So food is still available and there's enough stored to supply all of the hives - for now. What's going to get dangerous is the lock that they have over off-world shipping. A significant proportion of our promethium trade is handled through their deals and brokerage, not to mention various other essential and luxury goods. The Kai-Tens hold a large portion of these markets too, but it's a pretty significant second-place compared to the Hadrigans' dynastic reach. And with more Hadrigan fleet ships making their way in, unless the governor has successfully petitioned the Navy, we could very well end up with a blockade fleet in place soon. If there's not already enough ships there to constitute one. There might be some chance of the smaller traders banding together under the Kai-Ten banner to take out the Hadrigans, but there are plenty out there who owe any measure of success that they've ever had to trade deals and offers with the Hadrigans. Or who just outright dislike the Kai-Tens due to earlier skirmishes or trade losses that they've suffered against them.
I eventually had to turn the slate off, I couldn't bear to read any more. Speculation and fear-mongering seem to be taking over the Feed. Popular opinion is turning against the Hadrigans, which is exactly what the Kai-Tens wanted. I don't know if this is indeed due to some link with the cult that is growing in the underhive that I don't quite understand - I'm not sure how it would suit their purposes to have an all-out war brewing on Asphodel, surely if that happens and the Navy and the Astra Militarum get involved then it will only harm… whatever it is they're building here, won't it? If there's troops everywhere, they won't be able to help but stumble over these Xenos, and then the full wrath of the Imperium is going to come down on them.
I'd already considered disobeying Maddy's order not to contact anyone, but by the time I was finished with the Feed, I was sure. The cult is bad enough, though I still live in hope that there's a way I can help my family escape their notice and get away to somewhere safe. But if war is coming to Asphodel I want them gone, somewhere safe.
I can't take the chance that their vox has somehow been compromised. Part of me wants to be sure that it hasn't, but some of Maddy's paranoia has worn off on me. So I'm not going to call them from my slate, from our hideout. I'll be going out to find a public terminal, somewhere at least a precinct or two away from here, and calling them from there. I don't know exactly what I'm going to say, but I'll see what comes to mind when I call them. Maybe I can use the troubles that are brewing as an excuse to encourage them to get away. Even if they don't leave the system. Mum's always talked about wanting to visit Elysia. Hopefully even if it's only as far as the next world over, just getting them off the planet will be enough to keep them safe. Or safer than they would be here anyway.
