Vol 877 Issue 200
200-1122

Tensions in Vargr Space Command Imperial Attention

General Androchev Transferred to Duty in Gvurrdon

In a move seen by experts a a major shift in military deployment, Lieutenant General Viktor Androchev, the tough former marine sergeant and protégé of Grand Admiral Grey, has been given overall command of The Imperial 6th marine corps stationed along the Vargr /Imperial border.

Androchev replaces the late Major General Arlen Howe, who was under critcism for his failure to take decisive action against increasing Vargr paramilitary activity.

Areas near the Vargr Extents have always been more active, more free wheeling, more frontier and more violent than most Imperial citizens are accustomed to.

However, increasing reports of Vargr corsair raids on traders might indicate that the vargr clans are trying to exploit the Imperial military build down after normalizations of relations with the Zhodani Consulate.

Reductions in the Imperial Naval forces have been obvious during recent times on Regina as ship after ship has disgorged sailors and Marines on Regina, after the recent Imperial budget cuts.

Unrest with Zhodani space has also weakened the perceived need for a strong military force in the Marches.

This, coupled with the long standing tradition for the Emperor, after cessation of hostilities, to realign forces and centralize powers that have been delegated in times of emergency or war, have left the appearance that the Domain of Deneb is weak and ripe for the picking.This perceived weakness has not gone unnoticed in the Vargr extents, as corsairs and insurgents make bolder and bolder attacks at the periphery of Deneb.

Nor, apparently, has it gone unnoticed in the halls of Rhylanor palace.

Not only has Grand Admiral Grey assigned his pit bull Androchev to the strategic center of the Vargr/Imperial border, but rumors continue that recently discharged, experienced combat commanders are finding themselves reactivated "for the duration of the emergency".

(Continued page 5)