[center][color=cyan][h2]Gerard Biserus[/h2][/color][/center]

[color=cyan]"Have I ever mentioned that I [i]love[/i] how optimistic we all are?"[/color] Gerard commented dryly as he floated a pen inside the truck cabin and hit the button to turn on the radio. The beat up truck began to roll its way out of the rest stop and back onto the road. By some miracle it was still functioning- and aside from a weird stutter every few minutes, the vehicle was as good as- well, not new, but as good as it was the day before. Where the day before they were driving through a mostly savannah like badlands, the Barghests now had a large expanse of forest on one side, and the remnants of the badlands and the petrified forest on the other. 

The princess- while not necessarily chained up, was well under supervision, sitting in the middle of the group's formation in case she got any ideas of fleeing and making it on her own. Though, for her part, Collette seemed more than happy to stay in the relative safety of a squad of super-soldiers, even if they were technically enemy soldiers. She sat a bit rigidly on a shot out crate of MREs, her back against the back wall of the truck cabin, occasionally glancing out of one of the window flaps of the truck. 

[color=coral]"There are few."[/color] Collette responded to Kalina, with a slight roll of her eyes at the not so subtle jab. [color=coral]"The Empire is a big place, but [i]broadly[/i] speaking, most of our senate is split along three lines."

"The Imperialists, mostly nobility, career military, and industrialists are interested in the continued expansion of the empire- to what I would argue are unsustainable levels of growth and expansion. There are the Doves, myself and a not insignificant number of the landed merchants, corporations and younger nobility, who would prefer the Empire to achieve its needs through more peaceful venues. And lastly there are the Lay, made up of mostly middle class and laborers, who more or less want to keep the status quo. My father has final say on a lot of the Empire's proceedings and directives, whereas the senate mostly interprets his will, but they do still have significant influence over the Empire's decisionmaking."[/color]

More or less handwaving some of the complexities of a sprawling empire, Collette continued, [color=coral]"The Doves and the Lay are more or less in agreement that this war with Rassvet has done nothing but waste lives and resources that could've been better spent on our own people. The Imperialists are convinced that the Levistone that Rassvet sits on is a treasure trove worth committing those resources to.

"We had managed to impress upon the Emperor that a significant number of his people had no desire for this war, and that perhaps we could obtain what we needed through more peaceable means. Whether he believes it or not remains to be unseen, but he agreed for us to begin talks for a ceasefire at the very least."[/color]

Realizing that she had been going on at length for some time, Collette quickly shrugged and cut to the chase. [color=coral]"From Vangar, I suppose its possible that some of the more extreme from the Imperialist faction might think that the Empire would be better off with me dead."[/color] Collette's eyes lightly scanned the WARDENS in the truck. [color=coral]"From Rassvet, well I don't think there's exactly a shortage of people that wouldn't mind offing Vangar nobility."[/color]

[color=cyan]"As much as I hate to interrupt this [i]riveting[/i] discussion,"[/color] Gerard chimed in, pulling his head back into the truck from having stuck it out the window to talk to the resident WARDEN sitting on top. [color=cyan]"I think there's trouble ahead."[/color]

While the smoke could've been spotted from further, A small stream of acrid black smoke led to what appeared to be a large wreck a few miles down the road, a few hours into their journey. The wreck looked bad, the dirt and ground around it was torn up. An Etherium fuel truck- likely bound for the rest stop they had just left, and Sapple Springs after, laid rolled over across and blocking the road. Its side was crumpled like it had taken an impact and the engine smoked, and the tanker of Etherium fuel itself had fallen over and was currently emptying its contents onto the pavement and dirt around it, a sickly sweet smell already wafting into the air around it. The interior of the truck itself wasn't in view, but a hand, red with blood stuck out of the side window. Having run off the road and currently twisted its front around a tree was a family RV, its windshield was shattered but the rest of its chassis was in good shape. 

With the road ahead blocked, the Barghests were more or less forced to a stop, the engine idling. as a few of them glanced out at what was ahead of them. [color=cyan]"What the heck happened here?"[/color] Gerard asked aloud. [color=cyan]"I see blood in the RV, no body though."[/color]