BITER<br/>BITER SYSTEM<br/>OCCUPIED SWORD WORLDS<br/>YEAR 1110, AGE OF THE THIRD EMPIRE<br/><br/><br/>The small merchant ship shook as it entered the atmosphere of the planet.  It was a small planet, concealed by a swirling mass of blue and white clouds.   When viewed from space they silently churned, a myriad of silent storms consuming each other and being born anew as they circled the small globe at gale force speeds.  On the surface, the storms howled, driving relentless sheets of sleet, hail and sand.<br/><br/>The vibrations took on a different feel as the pilot throttled back on the thrusters.  The ultra high frequency hum of the thrusters could be felt more than heard as they strained against the buffeting winds.  The petite dark haired woman in gray technician's coveralls slouched on the worn gas-plastic couch in the galley of the small freighter.  She put her hand inside the open front of her coveralls and scratched under her arm as she regarded the man and the woman in the galley with her.  She looked at them, each in turn, through the bangs of her lank greasy hair which hung limply over her young hollow-cheeked face.  Her scratching appeared to become absentminded.  Her gaze met those of the two she was examining, which was unusual for her.  Inku, it was said, spent so much time with her eyes on the floor that she had learned to see through the top of her head.   She had stared at the floor during the entire customs inspection, save when the marine sergeant grabbed her chin with his armored gauntlet and jerked her head up so he could see her face.  Her eyes had rolled like billiard balls as they, seemingly of their own volition, had looked anywhere but at the Empire marine.  For he and his comrades served the Empire only some of the time, only relatively little of the time.  They wore the Imperial Starburst on their shoulders, but they were Caladbolg nationals through and through, jackals at the kill of the Imperial lion, unleashed by their Countess, a vassal of the Iridium Throne.  They had a reputation, the expeditionary forces of proud Caladbolg, and rumor had it they'd sell a crew into slavery just to keep it.  The sergeant had looked at her a moment overlong, and she had seemed unpleasantly preoccupied since.  Captain Bello had stood impotently by as they had searched his ship, crew and passengers.  His thick black mustache had sagged, as did his belly, and the stubble on his cheeks made him look like a worn out old man.   His own eyes avoiding those of the hard-faced sergeant.  Sweat beaded on his shaven scalp as the inspection dragged on.  Finally the junior soldiers had returned, weary under the burden of their scanning equipment.  Their bored faces told the sergeant they had found nothing.  Without a word, the sergeant had taken the passel of identification passes, logbooks and cargo manifests from a nearby subordinate and smacked them against Captain Bello's face.  With a grimace, the Captain had taken them, and breathed a sigh of relief.  More Caladbolg marines had stood at the ready, covering the crew and passengers with their weapons, as the sergeant and the inspection team withdrew.  Finally, the gun teams followed their comrades, and the airlock iris valve had sealed shut.  Inku had wrapped her arms around herself as soon as they left, but she had been unable to stop shaking for some time.<br/><br/>The ship heaved as it encountered a violent gust of wind.  Inku broke her gaze, her attention drawn by the rattling of the cooking implements in the galley cabinets.   She glanced around the small galley, pulled her foot into her lap, then resumed her staring.  She picked at the callouses on her foot.  The eye visible through her hair roamed again between the man and the woman.<br/><br/>"Whatever we're getting here had better be worth it."