On May 19, 2016, at 6:28 PM, tmr0195@comcast.net wrote:

In theory there are Imperial military rules and regulations, Imperial law, local system laws,

and probably other legalities that have to be cleared before an Imperial Admiral can commandeer

civilian ships. The antics of the Annic Nova, in my opinion, would not meet the criteria.

>You’re thinking that the 3I is directed by the Rule of Law. It is not. It’s directed by the Rule of Man. IN Admirals >are *literally* extensions of the Emperor’s authority, which is absolute.  ( the Moot notwithstanding. They are a >strictly  advisory body; with only a single valid means of overriding the Emperor against his/her will: >Assassination.)

>If an IN Admiral desires she can commandeer any civilian ship she wants; she’s answerable, of course, up the >chain of command, or if the owners are sufficiently connected, up the noble chain of fealty.

>An admiral who abuses their authority will rapidly find themselves making enemies that are of higher rank.

Since I appear to have missed a important bit of data could you please provide a reading list to put me on the right track. I really do hate being out to lunch so often.

>But you’re right, in the main, so long as the IN is unaware of the AN’s true nature, they’re unlikely to be staging >a massive search for it.

Yippee, I'm not as badly out to lunch as I thought, I just used the wrong inforamtion.

>Of course, this doesn’t mean that some sufficiently connected IN or ISS analyst couldn’t convince someone in >power that *something* is going on, and be given a handful of J4 and J6 couriers and an Imperial Warrant to go >looking for his White Whale of a ghost ship, especially if said analyst is connected to the halls of power >somehow…a Duke’s nerdy, intelligent great nephew who pesters the Duke until he’s granted the request just to >keep him out of everyone’s hair.

>Now you have a patron and a campaign to put your player characters in...