If you're a Merchant with a weapons fetish -- something we see a lot in
Traveller -- or mustered out military who just doesn't want to leave the firepower behind, there's always the gray market and black market. But those tend to be expensive.
So how do you gain legal access to military grade hardware? The best route is to seek a mercenary license. You don't even need to have any intention to go into front line combat.
Suppose you have a couple of people in your group with Battle Dress and PGMP skills. They're too old for combat, but not too old for training missions. They're not going to be able to train restless rabble into plasma troops unless you own the stuff yourself. Get a license for it and you're good. If the whole group is covered by the license, the trainers don't even have to cheat by signing for the weapons they want.
What if the make-up of the group doesn't add up to a mercenary company that does training? Maybe you can get licensed as a mercenary support services company instead transporting weapons from places where mercenaries are permitted to buy weapons, for personal use or for resale to local combatants not specifically forbidden from receiving them. Even if you're just a Merchant cargo master, if you're transporting supplies close a war zone, you can make a case for getting licensed to protect yourself.
The mercenary business is a well established part of
Traveller. As long as you have a decent reputation and the right connections, why not get a license so you can just go to the local War-mart when you want some boom? Beats dealing with price-gouging, unsavory black marketeers.
Hakkonen said:
His government wouldn't let him. It's as simple as that. The Emperor is far too valuable to ever set foot on a battlefield, no matter how big his cojones. The Parliament (can't remember what it's called off the top of my head) and the military leadership would find a way to keep him safely in the palace.
I'm not sure the Moot has the authority to overrule the Emperor if the Emperor decides go into battle in a meteoric assault capsule leading a battalion of Marines.
And if an emperor's judgment declined to the point where he went to the front of a war zone, I'm not sure the Moot would
want to stop him, as long as the line of succession was clear.
Also, I see a lot of military tradition in the nobility of the Imperium. Archduke Norris served in the Imperial Navy while second in line to becoming Duke of Regina, and reached the rank of commander before he rose to first in line and had to resign.
Imperial nobility are more like British royalty, who have a strong military tradition, rather than US politicians, who don't often have military backgrounds and more. (Theo often had military backgrounds in times when larger proportions of the population served in the military, but military service is uncommon now.)
