Transmission; Start
Identification: Commodore Christina Robinson
Location: Fort Bragg, Planet Manhattan
Encryption: Secure
To whom it may concern;
It's been a long time since I sat around the negotiating table with mister Simon and mister Winchester, when we hammered out a set of exceptions for your company concerning the war and embargo with Rheinland. That was an enjoyable negotiation, though sadly one of the negotiators back then, former Commodore Sarah Willows, decided to fall off the cliff of sanity and in doing so, break our trust.
Which brings me on to the issue I'm coming to you now. Trust.
The Independent Neuralnet Department has always been the target of specific groups, and at times public opinion as well, due in part to your excessive wealth. I have no problem with this; the IND contribute to the wellbeing of Liberty and bring in goods that can be hard to obtain for our primary corporations. Even that is outside of my sphere of responsibility though; my primary concern has always been the security of the house and the adherence of those within her borders, including the IND, to the law.
Back then, I thought we had an understanding. We provide you with the trust and the means to continue business activities that are a distinct privilege, and in turn you show the loyalty towards the spirit of the laws as they are written. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be the case.
The IND have committed a few other isolated infractions of our law in the past, which have been overlooked in favour of a cooperative relationship between the Republic of Liberty and yourselves. This, however, does not seem like an isolated incident. The evidence clearly shows the affiliation of the two vessels in question, with matching ID papers and proof of the mentioned contraband. Furthermore, it shows them in close orbit of Planet Manhattan. Additionally, there are no signs of any tampering.
Assuming that you don't contest the validity of the evidence, and I don't see how you could, the matter moves on to discipline. Usually, the punishment for smuggling is either a large fine or being designated persona non grata within the Republic of Liberty. However, this doesn't take into account the substantial level of trust that we had granted you. If nothing else, the list of exceptions to the embargo served as a public show of a strong relationship between the house and yourselves. The scale of this infraction not only damages our view of you, but the publics view of both yourselves and our government.
We've long been committed to rooting out elements of greed within the fairly small public sector services that the government provides. I'd like to think that the Liberty Navy are the best example of this within Liberty, but this incident serves to undermine such a hard-won achievement. I don't believe I need to mention the damage that narcotics does to society on the whole either.
All that means that the punishment here will be heavier than it would otherwise be. You will not only be paying your dues for the infraction here, but also for breaking the faith that the house had put in you. Trust has a high price.
Therefore, the following will happen.
'¢We will be erasing all of the entries in the embargo document concerning exceptions for the Independent Neuralnet Department. This document is in need of an update anyway.
'¢Each vessel is liable for a fine of one hundred and fifty million (150,000,000) credits for a total of three hundred million (300,000,000) credits. As usual with most fines and other payments, this will be due to the accountFerris.Dufresnewho is the man responsible for the administration of the Central Liberty Internal Treasury.
You will not only be paying for your mistake, but directly financing the security of the Republic of Liberty as well. Personally, I feel that you could not wish for a better way to repair the damage to your reputation than this.
Previously, we've shown mostly carrotto the Independent Neuralnet Department as a means of cooperation. Now the circumstances mean that we must provide the stick as well.
However, we are willing to extend the olive branch to you by keeping this matter private between the government, the forces and yourselves. This is the limit of our remaining faith in the IND, and the only chance you will have to get your house permanently in order.
Comm ID: Lawrence Wiles Location:Wall Street Station, Legal Department
Commodore,
It is understood that the Republic of Liberty is incensed at the flagrant breach of trust of two of our members. Against the usual IND tactic of bluff and bluster we, the corporation, stand by the majority of your decision.
300million credits is indeed a heavy penalty for this needless waste of taxpayer expense. Had our employees not been doing something they shouldn't, neither side would now be forced to such a position.
The two caught will be dealt with in house, but it must be said that those two do not represent the entire corporation. We are still committed to providing the Republic of Liberty with the raw materials it needs to press an exacting war with those stupid enough to challenge you. To cut our Embargo exemptions aids no-one. You gain less from that than we lose.
Apologetically
Lawrence J. Wiles.
Communications Suite offline
Saint Del is considered a holy healer of diseases of children, but also as a protector of cattle.
ComID: Sasha.Castille, IND
Loc: Wallstreet Station, Oita
Re: Measures taken.
Sirs,
As ultimate owner of one of the offending vessels [IND]Liquid.Assets, I wanted to take a moment and render my most profound apology for the actions of my 2nd, James Kaitan and crew. I learned of this incident when I came in this morning to my office at Wallstreet Station. You can imagine my dismay at the report. It is not everyday that I am faced with such blatant and damning actions on the part of my employees. I wish to further assure you that these actions will have significant and meaningful affect upon those who I entrust my fleet to in future dealings. I will be issuing a separate communication to those under my charge concerning this matter to make absolute certain that such actions are not repeated in future. I can only hope that the damage to our relations are not beyond bridging. Certainly, you have my deepest remorse and to be honest, I'm completely stricken by this event. I see no clear way to underscore my regret strongly enough to those who have been injured behind this. All I can do is pledge my word that I will increase my direct awareness in the hopes of deterring such behavior in future dealings. This is NOT how the IND operates.
I take full responsibility for the actions of the people under my charge, as that is the only clear course left for me to pursue in this mess. My ships, my responsibility. End of story.
Please accept my deepest regret for any tort, real or perceived, in this matter, and know that I shall make amends to demonstrate my personal remorse. I pray that the IND will not be held in a punitive light, due to my obvious and inexcusable lack of command and control over one of my vessels and her crew.
Transmission; Start
Identification: Commodore Christina Robinson
Location: Fort Bragg, Planet Manhattan
Encryption: Secure
Lawrence J. Wiles and others;
We've carefully considered the circumstances of this incident and the request made to keep your current embargo exceptions, and we have come to a conclusion.
Firstly, it is good that you have accepted the fine unchallenged, and we expect to receive payment as soon as possible, with proof of payment provided here.
Concerning your request to keep your embargo exceptions, we will give you a chance to earn those back. In order to do so, you must prove your willingness to, as you said, "provide the Republic of Liberty with the raw materials it needs to press an exacting war". This would take the form of 18,000 units of Cobalt or Copper ore. As you may know, these ores are primarily available from Omega 7, and that's where we'd like you to acquire them for us.
You can provide any combination you like, but these are to be transferred to the Liberty Navy's Logistics Corps for processing, rather than directly to our industry. There will be a time limit for this, but we will set it at 30 days, which should be more than enough time for you to find a chink in Rheinland's armour. In order to make a delivery, contact myself or the Fleet Admiral to arrange for a naval transport diversion.
The Republic of Liberty looks forwards to working with the IND in the future, and hopes to put this unfortunate incident behind us.
Comm ID:Lawrence Wiles Location:Wall Street Station, Legal Department
Commodore,
We thank you that you have decided to give us a chance to help repair the reputation tarnished by two employees bereft of common sense. The minerals you request will be delivered post haste.
As for the monetary payment you will find evidence of such here.
Yours, sincerely
Lawrence J. Wiles
Communications Suite Offline
Saint Del is considered a holy healer of diseases of children, but also as a protector of cattle.
Transmission; Start
Identification: Commodore Christina Robinson
Location: Fort Bragg, Planet Manhattan
Encryption: Secure
Lawrence J. Wiles and others;
It looks like we received the first shipment of ore yesterday, according to the report I've got on my desk. Good job. Three more to go, unless you've delivered some more which I've yet to hear about.
Transmission; Start
Identification: Commodore Christina Robinson
Location: Fort Bragg, Planet Manhattan
Encryption: Secure
Lawrence J. Wiles and others;
Gentlemen, you fulfilled the fine conditions nearly a week ago, but I'll formally conclude this matter now. All the deliveries looked much the same as the first, and the proceeds have been transferred to the Central Liberty Internal Treasury. Thank you for being punctual, and I hope measures have been taken to ensure that something similar never happens again.
![[Image: Del1.png]](http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a344/Spiderjerusalem1979/Del1.png)
![[Image: picard-facepalm1.jpg]](http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll219/Kyte_/picard-facepalm1.jpg)