To: Gallic Royal Navy || From: The Custodi

[Corile]

Kalhmera,

The news of a northern conqueror have reached even the most deaf of ears on Crete and our ongoing war with the Kingdom of Bretonia definitely calls for allies. I have seen the might of your fleet and the speed at which you dealt with an Armed Forces battlegroup. I've also heard furtive rumours that there was a contact attempt between Gallia and the Empire before however for some reason it has not come to fruition.

Yet, here we are. My name is Icarus Augustopolos, the General of Custodi. I command the naval force of our little nation within the Corsairs. Custodi for centuries stayed planetside, not caring much about matters away from Crete however seeing how the inability of the Elders was driving our planet into ruin we began our own conquest of space.

The Corsairs have been in a state of open war with the Kingdom of Bretonia for years. While the Gallic fleet conquered Leeds and Edinburgh, our ships poked and severed Bretonian supply lines. Indeed, while Custodi don't have enough people to manage a fully functional battle fleet, we have enough to stage out guerilla attacks against unsuspecting enemies and even a force as small as a few of our elite bombers can down the largest of Bretonian ships.

So, with the introduction out of the way. What can we both do to make sure Bretonia is no longer a thorn in our sides?

Yours faithfully,
Ίκαρος Αυγουστόπουλος
Icarus Augustopolos - Custodi General

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Reflections on the Revolution in Gallia
Custodi // High City of Heraklion // The Cult of Archangels
Log Filter // Post Creator // Manhattan

[Omi]

Royal Naval Flagship Chant du Cygne, Magellan System
05. decembre, 739 AGS

Sender: Grande Maréchale Lucie LeBlanc, Marine Royale Gauloise.
Recipient: General Icarus Augustopolos, Custodi.
Topic: Introductions.

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Monsieur Augustopolos,

We have had sparse contact with the people of Crete - that is fair enough to say. Aside from a token diplomatic meeting a few years ago, and the occasional coincidental brush with one another within Bretonian space proper, there has been little in the way of any true formalities. An effort was made some months back to open ties with a group known as 'The Brotherhood', an organisation claiming to represent Crete on the galactic stage, but as far as I am aware Général Roche was eventually unable to pursue anything concrete.

Despite these previous setbacks, I have never been blind to the potential of making peaceful contact with even such a far-flung nation. Too few of Sirius' inhabitants are perceptive enough to approach the Gallic Crown with the respect we deserve, and ongoing hostilities with the illegitimate Kingdom of Bretonia can only help us find common ground. However, there is one major query I have right away - exactly what, who, and how many do you represent, monsieur? From your message, it sounds as if you and the 'Custodi' are a subset of the Cretan Empire as a whole, rather than representative of the entire ruling body. The Royal Navy speaks for the Gallic Crown as a whole in military matters, particularly so in these war-torn times, but I get the impression that you may not carry as much gravitas back home in comparison.

Lastly, if there is anything you could provide us with that would undermine the Bretonians the most, it would be intelligence from their southern and eastern borders. It should come as no surprise to anyone that our intelligence on fleet movements, system geography, and many other things is strongest around our main areas of operation. With the inherent instability of jump anomalies, however, and the relative difficulty of sending a substantial reconnaissance team through or all the way around Bretonian core space to keep eyes on their less pressured flank, accurate data on the strength kept garrisoned along these borders would be greatly beneficial.

In service to the Crown,

Grande Maréchale Lucie LeBlanc
Duchesse de Languedoc et Maine
Marine Royale Gauloise

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[Corile]

Kyria LeBlanc,

I understand there are many questions to ask and answer, so let us start from the beginning.

The Custodi are indeed a minority among the Corsairs. We make up only about eighteen millions of the roughly half a billion of Cretan population. However small we may be, our people are the primary food providers of the Corsair people and as such Custodi are very much self-governing and influential on Crete.

While our stellar force is relatively small, our pilots are skilful and overall one of the best fighter pilots in the Omicrons. And, unlike The Brotherhood, we value our allies and remember our foes. Gallia is a powerful entity and a friendly relationship with the Crown has potential benefits to both of our groups.

Now, regarding reconnaissance in southern Bretonia. This is something we can certainly help you with, especially considering the systems of Omega-5, Omega-3, Cambridge and New London are within our primary area of operations. We indeed have seen Bretonian corporate transports moving goods between the Kingdom, Rheinland and Liberty.

However the problem we're facing is a shortage of people capable of supplying Crete with vital commodities so this task is too often taken by our pilots who spend their time inside the cockpit of a transport instead of a fighter. I had a look at the public docking records of Crete and I found mentions of a Gallic corporation going by the name IDF Shipping who according to those records had visited Crete before. Having logistical assistance from the IDF Shipping would mean we can focus on removing the Bretonian problem more easily.

I will of course get back to you with any intelligence I or my people can gather. In return, though, acquiring a way of getting in touch with the IDF would be extremely helpful and I hope you would be able to provide me with one.

Yours sincerely,
Ίκαρος Αυγουστόπουλος
Icarus Augustopolos - Custodi General

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Reflections on the Revolution in Gallia
Custodi // High City of Heraklion // The Cult of Archangels
Log Filter // Post Creator // Manhattan

[Omi]

Royal Naval Flagship Chant du Cygne, Magellan System
14. decembre, 739 AGS

Sender: Grande Maréchale Lucie LeBlanc, Marine Royale Gauloise.
Recipient: General Icarus Augustopolos, Custodi.
Topic: Re: Re: Introductions.

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Monsieur Augustopolos,

I must admit, certain parts of your previous message caught me by surprise. I am not entirely appraised with the affairs of the Crown's corporations, but even so I would have expected to have heard if they had mounted a successful expedition as far as Crete before. The news is not entirely unwelcome, however. Île-de-France Shipping is the largest and most influential of the Crown's business concerns, and I am sure they will be very excited to make further inroads into Sirian trade.

I will ensure that a representative of Île-de-France will contact your organisation in the near future. Depending on the value of the exchanged goods and other items, it is also possible that a member of the Royal Navy's Logistics Division will be in touch as well. For now, though, the corporate sector should make better use of their apparent existing experience in this area to fashion something of a beginning of an agreement.

Lastly, there is considerable interest within the Royal Navy's upper echelons of accurately cataloguing the entirety of Bretonia's border systems, for a number of strategic purposes that I am not at liberty to discuss. The Omega cluster is known to us through the Sirian Neural Net's star charts; however, I and many others are of the opinion that some of our pilots would benefit from a personal observation run of the area. The details will need to be worked through, of course, but it would be of immense service to the Royal Navy if a reconnaissance operation of the eastern flank and the Bretonia-Rheinland border were to be completed successfully, owing to the information or the direct assistance of the Custodi. It is a logistical strain for us to range patrols so far from our forward operating bases, and Bretonian-Libertonian patrols throughout enemy space are too numerous for us to slip a larger support vessel through to fuel and maintain our reconnaissance wings. Any aid related to these concerns would be looked on most favourably.

Cordialement,

Grande Maréchale Lucie LeBlanc
Duchesse de Languedoc et Maine
Marine Royale Gauloise

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[Corile]

Kyria LeBlanc,

Regarding the former relationship between IDF and Corsairs, this is not something I have knowledge of either. It's merely information extracted from the available logs of the Cretean docking ring, according to which IDF transports are recognised and given permission to land on the planet. I assumed this was due to some previous cooperation between the Empire and the IDF, considering that the possibility of giving an unknown entity the right to dock on the planet seems very unlikely.

Now, as soon as we receive a communication from the IDF I will be able to dedicate some of my assets to send a scouting party which will provide you with the required information about the Bretonian border systems. While we have our own starmaps, I suppose refreshing those will not hurt.

I will reply to this communication again once we gather the intel required.

Yours sincerely,
Ίκαρος Αυγουστόπουλος
Icarus Augustopolos - Custodi General

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Reflections on the Revolution in Gallia
Custodi // High City of Heraklion // The Cult of Archangels
Log Filter // Post Creator // Manhattan