After touring the southern Omegas in the Volcarona and speaking with whoever I could find that may be involved in the situation, I believe I've collected enough for a preliminary report.
So, without further ado, this is what I found out.
My first stop was Omega-52, and thankfully, I soon found two Coalition pilots willing to talk about the situation.
This is the transcript of our conversation. <attachment>
I will list the basic points they made, this is their perspective and thus obviously full of anti-Corsair bias:
- The Corsairs have greatly increased their military presence in an attempt to annex the system, claiming it as core territory rather than a protectorate as they have been treating it so far.
- The fight has been mainly focused in Gran Canarias orbit. Corsairs have bombarded the planet and there have been civilian casualties.
- Two groups assist the SCRA side: The Shades of Sol and the Vagrant Raiders.
The Raiders, despite their name, focus on humanitarian aid, evacuating refugees that may end up with the Coalition, and shipping food and medical supplies.
The Shades meanwhile fight the Corsairs alongside the Coalition.
The Shades are considered allies, while the Raiders' status is still being discussed.
- The SCRA is not pleased with the lack of support they have been receiving from the Mollys, who are of course staunch enemies of the Corsairs as well.
- The reason for the Corsairs' attempted takeover is the lack of fertile land on their home planet, an assessment I consider realistic.
- The Corsairs have a wide-ranging spy network on Gran Canaria.
This seems to be confirmed by this news report, with Corsair pamphlets being dropped encouraging people to "report anything suspicious".
After our conversation, I headed to Omega-49. I met an S.E.F. captain - a Zoner group headquartered in the system, but sadly this particular one could not tell me much about the situation other than lamenting their position between two hostile fronts, as he spent most of his time in the houses.
I decided the best way to contact the Zoner side may be over the comm channel, so I sent this transmission to the S.E.F. and OSI.
The main points they brought up:
- Neither group wishes to take sides in the conflict, they simply resent being caught in the crossfire between two warring factions.
- S.E.F. have found evidence of orbital bombardment occurring, and accuses both sides of engaging in it.
- S.E.F. confirms the Vagrant Raiders being involved in humanitarian aid, despite having issues with the Mollys' guard station "Goldern Coin", which blocks the Omega-49 jump hole in Dublin.
- OSI believes the Corsairs wish to capture Gran Canaria, while the SCRA wish to expand their influence in the system.
Their security division acts as peacekeepers in the system, much as S.E.F. they seem to view both sides unfavourably.
- OSI mentions the Corsairs blaming Zoners for downing on of their flagships.
- OSI confirms the Mollys have not gotten involved yet.
Parallel to communicating with those two groups in that channel, I traveled to Omicron Gamma to try to get the Corsair's side. This would prove to be a bit more difficult. I brought a small shipment of gifts to ensure a non-hostile welcome, and though it took some time I did eventually manage to find some Corsairs willing to talk, after they escorted me to their bases to unload my donations.
Once again, here is the full transcript of our conversation. <attachment>
Their behavior was....crude, to say the least, but I did manage to get some information out of it.
- The most interesting part perhaps, was this:
Quote:[57th]Pepe.Ladron[TBH]: *thinking* Well... there was a ship in orbit... big one... with nukes
Smaller than Osiris
And when it gone, there were no bombs on board
no one knows what happened to bombs
Ship... was... ours...
And it got destroyed by OSI
No bombs were found
- After that, he mentioned a certain El Comisario's ship was destroyed by Zoners.
I suppose this is what OSI were talking about.
- This group, the 57th light wing, is active in Omega-49 while The Brotherhood is not, or not anymore.
- The Corsairs claimed the SCRA bombed Corsair positions planetside, which seems a fair enough assumption.
Finally, my attention was directed to a public transmission broadcast across Omega-49, which certainly sheds a lot of light on the whole situation.
Central points made:
- The Artemis a Corsair flagship -presumably the same as mentioned several times previously- which had bombed alleged Coalition positions planetside, was crippled by the SCRA and in a last-ditch effort, dove into the planet's atmosphere.
- Both sides have, intentionally or not, bombed civilian settlements planetside.
- The Brotherhood has declared the civilian government ousted and declared martial law.
- The SCRA withdrew from the planet's surface. Corsair presence planetside is apparently high.
- Although reports are conflicting, it seems nuclear and possibly chemical and biological weapons were used. The humanitarian situation planetside is dire, although a number of groups have come with assistance.
- There was apparently direct fighting between OSI (and possibly other Zoners) and the Corsairs, but not with the SCRA.
Well.....I may have forgotten something, but that is basically what I found out about the situation.
I suppose I will remain in the region in case the situation escalates again - it seems to have calmed down at least slightly.
-incoming transmission-
-source: Planet Kurile-
-subject: new objectives-
Anje;
It's been too long since we spoke.
I was not able to find Ryan's contact to continue his research. Considering the subject matter of said research, the contact may well have been forcibly removed. While my stay at Heisenberg was certainly interesting, it is leading nowhere.
At any rate, I doubt further pursuit of this line of work will be fruitful, and I yearn for something more productive to do.
Well, it is unfortunate Ryan's research had been less fruitful. But at least he did succeed in making his way through the ranks.
Take the remaining data and clean everything up there. For better results consider a little diversion, it might be an interesting option, especially if it may implicate the Order.
While we're at it now, as you might have been aware the dispute between the Order and TAZ seems to be getting attention again, depending on circumstances it may present us with new opportunities. We'd like to have a better insight into current political climate within zoner community regarding this situation and where each group sees itself at. May be there are voices of dissent among community like Phoenix too. Most certainly TAZ would try to strike a deal with other factions who wouldn't have an issue taking on the Order, any indication of that would be useful.
Oh, and try to learn more on TAZ experimental ship whereabouts, it would be most useful. Granted it doesn't present notable value by itself, but there is value in knowing. See what you can find around there.
Our humble assistance nears its completion, but be very careful, our enemies are getting quite desperate and attacking anyone suspected of slightest sympathy to our cause.
-incoming transmission-
-source: Planet Kurile-
-subject: new objectives-
Good to hear from you.
Another Zoner mission - I shouldn't be surprised. They certainly like sticking their neutral fingers into anything they can. It should be most amusing to see the TAZ and Phoenix bounce off each other in regards to this newest development, they always seemed to be on opposite ends of the Zoner scale.
I will move to Baffin to begin this. I shall keep an eye out for this experimental ship as well - I believe we spoke of it before, when we met with Ryan. But as before, I don't know much more than rumours. Hopefully I can change that.
As for the research, I'm sure I can leave a false trail of sorts. And as always, I will be careful.
It's been some time, again. But I have interesting news. On an extensive tour of the awfully dreary house systems, I encountered somebody I had not seen in many years - Jared Nomak, formerly of the Samarran Raiders.
I encountered him after an extensive session of philosophical smalltalk with the Core and the Hellfire Legion. Both organizations we had not previously thought of much which now seem to be gaining power.
Suffice to say, the Core follow no ideology whatsoever; their usefulness is directly proportional to their employer's depth of pocket.
The Legion however, are more interesting. They've instituted some sort of anti-establishment commonwealth in the inaccessible southern Liberty border systems. They were hesitant to comment on the war but affirmed that they are opposed to the Gallic invasion.
But, back to Nomak. We have an important player here. The Samarrans were once a force to be reckoned with. I advised him to enter the military establishment of current Malta.
Maltese politics favor fanaticism at the time, as we can see by the success of the Crimson Cross. Though I doubt they would act as reliable allies, they are a formidable force that must be dealt with one way or another if we wish to maintain our ties to our closest partners.
The other main Outcast organization these days, the Bloodrose Syndicate, are more of a mystery. They appear to be mainly interested in spreading the orange dream.
If Nomak manages to rally soldiers like he once did, we may have a very, very formidable force on our side. Either way, all our previous assignments have fallen apart.
I ask what they will for me, and Nomak has asked me to inquire what they will for him. Of the many times I've needlessly called crucial, this one may be important. I hope you have something for us, Angela.
I am very glad to hear you are alright, my dear. Let's see what we've got so far.
Samarrans. I thought they had vanished entirely. Are you saying Nomak still kicking around? Well, that's a surprise, but then ones like him don't settle down quietly. But you are right, political landscape at Malta has changed considerably, he and his peers might find it more acceptable and vice versa. Seeing as most old names they had troubles with are either gone or not important anymore. So what do they want?
Crimson Cross has peculiar views, surprisingly heavy with religious overtones. But perhaps this is what needed after all, seeing as old systems had crumbled, and worse yet ended up with a civil conflict.
The Legion are... not to be trusted. Their checkered past has plenty of inconsistency and shifting allegiances. I advise to be cautious. Probably none of them have any awareness of what their past holds. But I don't think they'll respond well if they are reminded of. Be careful around them.
However there's another group you might be interested in. A particular Golden Chrysanthemum group, Sisterhood Of Dreams they call themselves. They have an 'interest' in our special flavor of Cardamine. They are also quite ambitious, strong believers in their cause and seem well aware their current 'allies' aren't going to help them much or even turn on them. I wouldn't say our associates are sympathetic to their cause, because they aren't and being indifferent seeing there's a far more important matter we have in Kusari space.
When you find yourself in Kusari space find Munen Musou, she's a right-hand of Hana Ken, leader of the sisterhood. Your knowledge might come very helpful there. You'd probably want to know the details, so let's say I've made an interesting offer to them, however it would seem Munen has a difficulty with a given task. A task of locating a certain item and one that you might be familiar with, the Proteus Tome. Yes, the very one, my sources tell me it has made way back to Kusari space some time ago and had been kept somewhere there. Should be noted it had been in possession of the Order before that, it is rather unusual they'd part with it. Unfortunately I had to cut my investigation and take leave from Kusari space - the Order had been showing up there more frequently. Suffice to say I wouldn't envy whoever holds the 'tome', for when it is found there will be hell for anyone standing in between, but until we know where it is we should remain careful and quiet. I'm sure you're now aware of the tremendous gravity of this situation.
In conclusion: our work continues, quietly, and there's much to be done before... If all goes well we may have special guests arriving soon enough, and they've been far away for quite some time and are very anxious for a comeback.