* Somewhere in the sigmas, a small vessel stands idle nearby a clandestine receiver monitoring the communications traffic passing through the sector.
Suddenly, the monitoring system comes alive when it picks up a very strong signal, originated from the message of the Gas Miners Guild.
The old pilot at the commands wakes up, and begins examining the public message.*
"Kekekeke, so the old fool can't get enough money for maintenance uh? Even with the aid of the foreigners, even with the work of thousands of slaves. Even with the greedy monopoly of "Fueling Sirius", they still need to rob the common traveler."
Brother Zhou opens up a channel, and on screen appear several faces, members of the Hong Wu movement.
"Well, we will make sure they will payback in double, to us.
Prepare yourselves brothers, seems there are some matters of "accountancy" to handle with the Guild Masters."
Sender ID: Wolfgang Spielman, Valkyrie Freikorps
Subject: Tax
Hallo, Charlie.
Me and my friends work to keep the Sigmas clean of bad guys such as the 'Sairs, the Outcasts, random looter trash and unregistered poachers, miners. You guys don't pay us, but we certainly won't pay you so that we can do what is essentially your work.
Don't like it? Takes one line to add you to our list of targets.
Have a nice day,
Wolfgang Spielman
Valkyrie Freikorps
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O:O=Identification:Guildsman Ilo Takato=O:O
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My subordinate Charles-san is currently busy at this time so I'll be brief.
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Operative Spielman.
While we, and certainly I, have not heard of your organization, we do not and will not be the first to fire a shot towards our clientele within Rheinland.
We have taken your full notification on this and will gladly accept you upon your request to accept bounties in behalf of the GMG.
As you said so vibrantly, "We don't pay you and you certainly wont pay us." Would you enjoy that notion to change that would benefit both our establishments? I sure would.
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Representative Isoroku Hatoyama.
I find it also humorous that it would be Samura that would be the one to cast the first stone to publicly denounce this minimal tax on lanes in which we do actually own. Are we taxing your lanes within Nagano? Oh that's right. There are none. What about in Rishi? Hmm.. Looks like the Gallic Crown own a good third there, so that's two lanes to the Hokkiado and Nagano gates. Nope. We don't own those so why would we? Let's see. The lanes in Okinawa. Oh! All Guild owned. The lanes in Sigma 19. GMG owned. Sigma 13? Hai. Guild owned as well. I believe that there proves we have a network that does in fact need maintence.
But you do bring up a good point on our investors. Let me remind you on Samura's when they we're informed of things such as...
Liberty's Embargo with Kusari.
I do infact remember on how far greater the impact it was on Samura finacially during that time in when your co-operation with Ageria was shut down for the time it was enacted.
Or the incident of Planet Kurile and the outcomes of that? May I remember you of the Treaty of Kurile?
Quote:Article 1: Mutual Recognition of Sovereignty
1.1 The Kusari Government fully recognizes the Gas Miners Guild as a sovereign corporate collective administered by a Board of Executives, whose citizens are its members, inhabitants, paramilitary and shareholders. Kusari fully acknowledges the GMG's sovereignty over the entirety of the Sigma-13 system, the Hiryu Cloud and Donryu Cloud regions of Sigma-19, Sigma-59 and the vicinity of any entry to the system, the entirety of the Okinawa System, and the 7.0k vicinity and enclosure of Aomori Station in Honshu.
As you can see, by the words of the late Emperor Jien Kogen, we do infact own the lanes in the area's we have informed others about. If you do not wish to pay the minisule tax, then don't. You can always go to the lanes in sigma which we own, and fly right beside them. Doing so would however cause you to burn more of the fuel stocks from Samura's reserves, which are greatly smaller to the Guild's own reserves. Therefore causing your prices to your clients to be higher than the Guilds. Which would turn into trouble and be noticed by your clients in say for example Rheinland. I could keep going.
Or.
Samura could make a small contribution towards the Guild in the spirit of Cooperation with the Guild. We would therefor use those funds to work with Samura to allow lobbying within the Kusari Government to allow the Guild access aboard Samura stations, etc. We would then be able to purchase several goods from Samura to ship to our clients who may then become interested in working with Samura. The public would notice and Samura's stockholders would as well, increasing the capital spent in turn.
Remember Hatoyama.
Quote:2.6 Cooperation. Neither entity initiates hostilities against any spaceborne forces of the other.
Let us use this clause in the Treaty of Kurile to start a form of Cooperation shall we?
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Brother Zhou.
Who are you and what's the Hong Wu Movement?
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Repectfully,
Guildsman Ilo Takato
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