Discovery Gaming Community

Transmission; Start
Identification: Commodore Christina Robinson
Location: New York system, Planet Manhattan, Fort Bragg

Audrey McKnight;

I would like you to see something that arrived on my desk this morning.

' Wrote:Signal strength: ...:::||||
Sender: Mystic
Location: Freeport 2, Dock 4
Records indicate that Dock 4 is currently in use by the pilot of [8A]Seventeenth.Star

I must say, I did not expect this.

Travelling through Texas tracking down pirates, I heard one of your Marines state the following:

"Right, I don't trust mercs. Your ship's getting impounded." Log

Which, to anyone remotely familiar with the laws, sounds like a case of unlawful detention and assault. Being a law-abiding citizen, I flew to the location this Marine was broadcasting on open comms to look into it. Two Marines and a reserve gunship, the Demok, were attacking a freelancer going by the name Dinorawr. I was of course quite curious about what was going on, and didn't get a straight answer. Or, until long after the altercation in question, any answer. But, it's the Demok I have a complaint about, not the Marines.

The captain - and I use that term loosely - of the Demok claimed I was "obstructing justice" and demanded a fine of half a million credits. Which I didn't quite have at the time even if I would be willing to pay.

There was no obstruction. I was not firing on the Marine ships. I was not intercepting their shots. In fact, I made it a point to stay out of the way while I was trying to figure out what was going on - going out of my way not to be obstructive.

Now, had someone said they were pursuing this mercenary because he was a suspect in a series of attacks on Navy pilots (as the ranking Marine claimed later), I'd not have bothered. Or, for that matter, had they said anything except for the remark about not trusting mercenaries.

I believe my suspicions were entirely warranted, my actions were not obstructive, and I fully intend to fight this fine if necessary.

I'm not returning to Liberty until this matter is resolved. For now, I can be contacted at Freeport 2.

End of transmission.

Now I would like you to explain how "I don't like mercenaries so I'll blow them up" equals enforcing the law of Liberty, which is meant to be impartial.

I may not be a part of the Marines, you may have a seperate chain of command, but I really couldn't care less. There are strings that can be pulled, and they will be pulled if they need to be.

I look forward to your justifications. Really, I do.

Transmission Terminated

Maybe you aren't aware of the full context of the situation.

When a navy officer says that a mercenary has been taking bounty on his head, I come to help him. When that mercenary tries to bargain for his life claiming the navy officer attacked first, well, I'd rather trust the navy officer than a dirtbag mercenary.

There are strings that can be pulled, indeed.
I am doing my job protecting one of your sailor.
I'll expect more courtesy next time you'll read a totally out of context capsule from a civilian - which wasn't so out of context, because;

"Now, had someone said they were pursuing this mercenary because he was a suspect in a series of attacks on Navy pilots (as the ranking Marine claimed later)" person would be me.

Now, maybe if you addressed the problem of this civilian, instead of hunting down on folks in the same side of this war, maybe there would be some progressions made.
As you say, strings can be pulled, and will be pulled.
Especially if you talk to a colleague on that tone again, commodore.

McKnight, out.

A woman in her mid-Twenties appears on screen, fixing the bun her hair was in. She scowled a bit at the screen.

"I'm sorry Commodore, but I have to respectfully argue against what you and the rest of the Primary fleet believes. For weeks now, Mercenaries of all shapes and sizes have been flying into Liberty, docking freely on our stations, and then attacking our pilots. I've witnessed this myself, I've assisted Primary fleet pilots before, and even the Bennington has been attacked. I will vouch for Audrey in this one. Yes, not all mercenaries are out for our blood. But that situation is different right now. People are paying for our heads, and they are more than happy to try and claim them."

"We can trust no one. We'll end up shot in the back. Whatever you may be doing, if anything, that is dealing with the mercenaries that attack us? It isn't working.

======TRANSMISSION INBOUND=========
COMMS ID...VERIFIED ..Major James Steven Patterson, Liberty Marines
Encryption: DELTA CLASS 4...LOOPING SEQUENCE..SECURE

LOCATION: Battlecruiser CBC-22 Iwo Jima Terminal 15 Main Bridge Captians Ready room

<start duel layer security transmission>


<jimmy is sitting behind his desk mkeing notes in a personel lfile he stops and looks up he is clearly not in a good mood>

"Commodore" he started clearing his throat ,by now his full face could clearly be seen "im asking you as a long serving comrade in arms ,and a Friend, no im telling you as such. the Merc problem is getting out of control for the past 3 weeks alone My Marines ,Libertys Marines have been aggressively and actively getting shot in the back the same people doing the shooting would then proceed to land on Manhattan or Pittsburgh or even Norfolk. Norfolk of all places i know High Command isint thinking of a Ban but at least instate some form of Registration. how do you expect us to win a war if the homefront is getting constantly attacked by mercs, its only a matter of time before they start hitting troop ships to new Hampshire,or parts convoys to the fleet in Texas. im asking you for the sake of the Republic try to push something through HighComm. Liberty and the War depend on secureing our inner and rear line systems. i know had you been in Lt.Colonel McKnight place,you would of said something along the lines of "all mercs should burn" or what have you too,but i know you ,nor Audrey would actively carry that out.


stop this mess

-Major James "jimmy" Patterson

<transmission ends>

Transmission; Start
Identification: Commodore Christina Robinson
Location: New York system, Planet Manhattan, Fort Bragg

Audrey McKnight;

Thats all well and good, Audrey. Now you can provide evidence to counter the accusation of the mercenary in question. Pull your strings, do what you want if you want and when you want, but I'll need to see some evidence supporting your side of the story. At no point did I accuse you of anything, I simply asked for an explanation.

So lets see the evidence to back up the counter accusation in this case.

You might also want to consider that I've kept this a private matter outside of the mercenary in question's view. So before you go accusing me of favouring the other side, bear in mind what's going on around you.

Jimmy;

I very much doubt I would've said as such, since I have been in that position before, getting attacked by Bugz and his little entourage. Don't see me moaning like a child do you?

Saying that something needs to be done is all well and good when those people are not the policy makers and the responsibility for a screw up doesn't rest solely on their shoulders. The Police, Security Force and Navy are working in tandem together to try to find a best-fit solution. Banning mercenaries from operating in Liberty will only make those who arent agressive now hostile to us.

Oh, and if you have evidence to provide for this particular incident on Audrey's behalf, I'd be happy to see it. As Im sure you can appreciate, it needs to exist for there to be a realistic case for the defense.

Transmission Terminated

===transmission====

<start> well then commodore,im authorizeing the pilot that was there to share his side expect his report on it soon


-Major.James Patterson

<end Transmission>

ENCRYPTING MESSAGE..... Successful
ID SIGNATURE.... 1st Lieutenant Jack Johnson
Encryption Level... MAXIMUM CAPACITY
Message Level: Priority.
To: Commodore Christina Robinson

"Commodore Christina Robinson, this is 1st Lieutenant Jack Johnson. Here is how the story goes from my perspective, which will confirm what Lt. Colonel McKnight stated earlier. I have included a statement from the pilot I rescued also, but my guncams were not functioning properly as they were hit in the Bering defense in classified fleet operations the other day and some of the footage was erased due to taking a direct cruiser hit. That is all beside the point. Story begin:

I was doing a routine patrol with myself and Lt. Colonel McKnight in the New York and Texas systems, and I got a call from a pilot codenamed "PinkAngel" of the =LA= (Liberty Angels). He said he was under attack by a mercenary. I asked him what was happening and he said that the Mercenary baited him out into the debris field surrounding the Pennsylvania jumphole in the Texas system with a fake distress call. I quickly moved up to their position, arriving on scene approximately 10 minutes before the Colonel did. I asked both pilots to cease fire and began to question both of them. The Navy pilot insisted upon what I just stated above, and the Mercenary told me that the Naval pilot had opened fire on him first. Now the only issue with this was, I know that this Naval pilot is a good man. He is loyal to Liberty and would never do such a thing. So to sort this out I was going to impound the mercenary and take him in for questioning to get it all sorted out. If his story had checked out he would have been free to go now even 2 hours later, and the Naval officer would have bee court marshalled. This was not the case, however. He refused compliance and made a run for Beaumont just as Colonel McKnight arrived onto the scene and uttered her words, taken completely out of context by that Freelancer, and we pursued him all the way to the base. He docked and we lost him. I am still wondering why the Junker's would take in such a hot target.

This is the story, in its entire form, from start to finish. Guncam footage below shows the Naval pilot explaining to me what happened. Commodore this is all the evidence you are going to be getting, along with two separate Marine Officer accounts of the story. If this is not enough, then i'm afraid there is not much else to be said along the situation. It's good that if you DO intend to take this to court that Liberty law is on OUR side, not yours in this case. We are innocent until proven guilty, and one statement is hardly enough evidence to convince a jury. I am confident that if this goes to trial I will have the testimony of not only myself, but Lt. Colonel McKnight as well as codename "PinkAngel."

I thank you for your time Commodore, and hope that this is resolved peacefully. We were only doing our duty, and if we are going to be penalized for that... then i'm afraid that the Navy has more serious problems than mercenaries hunting our pilots.







Respectfully,

-1st Lieutenant Jack Johnson

End Message Body
Signal trace...Somewhere in Texas.
Transmission source..offline.

' Wrote:Transmission; Start
Identification: Commodore Christina Robinson
Location: New York system, Planet Manhattan, Fort Bragg

Audrey McKnight;

Thats all well and good, Audrey. Now you can provide evidence to counter the accusation of the mercenary in question. Pull your strings, do what you want if you want and when you want, but I'll need to see some evidence supporting your side of the story. At no point did I accuse you of anything, I simply asked for an explanation.

So lets see the evidence to back up the counter accusation in this case.

You might also want to consider that I've kept this a private matter outside of the mercenary in question's view. So before you go accusing me of favouring the other side, bear in mind what's going on around you.

Jimmy;

I very much doubt I would've said as such, since I have been in that position before, getting attacked by Bugz and his little entourage. Don't see me moaning like a child do you?

Saying that something needs to be done is all well and good when those people are not the policy makers and the responsibility for a screw up doesn't rest solely on their shoulders. The Police, Security Force and Navy are working in tandem together to try to find a best-fit solution. Banning mercenaries from operating in Liberty will only make those who arent agressive now hostile to us.

Oh, and if you have evidence to provide for this particular incident on Audrey's behalf, I'd be happy to see it. As Im sure you can appreciate, it needs to exist for there to be a realistic case for the defense.

Transmission Terminated

Comm ID: Lt Col McKnight

It will be Lt Col McKnight, for you, commodore. Or maybe simple courtesy is above your little personal inquisition?
I'd like to see your own evidences to go on about your little "private" investigation, save for the words of a civilian - who at that, explained in the very same message exactly what happened.
I have no idea what your intent is, except seeking troubles.

You read your messages more carefully next time, before someone's competence gets a re-evaluation. The trouble maker in this, happens to be the gunboat, which, it seems, you are letting slide aside - I wonder why.

Disappointing to see you have no sense of justice.
But should you decide to continue this pointless war against my name, maybe you desire to bring this into public light, too, in front of a court? Does your "strings" reach this far?

McKnight over and out.

COMM ID: [color=#99FFFF]Fleet Admiral David Hale
TARGET ID: Christina Robinson, Jimmy Patterson, Audrey <cKnight
SUBJECT: Too far. >
ENCRYPTION: Medium
PRIORTY: Medium

Hale here.

I'm sick of this. I want to see all of you in my office at Fort Bragg on Planet Manhattan tomorrow. I want to know when the hell McKnight appeared. I want to know who the hell you are and why I've never heard your name before in my life.

I want to know why Audrey McKnight is making any kind of call in space, when space, traditionally is the Navy's responsibility.

I want to know why Christina is complaining so bitterly and kicking up a fuss about it.

I want to know why there is no evidence presented for this merc in question having done anything wrong.

Hale out.

[font=agency fb]****TRANMISSION TERMINATED****

Comm ID: Lt Col McKnight

What a shame you didn't even knew Liberty had a Marine Corps. Or maybe do you merely try to play humiliation card?

We do not take into picture everything that happens. Especially for a dangerous suspect that is highly unpredictable.

It seems your commodore is making a fuss over this out of pure ambition or mean intent to eliminate competition.

Well, when the navy is unable to respond the distress of one of its own pilot, we marines take things in charge. But since you seems to believe you are the single body capable to take over Liberty's military affair, maybe you should sometime take a datapad, read some info, teach your fellow officer a few rules on leadership and self-control, trust your comrades in arms that fights -for the navy as its primary expeditionary force- (if you wish to have a more complete description, I am certain your datapad has a certain function called "search").

The civilian that, again should I restate, first made this post, clearly stated the problem (not related to the Corps, but instead, to a gunship, a problem it seems, the navy has yet not addressed to at all), and then clarified his mistaken perspective on the Corps activity, which is later reconfirmed by my wingman.

As to myself, I am quite a busy person, with a schedule to follow. If you want to see me, with all due respect, make an appointment like everyone, admiral, sir. We might be the navy's cogs in a gigantic military, but we aren't just cogs you stop for petty issues that doesn't even exist.

Now, if you wish to further discuss this, please refer to my personal channel.

McKnight out.

((As to how the admiral of the navy knows not of the LMC despite its creation being rather highly made public, I find it simply disheartening.