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Sender: Hernan Escudero
Recipient: Escobar Cabrera
Subject: Inquiry

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Señor Cabrera,

Buenos dias.

Indeed, your falling out of action was ill-timed as many things have changed. Well, you being an honest hombre de Malta, I see no reason not to indulge you explaining the stuff.

Firstly, the Cartel. Its dissolution is tightly linked to the change of political situation on Malta. Serving as the Consul of the Maltese Unitary Republic of Hispania, I could get acquainted with many views on what Malta was doing. While many supported our course, many vouched for "returning to the roots", id est simple piracy with no clear views on the strategy of building Malta in the future. Those lads don't need economy, education, effective administration. Well, I am a simple man and who am I to stop them from bathing in chaos? Did it hurt Malta? Surely, it did. But I did not wish to tolerate their mere presence and the very idea of dealing with them disgusted me. One of such persons in particular is the aforementioned Enma Loyola who had been twice accused of treachery, has confirmed citizenship of enemy state of Gallia, and is allegedly infested. The very fact that Maltese politicum tolerates such people was of no liking to me, so I stepped down. I clearly saw that it would lead to de facto falling of the regime of the Unitary Republic as they criticised it for our "lawful" ways. Oh well, they wanted it - they got it. Now Malta is again busy with internal strife and lack of effective administration. "Cuatroce" at that point was too strongly intertwined with the politics, so stepping down from the politics presumed dissolution of the Cartel. Worry not, Senor Cabrera, we managed to amass a lot of credits, billions of credits, to ensure our luxurious existence until our demise. Me and other ex-menbers still own a lot of land on Albegna and Soledad, Nuovo Milano de Albegna in particular. I am enjoying life in Cadiz-de-Malta where I can do whatever I want, ruling as I see fit. But that is a different story. As to your inquiry who controls this whole mess - formally, it is the Legion Maltesa, however their distance from politics speaks for itself and de facto Malta is in state of perpetual fight for power without clear leadership. Nothing new.

Secondly, Gallia - si, it "lost" the war. I was present at the peace talks that were quite disappointing for all sides. Malta could not get much there so I withdrew from the talks in favour of Legion's representative, seeing no use in continuing. But do not let this "peace" confuse you: Malta has not signed the treaty and we are still de jure and de facto at war with whatever Gallia is now. This time, however, Gallia is even less united under the Confederate banner and too much preoccupied with post-war restoration.

Lastly, the rogues - I am not surprised to hear about their new ingenious plan. "Garbage in, garbage out" as we say. Rogues being garbage of all sorts from Liberty lowest of the lowest, it comes as no wonder they want to bite the hand that feeds them. Except for a few reasonable types there, most are junkheads. And quite a lot of them depend on Cardamine. Shut the flow down and Liberty Police would maybe for the first time in history grateful to Malta for exterminating one third of the pests. They can buy Cardamine on the side, of course, but them being poor sods, their wallets will be emptied not to the satisfaction of the owners. Should you deal with the rogues - remind them of this. Their laughable Orange Alliance was never of benefit to Malta, it was of benefit to them because they feared Malta and its influence. And rightfully so, we hold their threads of life. Without Cardamine smuggling they lose a significant share of profit, and a lot of their own members. We will lose part of Libertonian market, of course, but Malta can endure when Kusarian market is booming and Chrysanthemums are loyal. Be warned, though, that without single Maltese government you cannot truly control who supplies rogues with Cardamine. Many rival dons or lower warlords, or just industrious individuals can decive to supply the Rogues in deficit either in exchange for a favour or higher price. What to do with it is up to you, I am too fed up with dealing with close-minded Maltese "political elite". Perhaps, you will have a better shot at it.

I wish you luck in your endeavours, Senor Cabrera. I hope your ambitions and deeds will benefit Malta and it will be proud of its son. Serve it well.

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Sender: Hernan Escudero
Recipient: Escobar Cabrera
Subject: Inquiry

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Señor Cabrera,

From what I know, most of my former comembers of the Cartel be they noble or not stepped out of business and active involvement in any matters, enjoying their quite generous pensions following the dissolution of the Cartel. Some of them even left Maltese Space. You can try reaching to Senor Daguza Ecoas, my former Chief of Security. Perhaps, he can offer you some insight on the matters. De Motti are trickier. One of them vanished without a trace, leaving Maltese space. The other as far as I know is running family matters on Malta and is unlikely to get involved in another adventure. There was also a skilled fighter, Luis Torres. He also vanished without a trace. One of our former R&D divisions, "Navarro 5" seems to operate now independently as a small R&D company. Aside from Cartel members, you can try reaching to IRMM and their administration. From what I know, they are still operating.

As for the rogues and the dons, from what I have heard, most notable families support the position of Malta we preached when dealing with them, namely, that Orange Treaty lacks benefits for Malta and thus was considered null and void. There might be smaller dons who oppose, but usually just a short experience of dealing with the rogues convinces them otherwise.

As for the nomads, current standing is that we tolerate their presence outside of Maltese space, i.e. not actively hunt them. However, they are considered a threat and their presence within Maltese space is not tolerated and any incursions should be met with force and, if an entity does not leave our space, its immediate destruction.

As of now, I have no intentions to return to politics of Malta, at least not until I have rested from the headache it gave me and some people who cringe me disappear. Until then, you can give it a shot and try Maltese politics yourself. Such a circus can give a wide range of emotions. Wish you luck with that, should you undertake this path.

I hope this answers your questions.