To: The Bundestag of Rheinland | From: The National Council of Malta

[Foxglove]

COMM-ID: Marietta Mercante, Corsica Intelligence Division
TARGET-ID: Rheinland Bundestag, Maltese comm node

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In the light of recent events, it may be a bit improper to waste a lot of time on formalities and so I shall be brief.

The National Council of Malta extends its greetings to the noble House of Rheinland. For a long while, too long according to the prevailing opinion of the Council chambers, the Nation of Malta and the House of Rheinland have suffered a rather cold relationship, and the National Council of Malta freely admits to its own mistakes and those committed by other parties in the past against Rheinland. Like any nation wrecked by strife and dissent, Malta made mistakes, and grave ones at that. We believe Rheinland is no stranger to such occurances, given the recent victories of the Red Hessian Army over two major lawful installations in Rheinland space, Solitaire Metropolis and Reutlingen Storage Facility. The deaths during these tragic events, although you might not believe it, saddened the Nacion greatly. Bound by the Orange Meadows of Malta, we have come to learn the value of the lives of those that cannot defend themselves.

It opened the debate on why we are not on better terms. We share the same enemies: the Bundschuh, the Unioners, the Corsairs, the Coalition and many more. We have economic powers that could be used to bring prosperity, stability and growth to both our nations, and we have militaries that could work in tandem to drive back those who wish to undo both of us. In the light of this, it seems nigh unto preposterous for us to work past each other like we did from past to present and I hope you can at least see why we believe this to be the case. If not, we would still like to extend a hand towards Rheinland in a gesture of humility and ask for your willingness to discuss a cessation of hostilities with the National Council.

Thank you for your time.

Marietta Mercante
Administrator of the CID
On behalf of the National Council of Malta

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[Foxglove]

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ANSWER REQUIRED

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[Bundeskabinett Sekretariat]

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PRIORITY: Medium
ENCRYPTION: High
IDENTIFICATION: Laura Caspers, Staatssekretärin of the Bundeskabinett Sekretariat
SOURCE: Bundeskanzleramt, Planet New Berlin
SUBJECT: Your request

Guten Tag, Frau Mercante. My name is Laura Caspers and I was authorized by the Rheinland Government to reply to your message.

Your request was discussed, but members of the government were not convinced enough, thus legal status of the National Council as well as all people and ships of Outcast origin will stay unchanged at this moment.

Laura Caspers

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[Foxglove]

COMM-ID: Marietta Mercante
TARGET-ID: The Bundestag of Rheinland

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Good day to the representatives of the Federal Republic of Rheinland,

It is quite unfortunate to hear that the decision made by the Bundestag that our request for access to the Federal Republics territories were denied but nevertheless, the National Council will respect your decision. There is concern, considering the refusal came without so much as a counteroffer made, so we deem it necessary that it be said that we welcome any chance that you might change your minds in and form. There should at least be a constant communication set up between New Berlin and Malta to prevent any tensions between our two states. Word has been passed down to our pilots to not engage or menace representatives of the venerable Federal Republic of Rheinland except in cases where it conflicts with the National Council's Constitution of Territorial and Insterstellar Laws. We hope you will understand this necessary move.

If there is any request that the Bundestag might have for the National Council, please feel free to forward it to us. Anything that our two states can sort out between each other will be a much appreciated. It is not too late to open the door to a new and brighter age for both our peoples. We'll leave a light on for you in that case.

ppa. Marietta Mercanta
The National Council of Malta
Corsica Intelligence Division

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[Foxglove]

Honorable Members of the Bundestag,

Since the recent conflict within the region surrounding Saigon, the National Council has been debating with itself whether to contact you again. It is evident that the House Rheinland and the Maltese Nation share common enemies here while having no reason to still be fighting one another. It is with this in mind that we would like to reaffirm that the National Council is still hoping that the Bundestag might accept our help in the conflict against House Kusari and the Gas Miners Guild. It is no secret that the Maltese Nation is, without a doubt, one of the richest realms in Sirius, to say nothing of our connections. Our aid would be invaluable in the coming weeks and months of the conflict.

The National Council once more entreats the Bundestag to consider the option of a white peace between our nations. The National Council is willing to invest a considerable amount of money in your side of the conflict. This, in addition to lucrative trade options, new markets and the potential help of the most fearsome pilots in Sirius is what the National Council can offer to the House of Rheinland. If you are inclined to consider the offer, the National Council would proceed to draft a treaty between our two nations. With the recent withdrawal of the Rheinland Military from Omicron Xi, this is more necessary than ever.

Thank you for your time.

Benito Contari
ppa. The National Council of Malta

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[Bundeskabinett Sekretariat]

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PRIORITY: High
ENCRYPTION: High
IDENTIFICATION: Minister for Foreign Affairs Christina Lauritz
SOURCE: Hauptsitz des Auswärtigen Amts, Planet New Berlin
SUBJECT: Negotiations

Dear esteemed Mr. Contari,

My name is Christina Lauritz and I hold position of Minister for Foreign Affairs in the government of The Bundesrepublik Rheinland. I was entrusted to reply to your message because obviously it falls under my authority.

You are definitely right that both sides share some common enemies and when it comes to Rheinland, numbers and power of our enemies significantly increased since we replied to the first inquiry from your side more than year ago. As the time passed, situation in Sirius changed and so did opinion of some Bundestag members regarding possible negotiations with representatives of the Maltese Nation. Thus, I can say that at this moment I am authorized to start talks with you. However, I would like to point out that there still are a lot of representatives in the Bundestag which do not trust you, so we should rather be trying to make small steps because big leaps may scare some people too much.

Anyway, if I understand your words correctly, the Maltese Nation is able and willing to provide military support to the Bundesrepublik, and you also mentioned investing money on our side of the conflict and new lucrative trade options and markets. I would like to hear details about all of that.

Also, I would like to hear what you would like to achieve. I mean, you made it clear that the goal is to reach a peace, however it can have many forms, from simple removal of Outcasts from list of enemies of Rheinland, to access to our space or even docking rights to planets or stations. I cannot give any promises at this moment, but I think that talks will be easier if we will know your expectations.

To put it simply, I would like to know details about what your side expects to get and what is willing to provide, so I can present summary to the government or even our chancellor.

Respectfully,

Christina Lauritz

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[Foxglove]

Signora Lauritz, a pleasure. It is nice to hear that the Bundestag is inclined to heed us.

To directly address the matters at hand: The National Council is hoping to achieve the recongnition of the Nation of Malta as the one heir of the sleeper ship Hispania. To this end, we are working towards establishing the Malta as an equal to the major Sirian houses. To achieve this, the National Council intends to establish Maltese interests as a lawful force within Sirius. It is as simple as that.

While the National Council has realized long ago that Rheinland is the most likely partner to follow the steps of Bretonia in accepting us as friends, we also recognize that this war is not one that we can reasonably allow Kusari and the Gas Miners Guild to win. They are actively being supported by the Corsairs, and as such, should you fall, a major obstacle of the Corsairs would have been removed, resulting in our own position in the Omicrons much worsening as the Corsairs can now focus their efforts on penetrating deeper into the Omicron Beta system.

The National Council has for a good while now entertained a positive relationship with the BDM and also coordinated with the Rheinland Military before the retreat of the Schwerin retreated into Munich. However, our cooperation can only be so effective with no official support by the Bundestag.

To this end, the National Council proposes the following:

• The Nation of Malta offers
  
  - to enact such legislature as to allow Rheinland-affiliated individuals to traverse Maltese sovereign space as neutral entities, including docking rights.
  - an interest free loan valuing 600.000.000.000 Sirius Credits, paid in rates of 50.000.000.000 Sirius Credits per month, deferred for the duration of two years after the conclusion of the conflict. A credit institute based in Bretonia handles the transfer if so desired by the Bundestag.
  - the usage of Maltese shipyards in order to construct and/or repair vessels for Rheinland, paid with the money of the loan. The Bundestag may elect to oversee the construction of native Rheinland vessels or have us construct Maltese native vessels or parts instead.
  - free market access to Malta and her sovereign territory.
  - to approach our allies to arrange further support and bigger market access.
  - to take any war prisoners Rheinland is willing to part with in order to lessen the load placed on Rheinland prison facilities.
  
  
• The National Council asks:
  
  - for the Bundestag to enact such legislature as to allow an efficient military partnership of Rheinland and Maltese combatants.
  - for the Bundestag to enact such legislature as to allow Maltese affiliated individuals to traverse Rheinland space as neutral entities. We do not explicitly ask for any docking rights. However, it would make it easier for us to provide you with war supplies.
  - for the Bundestag to enact such legislature as to allow Cardamine users to carry one (1) unit of Cardamine for personal use within Rheinland.
  - for the Bundestag to enact such legislature as to decriminalize Maltese native technology within Rheinland.

Keep in mind that this is, as of now, a rough draft. The National Council would like to hear what you would find agreeable and where you would want additions or changes.

Thank you for your time.

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[Bundeskabinett Sekretariat]

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PRIORITY: High
ENCRYPTION: High
IDENTIFICATION: Minister for Foreign Affairs Christina Lauritz
SOURCE: Hauptsitz des Auswärtigen Amts, Planet New Berlin
SUBJECT: Re: Negotiations

Dear esteemed Mr. Contari,

Thank you for your detailed summary. It was forwarded to the government and the matter was extensively discussed because it is quite complicated. Like I indicated in my previous message, possible changes of both foreign and domestic policy towards the Maltese Nation are quite sensitive issues politically and also when it comes to public relations. Unfortunately, it seems there is a group of people, which is partially represented even in the Bundestag, which see Maltese people as nothing but a threat to all humanity and just mention of allowing your ships to use Rheinland space makes them yell about turning the Bundesrepublik into the cardamine highway or even that with such decision we would make Rheinlanders Maltese slaves because your basic intention is to spread the mentioned substance to control more and more our citizens over the time by controlling the distribution. Yes, we have to deal with even such attitudes and prejudices.

Rest assured that these voices are a minority, however at this moment they are loud enough to cause the Rheinland government troubles which are quite unwanted in our current situation. The government, or at least majority of it, do not believe you have any ill intentions and realize possible benefits of our cooperation, for example on the level of fighting common enemies in the Sigmas war zone. Thus, we would like to move forward towards the cooperation, though by small steps as I mentioned before, at least for now. We would like to start by focusing on cooperation outside of the Rheinland space. This will provide the possibility to document gained benefits which could later be presented to make government´s position stronger in the question of cooperation with the Maltese Nation, thus we could have a better position to consider cooperation even in our respective domestic territories.

Now, what agreement we propose exactly at this point: The Bundesrepublik will give Outcasts the legal status which will no longer mention them as the enemy of the state and thus will allow cooperation with the Rheinland forces in the Sigmas war zone (so with exception of Sigma-15). It will also mean that weapons and ships of Maltese origin would be no longer considered as illegal technology. This status, which is part of legal changes which we implement accidentally right now for some other organizations too, will mean that Maltese ships will be "not welcome" in the Rheinland space, what means that both lawful and private stations or planet docking points are still allowed to have them on hostile list for automatic defense systems, but they will not be detained or shot on sight by law enforcement forces like it is now, just escorted out of our territory under possible penalty which may or may not be given.

This may seem like a very little change of no use for you, but let me explain why we want to do it - this legal status is basically middle step between the enemy of the state and fully legal civilian protected by laws. Putting Outcasts to this category is basically another auxiliary measure for possible future closer cooperation because it is much more acceptable for the general public to understand the change of your status from "not welcome" to "welcome" than moving you directly from "enemy of the state" to "welcome". The latter is something that can be easily abused by those who are against any change of relations between us, for example for a negative media campaign. It is nothing more than a preparation for possible future further adjustments of your status, it is not meant to serve as any real benefit we try to offer to you, we say that honestly and clearly.

This is what the Rheinland government propose, is it acceptable for your government?

Respectfully,

Christina Lauritz

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[Foxglove]

Signora Lauritz. We have eagerly awaited your word.

Excuse me if I am a little bit bemused by the tales of political everyday life in the Bundestag. I am all too familiar with similarly irrational voices within those who swore loyalty to the National Council. Xenophobia is, as we understand it, not entirely irrational. We are all mammals in the end, and just as we would find it regrettable if an animal or plant species would become endangered due to the arrival of another, new species within its habitat, we realize the same logic can and must be applied to humans. Anything else would be hubris. It is natural and healthy for those elements within your ranks to be apprehensive. Culture, language, your very heritage. We understand completely.

However, I personally cannot help but be amused at the implications. Surely, if it were true that we intend to drug and enslave the people of Rheinland, we would simply do it, as we are with our opponents Kusari and Liberty. We would hardly ask for permission if that were the case. If anything, we would figuratively cut our own flesh if we did so, for not only are Rheinland and the Maltese Nation dependent on one another in this conflict, but chances are that if your numerous enemies would emerge victorious, Malta would soon follow suit. In other words: We would destroy ourselves. This is what I would call irrationality. What we are accused of by your conservative members is logically flawed. It does not follow from empirical reality.

In any case: Enough of the ramblings of an old man.

The National Council is pleased with the outcome and accept. While not having the opportunity to form a unified battlegroup on the Battleship Bayern, the National Council will see to it that we establish our own staging ground within the system of Sigma-21 temporarily. The National Council will follow suit and remove both Rheinland Military and Marinenachrichtendienst entities from the list of unwanted elements and decriminalize Rheinland technology within the upper Omicrons.

Well met, Signora. We will likely hear from one another in a few months time.

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[Bundeskabinett Sekretariat]

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PRIORITY: High
ENCRYPTION: High
IDENTIFICATION: Minister for Foreign Affairs Christina Lauritz
SOURCE: Hauptsitz des Auswärtigen Amts, Planet New Berlin
SUBJECT: Re: Negotiations

Dear esteemed Mr. Contari,

We believe this cooperation will bring a lot of benefits for both sides and hope that the improvement of our relations will continue in the future. The promised changes were implemented to our laws already and law enforcement was informed about them to decrease the risk of any incidents or mistakes caused by uninformed members of the law enforcement.

Just one thing I need to point out additionally - Maltese pilots and captains should be instructed that while assistance against common enemies in the Sigmas war zone will be welcome and appreciated, they should avoid entering Sigma-15 system because it is considered as part of the Rheinland territory already and thus formally they are not allowed to be there.

Respectfully,

Christina Lauritz

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