Incoming transmission...
Source: Slum City, Office Room 042, ToP Public Relations and Transportation Department
Recipient: Blood Dragon Shogunate, Chugoku Base
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Accessing external memory drive, extracting codesolver.exe...
Message encryption recognised. Encryption pattern: CORSAC
Bypassing security protocols, probing system.
System probe sucessfull. System sucessfully entered. System ID: Blood Dragon Communications Network
Acessing internal mainframe, anchoring connection, securing data uplink stream...
System anchor in place, streaming transmission. Executing Protocol C...
Message decrypted in private channel. Video uplink established.
Greetings, my friends,
I'll be quick. I've come here today representing the organization known as The Project. Perhaps you may have heard about us? If not, even better. Means we're doing our job well.
First of all, we must admit that we live in quite... strange times, to say the least. The Houses are at war with each other, pirates are running rampant, smugglers are doing whatever it is they please, with no kind of supervision...
The man can be heard coughing, though not very realistically...
And now, little mister King of Gallia decides it's time to invade Sirius. Now, that's just rude.
Bottom line is, the whole remainder of humanity just decided that shooting at each other is a wonderful way of settling disputes. Wonderful. In the midst of this chaos, only a few dedicated people can still be credited with having not lost their true sense of honour.
But enough chit-chat. What I'm proposing here is the possibility for a long-term, highly profitable business partnership. Contacts though you might have, I'm guessing some stuff is simply too hard to come by. I believe we can help you on that point. We too have suffered heavily at the hands of the corrupt Kusari corporations (and, in one marvelous case, at the hands of a nice little KNF pilot aiding a pirate in pirating us. Delightful). We know what it is like to be on the receiving end of the large stick with a blade on the end of it. And, if my sources are correct (History lessons too), so do you.
Though my organization cannot be said to have suffered such a plight as yours, I believe we can relate, in some way. Big corporations get the last say, and who gets screwed over? That's right.
I know that it is a lot to ask from someone you know nothing about. But still, I believe there is potential in us working together. And my intuition rarely fails me.
I humbly await a reply,
"Big Joe"
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<span style="color:#000000">The awful plight of he who cannot draw to save his own life.</span>
Seems you had to suffer an attack from both the self-appointed 'honourable' Naval Forces and those Hogosha or Farmers agents protected by Samura before taking a history lesson. Well, better late than never, right?
If you took the correct history lesson, you would know that we are a military group which has managed to survive in these past 500 years by committing acts of piracy against Samura and earning the favor of Kusari people, even if they can't express it publicly. Perhaps our goals are still far to achieve, yet it doesn't mean we wouldn't be able to fight for another 500 years. However, the recent course of events in Taus space could somehow allow us to gather more and more supplies for our ever-growing war machine and strike our enemies a bit harder than before.
I think I was clear enough above, so it's my time to ask you: What is your business proposal? Do you expect anything special in exchange? I'm sure your sources might have told you enough about us.
<div align="right]Signed,
Shōgun Itagaki Dato
[color=#FF0000]In Hideyoshi's Memory
Incoming transmission...
Source: Slum City, Office Room 042, ToP Public Relations and Transportation Department
Recipient: Blood Dragon Shogunate, Chugoku Base
Unknown encryption method detected...
Accessing external memory drive, extracting codesolver.exe...
Message encryption recognised. Encryption pattern: CORSAC
Bypassing security protocols, probing system.
System probe sucessfull. System sucessfully entered. System ID: Blood Dragon Communications Network
Acessing internal mainframe, anchoring connection, securing data uplink stream...
System anchor in place, streaming transmission. Executing Protocol C...
Message decrypted in private channel. Video uplink established.
Greetings, Mr. Dato,
I apologize if the honourific is incorrect. Kusarian isn't one of my strong points, I'm afraid. But I digress.
If my sources are correct, the Blood Dragons are the descendants of the Royal Guard of a deposed head of state from five centuries ago. His name eludes me, but my memory recalls you fighting to put the rightful dinasty in the throne ever since. Am I correct?
Rest assured, no special favours are required from our part. We're simply looking to help out the good guys (for once in our lives) and make some profit in the meantime. Our only request is that, should our ships be targeted by the very friendly (and quite numerous) pirates and terrorists in Kusari space, your ships would lend a helping hand, should any of them be in range.
In exchange, we would be ready to supply you with a host of materials that you might need for your campaign against Samura. Ironically enough, with the Gallians stepping into the Taus, it's become quite easier for us to conduct operations there (invading fleets tend to put people off scanning random ships, thankfully). Whatever materials you could possibly need from Bretonian, Libertonian and Rheinlandic space could be ushered in through the Tau systems and into your bases. And when I say anything, I mark with a capital letter.
Say you need MOX. LD-14 is Kusarian now. No biggie, we can buy it, transport it, then drop it off whenever it most desires you. Say you need ship hull pannels. Same thing. Say you need nuclear devices, optronics, weapons and ammunition. Walk in the park for our forces. Whatever you may require, from war material to simple everyday doodads, we would be willing to transport it and give it to you. For a small fee, of course (it's war, but we aren't a charity).
That's pretty much all we can offer. A "transportation" service for anything you want, whenever and however you want it. No paper trail, no needless paperwork, no pesky diplomacy to worry about, and safe delivery within two days or half your money back. You want, we bring. End of story.
I eagerly await your response,
"Big Joe"
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<span style="color:#000000">The awful plight of he who cannot draw to save his own life.</span>
The offer certainly does intrigue us. Our struggle is relentless and so are our needs for materials that we cannot, perhaps, acquire ourselves. Yet, as I'm sure you'll understand, trust is a rare and a precious commodity for a group in our situation. And that very commodity ought to be a basis and the foundation of our cooperation.
That said, let's get to the terms of the deal.
I'd like to know a little bit about your contacts and flexibility first. If, say, we needed a certain research material that is sold practically only by our enemies, we - obviously enough - wouldn't want you to buy it off them. Do you have any contacts of yours - or indeed your own means - that could forcefully remove the said material from their transports and ship it to our bases? We would require evidence of it being acquired in a satisfactory manner of course, and the deal would involve a notable bonus.
Also, while I'm at it. You mentioned fees. How much would the ability to ship your cargo through space, free of the pests you mentioned earlier, mean to you?
Incoming transmission...
Source: Slum City, Office Room 042, ToP Public Relations and Transportation Department
Recipient: Blood Dragon Shogunate, Chugoku Base
Unknown encryption method detected...
Accessing external memory drive, extracting codesolver.exe...
Message encryption recognised. Encryption pattern: CORSAC
Bypassing security protocols, probing system.
System probe sucessfull. System sucessfully entered. System ID: Blood Dragon Communications Network
Acessing internal mainframe, anchoring connection, securing data uplink stream...
System anchor in place, streaming transmission. Executing Protocol C...
Message decrypted in private channel. Video uplink established.
Greetings, Mr. Noboru,
I can understand your view on trust specially well. We have been the subject of severe double-crossing several times in the past by people we ourselves believed were actually trustworthy. Rest assured though, if we say we want a deal, we will stick to the terms if it kills us. We are not some upstart group of wanna-be smugglers looking for a quick profit. We are a well organized group of traders with a real sense for market prices, and, above all, we are honourable people (as honourable, at least, as our profession lets us). Betrayal is not part of our dictionary (quite literally, I doubt half the people here actually know the word).
Big Joe can be heard coughing again...
Now, as for the acquisition of goods... You will understand that we cannot actively hunt and destroy anyone, given our precarious position between the tangled webs of legality. Neutrality is also a precious good, that's becoming increasingly rare in today's times, even if I can understand that purchasing supplies from your enemies might be a tad little... redundant.
However, should... accidents happen, let's say, if someone decides to destroy a certain convoy and leave behind the surplus booty, and if we happen to, let's say, stumble upon that wreckage, well, if no one claims it, we might as well put it to good use. Wouldn't you agree?
Big Joe chuckles and straightens his tie.
As for the actual transportation of goods... I must say, I've come to adore your nation's pirates. I really have. Nothing like a couple of gunboats pirating your ship in front of a capital planet to brighten up your day. Of course, profit implies money, and pirates tend to eliminate that point. So, how much would pest-free transportation be worth to us?
My friends, we are skilled pilots. If it takes a breach into an extremely dangerous, closely-guarded and patrolled system to get the job done, rest assured we would gladly do it. However, having things off our back would give way for a much speedy service. I'd say, a nominal fee of a million extra credits per ship participating in the cargo runs? Mind you, not per dropoff, but per delivery. Namely, if you wish for X commodities, the 1 million would be transferred only when all X commodities were delivered, provided the way was pirate-cleansed. I believe such a price would be affordable: our fleet isn't THAT big.
I believe that adresses all your points, so, I eagerly await your response.
Sincerely,
"Big Joe"
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<span style="color:#000000">The awful plight of he who cannot draw to save his own life.</span>
I guess I did not specify well enough when I mentioned the 'pest-free space' - It isn't quite about us making Kusari space pest-free, as - despite our continuous victories and advances in that direction - Kusari never fails to produce more and more rodents in human form. What I meant is travelling through space which is quite sacred to us and is pretty much clear of those pests for the greater part of the last 5 centuries. I meant that as an alternative method of payment.
Although our Obans might jump at the chance of earning something extra for our organisation in the manner you described. Should they have no other, more pressing manners to attend to, of course. But that kind of agreement can be done ad hoc and live through neural net, I'm sure.
While I await your answer on the first matter, I should say I did contact the head of our research department and they could do with some animals to conduct experiments on. The ancient tradition of experimenting on prisoners sadly isn't as popular anymore, you see. Times are changing indeed. So, he would like you to acquire some animals for our scientists. 3000 units of them in fact. They fetch a good price with the head of commerce on our research station anyway, but I'm told the Interspace station in that same system buys them for more. Which is why there's a 12 million credit bonus waiting for you when you deliver them to us, should you choose to accept. The location is Okinawa, 1E. The patrols will recognise your signatures and bring you safely onto the platform, which is handsomely - and stealthily - hidden away inside a cloud. At least I hope they will. We will require graphic evidence of the said goods being delivered as well, of course.
And do not hesitate taking some plutonium off our hands on your way back.
Incoming transmission...
Source: Slum City, Office Room 042, ToP Public Relations and Transportation Department
Recipient: Blood Dragon Shogunate, Chugoku Base
Unknown encryption method detected...
Accessing external memory drive, extracting codesolver.exe...
Message encryption recognised. Encryption pattern: CORSAC
Bypassing security protocols, probing system.
System probe sucessfull. System sucessfully entered. System ID: Blood Dragon Communications Network
Acessing internal mainframe, anchoring connection, securing data uplink stream...
System anchor in place, streaming transmission. Executing Protocol C...
Message decrypted in private channel. Video uplink established.
Greetings, Mr. Noboru,
First of all, my sincerest apologies for misunderstanding your intentions. Your offer to allow us passage into Blood Dragon sovereign territory is most generous. We require nothing more than for your organization to develop a healthy partnership with ours. That is all we require for your generosity.
As for the delivery, I can perfectly understand how human testing might have become slightly complicated as of late, what with all the damn regulations, and "human rights".
Joe sighs.
Rest assured that we are more than capable of producing 3000 units of animals for your research complex. Such cargo is easy to deliver, and, given your patrols are warned of our presence (namely, any vessel whose IFF is tagged with the prefix [ToP]), we'd be more than happy to drop off your requirement.
Sincerely yours,
"Big Joe"
Connection lost, system probe withdrawn...
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<span style="color:#000000">The awful plight of he who cannot draw to save his own life.</span>
Incoming transmission...
Source: Slum City, Office Room 042, ToP Public Relations and Transportation Department
Recipient: Blood Dragon Shogunate, Chugoku Base
Unknown encryption method detected...
Accessing external memory drive, extracting codesolver.exe...
Message encryption recognised. Encryption pattern: CORSAC
Bypassing security protocols, probing system.
System probe sucessfull. System sucessfully entered. System ID: Blood Dragon Communications Network
Acessing internal mainframe, anchoring connection, securing data uplink stream...
System anchor in place, streaming transmission. Executing Protocol C...
Message decrypted in private channel. Video uplink established.
Greetings, once more,
As per agreed, 3000 units of animals were delivered to your research labs aboard your research station (nice hiding spot, by the way). They should be (mostly) unharmed and ready for experimentation.
As per agreed, all proceeds should be transferred to the ship named [ToP]-Vulpes, who is currently delivering some of your plutonium to some interested friends.
As a word of caution: those things pooped all over my cargo hold. Now, not that that's anything abnormal, but, apparently, their droppings are highly combustible and volatile. How do I know? Let's say I lost a very good incinerator during the extensive cleanup process. You might want to just chuck their, hum, leavings, somewhere far away. I believe it safer that way.
I look forward for our next conversation,
"Big Joe"
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<span style="color:#000000">The awful plight of he who cannot draw to save his own life.</span>
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