**** Incoming Transmission ****
From: Johnathan Sanders
To: Austin R. Goodman
CC: Channel
Subject: Shared sentiment
Encryption: None
Mr Goodman, and all those whom this may concern within this channel,
I sadly must concur with your views. A simple trade dispute. That was the basis for this massive conflict that has now seen the involvement of all the four major houses. Bretonia instating conscription, calling to arms those who fuel their industries. It's a gesture of desperation, and a sign that this nation did not have the military strength required to gain any success in this conflict.
On the other side, Rheinland. Already deeper in debt then they were at the end of the 80 year war. And yet there is still, somehow, a militarization underway that rivals the start of the Nomad wars. No doubt fueled by the same disastrous resource stripping that saw the fields of Dresden all but exhausted, some twenty years ago. The nation is wielding a bigger sword then it can carry, and the strain of that will be on the backs of future generations. For what do you think would happen, should Rheinland decide to default on it's loans, now largely with just Kusari? Will Rheinland need to cede additional planets to foreign corporations? Holstein or Nuremburg, owned by Samura, as Stuttgart was once taken by Synthfood? Has Rheinland learned nothing from it's past?
This conflict, still young, has already brought both nations considerable harm. There are ways to call an end to it. The basis being a trade dispute over the procurement of military hardware - this could be resolved through the use of a third party, or negotiations between those involved.
The survival of both nations being considered to be at stake - this could be resolved by utilising the Omega borderworlds as a buffer zone. A demilitarization of the region, banishing the use of warships larger then gunboats from being present within these systems, would effectively end any true threat to the nations themselves. Smaller patrol craft could still surpress piracy.
It is a vain hope to return to the past, but historically, the Omega border worlds were left independent for the sole reason that they would serve as a buffer between the great houses, thus reducing friction from being at eachother's doorstep. Given the stakes Daumann, Kruger and BMM have in these borderworlds, this friction is only likely to increase over time. Without a relief to such tensions, even ending the fighting now, would only set both nations up for a renewed conflict in the future.
I cannot yet speak for the Independent Miners Guild in this matter, so these are just my personal views on the situation. I hope reason will prevail. Nothing good shall come from this. Not for the people of Rheinland, nor for the citizens of Bretonia.
Regards,
- Johnathan Sanders
**** Transmission Closed ****
Wide awake in a world that sleeps, enduring thoughts, enduring scenes. The knowledge of what is yet to come.
From a time when all seems lost, from a dead man to a world, without restraint, unafraid and free.
Mostly retired Discovery member. May still visit from time to time.
