Transmission; Start
Identification: Commodore Christina Robinson
Location: New York system, Planet Manhattan, Fort Bragg
Encryption: Secure
Reggie Roberts et al;
' Wrote:
Sender ID: Reggie Roberts Sender Location: Junction Station
"Note, this is not a territorial claim to the referenced independent systems, which are widely recognised as neutral space."
Kansas isn't ours. It never was ours. Junction is ours, and it would be open to all who came with a smile on their faces and the intelligence to think of bringing their own oxygen. I find it interesting that a house named "Liberty" fails to recognize the fact that people outside of its tax system do indeed have the natural rights and, ahem, "liberties," to have property the same way those inside of it do.
We don't take kindly to those whom would threaten our liberty, Commodore. We do what we do out of necessity. This is no different. Good day to you.
Given that Kansas is in the same list as New York, California, Texas and Colorado, and not the same list as the independent systems such as Magellan and Hudson, are you going to contend that the centre of Liberty space is an independent system? I don't think so. Just because you think a system is independent, that does not mean it is the case.
I'm fairly sure you can read, which leads me to the conclusion that your arguments are totally semantic and totally pathetic. Kansas is a part of Liberty. That's all that needs to be said.
However, you have highlighted an interesting loophole, that you have only attempted to use due to your lack of common sense. Since this deficiency seems to be endemic, I will be bringing the matter up with the relevant members of the Republic with a view towards clarifying the independent systems that we patrol but do not lay claim to.
As for the rest of you, there wouldn't be an issue if you were to obtain proper legal title. Since you don't have it, you fit every legal definition of the word "squatter". You don't need to take me at my word if it hurts your ears, simply check the dictionary.
The fact that the station was a wreck is besides the point; it is property that belongs to the Republic by default due to its location and the lack of a tenable legal claim by a third party. "Returning a station to working order" is inconsequential if you had no right to be there in the first place. Besides, the system would still belong to the Republic regardless of ownership, just as the space in the Colorado system belongs to the Republic.
You would like to, and have quoted your right to bear arms in defense. That's all well and good, but if you use those arms to break the law, as it says elsewhere, you forfeit all the protection that the law provides. You taking up arms against the forces of Liberty is such an action. If you truly wanted to protect your station, you would have pursued legal means to obtain rights to the station. I imagine that the process of obtaining property deeds would have been quite easy, given your remote location and lack of political will to industrialise the area.
That has totally changed now, unfortunately, since you've made yourself a security hazard.