Bretonian Government to the Junker Congress

[Rudo]

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Salutations, Lord Canning;

I am Hannibal Bishop, Chief Arbiter of the Junker Congress. It is with honor that I receive this communiqu?.

You will pardon the succinctness of my manner. We of the Congress are merely the acting voice of a collection of simple scrap dealers and freelance cargo pilots. I must express surprise at the reports you submit with this proposition. Raiding parties of any faction, let alone an Osiris-class battleship using Trafalgar as a staging area is news I expect to be informed of by my personnel aboard the base, not the Bretonian government. Neither their presence nor activities are authorized nor condoned by the Congress.

Agents have been dispatched to investigate the identities of the offending parties. They will also see that the dock crew responsible is made aware of the repercussions of such irresponsible behavior as failing to inform us of such significant presence. They certainly are acting counter to our interests and this has got our attention.

Be assured that any party using Junker installations as a home port for undertaking acts of war is acting well beyond logical boundaries of any sane agreement. Abuse of our hospitality is not tolerated in any form. We Junkers value our standing as welcome guests in Bretonian space. Any who wish to use our facilities to purchase supplies, or sift through the refurbished equipment and trinkets found out in the wastes must be aware that the maintenance of this good standing is critical.

Bretonia must also understand that a blanket ban on unwanted vessels in any space outside the lanes is as enforceable as forbidding the rain to fall on New London. If this is true for Her Majestys mighty fleet, it is certainly true for a band of humble scrap dealers and independent cargo captains as well. Steps will certainly be taken to dissuade craft from unauthorized use of Trafalgar. We can not afford to be painted as accessories to acts of war against the very authority presiding over the space we occupy. But we have little in the way of craft with the capacity to repel a direct military challenge. Said steps to repel unwanted elements must be carefully measured and weighted as a result.

The terms you offer for cooperation in the reinforcement of our standing policy have been the cause of some confusion. We can only assume you are guessing at our operations in the hopes of entrapping us into confessing to some illicit activity. Save yourself the trouble. We have no use for a blanket amnesty clause in regards to our organization; if a craft under Congress colors commits a felony, the captain will pay his debt to society as per the written laws of Bretonia like every other law-abiding resident. Any further sanction against the Congress as an entity will be met with legal action and contested in court of law. We are aware that you and your fellow Honourable Lords dictate the laws. But there are still rules that we all must follow as well-perceived leaders of our respective populaces, and we hold cards of our own in this game.

You do venture correctly that we share a common goal in working against the Hogosha and their interests. A consolidation of efforts against the current Kusari regime is an appreciable offer, but such a move will be executed on our terms. We have been undertaking our own campaign against the gangsters which has seen considerable success. Congress agents in place in Kusari have been funneling supplies and funding to revolutionary forces, and working to sway their foreign connections. It is for this reason that blatant consolidation with your forces is ill-advised; this will jeopardize our operation. This in turn will jeopardize yours and everything else in the process. Do not underestimate the impact of our efforts in Kusari.

This brings us to the topic of the Privateers. Our ends are similar, but our methods are incompatible. We will continue our present means of cooperating with them -- through stocking their apparent Kusari base of operations with a surplus of goods. They will continue to be purchased at the rate requested by the noble ladies present, thus aiding both themselves and a faction whose nobility and tactics match their own.

In short: We understand what is asked of us. We hope our level of compliance will be deemed satisfactory. Your offer of payment is not accepted. We will perform the requested tasks and further establish the Congress value in Bretonia. We will then state what we wish. Our terms will be reasonable and to your benefit.

To fortune and friendship,

- Chief Arbiter Bishop


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