The Lane Hackers | Diplomatic Channel

[Phate]

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You want direct answers, then? You want me to repeat the exact details of things your organization, being 'the best security experts you can get', should already be aware of? Fine. Listen up.

I appreciate that we can now talk about specific examples. Thank you for that. Because as I said, excessive generalization leads to unclarities.

When I was talking about 'incursions', I was referring to the multiple instances,another of which happened not five days ago, of Liberty Navy, Bounty Hunter and other hostile forces begin sighted within visual range of Mactan. I was referring to those incidents in which there was a very real risk of a serious incursion into the Vespucci system by the aforementioned hostile vessels.

Sorry, I must have misread. I thought you meant incursions into Vespucci. I'm not used to calling Bounty Hunter and Liberty Navy presence in Magellan "incursions", because their presence in Magellan has always been commonplace. The scale of that presence varies. It has increased after the *cough* Curacao treaty, as well as after the *giggles* lockdown bounty that was suddenly issued. The "incursions" as you call them happen daily and have been occurring in the past several years, With Liberty Navy patrolling over half of Magellan, and Bounty Hunters almost everywhere. I really lost count of how many Bounty Hunters come to Mactan looking for trouble and find it, be it Piranhas, Barracudas, or Bottlenoses. Without anyone leading them there, I might add.

I was, and still am, referring to those incidents in which ships bearing Lane Hacker transponders led, knowingly or otherwise, hostile forces directly to both Mactan and the Vespucci jumphole.

However, in this particular case that you have outlined below, whoever was coming in hot was associated with an Outcast, deltaii1. The problematic type that attacked Junkers before, on occasion. Although that probably makes no difference to you, as the Hellfire Legion is currently attacking Outcasts, Junkers and Rogues on a regular basis, for a fact.

I have no way of knowing whether or not they were part of your organization or simply part of the usual disorganized rabble, as you do not seem to be in any hurry to differentiate yourselves from them in any reliable way.

Sorry, are you having issues with distinguishing Lane Hackers from Liberty Rogues? I don't know what other sort of disorganized rabble you could mean. That description doesn't fit the Outcasts either, I'd think.

Nevertheless, in at least one of those incidents, a ship I know is part of your organization, your ship, actually, was present.

I believe you're referring to this event (image data: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7). It was initiated by the Outcasts who you can see in the first image. I admit that I had ambiguous feelings about the whole situation, and Mr. Clay wasn't particularly satisfied by the troublemaker presence, either. But I'm not short-sighted enough to attack such disreputable characters when they can be used to our advantage.

Luring half of Liberty fleet accompanied by Bounty Hunters to the Barrier only so that they lose track of us there, or in the most optimal case, get ambushed and lose track of their own ships as well (followed by spectacular explosions), that is very much worth the effort. This has more or less happened in this case, although we couldn't confirm if all of the enemy ships were destroyed, because everybody's navigational systems went down. Should they by coincidence be sucked by the Vespucci jump hole, I imagine that Ravager's gunners would appreciate the distraction from their ongoing boredom, speeding up the disintegration process.

So if you want to talk about Pact violations, I'd say revealing the exact location of the Vespucci jumphole and leading hostile forces almost straight to it would be a pretty serious violation of the sixth point.

Surely you're joking, Mr. Markson. That would be a pretty serious artificial accusation. Even if it wasn't, why have you not contacted us immediately, if you thought this had been serious? I am led to believe that you wouldn't even think of it had you not been trying to find an excuse instead of an apology. Why, you might ask? I've helped with Mactan and Vespucci defense feature design. This is how things have worked in the past years. The Vespucci installations and our base in Magellan are able to cope with intruders with support of LH and HF ships. Nobody was showing any sign of concern thus far. Furthermore, this incident you speak of happened 3 days after Alagar was attacked. So unless you can provide a different example, I don't see how this event justifies the attack on Lane Hacker Alagar.

As I've said earlier, atomizing hostile vessels with pilots stupid enough to follow us is a lot easier in the Barrier than next to West Point.

A case could be made that the location of Mactan Base and Vespucci Jump Hole changes with time. So being followed along a complicated route through the Barrier, ending at an asteroid base, is not equal to disclosing the position pattern parameters. A case could be made that the base's shield is currently strong enough to withstand the shockwaves from nearby explosions of Liberty Navy, LSF and Bounty Hunter ships. A case could be made that Bounty Hunters have enough resources to track the locations of "criminal" bases and all jump holes of interest already. One way or another, our installation is still there and running well.

And I really don't see how our operations in the Barrier work contrary to:

6. Lane Hacker forces will assist the Hellfire Legion in defending the Vespucci system from any intruders who are not allied or friendly with the Hellfire Legion.

- there is no way of telling if it's an intruder until it jumps there.
A serious violation of the sixth point would be lane hackers refusing to assist the Hellfire Legion in defending the Vespucci system from intruders who aren't allied or friendly with the HF (right now that means anyone except the Hellfire Legion and Lane Hackers, if I'm right). This refusal of assistance has not happened.

If this accusation is supposed to be a request not to jump to Vespucci while being followed by the Liberty Navy or LSF, it can be granted, I suppose. Though I have to say that no event which I'd recall matches this description in the past several months, regardless.

Even if nobody leads anyone anywhere and all Hackers keep sitting on their backsides in some bar or the other, there is nothing preventing bounty hunter fleets from locating the Vespucci Jump Hole and entering. All we can do is to show them how a field trip can go seriously wrong. We have done so previously, on numerous occasions. (I can dig up imagery of numerous bounty hunter battlecruisers and the like but it would take a lot of time. I'd love to exchange them for similarly amusing pictures taken by your pilots.)

We cannot, and will not, attempt to prevent allied ships from docking with our bases. That means Liberty Rogues, Outcasts, Hellfire Legion and Junkers. The circumstances include being shot at by anyone, including the LN, LSF, Bounty Hunters, or even the Hellfire legion.

Which brings me to the big questions.

1. Why does Hellfire Legion attack Liberty Rogues?
   
2. Why does Hellfire Legion attack Outcasts?
   
3. Why does Hellfire Legion attack Junkers?
   
4. Why does the Hellfire Legion ally itself with Xeno Terrorists?
   
5. Does the Hellfire Legion regret the attack on Lane Hackers on the basis of piracy? Will this now be a recurring phenomenon?
   
6. Do you insist that Lane Hacker Alagar must not enter the Vespucci system?
   
7. If that list of yours still stands, what other Lane Hackers have you decided to prevent from entering the Vespucci system and for what reason(s)?
   

Now, as for the situation with Voss...

I am not Mori. I am not Atheus. I am not Phelps.
I do not know what your 'discussions' with previous Legion leaders were like, but I am not them.
Your suggestion is noted, but if you expect me to treat it as anything more than a suggestion, you will be disappointed.

Indeed you aren't. I might say that your connection to the overthrowing of former HF leadership is rather... unsettling. Now that you mention your group's history. Isn't it ironic that it was the Hellfire Legion who led the Liberty Navy to Magellan on the day of their first arrival? According to your and our logs, the Lane Hackers didn't respond with "security measures".

That being said, I have noticed some issues with Voss's actions recently. As such, his status as Executive Commander is suspended while we decide what to do about him. Is that acceptable?

I'm glad I've helped you notice the abnormalities. Just so that I understand you perfectly ... what exactly does "suspension" mean in the Hellfire Legion? Does it prevent the individual from expressing some meaningful form of apology? I am wondering why it hasn't happened already. Regardless, I'd prefer if you would keep us informed on how you plan to proceed, after your investigation is complete. How long is that going to take?

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