I bet you were quite surprised when you received notification of a transmission relayed through IMG mining network in Tau-23. I bet you are even more surprised hearing my voice now. Sometimes delicacy of my job requires from me to use such shabby devices as voice modulators in order to remain incognito. I sincerely apologise for this deception. My, let's say current name, is Nicole Hunter. Since we are done with proper introductions, let me get to the business.
I hope that you enjoyed your newly opened account at the IMG and the five million Sirius Credits I have transferred there. More will follow if you just keep sending proper intelligence about the Independent Neuralnet Division's trading fleet movements and carried cargo within Gallia. You will be rewarded with between three and five million Sirius Credits per report depending on its quality. Additionally, I believe you might have access to police supervision logs of your trade lane network. If you send me copy of your monthly logs, obviously narrowed only to IND, you will receive a hefty bonus in sum of 25 million Sirius Credits. That should do for a really nice vacation.
Oh, and the last thing. I attach proper encryption algorithms for you to use when sending reports through IMG relay network in Tau-23. It would be a shame if our profitable cooperation was interrupted by some nosy GRN officers.
Are you insane, madame? Transmit this message with anything less sophisticated than a Triomphe-type quantum encryption using a biometric key and signature, and we may as well be having this conversation in front of the Royal Administration's Palace. I suppose I'll have to take a few measures of my own to keep this private. I don't know why I expected competence out of a Sirian ape like yourself. At the very least, you could remove my name and rank from the transmission header. It's as if you're trying to give this all away.
We should be secure for now, assuming the Royal Navy units in the area aren't paying too much attention to the IMG's mail. Let's talk business.
Over the past few days, I've gathered a number of photos, routes, and cargo manifests from IND vessels, some of which you can seehere. But before I hand anything substantial over to you, I'd like to know two things: What do you intend to find in this information, and how do you plan to use it?
There's no wrong answer to these questions, madame. I won't deny you my knowledge simply because I find your motives unscrupulous. I'm merely curious to see if our goals are in any way similar.
Oh, and I can't seem to find your attached "encryption algorithms". Did you mean to send them in your previous message, or are they to be delivered in a future transmission?
You asked me if I am insane, Monsieur. I have no doubts that certain people used this predicate to describe me. However, insanity is a relative criterion at best. Therefore, let me indulge your questions about security.
The Lane Hackers know that no matter how good encryption algorithms are, they can always be decrypted using a password acquired by proper mania interrogation of either sender or addressee, or in a case of biometric keys, by simply chopping off required part of the body, usually a head. As such, you do not need to know the content of a message, but only its source or destination. I don't even need to mention that highly encrypted messages draw the most attention from various intelligence agencies. Therefore, the key element of keeping communication secure is to make it as low profile as possible, for example by using self-terminating trojans which extract portions of a message from various unimportant transmissions, usually commercials or spam. When you accepted the transfer in Ile-de-France, I have installed a virus that subscribed you to the IMG commercial channel and slowly gathered all the parts of my previous transmission. As for the "attached algorithms", they were included in the footer of my message and you used them by simply clicking reply button. And yes, such transmissions are slow and have very low bandwidth. This is also a primary reason why we distribute counterfeit software on physical drives. And since I mentioned it, you can probably buy some of our cyphers and scramblers from your friendly neighbour Junker.
To answer your questions concerning Independent Neuralnet Division, I will just say that they equal us, Lane Hackers, in hedonism, and exceed you, Gallic Police, in corruption. In other words, they are nothing more than dissolute cockroaches that need to be squashed. According to our analysis of trade lane traffic logs they have recently moved out from Liberty and focused their operations in Kusari, and now they are increasing their operations in Gallia. We do not have, at least yet, access to Gallic trade lane network. Therefore, we need information on their movements and carried cargo within Gallia in order to be able to predict their trade routes and find appropriate measures to intercept their transports. I thought it was obvious from the very beginning.
You make these justifications assuming that Gallia treats neuralnet communications the same way your Sirian authorities do. It shouldn't matter, anyway. I overreacted to the situation upon seeing (what appeared to be) a candid conversation between members of a publicly objectionable alliance. But this channel will serve its purpose well enough.
As for your motives behind the collection of this data, non, frankly it wasn't obvious from the very beginning what you intended to gain from this. When we first met, you asked specifically for (and I quote) "scans of their cargo with a location and date". Had I known you were compiling data of specific routes and times, I would have gathered my information differently. As things stand now, I can offer only a handful of images such as this. If you want logs of their flightpaths, I'll see what I can dig up from our recent reports on lane and gate activity, but I haven't been actively scanning them for IND vessels. It may take some time. I'll contact you again when I've found something worthwhile.
And just for the sake of clearing this up early, you may "misplace" any Sirian credits on the GRP|Tresor.
Thank you for your report. I have misplaced sum of 4 000 000 SC to the account you have provided us. As always, through several proxies. I am awaiting your next report with great anticipation.
Excuse the change in transmission appearance; we're having some work done on our communications frequencies on this end.
I was able to pull an incomplete log of IND traffic from our previous reports on lane activity. However, because we weren't actively tracking their ships a during that time, it's not quite as detailed as it could be; precise lane entry and termination points weren't recorded, nor were cargo scans. But at least it gives a general idea of the routes they take.
Quote:Trade Lane Activity Summary
Search filter: Independent Neuralnet Division Timespan: 13 Aug - 22 Sep
I don't know how familiar you are with Gallic star systems and the trade lanes contained within, but there are a number of systems which aren't connected to our network. Languedoc, Lorraine, Provence, Champagne... when we lose a target, it's likely that they've jumped into one of these systems. As long as you know where the jump holes are, it isn't hard to infer where a ship has gone.
I also have a more recent log of activity, for one ship in particular. I was able to obtain an active scan of this one.
Quote:Trade Lane Activity Summary
Search filter: [IND]Dead.Cat.Bounce Date & Time: 04 Oct, 07:50 SMT - 08:10 SMT Vessel type: "Titanic" Heavy Tanker Cargo: ~4700 units Cryocubes
Travel Log:
Maine
Planet Mayenne → Planet Le Mans → Ile-de-France Gate Ile-de-France
Maine Gate → Versailles Residence → Rambouilette Shipyard → Planet New Paris → Orleanais Gate Orleanais
Ile-de-France Gate → Chartres Space Colony → Chateaudin Mining Facility → Planet Blouis → Gien Space Colony → Berry Gate Berry
Orleanais Gate → Planet Bourges → Issoudun Station → Planet Chateauroux → Auvergne Gate Auvergne
Berry Gate → Montlucon Space Colony → Clermont Space Colony
As you can see, the IND ship took Cryocubes from Maine to Auvergne. The thing is, I don't know of any buyers for Cryocubes on Clermont. Of course, the IND ship could have continued flying off the lanes. It's likely that he went to Provence, where I know there's a demand for Cryocubes. I'm also led to believe there's a Council station hidden in a field somewhere near his termination point in Auvergne, but I'd hate to think that the IND is doing any business with them.
I don't know if any of this speculation interests you. But information is information. I'll leave you to pick it apart and find whatever it is you're looking for.
Oh, and it's "Directeur" now, not "Commandant". It seems I slipped up at some point and got selected to be put in charge of this whole mess.
Magnifique work with these reports, Monsieur Directeur, and congratulations with your recent nomination. It seems that soon you might be a frequent guest at the King's Court. To help you further your career I have misplaced another 35 000 000 SC to the requested account. Thanks to your reports we have now a very clear image of IND operations within Gallia.
It appears that the IND has split their fleet operating in Gallia into two groups. The first one is obviously responsible for exporting high value goods, such as cryocubes, to various Sirian markets, especially Kusari. I am more than sure that if you had cross-checked your data with the logs from the jumpgate in Languedoc, it would turn out that most of the ships lost in Dauphine were simply leaving Gallia through that system. I am working on preparing a welcoming committee for them.
The second group is focused on the internal market of Gallia. And this is where your data becomes most interesting. A large number of times when an IND vessel was lost in Burgundy suggests that their trade routes had to go either through Lorraine or Champagne, or even both. Knowing IND very well, I am more than sure that if you check docking logs on loyalist bases within Lorraine, found matches will be not near to enough to explain their disappearance in Burgundy.
I believe that this alone is sufficient to open an official investigation concerning the IND by the Gallic Royal Police. As a directeur you will have no problem to make it done. What I want you to do, is to perform a proper police investigation and find evidence incriminating IND within Gallia. Knowing that they occasionally smuggle illegal goods and trade with criminals, and having whole Gallic Royal Police at your disposal, should make it rather easy for such a talented individual as yourself.
If the evidence you find will cause serious legal repercussions for the IND I will gladly misplace 50 000 000 SC to your personal account. Furthermore, if it will cause IND trading license to be revoked permanently, I will misplace twice of that sum. And then, with the fame of the most dedicated upholder of the royal law and authority, and currency to buy out enough supporters, who knows, maybe, by the grace of His Majesty King Charles XI you will become a governor.
Gouverneur Fouquat, doesn't it sound pleasantly?
Au revoir,
Nicole Hunter
P.S. I hope that the marvelous irony of the whole situation is as entertaining for you as it is for me.
While I admire your (admittedly odd) interest in Gallic trade laws, you've made it clear that you don't fully understand the Independent Neuralnet Department's position in our kingdom. They hold a Restricted Exports Permit, which allows them to move cargoes like Cryocubes out through Languedoc and Lorraine. There are no issues there.
What's more troubling is the implied collaboration with known criminal elements. To put it frankly, madame, I don't need you to interpret my own reports for me. The Royal Police has known for months now that the IND takes occasional trips into the asteroid fields, outbound with one cargo and returning with another. But forcing them to face justice for these actions? Easier said than done.
The IND has done a lot of "favors" for various Royals and Parliamentary officials. Don't get me wrong; I'd like nothing more than to expel these Sirian swindlers from Gallic space. But they've spread their roots, and they have plenty of nobles in their pockets. An attempt was made roughly a year ago to drive them out of Gallia, but in the end, Directeur Gerald was pressured into letting the IND keep their permits. On that day, Gerald, too, began making his own private deals with the IND, and was forevermore unwilling to revisit the idea of revoking their licenses.
Removing the Independent Neuralnet Department from Gallia once and for all is a difficult task, requiring caution, precision, and significant amount of bribe money. I've looked into it myself, actually. The opposition I would face is quite powerful.
Remember when I asked you what you planned to do with the information I was giving you? When I sought to find out if our motives were in any way similar? It turns out that our goals are related after all. I was only hoping (foolishly, I suppose) that you might offer an alternative to the most obvious course of action. It's difficult for Gallic law to lay hands on the IND right now.
That said, I'll see what I can do.
This plan has got me thinking, though. What if we played this the other way around, cutting off the IND at the source? I can't claim to know much about the Sirian houses, nor do I know much about your position in them. But I do know that one or two of the other houses have forbidden any contact with Gallia, short of shooting them on sight. What would the governing bodies of those houses say, once they saw evidence of one of their established merchant groups collaborating with the Gallic Crown? Just a thought.
Evidence of IND working in Gallia is worthless, due to many precedents. Bounty Hunters Guild is working for all houses despite Liberty being at war with Rheinland, not to mention that IND itself was also granted exemptions from mutual embargoes imposed by both governments. Additionally, evidence of any IND misconduct provided by us or our allies is nearly always ignored, videthis example. We had to bribe a certain LPI officer in order to use this rock-solid evidence against IND, and it resulted in only a small fine being levied on the wretched corporation. The only chance lies in a recording of IND vessel breaking Gallic embargo on exporting goods to Bretonia or clearly working with the Council. This is where you have the biggest chance of success. So remember that my offer still stands.
Also, I am in the process of organizing a nasty surprise for these cockalorums in the Tau Region. A surprise that is a bit more direct.
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