ENCRYPTION:HIGH SENDER ID:Lieutenant Commander Kazuya Suzuzuma, Imperial Kusari Navy RECEIVER ID:Deputy Barret, Junkers Congress, .:j:. LOCATION:Barrier Gate Station, Coronado SENT ON:14 December, 820 A.S. SUBJECT:Request for Artifact Sifting (Part 1)
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{parts of this transmission have been translated from Kusarian to Libertonian, marked by toothed-bracket parentheses}
{Honorable hello}, {Honorable} Deputy. My name is Suzuzuma, Lieutenant Commander of the Imperial Kusari Navy, and Captain of the Kusari Gunboat "Fusoku.Arashi". This servant of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Jien Kogen has come before you for an urgent and important matter.
A few months ago, His Imperial Majesty personally sent me and my crew on a spiritual pilgrimage to find... something. We cannot divulge on it just yet due to complications of trust, but please hear us out. We are searching for something we think is an artifact in nature... a very powerful artifact, one that His Imperial Majesty believes will allow him victory over his enemies, and reclaim His Imperial Majesty's rightful place on the throne of Kusari. And we believe, {Honorable} Deputy, that only someone such as you, the leader of the Junkers Congress, has the means and the reach to aid us fully.
So you may be wondering what we have in exchange for your curiosity and/or your cooperation... We shall not lie, we fear we may not have enough to compensate. His Imperial Majesty hasn't deemed fit to allocate funds for me and my crew, so we voluntarily derive our funding from our own accounts, which are, sadly, very humbling. All we can promise you in return, however, is that His Imperial Majesty will look favorably on you and your faction in the future should you choose to aid us.
Should this servant's plea have piqued your interest, then please send us a reply through this secure transmission. In turn, we shall then give you the full details as to the nature of our pilgrimage. We also ask that you promise not to divulge the details to anyone else unless necessary to advance the success of our pilgrimage.
{Honorable thank you}, Deputy. May the {Divine Winds} forever protect you and your people.
ENCRYPTION:HIGH SENDER ID:Lieutenant Commander Kazuya Suzuzuma, Imperial Kusari Navy RECEIVER ID:Deputy Barret, Junkers Congress, .:j:. LOCATION:Barrier Gate Station, Coronado SENT ON:16 December, 820 A.S. SUBJECT:Acknowledgement of Reply
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{parts of this transmission have been translated from Kusarian to Libertonian, marked by toothed-bracket parentheses}
{Honorable hello}, {Honorable} Deputy. Given said bad blood, this humble servant of His Imperial Majesty is surprised you've even bothered to grace us a reply when you had the understandable choice not to. Thought it's purpose was only to voice your disapproval, I'm still quite surprised.
I completely understand your people's unwillingness to aid a penniless servant of one of your greatest enemies. I only sent this transmission to silence my more idealistic crewmembers' tongues through the bitter truths of reality that we were more or less on our own in our mission. The fact that we've even considered contacting your people shows just how bleak and desperate our mission is. Frankly, your position as the leader of a faction versed in the ways of the artifact trade outside Kusari would've been a great aid for us in our pilgrimage, and your collaboration would've offered an unlikely chance for the two sides to improve relations.
{Honorable farwell}, {Honorable} Deputy. It was worth a try, but I suppose there isn't anything left for us to discuss, so there's little need for you to reply to this transmission again. May the {Divine Winds} forever protect you and your people.
James Trenton appears on the screen.
He sits behind a large metal desk on the command deck at Vieques shipyard.
Silently searching through the message sent to Deputy Arbiter Barret.
A few seconds go by before he finally looks to the camera.
Clearing his throat which is followed by a small groan he says..
Arbiter Barret asked me to look over this and I must admit... I am intrigued.
Still Barret is right to be hesitant and truth be told.. So am I.
Since I was there and saw it all I cannot forget the incidents of Kogen's rule.
None of us that were there will ever forget the deception, the bounties and the murder of thousands of Junkers!
Which was at the hands of the Emperor's secret service.
If I were to keep to the Junker code I should watch ya'll wither and die.
While that might be justice for those lost it may not be the best thing to do.
Maybe after all this time and with your organization in the state its in.
From these ashes of destruction has come the chance for a new beginning.
Now do not play coy or stupid Kusarian.. I have no patience for such things.
Tell me specifically what is it you want from us?
ENCRYPTION:HIGH SENDER ID:Lieutenant Commander Kazuya Suzuzuma, Imperial Kusari Navy RECEIVER ID:Arbiter James Trenton, Junkers Congress, .:j:. LOCATION:Barrier Gate Station, Coronado SENT ON:17 December, 820 A.S. SUBJECT:Acknowledgement of Reply and Pilgrimage Details
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{parts of this transmission have been translated from Kusarian to Libertonian, marked by toothed-bracket parentheses}
{Honorable hello}, {Honorable} Arbiter. This servant is... quite speechless of your timely reply. You can say that the more cynical of my crew have given up their ration stubs for the week to the ones who came up with this idea. But you came not to hear of group social behavior, {yes}?
When His Imperial Majesty summoned me and my crew to stand before His presence, the mission His Imperial Majesty bestowed on us was as direct as it was vague... "Find the Mandate of Heaven, and bring it before me."
... And that's all His Imperial Majesty ordered us to do. Unfortunately, His Imperial Majesty gave not a single description of where to start, nor what it exactly was or what it could even do, only putting trust on me and my crew's capabilities to procure said item. The only reason why we've assumed it's an artifact was after weeks of extensive research on Kusarian history and folklore on our part.
Apparently, the Mandate of Heaven was once a great artifact of the Old Earth rulers. It was said that those royals who were destined to rule justly and ably were looked favorably by the Mandate, and through it, they would bring great peace, prosperity and plenty to their empire and its people. Should the ruler and his royal family grow corrupt and decadent, the Mandate would be displeased and manifest its displeasure through poverty, excessive wars and natural disasters, before passing itself onto a more worthy ruler.
I'm terribly sorry I can't be any more helpful on what the Mandate of Heaven is, {Honorable} Arbiter. We ourselves struggle what His Imperial Majesty asked us to find. It could be anything at this point, but we've first assumed it's an artifact simply because, throughout Sirian History, artifacts have indeed played a key role in shaping the destiny of Sirius. Perhaps the Mandate is an artifact that contains a vast library of knowledge that would revolutionize our technology by millenia. Perhaps the Mandate is indeed a powerful omni-tool that has the power to grant wisdom to those it scans to be worthy of its power. Or perhaps our pilgrimage has led us to something intrinsic, we know not.
But I'm afraid that's all the information I have of the Mandate. Other than the tales of old, me and my crew are running on guesstimations and speculation as to what it is, and how to find it. But even though we know not what it is exactly, we have a feeling we'll know what it is once we see it.
So with all this taken into consideration, what we ask from the Junker Congress for the time being is to allow us complete access to sift through all your artifact supplies and shipment histories for signs of the Mandate, including any that the Congress members may have chosen to keep for their personal collection. Indeed, it would be interesting if we found out some of your greatest leaders may have had the Mandate right under their noses, and were benefiting from it's power without ever knowing about it.
We know this is a lot of information to consider. We'll understand completely if you should deny us this. Even by choosing to grant some of your time to listen to our plea, you've already proven just how honorable you and your people actually are, despite our two sides' animosity. As repeatedly stated before, we cannot offer much compensation for your cooperation, as we are penniless and do not entirely represent His Imperial Majesty's will, so your people's efforts to aid us would be considered charity.
{Honorable farewell}, {Honorable} Arbiter. May the {Divine Winds} forever protect you and your people.
Well now isn't this something..
I wouldn't give access to ANY of our data, inventory, bases or outhouses for that matter while your regime was in power.
Now that your not in power you come and ask us for permission?!
And they say Junkers are sneaky and manipulative.
This goes far beyond any deception I have seen from any group including us.
Which is really saying something..
So that means either your really ballsy and stupid or that your sincere.
I have no way of knowing which is the truth..
Furthermore as per the usual your group cannot give an accurate representation of what your seeking.
I have my suspicions on what your looking for and if its what I think it is... Pausing for a moment he looks off into the distance and takes a deep breath before continuing.. Nothing, Never mind.
Just tell your superiors we don't have anything that belongs to them.
Anything we might have which I'm not saying we do.. but if we did.
It belongs to us and will remain in the hands of the Congress.
No one and nothing will EVER take it as long as I'm alive.
SO with that I must decline to having your fingers digging thru our junk.
Until you can provide me with something more substantial to work with..
I think were all done here.
ENCRYPTION:HIGH SENDER ID:Lieutenant Commander Kazuya Suzuzuma, Imperial Kusari Navy RECEIVER ID:Arbiter James Trenton, Junkers Congress, .:j:. LOCATION:Barrier Gate Station, Coronado SENT ON:18 December, 820 A.S. SUBJECT:Acknowledgement of Denial and Final Farewell
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{parts of this transmission have been translated from Kusarian to Libertonian, marked by toothed-bracket parentheses}
{Honorable hello}, {Honorable} Arbiter. While it is most unfortunate to hear your denial, we completely expected this, and so hold not any hard feelings against you for barring us. We wished there was some way to let you see that our intentions are not at all malicious and deceitful, and that we only wished to follow His Imperial Majesty's orders to retrieve the supposed-artifact. We also wished our information could be less cryptic, but given that His Imperial Majesty isn't even keen on at least funding our pilgrimage, it makes even us wonder what His Imperial Majesty's own intentions are for sending us on a wild goose chase.
{Honorable farewell}, {Honorable} Arbiter. Perhaps, as you put it, we are ballsy and stupid for having considered contacting your people. But know that we sincerely are desperate for whatever information or aid which could lead us to the artifact.
May the {Divine Winds} keep your people and ours from crossing into one another's destinies.
Arbiter Trenton allowed me to return to you, in my quality of Bretonia Director for the Congress, to establish in what terms can we help His Imperial Majesty.
Please understand, honourable Suzuzuma, that any support from the Congress must be kept in the perspective of our mutual comitement with Her Majesty government and the war effort against the invasor.
Please be specific so that we can Investigate the possibilities of our future cooperation.