You apparently have been missing a Lord who happened to pass through Kusari a couple of times. The first time they were being chased by half a platoon of Gauls from the GRN. We aided the vessel carrying this person by slowing down the GRN and he seems to have made it out of Kusari alive.
But this is not why we contact you now.
The reason why we contact you is because the hatred for this individual seems to extend to the Kusari government as well. We are curious why this is. Lord Mitsuo contacted one of ours with the proposition for a ceasefire and to take out this Bretonian Lord together. We declined, naturally, but it does make us wonder what kind of political games are being played in our backyard.
In any case, call it a sign of good will towards your house that we share this intel with you now. I am sure you would be very interested in the plot of assassination against one of your more prominent citizens.
[27.08.2023 18:59:46] [KNF]IKN-Haruna: INCOMING TRANSMISSION | ACCEPT: Y/N
[27.08.2023 18:59:56] GC-Yunoki.Misaki.: Y
[27.08.2023 19:00:14] GC-Yunoki.Misaki.: What do you want, Corporate puppet?
[27.08.2023 19:00:26] [KNF]IKN-Haruna: This is Haruna. We are contacting you on behalf of Lord Mitsuo. Please respond if you receive this message.
[27.08.2023 19:00:52] GC-Yunoki.Misaki.: My previous message suffices.
[27.08.2023 19:01:25] [KNF]IKN-Haruna: Lord Mitsuo wishes to broker a temporary peacefire in light of the arrival of an important dignitary. Will you agree to this-
[27.08.2023 19:01:28] [KNF]IKN-Haruna: -proposal?
[27.08.2023 19:02:00] GC-Yunoki.Misaki.: And this person concerns us how? You need to do better than this
[27.08.2023 19:02:32] [KNF]IKN-Haruna: The foreign dignitary is a Bretonian BMM Lord who has strong anti-Kusari and anti-GC sentiments.
[27.08.2023 19:02:59] [KNF]IKN-Haruna: We believe it will be a good addition to our mutual cause to take measures regarding his presence.
[27.08.2023 19:03:37] GC-Yunoki.Misaki.: Let's get this straight. You want a mutual strike force against a Bretonian citizen?
[27.08.2023 19:03:53] [KNF]IKN-Haruna: We will await a positive answer before responding to that inquiry.
[27.08.2023 19:05:17] GC-Yunoki.Misaki.: I can't trust your intentions. Nor do I care about your political schemes.
[27.08.2023 19:06:46] [KNF]IKN-Haruna: We have reason to believe you will change your opinion upon arrival at the New Tokyo jump gate.
I wish to apologise for the late reply, it has been something of a trying month for Bretonia as I'm sure you can imagine. I would also like to take the time to thank you for passing this information on to us, it has proven to be quite valuable. As it happens however, we are unfamiliar with Lord Mitsuo and we hoping you would be able to fill in the blanks for us, as we ourselves were not aware of any games being played in your back yard either. Kusari maintains her borders well, so I find it hard to believe that a stray GRN patrol would be able to sneak into your space, much less be able to carry out an assassination. Perhaps you might be able to enlighten us as to some of these questions. In the knowledge that we would be happy to negotiate if you require more than just our good word.
Warm Regards:
V. Steiner
Director of the Secret Intelligence Service
Lord Mitsuo is a high ranking member of the Kusari Naval Forces. While we have no direct dealings with this individual until now, we have compiled what we could find on the public neural net for now. Some of it might be useful to you, some of it may not. Perhaps you have picked up this information yourself already.
As you can see, it is not much. Whoever it is, he hasn't sought the spotlight until recently. All we can tell you is that the Kusari Naval Forces contacted us to side with them against the Bretonian lord, as the former transmission logs attest. That is the only factual statement we can bring you.
If this was merely an isolated insurgeant within the ranks of the KNF, this might still give them some credibility, but this is very doubtful. Let us analyse what really happened here:
The KNF vessel, [KNF]IKN-Haruna, contacted us with the request for a cease fire and to focus on another target, your lord. Reason given: Anti-Kusari, Anti-GC sentiments. This makes it a political assassination. In non-government circles, we would coin this terrorism. What could the purpose be? Either they are genuine with their request, they are attempting to frame us, or to lure us into a trap. The second option never happened. If this was their goal, they would have tried to attempt to frame us anyway, yet we are nowhere mentioned. This means they would have abandonned that course. The third would be more logical, but extremely unsofisticated. Fact was that your lord was on route and this was known. Provoking a fight just as your dignitary arrived would bring him into unnecesary danger. So that won't be it either. That leaves one option: They genuinely wanted him gone and they would even attempt to get our help in achieving this.
Regarding the Gallic attack. None of our vessels were on scene when the ship was destroyed, so we can't tell you what happened. All what we can do is confirm that the GRN had a special interest in your man. Who actually pulled the trigger on him is unknown to us.
Thank you for your swift response and the additional information you have provided. Unfortunately we have further questions as this series of events is still murky at best. What is deeply concerning to us is the fact that the KNF were willing to attempt a ceasefire (however temporary) with you to kill Lord Lowfer-Ferrers. I will refrain from making any accusations for the time being simply because, as I have mentioned, we don't have the full picture.
Let us pretend then that it was Kusari who wanted this man dead, what possible motivation could they have? Specifically, what would they gain from this assassination? More concerning, what would prompt the GRN & IKN to actively hunt this man? They did not work together which tells me that there was no conspiracy to capture him alive, both sides wanted him dead, it mattered little who pulled the trigger.
Yet there is something off, something that does not make a great deal of sense to me (excluding the desire to assassinate this man in the first place of course). Does the ship [KNF]Higanbana|KNI mean anything to you?
V. Steiner
Director of the Secret Intelligence Service
The vessel you mentioned, the [KNF]Higanbana|KNI, was present the day before. The GRN were hot on the tail of the Meles when that ship showed up. I will attach the logs of the event.
[20.08.2023 19:38:03] GC-Yunoki.Misaki: Well if the GRN wants you, we will slow them down
[20.08.2023 19:38:18] Preparing to cloak...
[20.08.2023 19:38:26] Meles.Incognito: You have no idea how much I appreciate that, ma'am.
[20.08.2023 19:38:38] Cloaking device on
[20.08.2023 19:38:50] GC-Amaririsu: Eri: ahm i take my leave
[20.08.2023 19:39:18] GC-Raiden: We're on your side.
[20.08.2023 19:39:40] GC-Yunoki.Misaki: Sigh, such a chaos
[20.08.2023 19:40:17] Death: GC-Furutani.Izanami was put out of action by GRN|Maurice.Cornett (Gun).
[20.08.2023 19:40:22] [KNF]Higanbana|KNI: That's why we're here.
[20.08.2023 19:40:27] GC-Yunoki.Misaki: So what did you bowex do to piss so many people off?
[20.08.2023 19:40:30] Meles.Incognito: GRN in the Taus trying to stage an execution.
[20.08.2023 19:40:45] GC-Raiden: It's good thing we slowed their asses down, though.
[20.08.2023 19:40:50] GC-Raiden: Thank me later, yeah?
[20.08.2023 19:40:54] Peter.Hudson: Yes, thank you for that!
[20.08.2023 19:41:02] Meles.Incognito: Anything that slows down the GRN is welcome in my books.
[20.08.2023 19:41:11] GRN|Albert,Charles: Were it so easy.
[20.08.2023 19:41:12] [KNF]Higanbana|KNI: And everyone who does oppose them.
[20.08.2023 19:41:18] GC-Yunoki.Misaki: Hey, I see lots of people we dont like chasing you down
[20.08.2023 19:41:21] GC-Raiden: Enemy at the gates!
[20.08.2023 19:41:21] GRN|Horst,Holst: [Devious faux-German snickering.]
[20.08.2023 19:41:25] GC-Raiden: Or so it would see.
[20.08.2023 19:41:30] GC-Raiden: *Coughs* Seem.
[20.08.2023 19:41:55] [KNF]Higanbana|KNI: Good sir, Captain. Slow it a moment.
[20.08.2023 19:42:04] [KNF]Higanbana|KNI: We're tasked to oversee your well-being afterall.
[20.08.2023 19:42:14] GRN|Charles.Roche: Keep the pursuit.
[20.08.2023 19:42:16] Meles.Incognito: Right you are sir, but we do have a bunch of ne'er-do-wells on our tail
[20.08.2023 19:42:18] Peter.Hudson: We don't exactly have time to stop!
[20.08.2023 19:42:20] GRN|Albert,Charles: They're mining the lanes.
[20.08.2023 19:42:23] GRN|Charles.Roche: They aren't getting away from Leeds all the way into Kusari.
[20.08.2023 19:42:25] GRN|Albert,Charles: Them and the Zoner.
[20.08.2023 19:42:44] GC-Yunoki.Misaki: Better hurry
[20.08.2023 19:42:49] GRN|Charlotte.DeFrance': Then kill them. If we can't have the transport, then Kusari will at least bleed for it.
[20.08.2023 19:44:22] GC-Yunoki.Misaki: GRN entered the system
[20.08.2023 19:44:33] GC-Yunoki.Misaki: You got a decent headstart
[20.08.2023 19:44:56] Death: GC-Raiden suffered a self-administered loadout error (Missile/Torpedo).
[20.08.2023 19:45:14] Meles.Incognito: What the hell... No timeliness bonus is worth this nightmare
[20.08.2023 19:46:14] GRN|Charlotte.DeFrance': Make it fast, Royal Navy. We're overreaching.
[20.08.2023 19:46:23] GRN|Jean-Paul,Bourdeau: At once, your grace.
[20.08.2023 19:46:26] GRN|Charles.Roche: Roger. We're in pursuit.
[20.08.2023 19:46:33] GRN|Horst,Holst: By your command, Prinzessin.
[20.08.2023 19:46:46] Cloaking device shutdown, no fuel
[20.08.2023 19:46:46] Cloaking device off
[20.08.2023 19:46:46] [KNF]Higanbana|KNI: You're bound to fail. They've safely escaped.
The most striking part of these chaotic logs was the request, or order, by the KNF to 'slow down' as the GRN was hot on their trail. He never made a move on the Meles, but neither tried to stop the whole lot of Gauls swarming into Kyushu, and New Tokyo afterwards. Our vessels did. The idea is that it could be seen as a smokescreen to later wave in the media that they tried to 'prevent' this tragedy. But in truth, they made no attempt to actually protect the ship within Kusari borders.
As for the next topic... The idea behind it still eludes us. We didn't get the idea there was particular bad blood between Bretonia and Kusari. Begs me to ask the question: What does their claim about anti-kusari and anti-GC sentiments mean to you? Frankly told, we never even heard of Lord Lowfer-Ferrers before now. To understand the situation, we would need to know more about him. Has there been any communications prior to his trip that made so many parties aware of his travel plans? There are few people in Sirius that invoke so much bloodlust.
Lord Lowfer-Ferrers was, to my knowledge, a rather minor individual in the political scenes around Bretonia. He had a seat on the House of Lords but he has never come to our attention before which makes this all the more curious. I cannot speak for the anti-Kusari or anti-GC claims, I am uncertain, many Lords in Bretonia are of the 'old school', that is to say, they don't much care for anyone who isn't Bretonian. Lord Lowfer-Ferrers may have been one such individual, but I cannot speak to that with any authority. As for communications, I believe the whole trip was supposed to be conducted in secret, obviously it was anything but, which I'm sure you can agree is somewhat troubling.
There is of course the pilot who was accompanying the transport, Mr Hudson has not been heard from since this whole episode, have you seen or heard anything about him since he was last seen? Do you know if he even left Kusari?
V. Steiner
Director of the Secret Intelligence Service
Mr. Hudson's trail went cold in Honshu. It is how far we managed to follow both ships. To our knowledge, the KNF vessel we spoke of earlier was the last to be seen with them. There are no records that we have of Hudson after that day. Sadly, the only person who can confirm his current whereabouts was killed after his return trip through Kusari. It might be worth enquiring after his status at the Kusari government, although the answer you will receive should, given the circumstances, be taken as questionable information.
The information you provided about Lord Lowfer-Ferrers doesn't make it any clearer what the Kusari government or the Gauls hoped to achieve.