If we are to continue this debate, could we move it into another thread? As this is starting to tread on GMG as a vanilla faction and not GMG| as a player faction.
Done and done, sir.
At any rate, Orin, please look to your own Guildmaster Blodo on the 80-Years-War theory. He came up with it, as demonstrated here:
[2/3/2009 9:02:33 PM] Chris (BaconSoda) says: Blodo, you are the one with the theory about how the GMG won the 80-years-war, right?
[6:27:26 PM] Blodo says: yupo
Now, then, the debate is not simply whether or not the GMG depend on the KNF, but, rather, the fact that they do and therefore do not hold the sovereignty to be called an independent state and claim Sigma-13 as it's own. Looking at the four basic characteristics of a sovereign state, we can determine this.
Territory: Debatable, really. You have areas that you police, that you hold military independence over, but on the other side, your headquarters is located within another sovereign state that holds authority over you. I would say, yes, you hold territory.
Government: For the sake of your operation, I'll assume you have a government that tells others what to do and prohibits you from doing things generally considered immoral.
Sovereignty: No. You don't have it. You are headquartered in a sovereign house's territory, and you submit to them, fully. You do not hold sovereignty where your "capital" is located, and have no wishes of making it so. Sovereignty, the most important feature, is something you do not have.
Internal Economy: You mine gas, and sell it. You have no manufacturing (I don't believe those Military Vehicles are of your manufacture), agriculture, or, well, any other staples of a classical economy besides imports (food/waterght arms), and exports (Gas/Plutonium). Internal economy is something you lack.
Now, then, by those grounds, you are not a state, and, thus, have no right to claim complete and total sovereignty over an independent system.
[8:32:45 PM] Dusty Lens: Oh no, let me get that. Hello? Oh it's my grandma. She says to be roleplay.
[12:49:19 AM] Elgatodiablo: You know its nice that you have all that proof and all, Bacon... but I just don't believe you.
I already answered all this, and you didn't address what I said.
That said, this discussion is pointless beyond words. I fail to see how it even matters, since it affects zip, zero, and nada, as regards how the GMG is played.
Zoners didnt originally develop their own craft, they used civilian and borderworlds lines. They import a lot but only have one major export - deuterium. By the terms you put up here, bacon, that would mean zoners are not their own 'sovereign house' - yet they hold more territory than most houses, have their own government (council), and are rich... filthy rich... probably on par with house governments.
You do not have to manufacture your own craft to be sovereign. Look at other countries in the modern world, there are many 'sovereign' (i.e. self governmented) countries that import nearly everything they use. If you have one major export, you can import everything else you need with the money you make from that export.
The GMG is, for the most part, the sole provider of H-fuel to all four houses. Samura is -trying- to develop it's own gas mining ops in hokkaido but has been unsuccessful. The GMG dont ship into rheinland themselves, but they sell the fuel to kishiro which does ship it into rheinland. Basically, the GMG have one of the most valuable exports in sirius, which gives them more than enough money to outsource ship construction and anything else they need made.
So... I disagree. I think that the GMG is it's own sovereign house, though it's very small compared to some of the other houses - just like the Outcasts, the Corsairs, and the Zoners. I would even go as far as to extend that to include the IMG.
There are countries which have very little or no real agriculture of their own, and survive (flourish, even) through exporting other commodities which they have in abundance, usually oil or precious metals/gemstones (or, once upon a time, salt). It's also hard for a nation (Rheinland) to have a war over territory with a group which doesn't actually own/control that territory (for all intents and purposes, control = ownership). Rheinland lost, and the treaty says they stay out. That's a treaty with the GMG, not Kusari, which means that Rheinland at least recognizes the GMG's sovereign control over the territory, however grudgingly.
The GMG situation is odd, but I think it's clear that they run Sigma-13, and don't rely on anyone else to do it. If necessary I imagine they could move their corporate holdings out of Kusari completely, but it's probably easier not to.
The GMG are to be considered sovereign territory, if I would go as far as calling it a house I am not sure.
They do not rely on the KNF to police sigma 13 and sigma 19 coz they do that themselves.
Aomori station is their sovereign territory(check the info card) however the space around it might be kusari territory this does not affect on how they rule the station itself.
Kusari governement does not want to mess with the GMG as they would have to invade their territory and you know what happened when rheinland did that!
Then again the links between the GMG and the Blood Dragons, if the GMG would fully rely on the KNF how can they have a link with the covert deal with the Dragons?
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once known as Richard Farbridge, OBE and Ronaldo Benitez