FAO Bretonian Office of Crown Contracts

[Stoat]

Incoming transmission

Comm ID : Stoat
Location : Planet Leeds
Target : Office of Crown Contracts

Dear sirs

I am extremely concerned. If I am to understand your transmission correctly, you are no longer paying bounties on ANY un-affiliated Corsairs, Lane Hackers, Rogues, Mollies, Pirates or Gaians. Nor are you paying bounties on ANY Outcasts, Red Hessians, Junkers, nor any others that we might find engaged in acts of piracy with Bretonian borders, or her border worlds, such as Tau-31, Omega-3, Cortez and Magellan.

I trust this is an oversight by the Bretonian Government. I can tell you right now that the vast majority of those I personally have neutralised on behalf of the BAF are unaffiliated scumbags.

While I can understand that your funds may be limited due to your on-going conflict with the Kusari invaders, which I fully support, I am troubled that things have got to the stage where Bretonian funds are so limited that you are unable to properly protect your own home systems.

I would strongly urge you to reconsider your position on the payment of bounties to the Bounty Hunters Guild. We are in the best position to allow you to concentrate on prosecuting your war with the Kusari, by taking care of the scum and villainy that inevitably appears in a conflict zone. If funds are so short, perhaps you could restrict payment to official operatives of the Bounty Hunters Guild only, or perhaps a contract with the guild can be arranged, so that we can keep your inner systems clear of the pirates and smugglers that plague the civilians of our fine nation.

I would personally encourage you to come to a contractual arrangement with the guild on this matter.

Best regards
Stoat
OBE, Bretonian Guildmaster, Bounty Hunters Guild

Transmission ends

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My Stories

[pbrione]

[Incoming Transmission]
[Source: HMS Norfolk]
[CommID: Fleet Admiral Nelson]

Guildmaster Stoat,

The changes to contracting law which have brought about this change are unfortunate indeed, though understandably the Bretonian Crown feels it better to divert our limited resources directly to the Kusari front rather than on paying off often needless bounties. However, in order to retain the highly professional services of the Bounty Hunters Guild I have been authorised to open negotiations with you to arrange a direct contract on behalf of the Bretonian Government.

My initial proposal would be for a standing contract, similar to that which we operate with the Mandalorian Mercenaries, whereby the Bounty Hunters Guild agrees to keep Bretonian space and negotiable other regions clear of corsairs and other pirates in exchange for a fixed fee. I would suggest that this be set monthly to allow possible monthly alterations to the contract as our priorities change, and my initial offer would be that this be covered by a sum of 15 million credits per month.

Awaiting your response to these suggestions,

Sir Stanley Nelson

[End Transmission]

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Sir Stanley Nelson




<span style="color:#000066">Charles Canning </span><span style="color:#000066"> Foreign Secretary</span>

[Stoat]

Incoming transmission

Comm ID : Stoat
Location : Planet Leeds
Target : FAO: Sir Stanley Nelson, HMS Norfolk

Sir Stanley!

This is excellent news. I have contacted our relevant departments, and a proposal is being drawn up. You can expect to hear from George Graves, or his office, in due course.

Best regards
Stoat
OBE, Bretonian Guildmaster, Bounty Hunters Guild

Transmission ends

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My Stories

[pbrione]

[Incoming Transmission]
[Source: HMS Norfolk]
[CommID: Fleet Admiral Nelson]

Still waiting to hear any word from the Guild on this old chap, our offer still stands, with a few brief discussions. If you could give Graves a prod from me perhaps we could secure ourselves a deal pretty swiftly?

Sir Stanley Nelson

[End Transmission]

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Sir Stanley Nelson




<span style="color:#000066">Charles Canning </span><span style="color:#000066"> Foreign Secretary</span>

[Athenian]

Incoming transmission

Comm ID : George Graves
Location : Sheffield Station
Target : Office of Crown Contracts, FAO Fleet Admiral Nelson

Lord Admiral,

Just arrived in Manchester this a.m. Rough traffic in the Omega border systems. Some kind of massive dust-cloud playing havoc with the sensors.

I hope you'll regard my own presence here as a sign of the Guild's very strong desire to secure a charter that is mutually beneficial.

Here's a preliminary draft of our proposed terms:

Charter Terms:

The Bretonian Government grants this charter to the Bounty Hunters Guild for the following terms.

Systems: Bretonian sovereign space and all bordering systems, defined as Bretonian House Space and systems within one standard jump of said systems

Duties:
1.Apprehend or terminate criminal elements within these systems.

2.Capture or destroy Red Hessians, Corsairs, Coalition, Das Wilde, Lane Hackers, Junkers, Gaians, Outcasts, Mollies and any non-aligned pirate ships within these systems.

3.Disrupt all criminal activities, including smuggling of prescribed contraband, trafficking of persons against their will and acts of illegal immigration whether organised or casual.

4.Monitor and patrol remote sites and zones to determine routes utilised by criminal organisations (the Line, gas and ice clouds, nebulae, asteroid belts, ruins and abandoned sites, whether alien or otherwise)

5.Prisoner transport and rendition service

6.Secure trade routes between friendly Houses - i.e. Bretonia-Rheinland and Bretonia-Liberty.

Schedule:
Contraband is defined as
Artifacts
Liquid Cardamine
Slaves
Counterfeit Software
Cardamine intended for supply (six or more units)

Any other restricted cargoes do not fall within the scope of this Charter

Payment:

Year 1:
-100 million credits by credit transfer
-Provision of twelve Shire class transports (for APM Fleet rebuild) - maintenance crew for these ships to be attached to the Guild permanently
-Access to Bretonian Level 9 fighter weaponry
-Docking facilities at all lawful bases within Bretonia
-Provision of hunting licenses for Planet Gaia to off-duty Guild members


Year 2 and thereafter:
180 million credits (negotiable as circumstances dictate)

Other terms:
-The Guild reserves full salvage/looting/contraband seizure rights

As I said, this is a preliminary document.

Best regards
Graves
MBE, Guildmaster, Bounty Hunters Guild

Transmission ends

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Former member of "the most paranoid group of people in the community"
Discovery Community Forum Rules

[pbrione]

[Incoming Transmission]
[Source: HMS Norfolk]
[CommID: Fleet Admiral Nelson]

Guildmaster,

I am indeed grateful for you making the effort to travel here in person. With regards to your proposed agreement I have a few points. First of all, we will need to remove Mollies from Duty 2 in the light of the recent Bretonian Armistace. Might I suggest that we do, however, make explicit mention of the Bretonian Buccaneers in their place given their particular role in spreading piracy throughout Bretonia. With regard to outcasts and junkers, our policy is generally that they should not be attacked unless explicitly found engaged in criminal activity of some form - therefore I would suggest changing "any non-aligned pirate ships" to "any outcasts, junkers or other individuals found to be directly engaged in piracy or terrorist activities".

I would also appreciate the addition of a clause specifying that Guild members should obey all Bretonian Laws whilst in Bretonian space and at the same time not presume to attempt to enforce any of those laws other than those laid down in this Charter. Also at present the Bretonian Government would appreciate if the Guild did not send any vessels of Destroyer class or above into Bretonian space without prior clearance from the Bretonian Government. Naturally such exceptional occasions might arise where we would request such assistance from the Guild, but in general we feel that the safety of Bretonia is better served by the absence of all foreign capital ships from our space.

As another point I feel the full salvage rights clause ought to have an exception attached in cases of items stolen from the Bretonian Crown or vital to national security such as military documents, both of which should be returned to the BAF immediately. Also due to constraints of the war effort, I think that the use of Bretonian class-9 fighter weapons ought to be limited to Guild ships which operate predominently or exclusively in Bretonia and capped at 4 per ship.

Finally I think that a clarification is required as to how this agreement impacts on our regular bounty system. My proposal would be that under the terms of this agreement Guild members agree not to make additional claims for any of our regular bounties under Section 1, though can still make claims for the special bonuses available for specific individuals under Section 2.

I await your response to my suggestions.

Sir Stanley Nelson

[End Transmission]

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Sir Stanley Nelson




<span style="color:#000066">Charles Canning </span><span style="color:#000066"> Foreign Secretary</span>

[Athenian]

Incoming transmission

Comm ID : George Graves
Location : Sheffield Station
Target : Office of Crown Contracts, FAO Fleet Admiral Nelson

Lord Admiral,

All of your proposals are reasonable.

Revised draft:

Charter Terms:

The Bretonian Government grants this charter to the Bounty Hunters Guild for the following terms.

Systems: Bretonian sovereign space and all bordering systems, defined as Bretonian House Space and systems within one standard jump of said systems.

Duties:
1.Apprehend or terminate criminal elements within these systems.

2.Capture or destroy any and all Red Hessians, Bretonian Bucacneers, Corsairs, Coalition, Das Wilde, Lane Hackers, Gaians
and
any Outcasts, Junkers or other individuals found to be directly engaged in piracy or terrorist activities.

3.Disrupt all criminal activities, including but not limited to smuggling of prescribed contraband, trafficking of persons against their will and acts of illegal immigration whether organised or casual.

4.Monitor and patrol remote sites and zones to determine routes utilised by criminal organisations (the Line, gas and ice clouds, nebulae, asteroid belts, ruins and abandoned sites, whether alien or otherwise)

5.Prisoner transport and rendition service

6.Secure trade routes between friendly Houses - i.e. Bretonia-Rheinland and Bretonia-Liberty.

7.Obey all Bretonian Laws

8.Prohibited from entering Bretonian space in Destroyer or larger class ships.

Schedule 1:
Contraband is defined as
Artifacts
Liquid Cardamine
Slaves
Counterfeit Software
Cardamine intended for supply (six or more units)

Any other restricted cargoes do not fall within the scope of this Charter

Schedule 2:
Use of Bretonian class-9 fighter weapons permitted - limited to Guild ships which operate predominently or exclusively in Bretonia and capped at 4 per ship

Payment:

Year 1:
-100 million credits by credit transfer
-Provision of twelve Shire class transports (for APM Fleet rebuild) - maintenance crew for these ships to be attached to the Guild permanently
-Docking facilities at all lawful bases within Bretonia
-Provision of hunting licenses for Planet Gaia to off-duty Guild members


Year 2 and thereafter:
180 million credits (negotiable as circumstances dictate)

Other terms:
-The Guild reserves full salvage/looting/contraband seizure rights except in cases of items stolen from the Bretonian Crown or vital to national security such as military documents, both of which shall be returned to the BAF immediately.
-Under the terms of this agreement Guild members agree not to make additional claims for any regular bounties under Section 1, though can still make claims for the special bonuses available for specific individuals under Section 2 of the Bretonian Bounty System

Best regards
Graves
MBE, Guildmaster, Bounty Hunters Guild

Transmission ends

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Former member of "the most paranoid group of people in the community"
Discovery Community Forum Rules

[pbrione]

[Incoming Transmission]
[Source: HMS Norfolk]
[CommID: Fleet Admiral Nelson]

Guildmaster,

On behalf of Her Majesty and the Admiralty of the Bretonian Armed Forces I consider your revised terms to be acceptable to Bretonia. I hereby agree to the proposal, as outlined above on this day Wednesday 28th March 818 A.S. The agreement shall hold with immediate effect - please outline where you would like the initial 100million credit sum to be transferred and I shall arrange with the Treasury to have the funds sent within the next 48 hours.


Signed for the Board of the Admiralty,

Sir Stanley Nelson
Fleet Admiral

[End Transmission]

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Sir Stanley Nelson




<span style="color:#000066">Charles Canning </span><span style="color:#000066"> Foreign Secretary</span>

[Athenian]

Incoming transmission

Comm ID : George Graves
Location : Sheffield Station
Target : Office of Crown Contracts, FAO Fleet Admiral Nelson

Lord Admiral,

Excellent.

The fee can be forwarded to

BHG|Core-Ragnarok

Best regards
Graves
MBE, Guildmaster, Bounty Hunters Guild

Transmission ends

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Former member of "the most paranoid group of people in the community"
Discovery Community Forum Rules