To: Liberty Government ; CC: Relevant Departments and Custodi

[Reeves]

Agency 404

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Transmission; Start
Identification: Operative Avery Reeves
Location: Planet Manhattan
Encryption: Secure

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Sincere Greetings to all the recipients of this transmission,

I am Operative Avery Reeves of Agency 404. Lobbying on behalf of the Custodi movement. I'm sure that a group of corsairs in Liberty are about as PTSD inducing as a Rheinlandic ship would be a veteran of the relevant war. My ultimate aim of setting up this channel and reason for doing so, is to ensure a thorough course of process, given the reputation I possess that the people I lobby for don't have. It's not the easiest of processes for a group so stained by the actions of many people before it to approach a community they are aloof to as well as asking for something.

I'll expand this discussion, for as an operative I've done the due diligence of weighing the specific pros and cons. I was a Naval Pilot in our esteemed Primary Fleet and during my service there I noticed and had to deal with hostilities not just with foreign invaders like the Gallic Royal Navy, but also elements such as the Outcasts, Lane Hackers and so on, the list is actually quite expansive and near concerning. And in no way a benefit to our tactical and economic situations.

As much as I'm certain our forces have the numbers to uphold stability within our region, it's highly unwise of any nation that is at war to create more enemies, especially enemies that could very well turn out to be friends, whom also happen to be enemies of our very own enemies. I'll attach a set of regulations we reached in a brief negotiation regarding the emergence of the Custodi group following the jumphole formation connecting Colorado to the Sigmas. The terms are open to modification but are most likely sufficient enough.

There shall be no smuggling of artifacts through your people or otherwise in or around Liberty space, or any form of smuggling thereof, utilizing of third parties or otherwise.

No obstructions to the armed forces shall be committed in any way shape or form if they are acting within the norms of their duties.

You will not obstruct commercial, civilian or military traffic within Liberty space by utilizing the anomaly or otherwise.

If in case either side must pursue a fleeing criminal through the anomaly, due courtesy and information must be passed and permission to eliminate the target in the other's space granted, this should not just be done without an announcement of some form.

None of your warships will be allowed to hunker down within Liberty space, should you have any.

- In Bretonia, the Liberty Navy Expeditionary Fleet has had several hostile encounters with corsair entities. ESRD operatives in the Omegas or Omicrons have reported such as well. We wish to see none of that from you or your group. If possible you are to also utilize any influence you may have, to make sure such is avoided.

- Liberty Commerce is often assaulted by Corsairs as well. We wish to see none of such from you and your group, and if possible to ensure them safe flow.

- Now last but not least, working with organizations considered hostile, dangerous and/or perceived as a threat for the maintaining of law and order by the Republic of Liberty, is a no go. We require that you at least remain indifferent and not supportive of such and possibly assist against them.

The movement in question, being the Custodi, expressed their general acceptance of the following terms, but promised to at least try being understanding of the situation in Bretonia at least to us, given their hostilities towards the Outcasts and the fact that the Kingdom of Bretonia is now generally acceptive of them. My concerns on that matter is the potential increase of Outcast presence in our space, the concerns of which I expressed to Mister Augustopolos a general of the Custodi movement.

The next segment of discussion is something that will finalize upon the general approval of this permit that I am yet to discuss. But I'll make sure I keep it concise. The Custodi are a movement based from Crete, obviously Corsair affiliated. My original reaction to that basic information was the same as anyone's. But they were not as immediately nor as remotely hostile as their some of their more shady brethren, this is not uncommon to any House. All roses have thorns and all fruits a few rotten samples, the Custodi are more so focused purely on benefiting their population that currently suffers concerning levels of both disease and starvation.
Should the necessary authorities approve of the Custodi using their native equipment and ships, with the exclusion of warships of course, in our borders, they are willing to in return, aid the fight against the enemies we share. Should this permit be approved, I'd like to also humbly request for them the right to register as contractors of our Republic and earn their keep through the forceful dispatch of everything we mutually despise.

This channel will also serve as a means of clarification and disambiguation which I'm sure is necessary in a matter such as this, responses to any of the same will either be submitted by myself, another knowledgeable member of the same Agency or Mister Augustopolos himself or any pertinent members of the Custodi movement. This will be all for now.

For the Republic.

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Transmission: End

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[The Republic Of Liberty]

27th of January 824

The Republic of Liberty
Department of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Reeves

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

The corsair situation has always been questionable due to their wide-spread reputation and hostility to the Republic of Bretonia and our expeditionary fleet. More so the fact that we are separated by a good number of regions.

Because of that they are considered neither welcome nor hostile to Liberty. As Corsairs are regarded as savages and rather hostile and aggressive to most outsiders, we are rather reluctant to be involved in establishing a connection with them for any reason. However if what you are saying regarding this "Custodi movement" is correct, then we are more than willing to hear from them what makes them any different than the vast majority of the corsairs and what do they have to offer in regards of establishing an agreement. For as far as shared enemies go, that is likely to only include the outcasts in comparison to the many of our allies and our units that are attacked by your average corsair deliberately.

Shall there be an actual interest in trying to open up a diplomatic conversation or even negotiations, between the Republic of Liberty and the "Custodi Movement" we would require you to notify them to present us with their own representative to partake in such talks.

Regards,

- Harrison McRemitz, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

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[Corile]

Kyrios McRemitz,

Since kyrios Reeves was kind enough to open this channel for us as well, let me reply to your inquiries immediately. My name is Icarus Augustopolos and I hold the title of the General of the Custodi as well as, for the moment, an envoy for our foreign affairs.

The Cretan Empire currently remains in a state of war with the Kingdom of Bretonia and that situation I don't expect to change anytime soon. While, I'd imagine, both Custodi and the people of Bretonia would prefer peace between our nations, certain ancient grudges are too difficult to just simply wipe out and the hostilities aren't anything that can change overnight. While the mission of the Custodi is not to continue the war with the Bretonians, we still need to be vigilant about the status of our assets in the southern Bretonia and the Omega systems. As you are undoubtedly aware, war has its own rules.

As Custodi, our mission is nothing but providing wealth and prosperity to our people and by extension, the people of Crete. As mentioned by kyrios Reeves, Crete itself suffers from a number of issues including widespread famine and diseases. This is partially because of our longstanding isolation from the Houses, high population numbers and the general lack of strong alliances in Sirius. In the meantime our oldest enemies, the Outcasts, seemingly began forging a lasting friendship with the Bretonians and this is something very dangerous for us as you might hopefully imagine.

Liberty is arguably the most powerful House in Sirius at the present and having something even as rudimentary as trade ties between our two nations could mean a lot to the survival of the Corsairs. As you are likely aware, Crete lies in a very close proximity to the deep Omicrons and as such we have access to certain materials and resources which could be significantly harder to obtain otherwise.

We cannot of course assist the Liberty forces in combat in any way mostly due to the fact that moving any sort of fleet to wherever our help could be useful is simply impossible due to the long distance flights. We can move trade convoys silently through backwater systems and jump hole networks, but any sort of combat assets wouldn't be likely to make the journey and even if they did, it would put an increasing strain on our already small fleet.

Now, regarding the diplomatic talks, I hope it's clear that we were and are interested in them from the start.

Yours sincerely,
Ίκαρος Αυγουστόπουλος
Icarus Augustopolos

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Reflections on the Revolution in Gallia
Custodi // High City of Heraklion // The Cult of Archangels
Log Filter // Post Creator // Manhattan