To: 343rd || From: Forlorn Hope

[Byron]

INCOMING TRANSMISSION

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• »»» Location: :::Encrypted:::
  
• »»» Sender ID: The Forlorn Hope
  
• »»» Recipient ID: Dai 343 Kaigun Kokutai
  

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Konnichiwa whoever it may concern,

Before I start talking about business, I wanted to excuse myself a priori. I'm neither a Kusarian myself, nor by any means an expert in your people's culture and traditions. Hence, I very much hope you can forgive me for any bad or even insulting moves I take unintentionally.

Also, let me introduce myself quickly. My name is Elena Voigt, and I can be considered one of the leaders of the group known to you as the Forlorn Hope.

Understand this cultural caution of mine as a sign that I'm not keen on losing a potential business partner, as my group is, as Miss Silva already stated, indeed interested in working closely together with you. She handed over the recordings of this conversation to me, therefore you can assume we are both on the same level of knowledge what has been talked about and what not.

As Miss Silva already told you, we don't necessarilly want to interrupt your honorable way of fighting the KNF yourself without much help. However, you mentioned you could possibly be in need of a Tokugawa-class battleship of the Kusarian Navy. As chance would have it, we could possibly have the means of supporting you in this struggle, as we both have a small, but running bomber squad and a newly raised army which is going to include up to 300 soldiers.

These people are not yet battle-proven, however we made sure to only pick the most promising talents out of many recruits. Additionally, they've got an experienced commander leading them into battle, as one of our higher ranked members is by chance a highly-trained ex-marine of the Navy.

The details of this deal would of course have to be clarified still, but this message to you rather serves as a possible affirmation that mutual interest in working together exists between our two factions.

Arigato for taking the time to listen. We're eagerly awaiting your reply.

Yours sincerely,
Elena Voigt,
Knight Captain
The Forlorn Hope

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CLOSING TRANSMISSION

[Shelco]

Date: 05/07/824 A.S.

Comm ID: Kaigun-Taisho Yukiyama Minako

To: Elena Voigt

Signal Origin: Planet Kyushu, Kyushu system

Priority: Medium

Topic: Your mercenaries

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Kon'nichiwa, Voigt-Fujin,

if you have read the communications made between one of your mercenaries and me then you probably know who I am, if this is not the case, let me introduce myself, I am Yukiyama Minako, Kaigun-Taisho of the Dai 343 Kaigun Kokutai and Shogun of the Imperial Kusari Navy in Exile. You heard correctly, the acquisition of a Tokugawa-class battleship is something the 343rd sees as necessary. Your help comes to an early hour since no real plans have yet been established and past issues had and have to be fully resolved yet.

I don't know what made you think that the fact that you are not of kusarian origin or have any knowledge about our culture would be a problem here, I am pretty sure I did not make this impression when I was speaking with one of your representatives but you should not worry about those unnecessary details that hinder us from talking.

Let me tell you one thing, which should be given to your soldiers. Those ships are huge, one of the biggest kinds of ships in Sirius, their crew is eager to keep it on their side and the Naval Forces cannot afford to loose them that quickly. Maybe, and I mean maybe, we can handle the disabling of the battleship in space, since an attempt to steal one off their hands would be a suicide mission. That would require a squadron of EMP armed bombers that disable all kinds of communication to their forces, then we need capital ships, which will be our destroyers, that damage the hull from the outside and make the ship look like it came from a heavy battle. Then we need to board it, the crew will either defect to our side or they have to die, as saddening as it is. Then we need to get full control over the ship and smuggle the ship to Yokohama Shipyard in New Tokyo, undercover as Naval Forces officers. Samura might be so free to repair this ship for us then, while we leave Kusari again, at the end it will just disappear and reappear under a different name.

This mission will have casualties, but you cannot win a battle with hoping that all of your people make it back, they have to know what they are getting into there. I am glad that you openly state your support for the Imperial side, but that would make you enemies of the republican state, which should be self-explanatory. This is probably not your everyday job, but it is something you can help us with, now the question that remains unanswered is, what do you demand in return?

Meiyo to yūki,
Yukiyama Minako

Kaigun-Taisho

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[Byron]

INCOMING TRANSMISSION

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• »»» Location: :::Encrypted:::
  
• »»» Sender ID: Elena Voigt
  
• »»» Recipient ID: Yukiyama Minako
  

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Greetings Yukiyama-sama,

My apologies beforehand were merely to make sure no misunderstandings are going to happen. I already had interactions with Kusarians who reacted less ... friendly when I unknowingly infringed against their etiquette.

It's good to hear our offer to help comes at a rather early point of time, since as I already said our group of brave men and women has not yet reached its final numbers. Recruitment processes are usually slow and take time, especially when we don't consider ourselves satisfied with the usual kind of soldiers - anxious, unexperienced, peaceable. These are the exact opposites of what we are trying to build up. At the moment, we can count two dozen soldiers our own who seem capable enough to perform the dangerous and demanding tasks the group will be given.

Regarding the overall ideas behind your plan that you have already given me: We are certainly willing to put our own troops into good use while boarding the battleship, you can expect our men and women fighting alongside yours on the corridores and bridges if necessary. Option number two, making them desert on their own and joining the 343rd more or less of "their own volition", is of course the more desired way I suppose, as it would ensure less casualties on our side, even more so new people fighting for your cause.

We've got some bombers in our arsenal that are also equipped with EMP weapons, we could put them to good use as well I suggest. I'm not aware in which amount you can call capital ships your own at the moment, if so this would most certainly be your job to make the battleship look battle-damaged, as we are admittedly running short on capital ships, neither is commanding fleets of large ships our field of expertise.

As Miss Silva already told you in the short conversation you two had, we are willing to support your cause as this cause directly harms Gallia's influence in Kusari. Without a doubt we can be counted as opposed to the Gallic warmachine, and we like to take part in operations against them whenever we can. As an example, we're already staying in close contact with the Crayterian Republic and helping them in their struggle to regain land for themselves and Bretonia. The current Kusarian republic is a mere product of Gallia's influence in this house, and with its destruction and the reconstruction of the old ways, we can push Gallia even further back into their own lands. Becoming outlaws in Kusari is a logical consequence, but first this is only a small sacrifice considering what we could achieve, and second we've got the trust in you that you, together with your allies, can reach your goals and set up the old government again.

As for a way to pay us back, we'd first like to hear what you could offer us. Of course a mere payment is always a solution for less creative freelancers, but I'm quite sure this is by far not all you can theoretically give us back. For now, we wish to get a greater insight in those of your resources that you find could interest us. We don't know much about the means your faction has, so let's clarify that first I suggest.

Yours sincerely,
Elena Voigt,
Knight Captain
The Forlorn Hope

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CLOSING TRANSMISSION

[Shelco]

Date: 05/07/824 A.S.

Comm ID: Kaigun-Taisho Yukiyama Minako

To: Elena Voigt

Signal Origin: Planet Kyushu, Kyushu system

Priority: Medium

Topic: Your mercenaries

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Kon'nichiwa, Voigt-Fujin,

hearing that your group has not reached its destined numbers makes me think, you know how big the risk is here, I hope. I cannot bother to be responsible for the deaths of countless of your people, I have my own to look out for, you put their lives on a heavy bet I cannot guarantee we will win. I know how you feel about recruitment processes, it is better if they take longer than shorter, though. You don't want to have men with the mindset of children holding weapons in their hands on the battlefield, facing a threat they could only imagine in their nightmares. The soldiers you have to send to this task have to be at least as tough as an above-average soldier of any army in Sirius.

however you plan on bringing this plan to a point of start relies on your responsibility, your brave men and women should be carefully told what their mission would be, I have always seen Freelancers as little independent people that vary in their skills, some of them are smugglers, some of them are hunters or assassins, some of them are only independent traders. Are yours really capable enough to board a heavily guarded capital ship? I am not saying this with the thought that you are useless or too weak, but I believe in the power of dedication and will, you have to do this with the will of freeing the people of Kusari from the gallic chains. You have to do this for the sake of the Imperial's cause, you have to do it with your heart. Money or whatever you shall be awarded is only a secondary factor, if your soldiers cannot live up and fight for this standard, then there will be blood and spilled hopes and dreams.

I will assume that judging from your previous communication, you will be able to do this with heart and will, so your soldiers should be prepared, for this is most likely the hardest task they have ever been appointed to. The matter of damage that the ship should take is our thing, bombers are efficient enough but we will need them to disable the technology on the ship, so the capital ships should damage the hull. Although one of our Takeda's has recently been sent to New London to fight the gallics alongside the bretonians and libertonians there, we will be able to depart two more destroyers to deal with this issue, maybe even gunships.

You are right about Kusari's status that it has due to the gallic conquers, it is nothing but the dog of the king, and you would be surprised how eagerly they defend their current position as if the gallics were saints that saved them, sad. That you help the crayterians is a good thing, however, you should think about your militant options, I assume that those are not the only fields that you operate in, hai? It could be that in the far future, you will count as a private army, rather than a mercenary corps, this operation will merely be another thing that adds up to my point, but those are your codes of conduct, not mine.

The Tenno would most likely not be happy to pay of his treasury to a group of mercenaries, that would probably require me to have an endless discussion with him. Since your actions will benefit the health of the kusarian people, we could give all participating mercenaries of Forlorn a Dai-kun'i kikka-shō, as well as honoring you to honorary citizens of the Empire of Kusari. That way, the people of Kusari will always remember the service you did for the Tenno. I don't know,
what kind of resources could interest you, we cannot give you military-grade weapons or ships that we have, maybe one or two Tora-class fighters, but we are no rich state, you need to give me suggestions and I can see what the Tenno is ready to give.

Meiyo to yūki,
Yukiyama Minako

Kaigun-Taisho

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[Byron]

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• »»» Location: :::Encrypted:::
  
• »»» Sender ID: Elena Voigt
  
• »»» Recipient ID: Yukiyama Minako
  

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Greetings again Yukiyama-sama,

Knight Captain Stenn, who is responsible for the recruitment process, will soon contact you over this comm channel as well, informing you about the current status of our troops.

We are not the usual kind of mercenaries. Yes, we -do- work for money, but simply because somehow we need to make our money, and additionally it keeps the overall business in this specific market running. What however defines us are our believes, our code of conduct, our cause. We only got people in our ranks who have enough dedication and will to support the one's who need to be supported, and destroy the ones that need to be destroyed. And the sole fact the people of Kusari are outright chained by their own government, because of the oppression by the Gallic crown is enough for us to decide to intervene for the Imperial's cause.

You are however indeed right, our field of operations doesn't only contain helping the Crayterians and Bretonians regaining their land. Without spoiling too much, it can be said that we operate Sirius-wide, and have even become a factor that needs to be reckoned with as soon as we have been hired. We've definitely got other enemies besides the weak Kusarian republic, and though we might seem to be usual mercenaries and bounty hunters, we are not fighting for everybody, but only for those whose causes seem righteous and just to us. And obviously, we highly esteem yours, otherwise we wouldn't be talking now. Yes, we might become a private corp up for hire in the future, but we are never going to neglect our code of conduct. I could quote it, but this would probably only bore you, so I'll leave my statements as they are.

Concerning what you can give us back, I had some time to think about this. Before we however make a final deal, my fellow colleagues and I have to meet to vote on what to demand - another uniqueness of my organization, the strict diplomacy when decisions have to be made, the equality of everybody in our ranks. So rather understand my words as mere suggestions. First of all, even though I said simple payments are an uncreative solution, we have to say we could use some money to invest in certain other projects and areas we have running at the moment. In the future, we might have to spend more money than we have currently to reach some of our goals, hence at least a small donation would be appreciated if this is possible. It would of course be an unbelievable honor for all of us if you decided to give us the courtesy title of Dai-kun'i kikka-shō.

What we might or might not need the Tenno to give us in the future is your assistance. We are not certain how things will turn out to be, however it could indeed happen that we see ourselves in a position where we need friends to support us, help us defend what is our own. Of course if such is possible for you under the current circumstances.

As I said, these are suggestions, we will discuss it further, but here are the ideas we had thus far. Feel free to comment on them, or suggest different things. Nothing is engraved in stone as of yet.

Yours sincerely,
Elena Voigt,
Knight Captain
The Forlorn Hope

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CLOSING TRANSMISSION

[Shelco]

Date: 05/09/824 A.S.

Comm ID: Kaigun-Taisho Yukiyama Minako

To: Elena Voigt

Signal Origin: Planet Kyushu, Kyushu system

Priority: Medium

Topic: Your mercenaries

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Kon'nichiwa, Voigt-Fujin,

I was already expecting you to say that money is a valuable thing even for Freelancers and mercenaries that hold themselves in a bit more high manner. That should be arrangeable indeed, but I myself will have to discuss that with the Tenno first. What I find interesting is your mentioning of beeing in need of us in the future, that sounds like you expect some opposition, I assume that is a military one. So this operation would add the Kusari Naval Forces on your list and as far as I know Gallia.
That makes us almost the same diplomacy wise then, huh? I think it is smart and fair to assist you in the future then, consider yourselves welcome amongst us and our empire.

On a note concerning our operation, it seems that a Kusari Battleship has recently entered Kyushu and doing damage to our ships, apparently, it decloaked near the planet and began to open fire on my forces, that might actually be a valuable target for us and I ordered to keep a look on the further actions of this ship. If all goes well, we will plan our operation with this certain ship and board it, Kaigun-Shosho Ryota has stated that the boldness of the captain was over the standard of the republicans, that alone should suffice as a reason to keep the ship in mind. In the end, the ship managed to get away damaged but I feel like this won't be the last time we see him, just like the other ships that have entered Kyushu.

It makes me glad that you think that our cause is the righteous one, there are more supporters for us than for the republicans it seems, I always knew that the Imperial Navy would not stand alone against them, seeing it by myself is even better. Kusari will soon enough live in its golden years and we will face the real threat : The gallics.

Meiyo to yūki,
Yukiyama Minako

Kaigun-Taisho

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[Nick Stenn]

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• »»» Location: :::Encrypted:::
  
• »»» Sender ID: Nick Stenn
  
• »»» Recipient ID: Yukiyama Minako
  

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Greetings Yukiyama-sama,

As my counterpart mentioned, I'll be handling recruitment and all matters related to the actual marine boarding unit. I'm just checking in here to give a quick little status report.

First, I'm pleased to announce that recruitment and training for the marines is well above projected expectations, and we will have a full unit ready to be used in the next few days. The marines are trained specifically for boarding operations, and are all equipped with hard suits and tachyon rifles, meaning that they'll be able to fight even in a zero-atmosphere environment. While these units are important for the aim of capturing a ship, I'd like to introduce our secret weapon.

Combat Droid

The Ageira model Vindicator 5 Advanced Security Droid. These are combat capable, adaptive intelligence droids, that, when paired with human handlers, are a intimidating force to be reckoned with. As such, I pleased to report that in the next few days, I will begin moving the ready troops and ASD's into position near your forces.

As to the matter of the battleship that you have marked as being of interest, with just a bit more recon done on it, we may be able to devise a trap to lure it into. Should you need assistance with such a matter, please do not hesitate to contact us for it.

Yours sincerely,
Knight Captain Stenn
The Forlorn Hope

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CLOSING TRANSMISSION

[Shelco]

Date: 05/17/824 A.S.

Comm ID: Kaigun-Taisho Yukiyama Minako

To: Nick Stenn

Signal Origin: Planet Kyushu, Kyushu system

Priority: Medium

Topic: Your mercenaries

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Kon'nichiwa, Misuta Stenn,

those drones look intimidating already, I hope they keep up to your promises, as they look very expensive and you know that there will be casualties. There is a reason I would have preferred human mercenaries, you can rely on them more than on A.I. be aware that we will bomb the ship with E.M.P. cannons and torpedos, I hope they are immune to that, otherwise, we will have a short time on the ship. I also hope that they don't randomly decide that it is a good idea to switch sides and instead listen to our command and ours only.

The ship should be investigated a bit further before we plan something, last time we did not have time for any kind of detailed scans and checks, the ship bears the name "Shikishima", you would have an easier job with getting close to it. We will have to use these drones as our cover most likely, they will prevent many of our men from dying there, that should not be an issue for you, a life of a human is worth more than the life a drone. But I am most thankful for the effort you put into this, your organization is already considered very helpful, if you have any kind of important information about this ship, please send it in here so we can discuss this further.

Meiyo to yūki,
Yukiyama Minako

Kaigun-Taisho

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[Nick Stenn]

INCOMING TRANSMISSION

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• »»» Location: :::Encrypted:::
  
• »»» Sender ID: Nick Stenn
  
• »»» Recipient ID: Yukiyama Minako
  

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Greetings Yukiyama-sama,

I have good news and somewhat less good news today.

It has been a while since we lost spoke, and I'd like to apologize for any concern that may of caused. Firstly I'm happy to report that we have finished training all of the marines who will be present in the assault on the chosen vessel. I've also finished reallocation of the combat droids, and a fairly sizable detachment of them has been made ready to minimize the loss of human life during the engagement. I've noted your concerns about EMP weapons and the droids turning on their handlers, and would like to reassure you that they are designed with high stress situations in mind, and are EMP-Shielded to minimize losses to such attempts.

I will go on further to say, that even while I bring droids to the fight, I'm also committing a full detachment of human marines to this operation, and that there is nothing to worry about. They'll do their job well, that I can guarantee. I've dispatched the Haven, our flagship and mobile headquarters to Kyushu already, and we'll be on standby for the boarding operation at anytime.

The somewhat less good news is that we have yet to catch sight of the target on our recon flights, and are operating almost completely in the dark until we do. Our most recent report placed it at the Nomad incursion in Shikoku just the other day, and we've since lost track of it. I'm giving instructions to step up recon missions, but Kusari is a big place, and if they suspect we're stalking them, they can go unnoticed for weeks at a time.

Yours sincerely,
Knight Captain Stenn
The Forlorn Hope

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CLOSING TRANSMISSION

[Nick Stenn]

INCOMING TRANSMISSION

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• »»» Location: :::Encrypted:::
  
• »»» Sender ID: Nick Stenn
  
• »»» Recipient ID: Yukiyama Minako
  

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Greetings Yukiyama-sama,

The galaxy works in strange ways it seems.

No sooner had I finished yesterdays report had I recieved word from one of my fellow Knight Captains that the Shikishima was seen heading into Kyushu from New Tokyo. Responding quickly, Sarah managed to talk to the ship for a short while and get a few guncam shots off before withdrawing to prevent suspicions from being raised. I've attached the logs and images below.

I must warn you, the ship seems to be hunting Imperial forces, and might be better armed than usual.

Recon Flight 1

Code:

[07.06.2017 16:45:51] KDS-Shikishima: Itsuki: Kon'nichiwa Forlorn vessel
[07.06.2017 16:45:53] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: Hey there captain!
[07.06.2017 16:46:55] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: Huh, isn't Kyushu controlled by the Imperials?
[07.06.2017 16:47:35] KDS-Shikishima: Itsuki: And it won't stay like that for long, we hope
[07.06.2017 16:48:24] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: I'm still wondering what a single battleship without company does in Kyushu.
[07.06.2017 16:49:19] KDS-Shikishima: Itsuki: We do what we are told, even if it means shooting the Imperials.
[07.06.2017 16:49:37] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: So you are on patrol, right?
[07.06.2017 16:49:43] KDS-Shikishima: Itsuki: Which, mind you, i really dislike doing
[07.06.2017 16:50:22] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: Is this a normal route for your ships?
[07.06.2017 16:50:57] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: If so, it's risky to send the ship head on without a fighterwing into enemy space.
[07.06.2017 16:51:48] KDS-Shikishima: Itsuki: We are here to keep an eye on their movement and engage any capital forces they might send
[07.06.2017 16:52:26] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: But if they send in a bomber wing? This might get tricky for a lone battleship.
[07.06.2017 16:53:24] KDS-Shikishima: Itsuki: *Chuckles* They did once, send in three.. Surprisingly little they did
[07.06.2017 16:54:00] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: Oh, so the ship is equipped with anti fighter weapons?
[07.06.2017 16:54:20] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: Or do you harbour a squad in the hangar?
[07.06.2017 16:54:35] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: A squad that's ready to deal with that attacks.
[07.06.2017 16:54:40] KDS-Shikishima: Itsuki: We have point defense turrets, hai, just as any other battleship.
[07.06.2017 16:55:45] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: Huh, that might be true.
[07.06.2017 16:56:13] KDS-Shikishima: Itsuki: And we have a few fighter crafts in our hangar, although they weren't used since the guns did fine on their own
[07.06.2017 16:56:14] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: Though such a bomber squad does leave some marks on the hull, doesn't it?
[07.06.2017 16:56:57] KDS-Shikishima: Itsuki: Nothing that a quick stop at a shipyard can't fix
[07.06.2017 16:57:28] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: I see, I suppose your shipyards are well equipped to repair minor hull damage.
[07.06.2017 16:58:08] KDS-Shikishima: Itsuki: Hm? You are asking quiet a lot, Forlorn. What are you doing here anyways?
[07.06.2017 16:58:52] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: Me? Not much. Just roaming around.
[07.06.2017 16:59:03] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: Trying to make new friends. *laughs*
[07.06.2017 16:59:18] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: Or just find someone to talk to.
[07.06.2017 16:59:45] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: You know, I'm really interested in all the battleships around Siruis.
[07.06.2017 17:00:05] KDS-Shikishima: Itsuki: *Chuckles* I see
[07.06.2017 17:00:40] Forlorn|-Chrysaetos: Sarah: Well, I suppose you have to continue with your patrol. Safe skies!

Yours sincerely,
Knight Captain Stenn
The Forlorn Hope

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CLOSING TRANSMISSION