To: Field Marshall McKenney
From: Raymond Zimmerman (IMG)
Encryption: High
Good day. I’m Raymond Zimmerman, the owner of Eldorado Station.
It appears as though a gunboat captain by the name of O’Hara, who claimed to speak on behalf of you and the “Molly Liberation Army”, saw it fit to threaten one of our maintenance transports. From what we could gather, the MLA is “a Molly faction that doesn’t follow Molly diplomacy” and there’s some sort of animosity between you and Blodwyn O’Driscoll or the Molly Council.
Although quite frankly I don’t know what to think of this yet, I’m always keen to hear differing viewpoints and opinions in order to find mutual benefit. O’Hara said you already know of our plans to open a race-track casino and restaurant. So may I conclude the message he said you requested with… what can I do for you?
To: Raymond Zimmerman
From: Filed Marshal Roy Mckenney
Date: 12/10/824AS
Ah, Mr Zimmerman..
Excellent. I see my messenge made it through to you. I find that people are much more willing to enter into a communication when inspired by the sight of a gunboat at their door. Now, firstly, as I hope my captain explained, this interaction was not a declaration of any hostile intentions.. merely an introduction to our cause. While at some point we will explain our intentions further to your officials at IMG HQ, I do not feel you are important enough to warrant my time on anything other than a simple request..
So.. to business Mr Zimmerman. All I require from you right now is access, for all vessels identifying themselves with the [MLA] tag, to your installation. Along with this we will require private quarters for 10 to 15 of our men to be used as and when the need arises. Though I am not willing to discuss, at this time, our groups intentions.. I can assure you that they are for the good of Dublin and no actions considered illegal by the Molly Council, or indeed the MLA, shall be committed on or around your station.
I await your reply.
For Dublin. For the Republic.
R Mckenney
Field Marshal Roy Mckenney
Molly Liberation Army
To: Field Marshall McKenney
From: Raymond Zimmerman (IMG)
Encryption: High
It’s a pleasure for my associate and me to welcome your people on Eldorado so they can buy or sell goods and so they can get some well-deserved R&R, even at a discount. Our facilities cannot accommodate military grade combat ships for safety as well as technical reasons, but cargo ships will be able to dock if they abide to our terms of service. These terms are very simple and easy to memorize:
Don’t endanger our operation.
Unfortunately, I have to tell you that your man didn’t exactly abide to the “Don’t endanger our operation” part. If his orders were to make it appear as though you didn’t have hostile intentions, he did an absolutely terrible job at it:
As the rather unsettling evidence shows, he destroyed several IMG ships, forcing Battleship Hood to open fire on his gunboat. Not “only” that, he also ordered our transport to stop supplying Eldorado for the day, even though he was fully aware of the fact that it was urgently in need of repairs, even threatening to open fire.
I’m sure a man of your caliber understands, unlike O’Hara, that this sort of behavior doesn’t exactly inspire trust in the intentions you said you wouldn’t divulge to us while requesting access. You may not be aware what crazy stunts are sometimes pulled by some inhabitants of Sirius who just want to be a pain in the… neck… to certain station owners. Therefore one must be cautious.
But I’m also sure we can put that behind us and come to an agreement which will get your men access to our casino, wares, and culinary wonders. In your case, the terms of service would translate into these minimum requirements from your part:
1. No shooting or threatening of IMG ships or other customers within 5 k of the station.
2. No trying to dock with combat ships, and the crews of transports of miners will submit to scans for weapons, explosives, and harmful substances, the same as is done to everyone.
3. No docking and launching from Eldorado using IDs or tags identifying the ship as Molly –OR- No docking on Eldorado while anyone but Eldorado crew is within radar range and no launching when anyone but Eldorado crew is in Dublin.
Should any MLA member violate requirement 3, I’ll be forced to permanently remove all access and claim to be the victim of swindlers posing as the “Milk Lovers Association” who said they wanted to evaluate our restaurant. In fact, it would be great if you or your men provided some faked video evidence for that beforehand, in case I need it later. Let’s call that requirement number 4.
I trust you’ll find our simple and easy terms acceptable, and wish you the best of luck in your negotiations with IMG HQ. Because I hate to be a snitch, I’ll keep the O’Hara incident to myself for now.
Maybe someone as important as you won’t accept advice from someone as insignificant as myself but… if you don’t trust a man to make a simple reservation for 10-15 people by himself (which would have been very easy if he hadn’t shot IMG ships), you really shouldn’t trust him with a gunboat either. I’ve heard rumors his ship was taken out by a BAF bomber he attacked shortly after our meeting. Just asking nicely often saves a lot of time, diplomatic relations, and resources.
To: Raymond Zimmerman
From: Filed Marshal Roy Mckenney
Date: 13/10/824AS
Mr Zimmerman,
Though visually stunning, the images you have provided show nothing of any concern, as far as i am aware from Captain O'Hara there was a slight 'misunderstanding', but it was swiftly cleared up.
Now, maybe i was not forthcoming enough in my previous transmission as you seem to have misunderstood a few things.. Firstly, you seem to be of the opinion that your position here is something of a right due to your 'affiliation' with the IMG, i assure you it is not.. your continued presence in this system is tangible at best. I'm not going to try educate you on foreign policy.. but you seem to be of the opinion that you are a representative of the Guild and continue to speak with an air of authority. Stop that.
Secondly, though your tone is unacceptable your terms are representative of what we would expect. We are not interested in using your station as a tactical advantage and your concerns about military assets are unnecessary. We therefore agree to your terms.
May i remind you Mr Zimmerman that you and your 'associate' are here as guests of the Republic, you would do well to act accordingly
For Dublin. For the Republic.
R Mckenney
Field Marshal Roy Mckenney
Molly Liberation Army