From: Major Thomas Wallace, Atacama Cohort Subject: Harmony and Outcasts Source: Vespucci Encryption:High Priority:High
Good evening, Taskmaster.
I am Major Wallace, of the Atacama Cohort. I suspect you are familiar with our organisation already, given your involvement in the Bering crisis on the Union's behalf. Your response to mister Frei's accusations, and his subsequent reply, have caused a great deal of concern in the Guard as a whole. I have been authorised by the leading triumvirate to make a formal request for any additional intelligence data you can share regarding the incident in Omicron Alpha, and anything of related nature. We are heavily involved with the Legion in southern Liberty, and a possible infestation we are not aware of is a security risk we cannot afford.
We understand that we are asking for much with little past contact, but the high command found the matter urgent enough to be blunt. We are willing to compensate you as you see fit.
Identification: Taskmaster Harold Kane Affiliation: Natio Octavarium, Fourth Fleet
To: Major Wallace, Atacama Cohort
Subject: Harmony and Outcasts Encryption:You know it Location: Canberra Star City, Tau-44
Greetings, Major.
I must say, it's been some time since I've heard a peep out of Vespucci, and after the shit we pulled in Bering the other day, I was more expecting the silence to be broken by a very angry Legionnaire.
Seeing as the Gaian Guard and the Natio are on decent enough terms that interactions between your patrols and our traders continue to be friendly conversations and not nasty holdups, and as you're giving the Legion a hard time in response to them being somewhat of an overtly-grandiose nuisance lately, I am very much inclined to be forthright about this mess we've observed up in Outcast space.
A quick preface: We're not on unfriendly terms with Malta. That's how we were able to get a shot of the bunch of them together. Hope that's not too awkward of a sticking point.
In essence what I've got for you is this: My pilot's eyewitness testimony is that Jade Linford was engaged in civil conversation with a pilot of the National Council, right above Malta. There was also a Kusari warship, of some destroyer class, with a broken IFF, a cryptic transponder string, and a bunch of equipment on board that was of the glowy blue variety. The type that you usually see coming out of ancient jump gates and attached to tentacle-bearing organisms that attempt to cause hallucinations and then some. There were no hostilities between any of the three of them, whatsoever.
Given the historical connections between the Outcasts and Nomad cults, and the fact that a Kusari destroyer was so far outside its standard zone of operations without being declared rogue or being under assault by the locals, our intelligence agency and I are forced to believe that the destroyer was harbouring Nomad infectees, and that Jade Linford of the Battlegroup Harmony is infected and possibly in league with Malta and/or Outcast cultists. If so, this has two direct ramifications: Harmony's high command is at the very least vulnerable to Nomad subterfuge, a la the opening conditions of the Nomad War, and the Hellfire Legion is under influence by the Outcasts they have claimed to be vehemently opposed to and a Nomad infection that their ally, Battlegroup Harmony, claims to be fighting against. Having previously presented a less thoroughly summarized version of this information to the Legion in hopes that they would themselves connect the dots and having never received even so much as an acknowledgement of receipt, it is also our opinion that the Hellfire Legion either doesn't believe us, is already subdued, or is desperately burying this information to avoid public exposure.
Take my advice, Major. If you take the Vespucci system from the Legion, don't venture into Kansas. That system drives people mad.
Regards,
Taskmaster Harold Kane Fourth Octavarium Fleet
From: Major Thomas Wallace, Atacama Cohort Subject: Harmony and Outcasts Source: Vespucci Encryption:High Priority:High
Taskmaster.
We appreciate the provided information. It will take time for the Guard to decide on how to proceed with this situation. In the meantime, the triumvirate decided to use this chance to initiate relations with the Natio in a more official capacity. Expect a message in the coming days.