'Hola? Who are you? And what the hell are you doing in my office..' he announced, noticing somebody sitting in his chair gazing out the window.
'You called me here' a familiar voice announced.
'I know that voice..' the don thought to himself.
'Vidal?' he followed with, realizing it was his old friend, and hopefully, soon to be head of his new escort squadron.
Without turning, he cut in, in an almost upset manner 'Where was my invitation the party celebrating your promotion'
'Ismael, its not like..' the don began.
'Bulls..ugar!' the man in the chair began to interrupt, before changing his tone as a slave entered with coffee for the don.
'I tried to contact you, I wanted you there, so that I could announce to the Colonel your promotion..' the don said, trying to calm his long time friend.
'A promotion? I don't even work for you Enrique' the man who was in the chair, now standing, facing the don replied.
'Well, in that case, it seems like I'm offering you a job, how would you like to lead my escort wing?' the don asked.
'I.. uh..' Ismael started, before being cut off by the don.
'Spit it out son' the don jumped in.
'Well, uh.. sure.. I guess..' Ismael replied.
'Good, you can start by cleaning the rust off that old rust bucket outside, it's your new ship' the don said.
'Then get a new suit on, this afternoon we are going slave hunting' he quickly continued.
'Slave hunting' Ismael replied, puzzled.
'I thought your new job involved you shipping Cardamine' Ismael asked.
'It does, however, it seems slaves under the control of my predecessor have been betraying him' The don quickly replied.
'And today, as my first action, I will cease this betrayal' he quickly added.
'Betrayal? But how?' Ismael enquired.
'Seems the slaves protecting the Syndicates warehouses have been paid off, large shipments of Cardamine are being shipped by an un-authorized group of smugglers..' The don started.
'These smugglers call themselves The Cartel' continued, before grabbing a coffee off the silver platter that the slave had brought in.
'What are you going to do about it' Ismael replied.
'First, we will eradicate any slaves, who, while under the Blue Lotus Syndicates command, have betrayed or committed treason against the Outcast nation' jumped in the don, as if he had known what Isamels question was before he had asked it.
'After, I would like you to use the primary long range communication system on our fine planet here, and open a channel with the leader of The Cartel. Explain to him that the Blue Lotus Syndicate is now banning all Cartel ships from shipping Slaves to Malta. And from Shipping Cardamine from Malta to.. well.. Anywhere!' the don continued.
The don took a deep breath before continuing.
'If they refuse, tell them we will use the full force of our Syndicate to hunt them down, and eradicate them from the every corner of Sirius, while your at it, tell them that if any of their ships attempt hostilities with our convoys, including pirating or the use of weaponry, then they shall have a war on their hands' he finished
'The old don may have accepted this treason to go on, but I sure as hell wont' he remarked.
'Now, grab your coat, time to deal with these blasted slaves' the don said, before getting out of his chair, and moving to the door, waiting for Ismael to collect his coat.
As the two gentlemen walked down the hallway, Don Enrique Rodriguez turned to his Flight Lieutenant Ismael Vidal, 'You know, I got reports from multiple Outcast military vessels claiming the Cartel were working with those Corsair cannibals, and even worse, they were insulting our spirits..'
'..And they want to trade Cardamine, that which was graciously supplied to us by the spirits, I take such as a personal insult' the don added before both men continued down the hallway..
****Incoming Transmission****
Comm ID: Planet Malta
Target: Don Buccatello, Suspected Leader of the Cartel
From: Ismael Vidal
Hola Don Buccatello
The recent actions of your group, as well as your blatant disrespect of Maltese laws, disrespect for Outcast deities, and the investigation into allegations of treason have urged my don to take action against your group.
As of this message, your group is now required to cease and assist.
This includes:
- The ceasing of smuggling operations to or from Malta, including slaves and cardamine. This job will now fall upon The Blue Lotus Syndicate and assorted independent smugglers.
- Offering protection to any smuggler in need carrying goods to or from Malta, should they fall in radar distance of your ships, or should they call you for assistance.
Should you refuse to cease your smuggling operations, refuse to help smugglers, show blatant disrespect to the people of Malta or its laws, including helping or assisting any Corsairs or their allies, The Blue Lotus Syndicate will be forced to take further action against your group, including anything from fines, the ceasing of cargo or even military action.
The don would like a response from your group with your intentions, should you refuse to respond, this will be taken as actions of hostilities against our group
***********Incoming Message************* ***********ERROR: Location unknown*******
***********ERROR: Signal Jammed********* ***********CommID: Don Buccalleto******** ***********CommVideo Playing************
Greetings' it seems that we have come to a fork in the road, We can either coexsist together, or this can get messy. The Cartel does not wish it to come to this... I dont know who told you that we had
Quote:blatant disrespect of Maltese laws, disrespect for Outcast deities, and the investigation into allegations of treason have urged my don to take action against your group.
But you have been severly misinformed.
*Lights a Cigar*
We have always
Quote:Offered protection to any smuggler in need carrying goods to or from Malta, should they fall in radar distance of your ships, or should they call you for assistance.
as well as offered assistance to all Outcast groups. We provide that assistance in very heavy patrolled police area's, where they are constantly at war with crime. *Takes a long drag on cigar* we as well run some of our products and escorts. *laughs* and we have never
Quote: helped or assisted any Corsairs or their allies
It would seem that you have been....mislead.. by someone...We wont cease our operations nor will we cease relations with the maltese people.
Perhaps we can come to some agreement and turn this into a long lasting relationship.
*Video Feed Blurrs*
A meeting between our two syndicates, would be the best course of action. Because it seems that we both occupy the same niche. Provide a place with a time, and we shall discuss these things, and come to some sort of agreement.
****Incoming Transmission****
Comm ID: Planet Malta
Target: Don Bucaletto, Leader of the Cartel
From: Don Enrique Rodriguez, Leader of the Blue Lotus Sydnicate
Greetings,
While in many cases i like to meet with my counterparts to discuss issues, in your case, i fear for your life. In my hand i carry a large stack of reports by multiple Maltese Military personnel indicating:
Quote:blatant disrespect of Maltese laws, disrespect for Outcast deities, and the investigation into allegations of treason
These reports, aswell as your reluctancy to cease all smuggling operations while we go through the diplomatic process has shown me that your group show no curteousy.
And, may i ask you who gave your permission to move large amounts of Outcast capital ships into Liberty space?
Currently, i thinks is safer if you stay as far away from me as possible. I have put my demands forth to you, it is now in your hands to return a counteroffer, which i will discuss with my command, aswell as our superiors. I suggest you think this counteroffer over with your command, as it could be your last chance to save yourselves
*******VIDEO FEED PLAYING********
*******JAMMING SIGNAL TRACE*****
*******COMMID: Don Buccalleto*****
You clearly do not wish to settle this peacefully as you have made this clear with your apparent threats
Quote:in your case, i fear for your life
We have moved no capital ships anywhere, nor do we even operate with capital ships, so it blantantly shows you have no idea about us, and it will stay that way. It is you who should fear comming around us with such threats. The fact that you refuse to meet with us shows that you are not trust worthy, nor do you plan on coming to a agreement. You have created a demand that cannot be met with a counter offer. You wish to work this out but refuse to actually meet *Laughs and smokes cigar*
Entill you are ready to talk, our operations will not cease, but when you are in fact ready, we will cease entill this little "Conference" is over. It is very clear your apparent "Reports" are forgeries, and this puts us to even further distrust you padre, check, the next move is yourse. *******ENDING VIDEO************
I'm not sure what this is all about, but it is painful to see Outcasts showing hostility to one another. I have worked with the Cartel in the past and would certainly not wish to continue working with them if it became clear that they were acting against Outcast interests. They have escorted me on numerous occasions and shown themselves to be valuable protectors of the Slave and Cardamine routes against the enemies of the Outcasts, and would not take a decision to stop working with them lightly.
I therefore request to either see evidence of the charges raised against them, or to be allowed to continue to use their services on my Cardamine runs, which of course include entry into the Omicron Alpha system.
To clarify, the evidence I would like to see is of the following:
-Assisting the Corsairs
-Bringing Capital class ships into Liberty space
-Blatant disrespect for Maltese laws
-Blatant disrespect for the Nomads
Thank you, and I hope that this is not simply a case of one group fighting their brothers simply because they represent competition in the Cardamine market.
****Incoming Transmission****
Comm ID: Planet Malta
Target: Don Bucalleto, Leader of the Cartel
From: Don Enrique Rodriguez, Leader of the Blue Lotus Syndicate.
Amigo.
I hate to prove you wrong, but Gunboat vessels are capital class ships, beleive it or not, and your group operates a rather substantial fleet of these throughout California, New York, Cortez and Pennsylvania.
Reports from the Maltese Military are highly classfied, i am unable to divulge such information on channels that are so obviously public, which they seem to be due to a transmssion i have received by an independent smuggler.
However, if you would like to call reports by the Maltese Military (//Who are 101st, RoS and to a less extreme SOB) forgeries, i beleive you have little trust for any Outcast, and are therefore, not an Outcast at all.
Unless you have some offer that will benefit us both, as i can see many, but it is not my job to decide a counter-offer, that is your job. I see no way of your smuggling operations to continue. If you continue to send ships, they will be removed of any cargo, or if the case insists, destroyed. If you choose to fight this removal of cargo with military force, the Syndicate will be forced to take more drastic measures.
If these reports i was reading weren't so extreme, i would not find the need to threaten your life, however, disrespect to our deities is an extreme offense. ****End Transmission****
****Incoming Transmission****
Comm ID: Planet Malta
Target: Captain of the Midnight Express
From: Don Enrique Rodriguez, Leader of the Blue Lotus Syndicate.
Currently this situation does not involve you.
You also and therefore have no authorisation to request or demand any evidence from myself, or my command. You may continue shipping your slaves and cardamine, you may even work with the Cartel. This has nothing to do with you, and therefore you are in no position to interfere.
I am also unsure as to how you have tracked a message that was not sent to you. I will investigate a intruder in the Maltese communications system.
*****INCOMING VIDEO FEED******
*****PLAYING FEED*************
Perhaps you could elaborate on these "Extreme Reports"
Quote:i am unable to divulge such information on channels that are so obviously public, which they seem to be due to a transmssion i have received by an independent smuggler.
Why do you think the cartel asked for a meeting? *****Ending Transmission********
***Incoming Transmission***
***Comm ID: Director Sarah Whitacre, Maltese Intelligence***
***Target ID: Public Channel***
***Re: Reports***
Let me reinforce the extreme nature of these reports (as the person who orders many of these reports written). You are severely contributing to the decline of our allies by bleeding the legitimate and semi-legitimate cargo market dry, eating up the supplies in their ports and sharply cutting into their profits (as well as displaying a considerable history of failing to notice discrepancies in your target choices); worst of all, the Cartel seems to do this in expensive military hardware, large, LARGE amounts of said expensive hardware, that would be better served dominating Titans in Omicron Eta. Also, it should be noted that your ship's plates do not in fact bear Outcast plates; your transponders do, but these are considered secondary to said plates, and in effect you are not flying as Maltese but as independent pirates, with military hardware. I will leave the discussion to the more active policymakers, but there is your datum.
***End Transmission***
Quote:Quick comment - we thought that Panzer was the Leader, Swift. -Agmen
**Incoming Transmission**
Comm ID - Col. Picaroon Diablo, Commander, Shadow Outcast Brigade, Blue Lotus Syndicate
Target ID - Leader of Cartel
Subject: Discussion
Begin Transmission:
Hola,
As stated by the officer I & Shadow have placed in command of operations of [BLS], & the well respected Maltese Intelligence Director Sarah Whitacre, have relayed to you. Your actions are affecting one of our closest allied contacts & supporters in the Liberty system.
As I leave the intelligence matters to Se?ora Whitacre, I do how ever have interest in my ally's problems & our profits.
The ONLY reason you have not been removed like a pimple at this point is for the mere fact you are supposedly Outcast.
Therefore, I am willing to arrange a meeting between The Cartel, SOB, BLS, 101st, RoS ( if they are inclined to attend) and LR, to discuss this matter & possibly find a solution to the matters that seem to be in conflict.
Said meeting should be in a accessible to all location. & a time & date will be arranged to meet all interested parties schedule.
Do not pass up this opportunity, as it is your last chance. Failure to reply & discuss these matter will be seen as an blatant act against our interests, I can assure you, you will not like the actions that follow.
Respond with a time & date you are willing to meet as soon as possible.