Greetings Naval Officers and the Ambassador's loved ones. I'm sure you all know by now, my name is Eva Jones, and I am the Underboss of the Liberty Rogues.
At approximately two fifteen AM sirius mean time on the sixth of Feburary eight-eighteen AS, the Liberty Rogues captured and escorted Lady Countess Lafiel Tarrant to a hidden Liberty Rogue base.
We intend to Ransom her, our demands will be made at a later date. Ah, but of course you want proof. I am sure Captain Robert Foster of the HMS Serenity has already informed you of our act, we specifically let him and his crew return for that purpose.
Once you have recieved and understood this transmission, we will begin negotiations. Do not fear for the Ambassador's safety, I am personally looking after her myself.
I look forward to hearing back from your representatives. Oh, and I suggest you keep this little matter secret from the Bretonian Government, your Liberty Navy are responsible for this mess, after all. Neglecting to escort an Ambassador, tut tut.
Eva, out.
|::Transmission Terminated::|
The Liberty Navy would like to firstly apologise unreservedly for letting this incident occur. I am sure that your own military officials and representatives will tell you how hard it is to be everywhere all the time, but that does not diminish in any way the gravity of the situation that we are now facing.
Firstly, we would like your own sources to confirm that the claimed individual, Countess Tarrant, is missing from your own house. This is to ascertain if the Rogues could in any capacity be telling the truth, though they havent many reasons to lie.
The next step, if it proves that the Countess is being held against her will by a Rogue force, is to conduct a joint military operation between our two military forces, the Liberty Navy and the Bretonian Armed Forces. Once Fleet Admiral Hale returns from his short period of recluse to deal with his own very important and personal matters, I will enquire to whether or not we already have a confirmed location of Alcatraz base, so kindly identified by the Liberty Rogue in question as you can see above.
Details of this military operation obviously cannot be finalised at this moment, however we are willing to co-operate in full to see that the Countess is returned to safety at the earliest possible time, and crushing one of our own teething problems in the process.
This time the Liberty Rogues have gone too far, and the Liberty Navy feel that this point would be better illustrated if the Bretonian Armed Forces deployed a Dunkirk battlegroup in the area during the operation. That is, if your own military wishes to participate in the rescue of your official. The Durango and her entourage are being moved to Riverside as we speak, and as you can see from the source of this message, the Maryland is already there.
The Liberty Navy is prepared for a sizable deployment of force in California to make sure that when this problem is gone, it stays gone. Forever. I am aware that the Bretonian Armed Forces is under a lot of pressure from the Empire of Kusari militarily, and I completely understand if no ships can be spared to assist in the rescue operation, let alone a Dunkirk-led battlegroup.
As you may or may not know, the Liberty Navy has a policy of not negotiating terms with terrorists, pirates and criminals. We intend to adhere to this and show the Rogues why it is not a good idea to set the behemoth that is the Liberty Navy into motion. Such a show of force can only be augmented by the presence of a sizable Bretonian fleet in the area. It would show them that 'we mean business' so to speak. I would recommend that, if the Bretonian Admiralty does choose to send a Dunkirk battlegroup to represent Bretonian interests in the unfolding operation, that it remains in tactical reserve or comes to battle with a full compliment of solaris battleship weaponry (barring two battlerazors and a heavy mortar), due to the proliferation of Barghest-class bombers in recent weeks.
I am deeply sorry to be the bearer of bad news, and for now I completely understand if your foreign ministery wishes to issue a travel advisory to Liberty. The situation has gotten out of hand recently, with three or four groups of pirates at different ends of our territory, as well as Rheinland forces constantly probing into Texas.
As always, the Liberty Navy High Command will be completely confidential with any correspondance that we recieve from any Bretonian official.
Usually, I would wait for the admiralty board to respond, but time is moving too quickly.
I am sending the communication and tracking codes of the HMS Serenity to you. Did the Serenity herself return with the crew, or is it still being held? I was unsure from the original message. At any rate, find the ship if you can.
As for Bretonian involvement, I can safely say that any large-scale fleet movement must be approved by the admiralty board. They are being notified as we speak, but it will take time for them to decide the matter. Presumably, a rescue operation would require boarding action of either a base or enemy vessel, so I have commissioned six S.A.S. hostage rescue teams to begin training for such a contingency. Any intelligence on Liberty Rouge light ams and personal combat technology would be greatly appreciated.
In addition, I have forwarded this message to MI5 and MI6. They should have some ideas soon.
A more authoritative message will be forthcoming. Good luck with your search efforts, and please keep us updated on any future developments.
Transmission; Start
Identification: Commodore Christina Robinson
Location: California system, Battleship Maryland, Riverside space
Regarding the current situation;
There have been several swift developments regarding Countess Tarrant, detailed below.
' Wrote:
Addendum to Transmission
Comm ID: Sylpheed
Location: Error, Unknown Location....
All right,
Keeping this short and sweet. Lafiel Tarrant has been moved to less pleasant quarters. I'll tell you this though, she's no longer in Liberty proper.
<div align="right]It now falls on me to inform that any attempt to rescue her will result in her dying, failure to meet our demands results in her dying, in fact doing anything other than providing us with what we ask for will result in her death.
I'm not a bad man, oh wait, yes I am, but this situation calls for a sublte approach. Navy Dreadnoughts can and will be forcefully terminated if they start trying to navigate the badlands. Not that she's there.
<div align="right]Until such time as you receive our demands, that'll be all for now.
Sylpheed Out.
I would say that assuming the worst is a safe course of action, pardon the irony. The Rogues do have the capability to move on short notice, its their mobility over the Liberty Navy that has kept them alive so far. With this said, the ability for us to initiate a strike prior to the rescue of the Countess has fallen by the wayside somewhat.
The Maryland and the Durango battlegroups are remaining in California until further notice, cracking down on the rampant piracy in that system.
Quote:As for Bretonian involvement, I can safely say that any large-scale fleet movement must be approved by the admiralty board. They are being notified as we speak, but it will take time for them to decide the matter. Presumably, a rescue operation would require boarding action of either a base or enemy vessel, so I have commissioned six S.A.S. hostage rescue teams to begin training for such a contingency. Any intelligence on Liberty Rouge light ams and personal combat technology would be greatly appreciated.
In addition, I have forwarded this message to MI5 and MI6. They should have some ideas soon.
A more authoritative message will be forthcoming. Good luck with your search efforts, and please keep us updated on any future developments.
As you can see in the attached transmission by the 'Crime Boss' Sylpheed, the circumstances are changing even faster than you or I had predicted. Bearing this in mind, instead of direct military action, I propose that your MI6 work with the Liberty Security Force in rescuing the Countess from danger. This would result in a more focussed strike than the blunt yet unstoppable axe that is the Liberty Navy and Bretonian Armed Forces, and would also keep the risk to Countess Tarrant at a minimum.
We will do what we can diplomatically to diminish the threats to the Countess, but ultimately the responsibility for her safe rescue will be on the co-operation between our intelligence services rather than our military forces.
However, assuming that she is rescued unharmed, a sweep of California is still on the cards. I maintain that the Rogues have gone to far with this action of kidnapping, but with this new disclosure, military intervention from the beginning would be a bad idea considering that our objective is to get Lafiel out of danger in one piece.
It may even turn out that we cannot intervene with our full force due to other issues with our military provisioning arising across Liberty. For example, the Durango battlegroup not being in Texas poses a problem for our garrison there, as you can imagine. We therefore cannot keep the Durango and her escort in California for an extended period of time, which this may turn out to be.
The Maryland, however, will remain for the forseeable future, and is already securing the largest problem areas in the system as we speak. Having had no permanent deployment orders since her reintegration into the Liberty Navy, this is the perfect opportunity to give her a more long-term purpose.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Transmission Terminated
Addendum;
Quote:I am sending the communication and tracking codes of the HMS Serenity to you. Did the Serenity herself return with the crew, or is it still being held? I was unsure from the original message. At any rate, find the ship if you can.
The Serenity itself has returned to safe space with its crew. Oddly, the Liberty Rogues let it go in favour of just kidnapping the resident Countess. Therefore, the tracking codes of the Serenity give us a location that is invalid to our search.
Our forces will continue to search as much as their patrols allow, and I will personally open diplomatic proceedings with the Liberty Rogues to give both our forces and your admiralty more time to respond to the matter.
---Incoming Transmission---
From: Senior Agent Francis “Squints” McClintock, Liberty Security Force, Department of Special Operations
Subject: Forwarded: Reconnaissance Report
Message Starts:
McClintock reporting in.
Using the coordinates provided by the HMS Serenity's transponder, I requisitioned one of our trusty undercover CSVs (nicknamed “Inconspicuous Bob”) and flew out to the suspected location of the terrorist base. After a brief reconnoiter of the area I located the asteroid base “Alcatraz” as seen in the photos supplied by the terrorists.
I took several photos with the spycam. The base appears to be heavily armed, though their defenses are a bit lax. I do not believe they are expecting any sort of lawful attack, so it’s safe to assume that the hostage has been transferred elsewhere, just as the terrorists claimed. We are currently investigating other possible locations where the terrorists may be holding the Countess.
As for this base, I think we should continue to monitor the activity going in and out of it for a while. Right now we know where they are. If the Navy were to destroy it, we would lose all trace of the criminals that frequent Alcatraz as a base of operations.
*puts on fedora and trenchcoat* Now I know what sort of community you really are. *walks off into the rain*
I would ask at this time that all uneccessary banter between the Liberty Navy and Liberty Rogues not be present in this transmission. This is for conducting buisness only.
RE: Commodore Christina Robinson
To whom it may concern? I have a name, honey. And it's Eva bloody Jones. And, y'see, that imaginary 'line' we crossed exists only in your world of laws and conduct. You're in our world now, better get used to it.
Ah yes, the demands, my favourite part indeed. Initally we were pondering the concept of demanding a Dreadnaught from your fleet. Unfortunately it's too hard to make something of that size disappear.
Rather, the demands will be simple, and no doubt you'll find them easy to agree to.
We want Five unmarked Guardian Very Heavy Fighters, each fitted out with full Magma Hammer Mk V type weapons. The location of their delivery will be given at a later date. Once you have agreed to these terms, we will discuss how to proceed with the return of Miss Tarrant.
I'll be in touch,
Eva, out.
|::Transmission Terminated::|
Given our aforementioned directive not to deal with these sorts of hostage situations by fulfilling the demands of the kidnappers, rest assured that despite any answer I give, they wont be getting the any of the military kit that they want. As you can well imagine, unmarked Guardians causing trouble in Liberty is not something that is tolerable, and would be likely to provoke distrust of the Navy amongst even the most loyal of our citizens. The Magma Hammer V weapons would only add to those suspicions, as this is a popular weapon configuration amongst our own officers.
It also seems that they may have their head in the clouds, for even considering to demand a Dreadnought from our fleet. This is, unfortunately, the level of intelligence that we have to deal with in Liberty.
This is my response to the Liberty Rogues:
' Wrote:Transmission; Start
Identification: Commodore Christina Robinson
Location: ...
Eva 'bloody' Jones;
Having you, Sylpheed and Mort in that order make amendment after amendment does actually confuse whose jurestiction this lies under.
Believe it or not, its fairly difficult to requisition five fully outfitted Guardians on short notice, hence you'll note our recruits fly older Executioners whilst their future Guardians are being prepared. I will do what I can on this front, but it will take some time to make sure that they are ready.
Now we would like to discuss the condition of Countess Tarrant; where and when she is to be taken back into lawful hands.
Transmission Terminated
I do have faith that together, the LSF and MI6 can outsmart the likes of the Liberty Rogues and bring Countess Tarrant to safety.
That said, the time we do have left is running out. For ease of communication between the Bretonian Admiralty and the forces of Liberty, I already handed out the encryption key for this channel to the LSF. I would suggest you do the same to your intelligence services, if they havent already been made aware of the contents of this uplink.
As you can see above, the Liberty Security Force is already conducting a search operation using, in this case, unmarked ships. Any Bretonian Intelligence personnel that the Admiralty decides to send to Liberty will not be restricted in their movements in search of the Countess.
[Incoming Transmission]
[Source: Planet Cambridge]
[CommID: Foreign and Colonial Office]
Commodore Robinson, Agent McClintock, representatives of the Liberty Administration,
I can confirm the abscence of Countess Lafiel Tarrent, a Foreign Office official from my department and confirm her expected kidnapp in Liberty. This is an unfortunate incident and admittedly does not reflect well upon the security situation in California at present. I must confess, however, that this is not the first time she has gotten herself into trouble being somewhat reckless of nature, and likely this incident will have to be followed by more stringent security protocols as and when she is brought home.
It is also worth noting that the rogues appear to be rather uninformed about the nature of their captive. She is not, in fact, the Bretonian Ambassador to Liberty, Lord Braterford, who I can safely say is secure aboard the HMS Britannia above Manhattan. She is, however, the daughter of the influential Lord Sebastian Tarrant, Marquess of Arundel and we would nonetheless wish all possible action to be taken in recovering her person safely.
I have spoken with the War Cabinet this morning and have confirmation that the Director of MI6 is mobilising what assets they have to assist in any operation. Fleet Admiral Nelson has also pledged the support of a small task force to stand by should it be needed. If you could try to establish some meeting place in, perhaps, Cortez, with the rogues for the handover of the Countess and the guardian ships, we could attempt an ambush. Otherwise we will have to rely upon our intelligence services uncovering the hostage location. Perhaps if this "Alcatraz" base could be infiltrated, we might find informants onboard who would know where the Countess may have been takem?
I am dispatching Sir Humphrey Appleby, Permanent Under-Secretary to the Foreign Office, to our Embassy in New York from where he will coordinate search efforts and liason with the Liberty Administration. This channel will remain open for coordination between our intelligence services.
Lord Charles Canning
9th Earl of Malmesbury
Foreign Secretary of Bretonia
Make no mistake, Commodore Robinson, I am in charge of conducting these negotiations. However the demands come from the request of Sylpheed himself. I am currently off-base as I communicate these transmissions, and have not been in contact with Sylpheed since these events occured, so he may wish to make ammendments to our demands.
I understand if you require to wait for permission from Admiral Hale before agreeing to the terms of our demands. If my intell is correct, he is not currently available, no?
Once the Guardians have been prepared, then, and only then will we return Miss Tarrant. Here's how it will go down, after the Guardians have been prepared, you will recieve a transmission with the location of a meeting place. Since you seem to have volunteered yourself to conduct the negotiations, you yourself will come alone.
From there, you will be given instructions for the delivery of the Guardians. You will not know the location until the date, our engineers will check the ships are in working order and are not fitted with homing or self destruct devices. Then, once the Guardians have been moved unhindered to our bases, you will recieve another transmission. You will meet me there alone once again, and the location of Miss Tarrant will be given to you at that time.
Are these instructions clear enough?
Eva, out.
|::Transmission Terminated::|
And replied to with:
' Wrote:Transmission; Start
Identification: Commodore Christina Robinson
Location: ...
Regarding your instruction;
The instructions are clear, but I do not find them acceptable. You could easily demand more after providing a dummy location. I'm not likely to miss something as obvious as that.
The current instructions are too unfavourable, and place all the cards in your hands. Whilst this is obviously your aim, I think we need to find a mutally agreeable process if you want the Guardians as much as we want the Countess' return.
So I propose that the Navy, myself, will conduct the transfer of the Guardians to your ownership simultaneously as Lafiel is returned to safety. Your master also seems to have requested the former Admiral Sheridan. Whilst I cannot promise that he will be in the best shape when he arrives, due to a little bit of correctional education, he wont be a vegetable, and we'll be happy to provide that person to you during the transfer, or perhaps even before if you need a sign of good faith.
The status of the Guardians themselves is also still within processing, as Sylpheed stated that there's no rush in this matter.
As to Fleet Admiral Hale, I am in control of the Navy until his return. When he returns, he might wish to take control of the situation himself. Until then, I have the authority, thats not something you have to fear or wait on.
Transmission Terminated
This information will hopefully prove useful to the LSF and your own MI6, or at least serve to keep the relevant figures informed with the progress of the situation. I'll reiterate again, they arent going to be getting Guardians. I already have an idea about that, and will be talking to the technicians in the strictest of confidentiality about it once they are assembled.
Considering my current objective is to bide our time, as you can see I rejected their initial procedure in favour of a more balanced sequence of events. It is fairly risky, but we do need the time.
Of interest, Sylpheed also made this interjection before the above transmission by Eva Jones and my own reply:
' Wrote:
Transmission
Comm ID: Sylpheed
Location: Error, Unknown Location....
All right,
Listen up, everyone that includes my bunch who made this mess in the first place. Countess Tarrant is in fine form. She understands her predicament and has made no moves to insult or otherwise make her stay any less pleasant. Something I am incredibly grateful for.
<div align="right]She will not be harmed in anyway so long as the technology provided is also not tinkered with. I fully expect you to remove all the sensitive Liberty government shenanigans, but other than that they'll be basic working Guardians as Eva suggested.
I will admit that Countess Tarrant is pleasant company, intelligent at least, a far cry from my usual dinner companions it must be said. So let's not be too hasty getting the kit together. I reckon I can steal...er find... a nice bottle of red for tonight's meal.
<div align="right]Oh right one last thing, Admiral Geoffrey Sheridan, former Admiral in charge of something or other, got arrested for ordering the attack on an unarmed and unarmoured protest convoy. I want him released. To my custody, he and I need to have a few words.
Sylpheed Out.
I have no objection to using the former Admiral Sheridan as a bargaining chip to at least gain some grain of trust from the Liberty Rogues.
However, the main purpose of including Sylpheed's transmission above was to clarify the current situation of Countess Tarrant.
---Incoming Transmission---
From: Senior Agent Francis Squints McClintock, Liberty Security Force, Department of Special Operations
Subject: Location of Liberty Rogues
Message Starts:
McClintock here.
I have contacted an old acquaintance from the Bounty Hunters Guild, one Guildmaster Graves. He has offered intel that the Rogues are occasionally spotted heading into the fields of the Magellan system. In particular, their plotted courses triangulate their destination consistently at coordinate C2, a location where there should be nothing. For fear of ambush in an area where navigational sensors are useless, the BHG has never pursued them into this field.
The LSF is going to investigate this spot. With any luck it will lead us back on the trail of the kidnappers.
In the meantime, Guildmaster Graves has offered members of his 22nd Wing to assist in patrolling the Cortez system in search of the Rogues. This system is largely unknown to us, and for that reason we believe it is a likely spot for enemy hideouts of various organizations, including the Rogues.
We will bring updates as we get them. Right now the LSF needs more time to locate where the Countess is being held. If the terrorists refuse to bring her to the trade spot in exchange for their Guardians, we're going to have to go in and get her ourselves. If they figure out that they're not going to get what they want, they're going to kill her.
*puts on fedora and trenchcoat* Now I know what sort of community you really are. *walks off into the rain*
---Incoming Transmission---
From: Senior Agent Francis Squints McClintock, Liberty Security Force, Department of Special Operations
Subject: Location of Liberty Rogues, Intelligence Update
Message Starts:
McClintock here.
Everyone at the LSF has been clocking overtime and running themselves ragged for the last two days. Providence has rewarded our efforts with the discovery of two new Rogue bases, courtesy of our new secret weapon. Here's the relevant navigational intel:
Montezuma
We have investigated the coordinates indicated to us by the Bounty Hunters Guild in Magellan. There's a stable jump hole just inside the Barrier ice field at point C2. On the other side of the hole sits a Rogue base not 20 clicks away. It is likely this base has been used in the past as a staging point for raids in Magellan, Cortez, and neighboring systems.
One of our spies docked with the base and managed to take a few photos inside without getting caught. In addition, he was able to use his cover to gather two very interesting pieces of information after shooting the breeze with several of the locals.
(This is the first time we've heard reference to a Dawson base. It's location, however, is anyone's guess.)
The base's name is apparently Montezuma. We were hoping that the Countess was being held prisoner here due to its close proximity to Alcatraz base. Unfortunately, it seems Montezuma is fairly underused these days, and no prisoners are being detained there.
Fort McMurray
Red Dear station has been monitoring consistently increasing Rogue activity in Alberta for some time now. One of our spies was dispatched to work with the LPI on the station, and has managed to triangulate the position of another Rogue base of operations after plotting Rogue escape routes into the nearby rock field. The base is hidden deep within the field, scattering long range sensors and effectively shielding it from detection.
Once more, our spy managed to pick up the daily schmooze at the bar. Apparently a member of Rogue high command, Danny White, has been to and fro a lot recently. The locals think it's odd because Rogue command doesn't go there much. Many large loads of cargo have been shipped there as well, although were they go after being unloaded is anyone's guess. Even the dockhands don't know what's going on. Sylpheed's even been seen at Fort McMurray, although nobody was ever told why. It seems he spoke with White and then left. The general consensus on the base is that something big is up. There's also a lot of complaining about Red Deer station, and how it makes life difficult to travel to Ontario.
Unfortunately, our spy heard no rumors suggesting Lafiel Tarrant may be held prisoner there. The Navy is going to have to play by Slypheed's rules for the time being, since there's no sign of Tarrant at either base.
I've recently begun a liason between the LSF and Bretonia's MI6 Secret Intelligence Service. Intel from MI6 has yet to produce anything useful, though not for lack of effort on the Bretonians' behalf. In addition, Bretonia is prepping members of the Special Air Service to assist the LSF Hostage Rescue team and Navy SEALS in the event that we move to assault Montezuma. We have reason to believe an attack against Fort McMurray would be fruitless, as the Rogues have access to Lane Hacker sensor satellites and therefore can detect if a large force is entering Ontario.
*puts on fedora and trenchcoat* Now I know what sort of community you really are. *walks off into the rain*