To the Neo Terran Front

[qwertypp7]

Sender: Sergeant Chris Leigh, Order Primary Fleet
Subject: Lane hacker interference in Kansas

Greetings.

I know that two of your number, including Mr Gresham have already heard of this incident but I feel that it should be brought to the attention of the Front as a whole so that you can remind the Lane Hackers you allow into Kansas to tax miners and remove unwanted elements who is and who is not a viable target for their business.

Today while gathering samples from the iridium field in Kansas to assess whether or not the presence of the Nomad gate in the field effects the formation of iridium ore in the cloud, a transport ship operated by Order intelligence operatives and myself in my Order Bastet fighter as security were accosted by a group of lane hackers who had decended on the area to tax the various miners. The group, consisting of Mr Sanguinetti, Elaktra King, Konstantine Romanos and Eric Knox, surrounded our research vessel and began demanding a 3 million credit tax. Assuming they had mistaken our transport for a miner (an understandable mistake, since it was carrying no Order identification to allow it to travel unchallenged through house space) I politely informed the hackers that the vessel was part of an Order surveying operation and that it was under the protection of the Order who have permission from the NTF to operate in the area.

In order to ease the passing of the whole affair, I even offered the hackers fair compensation in the form of 1 million credits to return to their normal business and pass us by as they should have done in the first place. With this however, their demand changed to 4 million credits. After contacting Suralin of the NTF to confirm that the hackers had been instructed to leave Order operations well enough alone, I informed them that my offer would remain at 1 million credits, even though by rights I owed them nothing.
After this they continued to isist that we paid them 4 million credits or relinquish our hard earned samples. Soon after, their greed got the better of their patience and they opened fire on the transport vessel containing our samples.

With this I powered up my weapons and engaged three of the vessels to give the transport time to escape but I was unable to stop the fourth vessel from persuing the transport, which was forced to jetison over 3000 samples in an attempt to get away. The battle with the other three went suprisingly well, with the hackers showing little aptetude for dogfighting resulting in Mr Sanguinetti being forced to withdraw and significant damage to another of the vessels in exchange for only minor damage to my own fighter. The hackers eventually retreated when further Order operatives arrived on scene to assist me, perhaps realising they had bitten off a bit more than they could chew. Although the hackers are no doubt cursing themselves for not taking my earlier offer since they gained nothing but a hefty repair bill out of the incident, the loss of our samples was a serious blow to the operation which has now had to be postponed until a later date.

On top of the repair bill for their vessels, I would very much like it if these hackers recieve a sternly worded warning about their interactions with Order operatives in Kansas reminding them that the friends of their friend should be treated with respect rather than demands for money and violence. If they choose not to heed the warning then I will not hold it against the NTF but my interactions with the hackers might become quite merciless and I might not allow them to withdraw once they realise they have started a fight they can't win.

Thank you for your time.

Sergeant Leigh out.

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Dublin Miner: I am Gallic admiral earning money in Bretonia.

True story...

[Durandal]

***INCOMING TRANSMISSION***

[color=#FFFFFF]Priority: High
Encryption: None
Destination: The Order
Source: NTFHC, Boadicea Station, Kansas
Subject: The Lane Hackers

This is outrageous. In fact, it's hardly the first time the Lane Hackers have overstepped their bounds and attempted to extort protected targets. We'll address yet another reminder to them, but if they screw this up then we'll be forced to take more.. drastic measures.

- Neo Terran Front High Command

[qwertypp7]

Sender: Sergeant Chris Leigh, Order Primary Fleet
Subject: N/A

Thank you for taking action on this.

To clarify the role the transport Blue Posidon plays within the Order, it is an undercover vessel used by elements of the Order intelligence division for moving supplies, personel and other micellanious items to and from areas where conventional Order transports would draw too much attention. Proof of its connection to the Order can be supplied through more secure channels if need be.
The fact that it was escorted by a fully identified and very heavily armed Order combat vessel should have made it clear enough to the hackers (even without me informing them) that the Posidon is operated and protected by the Order.

They can be assured that any future interference with this vessel or other Order ships in Kansas will lead not only to the incidents being reported to the NTF, but also to the destruction of their vessels by Order combat pilots. I am not willing to risk the security of this operation for a second time and additional Order escorts will be present when we return to finish what we started. Any further interlopers will be given fair warning and if they do not move on then they will be put down without mercy.

Sergeant Leigh out.

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Dublin Miner: I am Gallic admiral earning money in Bretonia.

True story...