[color=#FFFFFF]Priority:High Encryption:Minimal Destination: BAF Command, New London
Source: NTF Executive Commander Greg Matthews
All right. As the leader of the Neo-Terran Front, I feel I should point out that I have always done my best *not* to antagonize Bretonia. With the exception of one incident in Leeds some months ago (prompted by an overzealous Bounty Hunter) the Front has studiously avoided combat with the defenders of Bretonia, and with a number of good reasons.
You told us to leave Inverness some months ago, and we did. We never opened fire on your vessels -- civilian *or* military -- when they entered Kansas.
So with that in mind, I'd like to know *why*, exactly, you felt it necessary not only to send three Battleships after one renegade Zoner, but to order them to open fire on the NTF when we were attempting to defuse the situation with diplomacy.
With the war against Kusari going the way it is, I'm amazed that you'd take three battleships away from the front lines to hunt down Tomoe.
Honestly, what did she do that merits that kind of a response? Steal the Crown Jewels? Smuggle stolen battle plans to the KNF? I don't really care about her one way or the other, personally, but as a casus belli it's pretty thin.
More importantly, what exactly did *we* do to merit being targeted by, not only you, but a wing of Rheinland elites you asked to support you as well? We had just taken out a Corsair battlefleet. We did you a big favor, and you shoot us for it.
I await your response. It had better be good enough to justify the deaths of several dozen of the Belisarius' crew members -- not to mention the general carnage that ensued across the entire western half of Omega-3.
Incoming Transmission
Comm ID: Dominic Windram Norrington
Origin: Craven's Nest, New London
While you claim not to antagonize Bretonia, the fact of the matter is that your vessel, the Belisarius, was a large warship operating inside a system currently under restricted blockade. Not only that, but it was working in conjunction with the Zoners, who are the cause and target of this blockade. I would ask why you have a battleship-class warship in Omega-3, which has been under Bretonian sovereignty since the 80-years war.
The Balisarius was given opportunities to leave the area before violence broke out. At one point, it had even moved eight kilometers away from the area where the Bretonian Forces and Zoners were facing off. Our forces did not move to stop it or destroy it when it did so. Then, less than a minute later, it returned and move into formation with the Zoner capital ship fleet. This was an obvious show of hostility, and was overtly siding with the Zoners against the rightful Bretonian forces operating in a system legally recognized as Bretonian sovereignty by both the Liberty and Bretonian governments, and has been so for nearly six hundred years.
As of present, there is no status of official hostility between our forces and the Neo-Terran Front. This won't be true if your forces are found siding against our forces, especially when we are lawfully acting within our own sovereignty against a force harboring terrorists and outlaws wanted by our government for proven crimes.
You can step out of this affair peacefully and we will remain neutral to one another, or you can continue to work against us and get caught between Liberty and ourselves. Not a safe place for you to be, or beneficial for your cause. If you wish to aid the Zoners, do so with the supplying of goods to Freeport 1, something we are allowing to be done freely by non-Zoners. But if you continue to aid them in combat against our forces, we'll be forced to regard you as an enemy, and take appropriate measures.
-Director Dominic Windram Norrington The Albion Guard
Incoming transmission CommID: Captain Alan Gresham
You heavily damaged the Belisarius. You have put our entire organization in jeopardy, as well as the lives of several hundred Zoners, thousands of Bretonian Military crew, all for the sake of one rogue captain? ~Gresham is silent for a few moments before continuing~
Choose your battles carefully. I have been striving to prove the Front's good intent to the Bretonians. This act of.. Of.. Brutality.. Makes me sick with rage. I cannot forgive you, Bretonian.
~He leans closer to the camera~
My sister died on the Belisarius that day.
~He leans back again, and switches off the transmission~
Incoming transmission. [color=#FF0000]ID: Admiral Tom Ramey
Location: Cambridge.
Subject: The NTF.
[color=#CCCCCC]
Captain Gresham, My condolences on the lose your sister.
As for this whole incident, it's been little but a source of displeasure for all those involved. however, It's not too late to stop further bloodshed.
The nature of the problem, is that your battleship, the Belisarius was in territory claimed by the house of Bretonia, a house that foreign battleships are prohibited in. I'm willing to give you sufficient help to move the Belisarius to a system not claimed by Bretonia or any other house, provided that you continue trying to show your good-natured intentions to the house of bretonian, which includes staying out of our space in capital vessels unless given permission to by a member of the BAF.
We have nothing to gain by fighting each other.
Signed, Tom Ramey
Bretonian Armed Forces Admiral. [color=#FF9900] transmission closed
' Wrote:<span style="font-family:Century Gothic">Violence is Golden</span>
[color=#FFFFFF]Priority:High Encryption:Full Destination: BAF Command, New London
Source: NTF Executive Commander Greg Matthews
For the record, I ordered the Belisarius to interpose itself between the two fleets, not in the Zoner formation, in hopes of getting both sides' attention long enough to defuse the situation via diplomacy. The fact that your vessels fired upon the Belisarius (and myself) without bothering to listen to what I had to say indicates you simply weren't interested, as does your repeated use of cruise disruptors to prevent it from leaving peacefully.
I've upped the encryption to maximum for this reply because I'm going to be blunt. It's brutally obvious that you're planning to annex Omega-3, probably to gain the facilities at Aland Shipyard, and Sprague as a colony to resettle refugees from Leeds.
Fine. You know what? I don't really mind that much, in and of itself. But Tomoe isn't the issue, and never was, and you damn well know it. If she was, you would have just put a ginormous bounty on her head and been done with it.
I'm going to be equally blunt now. You need the Zoners.
You need them as a shield against the Corsair Empire.
Unless, of course, you want to be fighting a massive two-front war against both Kusari and the Corsairs? Because that's the reality if you (re)assert your ownership of Omega-3.
As for the offer to resettle the Belisarius and the rest of the Front... In light of everything that's happened, we may not stay in Omega-3 much longer anyway. Besides, I'd prefer (once it's repaired, anyway) to keep the Belisarius' location secret for a variety of reasons.
But you're right. We have absolutely nothing to gain by fighting one another.
I just wish to hell you'd told your soldiers that, before all this happened.
Incoming Transmission
Comm ID: Dominic Windram Norrington
Origin: Craven's Nest, New London
If your intention was to try to get both sides to deal with the matter peacefully, you should have made it clear from the start. When you decided to position a warship between our fleet and the Zoner fleet, you also put any blame for the damage or destruction of it on yourself. Not to mention the fact that, while you claim it was between both fleets, it was sitting extremely close to the Zoners, and facing towards the Bretonian force. If you were there only to attempt to keep hostilities from breaking out, you would have positioned your ship equidistant to both forces with its flank facing them, rather than pointing towards the Bretonian fleet.
That kind of situation marks your ship as a threat, and due to its size and firepower, our forces regarded it as a priority threat. The repair ship was also a threat, considering its position within the Zoner fleet, which can only look like it was there to support them. It was for the preservation of our own fleet that both of those vessels were eliminated at the outset of the engagement.
As for annexing Omega-3, we have no need to do so. Omega-3 has been sovereignty of Bretonia ever since King William III laid claim to it, during the 80-year war. Both the Liberty and Rheinland governments legally recognize Bretonia's sovereignty over that system.
You are, indirectly, correct in that this is no longer solely about Ms. Tomoe and her crimes. That was the catalyst to the current situation. The Zoners, as they have in the past, completely ignored the government of Bretonia's messages to them, calling for action to be taken against Ms. Tomoe. No action was taken, and no response was given from any Zoner. We waited an entire week for a response from the Zoners, and after that week was up, having gotten no transmissions from them, we finally took matters into our own hands. When finally we pushed the issue, the Zoners responded.. By claiming their treaty that they signed with us was no longer valid. Okay.. But that also means their leasing of the space around Freeport 1 is no longer valid either, and once again under legal authority of Bretonia. This includes our laws..
When our forces originally entered Omega-3, numbering a single destroyer and its three fighter escorts, we found the Zoners consorting and allying with organizations such as the SCRA, a known terrorist group that actively assaults Bretonians, as well as the Red Hessians, a pirate group plaguing both Rheinland and Bretonia. While we do not care about their relations away from Bretonia, we do mind when they are inviting these two groups into Omega-3.
The Zoners chose this approach to the Tomoe situation. That means they also must deal with the consequences of that choice. The entire problem could have been solved quickly and easily with a single Zoner, but now they have taken it so far that such an easy solution is no longer possible.
As for the Zoners 'shielding' us from the Corsairs; They were never shields before. In fact, they sheltered Corsairs at Freeport 1 many times in the past, using their No-Fire Zone as a shield against us. The same was being done at Gran Canaria.. Both Zoner-controlled areas were being used as Corsair staging grounds. Originally we only needed to defend Cambridge against them. Now, through the Zoners' actions, we have several fronts against the Corsairs. This situation with the Zoners doesn't worsen our footing against the Corsairs. In fact, with the hostility now present between the Zoners and the Corsairs, we have benefited, since those Corsairs can no longer use Gran Canaria or Freeport 1.
For relations between our two groups, that is a decision to be made by the government. But if you follow the advice of myself and Admiral Ramey, chances are good that the incident in Omega-3 will be forgiven and we can be on amiable standings again.
-Director Dominic Windram Norrington The Albion Guard