Dear sirs/Madams,
We in Bretonia appreciate the steps you in the IMG have taken to ensure the freeport status of Hood does not reduce it to a hive of scum and villainy. Therefore, it saddens me when occasions do arise to damage these relations.
Recently a member of the Junker Congress, a Mr .:j:.Schultz stole a quantity of gold ore, and in the process of resisting arrest, docked on Battleship Hood in the Dublin system, to escape officers of the crown.
I am attaching a copy of my report so you may see for yourselves:
I was called by BMM miner Oreland Frietag that Junker congressman .:J:.Schultz had stolen his gold ore, I ordered the Junker to stand by for questioning, and he responded that I should come to Hood, I did so, and found him there with over 4 hundred units of Gold ore in his hold (Market price, between 4 and 5 million sirius credits in Liberty)
Oreland claimed that the Junker simply came and stole the ore that he had been mining for his transporter, the Junker did not deny he had taken the ore, but claimed he had a contract with the miner whereby he could have any ore the miner had mined, which did not fit inside the miner's hold.
Finding this very unlikely, and seeing as the junker could provide no proof of this contract, I ordered him to return the Ore:
I (foolhardily) pursued, and was in the process of capturing him, when the sun burnt my shield off my hull, and then quickly all my other equipment and guns! Without a thruster I was trapped in the sun, and with no shield, it was only seconds before my ship was destroyed, thankfully my escape pod burst free of the sun's gravitational field.
Piracy, or at least armed robbery. 1 count
Resisting Arrest. 2 counts
For Mr Schultz.
END REPORT
This has lead to BPA action against the Junker Congress, but I will not trouble you with the Details.
For the time being I simply request an investigation into why the Junker was allowed to dock, and an option on rescinding his IMG docking rights, pending the outcome of the Junker/BPA action.
As this action by a member of the .:j:. violates our agreements, and your own Edict 63, you may have Questions of your own for the .:j:. I will do my best to answer any questions, or provide any non-classified evidence you need for these.
Thankyou for your Co-operation
User was banned for: Griefing others
Time left: (Permanent)
*** Incoming transmission ***
From: Johnathan Sanders
To: BPA authorities, per attention of sgt Hone.
Subject: Junker suspect docking on Hood
We've received your message and are looking into this. The imagery provided isn't wholly clear, but we can take into account how hectic pursuits can be. It does however warrant a bit of an investigation. While it is not unusual for a junker to be thieving (gods know we've had our share of those) it -is- unusual for a member of the Congress to involve himself in such.
We're looking into this and will be in touch once our own investigation is concluded.
*** Transmission closed ***
Wide awake in a world that sleeps, enduring thoughts, enduring scenes. The knowledge of what is yet to come.
From a time when all seems lost, from a dead man to a world, without restraint, unafraid and free.
Mostly retired Discovery member. May still visit from time to time.
Jack is sitting in his office on Battleship Hood, reading the report. He shakes his head and says to himself:
"Are they completely out of their minds? Hunting a Junker for some 4 million credits loss of ore... not even a clear crime was committed... high risk arrest attempts... diving into the corona to keep him from fleeing, wrecking ships and endangering lives..." he shakes his head again in disbelief:
"...throwing all that tantrum for a small criminal at best... if this isn't hurt pride, I don't know what it is..." and he sighs and leans back, gathering his diplomatic calmness before he opens the communication channel and transmits the following, neutral and calm message:
** C O N N E C T I N G ** ** ** ** C O N N E C T I N G ** ** ** ** C O N N E C T I N G **
** CONNECTION ESTABLISHED SUCCESSFULLY **
[font=Fixedsys]Greetings, Sirs.
Being on Hood and in Dublin a lot, I was informed about the issue at hand. I can assert you that your complaint is being looked into at the very moment. The evidence is being assessed and compared to our own data.
You will be notified as soon as a conclusion regarding this incident has been found.
Yours sincerely,
Jack Henderson, IMG Special Defence Wing, Dublin, Hood.
P.S: I wasn't sure whether you understood my words when I met you briefly in space today. You were rather busy firing torpedos at that Kusari battleship. So I decided to answer by using official channels.
[font=Fixedsys][color=#CCFFFF]*** TRANSMISSION STANDBY FOR ANSWER ***
*** Incoming transmission ***
From: Johnathan Sanders
To: BPA, BAF authorities, per attention of sgt Hone.
CC: Junker Congress
Subject: Junker suspect docking on Hood
Well, our investigation has been concluded. As far as we can tell, the following happened:
- A BMM miner and a junker cargo barge may or may not have struck some kind of deal in granting docking rights in return for a partial ore cargo.
- The miner was a good distance from the ore, outside of his own tractor range. While this may seem unimportant, it begs the question if the ore was ever of this particular miner, or left by someone else.
- There was a disagreement over the particulars of this transaction, and the miner demanded the ore returned to him. The junker refused.
- Having no escort of his own to settle a dispute (and conveniently, no witnesses to the deal), the BMM miner called the BPA, claiming piracy.
- The BPA officer arriving took the miner at it's word, lacking any evidence, and decided to force the junker to relinquish the ore. Personally, I find this action questionable, but this is a matter for the courts.
- The Junker refused and fled the scene. Personally I find this a poor decision, but again, more a matter for the courts.
- In the pursuit, BPA zeal was greater then common sense and the BPA craft succumbed in proximity of the Dublin sun.
- A second pursuing craft of the Armed Forces attempted to confront the Junker in proximity of the Hood
Now, what is lacking is that the miner in question does not seem to respond on any channels, nor is there any record of the conversation between this miner and the junker. So this entire thing is based on a "he said she said" story, in which the BPA sided completely with the BMM miner. Not surprising, but you'll need to pardon us for being more critical then that.
As to your original question about why he was allowed to dock: In order for the Hood docking crew to have denied this junker docking rights, the junker in question would need to have been a known, or convicted pirate. While many junkers do have this reputation, the Congress has managed to steer clear from it. Even in the regions of the Taus and Omegas we've never had problems with the Congress members, despite our records showing some of them entering Outcast space from time to time.
Hood records indicate a BAF vessel also heading for it, but since the BAF vessel did not announce it's intentions we had no way of knowing the junker was pursued. The dockmaster in charge indicated he assumed both vessels were simply destined for Hood, and were on different approach vectors. This was not an unusual situation - BAF personnel off-duty sometimes come to view the races.
Given the fact that the junker vessel is no longer present on Hood I do not see the need for any further action from our side. But I would recommend you have this evidence tried in court before jumping to any conclusions. I would also recommend to question the BMM miner involved to ensure this wasn't a false report to begin with. To me, it sure smells like one, but then again, I'm not too fond of BMM, and willing to admit that. If the provided evidence leads to a piracy conviction, and thus a warrant for this junker's arrest in Bretonia, the Hood will disallow the vessel to dock, just as any civilian base in Bretonia. I doubt you can make a case for the robbery based on the evidence presented, but resisting arrest is clear.
The junker left prior to the conclusion of our investigation. We had nothing but your word to hold him on, which was not enough. He was last seen heading towards the New London jumphole, most likely you can find him on Trafalgar.
Sincerely,
Johnathan Sanders, on behalf of the Independant Miners Guild
*** Connection closed ***
Wide awake in a world that sleeps, enduring thoughts, enduring scenes. The knowledge of what is yet to come.
From a time when all seems lost, from a dead man to a world, without restraint, unafraid and free.
Mostly retired Discovery member. May still visit from time to time.