To the Zoners and Corsairs and all other involved parties throughout Sirius.
The residents and staff at Freeport One have watched the events in the Omicrons with much concern and sadness. We are saddened to see the Omicroner Zoners take to deep space, but wish them well on their journey. The loss of life in the conflict between the various groups and the Corsairs is disconcerting, as is the loss of trade shipping due to instability in the region.
We as Zoners talk a lot about neutrality, sometimes with the attitude presented that neutrality is something to hide behind and say there is nothing we can do. While often it is true, there is something we can do when our homes are threatened and we find that guests in our homes are abusing our hospitality. Freeport One, with its goal of being a place for diplomacy, has been host to a meeting between the station administrators in the area of conflict, as well as representatives of the Corsair Empire and the OSI and TAZ.
While some details are still being discussed, we wish to announce that the Zoner stations in these southern reaches of Sirius have formed a confederation to combine our station laws in an effort to reduce conflict in and around our stations.
I present here the current agreed upon station laws that include FP5, FP9, FP15, and Corfu:
Quote:* Zoner bases within the confederation shall not be used to stage attacks on factions that are not enemies of the Zoners
* Zoner bases within the confederation shall not be used to base from for acts of piracy.
* Zoner bases shall not be used as a point to which to retreat, seek shelter or dock, following an attack which the retreating person(s) has(have) launched.
* A No Fire Zone of a 5 k sphere around each base will be upheld at all times. (Ships who are already in combat and fleeing into this zone are free to be targeted. Do NOT drag your conflicts into OUR home)
Penalties for violation of the above may include destruction of the offending ship(s), denial of docking rights for the offending ships, or denial of docking rights for the factions of said offenders if those factions show a continued trend of violations.
Be advised that as discussions continue there will be further updates in this channel. Also be advised that peacekeepers from the FP1 defense force are being deployed to the region to assist the other stations in their defense and enforcement of these laws. A communications channel for reporting of incidents at the confederated stations will be opened shortly.
Thank you for your cooperation,
Genine San Savage
Administrator & Council Chairman
Freeport 1
INCOMMING TRANSMISSION
Comm ID: Gypsie Skripto, Editor in Chief of the No Buns No Cabbages Reports - A Temporary Autonomous Publication
To: Genine San Savage, Administrator & Council Chairman, Freeport 1
Kallisti Genine!
I'm Gyp, the Skripto scoop. I run a small magazine back there in Baffin, you may have heard of us. Anyways, we started our magazine with an interview to Malaclypse the Third, may he rest in peace, first number ever, great success in the local Baffin market, tho it never became too popular Sirius wide.
So, for the second number we are looking forward to cover some interstellar topic, and since good ole Xavier sent me to the Omicrons as a TAZ agent, I thought I could take the job myself. I want to write an article on the second number of the magazine regarding the conflicts we all heard about already. The measures taken by TAZ, picked up and improved by your document here, are something I will be needing to adress, so I decided that an interview to you could add a lot to the mag's number 2 edition.
So, what do you say miss? Got some time in your agenda to recieve a zoner fella for some casual chit-chat?
Discussions and meetings are still ongoing but I do feel that a certain amount of latitude should be given the free press. Hence I do myself consent to an interview with you. Please feel free to contact me privately via Skyp3 comms at your convenience.
When I first heard of this Confederation I was a bit skeptical considering the failures of the Council of Zoners as well as the Zoner Alliance. And perhaps we still are. But what we don't need in that area of space is complete disorder. Something we feared when we heard of the Omicroners sudden disappearance.
The policy you have enacted is a great start and you have my company's support. In fact, I'd like to station a couple of our escort craft there to help watch the stations until you have everything in order.
If there is anything else we can do to help, feel free to ask.
Thank you for your support. This new confederation could greatly use the additional ships to help escort Zoner ships and to assist in the policing of the Freeports.
The interim chair of the freeport confederation is Alicia Blake, formerly a senior staff member here at the One. She would be the one to contact regarding deployment of your company's ships.
Thank you again,
Genine San Savage
Administrator & Council Chair
Freeport One
**Incoming Transmission**
**Comm ID: Captain Trogdor**
**Location: Location data scrambled**
Administrator Savage,
With respect, I have to express some measure of incredulity in regards to your announcement. My name is Trogdor, Captain of the Nephilim Burninator. We have been a longtime defender of Freeport One, returning after a short hiatus following the collapse of the Zoner Council.
Recently, we were called away to provide security for a meeting of Zoner leaders, who were to determine our course of action in this conflict with the corsairs. I won't get into details, since this is a low-security transmission. We have no men on the ground, but as far as I'm aware, the meeting has not yet concluded.
So I have to ask, with whom did you meet and what diplomatic authority did they have? It was my understanding that the heads of the OSI, TAZ, and what's left of the Omicroners were meeting to discuss this very thing; the immediate future of the public Zoner installations in the Omegas and Omicrons. From my position, it seems like nobody over there, with the exception of the station Admins, has the authority to decide anything at present.
Furthermore, I would strongly advise you to take anything a corsair 'leader' says to you with a heaping helping of suspicion. This entire conflict flared up because of their hypocrisy and bullish diplomatic demeanor. From what we have experienced while on duty at Freeport One and from what we have heard from passing traders, it is the corsairs who have been blatantly abusing our hospitality; using One, Porto Novo, and Boa Vista as forward bases from which to launch raids on Cambridge and Dublin, as well as leeching off of commercial vessels in Omega 3. Nothing is being done to them that they are not doing unto others.
I am a Guard, and I captain a warship. It is not my place to sit at the official round table and discuss policy. Or at least, it has not been since we lost the open forum of the Zoner Council. But this course of action seems foolish to me. It was very recent that the so-called corsair 'leadership' were demanding that we hand over control of an entire system and, effectively, its installations. Or else. Following this was a short and bloody conflict where, from what we witnessed, the corsairs took overall more losses than we did. And now suddenly they want to sit down at the bargaining table? I don't see diplomacy here, I see an enemy attempting to buy time to gather strength and come at us stronger in the future.
Again, it is not my place to tell you how to do your job, Administrator. I am not certain exactly what we should be doing instead. That's for you Admins and the Doc to figure out. But I would strongly caution you against this present course of action. These people are fickle, greedy, loathsome individuals, even among pirates. All they care about is what they can get away with. They have shown us time and again that they do not respect us. Why do we keep trying to make nice with them?
Following the conclusion of the business down here, and the resolution of a small personal matter, The Burninator will return to Omega 3.
I'll try to summarize the situation as far I know it.
As Omicroners secondary leader I've been discussing with corsairs as soon as they complained about pilots using Corfu to raid Gamma during the last month. After a few days, 2 Corsairs elders accepted to talk to me and we began an unofficial discussion in order to solve peacefully the corsairs problem. Things were going quit e nicely.
Then I had to suspend this negotiation in order to meet leaders of official Zoners factions on Gran Canaria. However, as soon as I arrived on the planet, the Omicroners suddenly decided to left Sirius letting me without any political power to balance the incoming negotiation with Zoners and Corsairs. So, of course I've tried to limit what we would consent to give to corsairs but I fear I was not really heard.
So now, I am going back to omicron-74 and meet a group of zoners, mostly composed of omicroners remnants, to decide what to do.
If you have any news about the current situation in omicron-theta and omega-5 I will be glad to hear you. What happened since the lockdown of the stations? Has the hostilities ended? I've heard about possible negotiations on Freeport 1 or Freeport 9, is it going on now?
All the discussions that Ms. Savage has been having and all meetings relating to this problem have been attended by me in my capacity as Omicron Supply Industries representative and by a representative of the Temporary Autonomous Zoners and our respective superiors have been informed of all that has gone on in these talks with regards to their respective business. Rest assured that this announcement has the support of Omicron Supply Industries at the very least, I cannot speak for the honoured TAZ representative but I am sure that he will be quick to assure you that this initiative has their support as well