I am contacting you in regards to an episode in Baffin today - an episode I am most displeased with. Under these more relaxed circumstances I feel you are perhaps willing and capable of receiving testimony and evidence.
We were on our way back to Alpha from a classified mission and upon entering Coronado we were intercepted by a Colonial Thanatos Class cruiser. We exchange short words, and the captain of the Colonial vessel proceeds to engage us. Due to the low visibility in Coronado we hail the captain just to be sure he is actually firing at us, as there was one of those awkward moments of silence where I thought he would be giving us some verbal insults or state his reason to kill us. None of that, but he confirms he is firing on us. The surroundings are sub-optimal for our ship, so we decide to tactically retreat to the closest system (without opening fire), which happened to be Baffin.
The Colonial takes up the pursuit, and I realize that we won't be able to keep distance to him for long due to the asteroid fields in Baffin and in the Tau's as well. Our ship is substantially larger than the sleek Thanatos and have a habit of getting stuck in asteroid fields. So when we exit the asteroid field in Baffin, we send a few transmissions to the Colonial and rip his shield. He verbally confirms that he is defending his ship (although he could of course have hit cruise and left, that's far more effective than using his guns). We go back and forth a bit, the superior speed of the cruiser enables him to come in for a few shots and then run when his shields are lowered. Our engines are being disrupted while this takes place.
Junker Crow arrives at the Tau-29 jumphole, our ship is in reverse and about 5K from the Colonial, awaiting his moves. When the cruiser keeps coming in close, we fire to ward him off. The Junker sits and watches for a little while, it must have been quite uneventful for him. He later confirmed that we were in fact "going at it" when he arrived. This is of course a central piece of information, as your captains later kept claiming the Colonial never fired a shot, even though your ships were only present for the last tenth or so of the actual fight.
Moments later, your [TAZ]The.Ashira arrives and I greet the captain politely, and he replies with the words (and I quote) "This is your one chance Outcast. GET OUT OF BAFFIN". Hardly appropriate seeing that I am defending my ship and crew from an aggressor that at any point could have hit cruise and abandoned his assassination attempt. The Colonial even took advantage of me seizing fire to state my amazement of the surprising lack of judgement, he nearly ripped our shields. We fire a few shots back at the Colonial, and when I realize the captain of the cruiser is going to keep coming at us, that he thinks that this is his chance, I order my crew to destroy his ship in self-defense even though I was busy conversing with you. The only safe solution, and I would make the same decision again without flinching - for the sake of your crews, I hope you as captains would too.
Naturally I can sense the animosity from the captain of [TAZ]The.Ashira and the couple of cruisers he called in, and I start to make way to the Tau-29 jumphole hoping we could put this unfortunate situation behind us, at which point the captain of the [TAZ]The.Ashira shouts to Junker Crow to stop my ship, which he of course doesn't. I politely wait on the other side of the jumphole to inform the captain that he could just have hailed me, and I would have stopped. I am trying my best to clear up this misunderstanding, but your captains seemed very determined that shots should be fired even though I was clearly showing my good intentions by waiting in Tau-29 on the other side of the jumphole. At this point I had enough of the commotion, and order my crew to engage cruise. Your captains make a few attempts at disrupting us, but fail at that. It is my firm belief that they would have opened fire had I stayed around any longer.
This situation can hardly be satisfactory to you. It surely isn't to me, and I even omitted the excessive threats your captains kept shouting. Now I know everyone can make mistakes, I fully acknowledge that. You assessed the situation wrongly because you made the following assumptions:
1. Because the Colonial contacted you, you assume he must be right and I must be lying. Now if you are somewhat familiar with the crime fiction genre, you will know why this is a very elementary erroneous assumption.
2. You assume that because this Colonial is so-called "Lawful" and us Outcasts are "Unlawful", he is right and I am lying. Had you witnessed half of the acts of the Colonials in the Tau's, you would know what monsters you now have as neighbours. In time you will realize this too, sadly.
3. You assume you have sufficient combat experience to assess the situation adequately. Yet you try to lecture me about how a cruiser is not a threat to a Battleship (and therefore I must be the aggressor) and how cruisers aren't meant to be fighing anything bigger than gunboats. Let me tell you those Pulse Cannons mounted on that Thanatos are not meant to be hitting gunboats.
4. You assume that the fact that our ship was without a Cruise Disruptor is a minor detail. However if you ask around your combat-hardened friends and allies, they will tell you that a ship without a cruise disruptor cannot single-handedly combat a ship that do not want a fight. It's really the crux of the matter - the Colonial was in Baffin fighting me because he chose and desired to do so, and not because I in any way forced the confrontation. Even if I wanted to, my ship isn't technically capable of doing so!
I am saddened that the fight was taking place in a system you hold Holy, of all my heart I wish it hadn't been the case. However we were engaged and forced to tactically retreat and defend ourselves, and unfortunately the most opportune moment to strike back was within your system. You must understand that I am not prepared to sacrifice my crew for anyone, and will defend myself, my ship, and my crew from attacks anywhere and any time. You should be mindful of your new neighbours in the future - they tend to set their own rules and standards and evidently they do not refrain from pursuing other ships into your system. They destroy everyone and everything around them, and if you are not careful they will entangle you in their web too.
With that taken care of I expect a full formal apology from the captain of the [TAZ]The.Ashira. This situation got to this point because of his poor conflict-resolution, and had he been focused on asking the Colonial to stand down rather than threatening us, no lives would have been lost today. I hope you understand how this Colonial was just trying to use you to do his dirty work, and I hope you take it upon yourselves to never get bamboozled like this by Colonials again.
Mark my words, they are dangerous to everyone around them.
There's plenty more evidence should you require it. I left out the threatening and inappropriate remarks by your blood-hungry captain, but rest assured I will keep backups of those in case the Maltese Nation ever get confronted by a "Discordian lynch mob" again. You should take your time to get familiar with the technical combat aspects as they are pivotal to the case at hand. Perhaps ask allies for advice.
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*incoming transmission*
Comm ID: [TAZ]Doc Holliday
Location: Shasta Orbital Skyhook, Baffin System
To: Don Rizza
Buenos Dias, Senor,
Yes, this is a troubling report. I see all involved with the exception of the Junker in the system to share responsibility. I will deal with the Colonial whom I do believe to be the aggressor in this case.
Where I fault you, Senor, is running into Baffin after coming under fire. I have had numerous people in the past do this, all of which have understood how I feel about this. Simply put, there is to be no shooting in the Baffin system by anyone except TAZ personnel.
The.Ashira was doing his job although I do believe he jumped to a conclusion. I have demanded an explanation from him.
I also fault myself. I have several new people here in Baffin and I've been spread pretty thin. I will be giving a refresher as to our laws and treatment of all of our neighbors.
Senor, I will also remind you that I have been very tolerant of the cardamine trafficking through Baffin. While I don't care for it, I turn a blind eye to it as I do the slave trade. We have never interdicted trade nor harassed shippers. I would suggest you not make this an international incident because I am not afraid to close down the system and as you found out, I have men that are willing to enforce a lockdown.
Now, as I said, I have demanded an explanation of the TAZ pilot involved and I will be contacting the Colonials as well. For now, safe flying.
I had prepared myself for the worst, and presented my evidence in a form and tone to combat the charges the captains involved threatened they would press. I am very happy to see a level head. I respect your ways, we Outcasts have our ways too, and I apologize for ordering my crew to utilize your system to our advantage, rather than to defend ourselves at a disadvantage in a neighbouring system.
I understand now how that violates the sanctity of a place that might hold no importance for me, but means the world to you. You are correct, Baffin is also a popular transit system, and I would never dare to jeopardize that vital flow of goods. If it was up to me I would like to put this matter behind us altogether, and maintain the neutral yet mutually respectful relationship we have maintained for so long.
The arrival of your new neighbours, the perpetual "cuckoo in the nest", threaten that relationship though, and I foresee the Colonials putting more strain on the diplomatic skills of your pilots and captains in regards to guarding the sanctity of Baffin. Never take your eyes off the Colonials.
With that, I consider the matter closed on this end, and hope that the [TAZ] will put this in the past and uphold neutrality when we meet in space.
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