☠ Incoming transmission.
☠ Signal source: Free Republic relay, Liberty
☠ Opening video feed...
Sender:Alliance Commander "Cobra" Recipient:Captain of the Ripper 1 Subject:Skyscrapers and Pitters
Hello, skyscraper here.
Your intent was relayed to me by 77, this is just follow-through and a place for us to communicate across lines. He also briefed me on your predicament and lack of a base of operations. I'm prepared to take measures to offset this if you can honor your end of what I'd like to be a long-term bargain.
Keep in mind there's a reason I left the Spire behind, and why I'd happily torch it. There are Freeports in Ontario and California that you can make use of, and I'll see any shortfalls of critical supplies made-up from my end.
Food, clothes, and all other necessities for your crew to live and fight - I'll ensure you have a steady supply. So long as you assist me in defending my people and our country - I will consider you as one and the same.
All I require from you in return is your force of arms. I won't call for your aid if it isn't required, and I won't be assigning you to do anything that we ourselves wouldn't be willing to do. In all likelihood, we'll be in the proverbial trenches with you anyway so that doesn't matter.
Recipient(s): -Alliance Commander Cobra- Sender: <|> Jackson Orwell <|> Location: <|> Dark Matter Interference <|> Subject: <|> Skyscraper One <|>
You got back to me quick.
Though given your shitty position in Ontario, that doesn't bring me much surprise. There does seem to've been a... "slight" misunderstanding. Or your attack dog just isn't that bright, never could tell with Phantom Wing.
I'll not banish the quick and clear show of an extended hand, however I must decline. As I stated to Seventy-Seven, prior to the Rippers League joining up with the Remnant up North, we "had" no port to call our own, and simply wandered from rock to rock, sometimes not even a rock, just a station hulk grav-locked to so we could rest the engines, but I digress. For the foreseeable future we will be basing in Galileo alongside Blackwell's forces. You might've seen the loudmouth around. He's kind of hard to miss with all that yelling and chest thumping.
Now I don't really know why or how you got the impression me and my boys are interested in "defending your country" or whatever the hell that's about, what I said was.. and I'm paraphrasing here, "You need some shithead's station-hulk ripped open, feel free to contact us"... then your boy asked us if we could pop the Robert Preary's engine port, which I said something along the lines of "That's suicide, whatever you're gonna give us better be worth it".
Now I'm not stupid, Samson Wells your favorite resident Alberta self-proclaimed King of the system, was fucking stupid. I well understand that given this misunderstanding you may be so inclined to tell me to go fuck myself, and that would be fair. However, you seem to want our help with more than just station-hulks, and that seems to me, to be where we can arrange this "understanding".
So let's say I do offer my boys "force of arms" to you outside of station-disassembly, Skyscraper. What specifically are you willing to offer us in return?
☠ Incoming transmission.
☠ Signal source: Free Republic relay, Liberty
☠ Opening video feed...
Sender:Alliance Commander "Cobra" Recipient:Captain of the Ripper 1 Subject:Skyscrapers and Pitters
My expediency is out of respect.
You made an offer of good faith, I might as well consider it seriously rather than leave you with lingering silent treatment for days on end. And yes, I'm aware basic courtesy is a rarity in the underworld that we've both called home for many years now. But I've never played by those rules all that much. I understand them and can appreciate the playing field for what it is, but defiance of a status quo has always been my forte.
And you've misunderstood me. I'm not asking you to defend our country for us. I'm asking you to help us do that ourselves by handling everyone that would detract from the overall mission - that being our total independence from the political apparatus that is House Liberty.
When and if an assault on the Robert Peary is coming, I'd like to have your people on our side to scorch it. The plans as of now are tentative, but the general idea is to plant a lure for its escorts while the true force flanks the construction ship in order to destroy it. Liberty would not risk sending the weasel into combat alongside her interdictor-class escort, and that gives us the only window we might ever have to put a pin in this apparent reclamation of the system.
If we succeed, and the ship is destroyed, then Liberty would have to withdraw. And I sincerely doubt DSE would ever be able to muster the resolve needed to send another capital-class team of professionals out to die in some backwater. Corporates are too fond of their R-O-I.
The Free State of Ontario would then be secure. Your efforts would have helped emancipate an entire star system, and in such a situation, it would be hard not to accredit you as deserved.
Heroes are treated well, because in addition to the fame, glory, and personal status, there's scope for special considerations. I'm happy to let you keep whatever you kill while helping us, even if that happens to be military-grade salvage.
I'm sure you have other things you'd like or need in mind. Is it money? Guns?
Recipient(s): -Alliance Commander Cobra- Sender: <|> Jackson Orwell <|> Location: <|> Dark Matter Interference <|> Subject: <|> Skyscraper One <|>
I understand.
In the early days of the League's migration north to link up with the Remnant, our operational capacity will leave something to be desired, for the foreseeable future as we get settled in, and work with Blythe's unstable ass to get a more permanent operation up and running. Then, alongside Baxter and Jackie, I'll see what we can handle logistically, for now, provided you don't manage to piss off the Remnant somehow, you got our guns up in Colorado, and I guess if you for whatever reason end up on the border, Galileo too.
Now in regards to what exactly you can hand us. That the Rippers need in particular, for now, since we're moving in with Blythe's people, if you can get your hands on Anti-rad pharmaceuticals somehow and can get those up to our gunships, I think that'd do us just fine in terms of working alongside you. I'm a bit dubious of the lead-lined plating on the ol' rock.
Ripping up station-hulks is a costly endeavor, so we'll have to hash that one out when the time comes.
Which just leaves us with the Robert Preary. I can't rightly say what you have that we want, 'cept maybe those Boomslangs you got. Slower than our laser cannons, but from what scans I've seen of those things, they got a standardized chassis that lends itself well to not turning itself into a pile of molten ooze over prolonged engagements. Sure, they still play a game of turret-toss if they don't manage their energy draw well enough, but Particle blasters are better for punching through hull, over melting it. Considering we mostly deal with armored convoys and capital vessels asides our namesake, we'd much prefer those.
We'd go for Brimstone, but upkeep on those is pretty ass.
☠ Incoming transmission.
☠ Signal source: Free Republic relay, Liberty
☠ Opening video feed...
Sender:Alliance Commander "Cobra" Recipient:Captain of the Ripper 1 Subject:Skyscrapers and Pitters
The Boomslang is an oddity.
An early generation 1 production of the workshops, which unlike all the others is actually designed with efficiency in mind and long, sustained bursts of fire. I can see why you'd find that sort of thing useful, but production of equipment is at a premium right now. It will be for as long as the Free State is under a direct threat.
Still, I'd be inclined to permit a limited number of samples. Just not right now. You'll have your guns on the eve of the assault, not a full package of them, but enough to sample. If you keep your word, you can have a full complement for your ships.
Anti-rads is by comparison an easy ask. There's a lot of it sitting in storage not getting any use now that we moved out of Kepler. I'll entitle you to it.
Was there anything else?
"Liberty or death."
-"Cobra"
☠ Transmission signal lost.
On indefinite hiatus because the current state of gameplay sucks - ping me over discord if replies are needed
Recipient(s): -Alliance Commander Cobra- Sender: <|> Jackson Orwell <|> Location: <|> Dark Matter Interference <|> Subject: <|> Skyscraper One <|>
Mm.
Switching guns out right before action's not a grand idea, we won't be used to them and I still have absolutely no clue if our powercores will even play nice with that conversion type. S'much as I'd like to give those things a test run as soon as possible, it'll just have to wait till the dust finally settles.
Single freighter of the stuff due north of the Kepler hole outta tide me and the boys over for awhile. Baxter and Jackie still gotta make their way up here, I'll keep you posted when operational capacity, and thus demand, increases and we can discuss the latter when the time comes.
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