Submission forwarded to BAF from London Diplomatic Offices

[Seer]

RE: Waylaid DSE Cartographic Team

Sirs, As I'm sure you know, a detatchment of BAF pilots halted and attempted to unlawfully arrest a DSE cartographer and her escort on their way to Omega 11, where they had been detached to map the intracacies of the living asteroid fields for a possible lane project. This pair was held up for passing from the Tau 31 Gate Project, through the Taus and Bretonia, to reach the Omegas, while 'seeming to have ships which indicated corsair design influence'. And 'projecting Order transpoder signals' Sirs, to begin, my own Libertonian senator tells me, quite convincingly, that there is no such group as the 'Order', and my independent investigations support that same suggestion. Moreover, the DSE is allowed to use experimental ships, powercores, weaposn, scanners, and tools. We equip our cartographers with the very best equipment, sir. Also, there is no article in our charter that forbids us freedom to travel through Bretonia. In point of fact, Sirs, under article seven, subsection twenty three, of the current Liberty/Bretonia Alliance, we are granted the right to travel unimposed through Bretonia, as your Bowex and BMM corporations are allowed to travel through Liberty. Were you to begin seizing Libertonian civilian ships, I've no idea what might happen. An unlawful search and seizure of DSE patented prototypes is a violation of that treaty. If you want our technology, it is most certianly for sale. Furthermore, the 42nd Cartographic Wing is currently transfering its supplies from the Taus to the Omegas, and you will likely see more of them over the following weeks. Now, I understand they might have caused an escalation of tensions by evading your pilots the way they did, Sirs, but you may rest assured that they will both be censured for doing so. I can only say I'm glad it did not lead to loss of life on either side of the encounter.

Stephen Moran, Senior DSE Rep in Bretonia.

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[pbrione]

Mr Moran,

The BAF command take very seriously all such allegations of unlawful arrest, and rest assured that the matter is being thoroughly investigated - if you could forward to myself the names of all officers involved this would greatly speed up my enquiries and would be much appreciated.

I am, however, bound to point out that under the circumstances of the siege of Harris by the KNF, the emergency powers granted to the Admiralty Board do give the BAF powers to stop and search all ships entering our territory from Tau space, in order to prevent the infiltration of Bretonia by Kusari agents. Please understand that these searches are applied to all vessels regardless of affiliation, and do not in any way discriminate against nor imply any suspicion towards DSE vessels on our part.

It is our aim to ensure that all stop and search procedures are completed quickly and with the minimum of inconvenience, and to that effect the full cooperation of the vessels in question is essential. Naturally attempts to evade our patrols will be seen as questionable activity that is bound to heighten tensions, as it is always possible that agents of the Kusari Empire might have stolen or otherwise seized control of some civilian vessels. Whilst highly unlikely, I am sure you understand that in times of war these are possibilities we cannot afford to rule out. The projection of unknown comm signatures such as this "Order" that you mention would naturally also serve to attract the attention of our officers, and I am sure you will want to conduct thorough investigations of your own to determine whether or not one of your vessels was indeed projecting strange and mysterious transponder signals.

I trust that through mutual cooperation we can successfully avoid such similar incidents in future,
Many thanks for your understanding,

Captain Arthur Spencer-Fanborough
Deputy BAF Diplomatic Officer

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Sir Stanley Nelson




<span style="color:#000066">Charles Canning </span><span style="color:#000066"> Foreign Secretary</span>