To: NO Ministry of Relations; From: Koushaku Shimamori Masahito

[Shimamori]

ADDRESS TO NATIO OCTAVARIUM MINISTER OF RELATIONS

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侯爵島森正仁

Your excellency Minister of Relations Ogden or respective person acting in his capacity, konnichiwa. My name is Masahito Shimamori. I represent Kusarian imperial clan Shimamori of Honshu. Today I am reaching to you not as a representative of the Reformed Empire of Kusari but as a private person and hope to find understanding with your Ministry.

Last month was a turbulent one for my sokoku (//Fatherland) and for Taus in general. I was one of the few within Kusari who publicly voiced protest against the militant aggression of Kusari against the Confederacy of Gallia and predatory practices of conquest and extortion in Taus. Despite my aspiration to end the war and sway the kokumin (//citizens) of Kusari towards peace, I am a realist and understand well that me alone cannot stop this bloodshed. This is the reason I am reaching to you. Over the years your country has held the reputation of shrewd diplomats with connections in all kind of places. Mediation of peace between the Bretonians, Gauls, and the Maltese certainly is a proof of your abilities. In this regard I would like your excellency to consider lending me a hand in bringing the belligerents to the table of negotiations. Natio Octavarium recently officially entering the war against the Reformed Empire of Kusari surely complicates your participation as a mediator officially, however unofficially you certainly can use your diplomatic abilities to the benefit of us all.

I would kindly request you to find and reach to influential people across all Houses, with a focus on those who would stand against the war. Your connections in all places certainly would avail that. If you manage to contact a group of influential actors, we can form an International Committee for Peace Settlement that would push publicly for peace in the media and create a negative image of the ongoing war. Negative image of the war across the House media can create a cumulative effect that would make this war too expensive for the parties to carry on and force them to sit at the negotiation table.

While this might look idealistic, I still do believe that gathering a group of recognised individuals from across Sirius and Gallia and facilitate their cooperation towards the end of war can further the goal of peace, one way or another. I have faith in Natio Octavarium's diplomatic abilities to do this discreet. My clan will be ready to finance the initiative should there be the need.

I am looking forward to your reply and hope to find understanding and cooperation in this endeavour.

With respect,
Koshaku Shimamori Masahito

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[伝言以上]

[Shimamori]

[You have (1) pending message]

[Kazinsal]

[ Incoming Transmission ]

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Identification: Taskmaster-Adjutant Harold Kane
Affiliation: Natio Octavarium

To: Masahito Shimamori

Subject: RE: Peace Conference, Attempt Two
Encryption: Overachieved
Location: Canberra Star City, Tau-44

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Shimamori-sama,

My name is Harold Kane. In circumstances where the Minister of Relations is not available, or where military matters are more directly involved, I represent his office as the Taskmaster-Adjutant of the Fleet and as a former (retired) Minister of Relations.

It is always good to meet new people, and doubly so to meet people who you are ostensibly engaged in a conflict with. Even more good is when you are meeting people who seek an end to the conflict, though as I have gleaned from your message and, frankly, as I had anticipated, the end will not be an easy one to accomplish. As you noted, we are no strangers to organizing peace conferences -- the Leviathan conference in which the end of the Gallic War was formally signed was one of the moments that brought the Natio into the international stage. Unfortunately, it was also something of a mess, due to no delegations being sent by several parties, notably the house of Liberty.

Which brings me to the issue with your request: There are five houses in Sirius and they each have their quirks, which affect this plan in several ways. I shall detail them as follows:

• House Liberty: Largest and most intact of the houses, but generally unwilling to help others and more concerned with maintaining a rabid corporatocracy than keeping international peace. Unlikely to send a delegation.
  
• House Bretonia: Broken by ten years of war against a seemingly-limitless aggressor and several years of intermittent conflict with Kusari; they are not going to be interested in seeing further bloodshed in the Taus. Likely to send a delegation.
  
• House Kusari: I cannot render a blinking "you are here" sign in this message, but for the sake of levity, please imagine one now.
  
• House Rheinland: A house torn by civil war. Considering their current status and their history as an accessory to the Kingdom of Gallia during the War, this is possibly a dead-end, as we hold no favour with them whatsoever.
  
• House Gallia: There are three House Gallias right now and they cannot agree on how to deal with the continued insurgency of the exiled Kingdom that they deposed, let alone how to handle international incidents. May find a unified delegation to send, but as the defender in this conflict, it may not be what we're looking for.
  

Looking at the following non-house micronations, we have:

• Crayter Republic: Currently overextending and being punished for it by Kusari. May be willing to engage in a bit of propaganda to stop this nonsense, but expect any delegation that helps us to be black-bagged by their fascistic intelligence services.
  
• The Coalition: Not their problem.
  
• Crete: Also not their problem.
  
• Natio Octavarium: I'll fly myself over in a fighter if it'll stop yet another war everyone will lose in.
  
• Malta: Not unified enough to send a delegation, also not their problem.
  
• Liberty Insurgency: I don't think we're on speaking terms right now.
  

We want this war to end as much as you do. We have little breathing room as it is, and the Kusari Naval Forces making incursions into our territory means that we've had to authorize retaliatory strikes and disruption of logistics lines supporting the Kusari government. I don't want innocent people to be hurt, so offensive actions of violence have been declared a last resort burdened with paperwork and possible case review, but in any modern war there is the possibility of accidents.

I will reach out to people I know and trust and see what I can do. Let's see what we can do about this stupid war.

Regards,
Taskmaster-Adjutant Harold Kane
Natio Octavarium

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[ Transmission Ended ]