Sender:Saule Khalid Ship of origin:Exodus Target:Xeno Alliance Subject:Pennsylvania
>>transmission begins
Greetings,
I have a rather large... [He twiddles his thumbs as he is clearly searching for a word.] - request that I would like to discuss. I recently spent some time with friends in Pennsylvania. The place is quite depressing now. The system is supposedly not house space, but the people there are living under more pressure from their "protectorate" - [He launches up from his chair, flailing his arms and modulating the pitch of his voice as he says the word.] - than the people living inside the actual border. [He shakes his head, sighs, and sits back down.] And I'm not just talking about Zoners. I mean every inhabitant. They won't - [He shakes his head again, letting out a dry laugh.] - they can't do anything by themselves. But WE can.
I do not come empty handed. Another rather large thing i have - [He rolls his eyes.] - is a ship. I have a colony ship - an empty one, save for the crew. We have space - supplies, people, vehicles, weapons, housing, a place to throw a party. I don't care what you want, I can bring it to you.
I've never seen a colony ship engage in combat before.
Come to think of it, I've never actually seen a colony ship before. How combat-ready is your ship?
Regardless, supplies and weapons are crucial. But Erie needs some kind of jumpstart to make progress. It needs a coordinated, motivated, and trained militia. But currently it's a ship minus a captain and it's already run aground. Someone's going to have to push it back out to sea. Years gone by I'd have said that person would be Tabitha Marks. She had the makings of a leader but I have to assume the LSF got to her and nipped that problem in the bud.
Still, we can't waste time feeling sorry about it.
What we're really lacking on the Erie front is talent. And there's no substituting that. I need you and whoever else is willing to fight to rally together and make some form of headway towards becoming a fighting force. There's no use winning only to lose that little green gem again.
Sender:Saule Khalid Ship of origin:Exodus Target:Xeno Alliance Subject:RE: Pennsylvania
>>transmission begins
Greetings,
To be honest, I don't know how combat ready we are right now. The last combat this ship saw was in Omicron Delta in 826AS, where the Core had her converted into a nice debris field. It took us nine years to fight off Junkers, scavenge the wreck and to finally finish rebuilding her - I believe this is to be a great achievement by my crew. I spared no expense, and I have no doubts about the structural integrity or the reliability of the shields and weapons. However, the crew I have assembled are civilians - shipyard workers, pilots, and some people I headhunted to help finish the project. Very few of us have seen any combat, so the readiness of the crew and how they will act in the face of danger remains to be seen. Don't be mistaken though, they trust me and I trust them. They will follow my lead. [Some crew members cheer in the background.]
The Exodus herself is almost ready. I want to sell off the last of my remaining collection of priceless items - [He winces.] - to fund new weaponry, maybe something from the Order, or even the Core - now that would be ironic. I've found that money tends to talk loud enough to overlook grudges or regulations. As far as upgrades go, I've had cloaking modules and jump hole generators installed, so perhaps - once we have prepared accordingly - we will be better suited for a supporting role, rather than a direct front-line insertion, but I am not against the idea. You are very good at this kind of planning, according to some of my crew members, so I will trust your group's judgement on this specific matter more than my own.
I am also in the process of gaining support from another group whose identity I will keep undisclosed for now. They have already agreed to my primary terms - letting me use their resources in return for using mine and so on, but I am on my way to meet with representatives to discuss the meat and bones of the plan... Which I neglected to mention to them in the initial message, so there is still a chance they turn me down upon hearing what I plan to do. If only you could come along to persuade them. I hear you are a very persuasive man.
I appreciate that this matter is as important to you as it is to me, and I appreciate that you are hesitant to send people to their deaths for no good reason.
I'll be in touch, hopefully soon. By the way, - [He leans forward.] - I did not expect you to be so... Handsome.
I'm aware I have something of a reputation for it but a large part of my effectiveness at the negotiations table comes from preparedness and a willingness to be pragmatic. I prefer looking at the big picture rather than nitpicking but there are, more often than not, political necessities that a man in my position cannot dispense with.
Speaking of pragmatism - there are, to my knowledge, two organized groups committed to this sort of agenda besides our Alliance. But I find myself wary of both.
Sender:Saule Khalid Ship of origin:Exodus Target:Xeno Alliance Subject:RE: Pennsylvania
>>transmission begins
Hmm, I suppose you will find out eventually anyway, and I suppose there is no real harm in revealing their identity. God, they were right. You are persuasive!
The group I am negotiating with is Phoenix Outworlders. Currently I don't see a reason to be wary of them myself. I do know that they are currently occupied by the conflict in the Omicrons, but I have already established that I will be essentially separate from this. For now at least, I won't leave them stranded if they need my help. After all, I am the one who asked for their help first. In a perfect world I would be focusing all my attention on one thing, but real life tends to force one to juggle multiple balls at once. Anyway, I digress. Admittedly I don't know them on a personal level, but I've been spending a lot of time in their backyard and as such have heard a lot about them - most of which was to my liking, hence the decision to contact them specifically.
I doubt they'll be able to send a meaningful amount of manpower, so I rather intend to use their resources to expand. If I can fly their flag and have their support, I will be able to get more people on board. Plus they have combat experience, and can probably train my crew, so I won't need to waste time or money on bullshit training courses at some house academy.
I am curious as to why you say you are wary of them - if they are who you refer to. And even if they're not, I would still like to know who to be wary of.
Hardly surprising given the lack of any overlap or exposure. So I would be of little help in trying to sell Erie as a cause to them, it's one thing to be persuasive but it's an entirely different thing for the logistics to be even remotely feasible.
Still, your crew stands to make use of their expertise and receive training. That'll help. Joining them seems like a fairly roundabout way to secure support but if it works..
Since you asked, the two other groups I'm aware of with an interest in Erie are the PLF, Pennsylvania Liberation Front, and Taskforce Prometheus. The former I find.. sporadic if motivated. Despite my best efforts they coordinated with us very little and mostly went their own way.
It didn't go well.
The latter are a bunch of Legion remnants, oddballs, and rejects from other groups of rejects. While they claim to be trying to restore the Commonwealth, they do this under the hospitality of the Technocracy and are led by an AI designed to imitate former leaders of their cause. It's all too demented to buy into.
I could at least see them as useful if they weren't subservient to those crackpots in Inverness but that's not the case.
If you feel like talking to them then go ahead. Who am I to stop you.
Sender:Saule Khalid Ship of origin:Exodus Target:Xeno Alliance Subject:RE: Pennsylvania
>>transmission begins
Interesting. We - the old crew, before i took over, [He waves a hand dismissively.] - were once acquainted with the Technocracy. We briefly had dealings with them when we came back to Sirius a decade ago, but nothing major. The other three names, I don't know anything about them. [He frowns, resting his chin on his hand.] I am surprised to hear they have interest in the region, and what they will gain from this. I will keep my intentions hidden from them for now - not that I'm flying around openly broadcasting my plans.
The PLF sounds interesting, though. I may contact them as well.
Thank you for the information. I'll contact you when I have news. If anything interesting comes up on your side that you think will help, please send it my way.
![[Image: DeVwCJI.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/DeVwCJI.jpg)
![[Image: Lc48rCo.png]](https://i.imgur.com/Lc48rCo.png)
![[Image: 2NPuoLa.png?1]](https://i.imgur.com/2NPuoLa.png?1)
![[Image: g3e7Byz.png]](https://i.imgur.com/g3e7Byz.png)
![[Image: GAy6bGA.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/GAy6bGA.gif)