I find it unlikely Bretonia would be willing to part with much of anything at this point. The Gauls inflicted a lot of damage on New London and are razing Leeds to the ground. Unless I missed my guess, the Bretonian Government is feeling vulnerable indeed, and focusing their post-war reconstruction on a military buildup is a likely reaction. Still, it might be worth making the call anyway. They might surprise us.
I would suggest working through our back channel contacts in the SIS. According to BBC reports, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office was one of the ministries most hard hit due to the Minister's stubbornness in evacuating, and they've likely got their hands full just keeping things together.
Leviathan is a good choice for hosting a diplomatic meeting on neutral ground. However, I have concerns about security. Under normal circumstances, I would not doubt your ability to keep the ship safe, but there will be a lot of bad blood at that meeting. I worry more about our "honored guests" than about hostile boarders.
I would like to take command of shipboard security for the duration, and intend to supplement your personnel with selected agents from OIC's Internal Security Administration. Command will be returned to you after we return to port and perform a full sweep to make sure our guests didn't leave any undesirable gifts.
Normally I'd say that, between my own security staff and the Consular Guard, we can handle it. Given the high stakes involved, though, I'm unwilling to take any chances out of pride. This is quite possibly the most important gathering this ship has ever hosted. I'll instruct my people to report to you upon your arrival. Let's hope we can keep this on an even keel. Putting Libertonians, Maltese, and the IMG, among others, all in the same room is a powder keg on a good day.
Commander Michael Jankowski, CO
Liner Leviathan, 4OF
Don't think you've dropped off my radar since our conversation on Yuma. I've had a great deal to attend to since succeeding Taskmaster Williams as overall commander of the fleet, but I haven't forgotten about you or the manner in which you returned to our ranks. Because of your family connections, I can't be rid of you as I'd like, but that doesn't mean I have to let you fly.
You are removed from active flight status effective immediately. You will report to the Commandant of the Fleet Academy tomorrow morning at 0700. You will be assigned as an instructor to help train new cadets. Your primary class will be Ethics and Military Law, but you will also serve as a secondary instructor in Introductory Strike Craft Operation. While there, you will do an outstanding job. Are we clear?
What do you make of this Republic of Malta? I have my own thoughts on the subject, but I'd like to see where you sit on the matter before I go further.
Weaver
Aquila personnel,
PERC's got Kwinana up and running. There'll still be more expansion needed but our copper needs should be pretty well covered soon. I need someone to head out there and evaluate the H-fuel they're making, make sure everything's in order before they expand. I've got some concerns about the gas harvesting setup; Wilson says it should work, but it's very different from typical production.
Oh, and Ms. Prescott, your request to rename your escort bomber Move Bitch is still denied and I think you know why.
Last I heard, there was a Maltese Unitary Republic that we both rather liked and that was not styling itself as simply as a "Republic of Malta". If there is an organization claiming to be a second, contrarian Republic, then we have the makings of a schism on our hands. Digging into our historical records of the local Taus and Omicrons, the obvious living culprits -- excluding such dead entities as the Reapers of Sirius, obviously -- would be the Maltese separatist fleet called the 72nd we encountered several times over a year ago. If they are back for another round, then they are a problem and they need to be dealt with summarily.
They will not likely have many resources if they have broken off from the now-united Malta entirely. Remember the struggle we faced with our some ten thousand Cardamine addicts in the year between systems; extrapolate that to a group claiming to be a Republic consisting entirely of them.
What you'll need for background information is in the Commission archives from the third week of June last year. Dig into it, find a weak point, and wedge a knife into it.
Publically, at least, I'm inclined to keep us out of internal Maltese matters and limit our official recognition to whichever group controls Malta itself, remaining neutral to everyone else. Privately, I find I rather prefer the Republic's moral stance on issues like slavery and I wouldn't complain a bit if they took power on Malta and managed to enact true, lasting reforms. This isn't something I'm willing to commit Octavarian resources to, however. Getting ourselves embroiled in a Maltese civil war would needlessly jeopardize the safety of our people and our interests in the Tau region.
Unfortunately, men in our position cannot be entirely beholden to moral concerns.
I'll get to the point. Crayter's continued support of this insurgency is going to reignite war in Tau. If this "Republic" were to simply hole up in some backwater somewhere for a few months, we would have an easier time keeping the peace.
I'm expecting Crayter and Malta to go back to war by year's end. I would rather they not, but Crayter isn't likely to turn against the "Republic", the "Republic" isn't going to lay low and make appropriate use of their resources, and Malta isn't going to let the issue rest.
Annabella brought to my attention the departure of the Maltese Ambassador and the entirety of his staff earlier this afternoon. Minister Ogden also informs me that official diplomatic channels to Malta have gone dark. My guess is this is either a prelude to military action, or else yet another Maltese government has fallen. I need you to find out which of these is true, or if something altogether different is happening, and what this might mean for us.
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