My name is Esme Blake, Chief of Operations for Bristol Constructions and Manufacturing. In recent years, we have encountered the same difficulties and trials in our competition with the House corporations as many of you have before. The names may be different, Deep Space Engineering and Samura Heavy Industries, but their tactics are not. For a time, the Bristol Board considered it possible that our competition, limited as may be to only a singular sector of business, would be overlooked by these House corporates. This now appears to be a lie.
As a direct result, we are now faced with the same struggles as you once held. As a direct result, we are now faced with that same question.
The Bristol Board has looked into the long history of close cooperation by your organizations, and the benefits it now bears for each of your operations, despite its less codified nature. After an internal vote, it has been decided that we would take great pride and be honored to lay claim to that same cooperation.
The following is a proposed accord, in the direct interest of officializing any cooperation between our companies.
NON-ALIGNED INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATION
NAIA ACCORDS OF 835
Article 1
All signed parties shall undertake, to maintain the peace, resolution of any disputes between themselves and other parties by peaceful means such that the security of the signed parties is not endangered, and shall refrain from the threat or use of force in any manner which stands against the principles of this agreement.
Article 2
All signed parties shall further development of relations between the signed parties through strengthening of any and all institutions which, by commerce, security, or aligned goals interact commonly. The signed parties shall undertake removal of conflict between these institutions through the promotion of economic stability and the collaboration of economic policies between any or all of the signed parties.
Article 3
All signed parties shall maintain the individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack, in order to maintain the capacity of this agreement to foster stability and peaceable relations both between signed parties and other parties.
Article 4
All signed parties shall collectively consult when one signed party is threatened by any corporate party, signed or otherwise, in its territorial integrity, security, or commercial capacity.
Article 5
All signed parties shall undertake all measures to stand united against corporate action against them, whether that be threatening the territorial integrity, security, or commercial capacity of the signed parties, and shall come to that member’s defense in the interests of self-defense and the continued existence of this agreement.
Article 6
All signed parties hereby institute a Council, wherein each party shall maintain representation, to consider and affect implementation of this treaty. This Council shall maintain the ability to convene promptly. The Council shall organize and implement any and all subsidiary organizations deemed necessary to carry out the Articles of this agreement.
Article 7
All signed parties may convene to allow membership of additional parties through a unanimous vote.
In the interests of Article 2, Bristol would propose the following:
1. Preferential supply of Platinum not to exceed 25% of monthly production 2. Preferential supply of Deuterium not to exceed 50% of monthly production 3. Bulwark-class Heavy Explorer hull discount 4. Coordination of any future salvage expeditions with ALG
We believe that it would benefit all our companies, from the employees to the top, that we work together in this and more.
I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
V/R
BLAKE, ESME
CHIEF OF OPERATIONS, BRISTOL CONSTRUCTIONS & MANUFACTURING
CO -BCV-SAGGIATORE (IND-BRI00033-K834)
Miss Blake, I hope this message finds you well! I'm Elize Terblanche, on behalf of Caledonia Distributions Limited. I must say, this message is quite a surprise. While I've discussed this message and proposal with some of my colleagues in the ALG, I have not yet had opportunity to confer with our partners in the Guild, due to the considerable distance between my posting here at Kanagawa and the closest Guild centres of Java and Riau within Tau-23. That said, you should take my words only as representing the views of Caledonia — though I do not imagine Gateway's corporate board would have much objection to my perspective here.
While we appreciate the gesture, I think that perhaps Bristol does not fully understand the nature of our relationship here. The connection between Gateway, the ALG, and the Guild is not one defined by treaties or broad, overarching, restrictive diplomatic arrangements. Instead, individual contracts, a favor here and there, and decades worth of goodwill manifest the natural synergy between our respective specializations. This, combined with the limitations on market access that each of our parties has, which other members of our little partnership can make up for, and the oligopolistic attitude of the larger business entities in Sirius, leads us rather inextricably to an intimate cooperation.
In other words, Ms Blake, this highly formalised relationship that you have come to us with practically right out the gate is simply not how we do business with each other, and the extremely corporatised structure of your approach is more or less the strategy applied by the exact big-business oppressors that have visited so many woes upon us all.
Furthermore, while Caledonia's limited dealings with Bristol's member corporations have thus far been very mutually fruitful, the level of cooperation and trust established is simply not comparable to over a century of extremely warm cooperation through thick and thin, through war and peace, through famine and feast, that Gateway, the ALG, and the IMG have shared. While we all appreciate ambition here, it is — and I say this in the most complimentary manner possible — not really fruitful for Bristol, a newcomer on the Sirian stage, to approach all of us with intent to dictate the terms of our relationship. For all these reasons and more, Caledonia must reject your proposal on its face.
That said, please do not in any way take this as a rejection of further cooperation. We understand, at least to a degree, the situation that Bristol finds itself in, and we do truly believe there is a lot of room for our relationship to grow. In many ways, we see a lot of ourselves in you. If you have specific proposals for ways in which we could cooperate, we would be most eager to examine them together and work out mutually-beneficial arrangements for both our respective corporations, our employees, and for other independent and civilian actors within the markets that we occupy. After all, it is primarily through trade that we come to rely upon our fellow humans, and it is through interreliance that mutual understanding and, eventually, friendship arises.
From all of us at Caledonia, thank you for your time, and have a wonderful day!
DISCLAIMER:
This communication and all associated metadata belongs to Caledonia Distributions Ltd, a subsidiary of Gateway Shipping Inc (all rights reserved). If you have received this message erroneously, you are requested to please contact the sender and delete the communication.
Thank you for your candor and honesty. I will try to return the courtesy.
I envy Caledonia and Gateway for their ability to make good, honest relations over the course of decades. I am impressed that you hold such safety and ability that you can build a road of friendship by the donations of your employees, by the chance meetings between your employees and theirs, by favors here and there which develops an interconnectedness that rivals most other diplomatic corps.
Unfortunately, though, I fail to see how a treaty, an agreement, a contract signals a strategy used by the big-businesses. No, their strategy is to have connections. Their strategy is to have friends. Their strategy is to have a favor built upon a favor built upon a deal with the House governments, with the administrators of stations, with the military, and with the police. Their strategy is to be so intertwined with the fabric of the House that they can apply pressure against newcomers through every which angle. They employ increased inspections that delay production to increased border checks that delay shipment to decreased police patrols that increase risk and so increase insurance, all aimed at driving competition to such a level that at the end they can begin their hostile takeovers and purchases once the company turns bankrupt.
These corporations employ favors, they employ connections, much like how the collaboration of ALG, Gateway, and IMG have done as you have so kindly observed, Ms Terblanche. The difference between the two is that they have chosen to make their connections with the Houses, while those between the borders of each have made connections with one-another. The difference is that they aim to create monopolies and empires within the Houses while you aim to build an honest living. Alliances, honest alliances, cannot always wait to manifest from decades of cooperation. Friendships - and organizations - change within that timespan, some to flourish, some to die.
If these Articles are deemed restrictive, by all means, tell me how. If you find Bristol’s possible contributions lacking, by all means, tell me how. There is a path forwards, I know there is, but I do believe that we cannot wait for the charity of time.
V/R
BLAKE, ESME
CHIEF OF OPERATIONS, BRISTOL CONSTRUCTIONS & MANUFACTURING
CO -BCV-SAGGIATORE (IND-BRI00033-K834)
I am Albert Schulze, one of the guildmasters of the IMG. It is good to hear from Bristol as it was worrying when my other contacts in your group became quiet especially when half of the sector is buzzing about the upcoming conflict between Liberty and Kusari over who has the right to mine platinum the ore Bristol also mines.
Both of those corpo stooges are know to the Guild and we had a fair share of conflict when they decided to poach from us, so I understand the reason why you are worried. DSE is trying to muscle in on our Coronado mining operation while Samura has a history trying the same in the Taus.
It is clear that cooperation could benefit both of our groups, as I mentioned to your predecessor. Perhaps we could even consider joint operations where our expertise aligns.
However, it is not solely my decision to make. Any accord you propose would bind the Guild as a whole, and my authority does not extend to approving or denying such agreements. Your proposal will be submitted to the Guild Assembly, where it will be deliberated as soon as tomorrow.
If you wish to make your case in front of the Assembly do inform me so that I will be able to organize it.
With regards
Albert Schulze, Guildmaster
¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤ End of Transmission ¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤
SINGAPORENETWORK ACCESS STATUS: SECURE | KONPEKI version 8.17.83299-A Copyrighted by the Independent Miners Guild 734 Neural Net Public Accords Trade Agreement - All Rights Reserved.
新加坡网络接入状态：安全 | KONPEKI版本8.17.83299-A版权所有：独立矿工公会734神经网络公共协定贸易协议 - 保留所有权利。
░ ::>information_status: RECEIVED
░ ::>enabling decrypting_paragraph scripts... OK
▒ ::>
▓ ::>downloading: cache_data.mxrp file... OK
░ ::>downloading: cache_data2.mxrp file... OK
▓ ::>downloading: content_data.pkg file... OK
▓ ::>downloading: nlxp43.mxrp file... OK
░ ::>downloading: burner.jrpk file... OK
░ ::>file transfer complete
▒ ::>decrypting: "ALLOY" encryption_status... OK
░ ::> commencing playback开始播放:
Dear miss Blake,
You have my apologies for the delay in my response the Guild Assembly took an embarrassing amount of time to debate your request, in the end we agreed to accept your proposal with a minor gripe about Article 5. The Guild is not able to commit all of its forces to a joint stand at the moment. We will of course send volunteers when needed with necessary supplies.
Seeing how Caledonia Distributions responded and the unfortunate lack of ALG’s response we could enter a preliminary partnership if it would suit Bristol. One where we agree to support each other the best of our abilities. Both Galileo and Tau twenty-three will soon experience conflicts between two houses while they are on different sides of the sector our struggle is the same.
To future cooperation,
Albert Schulze, Guildmaster
I appreciate you getting back to us. It’s not surprising that the developments took so long; the democratic machine is not a remarkably fast one, and I can only presume that the time taken in debates serves only to strengthen the statements you now give. It’s better to wait some short time now and receive a solid answer than be given a shaky one immediately.
Bristol Constructions & Manufacturing would be willing to accept a preliminary partnership with the Independent Mining Guild, for the purposes of securing our respective claims on Galileo and Tau-23. The operations of Bretonia, Kusari, and Gallia cannot be allowed to threaten your operations on Niobium, just as the operations of Kusari and Liberty cannot be allowed to threaten our mining of Platinum, and I think we can help one-another in guaranteeing our security and prosperity towards the future.
Thank you for your time, Guildmaster Schulze. I’m sure we will have more to discuss in the immediate future.
![[Image: BTEgGJZ.png]](https://i.imgur.com/BTEgGJZ.png)
![[Image: Hw6CEXS.png]](https://i.imgur.com/Hw6CEXS.png)
![[+]](/forums/images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
Proposal![[Image: FaxLXoV.png]](https://i.imgur.com/FaxLXoV.png)
![[Image: 4M4UTts.png]](https://i.imgur.com/4M4UTts.png)
![[Image: IDgpvpG.png]](https://i.imgur.com/IDgpvpG.png)
![[Image: T5nJFSb.png]](https://i.imgur.com/T5nJFSb.png)
![[Image: R2wbzfN.png]](https://i.imgur.com/R2wbzfN.png)
![[Image: dAW1eot.png111]](https://i.imgur.com/dAW1eot.png111)
![[Image: OECngVP.png77]](https://i.imgur.com/OECngVP.png77)
![[Image: 7ODm3kk.png33]](https://i.imgur.com/7ODm3kk.png33)
![[Image: RKgpLfI.png88]](https://i.imgur.com/RKgpLfI.png88)
![[Image: SEDXXfA.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/SEDXXfA.gif)
![[Image: NhHv5PI.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/NhHv5PI.gif)
![[Image: EzUlxPv.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/EzUlxPv.gif)
![[Image: giphy-downsized-large.gif]](https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExZ2dtdjIwZndpdzRva3BtaXkzN3dyeDE3dmpkdHM1MWp6MGJybWRwbSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/54lPA60RFAzvwpGdhA/giphy-downsized-large.gif)
![[Image: Jat7oah.png]](https://i.imgur.com/Jat7oah.png)
![[Image: Cvsnuld.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/Cvsnuld.gif)
![[Image: zvtsQne.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/zvtsQne.gif)