[Archived] The Liberty Surplus Requisitioning Center

[The Republic Of Liberty]

Mina Juliana Irrlicht;

First of all, I apologise for the delay. I would like to ask if your request is still valid, but for now I will assume that it is.

I've had conversations with my colleagues about this request, and we've finally decided on how to deal with it. It may be surprising for you to know, but I am not the final word even though I head this department.

Among the biggest concern for the Republic is that your reasoning, destroying Outcast transports in the Tau systems, is neither provable nor enforceable. Short of negotiating for a quota of destroyed smuggling transports traveling through your area of influence, which carries its own problems such as the varying degree of traffic and the tendency of individuals to follow the path of least resistance, we don't have a solution which would validate your reasoning.

However, the Independent Miners Guild have something to offer the Republic of Liberty. You may have come seeking our weaponry, but those within our military expressed great interest in getting their hands on some of yours. In addition, the primary focus of this administration is security, national and local, of Liberty space. As we are not convinced of the benefits of providing you with weaponry to aid your hunt of the Outcasts far away from where we can realistically validate your results, we would like the IMG to contribute to our security by engaging in a mutually beneficial arms exchange. It would be greatly appreciated if you could bring this offer to the attention of the relevant people within your organisation.

On the other hand, if the IMG cannot contribute to the security of the Republic of Liberty in this way, we would require something different in exchange for our weaponry. That is, we would require a sustained increased IMG presence in Magellan, to prevent the spread of crime through that region. Unfortunately, that area has become a flashpoint as I'm sure Fleet Admiral Hale made clear to you through bringing the actions of the BDM to your attention. We would measure this over a long period of time, and if found to be lacking, the weaponry you wish for would be repossessed.

If both are impossible for your organisation, you will unfortunately have to pay a premium, as your friends in the ICMG did, for weaponry.

Let me be clear, the money raised here goes to raising the standard of security within and around the Republic. If this can be done another way, such as diversifying our arsenal to aid flexibility of our military capabilities, or encouraging friendly forces to increase their contribution to the safety of the people within our borders, then this is the preferred method. However, if not, the revenues gained almost certainly go other initiatives aimed at keeping the Republic of Liberty safe and secure.

Mark Lee;

Having had comprehensive discussions with my colleagues and associates, we have come to the understanding that your request does not offer the Republic of Liberty much for what you ask, and you ask for a lot. Let me summarise our collective understanding of your request.

Firstly, you are requesting an unlimited supply of Magma Hammers. That is a lot of weaponry, and contrary to popular belief, these things do have costs of production.

Secondly, you are requesting them because of their superior performance relative to more widely available weaponry, which is understandable, but crucially not a reason for us to grant the request.

Thirdly, your real reason hinges on security services yet to be rendered to the Republic of Liberty, which we would pay for anyway. In fact, granting you this weaponry and increasing your effectiveness could be compared to the nation taking a financial one-two FIST to the face. The first being the financial implications of producing weaponry at no cost to you, the second being that the weaponry would increase the amount that the Republic pays out in bounty claims to your organisation. An added problem here is that, as you have yet to perform any services for the Republic, you have not earned her trust.

Lastly, I couldn't resist the pun. Yes, my humour is awful.

All this leads me to one question: Just how deep are your pockets?

If I were you, I would try to cultivate your relationship with the Republic a little more. The amount of trust and faith that you are asking us to place in an uncertain venture is astounding. Furthermore, as you are unproven and unknown to us, we cannot be sure of any return on an investment, let alone one of this size. The security and safety of the Republic of Liberty is of paramount importance to the administration, but we would rather place this level of trust in a private security firm with a history of success and efficiency. The level of risk you are asking us to undertake is huge, and while the Republic encourages constructive risk-taking on the part of business, we do not condone it in excess.

Unfortunately, Fist & Co will need to bring a lot more to the table before we consider your request.

- Andrew Brown, Head of the Liberty Surplus Requisitioning Center.

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