House, Military, Police and Intelligence IDs

[Teerin]

I think law should be changed for both houses.

It's kinda hard to enforce two different laws in Cortez (Liberty and Bretonian laws). I was witness to the situation in which LN and Privateers argued which law should be enforced (according to the Bretonian law up to 5 units of contraband isn't contraband), what almost ended up in a shootout between LN and BP, as both parties could not find a common language - thankfully BPA arrived and no bloodshed was made.

The Treaty of Curacao actually outlines how laws work within Cortez and Magellan. Furthermore, none of the Bretonian delegates thought it wise to include Bretonia Privateers in the combined arms equivalent rank chart, so essentially that person should probably have defaulted to whoever that LN ship was.


Oh boy, forum debates with quotes ...

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Neutrality between those three powers perhaps but housing that HQ was a step too far as per my previous point. The main issue isn't just getting shot, it's more about getting in to trade with Gallia as the wars have not been kind to the OS&C bank account. They've been forced to maintain the Mackinac despite issues with Samura and the Hogosha's extortion bringing down profits. Curacao will no longer be pulling in tourists due to the Gallic invasion, plus Baden Baden is struggling, add in the loss of the Shetland and the only place left actually making good money is the Hawaii. OS&C needs funds and Gallia is only option remaining.

Keep in mind that your dealing with a tourism company that already flies freely between constantly waring Houses, our very survival depends upon being neutral to all parties, which should now include Gallia. Simply being a part of the Treaty tips those scales a little too far towards Liberty, Bretonia and the CR.

You assume that you "get it" but you've missed the mark a bit, OS&C has no power to stop anyone taking Curacao, never has, its the political backlash of claiming the system that keeps the Houses at bay. Also I highly doubt Ol' Charlie is going to send and commit a sizable occupational force to secure a resort planet, devoid of resources, far out from supply routes, smack bang in the middle of his two enemies.
What he can do however is shoot every liner passing up to Nagano or through from California/Manchester and that is bad for business.

However, if OS&C becomes neutral to Gallia and begins trading, profits go up, Gallia gets more activity, we enter a fun bit of entertainment wars with whomever owns the Gallic Liners and everybody wins. Now the Treaty doesn't state that we can't do those things already but it does cause issues with negotiations (would you agree to deal with someone housing a joint HQ of your two enemies on their planet? Safe money is on "No.")

The choice of the location of that HQ was not my decision, and both the iterations of OS&C which dealt with the original treaty and its renewal had no problem with that. Yes, you said you found that strange, but I and they did not. The scale may have been tipped slightly in favor of the allies for the past five years, but that's due to their inherent proximity. Only recently did Gallia get close, and as they get closer things will get worse.

While IMG managed to remain neutral between Gallia and Crayter in the Taus, that was because CR was essentially forced out of the whole region. None of the three are likely to get ousted from the systems neighboring to Cortez any time soon, and the way IMG remained neutral depended upon separation. I'd be happy to see you prove me wrong, but remaining neutral there will be no easy feat, allied HQ there or not.

Also yes, I know very well that OS&C has no power to stop anyone taking Curacao. I never stated otherwise. It isn't political backlash, it's been the respect for the neutrality of a border system between them. And they are all allies. Gallia's the one trying for a hostile takeover, and the allies will defend their interests in Cortez. Furthermore, "Ol' Charlie" won't need a sizable force ... after all, OS&C has no power to stop anyone, right? And right in between two three enemies is the point, Croft. Curacao would have incredible strategic value as a foothold for the GRN, and taking it would go further to isolate Manchester and the rest of Bretonia (what little would be left, presuming Gallia's still chugging along at this point) from Liberty's supply lines.

The iteration of OS&C that signed the renewal was still able to maintain neutrality with Gallia, and didn't worry about getting their liners shot at. Gallia might not play fairly (and likely will heavily favor their corporations in your "entertainment wars"), but they understood the past Orbital's position; wedged between three nations. And lastly, it would be easy enough to tell Gallia how much you hate the treaty and wish Curacao weren't sandwiched between those three ugly brutes, without actually going the extra mile to try to disband the treaty. Especially because Liberty, Bretonia, and Crayter would be like "u wot m8?" if you tried, and likely wouldn't let you.

Point is, if you play your cards right, safe money would be on "yes". Think it through