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**Sombs** · 10-05-2017, 07:25 PM,

Esteemed representants of the Confederation of Freeports,

in this instance, I speak as administrator of Freeport 11, not as representant of the Omicron Supply Industries. Speaking for the company will be up to Director Paul Mendes.

With greatest concern I have been observing the situation in Omicron Delta for various reasons. For anyone who never saw Ground Zero, the battles of Omicron Delta and Kappa and the refugee camps on Gran Canaria, it is fairly easy to forget all the blood that was shed, all the statistics that analyze this war. I believe many of you have forgotten how this war started, and I believe many of you have no idea what our fleet strength is compared with their strength. Many of you seem to not have any idea about this war and how close we are, matter of factly, about to lose Freeport 11 one way or the other.

What were the roots of this war?
For a long time, the Zoner Society was able to deal with the Core in peace. We had trading contracts, a pretty good diplomatic standing with them in Omicron Delta. Many Zoners gave Core the permission to help enforcing the NFZ laws. Both sides profited from it. Usually, those laws had been violated by Corsairs, Maltese and the Order, hell, even Gammuians have tried to harvest Zoner assets in Delta. Admittedly, I remember some Core Captains being harsh, unfriendly, but they did their job well. This all only started escalating when, repeatedly, members of the Zoner Society - mind you, not members of OSI, TAZ, IRG, Seraphim or MedForce One, started to violate the very simple laws of the Core in very unreasonable ways. Back in that time, all it would have needed to do was asking for temporary exceptions, as for example about carrying and moving nomadic materials. However, as mentioned earlier, this was done without contacting the Core in Omicron Delta. Usually, the Core did take the liberty to fine, sanction and in the worst cases, eliminate potential law violators. Cruel? Maybe, but nothing we don't know from the houses of Liberty, Bretonia, Rheinland and Kusari. Other than those houses, the set of laws the Core enforces in Omicron Delta are really, really easy. Don't carry nomadic materials, don't piss them off. A quick reminder for everyone: The Order demands the same and other than the Core, the Order doesn't fine or sanction in those cases.

The situation in Omicron Delta escalated when a Zoner Society Colony Ship designated as "COLONIA" refused to drop nomadic materials in Delta. It tried to flee to the Freeport 11 No-Fire-Zone and was shot down just as it entered it, as Freeport 11 Turret Cameras were able to capture. Corsairs and Zoners have been present and watched this, turning this into a giant incident of bad PR for the Core. Something that didn't contribute to a de-escalation of the situation at all. Short time later, another incident of a Zoner of Freeport 11 denying Core Captain Jessebelle Fillian in a taunting and provoking way to give her her legendary pack of smokes, as people refer to. The Freeport 11 archive also has recordings of that. Those are examples of the more important cases. There have been many cases like this that show how the Core was repeatedly provoked by members of the Zoner Society who thought they could act like dicks towards the Core and just run to the next Freeport and get the protection of the Confederation of Freeports. And suddenly, the Core said no. They might have begun to act violently first, but not without a reason. This is not a justification for any of this, neither for the provocative behavior of fellow Zoners nor for the violence the Core used to react with. It is a reminder that things have worked well before some individuals felt the necessity to piss off the wrong people. Who were the people of the Colonia? Who was Sonya Friendly? Who was Jane Shepard? Where are the Solar Runners? Where is Captain Dross of the [ZMCS]-FP-66|Arcadia? Where is Iona Taylor of the I-401? Who were those people that randomly popped up and used assets and technology of the Zoner Society to break the Zoner Code in first place? Who were they and where are they now? If Freeport 11 was attacked by the Core right now, where would those individuals be? Not here in Delta. They are either somewhere else and hide themselves from the consequences of their actions, or they are dead or missed in action. I know for fact that Iona Taylor got rid of her Aquilon-class Carrier to continue her unreasonable nonsense with the equipment of the Order. I once interviewed her to find out about her motives, as to why she did attack the Core and dragged us all into this war. No surprise, there was no solid answer. "They are terrorists!" That was all she gave me.

Looking back at all of this, we have had multiple bombardements on Freeport 11. The station only survived because the station was prepared for something like this, but not coming from the Core but from the Nomads. Over time, more and more parts of the station brook apart. The Nomads didn't stand down at all and continued pestering around in Delta and adjacent systems. Why is nobody reporting about that? Because it happens every day. Do we get support for it? No. Before the war, we had Carriers and Colony Ships in close vicinity of Freeport 11, heavily armed to be able to defend our people. Together with the Order, Corsairs, hell, even Maltese and of course the Core, our assets were able to survive for another day. Let's not pretend this peace was lasting long, but whenever Freeport 11 was endangered, we received help from our neighbours.

However, the entire war with the Core is lasting for longer than one and a half years by now, including the dirtiest assault on Freeport 11 we ever experienced. The NEMP bomb. The most devastating assault ever lead against the station and the defending forces. Many ships were destroyed in an instance, including the WV-Tangra itself. That time was the last time the people of Sirius were holding together to protect the freeport. In the beginning, the Red Hessians and the SCRA helped us. IMG helped us. ALG. Many, many smaller groups and individuals. But where is that support now? Where are the people willing to invest in more military assets? Who took care of the casualties? The refugees? While many of you were begging for more war, those voices have been fighting one or two times at max and always lost. There never was anything to win. There never was a counterstrike. A ballistic missile to Nauru? Oh yes, that sure was a fleshed out plan, resulting in literally nothing. Yaren was still harbouring all forward Core assets including Bellona, and the jump hole to Omicron Rho was still untouched, allowing the Core to retreat and return to Delta whenever they needed it. Not only was this war pure nonsense, an unnecessary bloodshed without comparison and comprehension - what this war was, was inefficient. And why was it inefficient? Because the Zoner Society is not an army. The Core's ships are made to destroy and conquer, their people trained to kill and take. What they do, they do a thousand times more efficient than the Zoners did. More efficient than the Order, the Corsairs or anyone else who fought the Core. If it was different, the Core wouldn't be able to keep Yaren and Nauru. Yet they do.

What is the current situation?
Right now, we had some time to recover. The refugee camps on Gran Canaria have been stabilized, thanks to many millions of credits invested by OSI and the combined efforts of transports from OS&C, the Seraphim, OSI and other groups. With another financial support of one billion credits, OSI also subsided the construction of three heavily armored Aquilon-class Carriers which were stationary deployed at Freeport 11 for weeks until they had to leave the combat area, lacking supplies and additional support. After a very long time and the efforts of the Seraphim and other people willing to actively help, Freeport 11 received a makeshift repair. The bio-drome is connected to the station again. debris are still all around the station, although way less than before. This is something we don't have to thank the Confederation of Freeports for. This was mostly done by the Seraphim.

The repairs are makeshift, though. The station is not at 100%. We only have a minimal crew here, almost no economy. Very rarely people bring supplies over here - that is actually something I have to do using my Whale. Very rarely we have an Aquilon-class ship patroling the area. Rather often however we have Nomads, Order and Core in the system, as well as Harvesters. My Whale has been stopped multiple times by the Core. They didn't destroy it, but returned to their usual treatment for civilians, fining me. For a group of people who are at war with us, a pretty merciful treatment. I doubt they knew who they were dealing with. We don't know why the Core is sparing us for the time being. But it would be stupid and naive to assume that a paramilitary company like the Core, equipped with some of the most advanced technology of the Omicrons, doesn't have more than one dirty bomb. They have plenty of warships, they have shown how well they can use them and how they are willing to die for their cause, proven with the NEMP assault on Freeport 11. We barely managed to repair the station. Other than what some of you seem to think, the station is not indestructible. It does not have a magic protective shield that puts us in a position to continue waging war. Sooner or later, Freeport 11 will fall.

However, Guildmistress Loyola made her offer. A suspiciously generous one, I admit. All in all it is a good offer, though. They pretty much want to revert the situation to the status quo of two years ago, when things were good for us and better for them. Amnesty for civilians, a chance to move out for war criminals. Hate me for my opinion, but the Core was always better at protecting the system than the Order and the Zoners together. They are made for that job, and with Loyola at the head, their most bloodthirsty leaders have been effectively replaced. Guildmistress Loyola has been living on Canaria, on Freeport 11 and now lives on Durban, I assume. She knows both sides of the war, and she knows how both sides are achieving nothing but losses over the same piece of metal over and over again. Knowing the Core has the means to destroy Freeport 11 sooner or later anyway, I say we should accept the offer and see what happens. We don't have the means to keep this station without a steady line of supply and active support. And by that I am talking about real support. Something only the Seraphim have shown. They are still here on the station with the Meridian, trying to repair and maintain the ship. Most people have forgotten about them.

Enough bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed. We are no warriors. We have lost the major support we once had. The station can't survive another big assault from them, that is a matter of fact. The only chance to keep this station is accepting the offer. It is the only way we can keep Freeport 11, our foot in this system. Our source of Iridium from Omicron Lost. Our last best hope for peace in the Omicrons. What do we have at risk here? Nothing more than the station. The station and the pride of some powerhungry civilians who have no sense of realism when looking at the facts. We have no army. They have. They offer peace. For the longest time we enjoyed the support from the colonies, sympathy from all over Sirius for the attack our members provoked over a long time. Do you think we will ever get any support, any sympathy again once we decide to continue the war? A war we never will be able to win?

We lose nothing of value if we accept the peace.

Kyu Akibara
Administrator of Freeport 11

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