To: The Core/APM; From: Bretonian Office for Trade and Industry | Aland

[Lythrilux]

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»ID: Supreme Guildmaster Nathan Archos
»Location: Durban Station, Omicron Rho
»Subject: Aland
»ENCRYPTION: INVINCIBLE

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Sir Henry Fairfax,

The Core has been invested in your Omega operations since even before Aland, before Gran Canaria and before I took leadership. When Bretonia is strong in the Omegas, The Core is strong in the Omegas, and vice versa. Deployment of our assets into Omega-3 and Omega-49 have been key to Bretonia making gains. And past that, our shipments of rare and exotic resources, ships and equipment, and Iridium to Bretonia would make us believe we have a special - if not crucial - relationship as compared to the other buyers in the auction.

Offering us some half-used dusty dig sites when we've had your back for a very long time will leave us feeling a bit miffed. Sure, dig sites could be useful, but what is that to a strong base which could manufacture Core Capital ships - two of which we have constructed for Bretonia in the past, and if we have a shipyard in which we can construct them closer to Bretonia, we could build you more. That, or I'm sure APM can continue to construct Bretonian capital ships if need be. They've already got experience through maintaining the Invictus and the Caesar. And Aland could potentially be used as a refinery for Iridium ore closer to Bretonia. Iridium for it's considerable rarity, rendering Nauru pretty much the only known economically viable source in the sector for extracting the metal, is critical in the applications of many naval items such as anti-matter weaponry and ship hulls. If we want to get Bretonia's strength back up, helping Core to help you produce warships more efficiently would be beneficial to your interests. But without Aland, given some of the costs involved, we might have to de-prioritise Bretonia and divert Iridium shipments elsewhere.

Basically, we've had interest in Aland for quite a while, and the presence of our capitals there was to protect it, for the both of us. This isn't the first time Bretonia had offered all, if not part of, Aland for our assistance in the Omega conflicts near the end of the Gallic War. If the station changes hands and the other end of that transaction isn't us, we might be inclined to take action. We both know that if someone else takes ownership, they'd have to actually deal with the process of getting personnel and security to the shipyard from wherever in Sirius they've sent the payment from. That will take time. That could leave the shipyard vulnerable and exposed. Y'know, it looks like we'd be the only people on site. And realistically speaking I don't know if it's worth the security risk and potential vulnerability for you, or within your interests, to suddenly divert your fleet resources back towards Aland just because of some mis-guided obligation or notion that you have to make sure the transaction goes through smoothly after you get your money. The Core assets are already there.

We can keep this seamless. As I said, we'll entertain the thought of paying for this station, and I'm sure we'll meet the Bretonian Government with a very good offer they can't refuse. Let's just make sure we come out of this clean, without any drama or crises, in a way that benefits us both.

-N. Archos
Supreme Guildmaster, The Core

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