To: Sub-Director Balzac cc: Directors, Sub-Directors RE: Bane of the Breezewood

[Coliz]

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ID: Hector Balzac

Location: Renzu Shipyards, Shikoku

To: Directors and subdirectors

Subject: Initial report

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Monsieurs, Madames

I apologize in advance for the delay in drafting this report: the news of my sudden promotion and the amount of work entrusted to me in these days have greatly destabilized my routine.
Sifting through communications, distress calls and research bulletins, two things stand out:

1) The miracle of the survivors: I have never had the opportunity to interface with these forms of alien life, in Gallia there have never been episodes (at least not known to civilians), but the fact that they have not been relentless on the lifeboats is still something anomalous. Were they looking for something inside the ship? Something that attracted them to the heart of one of the most defended Houses in the entire Sector? It would be useful to be able to access the Breezewood cargo manifest to find out if something, or someone, may have lured Seabourne into a trap.

2) The incompetence of the LPI and the LN: Texas system, a penitentiary one. How is it possible that in a system that should be among the most defended, patrolled and supervised in the whole Liberty, something similar could happen? Not a common pirate assault, not the usual drifters looking for easy credits, but an alien ambush along the main communication routes of the system. Mon Dieu, I wonder how on earth they could have won the war a few years ago with these levels of incompetence and disorganization (or worse, how we managed to lose it). I would not be surprised if in recent years you have embarked serial killers or hardened criminals as common passengers on the orbital boarding piers of Houston if the security levels of the system are the same that our guests on the Breezewood have been able to testify.

3) SEC status: Let's talk about our faults. SEC. The forgotten branch. If it existed I could define it as "at the mercy of total anarchy", however, at present, being able to claim that there is a defensive branch of the company would be a lie.
A Corvo frigate, two gunships and a couple of fighter captains, all stationed on Curacao. The first to rust, the second to get drunk among the guests in our clubs.
The situation is embarrassing to say the least.
Resorts on most inhabited planets, multiple concurrent cruises in various industry systems, stationary liners and all we have is this? Three multipurpose ships and a couple of fighters?
I can hardly believe that this and the Martinique incident were the only serious incidents this company had to deal with.

The only conclusion I feel I can reach after trying to make sense of the chaos that has accumulated in these months of anarchy is the following: deciding to completely abolish this branch, outsourcing the safety of our convoys to third parties (with risks and associated benefits) or revolutionize and modernize the SEC. Personally, I would be more inclined to the second option: loyal captains and crews chosen according to our criteria are more stable and controllable than mercenaries, although the latter may be more experienced. After all, it is not a question of making this company a paramilitary one. In any case, I put myself in your hands for this decision (since it will involve, in any case, huge funding).

I will issue additional reports on any decisions that are made in this regard.

As painful as it is to admit, I'd conclude the search for any survivors of the attack. The missing lifeboats, if not recovered by the authorities, were most likely lost in the Breezewood explosion. And I want to hope with all my heart so: there are fates far worse than death that any survivors not yet found could have met.

That's all for now. I believe a formal reminder to the Liberty authorities is a duty, at least for the families involved in the incident. I doubt we'll ever get any refunds, an official apology would still be a result.
I would then like to discuss with the other directors about Captain Seabourne's health conditions: as much as his "resurrection" fills me with joy, there are still obscure points about his true abilities and mental conditions.

Best regards,
Hector Balzac

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