To: Crayter Naval Command | From: Bretonian Armed Forces

[Spectre]

Captain Sommerville,

To begin, neither I nor Minister Westbrook have approved of any operations of the Bretonian Armed Forces within the Tau systems beyond Bretonia's territory in Tau-31. Your Admiralty Board never approached Crayter about operations within the Tau systems, and no clearance was granted for warships to operate against the Gallic Union beyond Bretonian space since the end of the Gallic Invasion by the Crayter Government as far as I am currently aware.

As the Armed Forces should be aware, Crayter actively works to maintain peace within the Tau sector, which relies on the cooperation of our neighbors who operate in the area to keep their borders safe. Our orders are exactly that: To maintain the peace. This is incredibly difficult, however, when our allies waltz in and claim to be doing 'peacekeeping missions' by committing acts of war within the Tau sector and actively ignoring Crayter forces when they are ordered, outside the Kingdom's territory, to cease fire.

The commander of F.V. Hermes acted within their orders, however wreckless. No bias was sent towards either side, but it is very clear the Armed Forces was the aggressor in this incident. Your ships were asked, then told, repeatedly by Crayterian officers to depart Orkney on two separate occasions, and only through Crayterian intervention were your people convinced to depart. Had Gallia or Kusari performed any 'peacekeeping' operations within the Taus against any station, it is safe to assume the Ministry of Defense would be just as cranky, and I would just as pissy.

Regarding the blockade, the Military enforced it where needed. I'm not aware of any changes to the orders we received past the beginning of December, and beyond what I've said here I'm not at liberty to disclose them further. Ask the Ministry of Defense if you'd like.

As I'm sure this will be reaching your Admiralty Board promptly, I will ask the Armed Forces to refrain from any further incursions past the Bretonian border save for patrols or enforcement of the blockade. Should I be ignored, understand that this will be the only time I will ask. Further provocation of Gallia will not be met with requests. In this context, I don't care about your feelings. I literally just got finished fighting two wars. I don't want to fight a third.

For those we left behind.

Lisa Combes
Fleet Admiral
Crayter Republic