To: The Rheinland Military [RM] HC || From: The Order Overwatch

[Barrier]

► Source: Kaiserliche Rheinwehr HQ, Kolonnenplatz Neu Berlin
► Encryption: port RM-MAS-1NTS-TMD-ORD
► Submitter: Großadmiral Alfred Henze
► Recipients: Admiral Solandros
► Subject: Planning for the Future

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Admiral Solandros,

I now have the complete picture provided to me by my soldaten, corroborated by other sources in the Omicrons. I must admit mein herr, that the outlook is concerning. Your people and organization are commendable for providing the knowledge and assets to delay the expansion of a very real foe. Unfortunately, you know as well as I that your reputation in House space, and Rheinland in particular, is as problematic as ever, which has my hands tied in many respects.

I am not interested in being sidelined and replaced by a jasager who will merely be a younger version of Schulze. Therefore, we will need to be patient regarding any plans we make about bringing our organizations closer in line. With Thuringia still reeling from our latest success and the nomads limiting their operation to Sigma-15, the public and the government will not have the will to care about problems in the edge worlds. Believe me, admiral, Rheinland has its own problems that are very human in nature, and I cannot air any more plasmaballs without one taking my head off.

This is what I propose: effective immediately, an unofficial ceasefire is to take place between our soldaten. How we achieve this at ground level without arousing suspicion is up to a clever formulation of our ROEs, and having trusted personnel in the right place. The purpose of this proposal is the facilitation of a more streamlined sharing of intelligence. If your people detect a threat to Rheinland, send them out to intersect with our patrols, and the message will find its way up the chain of command. The messenger may have to dodge inaccurate fire and expletives of my fliegers, but such is the price of deniability. If they are captured, I can assure you of their swift extradition to Hammersee on a poorly-defended prison transport at a time of your choosing.

You should know as well that I will be sharing much of this intelligence, and my plans, with MND leadership. What exactly transpires at these meetings will be no concern of yours, and I will leave it up to VIPER and her ilk to decide what to do with this information. Know this: an attack against MND, Polizei, or any Rheinland corporation is an attack against the Rheinwehr. From now on, any actionable intelligence you possess which would normally lead to a strike will be handled internally by our own people. Therefore, I suggest you focus all your efforts on the threat closer to your assets, and let us handle our own problems - with any assistance you are able to provide.

If the next few months of cooperation prove fruitful, we will move to the next stage of our relationship. Additional assets, funding, supplies - this may all be available for any operations you plan against the alien threat. Do not fumble the early stages of our new relationship, and I will make it worth your while.

Hochachtungsvoll,
Alfred Henze
Großadmiral der Kaiserlichen Rheinwehr

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