Johnathan Sanders: Thoughts of a guide.

[AeternusDoleo]

*The time passed slowly on Jakarta station. The station remained geostationary around it's gas giant, so there wasn't really any day or night. For sake of ease it's clocks had once been synchronized with New London's time but... noone paid attention to it anymore. John had a small office for his work there. R&D division meant he was on the move a lot. Usually. Not so much of late. Progress on the new IMG ship designs was largely done locally, and was progressing smoothly. He kept close tabs on it - especially the new bomber. Perhaps their last line of defense against that loaded cannon called Gallia. It had to be finished in time.
So he was confined to the station for the present, by necessity. With the other directors on surveys and other sorties, the day-to-day handling of the Guild was his responsibility. No rest for the wicked. He had just finished sending a few applicants to the Guild their welcome, and leaned back in his chair. The datapad he held blinked a few times, then displayed a "Communication sent", and went blank. He sighed - the pad blinked on again, displaying an incoming report. Dublin, a large Corsair group. "Nothing unusual." he mumbled, and deleted it from his inbox. Only 12 messages to go. So many things going on.

He sighed again, and pressed the voice to text button on the pad. And dictated to it:
"I should note these things down. Mull them over. See the connections. See the way the winds blow - the Guild depends on the sails being set correctly. As a director, the lads trust me to do this. But Sirius is so chaotic, rapidly changing. Where to begin?

Ah, yes, the Outcasts perhaps. Our greatest enemies. But now, only in the Taus, are they our enemies? And even at that, some of them, that one called Chenzo, not quite human if the rumors are true, suggests some form of truce is possible? Unlikely. The Colonials would never go for it, and the Guild as a whole just has too much bad blood against them. But the Outcasts support the Bretonians, and 'though some in the BAF claim it temporary, I fail to see why this would be the case. Should Kusari be beaten back, I can take a guess what'll happen to our Tau side bases. War trophies. No way.

Kusari. Enigmatic house. Beautiful house. Bretonia stepped on the tail of a sleeping dragon, and feels it's breath. But they too are a threat to our Tauside operations, and more. At least they are honest - for the most. Surprising to see a nation where the corporations are likely even deeper integrated into the government then Liberty, have relatively few issues with discontent workers. I suppose it's the strong sense of nationality.

Liberty. Of all the houses I dislike them the most. First founded - that can't have been a coincidence. Monopolists, with the gate/lane network exclusively managed by Ageira and DSE. I wonder if they realise just how big a threat Gallia is to them, not just in a military sense. Losing exclusivity on gate and lane management would be the end of the Liberty economy. Knowing them, there'll be only one response possible. Military enforcement of their monopoly. Ageira has no other way to survive. I wonder if the Lane Hackers have realised this. It'll just bring more war into the Taus. And to Bretonia.

Bretonia. I don't know what to think of it anymore. Siding openly with the Outcasts. Slavers. How do they think they can maintain face with any civilized faction in Sirius? Have they grown so damned desperate that they are grasping at straws now? Needing Malta to survive is admitting you've already lost in my eyes. But the Armed Forces don't see it that way. With Kusari halfway to the New London gate, they still feel to need to cling to the hopes of victory. Even when I'm positive Kusari would let it be - Concede Harris, issue a formal apology, and Leeds should be Bretonian again. Kusari was assaulted in their sense of honor, in the Tau invasion. I don't get why Bretonia let themselves sink so low. Too late now. Even Rheinland is displeased with them.

Rheinland. I get those guys the most. Straightforward, to the point. Dealing with a Rheinlander doesn't require a verbal dance. Slowly crawling out of the mess that the Nomad wars left with them, and yet eager to start another war with Liberty. I suppose it's a nation that needs to reclaim it's self-esteem, and lashes out as a result. The price is paid by the working folk. No surprise the Hessians are growing in number these days.

Hessians. They want what's best for the working folk, much the same way we do. I'm glad they see us not as another greedy corporation. It would be impossible to compete with Daumann and Kruger without their approval of our presence. Especially now that those corporations have moved out into Omega 7. I suppose we'll need to send out prospectors again - see if we can find additional resources in the system. The distrubution and abundance of resources suggests there may be some deeper in the nebula. If only we could modify a few GMG scanners...

Ah, the GMG. Kinsmen I see them, to our own Guild. Working folk that were forced from their homes by happenstance, but through hard work, made their own fortune out in the Sigmas. And now they control the means that makes Sirius move, having successfully defended it in a massive war of attrition in the Sigmas. No house in all of Sirius is foolish enough to anger them anymore. But even they need some support to keep up with the demand. Pecos is our ace in this. The Deuterium there is crucial to H fuel production. I can see why the Colonials take such an interest in it.

Ah, the Colonial Republic. Closest ally to the Guild. When their fleet arrived there was much confusion, but we've grown to work as one. Their industrial capacity combined with our contacts siriuswide, and resource gathering siriuswide, have made it possible for us to survive sustained Outcast pressure for decades now. Their fightersquads make the Niobium operations possible - and we in turn sustain their economy with raw materials. I do not see this changing any time soon.

Who else? Ah, the Mollies. Dublin's free men. Those that gave us the Hood in a sense, seeing as they laid waste to it while it was still an Armed Forces vessel. I personally hope they will achieve their ultimate goal, establishing Dublin as a free state for the Mollies, and thus ensuring that BMM never gets to legally enslave any miner again. The war with Kusari has swung things in their favor - the Armed Forces and BPA simply cannot divert resources to combat them, so they've thrown an accord. This is the time for the Mollies to fully establish themselves, and we're helping them out in various ways. Let's face it - if BMM is ousted from Dublin, the gold trade is going to be the Mollies say, and that'll only be good for IMG. Who knows? They might even simply contract us to mine it for them, and stick to doing what they do best. Keeping their home clean of unwanted elements.

BMM. Bah. If it were my say we'd commit every Pytho we have and blast that last outpost of theirs Tauside, into oblivion. And blame Kusari. But that is too risky, we have too much invested in Bretonia. Some mercenary attacks have raided our mining operations in Dublin of late, I strongly suspect they are behind it. I have no proof though. That's always the problem. Respond in kind? I'm sure the Reavers wouldn't mind earning some extra cash. But again, too risky. Best keep it clean - with the Mollies on our side, we're not exactly defenseless in Dublin. And there's other ways to outfox the competition.

Competition. Kruger, and Daumann. Mostly Kruger. Ever since they set up that Elbich facility near the prospected fields they've been hauling ever greater quantities. I don't think they ever paid a prospection fee. Figures. Note to self: Place a few smart mines or automated defense platforms around future positive prospection zones, to drive the message home. IMG finding resources does not equal a corporate welcome mat. Still, without those resources the Rheinland economy would likely have completely collapsed. Dresden is all but mined out, having been stripmined in the Nomad wars. Squandered resources. And Rheinland doesn't dare venture into the Omicrons, or deep Omegas. The Corsairs would bury them.

Corsairs. I'm not sure what to think of them. On the one hand they are the fiercest enemies of the Outcasts. But the saying, the enemy of my enemy does not really apply. The enemy of my enemy is still a cutthroat. The Omega facilities... even Dublin sees a lot of them. I do not understand their motivations. Simple thievery? But on a galactic scale? What drives these folks? I wonder if the Hispania had a reactor leak of sorts, most the folk that came out of it turned out to be pretty bad. 'Though I am unsure about the Coalition's remains.

SCRA. They call themselves. Rote Armee. Red Army. No wonder they have banded up with the Hessians. And no wonder I suppose that they are at odds with just about every house in the realm. I'm not sure how I feel about them. They are a political hot potatoe - but they seem to appreciate the Guild's structure that revolves around improving standards for the working folk. Our miners as a result are often sympathetic to them. I wonder if they are secretly trying to recruit among our ranks. It wouldn't surprise me. I wouldn't even mind. Guild members are free. But I'm not sure if they'll ever end up with formal relations with us. Just too risky. We have our people to consider.

Who else? Ah, the Gaians. Ecoterrorists or ecoactivists? Depends on who you ask. I know BMM's answer, which is why I tend to lean towards the other. But the BPA doesn't see it that way. They are few in numbers, fewer in friends these days. They are looking towards us now it seems, though why remains to be seen. A mining guild supporting an ecological group, it would be odd. Would create problems I suppose, too. But then again. Bretonia openly associates with Outcasts? So why could we not, outside their borders, show the same courtesy to their enemies...

Junkers. Just when you thought you knew them as simple two faced folk who care about none but their own. Salvagers, sometimes before the ship's a wreck. Smugglers, as such they have their uses. Generally if there's profit in it for them, they'll be predictable. But of late things are changing. Kusari is angry with them, and they with Kusari. That will lean them towards Bretonia. Although I doubt they'll choose direct aid - it could mean supplies appearing out of nowhere for the Armed Forces. Supplies that used to be destined for Kusari. Salvagers have their ways. I just hope our own fleet won't be in the crossfire, Tauside. Or even Sigmaside. But at least in the Sigmas they're often hounded by the Hogosha.

Not that they're any better. Hogosha. Kusari civilians? More like Kusari privateers. Seems the law doesn't apply to them in general. Note to self, issue directives to only retaliate, but retaliate excessively to drive the point home. No sense in stepping on that same dragon's tail Bretonia did, but if I understand Kusari correctly, it's best not to be seen as weaklings. We'll see. Perhaps we can coax Kusari into better restraining these civilians. Here's to hoping.

Seems that Sirius is dividing. The Kusari-Bretonian war and Liberty-Rheinland one are slowly becoming a single front. Jotting down who's supporting who:
Bretonia
Liberty
Mollies
Outcasts
Liberty Rogues
Junkers? (Indirectly - but they hit Kusari vessels in the Sigmas pretty hard not long ago. This puts them with the Bret/Liberty front)
Xenos? (They're both stepping up attacks on Kusari transports, and actively supporting Liberty forces sometimes if reports are true - the latter is surprising)

Kusari
Rheinland
Hogosha
Corsairs (Rumored cooperation with Kusari, and they're definately hitting Bretonia harder then Rheinland these days. Not sure what is going on between them and the Hessians)
Blood Dragons? (There have been reports of Blood Dragon vessels in support of Kusari Navy vesus Bretonian vessels)
RHA (Surprising, but they seem as eager to replace their own government as to preserve their own house)
Gaians? (Heavily against BMM and Planetform, and have been spotted working with Corsairs in the past)

Unknown:
Lane hackers - Probably too small a faction to be directly influential, though their intelligence gathering over the GateLane net would be a boon
GMG - And I really should get a clarification on where they stand.
Order - Do they even care? They got other fish to fry I think
Bountyhunters - Don't seem to want to get caught in wars. Probably making a killing on convoy escorts these days though.
Gallia - Who knows where that loaded cannon is aimed at. Whichever way though, we're straight in the firing path, Tauside. Not going to be pretty.
Zoners - Guess they just try to stay out of the fighting most of the time. Their disorganized nature is what's keeping them safe - they're no threat to anyone. Civvies in the eyes of the houses.

We're split across both ends of that front. The Taus, the Omegas. We cannot get involved, on either side. We'd lose half of what we are either way. We must be neutral, appeasing all involved so they'll leave us to our labor in peace. The safety of the Guild, and all it's members, must be the primary concern. All else is secondary, including profit."

He pressed the save button, and shut the pad down. The inbox had grown to 15, but he'd get to them in the morning. A clear mind, the Guild needed a clear mind, he thought.

---

Wide awake in a world that sleeps, enduring thoughts, enduring scenes. The knowledge of what is yet to come.
From a time when all seems lost, from a dead man to a world, without restraint, unafraid and free.

Mostly retired Discovery member. May still visit from time to time.