Lucius finished listening to his holomail and disabled the terminal. To get used to long days in loneliness of ZBT-100Z cockpit years ago, he started to talk to himself. Now, when he was spending most of his working hours in office, this unusuall behaviour was causing his collegues to give him weird looks and smiles. But he never cared about it. He liked talking to himself. It was the only way he could keep the conversation on apropriate intelectual level. Well, I guess I'll have to pass my ship to Jaimie a bit earlier than I thought...
He looked at the mirror to check if his bow tie and hair is all in order Oh, you knew all this disorder in Theta will require your attention sooner or later.
With a small, white rag, he started to polish his shoes. Yes, I was expecting that. Bases in Theta are very tricky to manage.
He put on tuxedo jacket and took a final glance into his mirror images eyes. Well, that's why we need to go there.
He pressed intercom button Jaimie, my boy, I'm ready. Prepare the ship.
[Freeport-9 a few jumps later]
Lucius looked at the mirror to check if his bow tie and hair is all in order. He was content with what he saw. Now, let's give 'em a few good advices, shall we? After you he replied and opened the conference room door. Good evening, gentleman... he noticed Freeport One administrator oh, I beg you a pardon, my lady. It's a pleasure to see you in such a wonderful brea... erhm in such a wonderful shape..
"Well, Jose, you know I never set sail without a solid rum supply. Where is the gringo that runs this place anyway? He's the only one missing, si?" Just as Vito finished his sentence Lucius walked in. While the zoner was busy imagining what's under Genine's dress the corsair threw a sheet of paper on the table. "You two can get a room later, lets get this over with"
Everyone stared at that piece of paper without saying a word. "What? You never saw paper before? We all know why we're here and what we're about to agree on, these terms have been discussed over and over again and I swear I'll kill someone if one of you decides to back out now. Computer, scan this and display it on the main screen"
The wall lit up and everyone read the final version of the document they hope will bring peace and prosperity in the area:
Quote:
The Treaty of Nine
[color=#FF0000]Between the Corsair Empire and the Confederated Freeports of Southern Sirius*
- Freeport One, Freeport Five, Freeport Nine, Freeport Fifteen and Corfu Base -
1. TAZ**, OSI*** and the the administrators of the Confederated Freeports recognize the star systems of Attica (a.k.a. Omicron Theta) and Castile (a.k.a Omega 41) as Corsair Empire sovereign space, with all the rights and responsibilities derived from that.
2. To prevent any hostile forces from staging attacks on the Corsair Empire from the their stations the administrators of the Confederated Freeports will create a set of rules and regulations that they will undertake to enforce.
2.a The Corsair Empire will not enforce these new rules and regulations unless specifically requested by one of the administrators involved.
2.b. Attacks on the Corsair Empire include but are not limited to the following offences:
Attacking any ship flying under the Corsair Empire’s flag
Attacking any ship working for the Corsair Empire, which include but are not limited to transports hauling artifacts or any other supplies for the Corsair Empire.
3. The Corsair Empire recognizes the full autonomy of the Confederated Freeports as well as OSI’s sovereignty over the star system known as Omicron 74 and will not interfere with any decision taken by the aforementioned stations’ administrators unless it is deemed that those actions threaten the security of the Corsair Empire. In the event of such a situation occurring the Corsair Empire will notify the respective administrators that they have violated the terms of this agreement and that as a result the treaty is now invalid.
4. The Corsair Empire will agree to respect the 5k NFZ**** imposed around the Confederated Freeports, unless the ship or ships in question are using the NFZ for cover against our forces, in which case said ship or ships are breaking the NFZ rules anyway.
5. The Corsair Empire will offer its full military support to the Confederated Freeports in assisting with hostile situations when in need.
6. The Corsair Empire will grant free access through its borders and bases for all ships flying under a Zoner flag belonging to the fighter, bomber, freighter or transport class, unless they have been engaged in hostilities against a Corsair, a Corsair Empire’s ally or they are breaking the Corsair Laws.
6.a. If the Zoner freighters and transports are not hauling goods to or from a Corsair base or the aforementioned Zoner bases the transit taxes must be reasonable and non-prohibitive and it is recommended that taxing the regular suppliers of the Corsair Empire or the Zoner bases covered by this agreement is avoided.
7. All ships flying under a Zoner flag equal to and larger than Gunship class will be allowed to transit our systems with the exception of Sparta (a.k.a Omicron Gamma), Omicron 91 and Omicron 94, unless they have been engaged in hostilities against a Corsair, a Corsair Empire’s ally or they are breaching the Corsair Laws other than article 26*****, from which they will be excused.
7.a. No loitering will be allowed within the borders of the Corsair Empire except within the NFZ around Freeport Five, Freeport Nine and Corfu Base.
7.b. The Corsair Empire will issue special permits to Zoner research ships, including Corvo Class Cruisers, after the ships have been:
Verified and classified as non-combat vessels by the Corsair Council or
After an on-the-spot inspection by a high ranking Corsair pilot from either the Benitez Family, The Black Sails (|Sails or Sails.) or The Brotherhood (TBH)
Should the ship in question fail the inspection it will be directed to one of the freeports for disarming, after which it will be able to resume its activities. Failure to comply could result in the ship being classified as a hostile target.
8. The Corsair Empire will grant free access within its borders to all ships belonging to TAZ, OSI or the Confederated Freeports for as long as the following conditions are met:
They are properly tagged to their respective organization or station
They have not been engaged in hostilities against a Corsair or Corsair Empire’s ally
They are not breaking the Corsair Laws other than article 26, from which they will be excused.
8.a. Ships equal to and larger than the Gunship class are not allowed in the star system of Sparta (a.k.a Omicron Gamma) unless they have previously received permission from one of the Corsair Elders.
8.b. The star systems of Omicron 91 and Omicron 94 are the property of the Brotherhood and, respectively, the Benitez Family. Point 8 does not apply within those two star systems and the access there is regulated by each star system’s owner.
9. The Corsair Empire, via its pilots, will impose reasonable taxes for any freighters or transports hauling supplies for the Confederated Freeports unless they have been engaged in hostilities against a Corsair, a Corsair Empire’s ally, they are breaching the Corsair Laws or its flying under a hostile flag. In all other instances where goods are not being supplied to the Empire or to the aforementioned Zoner bases, the respective vessels will be treated on a case by case basis and the transit taxes will be applied at the discretion of the Corsair pilot present.
10. The Corsair Empire, TAZ, OSI and the Confederated Freeports agree to strive to increase the commercial exchanges between each other and work for the security and prosperity of all the involved parties.
__________________ * Confederated Freeports - Freeport One, Freeport Five, Freeport Nine, Freeport Fifteen and Corfu Base
** TAZ - Temporary Autonomous Zoners
*** OSI - Omicron Supply Industries
**** NFZ - No Fire Zone
***** Article 26 of the Corsair Laws - Neutral warships (including Gunboat and Gunship classes) are not welcome in Corsair territory unless they have the Council of Elders' approval, neutral warships should be escorted out of our space and the use of force is authorized if they refuse to comply.
After reading the document and mumbling to himself every few seconds, Lucius spoke to the hot-tempered Corsair leader. Well, mister... Vito... I must say this shape of the agreement looks pretty promising. However, I must insist on two things.
He paused while waiting for the Corsair's attention. You think he understood half of these words? He mumbled to himself quiet enough so no one could hear it. He seems quite educated for a corsair. First thing I will insist on is keeping this agreement confidential.
He took a short glance around, located a bar and moved towards it while still speaking. As you can surely understand, making the "recognizing - blahblah - Corsair Empire sovereign space" part widely known as signed by us, would cause zoners many problems of political nature.
He took a bottle of whisky, filled a glass with it and walked around the table back to his seat. The other request is of more... aesthetic nature. I'd suggest replacing this... ennormous, red font with one more... tasteful.
"First of all, its Senor Vito to you. Second, you insult our intelligence, zoner" Vito said, visibly irritated. "Do you think we want your transports hunted by every bretonian or rheinlander out there? For as long as your ships haul our cargo its in our best interest to keep this between us" . The corsair reached for one of the rum bottles on the table and filled his glass. "I won't even comment on the aesthetics because they are as irrelevant as putting makeup on a corpse. Sure, you can make it look good and take the stink away but at the end of the day it will still rot on the inside" He leaned back and looked across the room "I hope you fine ladies and gentlemen won't keep talking about anything else but the core of the problem so I can put my seal on the document and be on my way"
Meanwhile Centurion Buonocore of the Brotherhood took his seat on the Corsair side of the table.
''Vittorio old friend, I see you have started without me''
Buonocore said to Elder Vito, and nodded to Elder Jose.
How is Elder Espingarda doing?
I hope he stays clear of my daughter si?''
He then turned his view to the other people present.
''Now , in my experience dealing with you people is rather useless.
Our pilots are still working round the clock to keep Corsair space safe against the scum that hides inside your very stations.
Still , the Brotherhood is willing to give peace a chance.
In Sephardi's name , Salute!''
Buonocore filled up his glass and smelled the rum.
He looked calm and calculated.
Lucius drank some of his whisky. You knew he's not as uneducated as he wants you to think he is. Yes, but why did he get irritated by "mister"? It means the same.
Senor Vito, I'm glad you agree with me about how important it is to keep this agreement confidential. And if you consider aesthetics irrevelant, I'm sure you won't mind changing such a detail, right?
I would like to ask you one question however. What is the reason you disliked me calling you "mister Vito"? I'm sure you are aware that "Mister" and "Senor" means exactly the same. Then what's the reason for all the anger?
He paused to watch Vito for a while Look. What have you done. He gets angry again...
Oh, and I must say that this agreement here looks like ready to be signed. I cannot think of any changes that I could propose and you could agree to. Well, I hope this will calm him up a bit.
He drank another little bit of his whisky, looking straight int Vito's eyes while trying to look as innocent as possible.
"I can see no problem with this treaty in it's current form" *A buzzing noise is heard* "Hold on a second I have to take this call"
James pulls out a communications earbud and begins to speak
"James Church. Yes. Really? Okay, Understood. I'll do my best."
He puts the communicator away and begins to speak again
"Well gentlemen, I have just been authorised to speak for OSI in this matter as well, after reading through this document I can only see one problem with it, and that is a minor cosmetic problem with the giant red text at the beginning, Bypassing that flaw this document is agreeable to me as both the administrator of Freeport XV and the representative of Omicron Supply Industries. Assuming no changes are to be made I would be happy to sign this treaty."
After greeting all participants, Xavier proceeds to address the table,
"As we have previously discussed, the terms on this document are, I believe, both fair
and reasonable to all parties involved. As the Ambassador of the Temporary Autonomous
Zoners, I am prepared to sign this document. If anyone here would like
to debate the name of the document then I suggest we do this after we all agree and sign
off on the contents.
Freeports have been under lockdown for too long and with this signing I can finally lift the
lockdowns and return those Freeports to normal operation."
Xavier takes a breath and proceeds to speak further,
"I can hope that the spirit of this agreement will live on for many years. For we Zoners do
care for and cherish the equilibrium we share with Corsairs and all Sirians.
I hope this will bring a new era of peace and prosperity between the Corsair Empire and
the Zoner populace in the Omicron-Omegas."
Xavier scrolls through the document on his table console and reaches the signing field.
"Preachy speeches aside, whenever you all are ready lets get this done."
Genine examined the document. She wasn't happy with it completely but it was not just for herself that the decision had to be made. After hosting the conference aboard Freeport One, this is what everyone had agreed to.
"I have some reservations," she said, "not that this won't work, but if this document ever becomes public, Zoners will probably become one of the most hunted groups within Sirius."
Looking up from the pages she continued, "The unification of the freeports into a defined code of laws, is needed, and there is nothing in the text that greatly interferes with day to day goings on of either side, however. It's far better designed and more fair to both sides than I ever expected it to be."
She gave a tired laugh, "I actually expected battle lines to have been drawn a week ago and to have seen legates in 74 and juggernauts in Gamma." She took a long drink and finished with, "Freeport One will sign as witness if Alicia agrees as the chair of the Confederation."
Alicia read through the document for what seemed like the thousandth time in the last hour. "I have no objection to the content, with the signatories of the freeports as part of the confederation, I'm prepared to sign as its lead.
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