Appeal to the Council of Elders of the Corsair Empire

[ariadna perez]

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Transmission type: Text
Subject: An Appeal to the Council of Elders of the Corsair Empire
Sender: Ariadna Perez
Origin: Planet Crete, Omicron Gamma
Range: Planet Crete, Omicron Gamma

Transmission Body:

Greetings to the great Council of Elders.

As I am sure you are aware, most people in Sirius are not fortunate enough to be born into this great Empire. Of course, most of these outsiders are weak, and do not deserve any better fate than the one they get: the fate of impotent inner House flunkies. I am - or was, until recently - an outsider. I never felt at home in the Houses. All that nonsense about the strong giving their strength away to the weak rather than using it for themselves and their betters never really made any sense to me.

You can imagine my relief, of course, when I left the pampered inner Houses and came out to the edges of Sirius. Even then, though, life was far too easy. Everyone was weak; there was no one who was better than me. Eventually, just taking candy from the babies wore thin. I could not respect anyone out here, either. I began to wonder if there were any warriors in Sirius at all.

Finally, I moved out of the Taus, through the Sigmas, and into the Omicrons proper. It was then that I began to hear about the Corsair Empire. Of course, I had heard of you and your greatness in the inner Houses, but, in my foolishness, I had passed you off as nothing but a group of pampered House raiders who were unable to face any challenge greater than an unarmed transport. Obviously, I was mistaken. I discovered my mistake when I found you fighting throughout the Omicron and Omega systems. I saw you fight fleets of House ships who outnumbered you on a massive scale. I saw you wipe out the backstabbing drug dealers I had first met in the Taus time and time again. I saw you tear through the Hessian ranks like a hot knife through so much butter. And, for the first time in my life, I was impressed.

I decided that I had to learn more about you. I have spent the last several months doing so. I learned about your wars, your laws, and your victories. I learned how the Zoners think they hold you hostage with the food that should rightfully be yours to claim. I learned how the very name of the "Outcasts" is a lie, and how they cast you out and turned to the lives of petty drug dealers. I learned how the Hessians hope in vain to stop your conquest of Rheinland. I knew I had to be part of this.

The day I first entered Omicron Gamma was glorious. I asked your men, as per your laws, and they put me through tests to prove my loyalty. I saw our enemies run from me, hide from me, and die to me. I saw a few - finally, a few - who fought back against me. They also died, of course, but I finally enjoyed the hunt for the first time in years. After some time, I proved myself loyal enough that one of your men - Pavlov, specifically, of the Benitez familia - decided that I was an asset, and formally sponsored me and Made me.

All my life, I have belonged in the Empire. I have chased this home for years, and having finally caught it, Senor Benitez let me inside. However, I have never been satisfied with simply entering the door. I want to make this place my permanent home. I want to be - if you decide I am worthy - adopted into the Empire, rather than just given a place on the edge. I want to prove myself to you. I want to be worthy of owning a true Corsair fighter of my own, rather than this current... thing made by the Zoners that I am stuck with. I gave myself this new name, Ariadna Perez, when I was Made; I want to be worthy of the name. I want to become a true, full Corsair.

Of course, I cannot do this without your leave. I will serve and protect the Empire I have been honored with a place in, and I will further the Empire's goals and interests. I will work to make sure myself and my fellow warriors have the food we need to survive, and I will destroy those few pests worthy of even the attention required to crush them. I do not ask for you to waste your time organizing me into jobs to do, though I will obviously comply if you deem me worthy of being sorted into a direct job. However, I can find the interest of the Empire as well as serve them. I want to show my value to you as an asset of the Empire. All I ask for is permission to do so.

Thank you. Patiently and eagerly awaiting your verdict,
Ariadna Perez

Record review complete.

[ariadna perez]

Replaying message...

[ariadna perez]

Replaying message...

[CorsairCouncil]

The Council of Corsair Elders considered your request and is giving you a chance to prove yourself in the eyes of each and every Ventru-born. You must first prove, that you no longer have ties to any house or organization outside of Corsair space. Secondly, if you wish to live among us, you will be sterilized. How that happens, is up to you. It can be done either by surgery, or by means of radiation. The means are not important - the result is.

We will have other tasks for you once you've proven you are no longer tied to any other group.

Until then.

---

Corsair LawsCorsair Court
Our forces combined, no-one shall stand before us. Our enemies shall be burnt and cast to the wind, our troops marching forward over their mangled corpses. True we stand alone, with wolves circling, but our isolation lends us our strength, for we are one and they are divided.
The days of Darkness are no longer, for we are the Corsairs and we are fear incarnate! Viva los Corsairs, the Empire shall rise!
The blood of the Hispania runs in our veins. The blood of our enemies shall wet our hands.

[ariadna perez]

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Transmission type: Text
Subject: An Appeal to the Council of Elders of the Corsair Empire
Sender: Ariadna Perez
Origin: Planet Crete, Omicron Gamma
Range: Planet Crete, Omicron Gamma

Transmission Body:

Thank you for the honor of your reply.

The problem of my sterilization has already been solved some years past. I spent a good portion of my recent years on Freeport 5 and in the surrounding areas hunting Hessians. Of course, the near-vegetative Zoners there can't even scrape together enough between them to put together any kind of proper radiation shielding, so it wasn't surprising when I found out I was sterile. Not that I care; any... relationships of that sort take up time that could otherwise be used in war, or training for war, or in some way enabling improvement in the art of battle. Anything that does not somehow enable further warfare is a waste of my time, in my mind. I can understand the need to reproduce in order to continue the war, but I do not share it.

The amount of travel needed to acquire the kind of proof you're looking for could take some time, and while certain "evidence" will be more enjoyable to "collect" than others, I will gather your proof as quickly as possible.

There are certain issues, however. By your own laws, it would be extremely difficult for me to prove conclusively that I am not aligned to Kusari. As such, I respectfully suggest that I might be allowed instead to prove how they could be useful to us in making it less difficult to wage war on our more distant enemies.

The Zoners are pathetic, but I find them hardly worth killing. Would using them similarly to Kusari be sufficient for this task?

Additionally, to solve the other legal issues, I hereby request permission to perform missions in Liberty, the Taus, and Kusari space in order to prove my loyalty to the Empire.

Thank you very much.
Ariadna Perez

Record review complete.

[CorsairCouncil]

You are not Corsair just yet, so you are free to do as you please. Some restrictions still apply in our systems, of course. If you wish to be living among us, we will need a bit more than 'Yeah, I'm sterile'.

The women living with us on our home planet have to be like the planet itself. Irradiated and barren. A medical report is in order. From a Corsair surgeon, of course. Etna has a lot of these that dig into bodies daily. Dead bodies, but they are experienced to not puncture anything important. And while you are on the way there, take some Hessians with you for processing. two or three dozen should do. And should show that you can take care of yourself.

As for the operations in Liberty and Taus - it is strongly encouraged that you do not announce your presence in that part of space, if you wish to be one of us. Preferably only go there when you are delivering goods and bringing something back. But you would know that if you would have read the laws. So did you then?

Are you sure you are putting enough effort into this 'little' errand?

---

Corsair LawsCorsair Court
Our forces combined, no-one shall stand before us. Our enemies shall be burnt and cast to the wind, our troops marching forward over their mangled corpses. True we stand alone, with wolves circling, but our isolation lends us our strength, for we are one and they are divided.
The days of Darkness are no longer, for we are the Corsairs and we are fear incarnate! Viva los Corsairs, the Empire shall rise!
The blood of the Hispania runs in our veins. The blood of our enemies shall wet our hands.