TO: BAF| H.Q.; SUBJ: Freelancing Gunboat Inquiry

[Th3Nu773r]

George.... quote "You and your men have stolen Her Majesty's gunboats, hacked into our private transmission, and you didn't even provide us your name." proof of our stealing your ships please? your private transmissions are not so private.. i would suggest you make them so.... and why should i provide you my name, surely you already know this how otherwise will you apprehend me?

Alan....quote "it said this vessel was produced by the Bretonian Royal Navy. It is therefore a Bretonian warship, which means it is intended for Bretonian Armed Forces or Bretonia Police Authority use unless otherwise authorized" Where does it state this other than in this transmission... how is a law abiding freelancer citizen supposed to know this if it is not stated anywhere, not even in your "Bretonian Charter of Interstellar Law" ?

If i am to return the aforementioned vessel then i would appreciate it if the credits i had spent purchasing it from your obviously less than trustworthy Shipyard manager were fully refunded to me, not only for the purchase price of the vessel itself but on the extra equipment i also purchased to make it usable. This would roughly come to about $100m

I look forward to the transfer of funds when i would then be most happy to return your vessel.


Thanks

[wlr]

MESSAGE:

I am surprised in you laps of memory Sir.

"I was in the Trebuchet and I ordered you to send us a transmission over neural net as soon as possible, concerning legalization of your vessels, or to join us. There was a battle in Leeds, and you were not a priority. I did not authorize you to fly the vessels outside Bretonia, nor to call them your own, and let alone to hack into our private transmission."


You quite plainly stated that I was able to fly my craft into Liberty Space unhindered, you also stated that I was able to fly my craft into Rhienland, on condition I obtained permission from the Rhienland Brass.

I hope you will also recall my reply to your suggestion that I obtain a Recruit ID.
In that I stated that I would contact you, with a request to obtain said ID when I had got to grips with my vessel.

Now, one day later we have death threats from BAF and slanderous accusations of us operating illegally.

This is not a gentlemanly way to behave and I would expect better from Bretonia's finest!.

As to statement that our Gunboats are Bretonia's property therefore we can't obtain them, what about all the other craft produced by Bretonian shipyards that are freely obtained by freelancers? Why do you not kick up a fuss about this?

The answer is that you appear to be elitist in the extreme.

We purchased these craft in good faith from Southampton, now it appears there is some kind of Victorian press gang in operation, where by after purchasing certain vessels secretly red flagged by the Bretonian Armed Forces, it's either give back the craft at a loss, join up (conscript) or die!

It's like slipping a coin into someone's pint down the docks. My Great Grandfather fell for that one and never saw dry land again. For this reason in my Family we all still carry our glass bottomed tankards. I will not be saying goodbye to my Wife and kids on a cloak and dagger trick of the Navy.

Yours

Captain G-Glitter.

[Thunderer]

- Incoming Transmission -

-= High Encryption =-

Priority: Low
To: Captain G-Glitter and their Comrades
From: Admiral George Richard Hall
Location: H.M.S. Ark Royal, Newcastle System
Subject: Reply

"Oh, dear...
Of course you can fly outside of Bretonia, but only after you legalize the vessels. I would never allow a criminal to pass the border, and certainly not with stolen gunboats! Are you mad!?
You act so. I'm not even certain if you are the same species as myself. What exactly is that... "Recruit ID?

Liberty, no change in situation. You may still execute what we have agreed."

- Message Over -

---

Bretonian Treaty Database Bretonian Armed Forces Recruitment Center
Bretonian Charter of Interstellar Law Bretonian Secrets Act

[wlr]

Make that elitist, with delusions of grandeur.

Saying one thing in Sirius, then changing your stance completely via public message shows
very low character.

I should be surprised but I suppose when you have been around as long as I have nothing is too surprising anymore.

I may take this Gunboat and sell it to the Kusari's, you may even turn us into terrorists. I see that the supposed leaders of our once Great Nation are not what they used to be. Such a shame.

Message ends...

[GrnRaptor]

****INCOMING TRANSMISSION****

COMM ID: Admiral Alan Polstari
TARGET ID: Bretonian Armed Forces Command HQ, Unnamed Freelancers
SUBJECT: Freelancing Gunboat Inquiry
ENCRYPTION: Medium
PRIORITY: Medium

Greetings, gentlemen.

Unnamed freelancers, I tire of your endless questioning of the lawful authority we possess. I suggest that you read Article 6 of the following document to see where we derive our authority on this matter from as you seem unwilling to understand any previous explanation given to you as to why you are required to return these vessels.

Document: ***READ ONLY***

You have approximately 3.5 hours remaining in which you may safely return these vessels before I give authorization to actively hunt you down in compliance with the Bretonian's request.

Admiral Polstari, signing off.

****TRANSMISSION TERMINATED****

---

[GrnRaptor]

****INCOMING TRANSMISSION****

COMM ID: Admiral Alan Polstari
TARGET ID: Bretonian Armed Forces Command HQ
SUBJECT: Freelancing Gunboat Inquiry
ENCRYPTION: Medium
PRIORITY: Medium

Greetings, gentlemen.

The time has since passed for the return of your vessels by these autonomous freelancers, and I see no evidence that suggests they've complied with your requests. You are hereby permitted to bring a select task force of your choosing, ranging in vessel class no higher than Gunboat, into Liberty space to retrieve your vessels. As this is an internal matter to yourselves I will not be authorizing our assets to engage unless attacked or the vessels are explicitly breaking Liberty Law. You may call upon our assets to provide you with target location information, however.

Admiral Polstari, signing off.

****TRANSMISSION TERMINATED****

---

[Th3Nu773r]

Now then, now then, .....things have indeed escalated quickly..It looks to me like we are being forced into exile by our own Armed forces....
This both upsets and angers me greatly. What times are these when a lawful citizen is put to death by his own armed forces over what is so clearly obviously an internal problem within their ranks.

I was of the understanding that it was the basic duty of the Armed Forces to protect and serve its people.. that is sooo obviously not the case here.

I will make it my goal to spread this information far and wide throughout sirius so all will know.

Sirs, i have some simple yet logical suggestions for you....head them :
1: Secure your comms they are currently open and easily readable by all with no requirement to "hack" anything.
2: Make it clear what your "citizens" can and cant do when purchasing ships or equipment by having the info you provide them state any restrictions required prior to purchasing. You may find your citizens then feel at ease to contact you when one of your shipyard managers starts pocketing credits that should be being fed back into the economy of your house.
3: With immediate effect: Secure your shipyards as your ships are on sale obviously without your knowledge on the blackmarket.

Giving only 24hrs notice prior to authorisation to terminate i feel is a little strong and very unreasonable as one of our gunboat captains still has comms issues with the vessel he purchased and is still in the process of bringing the systems back online. However the time has now past .......and the instructions have been issued........so be it..

My fellow gunboat captains........
I suggest a meeting on a "proper" secure channel to discuss our next move.

J.Savile - Gunboat Captain ......out.

[ChiefDM]

***INCOMING TRANSMISSION***

Firstly, as the third and final gunboat captain, may I extend my greetings to all at Bretonia and indeed Liberty armed forces. Let it not be said that we are not capable of gentlemanly conduct.

Secondly, I must apologise for my late arrival to the transmissions surrounding this matter, however due to the poor state of repair my ship was in at time of purchase I have only recently been able to repair the faulty comms system. Unfortunately it was quite a long way down the list, behind the more pressing matters of increasing the hull integrity beyond 42% and repairing the life support systems in every compartment with the exception of the bridge.

I must say that I find the stance of the BAF to be somewhat perplexing. Myself and my fellow gunboat captains have shown nothing but respect for the law, and indeed on more than one occasion have put our own lives and ships on the line to help remove aggressors from your systems, and yet we are now being treated as criminals. At time of purchasing our vessels they were mere shells of their former glory, and yet we were still required to pay full price for them. We had only good intentions at heart, to explore, to protect, to help where ever we could those who needed it. We supported both Liberty and Bretonia forces to remove unscrupulous individuals from causing harm and damage from their respective homes, and yet now we are to be hunted, and forced into a situation where we will have no choice but to fight to defend ourselves.

Sirs, after I purchased my vessel I spent tireless hours and money bringing it back to some of it's former glory. God himself only knows what sort of buffoon the previous captain had to have been to get her into such a state. Indeed, even now, I am yet to get her running beyond 56% power capacity and as such she is at a considerable disadvantage to any of the gunboats in your fleet. Yet, despite this disadvantage, I again repeat that we risked our own lives and ships to assist you.

For this it seems we are to be arrested as common criminals. We carry Freelancer ID's so we may explore and assist those who may need our help. We ask for nothing in return but thanks. I am left with a feeling of dismay at our current situation, but if exiles you wish us to be, then exiles we shall become.

Gunboat Captain Ralph Harris

***END TRANSMISSION***

[Th3Nu773r]

Ralph,

Make sure you are fully up to date on the comms above.

Gunboat Captain - J.Savile

[Th3Nu773r]

Ralph,

Good to see your partially up and running on comms again old chap.
I myself am still having issues here and there but mostly all sorted now.
Still having the same power core issues you are, but hope to have it sorted soon.

How are your secure comms systems. All stable and usable i hope as we need to utilise them promptly.

Gunboat Captain - J.Savile