University of Cambridge press
Interveiw with Legión Maltesa
An overview of Maltese history, culture, philosophies and Religion.
Written for the University of Cambridge's Anthropology library by Professor Alfred Steiner.
This transcript is public information to be read at leisure. It remains the Intellectual property of the author and the University. Please reference accordingly.
Date: 6/04/824 A.S.
University Of Cambridge, University Gardens, Planet Cambridge.
Subject: Eliza Valdez
This interview was conducted in accordance with the University Ethics board’s standards.
Transcript Edited by: Dr Martin Ellingham
Abstract:
The purpose of the following interview is to help all those in the academic fields understand the history and culture of the Maltese people. It is to be understood by the reader that this report does not offer justification for the actions of the Maltese people, nor does it excuse the actions of individuals. As you will no doubt find, the following transcript is mearly one attempt to record the identity of the Maltese people. The following also covers, to some extent, the various political standpoints of the Outcasts and, to a limited extent, the social services provided. This interview is for academic purposes as well as the wider public.
This interview was conducted with the a member of the Legión Maltesa, Eliza Valdez, She took the time to explain her understanding and thoughts on the political structure of the Maltese and what her thoughts to what the ‘national identity’ of the Maltese is. While this interview does cover the academic requirements, there are personal opinions and comments embedded within.
Transcript:
Steiner: ''Doctor Alfred Steiner, conducting an interview with Lady Eliza Valdez of the Maltese peoples on planet Cambridge at 10:30 AM on Thursday the sixth. Miss Valdez has signed the privacy contract and we are ready to begin.''
Valdez: ‘’Everything (?) Well, where to begin, Légion Maltesa was formed around the start of this year because of a somewhat popular opinion of some Maltese individuals that the current Maltese ruling body, the National Council, was too focused on self-gain and disregarded the greater good of Malta and it's people. The conceptual work was done by Enma Loyola and the renown Maltese commander Ezio Aquila took the post of commander with a rank of Lieutenant-General. Due to my involvement with Loyola and my past accomplishments I was given a post inside this newly formed paramilitary force as the commander's right hand with a rank of Colonel. Membership was entirely voluntary and modus operandi was simple, we were to serve Malta to the best of our abilities as a military force without falling slave to the oligarchy that rules Malta. We did not accept monetary help from the Council and stayed away from the Cardamine trade. Instead most of our funding came from working with allies and piracy against the enemies of the Maltese Nation.’’
Steiner: ''Alright, perhaps it is best if I start from the very basic beginnings. You say that the Legion was formed earlier this year...Most surprising, I thought you are around for longer. No matter. But, the reason for the foundation of your group, could you explain that in a little more detail? perhaps for example how or possibly why the National Council was or is too focused on self-gain and not the greater good?''
Valdez: ‘'Errr, National Council is a plutocracy, it's made of rich and influential people, renown familias and such. On it's own that wasn't too troubling, it's a tradition in Malta that dons and such hold power and say as to what will happen to our Nation. The real issue that was so to say the final straw was the fact while our Nation is facing the Gallics in the Taus, the Corsairs in the Sigmas and Omicrons, the Kusarians from Nagano and the countless bounty hunters sponsored by the miners of Tau-23 and 37, the National Council was too busy to fight internally with the remains of a once great organisation that was their distant predecessor. Malta has a history of civil strife that sometimes turns into short and bloody civil wars. So while our Nation was fighting to keep it's borders intact these men did nothing but show off their influence and taunt the other side and it's supporters into a conflict.’’
Steiner: ''So to clarify, the Legion and the National Council are separate from one another yes? neither holds any control over the other, both have separate commanders and or leaders and such? If so then...what are you? allies?''
Valdez: ‘’Yes and yes. We're both separate entities with their own leadership. While the National Council holds control over Malta we still operate as an independent paramilitary. Well, it's a bit complicated, in the political field we're opponents, but in space when we're fighting in the name of Malta against it's enemies we're allies. There's a sort of duality in it, that's the best way I could explain it’’
Steiner: ''You mentioned Enma Loyola and that you've worked with her in the past, do you mind if I ask about that? do you want me to turn the recorder off?''
Valdez: ‘’Oh, not at all. I think we first met around the first quarter of last year in Omicron Delta at that Freeport there. We became friends fast and have flown together both casually and in sticky situations. Enma is older than me and has been involved in the service of Malta in the political and military fields for far longer than me which made her a serious person, but we still have our childish moments in our friendship.’’
Steiner: ‘’''I see. Did she harbour any.....resentment regarding your appointment to the Legion? and you mentioned that you got out of ''some sticky situations'' with her, could you elaborate on that?''
Valdez: ‘’Resentment? Enma was the one that got me assigned in the Legion. I think she was also involved in the forming of the Legion as whole as well, along with Ezio Aquila. As for examples of sticky situations. We've both been of operations in Liberty as well as in the Omicrons, Delta and Gamma to be precise. Combat against enemies of the Maltese and such. Sometimes odds were against us but we pulled through. Those were the sticky situations.’’
Steiner: ‘’''So the goals of the Legion are what exactly? As in, what do you plan on achieving aside from defending Maltese space. Or would you regard yourselves as the Outcast 'Home Guard'? so to speak.''
Valdez: ‘’Our main goal is to shift the ruling focus on Malta and it's people rather than self-gain. When it all started we were planing to stray away from politics. Though in reality things don't always work out as you plan them to be.’’
Steiner: ‘’Could you explain?’’
Valdez: ‘’When we first formed we focused on serving on the Maltese Nation's various front lines - Omicrons, Taus, Sigmas. We thought that if we do a good enough job there and show the Council what it could've been focusing on instead of fighting internally with other Maltese groups they'll realize their mistake. [Subject sighs] But in reality they barely even acknowledged us so we felt forced to push into the political game on our own by pulling some of our forces on the borders back into Maltese core space. If we wanted to change things we had to show force.’’
Steiner: ‘’Tell me of the population of Malta, for example, there are rumours of low population growth, vast gender population numbers and so on. I am curious to know, one, if these things are true and two, if they are true, how does that affect your social structures, crime, social services, governance and the like''
Valdez: ‘’ Yeah, cardamine has increased our lifespan and eradicated diseases such as cancer but in return the orange grass has severely crippled our ability to reproduce. But vast gender differences? I mean, yeah, lately there was the coincidence that a lot of females were in more notable positions within the Maltese Nation, but really, it turned into a rumour we're a planet of Amazons or something? As far as I'm aware both genders are equally affected by the reduced fertility, I guess if we all died from old age this wouldn't have been a problem, but considering a lot of us meet their end in less natural deaths in space the population can really be fragile.’’
Steiner: ‘’''Race of Amazons? not as such. The rumours are largely fantasy based and have no truth to them, still it does pose a question on demographics. Speaking of cardamine, how long does one live for if they affected by it? an extra twenty or thirty odd years?''
Valdez: ‘’Some have managed to reach 200 years. Though I'd say 160 to 180 seems a lot more realistic as an average lifespan. Though the effect is much lesser if you don't have your roots in Malta. Outsiders who decide to take cardamine don't get to live that long. I guess it takes a few generations for the full effects of it to work.’’
Steiner: ‘’''200 hundred you say? That's a hell of a lot longer than many would have guessed. So obviously cardamine is an important thing for the Outcasts, has it made it's way into your culture? as in are there rituals surrounding it? stigmas for excessive use?''
Vadez: ‘’Ugh, haven't you seen one of those breathing masks? The ones strapped to the chin and with a tube that goes into the nose. A lot of Maltese use those when not on Malta or in cardamine enriched atmosphere. I personally think they look way to stupid and attract way too much attention. As for excessive use, no, I think mainly outsiders use it extensively to get high. There are even a bunch of junkies on Barrier gate sneaking into the Maltese parts of the station every now and then to try and get high but the saturation in the atmosphere is too low for that. Only exception I can think of is that in space combat we use it in higher doses, kind of like a booster shot to improve concentration and reflexes.’’
Steiner: ‘’''I suppose that leads on to the Society of Malta in greater depth. What are the Crime rates like? the education of children? state welfare...or lack thereof? I don't blame you if you can't go into greater depth but If you could give me your observations, that would be appreciated.''
Valdez: ‘’Forced labor of captives. For certain more hazardous jobs on the planet. It was born out of necessity - with our low birthrate we do everything in our power to preserve our population's numbers. As such lethal harm against a fellow Maltese with intent to do so is perhaps one of our most taboo crimes on Malta. The state is also against certain practices that would further decrease our fertility and birthrate such as contraceptives and abortion, the latter being officially punishable with exile. Sometimes certain individual freedoms must suffer for the greater good of the collective.’’
Steiner: ‘’''Is there a high rate of stillborns or miscarriages?''
Valdez: ‘’No, no, thankfully not. Cardamine affects the chance of conception. The only gruesome effect of cardamine is it's withdrawal.’’
Steiner: ‘’''How are children and young adults educated? as in, how are they taught? in schools and universities or...some other way?''
Valdez: ‘’Kids go to school, yeah. Kids in some of the richer families go to private ones at that. Then after they finish school, which usually doesn't specialize you in anything particular there are the academies which specialize in different fields - science, economy, military training and so on. You're not forced to go through that but I guess they help give you a good start if you know what you want to do with your life.’’
Steiner: ‘’At what age is a child considered a 'man' or a 'woman'? is there any sort of celebration or ritual to mark the passage?''
Valdez: ‘’Maltese are considered adult when they reach their 21st birthday. A lot of us celebrated it one way or another but not like a right of passage or anything. I personally celebrated the fact my dad would let me see the universe and all it's wonders. He was adamant I should be of age before I get anywhere near a space ship’’
Steiner: ‘’How did the Maltese wind up making such a fleet, in the beginning? if I may.''
Valdez: ‘’In the beginning? Simple - it didn't. Our exploration of space started quite after the other colonies and for a very long time it consisted mainly of small ships. Only fairly recently has the Nation pulled resources into building bigger warships. And we're still a lot more focused on smaller spacecraft than bigger ones. Most of the building resources for big ships have to be bought or raided. Being dependent on cardamine has not let us colonize other worlds for their raw resources like Bretonia and Liberty.’’
Steiner: ‘’Is it the Maltese Empire? like the Corsairs or is it something more along the lines of 'Dominion, Realm, Republics'? What do you call your state?''
Valdez: ‘’'Nation of Malta' or 'Nación de Malta' in Maltese would be the official name that Malta's state currently holds under it's laws. I've seen it called Maltese Nation in some communiques as well but currently Nation of Malta would be the more correct name.’’
Steiner: ‘’How many men does the Legion currently have under it's command...or if you cannot answer that, what is the general population of the Maltese? so far as you know. Also, do you know if the National Council would allow visitors to browse their archives...if they have such a thing, I assume they do.''
Valdez: ‘’Maltese population should be around 500 million people, give or take. The Maltese constitution and criminal code are publicly available on the neural net, even outside of Maltese space. As for the archives - that would be something you will have to discuss with somebody else as it's outside of my competencies.’’
Steiner: ‘’Given all that you have told me, how do you feel personally toward Malta, her laws and peoples and that sort of thing? Would you change anything?''
Valdez: ‘’Malta is my home. I was born there, I lived almost all my life there. My parents were Maltese and if I have children of my own they'll be Maltese as well. In a way the grip of the orange grass unites us all, we’re all drawn to Malta and it’s orange fields. What I would like to see changed? All the political turmoil. All these familias, factions fighting each other for power. If Malta is to prosper we have to be united.’’
Steiner: ‘’Tell me of these families that run Malta, do you know the names? what they do? how they govern the House?''
Valdez: ‘’They're numerous, most focusing on harvesting the orange grass and turning it into cardamine so that it could be sold outside of the Nation. And the ones in power often change as Malta's political stage is ever-changing. The reason they're there is because without this trade our economy would most likely crumble under the need for outside resources while cardamine is our main export. I don't want to point fingers so I won't name any of these familias, but I'm sure if you look back at Malta's recent history you'll find more than a few.’’
Steiner: ‘’Sounds like you take issue with these families, I was under the impression that your government was, more or less, democratic. Is that not so?''
Valdez: ‘’I have an issue with their greed and lust for power. The Nation has gone through many different systems of governance, but it has never been a true democracy. Power or wealth have always played big part in being part of the ruling elite.’’
Steiner: ‘’Tell me, who are the enemies of the Maltese, and could you tell me how or possibly why they are hostile?''
Valdez: ‘’Oh, the enemies of Malta? They're... there's plenty of them actually. Corsairs, the Gallic Royal Navy, Kusari Naval Forces, the Crayterian Remnants, the Independent Miner's Guild, the Gas Miner's Guild, Bounty Hunters, Council. The Corsairs we fight for influence over the Sigma sectors, the Omicrons and Kusari. The Gallic Royal Navy is the ever present threat if they ever decide to expand north towards Malta. The miners have always been good raiding targets and have moved into our own space trying to claim it as their own. Rest view us as dangerous criminals and openly attack us. To be honest we're nearly as hated as the Corsairs, perhaps even more across some parts of Sirius.’’
Steiner: ‘’Why would that be, I would have thought the corsairs to be more hated...perhaps that is because I am Bretonia and thus biased but, even so.''
Valdez: ‘’Well there's Kusari for starters, they seem to prefer the Corsairs over us. Liberty probably doesn't care much about them as it's space is far from any territory the Corsairs frequent. The Crayterians would rather deal with them over us as well due to old battles and unhealed wounds from before the Gallics kicked them out of the Taus and into Coronado. I guess it often boiled down to who managed to anger the locals first. Perhaps there's not a single group of people with a spine of their own that isn't against either us or the Corsairs.’’
Steiner: ‘’It is well known that the Red Hessian Army doesn't think much of the Corsairs...is there a common ground between you?''
Valdez: ‘’Our squadrons heading into the Corsair home world sometimes meet some of their raiders there. That's perhaps the only time we're really cooperating. Though the Rote Hessen Armee, does not really want to let us Maltese into Rheinland due to their fear we'll smuggle cardamine in. But as long as we stay out of their "realm" there are no hostilities. I believe we used to be allies some years back, but that was before I became a pilot so I can't tell you much about it.’’
Steiner: ‘’If I can return to Malta for a moment, who handles the comings and goings of visitors and the like? that is to ask, if I decided to pay Malta a visit, who would I talk too?''
Valdez: ‘’If you plan to just visit you'll most likely just have to deal with planetary defense forces and customs on the spot. Contrary to our name "Outcasts", we don't really isolate ourselves from the rest of humanity. There are plenty of trade transports flying from and into Malta so a plain visit won't need any prior notification. Now if you're looking more for a diplomatic meeting then perhaps notifying the National Council about it would be the way to go as they currently oversee most political aspects of Malta’’
Steiner: ‘’So all in all, what say you about your home? give me your true thoughts all summed up, this is your once chance to really get the message across to your leaders....there's no press censorship is there?''
Valdez: ‘’The people in power should look less towards their own personal gain and rather focus on the greater good of the Maltese collective. The only way for Malta to truly prosper is if it's people align under the same goals and push forward as a whole rather than bicker among themselves and look towards individual prosperity. Those unfit to serve the people before they serve themselves should be removed from service.’’
Steiner: ‘’Interesting. So Politics are indeed a point of concern for you?''
Valdez: ‘’The future of Malta concerns me and internal politics play a big part in that future so I believe I have a reason to be concerned. I wish I did not have to involve myself with Malta's internal affairs but given the obvious lack of unity in our people I believe something has to be done to fix this’’
Steiner: ‘’And I wish you all the luck in the world with that venture Milady. Interview with Eliza Valdez, Legion Maltesa Concludes at 5:15 PM.''
(Interview ends-end of transcript)
Acknowledgements
Eliza Valdez (Subject, member of Legion Maltesa
Dr Martin Ellingham (Editor)
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