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Chapter 271 - What Could Go Wrong[]
New Avalon (Federated Commonwealth, FedSuns State Capital)
22nd August, 3047
First Prince Hanse Davion held the message slip he had been given after reading it several times. He had already sent for Quintus Allard and Prince's Champion Ardan Sortek. With nothing else to do, he read the message again.
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To: First Prince Hanse Davion
From: President Neil Avellar
Greetings First Prince Davion,
It has been many years since we last communicated and for that I am sorry. It has recently come to my attention that you have been employing a certain mercenary command for anti-piracy operations along our mutual border region. Since pirate attacks are down along my border by over 70% in recent years, I can only assume that they are most effective. I would like to meet with you or your designated representative along with the commander of this unit to discuss a joint contract. As my nation is receiving a benefit at your expense currently, I think it is only right that we share in the expense with you.
On another note, if you are not aware, this same unit recently turned over a lost cache found on Valasha to us. While not the best equipment, it was still impressive. I thought you should know this in case they are violating a part of their contract with you. If they are, I will need to reevaluate my desire to place them under contract with you. The drop in pirate attacks might even enable us to resume our previous resource mining arrangement at a quicker pace. It is still something that I would like to discuss in more detail.
I am told that this unit has a base on Inner End, that is quite close to Valasha, so I propose that we meet there if you agree to a meeting. I await your response.
Neil Avellar
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While he was not against a meeting, he was still had his doubts on the matter. The pirate raids of 3037 and 3038 had hammered the joint ventures in the Outworlds Alliance right as they had started to pay off the investments, and now with more industry coming online due to the Helm Core recoveries, they needed all the raw material they could get. That was one area that he would be willing to discuss. He was pulled from his thoughts as his door opened.
"Have a seat. Read this and tell me what you both think." He said as he waved Quintus Allard and Ardan Sotek to seats. He waited until both had read the message. Quintus spoke up first.
"It might be worthwhile to at least discuss things with him. If anything, it helps offset their contract, which is quite hefty for a reason." Quintus replied
"I agree with Quintus. For what we pay SaRI, we could hire half the Dragoons or all of the Kell Hounds. The terms of their contract are beyond generous. Which I understand why, but still, anything that could offset the expense is worth looking into." Ardan Sortek said
"Since he knows about their treasure hunting, he is probably going to want to get in on that also.", Hanse said
"Possibly, but we do not have to tell him everything. I am sure Mitchell has details about other sites inside the Alliance borders that he has not figured out how to get at yet. This could open the door for those recoveries. I think it is worth exploring." Quintus answered
"How about you, Ardan?" Hanse asked
"It has merit. We could basically offer him a share of whatever is recovered if he wants to purchase it. If anything, it gets us some goodwill and helps keep that region of our border secure. It also opens the door for Mitchell and his merry band of treasure hunters to expand their operations closer to the Alliance borders openly. Plus, if he is pulling supplies from the Alliance and Inner End, it complicates things for Comstar. Justin just briefed me on how Comstar has beefed up their people on Inner End recently. That will be in your briefing tomorrow by the way." Ardan Sortek replied
"Okay, so you both agree that a meeting is worth doing. That at least eases my mind on the matter. I cannot go, that is obvious. Ardan, this is all yours then." First Prince Hanse Davion told them.