Project Hot Iron (and other dealings between Flag Staff and Maehl Holdings)

**posted retroactively, all messages sent Highly Encrypted**

Maehl,

I'm contacting you directly and in secret. I continue to see a problem in the relationship that the Iron Republic and Quall N'Drone have with each other. My attention at the moment is directed at Hive Queen La-a. She is a creature with great power and yet possesses little wisdom in wielding it. I am looking to you to help me. You are still a stranger to me, but you are the only person I can think of who can get what I want done.

What I want you to do is disseminate some information so that it finds itself directly upon the lap of Queen La-a. You can choose to do this in any way you see fit. I will allow you to go through as many channels as you need, but I prefer you keep the nature of this project to yourself. I will be sending a small fleet through free systems space as it travels toward Unity territory. The shipment will be common food and medical supplies, but I want information that implies it secretly carries several hundred Quall N'Drone held in stasis. I want information to say that horrible experiments will be conducted upon them once they reach Unity space. None of this will be true, and when that shipment gets attacked, I want La-a to take the fall. I want it to be an incident that threatens the treaty of 2220 and the peace the IR has with the free systems.

If this is something that can be done, I will be grateful to you. Furthermore, I would be more then glad to funnel additional funds into your firm through 'unexpected profit gains in mineral sales' through Flag Staff Inc.

Sincerely,
General Garmin Fe

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(A few days later)

Dear Su Maehl

It has become quite clear to me that you are one to ignore something if there isn't a cold hard number one can put upon it. That said I will tell you precisely how interested I am for you to move on the request I made of you. Beacon City is prepared to 'buy' one-quarter of a million ghaz from you or your affiliates. The purchase will be for a shipment of empty crates and for you to pass on the sensitive information I requested to Hivequeen La-a.

Signed,
General Garmin Fe
[From MaehlHoldings To GeneralGarminFe, Thu May 19, 2011 10:15 pm]

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(next day)

Dearest General Garmin Fe, most trusted business partner,

You offend me by insinuating that I am only a man interested in money and profit. I have sunk in countless time and resources into a relatively useless economic endeavor such as Henner 12 and you still think me of as a money-whore. I'm insulted. You should also know that I have been busy with the unveiling of the University on Henner 12 and have been mired in public relations events that have sucked out almost every moment of free time in the last few days. While I don't expect you to be as involved in these projects that have consumed my time, I sure as heck have seen a lot of Henry in recent days! I'm, thus, doubly insulted by your comments.

While I do admit the universe is motivated by incentives, not all incentives revolve around money. If you wish to remain jovial business partners with me, never think me so callow again.

Anger and offense aside, the real reason for the delay in response to you was because I did not want to agree to something unless I had every ability to succeed in the endeavor. And while it may seem like an easy proposition to simply provide information to a Hive Queen, let me assure you that it's not. Reality check, dear General. My actions directly resulted in Le-a's closest Quall ally, Ar'yay, to be declared rogue. I, as a third party, have no compelling reason to tell the Hive Queen anything, most importantly in her eyes. Furthermore, when it does come to pass that it's a trap, there has to be a way where I walk away without a dire enemy on my heels. Oh, and lastly, I have to keep the whole endeavor from prying eyes and ears, which is a difficult thing to do in the middle of a press junket! These things are no easy feat, General, and I wanted to give myself the opportunity to mull over the idea before I either accept or decline your offer.

While I do not have all the details available yet, I have a plan that will allow me to accept your request. I'm going to invent an enemy of the Quall. This person would have been in my employ, until he stole insider information to my operations. When questioning a witness to the incident, I will uncover a plot to use this insider information to make a single shipment through Free Systems space. Its not so much the incident that is of import rather than what the shipment is supposed to have. This witness will have heard from someone who will have heard rumors that this person acquired Quall "larva" and/or other specimens to be sent to the Unity. This experiment will purportedly counter all "larval effects" and prevent full scale genetic mutation of "hosts." I give over the information to the Hive Queen in return for evidence of who this enemy is, as I'm afraid of a mole in my organization or the possibility that others will attempt to break away like this person did. That way, if it all goes to hell, I still have egg on my face, a mole in my company who's smarter than I am, and I look doubly stupid for giving false information to a hive queen. Meanwhile, you get your intergalactic incident.

However, in order to get the wheels in motion I'll need about a week. I need to get together trusted sources, set up what may appear to be a mole, and make everything look legit, especially regarding the police incident. I'll also need to create the convincing cover that will allow your otherwise legit group to actually appear anything but legit. About 10 people will be working on the investigation internally, but only I know that everything is fake. And only 3 people will be privy to anything my "witness" says. Granted, I may alter the plan in the next few days if I see fit, but this is what I have for now.

When the dust settles, you'll have to deny this plot ever coming to fruition. There must be no evidence of any wrong doing on your part, otherwise she'll feel justified in her actions and the Board of Directors might take pity on her. What happens from there, well, that'll be something else entirely, because I'm going to have to play airs about this thing for some time.

Regarding my incentive - I don't want money, unless I actually need to be bailed out of anything or any of my staff is injured during this process. What I do want, however, is information. I want to set up a team dedicated to researching the energy radiation known as Leyas. I don't want this team on any planet I control, and I want them in your care. The information they gather I want to be able to keep and do with as I wish. There's a Unity controlled planet called "Sigma Mu". It's a research center that I make significant money on, beyond the control of the Iron Republic, and virtually non-trackable. I want your men to teach a team of my researchers a mix of practical and theoretical usage of this radiation. Most importantly, I want them to learn how to defend against it when needed. I know so little about this radiation that I worry with all the chaos that might ensue in the coming months I'll be ill prepared against it.

Are these terms acceptable, as well as my plan? Please let me know.

Yours sincerely,
Su Maehl

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(Next day)

Dear Su Maehl,

I apologize for any offense I may delivered onto you. This apology is sincere and I will try not to repeat the offense. That said, you must understand things form my point-of-view, I still do not know you. Aside from our business dealings, we have not yet had the chance to speak much about our mutual goals and interests. I only sought you out initially under the advice of Unity Prime.

Until recently I had no way of knowing that you were involved in Hive Queen Ar'yay's downfall. The records of her trial was information not available to a rouge state such as mine. Only due to the recent turn of events has the records of that trial been made available. I will thank Judge Grandis for his input on the matter and for bringing up these small points of fact. Strangely, if it were not for your own correspondence, I would not have known to investigate the details of the trail. You have shown yourself to be a most intriguing and interesting person Su Maehl.

That aside, I can now better understand your need for great care in this matter. The arrangement as it stands is acceptable and something I will urge you to move forward on. I thank you much for working with me on this sensitive matter. I hope to hear back from you when things are in place. Also, don't hesitate to give me a social call. I would like to hear more about the man behind the deeds.

Your sincere business partner,
Garmin Fe

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(The next week)

General,

I am 24 hours away from advising Le-a Hive Queen. Make your arrangements accordingly. Here are a list of codes that will set off red flags throughout the universe. They were reported stolen by my security team. The transcript of the investigation leading to this discovery will be given to Le-a as a courtesy. It will reveal that there is a person of interest, Sheikh Ragay, who has a bone to pick with the Qual. He met up with you, somehow, and you two plotted to acquire and test on qual larva for the purpose of reverse engineering code to rescind the Qual transformation...EN MASSE. You needed final test subjects, and this Sheikh Ragay was going to provide it to you. In the interim, he kills a bunch of my men, pissing me off and having me send the information to Le-a under the auspices that if she finds Sheikh Ragay she hand him over to me.

You'll get a ping when the transcript is sent. Do as you please once it occurs. I do not wish to know any further details of this plan. Also, I apologize for the public blast against you, but I need plausible deniability. It was not encrypted, so if a third party is viewing my communiques, they'll see it and confirm my anger. No hard feelings.

Best of Luck,
Su Maehl

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(After Mission regarding Cure for all Quall)

Dear Su,

Just wanted to say that the end result of our project is as good as I could have hoped for. Not only did we achieve a bit of disgrace for the Hive Queen La-a, but the Iron Republic as well. I somehow knew I could trust you to work out the details. Something tells me you weren't always a business man.

I want to commission you for another not so underhanded project if that is alright with you. I understand you've been wanting to attract more attention to Maxa Provo 9 and get it a stable working population. I would like this too. I have funds to filter to you for this purpose. Perhaps you could contract with the Banking Guild to advertise for, and transport, a new permanent work force? I can start you off with 250,000 ghaz to kick off the initial project.

Sincerely,
General Garmin Fe

Garmin Fe,

The last few weeks have seen us struggle immensely. There was the problem on Henner 12, then the outbreak of E-Strain everywhere. I have been unable to perform these requests accordingly. Once the dust settles on our holdings, I'll do the needful.

Yours most sincerely,
Su Maehl

P.S. I'm happy to see Henry and Kendara working so well together on Henner 12. I'll make the the PO of MP9 takes notes. Also, don't be alarmed by any news you may hear of me regarding any recent business acquisitions. None of them will affect our current relationships.

Dear Su Meahl,

I will take the time to congratulate you on your new position in the Iron Republic. My only hope is that you will find a way to change the Iron Republic rather then it find a way to change you. Never let power change determine the person you will become.

Now, not to be rude, but I also wanted to take the time to extend to you a new business proposition. I have, through the Banking Guild, assembled a fleet of space stations and freighters. With these resources in hand, I see the opportunity for us to harvest untouched resources. I wish to construct a massive civilian flotilla to traverse the many dead worlds, moons, and star systems. Their job will be to harvest rare minerals wherever they go. We can even redirect them to populated planets that wish to contract the fleet to harvest their own minerals for them.

An entire world's worth of people, traveling the stars and finding work in every destination. All I ask of you is your support. Perhaps you can push forward the paperwork needed to allow the fleet free passage, either in the Free Systems or the Iron Republic.

Currently the flotilla can accommodate a population just over fifty thousand souls. It will be comprised of ten Model-T space stations, a hundred VESPIDAE-Class freighters, and nine ANTARES-Class freighters. I see no reason why we couldn't split profits if you saw fit to make a contribution to the flotilla's fleet.

I personally see it as a new opportunity for many people to find new and rewarding jobs in far off places. It could also become a melting pot of people from all over, helping to make the universe a bit smaller, and perhaps a bit more peaceful through better understanding. Its a little peace of hope for our far-off-future. Tell me what you think.

Signed,
General Garmin Fe

Dear General Garmin Fe,

Your words of wisdom are noted and acknowledged.

I like your idea, but your scale and nomenclature are off. Civilian is a generic term for non-military. What do you really mean when you say civilian? Do you mean unaffiliated? Please clarify.

I can ramp up the scale of your project by at least 100 percent without a problem. My only question is how you intend on mining these materials and for how long, per planet? How will these crews be defended from pirates, E-Strain, and other rogues? I ask these questions because I am very much interested in this endeavor.

Yours sincerely,
Stockholder Su Maehl
CEO of Maehl Holdings, IRLC

P.S. Please don't ever refer to me as Stockholder. Ever. It is not necessary.

Dear Su,

Though we, as owners of the vessels, would have great say in where the fleet goes and in what it does, I would very much like the inhabitents to feel more like citizens of a planet rather then workers for a corporation. Each space station ought to have a town hall-style council to address their day-to-day concerns of the populace. They must be given the means to care for and police themselves, just like we have done for the citizens of Hener 12 or Maxo Provo 9. I see it much like a new mobile planet where each station is its own metropolis. Our true roll is to be responsible for finding them meanful work, not to be their overlords or chiefs.

My hope is that the work we find them will keep them engaged at least one week at a time, but not much longer as they serve the good of galactic understanding better if we can keep them on the move. Cross-cultural interaction is one of the defining goals of the project. Mining is only one small service the flotilla can provide. Ideally they would be best for mining untouched astroid belts or nearby moons. The sort of resources that nearby inhabited planets would like to tap into but don't because of the expense of obtaining a space fleet. Other services we can provide include the construction of much needed infustructure to other planets, such as space ports, railway systems, and energy plants. With a large enough work force we can perform miracles for distant peoples who saw no hope of positive change.

As for its defense, the flotilla will always unspokenly be protected by the Beacon City itself. Though it should be able to stand on its own against your average threat. Each Model-T is generally sufficient enough to provide sizable defense for a planet, 10 would be enough to defend a starsystem, more would be a force to great for you standard pirate armada. E-Strain outbreaks would fair better on the flotilla then on planets as it is generally easier to quarentine a ship or station then it is to do such to a city.

I hope what I've said answers most of you questions.

Sincerely,
General Garmin Fe