Intergalactic Summit

Saisa Halete,

First, I would like to congratulate you for your announcement. Personally, I know first-hand the challenge of taking a stance that your neighbors would deem incorrect or abhorrent.

I'm not sure if you are aware, but I operate an initiative called the Cal-Matari Program. The program is responsible for various duties and performs equally various operations throughout the cluster. As head of the program, I would like to formally invite you to a conference at Cal-Matari's headquarters in Syndicate. There, we will be able to tell you more of what we do and possibly even emplace a similar trade relationship to the one we have ongoing with a couple other Minmatar factions.

I hope you will accept my offer, and I eagerly await your response.

Rikaato,
Korsavius
Taisa, Cal-Matari Operations Commander

It staggers me to see such words committed to print. To see a proud warrior so dismissive of the capabilities of her own people to decide their futures and fates, and instead telling of them the glorious Caldari State. To see someone claim the best way to help the weak and the starving from the horrors of this is to jump into bed with the very nation that seeks to defeat them.

I can see it now, the children walking through a museum on Matar; walking through the front doors they will see a triumphant statue of Tovil-Toba; they will marvel at this exemplar of the Minmatar, reminded forever that the true example they should aspire to was a Caldari mass-murderer.

They will see an exhibit showing once proud workers toiling away on weapons of war; in the foundries of molten promises and the factory lines of wracked dreams; all under the watchful eyes of the Haletes and Korsaviuses of the cluster. "Is that what it was like under the Amarr?" They will ask their parents. "No," will come the reply, "That is the future, that is The New Meritocracy".

The Republic deserves better then the sweet talking firewater salesmen who promise a future with the State.

Your first mistake is mistaking the Republic for the Republic's people, for I hold nothing but pride in them.

Your second was creating such marvelous hyperbole over a woman's wishes to see her starving people fed and Matar's children cured of their infections.

The Federation sees you as a market as well, but they just are not honest about it.

Try restricting Quafe, CreoDron, Transtellar, etc activities in the Republic and see what happens.

In which sense do you mean, exactly, pilot?

Yes, our traders can get aggressive when their work is threatened. Yes, we take pride in our military strength and have been known not to sit on our hands. Yes, we play host to the Practicals, who are ... let's not get into that.

We don't stick our faiths down others' necks. We won't tell you that your traditions are archaic foolishness. We won't shake our heads sadly at you if you say that you think differently than we do about how to run your own country.

Inward-looking, yes; self-interested, yes; materialistic, probably a bit too much (but I'm an Achur, so I would say that). The Caldari look after their own interests first, and if you wonder why we'd join forces with a bunch of conquerors like the Amarr, you need look no further than that.

We found them easier to deal with than the devil we knew.

The Gallente also found us to be people to help, Gottii, and did their utmost to help us right out of cultural existence-- more kindly than the Amarr, admittedly, but swallow too much of their influence and your identity will be no less dead.

We're aggressive traders, and we like a good profit. We will not, however, tell you how to live your life.

Of course, it took us a few hundred years to figure out that we did not have a friend in the Gallente, so I suppose it can take some long figuring. They're so nice, you know. Then again, your people already know what it is like to have someone actively trying to extinguish their culture, so maybe you'll figure it out faster.

Good luck, pilot. The Gallente are great allies as long as you don't mind turning into Gallente.

It'll be for your own good, of course. But that's a line you've heard before, yes?

Well, pilot, Khanid society doesn't seem to view slavery as a cultural artifact as much as a commercially useful system. Now, we won't tell you that you can't own slaves, but we will advise you that slavery is a less efficient economic system. Why? Well, we are trading partners, and we don't particularly like the institution of slavery. So if you don't actually have a religious attachment to slavery, then why wouldn't we advise you so? As allies and trading partners, it's actually almost an obligation to advise you of more efficient, useful, and humane policies, but we won't make you implement them, or even use economic pressure on you to force you to do so.

When Miss Jenneth states that we won't shake our heads at you, she doesn't mean we will emphatically agree with everything you do. That would be infringing on our sovereignty.

Thank you Gottii, Aria.

I heard exactly what I wanted to from each of you.

You see, it is not enough that you should become friends with the Caldari, my dear friends of Matar, you must hate the Gallente as well!

What complete tripe.

I don't think Mlle Severasse does misunderstand, even though she is idealistic to the point of idiocy. Your pilot is arguing just this.

I wish you best of luck in your endeavors. Trying to bring people to a better and mutual comprehension is laudable.