The Galapagos Bargain

The Galapagos Colony - wooden hovels, stone buildings, palm trees, rum, prostitutes, a pale moon and a happy sea

## Quote

*"Jorge Alvarez! The pleasure is all mine! Come, come, take a drink, have a seat, and let me welcome you to this place where the seas are all but water! What's that? You don't need anything? Really? Alvarez, I can get some beautiful women lined up for you at the snap of my finger! Not your style? I see then. Once a simple man, always a simple man. In that case, let's get down to business shall we..."* - Scott Johnson to Jorge Alvarez, 2038

## Overview

Intelligence report from Anne Stone indicated to the West Caribbean Company that Black League have been actively meddling in the affairs of Indonesia for quite some time now. With collapse inevitable, it seemed in the intentions of the Black League to seize land from Indonesia for themselves, to further develop their population and infrastructure base. As deals have already been struck with Chinese Pirates, the seizure land would be a much easier process for the Black League in comparison to the West Caribbean Trading Company, who could not make such an offensive move due to their reputation.

Instead, opting for containment of the Black League through the Galapagos and its allied Lords, the echelons of the West Caribbean Company deemed it necessary to strike a bargain with Scott Johnson, the current Pirate Lord of the Galapagos. As such negotiations had never happened before between the Galapagos and The West Caribbean Company, this in itself was a somewhat risky move as it recognized the legitimacy of the Galapagos to some extent. Recognizing the Galapagos would have been an internationally condemned move that would have underlined trade and income across the world. Hence, instead of sending a formal delegation with formal diplomacy in mind, Jorge Alvarez deemed it best to make the bargain in person by himself, as to draw no attention. Although many considered this too dangerous and too risky, as he would have no protection on hand in the Galapagos, Jorge assured them that the pirates of the Galapagos were not the thieves and criminals seen in the Black League. They were, in truth, regular people who simply wanted a new life.

On March 14, 2038, Jorge set out for the Galapagos through a small port in Columbia, accompanied by his aides Rivera and Anne Stone. After a relatively uneventful trip he arrived onto the Galapagos near night time, around 6 o' clock. With his many connections, Jorge had enlisted the help of Li-Hua, one of Duncan Heyward's old companions, who took him into a small tea shop to stay for a few hours. At around 10' o clock, Jorge arrived at the tavern "Wailing Whale," where Scott Johnson was known to spend his time. Understanding that he was at the disadvantage in these negotiations, and understanding also that Scott Johnson had a wife that he cared about very much, Jorge arranged for Li-Hua to stay within the vicinity of Johnson's home should the worst come to pass. After stealthily being able to pass a note to Johnson, who was occupied at the time with drinking and socializing around a harem of women, Jorge and Johnson met in a small upstairs in the tavern, where even Johnson was skeptical as to whether this was actually Jorge Alvarez. After Jorge revealed The Golden Seal of the West Caribbean Company, Johnson understood the implications and commenced negotiations by offering him hospitality, to which Jorge declined understanding that diplomatically he cannot be seen as a "Guest to the Host" in this situation.

Negotiations went back and forth for some time, the main crux of disagreement being why should Johnson care for anything that happens in Indonesia when life in the Galapagos was "good." Scott Johnson was by no means unfamiliar with Diplomacy, as his rise to prominence was due to his manipulation of Black League Factions. He recognized that Jorge could not feasibly raise a large enough military force to comfortably defeat the Black League, as the Indonesia Coup was not a form of common knowledge that Alvarez could use as a casus belli. Understanding that he could squeeze a high price out of Alvarez, he bargained for large funding of the Galapagos Islands and delivery of foodstuff. Jorge countered this point by making a stipulation that they would collect it from West Caribbean ports instead of it being delivered, and that he provided 15% less than Johnson suggested. In addition, the head of the expedition would be led by Admiral Bracknell and not a Pirate Captain. In truth Scott had already wanted to interfere in the affairs of Indonesia, and so with this additional request he decided that he was in a good position to also request for one hundred ships of the Galapagos to be upgraded, suggesting that if this requirement was meant, he would agree with the current terms. This was difficult for Jorge to deny as the entire point of having Bracknell head the expedition was for his ability to fight naval battles. Requesting upgrades to Galapagos Ship of the Lines would only further help with that cause, which is the entire point of the negotiations. Although the thought crossed his head of using Scott's wife as collateral, he decided against it as the original intention for that arrangement was only if Jorge's life was threatened. He wouldn't stoop down to those type of morals given the situation.

After the offer was made, Jorge decided that the negotiations had gone well enough, and that he couldn't do much more than this. They formally signed a agreement with a Blood Pact, to which then Jorge simply returned home after all things had been settled. On analysis, the negotiations from the very beginning favored Johnson, and ended up with him somewhat winning - The only thing Jorge could have done was reduce how much he needed to provide for Scott. Johnson already was going to interfere with Indonesia, and he knew that partnership with the West Caribbean Trading Company would also serve his intentions best - and so here, in these negotiations, perhaps it can be said that this Pirate Lord was able to outmaneuver Jorge Alvarez for the time being.