Corfu Base

CLASS: Solace

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 120

A small Zoner installation in high orbit of Planet Pygar. This lonesome place once served as a supply station for Freeport 9, and still offers limited refit and repair facilities for trade ships making the perilous journey from Omega 48. In recent years Corfu has acted as a basecamp for the Zoners attempting to colonise Pygar, shuttling prospective colonists and departing emigrants to and from the underground settlement. Technicians aboard Corfu are also responsible for managing the daunting maintenance requirements the planet's extreme storms inflict on the docking ring.

When the Corsairs occupied Freeport 9 in 831 AS, Corfu would find itself on the front lines of an increasingly dangerous confrontation. Enraged Zoner pilots flocked to the station demanding retaliation, while station administrators urged for calm. A conclave was called on Gran Canaria to decide the Zoners' response, and while this conference would end inconclusively, a number of Zoner Q-Ships would be dispatched to Corfu to monitor the situation. These vessels have since maintained a close eye on Corgu and Pygar, with their powerful sensors tracking Outcast and Corsair fleet movements across the system.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Bounty Hunters Guild
* Corsairs
* Red Hessians

## News

As Crete demanded the Zoners of Theta turn over any Hunters aboard their stations and surrender docking control, the Freeport 9 administrators were confident that some kind of compromise could be found. A delegation from Gran Canaria was requested to assist with negotiations, due to the close ties between Zoner and Corsair communities on the planet.
Tragically, the Corsairs interpreted this delay as refusal, and launched a surprise attack while the delegation was en-route. Many of Freeport 9's crew are now being held as hostages while the Corsairs pillage the station. An urgent conclave has been called on Gran Canaria to discuss the Zoner response, while militias on Pygar have taken up arms in case the violence spreads.

Ageira disputed this finding in their own press release, calling EFL 'fantasists' and countering that their own scientists had narrowed the cause to a rare 'hypernova' stellar event that originated outside the Sirius sector. Both corporations claim that network-wide hardware safeguards have been implemented that would prevent a similar occurrence in the future. Independent researchers have sharply criticized the corporate announcements, accusing both of self-interested misdirection.
Professor Sophia Nagel from Heisenberg Research Station called EFL's accusation 'incoherent' and the hypernova explanation 'nonsense' that did not explain the characteristics of the 'Blackout Pulse'. Despite multiple different Pulse recordings being widely disseminated across the neural net, public efforts have so far failed to triangulate its source.

Professor Nagel and her team are certain the Pulse originated from outside Sirius, but are otherwise no closer to identifying its source or mitigating a future Blackout event. "Following the Blackout, we began to see immediate signs of jump hole destabilization in multiple different regions, with many ultimately falling out of phase alignment altogether", she commented. The dramatic upending of Sirius' jump hole network has already prompted many groups to abandon stations and withdraw from systems that appear to risk being cut off.
While months-long trips between the stars are possible thanks to the Liberty Engine and many centuries of innovation, few ships are designed or provisioned to make such arduous journeys. Those who were displaced by Sirius' redrawn map hope that system connections will return, while adventurers and explorers rush to discover new routes.

The Militants believe the Corsairs prey on weakness, and will be more willing to negotiate if armed Zoners prove they cannot be easily or costlessly bullied.
The Reconcilers believe the situation can only be resolved by deescalating the immediate tensions, and then diplomatically securing the release of hostages and the return of the occupied Freeport.
Both sides are adamant that the other's approach will lead to the Zoners' subjugation or expulsion from the region.
Despite this, some common ground has been found, with the collective tasking a number of Fearless Q-Ship captains with deploying to Theta and protecting the Gran Canarian convoys that will be needed to resupply Freeport 5, Corfu and Pygar.

For decades the Zoners of Freeport 9 have kept themselves safe from Corsair reprisals by offering useful services, with their biodomes providing Crete with respite from the famines that once ravished it. Despite this, outrage has swept Omicron Gamma after a flight of Hunters killed Commander Juan Garcia, before retreating back to the No Fire Zones of Omicron Theta.
The Council of Elders have ordered the administrator of Freeport 9 to attend Planet Crete to hear their demands. Elder Garcia has vowed that the station's halls would "run red with blood" unless the Zoners turned over all BHG aboard the Freeport. The Zoners are yet to respond, likely trying to anticipate how the Corsairs will react.

The Corsairs see the Pygar colony as a direct competitor for the region's scarce resources, with Elder Garcia warning that there would be "dire consequences" should Freeport 9's biodomes reduce or divert their exports to Planet Crete. Whispers of alien ruins and Artifacts discovered below Pygar's surface may also antagonize the Corsairs, who rely on the Artifact trade as a source of wealth. The hardship of Pygar's extreme conditions and the uneasy relationship with the Corsairs has already led many colonists to consider a return to the now liberated Gran Canaria.

## Rumors

* I have come to this place looking for a Corsair named Jardin. He is an infamous killer and pirate. Many say he cannot be stopped, but if anyone can drop him, I can. He is just a man, and a man can die, no matter how tough he is.

* To the west are the Sabana Fragments. You can get to Omega-41 from there -- a good idea if you are trying to avoid the Corsairs. They are still all over, since this is their space, but you won't be going through the Corsair home system.

* My brother joined the Bounty Hunters Guild a few years ago. He's not tough enough to take on Corsairs yet; he should still be popping Rogues. The idiot sent me a message telling me he was ready for the big leagues in southern Sirius. I'm trying to find him before he gets killed.

* In 550 AS the Bretonian government chartered the exploratory/research ship Fearless to explore the fringes of the mysterious edge nebula. After several years spent crossing the outer Omega systems, they discovered Omicron Theta and its sole planet, Pygar. Upon completing a brief survey of the planet and retrieving several strange Artifacts that were sent back by courier ship to Cambridge, they continued on into the mysterious clouds that traversed the eastern end of the system. The Fearless was never seen again.

* Head for the cloud south of here and you will find Artifacts, but that's not why I go there. The cloud to the south hides the Jump Hole to Omicron Gamma. If you do go in there, get ready to fight or you'd better be good at hiding. No matter what you do, don't stay in there too long, because it's just a matter of time before your number gets punched.

* Jesse Casas was truly an original. Captured as a young Corsair on his first mission to the inner house systems, he spent years imprisoned in Vierlande. He eventually renounced his Corsair vows and joined the Bounty Hunters Guild. Flying the Rebel, Casas used his intimate knowledge of the pirate ways to full tactical advantage. He finally met his demise somewhere in the Napo Cloud in 791.

* "Lucky" Logan Conner was one tough nut, as anyone will tell you. He would take on an entire patrol of Corsairs, picking them off one by one. Based out of Freeport 5 to be close to his favorite prey, he liked living life on the ragged edge. His luck finally ran out in 780, when he ventured too far from the safety of the Gredos Cloud in the Corsairs home territory of Omicron Gamma. A mass of Corsairs pursued him back into the nebula. It was rumored that they didn't actually dispose of Conner on the spot, but merely disabled his ship and let him die a slow death by asphyxiation.

* I've been contracted by Cryer to come down here and kill a few Corsairs for them. Their base, Atka, got hit a few weeks ago. Usually it's the Outcasts who hit Atka, but this time it was the Corsairs. Corsairs, Outcasts -- it doesn't make any difference to me.

* We get many of our goods from the Junkers at Yanagi. Our boats haul Engine Components and Consumer Goods from there.

* Don't ask me where the Jump Hole is that leads to the Corsair homeworld. I've said too much already. The Corsairs would cut my throat if I dared to utter where the entrance to their system is. Just stay away from the Napo Cloud. I mean … it isn't in the Napo Cloud, it's ... I'm a dead man.

* The biodomes we invested in here have paid off in spades. Everyone in this part of space comes here for Food, and we get the profits. Well, us and Synth Foods, of course. We ship Food to Atka in Sigma-17 and Freeport 5 in Omega-41.

* We ship the Alien Organisms found in this system to the Cryer base in Sigma-17. Cryer also needs our Polymers, and we return with Pharmaceuticals.

* What are the idiots at Gran Canaria doing? We should have organized some sort of resistance, a fleet, ANYTHING! My kids are on that station and I don't even know if they're still alive!

* If you ask me, Freeport 9 had it coming for a long time. Honestly I'm surprised Corsairs took as long as they did to act. How can I say that? To me being a Zoner is about independence, spare me the 'solidarity' talk.

* Our brothers in Freeport 5 send us Polymers, Fertilizers, and Consumer Goods. It's a Zoner's duty to help other Zoners where we can. This is a dangerous part of space; only by sticking together can we make it.

* My brother is a Corsair's hostage on Freeport 9, and he gets to send us a message once a week. Sadly, it all has to go through the Corsair network, so when he says he's fine, I can't help but wonder how true that is.

*NOTE: Page generated on the 28/10/2023 at 17:59:45 UTC*