Rochester Base

CLASS: Ramshackle

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Limited

CREW: 430

Where there's junk, there are the Junkers. They've been around since the earliest days of the Trade Lanes. Descended from the working classes, they developed within the House systems as a sort of necessary evil, handling the dirty work that no one else would. They do well salvaging valuable materials from the ever-increasing debris fields throughout Sirius, with the notable exception of Kusari. To this day they remain held at bay by the Hogosha.

Anyone who deals with Junkers knows they live by a strict code; if you're not a Junker, you're not part of the family. A Junker will double-cross you without a second thought, and they're fiercely protective of each other. Most House corporations consider the Junkers to be simple criminals, but Junkers will occasionally do favors for the police, turning in the odd, mid-level criminal or letting them know about the occasional drug shipment. So despite some harassment, the police stop short of shutting them down. The infrequent police cleanup operations are little more than exercises in public relations, though there's no love lost between the two groups.

The Junkers make their official money from salvaging debris within the fields, but also have a good deal going with various criminals, who like their "no questions asked" policy. Tolerated by the governments, Junkers sometimes deal in contraband, but they are extremely hard to catch red-handed. They are frequently patronized by the criminal element for the refuge they offer within the often hostile territory of House capitol systems.

The Junkers of Rochester have a particularly hard time with a wide variety of issues, both from the law, and from unlawful elements fighting over the lucrative business the base is key to. Recently, a large scale attack by the Xenos caused the base significant damage, though it is difficult to tell the difference considering the original state of the base.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* ALG Waste Disposal
* Junkers
* Liberty Rogues
* Outcasts

* Liberty Rogues

## News

With recent waves of unrest and conflict brewing across Sirius, salvaging in freshly independent frontiers is quickly setting itself up as being the means by which we corner more lucrative markets.

The Outcasts and their most loyal agents stepped in almost immediately in anticipation of something like this happening, and set new rules for distribution according to set keys. A small group of Liberty Rogues defied them and followed their own rules of distribution, but they didn't fare too well - the Dons, despite the ongoing crisis in Malta, do not tolerate insubordination.
For this reason, several powerful Junkers and Rogues immediately decided to dilute Cardamine instead of redistributing ostentatiously against the wishes of the Outcasts at the expense of their clients, thereby raising their own shares. Fortunately for these savvy businessmen, word did not reach the Outcasts until some time later, and thanks to an improved network of cooperation, most of the organizers were able evade Malta's assassins.
However, all these measures had only limited effectiveness. Many end-clients and casual Cardamine users have been forced to seek medical attention due to their deteriorating health due to potentially fatal withdrawal symptoms. It is not known how many Cardamine users eventually died because of the shortage, but it appears to be in the order of single-digit percentages - much to the very verbal displeasure of the Outcasts themselves.

While this troubling trend is observed throughout the Sirius colonies, Liberty is bearing the brunt of the crisis among the four major Houses. Remarkably, even Rheinland, where historical data indicated low Cardamine consumption, has witnessed a notable rise in medical cases linked to the illicit narcotic. Experts postulate that the extensive black market responsible for Cardamine distribution might be facing a shortage, or worse, that Outcast factions deliberately curtail the supply to bolster demand. Regrettably, no law enforcement agency has been available for comment on these concerns.
The long-standing debate over Cardamine's controversial nature, juxtaposing its euphoric and purported medicinal qualities with the genetic alterations it inflicts upon long-term users, continues to echo. A key point of contention revolves around the plight of innocent consumers caught in this crisis. Yet, according to independent polls, a substantial majority of our viewers maintains that the substance must remain banned.
In response to this escalating crisis, Cryer Pharmaceuticals has announced a forthcoming press conference. During the event, the company intends to unveil plans for an expanded production of Stabiline, their touted "wonder drug". This announcement promises affordable access to Stabiline for all patients grappling with Cardamine withdrawal, sparking a remarkable 15%% surge in Cryer Pharmaceuticals' stock following the revelation.

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.

In the video, a number of restrained people that have been identified as former residents of Planet Vespucci, board a Dromedary-class vessel registered to a freelance trader Vincent Ruthen. They are under supervision from several LPI officers, who exchange words with the ship's crew. Private investigators have trailed the ship, determining that it did not land at its purported destination of Gas Miner Naha in the Sigma-13, instead electing to travel away from civilized space into the Edge Worlds. The people aboard it have effectively vanished from the colonies.
This is the latest case in a streak of such disappearances, with investigators estimating as high as ten percent of all inmates thought to be awaiting their trial in LPI internment camps have been covertly shipped off-world for unknown reasons. The fate of these people is yet unclear, but theories range from secret trials to unethical experiments aboard Atka. Outraged by what is apparently an LPI-sanctioned human trafficking operation, protesters flooded the streets and had to be dispersed by police riot control squads.
A Liberty Police official has denounced allegations of corruption, stating that "All interned personnel are secured and all prisoner transfers have been done within the framework of the legal code". He refused to comment on the evidence presented, dismissing it as "slanderous fabrication against the good, hard-working officers of Liberty law". Meanwhile, political opposition already promises increased oversight over the law enforcement corporation for the next election cycle.

Over the last few days, Archer-class siege cruisers have been deploying their massive coaxial cannons to suppress military infrastructure on the planet, systematically targeting the very last bastions of the Insurgency. First to be destroyed were the planet's few remaining ground to space weapons installations, quickly crippled by bomber strikes from the Ohio herself, before the remaining desolate ground defences and deserted infrastructure were reduced to rubble, their populations having already long fled the world.
A small service was held on the Ohio as the bombardment drew to a close in memory of Rear Admiral Dylan Brandt and those thousands of sailors and marines who had given their lives in the name of Liberty; fought their own lost brothers-in-arms so that others may not live under their misguided yoke, and many more who had their lives irrevocably changed as a result of the evils the campaign sought to end.
The announcement also confirmed identical monuments to the Insurgency campaign would be erected on every world in Liberty, from Planet Houston to Planet Erie, each monument an obelisk carrying the names of every serviceman lost in the conflict and serving as a reminder that Liberty is stronger when it stands together.

For some time, it had been alleged that Insurgent and Xeno-backed cells had been stirring trouble on Erie, inciting violence in the population and seeking to turn the planet into a second Veracruz. Never, however, had such open acts of terror been visited upon the governing Libertonian forces.
The response was quick and decisive. In coordination with the LSF, Vice Admiral Hamish aboard the Battleship Alma lead a Liberty Navy task force directly into the system in Operation Pesticide, escorted primarily by Siege Cruisers, Gunboats and fightercraft, with many of the Navy's capital warships tied in the Vespucci campaign or ever watchful at Liberty's borders. They were met by Zoner Q-ships based from Bethlehem, with many coming from as far as Galileo or even the Sigmas, accompanied by a motley assortment of freelancers and other anarchist elements. Leading the Zoner line was a Aquilon-class carrier, the Pinnacle.
While the Pinnacle came under heavy bombardment from the Alma and her task force, supplies quickly gathered onto Zoner transports from Erie attempted to run the Navy blockade. While some transports were lost to Navy bombers, others yet escaped to parts as of yet unknown. This 'victory', however, came at a heavy price. The Pinnacle was lost with most of her hands still on board and the rest captured, while the Liberty Marines landed virtually unopposed, quickly securing population centers for both the safety of Libertonian assets and the civilians on Erie itself. The Alma is settled now into the low orbit of Erie, a constant reminder to those below that they are under the protection of the Liberty Navy. A comfort to some, a dire warning to many more.

Admiral Brandt was heard to give the order to abandon ship right as the ship's hull could take no more and began to be torn asunder, with hull breaches on multiple decks. Tragically, the armored engines of the Delaware had suffered a great deal of damage, and as the armor and shielding was whittled away, vast quantities of radiation and superheated gas began to flood into the crew compartments of the vessel.
In an emotional announcement, the Liberty Navy officially stated that they consider the Delaware to be lost with all hands, including Admiral Brandt himself. No life pods could be secured in the heat of battle, with the remainder of the Delaware's escort making a fighting retreat back to the LNS Ohio which had herself been caught lagging behind the Delaware's doomed thrust into the heart of the Insurgency. The Ohio now remains with her own escort, augmented by survivors of the Delaware's battlegroup, and will continue as the Liberty Navy's bastion in the Vespucci system, ready to ensure that the Insurgents pay dearly for the toll they have extracted upon one of Liberty's finest Admirals.

Leading a fearsome line of some of Liberty's most advanced warships, the Delaware bore down on the Insurgency's remaining, cobbled-together fleet in the Vespucci system, out of position from dealing with a Bretonian thrust from Magellan. Immediately caught was the Battleship Vanquisher, one of the scant few Arbiter-class Battleships available to the Insurgents. Caught by itself, the Vanquisher put up a fearsome fight but was ultimately unable to stand against the Delaware and its escort, despite its fighter component dealing severe damage to much of the Delaware's own, smaller fighter contingent, as well as the Delaware herself.
With the great Arbiter all but vanquished, the Interdictor-class Battlecruiser Triton stared down the guns of the damaged Delaware and her escort. Outnumbered two-to-one, and outgunned to an even greater degree by the Libertonian heavyweight, Triton and her escorts launched their one and only advantage, their fighter and bomber superiority gained at the Vanquisher's expense.

Presenting the potential for cataclysmic damage to personhood and proprety prompted Ageira to shut down the gates leading into the system, as well as the respective trade lanes. In the time since then however, Ames has relayed a stunning report that the storm despite being violent at first, has now settled into quite a passive albeit looming stance over the system. Perhaps more surprising than even this is the phenomena regarding the storm's interactions with the established lane and gate network in the system, seeming to bend and contort around the structure rather than engulf them. This stellar formation has produced the spatial equivalent of a tunnel that travelers into the freshly reopened Kepler have taken to dubbing the "Murky Road", prompting a small degree of sensationalized tourism into the system. Which comes as a small positive after the harsh loss of the otherwise frequent traffic.
This news comes at the tail end of previous publications that cited the storm as having origins in Alberta, supposedly arriving via some form of leakage through the jumpholes in the system. Newer research has allowed for discoveries which now suggest the contrary and this has in turn reinvigorated research into these storms and their enigmatic natures.

## Rumors

* If you're looking to make a fortune right now, you should consider running Cardamine to us. Scarcity has sent prices soaring, but it's also made product harder to sell, considering that everyone either wants in on the business now or needs their fix. So if you do have the stomach for this sort of thing, I'd invest in people to have around as muscle, keep the upstarts out of your hair, as well as particularly pushy clientele.

* If the heat from Liberty Police ever gets too bad, we just serve up some petty criminal or deadbeat hauling some illegal cargo. LPI doesn't really care as long as it looks like they are cracking down on criminals; an arrest here and there with some confiscated contraband usually gets them off our backs for a while.

* You should learn your way around the scrap fields if you want to survive here. Don't ever use the trade lanes if you're hauling anything you don't want the law to see. Remember, they are always watching.

* We like to get along with everybody around here; the more the merrier I always say. Of course, that only counts if "the more" means more people with money. The more criminals that need us means we have our hands in all that many more pockets, and that's really what we want.

* Talk to the veteran Junkers around here if you need work. They can make you rich as long as you don't mind dangerous runs and making your own rules as you go.

* You can learn a lot from what you see on this base. It's never a good idea to talk about what you see here though. We've found the station's fusion reactor leaves no trace of those who talk about things they shouldn't.

* You'll meet a few Rogues and Outcasts around here. It's not a good idea to be seen flying with them. However, if you stay close enough to track them and still stay off the scanners, you might be able to share in the profit when they hit big convoys.

* We ship Artifacts to Manhattan - one of the riskiest runs for a Junker there is.

* Rochester ships black market H-Fuel to Manhattan. It's all stolen property that we are selling back to the very people who owned it in the first place.

* The Combat Service Freighter is made by Junkers and sold here. It's one of the best in Sirius. Learn how to fly that well and there isn't a pilot around who will be able to catch you.

* We get our Artifacts from Beaumont,in the Texas system. That's the last stop on their long journey before coming to New York.

* The New York Debris Fields give us plenty of cover to operate in; we've pulled most of the scrap and salvage from Jersey, but we still find plenty of goodies in the Pittsburg and Detroit Fields. You might run across an occasional fragged ship floating in there too. Those are the guys who crossed us.

* Everyone is welcome here to do business and we don't ask a lot of questions, but if you are up to know good and you try and sneak onto the station while the navy is watching, you may find yourself getting tossed out an airlock.

* We get our Artifacts from Leiden, up in the Galileo system. The Hogosha hand them over to the Rogues there.

* I used to be a captain in the Liberty Navy, but I never really fit their mold of what an officer should be. Now I have the freedom to do all the things I could never do in the navy.

* This is a good base if you want to hang out and attack the local Trade Lanes. Gotta watch out for those Xenos in the eastern part of Jersey, though.

* That Artifact run from Leiden can be rough. There's a long stretch across Colorado where you're pretty exposed -- Bounty Hunters always out there, circling like vultures. Once you get to the Silverton Field, you got the Xenos.

* The Junkers want us to take on the Xenos since they have been staging more attacks on them lately. We'll oblige, as we're not sure what the Xenos are really up to. Some of the bosses think they want to take over the Cardamine business from us. Fat chance of that.

* We've been running H-Fuel up from Buffalo. It's a pretty wild ride across New York. Anytime you cross patrolled trade lanes, a navy shipyard, and a battleship patrolled sector, you gotta expect trouble. All our H-Fuel is smuggled into Liberty after getting stolen in the Independent Worlds -- kind of like recycled property. That's the way I see it.

* Just making a supply run back out to Buffalo. Why do people like me always get the lousy jobs? I have to run the gauntlet of the LPI and navy through the Detroit Field and across the Trade Lanes with little profit in it for me.

* Running Cardamine from Cortez is one of the toughest jobs you can do in Sirius. I don't know why the Outcasts can't do it themselves. They always make us do all the dirty work. One day we'll be in charge.

*NOTE: Page generated on the 28/10/2023 at 17:59:46 UTC*