Allentown Base

CLASS: Ramshackle

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 660

The Junkers arrived in Pennsylvania not long after the Zoners, but it wasn't until Allentown was already being built that the two groups met. The Zoners had come from the north end, through the California jumphole. The Junkers had come from the south, through Texas. The two groups mostly ignored eachother - trading a little when it was convenient, but otherwise going about their own ways. Allentown eventually grew into an important smuggling post, dealing mostly in Cardamine and "human cargo". Allentowns remote location makes sure the Navy rarely pays a visit - and if they do, there are always Rogues nearby to either destroy or distract them.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Liberty Rogues
* Junkers
* Outcasts
* Lane Hackers

* 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.

It is widely speculated that the recent surge taking place in the Kansas system is related. The oddly self named Insurgency has long been categorized as a "Domestic Paramilitary Organization" that is of extremist political nature, in effect making them Liberty citizens with rights as such. The Act recategorizes them as a "Foreign Supported Terrorist Organization", a drastic shift in political standing. Sources have speculated the move is related to the Bering operation that precipitated the formation of the Insurgency as the root cause of the change in policy. Despite considerable cost both monetarily and in terms of material, the operation failed to expunge the organization to the desired level. The Act comes a considerable spending package for future operations and gives free rein to Liberty Navy admirals to take necessary measures to properly remove the long-standing issue.

Upon further investigation, the Navy has successfully identified the ordnance being transported as being sourced from Rheinland. Going as far as to state that they contained serial codes which correspond with weaponry used by Rheinland's own Military. Naturally given the circumstances around the discovery of these weapons and Liberty's history of hot and cold relations with the neighboring House, it is expected that this development will lead to further scrutiny when it comes to potentially suspicious activity.

## Rumors

* Who wouldn't enjoy life out here. Sitting here with a drink in my hand, I could stare out that window forever. I'll never set foot on another planet again.

* There is a jumphole in the Meadville Ice Field that leads to Texas, but it's not an easy trip. The ice field is full of Xenos, and there is a radiation field on the Texas side that will breach the hull of a small ship in no time.

* We try to stay out of the conflicts around us. We make more money that way. One of our pilots became too filled with hate after the Xenos killed his family and lost all interest in peace. He flew off alone into the Meadville Ice Field in a rage and hasn't been seen since.

* Many people become freighter pilots for us because it's an exciting way to make some fast money. You can get rich running some of our supply runs. Of course many pilots don't last that long, so we're making a healthy sum building freighters too. If you're interested, see our ship dealer!

* Navy has been giving us a rough time recently, imposing scans even when we're being legally compliant and plying by the lanes. Something's got them all riled up and ready to vaporise ships at a moment's notice, so with all the talk I'm hearing of a zoner resistance, I bet they're the reason. Damn do-gooders making life hard for the rest of us.

* If you're here for any of the good stuff we sell, then I hope you have the credits for it. Our deliveries are all getting set back by days if not weeks thanks to patrols across every major artery of the system. And if it's not Hamish's lapdogs making life hell for our freighters, it's the Xenos killing them off the grid while the Rogues sit on their hands. They're trying to put the squeeze on us for more money to intervene, don't they realise they need us more than we need them?

* If you're here for any of the good stuff we sell, then I hope you have the credits for it. Our deliveries are all getting set back by days if not weeks thanks to patrols across every major artery of the system. And if it's not Hamish's lapdogs making life hell for our freighters, it's the Xenos killing them off the grid while the Rogues sit on their hands. They're trying to put the squeeze on us for more money to intervene, don't they realize they need us more than we need them?

* All Junkers know how to use jump holes. From here we can get to Bretonia or Rheinland without ever touching a trade lane of a gate. It's the only smart way to travel for us, since we like our activities to go unnoticed.

* The jump gate to New York will take you to one of the most dangerous parts of the New York system. I don't know what they were thinking when they built a gate there. Be prepared to encounter pirates if you are traveling that way.

* Navy has been giving us a rough time recently, imposing scans even when we're being legally compliant and plying by the lanes. Something's got them all riled up and ready to vaporize ships at a moment's notice, so with all the talk I'm hearing of a zoner resistance, I bet they're the reason. Damn do-gooders making life hard for the rest of us.

* Many people don't even know this base is here. It keeps things peaceful here and allows us to keep an eye on what people are doing without being noticed ourselves.

* Planet Erie looks beautiful from space, but when you land there you will see it's just like the rest of Liberty. The corporations run everything and the police harass everyone who doesn't play their game.

* There's no place to buy a Salvage Frigate around here. Each Junker family builds their own and it becomes their most prized possession. A well built Salvager will provide safe travel to many systems.

* The radiation on the other side of the jump hole to Texas will cook your ship fast, but Junkers thrive on that. No one goes there, so there is still a huge deposit of valuable components among the debris. A brave Junker can make a healthy profit there.

* The Rogues sell the Neon and Basic Alloy they loot from passing transports to us. We ship it to the stations in Newcastle, or the Zoner space stations in Omega-50, or just sell it back to passing Freelancer smugglers. Either way is a profit for us.

* The Rogues really love their Light Arms. They can't get enough of them! You can make a tidy profit bringing us some fine Light Arms from Detroit... and we don't ask for any receipts.

* If you can get along with the people on this base, you will discover the means to travel anywhere you want. People from all over Sirius come here to visit Liberty without being seen, if you know what I mean.

* If you are willing to run a substantial risk for a substantial profit, you can smuggle indentured workers out from here. There's a ton of folk on Houston and Pittsburgh who are either too stupid or too desperate to read the smallprint on their contracts. Funny thing is, folk call it slavery, but it's more legit then most of the cargo that comes through here. There's a need for this kind of forced labor in Rheinland and on Malta. Bit of a trek, but well worth the credits.

* The boys at Niverton make off with some cargo every now and then. When there's enough, I haul it over to Allentown for a quick buck. Doesn't earn much, but it's a safe way to earn a bit of scratch. You can pick up some "Indentured Servants", as they like to call Slaves here, on the way back.

* Nice little forgotten corner of space this is. Liberty is all about protecting big money, and there's not much of that here. So there's not much protection here. Which means we're practically free to do as we please. Well, except around that damned Dreadnought near Erie.

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