Southampton Shipyard

CLASS: Winchester

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

POPULATION: 10K

The Southampton Shipyards are a massive assemblage of floating steel where most of the Bretonian naval fleet is constructed. The yard is organized around an enormous structure known by most employees as "The Bridge." The Bridge is a well recognized object of pride for most Bretonians, symbolizing the brilliance and dedication of the Bretonian people. Though Southampton is largely controlled by Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing (BMM) and the Bretonia Armed Forces, it is frequented by almost anybody who has business in New London space.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Universal Shipping
* Bounty Hunters Guild
* Planetform, Inc.
* Independent Miners Guild
* Bretonia Police
* Border World Exports
* BMM
* Gateway Shipping
* Kishiro Technologies
* Junkers
* Republican Shipping
* Samura Industries
* Cryer Pharmaceuticals
* Deep Space Engineering

## Commodities

* Gold
* Oxygen
* Water
* Food Rations
* MOX
* H-Fuel
* Basic Alloy
* Super Alloy
* High-Temperature Alloy
* Superconductors
* Optical Chips
* Construction Machinery
* Pharmaceuticals
* Ship Hull Panels
* Polymers
* Optronics
* Engine Components

* Scrap Metal

## Rumors

* Those Gaians are a bunch of upper-class Cambridge snobs that don't have their heads screwed on straight. I would welcome a new planet to live on. It's got to be better than the catastrophe they call Leeds.
* The Mollys are always sittin' out in the Southampton or Cumbria Fields waiting for some poor BMM bloke to come along, just minding his own business. A nasty lot, they are.
* Those Junkers are bad for this area. Ever since they showed up we've been getting Outcasts. Now the Corsairs are starting to arrive. They should go in and clean them out. Seems like they can never catch them red-handed.
* I've got my family back in Leeds. They've got all sorts of health problems. Company says it's 'cause we haven't been taking care of our kids properly. I dunno, seems like that nasty, thick brown air and smelly water may have something to do with it.
* New London used to be the mining center of Bretonia. Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, and Cumbria were all famous in their day. Those fields employed hundreds of thousands of the Bretonian working class. Now they import everything from the Border Worlds. Everyone's had to migrate out there in search of the work.
* The Junkers are a slimy set. They like to come and steal from our storage depots when no one is looking. We had to arm them, we did. To think that the Junkers used to be proper Yardies -- what a shame.

* Cardamine use is also on the rise in New London. We once thought it was exclusively a problem in Liberty. Outcasts have been sighted in the debris fields and along the Trade Lanes near the Leeds Jump Gate, presumably engaged in smuggling and piracy activities.
* The patrols into the Devon Field are to keep the Gaians in check, and more importantly, to address the increasing presence of Corsairs, who have overwhelmed the resources of the Police Authority since their arrival several years ago.
* Frankly, the Bretonian Armed Forces has fallen behind Kusari and Liberty. We just don't have the resources we once had. Our policy is appeasement and compromise.
* We run a daily patrol into the Southampton Debris Field, which contains radiation pockets and numerous criminals. We need to clean up the mess to clear out the criminal menace, but government funds are lacking. The multiple terraforming projects in progress have virtually bankrupted the treasury, and the financial drain continues.
* We've noticed a marked increase in New London Artifact availability and a corresponding drop in price since the Corsairs arrived. The Junkers are suspected in importing the banned trinkets, but they're difficult to catch red-handed.

* Word is, the Corsairs found some old Jump Hole in the Somerset Field from Cambridge. That's when all the problems started over there. I'm heading over to check it out pretty soon.
* I'm a former Molly that saw the light in Newgate. I won't go after my old comrades, I prefer to hunt the foreign invaders of our space like the Corsairs and Outcasts. It's my patriotic duty.
* New London is a just a sideshow for the Outcasts, 'cause there's no Jump Hole into Manchester from here. The main Cardamine route is through the Leeds smog clouds.
* You don't get much of a bounty for Gaians. The Corsairs and the Outcasts are a different matter. Bag one of them and you'll be taking it easy for a while.
* I used to work these fields -- know 'em like the back of my hand. That's what gives me the edge against the baddies. Gotta watch out for those gas pockets. They're in most of the fields in this system. They got them marked, but not everyone pays attention.

* Running the MOX in from LD-14 can be a real nail biter. Rumor has it that the Mollys are trying to steal some to make a bomb.
* I just came down from Glasgow in the Leeds system with a load of Kusari Optronics and Engine Components. That's our HQ for all Bowex field operations. It would make more sense to be in London, but they got this thing about tradition.

* We don't get hassled by pirates nearly as much as our competitors do. Our allies, the IMG, get along pretty well with the Mollys and the Hessians. That's a big advantage for us in the Omega Border World Trade Lane routes to Rheinland. Of course, we still have to deal with the Corsairs.
* I'm headed back out to Kensington as soon as I can. This is enemy territory as far as I'm concerned. I used to work for Bowex hauling Ship Hull Panels. We got fed up with the conservative culture and started our own thing.

* Kishiro is a progressive company. We are much more innovative than Samura, which uses its influence to resist change rather than embrace it. Soon we'll be hauling the H-Fuel to this shipyard.
* The Outcasts are very troublesome. Ever since we opened our Hydrocarbon and Polymer plant in Tau-29, they have become very aggressive. We were even attacked in the southern part of Leeds during the last trip. That's not a promising sign for Bretonia's well-being.

* I noticed that the Kusari transports are unloading Engine Components also. This is not a good sign. One day we may not be coming to this shipyard with Rheinland products anymore.
* The route for Republican through the Omega Border Worlds is very difficult -- much more so than the Tau systems that the Kusari must traverse. This challenge hurts us competitively, at least as far as the Bretonian export market is concerned.

* Bretonia's not too dangerous. At least compared to Kusari space and the Tau Border Worlds. The Blood Dragons are the most serious menace with Kusari. The Outcasts replace them as the threat once you leave Kyushu.
* The most valuable Commodity Bretonia has to offer us is Gold. We use it in our ship construction site at Yokohama for coating windows.

* Universal doesn't bother hauling stuff past the capitol systems like New London. We let the local shippers take over. They can have the Border Worlds, as far as we're concerned. Insurance premiums go up quite a bit.
* This Southampton yard is impressive -- lots of stalls, although it doesn't look like very many are occupied. They call this "The Bridge," which sounds kind of optimistic to me. Looks like Bretonia's shipbuilding industry is hurting as much as ours.