Dounby Station

CLASS: Rousay

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 300

Once a backwater station owned by the Independent Miners Guild, Dounby was built orbiting the resource rich Eday 801 AS. The Guild predicted the planet could be mined when asteroid showers were less frequent, but the frequent accidents and near misses made the base a risky investment.

When the Council breached Westray, opening the way to Sirius, they made contact with the Guild, revealing the realm of House Gallia. The breach left the miners tangled between Council and Royalist forces, and so operations were temporarily suspended. Later, an accord was struck between the Guild and the Gallic Crown, resuming mining operations. Harvested minerals were mostly bought out by passing Gallic freighters.

In 824 AS, the Gallic Brigands launched an attack on Dounby. The Guild was vastly overwhelmed and the installation fell to Brigand hands, who later rechristened the base to Dinard Station. Its mining equipment was jettisoned to make room for drinking, drugging, and whoring.

In 827 AS, a combined IMG and Gallic Navy force recaptured Dinard for the Guild, restoring her name to Dounby. Back under Guild administration, the station underwent extensive renovations and restructuring to serve as a primary connection to the Gallic markets.

In order to avoid fatal collisions with stray asteroids hurling towards Eday, Dounby is equiped with several engines to avoid direct impacts from the larger rocks.

While it avoided detection by the Nomads during their purge of the system, the operations onboard the station effectively ceased, and it's continued operation is being brought into question.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Zoners
* Gallic Navy
* Bounty Hunters Guild

## News

This shift has been particularly evident in recent events, as the Corsairs grow increasingly assertive across the Omegas. A stark example of this newfound vigor occurred when the famed space bazaar, the Battleship Hood in Dublin, met a merciless end at the hands of a Corsair battlecruiser. Furthermore, the once-unassailable Red Hessians now find themselves locked in a fierce struggle to safeguard their positions in the Dresden system against the relentless advance of the Rheinland Military.
The Corsairs appear poised to intensify their pressure on all independent and free-spirited individuals in the Omega Region, spurred on by the defeatist sentiments expressed by certain Zoners and independent miners who might consider Corsair protection if it promises safety.
Despite the imposing presence of our pivotal IMG station, Freistadt Base in Omega 7, which remains under the watchful guardianship of the formidable Elbe Border Fortress, the situation in the deeper reaches of the Omegas portends increasing complexity in the years ahead. Combined with the diminishing influence of Bretonia in the region and the resurgent Rheinland's efforts to reclaim its lost Dresden system, the Corsairs' audacious pursuits are set to escalate.

Within a month of the IMG's plea, the political leadership of the Crayter Republic unanimously concurred on the imperative need for assistance. Simultaneously, several of our courageous pilots volunteered to become supply carriers destined for the strife-torn planet Malta. While executing cargo operations in the perilous Omicron Alpha system posed a grave risk, the opportunity to strike a significant blow against the Outcasts on their home turf was deemed too compelling to forego.
In tandem with the preparations for breaching Outcast defenses on planet Malta, our fleet took the bold step of extending emergency military support to the IMG at Falkland Base. The ultimate objective: to drive the Outcasts out of the Tau-37 system once and for all.

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.

## Rumors

* The remains of Reunion station and the mine field still linger near the Languedoc hole, the Royals have renamed it "Cordes" now. It's best to stay clear unless you have business there. Most of the mines are still active, and can chew through your shields in seconds. Even if you make it to your escape pod, who will risk their neck to pull you out of there?

* The Gallic Police and Gallic Navy don't like going into the asteroid fields. I guess they have grown to rely on their big guns. Can't say I blame them, since they seem to have a lot of those, but big aren't much help asteroid fields. Suits me, us miners prefer to be left alone anyway.

* We've detected small amounts of Cobalt and copper in the Westray field which this base is in. Nothing to write home about yet, but we're not done surveying the entire asteroid field. There might be isolated pockets worth mining. I'm sure Gallia will buy up whatever resources we can mine here.

* We come across Gaians every now and then here in Orkney. I'm not sure where they are coming from, we're a long way from the Harris terraforming project. Not sure what they're doing out here either, unless they've thrown in their lot with the Gauls.

* Several Council and Gallic Navy wrecks still float among the asteroids here. There's also a few near the minefield around the Languedoc hole. If you're interested in a deep scan of Gallic ships, checking one of those out should get you what you need. Some of them might even have some equipment left on them.

* The Outcasts use the same jumpholes we do to move around the area. They often have raiding parties waiting at the jumpholes, so we don't go anywhere without a few escorts. Our transports and freighters are small and well armed. The Houses don't like that, but it is how we stay alive out here.

* Dounby was originally intended as an exploration outpost from which we could survey the asteroid fields and planets in this system. That's mostly out the window now, we're still on a Gallic supply route and too close to their space. If Gallia starts to expand, Orkney is likely to be their first port of call. Besides, initial surveys didn't reveal much of use in this system anyway, aside from the resouces here in Westray.

* A few days before the Gallic Navy started to pour into this system by the hundreds, a large fleet of Council transports moved through, heading to Tau-23. I'm not sure where they have gone to from there, but the convoy was massive.

* This system used to be the most quiet corner of Tau space. Sure, there were Outcasts here, but that's the Taus for you. But aside from the occasional scrapes with those, and a lost Gaian now and then, noone ever bothered to go here. Until the Council blew through that ruddy minefield...

* Bretonia used to claim this system as part of their house. Well, I've yet to even see a single Bretonian vessel down here, aside from those belonging to the Guild. Bretonia didn't give a damn about this corner of space, a mistake they are now paying for. The Gallic Navy moved every last ship fighting on that front exclusively through here.

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