Casablanca Base

CLASS: Gancho

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Limited

CREW: 270

Casablanca is a Corsair base in the Omega-48 system, particularly known for being heavily contested by the Red Hessians and the Corsairs since the start of its operations. Originally commissioned by the Corsairs in 810 AS as a gas miner experiment in what was at the time an isolated system, the base became a target in the Corsair-Hessian war after the stabilisation of a jump hole linking Omega-5 with Omega-48. The Hessians wasted no time in launching an offensive on the base, and after a short period of fighting successfully took the base in 811 AS after what was to be known as the Battle for Casablanca. The base remained in Hessian hands for the next eight years, as they doggedly defended it against Corsair counter attacks and continued to disrupt Corsair movements in the system, effectively creating a wedge in Corsair supply lines leading to Dublin. In early 819 AS the Corsair Elders had had enough. Mustering a larger number of warships and fighters from the Crete defence fleet itself, they drove a surprise push into Hessian lines and retook it once again.

However, the fighting had taken its toll on Casablanca, and the Elders knew that if they wanted to keep Casablanca, they would need to drastically invest in it. In early 825 AS when the expansion of the Omega-11 star began to cause anomalous energy readings in the Cayman system's jump corridors, the Corsairs began to disassemble Antikythera shipyard and tow what they could through to Casablanca to expand the facility. Though the jump holes to Cayman are gone, Casablanca Base is now able to conduct field repairs on Corsair capital ships, drastically increasing both its value as a war outpost and defensive capabilities, as defending ships are no longer required to backtrack to Rhodes Shipyard for repairs.

## News

They cowardly waited for our forces to be dispersed between various theaters, the latest one being the Outcast return to Omicron Theta, and took advantage of our inability to crush them like the pests they are.
Special orders were relayed to Battleship Delos in Theta to coordinate additional patrols in the Amarus Cloud to interfere with their shipments of Gammu materials as much as possible.

The Elders have authorised the deployment of elements of the Omicron Gamma defence fleet to respond to the Outcast invasion and secure our borders. These elite fighters are more than a match for the drug-addled Outcasts and will hold the line until the Northern and Southern Fleets complete their assignments in Dresden and Dublin.
The Battleship Delos has been dispatched to the system to coordinate our counter-attack and avenge the loss of the Fes. The Elders have announced that a great honor will be bestowed upon the pilots responsible for the destruction of the Outcast Battlecruiser Augusta.

The Zoners seem to have prevented this previously by importing Fertilizers from the Houses. Similarly, Crete, Leon and Cadiz are facing a shortage of Pharmaceuticals, complicating the treatment of our casualties. The Zoners now refuse to sell us these goods, so we must look elsewhere to obtain what we need.
The Elders have decreed that the raiding fleets are to redouble their efforts in Cambridge, and make new inroads into the Frankfurt system. Petra Base in Sigma 15 is to be reinforced, and the Fertilizer convoys from Planet Holstein treated as priority targets.
The Corsairs have always prized strength, and we have the strength to take what we need from the weak. Prosperity is there to be seized.

The death of Juan Garcia was but the latest in a line of killings by the Bounty Hunters Guild, abetted by the Zoners who provide them with safe harbor. The Elders have decided: no more. One opportunity was offered for the Zoners to make amends for their transgressions, and instead they chose to ignore our reasonable demands. Last night, Freeport 9 was boarded and the station administration placed under arrest.
From this day forward, the biodomes will provide exclusively for the Corsairs, and the docking bays will admit only those we allow. Fortunately, our ancient enemies the Outcasts appear to be preoccupied with a self-inflicted revolt on their poisonous planet. By the time they turn their focus back to the Omicrons, we will be secure in our conquest.

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.

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.

In his later years, Montoya would act as a steadying hand on the Council of Elders, counseling against rash decisions and reckless action. The Council has since inducted Elder Rosita Garcia to their number. As she commemorated the launch of the Battlecruiser Santander, she declared that "Sirius shall be set alight as a pyre in Montoya's honor". The Santander and its squadrons have been dispatched to pillage Bretonia.

"The standing Navy of the Corsair Empire as well as its irregular raiders must do everything within their means to break existing stalemates or make progress. The enemies of Crete have grown arrogant and take for granted that Corsair offensives have lost their steam, this is an assessment which must be proved woefully wrong."
In response to these express instructions, activity across every Corsair installation has intensified to levels that suggest substantial mobilization.

## Rumors

* Rheinland beer isn't that bad really. Myself, I like my tequila better, but we don't get much of that out here and the Hessians left barrels of their stuff behind. Want a beer?

* This base is ours... for now. Rumour already has it a Hessian counter offensive is on its way. We're a long way from home, hopefully the fleet will get here in time if those Hessians really do try to take this base back.

* We have a colony on the surface of Planet Gran Canaria. A lot of people on Crete look down on those settlers, claiming its not the Corsair way... Myself, I'm worried that without those farms, this base is going to have a harder time supporting us.

* A Bounty Hunter jumped me near the Omega 47 hole in Omega 49 earlier this week. I fought the bastard off, but right after I was done with him a Hessian appeared. My ship was nearly out of supplies by then, so I had a tough fight. I managed to get clear and withdraw to Omega 47, but sustained heavy damage. Right now I'm grounded until my ship is fixed, but once it is, I'm going to pay that Hessian a visit. He will regret having crossed me.

* Rabat is quite the planet to have this base orbit around. A lot of gases to be mined and used for new weapons or fuel or whatever. Seems like the Hessians just ignored it though, the whole gas mining section was stripped out by them and who knows what they did with it. And to top it all off they caused some structural damage while leaving too. I doubt we'll be mining anything here any time soon.

* I'd like to think we've gotten rid of the Hessians in this system. Fat chance. Already my hermanos are coming down with rumours that they got a new operation up north. They keep flooding through that damned jump hole in the nebula cloud next to Tangier, wish we could just close that hole for good.

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