Freeport 4

CLASS: Unknown

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

POPULATION: 1K

Freeport 4 was originally a Bretonian station that was abandoned but later reopened by unemployed miners from New London. The miners eventually joined the Independent Mining Guild (IMG) and declared the station a Freeport, open to all. The population largely subsists on whatever income it can manage by selling Water and ice to the IMG, freelancers, or anyone else who has the credits, and by repairing the odd commercial transport damaged by asteroids or pirate raids.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Universal Shipping
* Planetform, Inc.
* Independent Miners Guild
* Bounty Hunters Guild
* Gateway Shipping
* Lane Hackers
* Liberty Rogues
* Outcasts

## Commodities

* Water
* Food Rations
* H-Fuel
* Pharmaceuticals
* Consumer Goods
* Engine Components

## Rumors

* There's a couple of Jump Holes in this system -- the one to Cortez in the northern part of the system is easier to find. If you wait patiently enough, you can pop a Rogue or two as they come through; they won't even know what hit them. If you see an Outcast, you better have some support, though.
* I don't get why everyone hates us so much. We're providing a service to society, cleaning up all the criminal dregs, and making the Trade Lanes and Jump Gates safer for commerce. It's not an easy life, living out in these hellhole Freeports at the edge of nowhere.
* We run patrols throughout the system. Most of the bounties are put up by IC and Ageira, who seem to really hate the Lane Hackers' guts. You get a lot less for a Rogue, but they're easier to find and take out.
* If you want to find Rogues, just pop through the Cortez Hole. You'll find them in abundance over there. I think their base is pretty close to the Hole.
* It's pretty frustrating not being able to just take out my Detroit Executioner and waste the Lane Hackers and Rogues that come into this bar. It'd certainly be easier than chasing them down in space. Guess that's the downside of Freeports. The IMG folks running the place are okay, but not real friendly. Got that Bretonian superiority attitude going or something.

* Gateway brings us our Mining Machinery from Kensington. They also deliver Engine Components, Food, H-Fuel, Consumer Goods, and Pharmaceuticals from Los Angeles.
* I'm not supposed to say anything, but there's a Lane Hacker base in the Barrier Cloud in the west. You'll also find Jump Holes to Manchester and Cortez. Watch yourself out there. Outcast drug runners will waste you in a second if you don't know what you're doing.
* We ship some of our Oxygen and Water to Sheffield Station in Manchester and bring back Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Goods.
* The Lane Hackers and Rogues land here to get supplies. The Bounty Hunters are always hovering around the station, watching their prey mosey right by them. That's the way it is with Freeports.
* The Lane Hackers and Outcasts prefer the safety of the Barrier Clouds for their attacks. The bloody Rogues don't care -- they'll attack shipping in the Weddell Field, until the Liberty Navy shows up from the California Gate.
* The bulk of the Water mined here goes to the terraforming operation on California Minor or Los Angeles. It's cheaper to import it from Magellan than to desalinize their nasty seawater.
* The asteroid fields of Magellan were notorious for their unpredictability. The Bretonian government established this base in 220 and called it the Gough Station. Repair and lifter ships were stationed here to assist disabled ships and to remove errant asteroids as they crossed the cleared trade routes.
* Those Lane Hackers are a funny bunch. They fancy themselves as the Sirius Sector's Robin Hoods. They avoid direct confrontation when possible, unless it is the henchmen of the despised IC or Ageira. They like to frequent our base a lot, as that cloudy ice asteroid base of theirs can become a wee bit claustrophobic at times. They are all addicted to Cardamine. They also trade drugs for Trade Lane info with the Outcasts.
* With the completion of Trade Lanes across the Barrier by Deep Space in 535, the old Bretonia station was no longer needed. The station was officially decommissioned by the Bretonian government and left to drift. Early IMG folks came in around 580 from New London and reopened the place. Been going ever since. It's our only outpost in the Independent Worlds -- a little too close to Liberty for our taste.
* The transport Bradley was attacked by Hackers in the Barrier Cloud in Magellan yesterday. It is believed that they towed it off the Trade Lane somewhere into the cloud to study the latest version more carefully.

* Mining Machinery is in demand here. We ship it in from Kensington to help our allies, the IMG. I'll probably continue on with some Water bound for Los Angeles.
* Be careful in those Barrier Clouds. It's hard to see -- lots of Lane Hackers and Outcasts -- little in the way of security forces. My best friend's convoy got nailed last week at the Manchester Gate by some Lane Hackers. He was hauling Gold from Bretonia to New York -- not low-value stuff like Oxygen and Water.

* Between you and me, that chunk of ice in the Barrier Cloud gets a little close at times, especially with those weirdo Outcasts stopping by on their drug runs all the time. It's a beautiful view of the Barrier from the Freeport, so we visit here as often as we can sneak by the Bounty Hunters.
* There's a Jump Hole into Cortez from here; that's how the Rogues get into this system. There's no way directly into California except through the Gate. It's been a while since I've seen the beautiful skies of Los Angeles.

* The Rogues are our main problem between here and California. They like to hit you in the asteroid fields or in the Sierra Cloud.
* At least we don't have the Gaian problem in Magellan. That begins in Manchester and is widespread throughout Bretonian space. Not sure how they became so misguided. We're performing a valuable service for humankind.

* Making the run to Freeport 4 for supplies can get dangerous -- we gotta leave the cover of the Barrier, and Bounty Hunters are all over the place, but it needs to be done.
* There are Jump Holes to Manchester and Cortez hidden in the Barrier in the western half of the system. The Manchester Hole is just north of the Lane Hacker base; the Cortez Hole is even further north.
* Bounty Hunters and the Liberty Navy patrol the gap between the Weddell Ice Field and the Barrier. That’s where we have to go to get supplies, but if you wanna do a little piracy, it's better to hit the Trade Lanes as they pass into the Barrier. Stay in protected space as much as you can if you don’t want company from the navy or Hunters.
* Most of the corporate types in Liberty hate the Rogues, but the truth is, the suits are the ones who made us. You think I’d be doing this if I could have made it in their world? The only choice I had was to become a Rogue or burn my life away in the Boron mines of Pittsburg. If you aren’t born into a company, you aren’t going anywhere but the slag pile.
* The Junkers don’t take a lot of new blood these days; they have their own inner circle. The LPI are corporate lap dogs, the Lane Hackers are rich corporate types turned bad, and the Outcasts -- hell, they aren’t even human anymore. It was Rogues or nothing for me.