Cambridge Research Station

CLASS: Newton

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 350

The Cambridge Research Institute is widely known as the largest intellectual institution in Sirius, surpassing its rival institutions in prestige by no short distance. This is mainly due to its proximity to Planet Cambridge, site of the largest university and research complex in the Sirius sector. Technically owned by Cryer Pharmaceuticals, the station is primarily a medical institute, though it produces medical and domestic goods to be shipped throughout Sirius. Although there are many avenues of research currently being explored onboard the station, the most highly publicised one to date is that of the collaborative work between Cryer and Planetform to solve the disease issues on the planet Carlisle in the Newcastle system.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Bretonia Police
* Border World Exports
* Bounty Hunters Guild

## News

Jane Gilliam, whose commendation for repelling a Corsair raiding party as an Armed Forces Captain featured in a CNS article in 800, was not so convinced. "We all knew even back then that The Line wasn't fit for purpose. The Heilbronn disaster should have seen it scrapped, but the Regents on Cambridge didn't want New London looking too closely and pressured the Norfolk to lobby to keep it. If William was still with us, he'd say the same."
The exact catalyst for the extra attention from the edge world pirates is unclear, with various commentators speculating on increased resistance to their operations in Rheinland, Hessian efforts in the deep Omegas, or a shift in their internal politics. Regardless of their true motivations, Interspace Commerce has recognised the elevated peril and adjusted its premiums in response.

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.

With the end of the war and Bretonia's withdrawal from Planet Gran Canaria, Poole's prominence waned. The cost of policing the system and maintaining infrastructure has significantly outweighed collected tax revenue in recent years, with Planetform's Terraforming Gas operations reporting disappointing year on year returns.DSE has already confirmed that it will begin deconstruction operations shortly, with the dismantling of the Cambridge jump gate expected to be completed by 833 AS.

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Planetform has confirmed its intention to withdraw prior to this point, while settling shareholder anxiety with the announcement of promising preliminary findings for a replacement site in Newcastle.

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While Bretonia is indeed witnessing an extraordinarily high rate of economic growth in particular, it may be the case that the strain of this effort is becoming untenable, and potentially the rewards misplaced. Timothy Ball, of the independent think tank Economic Review Institute, believes this may indeed be the case. "Bretonia's economy is definitely on the rise. While still not at pre-war levels, and not expected to be for some years, the recovery we've witnessed so far has been uneven", he says. "The reconstruction of damaged and destroyed public infrastructure is underway, but seems to be lagging behind the rate of recovery being enjoyed by several major corporations. This can be explained by various factors for a time, but unless rectified, at some point this inequality could become a major point of domestic political contention."

Yesterday at 2200 hours SMT, nearby Sheffield Station and Kingston Border Station received automated distress signals from Liverpool, indicating an emergency aboard the station. Guild patrols redirected from Sheffield arrived on the scene within minutes, finding the border station destroyed. Search and rescue operations headed by Guild and BPA units commenced immediately and successfully salvaged several escape pods bearing several dozen survivors, who were immediately delivered to hospitals on New London.
BPA spokesperson Sandra Halling held a press conference earlier this morning. According to joint police and BIS investigations, Liverpool was destroyed by antimatter explosives planted aboard the station. Their detonation caused a catastrophic chain reaction, resulting in the station's own reactors melting down and exploding. Of the estimated one-hundred-twenty persons on board at the time of the attack, seventy-eight have been reported as dead or missing.
\So far, no party has taken credit for this heinous attack. However, Bretonian police surmises that it was likely perpetrated by either the criminals known as the Mollys or the infamous pirate organization, the Lane Hackers. The attack occurred following a significant redeployment of local Armed Forces units to the Cortez system for the purpose of joint operations with Libertonian security forces. This, says Halling, may have allowed terrorist sympathizers to exploit undermanned BPA patrols and smuggle illegal explosives through Manchester's ice fields, onto Liverpool Station.
While investigations continue, Bretonian Police Authority has reinforced patrols within Manchester and established traffic controls at Kingston Border Station and Birmingham Station. Traffic to and from Liberty has been advised to reroute through the Cortez system.

Linsey Dawn - a prominent investigative journalist - has reported a large degree of 'disinterest' over the situation on Sprague according to her sources within the government. Going as far to say that "All they do is make sure supplies are dropped planet side. What happens after, they have washed their hands of it!". Dawn also reported that conflict among the different camps is becoming more and more common. The militias that are charged with the maintaining order of their respective camps have been raiding others to steal supplies she has claimed.
Maggie Weber, a spokesperson for the Government has suggested that the Kingdom is going through a troubling time reeling from the devastation of the war with Gallia. Later offering a message of assurance that the Militia System on Sprague is temporary and the short-comings will eventually be addressed.
Bill Douglas, one of the Border World Export captains who frequently deliver goods to Sprague has come out in opposition to the claims levied by Linsey Dawn. Stating that "This is a load of bollocks. Every supply run I make I hand off my goods to the local constabulary on Sprague. We do not need one of these journalists trying to spread lies at a time like this!".

## Rumors

* One focus of the Zero-G research here is to improve drugs for those workers and travelers that frequently must exist in both environments concurrently, such as the police, military, and other pilots of small spacecraft that lack the aid of artificial gravity. We've discovered several new compounds that can only be produced in Zero-G.

* Cryer is the sole Pharmaceutical producer remaining in the Sirius Sector for high grade medicine. Other companies may produce less lucrative medicines, but if it is specialised, we'll either already have the patents, or we'll be in the process of buying them up. We closely guard our secrets here. We feel that we charge very reasonable prices for our products, given the lack of competition.

* Our efforts to synthesize Cardamine have not gone unnoticed by the Outcasts. The Atka Research Station in Sigma-17 is under constant attack, and their cronies in Liberty, the Rogues, are also stepping up attacks against our company. We definitely have a dangerous criminal enemy, which has led management to suspend direct shipments outside of Liberty unless Outcast activity is minimal along the route. Those criminals are feeling threatened by our Stabiline product.

* Cryer is trying to synthetically derive Cardamine from the Alien Organisms. Cardamine is naturally harvested by the Outcasts within the Omicron systems of the Edge Nebula. If Cryer can reproduce it here, but in a milder and more socially acceptable form, then all the Cardamine addicts in Sirius will be able to switch to our legal version. The Stabiline drug is a direct result of that research - it allows Cardamine addicts to survive, but it doesn't cure their addiction. Nothing can, given it's a physical mutation that the addicts undergo.

* We are not allowed to land on any planet inhabited by the species of Alien Organisms that we use for our research purposes here, so we have to ship them here through middle-men. You know, if you're a freelancer looking to make some quick cash, the staff on Atka in Sigma 17 told me they've seen shipments of the Organisms being exported from the Omicron Theta system. That might be worth investigating.

* Cambridge Research Station was created to provide a stimulating research and development environment in Zero-G and to enable us to study the Alien Organisms from the Edge Nebula. These opportunities were unavailable on our planetside locations due to the Alien Import Prohibition Act of 500 AS, which prohibits the importing of any Alien Organism onto inhabited planets. Seems folk are worried about infecting a biosphere. From what whispers I've heared from the hotlabs staff, rightly so.

* This station gets all of its basic supplies from Cambridge. We supply most of the Bretonian core worlds with our Pharmaceuticals produced here. Two of our biggest importers are Sheffield Station and Planet Leeds - especially now, as the Bretonians under siege on that planet frequently need treatment. Sheffield is always having to patch up Bounty Hunters and corporate escorts that come back with bits missing.

* There is a special secret lab that I'm not supposed to talk about. That's where all Organisms first go when they arrive. The scientists verify whether the particular strain has been characterized before releasing it to the rest of the researchers in the station. If a new strain is discovered, the shipment tends to vanish, both from inventory and arrival records. I guess someone up the foodchain has high hopes.

* We normally stop by Cambridge to pick up a load of Pharmaceuticals for the frontlines on our return trip up north. That doesn't interest the Outcasts up there as much, so its not worth their time to attack. Even the Gauls don't seem too interested in hitting a medical transport. Guess they have some semblance of dignity still.

* Three or four years back, a group of terrorists launched an attack on Planet Cambridge. They crashed a hijacked transport full of MOX into the southern hemisphere. In any case, the incident set some fairly prime pieces of real estate on fire. Cambridge's governor lost his job over the debacle. At least it prompted the government to invest in serious planetary defences. The whole thing rather stole the Molly's thunder, I dare say. The Mollies had been boasting they'd do just that to New London for years.

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