Freeport 10

CLASS: Frontier

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 350

Until Freeport 10 was established in 760 AS by a band of Zoners looking to establish an outpost as far from the colonies as possible, Tau-37 remained a virtually unexplored system at the distant edge of the Sirius Sector. Largely self-sufficient due to a Synth Foods biodome, the Zoners have continued the open-to-all tradition of the Freeports and frequently play host to members of the Independent Mining Guild (IMG) and Outcasts.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Independent Miners Guild
* Zoners
* Bounty Hunters Guild

* Bounty Hunters Guild

## News

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.

The most ambitious project was by far the Metz Mirror Array or MMA, which consisted of a vast phalanx of reflective satellites in orbit of the planet meant to increase the sunlight during Metz's 28 hours day. Contracted by EFL, the project was about to be finished when Kusari began its invasion of our Home. Most of the MMA satellites were spared during the earliest hours of the war as the initial fighting occurred around the stations of Roanne and Montigny. Unfortunately, the rest of the MMA was completely destroyed by the scorched earth tactic of Kusari's retreat.
On the planet's surface, the 70 million inhabitants suffered the long six months of the war. Being unsupplied, the oil reserves necessary to provide energy to the generators of the water reclamation facilities were dry by the end of the summer. As consequence, the quantity of water collected for agriculture was well below the required quantities for sufficient production. This was also coupled with a very early winter, with the first frosts in the equatorial regions by the end of September. These multiple factors resulted in serious consequences on Metz's food production and reserves, to the point that the possibility of famine was even evoked.
While this statement is revealed to be false, the food situation on Metz is more than worrisome and the confusion created by the end of the war and the Reunification makes the Metz supplying mission in food even more complex.

At present, no house stands to conclusively fill the vacuum of power in the Taus, clouding the future to secure exploitation of its rich natural resources in ambiguity. Following the withdrawal of Kusari from Tau-23 after the final confrontation in Languedoc, the lanes within the system seem to have been subject to sabotage, and Gallia has released a public statement that Orkney would instead be favored over Tau-23 for the route to Tau-31, likely owing to Orkney being the last major Tau system that Gallia holds bases in. Niobium futures have ballooned in response to plummeting consumer confidence in stable Niobium extraction, resulting in vicious multinational corporate and paramilitary competition over Tau resource exploitation. The Taus are now a lawless battleground of conflicting corporate interests, small scale military skirmishes, and pirate incursions, all scrambling for a piece of Niobium.
Given the thorough depletion of military might and expansionist ambitions in the surrounding devastated houses, chances are low that the Taus will find themselves tamed by a lawful house in the foreseeable future.

News from the Bretonian front is not much better. The fighting over New London remains fierce, and though the Bretonian blockade of the planet has been breached and preparations are underway to deploy Triumphs into New London's atmosphere, reports indicate the battle damaged or destroyed over 60%% of the material of those fleets and that the death toll is in the tens of thousands.
Front line forces are unable to retreat without risking total defeat at the hands of the Sirians. The Epinal, Rocroi, and Venissieux have been recalled to New Paris, but odds appear grim, and military analysts have thus far declined to comment on whether or not the ad hoc defense will be able to defend the capital. En masse evacuation from the Core Worlds has begun, with standing orders from the Crown for all loyal citizens to proceed to Bordeaux and Toulouse post-haste, where they will be provided for.
A GRI asset who asked that we did not disclose their identity has claimed that the King's transport, flying under civilian flag, came under fire from Maquis terrorists while en route to the Brittany jump corridor. Though the transport survived the attack, King Charles is allegedly comatose. Our source could not provide any further comment on the state of the King or who was heading the state in the absence of a monarch.

## Rumors

* The most powerful guys in Outcast society are the plantation owners on Malta. They are the ones who run the Cardamine cartels. If you mess with one Outcast, you just picked a fight with the whole family. The two most powerful are the Benitez and Toruella cartels.

* I'm originally from Freeport 5. I made the mistake of falling in love with a Corsair woman. Once her father learned of our love he sent her away, and her brother is looking for me. If he finds me he'll kill me. That's why I came to this base. I knew if anyone could kill a Corsair it would be an Outcast. I crossed all of Sirius to hide here.

* As a Zoner we must accept all kinds, but those Outcasts give me the chills. A few months ago a Bounty Hunter flew in here, his ship torn to pieces. The Hunter was hurt pretty bad and wasn't going to live very long. The Outcasts were making bets on the other side of the bar on when he would die.

* When we came here we had saved up enough money to build a biodome, which is what saved us all from the Outcasts. That and the fact that we mind our own business. I just wish that Bounty Hunters wouldn't land here, because it sets the maskers on edge. Freeport 10 has always has had a troublesome past, but since we started to trade with the Outcasts it has become much safer for all visitors.

* I used to be a soldier in the Bretonia Armed Forces. I left Bretonia and came to this place where I make a difference and feel that I belong. When this base was first established I was one of the people defending the station from the Outcasts. Now that they don't attack us anymore, I help out in the biodome.

* Some of them Outcast woman sure are fine to look at, but don't let them catch you giving them the eye. They are all killers, man and woman alike. I heard about one of their women killing a Corsair in a brawl on a Junker base somewhere.

* The Zoners at this base tell me it used to be very dangerous to live here. The Outcasts would often attack them. Eventually, they realized that this base was an asset to them. After nearly a year of being damaged the station now is fully repaired, thanks to Deep Space Engineering and the Outcasts allowing them this far. Maskers come here to refuel and resupply on their way in and out of Malta.

* We've had to hastily expand the station's hab blocks with whatever was available. It was costly, and in the chaos of refugees pouring in from Malta, we never fully finished construction. I worry for all those poor souls, but there's only so much we can do with the Outcasts now bearing down on us and threatening retaliation.

* The Administrator has put out the call for the militia to start mustering again. That means things are desperate, the last time we had to do this was all those years ago after initial contact with the Outcasts was made, and it was brutal. I hope it doesn't come to bloodshed again, but we can't just roll over and abandon our home.

* People say that the drug runners have all them nice ships because of all the money the Cardamine brings them. I believe that's part of the reason, but they think differently than we do. An Outcast just seems to understand how a ship should look and run, like it's a part of him.

* Every once in a while I can find a little Cardamine among the debris of the Outcast ships I destroy. That's why I hunt them and not Corsairs. They pay about the same, but killing the mask breathers has perks.

* The Bermejo Cloud hides the Jump Hole that leads to the Outcast core worlds. There are a few Bounty Hunters that will go into Omicron Alpha, but I'm not one of them. What good is money if you aren't alive to spend it? In there it's a different game.

* The IMG base is somewhere in the Malvinas Cloud. That's the area I'm supposed to hang out in when I'm not here refitting and refueling. I don't envy those miners. If the Outcasts figure out where the base is, there are going to be lots of dead miners floating around.

* I used to hunt in Omicron Alpha. Stay on the northern and southern edges of the system to avoid trouble. Move to the fringes of more populated areas and hit the stragglers. If more than a few of them spot you, get out of there fast.

* Kelly Nielson was one of the top female Bounty Hunters in the Guild, always trying to prove herself to the guys. Because of this, she tended to take more extreme risks than most. After one of her flights in the Viking deep into the Outcast home system, she told of a mysterious debris field. Later, she returned and brought back a piece of metal that she claimed belonged to the long lost Hispania. Eventually her luck ran out. The ship is most likely floating somewhere in Omicron Alpha.

* If you want to know the best place to hide in Omicron Alpha, it's in the wreckage of the *Hispania*. That's the ship the Outcasts came to Sirius in. They've pulled most of the salvage out of there, but you can still find stuff. You didn't know this old Bounty Hunter was educated, did you?

* Samura hired me to kill Outcasts. I'm glad I'm not a company man; they're pretty dirty. They paid me extra to use an IMG identifier on my ship. That way it will look like IMG is attacking them.

* An identifier from one of our destroyed ships came back online a few days ago. That is very strange, since we are certain that the ship was destroyed. Whoever cloned the ship I.D. is a cruel deceiver. The dead pilot's wife has been frantic hoping he's still alive since the signature came back up.

* Almost all of the basic supplies used in Falkland are brought there by us from this base. It's a dangerous run because we could be discovered by the Outcasts. If they followed us back to our base, we would all be killed.

* Many of the components that we use to build our ships come from this base. It is one of the reasons we let the Zoners live here. Ship Hull Panels, Construction Machinery, and Polymers are only a portion of the goods we ship to Malta.

* We use this base as a stopover for Cardamine shipments running between Malta and Cali. There was a time when we attacked this place and hunted the Zoners, because they were too close to us. After a while we realized that it was a convenience for us to have them here, so for now the Zoners enjoy relative safety.

* The Jump Hole to our core systems is well hidden because of all the nebulas in this system. This part of Sirius is also very isolated from the colony Houses. That's why we didn't discover each other for so long. Now Sirius just seems to keep getting smaller. I suppose that is alright as long as our Cardamine continues to sell.

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