Planet Malta

DIAMETER: 13,534 km.

MASS: 6.02 x 1024 kg.

TERRAIN: Terrestrial

TEMPERATURE: -23°C to 31°C

ESCAPE VELOCITY: 12.69 km/sec

The crippled sleeper ship Hispania arrived in Omicron Alpha almost 800 years ago.

Its passengers named the planet Malta -- a harsh place of acidic oceans, gray skies, and vast plains covered in a species of tall, thin, orange grass. They later learned that the grass could be rendered into a narcotic substance, that they called Cardamine.

Eventually the Outcasts -- as they came to think of themselves -- began limited exploration of their system. As pilots wandered farther and farther afield in search of resources, many became seriously ill. Upon planetfall, the crews mysteriously recovered.

Doctors were baffled. By chance, they made a genetic scan of a critically ill pilot and made a startling discovery. His genetic codes had been altered. Outcast DNA contained strands identical to that of the orange grasses that covered the planet -- from which Cardamine was derived. Trace amounts were present in everything on the planet, from the air they breathed to the water they drank. Once pilots made lengthier journeys away from Malta, their bodies went into shock, followed by death.

The Outcasts were now truly separated from the rest of humanity -- changed so that they could never expand beyond the planet on which they had landed. They needed the Cardamine now, like air or food or water. But with the origin of the sickness solved, they could at least compensate by carrying supplies of Cardamine with them and resume their exploration of their surrounding systems.

When they encountered the rest of the Houses in the seventh century, a new strategy emerged. The Outcasts would deliver the poison that would rot the other Houses from the inside out and grow rich from the profits of their trade.

Today the Outcasts conduct a lucrative drug-smuggling operation using the network of Jump Holes to escape detection and transport their product into the heart of the House systems. The Outcasts remain relatively few in number; a crash in the birth rate seems to have been another side effect of their genetic modification.

A new development has been Cryer’s continued efforts to create a synthetic version of Cardamine that would be approved as a legal medication within Liberty. This poses a direct threat to the Outcasts' source of income. The Atka Research Station, with nearby access to Edge Nebula clouds, is the most immediate threat to the Outcasts. The location of the base within Corsair territory has brought the Outcasts into conflict with their ancient brethren.

## Commodities

* Alien Organisms
* Fertilizers
* MOX
* H-Fuel
* Basic Alloy
* Construction Machinery
* Pharmaceuticals
* Ship Hull Panels
* Polymers
* Optronics
* Consumer Goods
* Engine Components
* Light Arms

* Water
* Food Rations
* Cardamine

## Rumors

* Many of the components we require to manufacture our ships come from Freeport 10, including Ship Hull Panels, Polymers, and Construction Machinery. More is always needed.
* MOX is always in demand here. We use it for our larger ships, and we have discovered a means of making extremely destructive weaponry from it. Should a large navy enter this system, it would soon be destroyed by our planetary defense missiles. The missiles are a vehicle for chain-reaction, plutonium-tipped warheads.
* The Cardamine cartels ship the drug from this planet to our two distribution centers: Ruiz and Cali. From there it travels throughout Sirius, infecting the populace with the hunger for more of what we have to sell.
* Cardamine is shipped directly to Buffalo in New York. New York and Liberty offer us the greatest opportunity to exploit the benefits of a Cardamine addicted people.
* An ancient race of beings developed the orange grasses on our planet. The codes within the genetic structure of the grass transform the user slowly. We are not human because we have been given a gift and can see further into truth than any man. Human beings are infants dabbling in the loam of an expansive ocean that stretches beyond the horizon. The Cardamine has let us see this.
* Why have we flourished? Why are our ships so well crafted and designed? We operate on a higher order of being. Many wonder why we take life so easily. It is because this life is just a dream of what truly is. What human beings cherish is an illusion; there is no such thing as death, only change.
* We are the ones who were left behind. We were not meant to survive, but we did, and in doing so we have become much more. The Cardamine has tied us to this planet, but it has changed us into something greater than you can understand. We are destined to rule Sirius one day. It will be our revenge upon those who wished to destroy us.
* In the heart of the Siniestre Cloud is an intense radiation pocket of unknown origins. Over the centuries, this area -- located midway between the Omicron Beta Hole and the planet Carinea -- became the traditional burial grounds of great Outcast pilots. When a warrior dies, they are put in their ship with their most treasured weapons and set adrift in the zone, always facing towards the source of the spirits. But be careful, strange alien beings are said to guard this most sacred of Outcast places.