Cordova Shipping Platform

CLASS: Trenton

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: YES

CREW: 500

Cordova Shipping platform was built on the old location of Freeport 4 after the wreckage was removed in a clear-up operation. The shipping platform represents a coup for its new owners, Universal Shipping, as the site was subject to a bidding war between Bowex. Universal won out after the Liberty Government used its leverage over Bretonia, and Bowex pulled their bid, leaving Universal to pick up the site on the cheap. The base serves as the main shipping platform for Universal in the region, and goods from Liberty are stored on the station for shipment to the Bretonia.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Ageira Technologies
* Bounty Hunters Guild
* Universal Shipping
* Liberty Police, Inc.
* Interspace Commerce

* Universal Shipping
* 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.

Over the last few days, Archer-class siege cruisers have been deploying their massive coaxial cannons to suppress military infrastructure on the planet, systematically targeting the very last bastions of the Insurgency. First to be destroyed were the planet's few remaining ground to space weapons installations, quickly crippled by bomber strikes from the Ohio herself, before the remaining desolate ground defences and deserted infrastructure were reduced to rubble, their populations having already long fled the world.
A small service was held on the Ohio as the bombardment drew to a close in memory of Rear Admiral Dylan Brandt and those thousands of sailors and marines who had given their lives in the name of Liberty; fought their own lost brothers-in-arms so that others may not live under their misguided yoke, and many more who had their lives irrevocably changed as a result of the evils the campaign sought to end.
The announcement also confirmed identical monuments to the Insurgency campaign would be erected on every world in Liberty, from Planet Houston to Planet Erie, each monument an obelisk carrying the names of every serviceman lost in the conflict and serving as a reminder that Liberty is stronger when it stands together.

For some time, it had been alleged that Insurgent and Xeno-backed cells had been stirring trouble on Erie, inciting violence in the population and seeking to turn the planet into a second Veracruz. Never, however, had such open acts of terror been visited upon the governing Libertonian forces.
The response was quick and decisive. In coordination with the LSF, Vice Admiral Hamish aboard the Battleship Alma lead a Liberty Navy task force directly into the system in Operation Pesticide, escorted primarily by Siege Cruisers, Gunboats and fightercraft, with many of the Navy's capital warships tied in the Vespucci campaign or ever watchful at Liberty's borders. They were met by Zoner Q-ships based from Bethlehem, with many coming from as far as Galileo or even the Sigmas, accompanied by a motley assortment of freelancers and other anarchist elements. Leading the Zoner line was a Aquilon-class carrier, the Pinnacle.
While the Pinnacle came under heavy bombardment from the Alma and her task force, supplies quickly gathered onto Zoner transports from Erie attempted to run the Navy blockade. While some transports were lost to Navy bombers, others yet escaped to parts as of yet unknown. This 'victory', however, came at a heavy price. The Pinnacle was lost with most of her hands still on board and the rest captured, while the Liberty Marines landed virtually unopposed, quickly securing population centers for both the safety of Libertonian assets and the civilians on Erie itself. The Alma is settled now into the low orbit of Erie, a constant reminder to those below that they are under the protection of the Liberty Navy. A comfort to some, a dire warning to many more.

Admiral Brandt was heard to give the order to abandon ship right as the ship's hull could take no more and began to be torn asunder, with hull breaches on multiple decks. Tragically, the armored engines of the Delaware had suffered a great deal of damage, and as the armor and shielding was whittled away, vast quantities of radiation and superheated gas began to flood into the crew compartments of the vessel.
In an emotional announcement, the Liberty Navy officially stated that they consider the Delaware to be lost with all hands, including Admiral Brandt himself. No life pods could be secured in the heat of battle, with the remainder of the Delaware's escort making a fighting retreat back to the LNS Ohio which had herself been caught lagging behind the Delaware's doomed thrust into the heart of the Insurgency. The Ohio now remains with her own escort, augmented by survivors of the Delaware's battlegroup, and will continue as the Liberty Navy's bastion in the Vespucci system, ready to ensure that the Insurgents pay dearly for the toll they have extracted upon one of Liberty's finest Admirals.

Leading a fearsome line of some of Liberty's most advanced warships, the Delaware bore down on the Insurgency's remaining, cobbled-together fleet in the Vespucci system, out of position from dealing with a Bretonian thrust from Magellan. Immediately caught was the Battleship Vanquisher, one of the scant few Arbiter-class Battleships available to the Insurgents. Caught by itself, the Vanquisher put up a fearsome fight but was ultimately unable to stand against the Delaware and its escort, despite its fighter component dealing severe damage to much of the Delaware's own, smaller fighter contingent, as well as the Delaware herself.
With the great Arbiter all but vanquished, the Interdictor-class Battlecruiser Triton stared down the guns of the damaged Delaware and her escort. Outnumbered two-to-one, and outgunned to an even greater degree by the Libertonian heavyweight, Triton and her escorts launched their one and only advantage, their fighter and bomber superiority gained at the Vanquisher's expense.

## Rumors

* I've never seen such an inventory of supplies! And they keep ordering more and more. I hear that Camrose is bursting at the seams with supply containers, and they're even going to be setting up no-grav depots outside the station to keep bringing in more. I can't imagine that Ageira's production operation at Leduc could possibly need all of this. It's not my problem though, I'm just happy to get paid to transport something.

* I don't usually get the chance to look at the cargo manifests, but we had a docking delay when we arrived and I glanced through it out of curiosity. It's the usual sort of inventory for high tech industry, but then I saw a few containers of liquefied gases from Birmingham Station. That's really strange. Why would they ship in oxygen from Birmingham when they can get it so much cheaper from Los Angeles? And it was routed through Trenton too. That's the bureaucracy for you: take the simple and complicate it so you can double bill the customer for it.

* I've had this funny feeling ever since I came on board this station but I can't figure out why. It's like everybody but me knows something big is going to happen. The other day I asked one of those scientists if he learned anything new on his trip to Leduc, and he got all flustered like I had asked him about some big secret or something. Then he went on and on about advanced assembly line manufacturing processes and technobabble that made no sense to me. Then he left in a hurry like he said too much. Now that I think about it, they all seem real skittish after a trip to Leduc. Maybe they figure Ageira is going to put them out of a job.

* When the war with Rheinland started, all the talk was about how many of us were going to be out of work since trade with Rheinland was cut off. But then, just in the nick of time, this huge expansion project in Alberta started and we've been busier than anytime I can remember. I just hope it keeps up until the war is over.

* It makes no sense for Ageira to build a production facility so way out in the middle of nowhere like this. Sure, their bioneural processors are supposed to be a technological leap past the competition, but what's the big deal about all the secrecy? Their lane and gate parts are secure and they're made in Colorado. Oh well, I'll take the extra pay and they can keep their hush-hush activities for all I care.

* From the moment I signed up for this job I had a bad feeling that the extra pay involved a catch somewhere. When Red Deer was attacked I thought I knew what it was, but since then everything has been quiet. Sure, there's the usual piracy attempts, but the corporate security is pretty good here. I'll admit though, I felt a lot better when I saw some BHG arrive on Camrose.

* If it wasn't so boring, a trip to Leduc Station would be a milk run. But they hussle you out of there so fast I wonder sometimes why we don't just jettison the cargo while we cruise past and let them tractor it in! That'd ease my mind too, those bioscanners give me the creeps.

* I used to think that the LPI and Navy pilots could spin some tall tales, but these bounty hunters put them to shame. One of them claimed that he had singlehandedly destroyed five Rogue Werewolves with his Piranha, all in the same ambush! I don't hear any of them bragging about any kills since they arrived in Alberta though.

* A friend of mine says he saw the strangest thing last week when he was leaving Leduc Station. Another transport was lining up to dock so he had to steer wide around it, taking him further out on the far side of Leduc than he had been before. He says for just a few seconds his scanners picked up all sorts of strange energy readings, but then they just vanished. He was pretty jumpy about it, but no matter what the shipyard's warranty says you can't trust these fancy optronics to never go haywire on you.

* When we disembarked from the shuttle yesterday I overheard the pilot talking about strange energy readings that he noticed when we left Leduc. He said something like "not since the squirrel war" and he had a really frantic look on his face. I think he's been on one too many deep space runs. I hope they pension him off to Denver or somewhere, because I'm not too keen on riding a shuttle piloted by some old guy who starts having war flashbacks during docking maneuvers.

* I had to wait three weeks for this leave opportunity to come over here from Leduc. The lack of recreation facilities in this system was cleverly left out of the promotional campaign Ageira ran to recruit volunteers for work here, but even this supply depot is an improvement over Leduc's night life.

* When we heard about the attack on Red Deer Station we thought it was a mixed bag for the Bounty Hunter's Guild. On the one hand, Liberty's typical lust for vengeance might result in some extra high paying bounties. But on the other hand, an attack on a police outpost is just the sort of thing that gets those preening Navy types talking about "jurisdiction", when they really just want to hog all the glory and press coverage. Still, a few of us are here doing patrols, and we'll see what shakes out. So far, LPI seems to have run with its tail between its legs, and the Navy doesn't seem motivated enough to even enter the system.

* There is a LSF agent that's been skulking around the station lately. I was just about to turn a corner in the corridor when I overheard him say something about "dark matter influenced", but then he stopped talking as soon as he heard me. These spooks are worse than naval officers. If they aren't trying to pull rank, they're looking down their noses at you with that "need to know" look they teach them in spook school. They're always off "investigating" when things get hot, and the only intel you can get out of them is the same prattle you can get from the barkeep. I may have to pay the barkeep for it, but at least he doesn't read me the "don't even tell your sweetheart" lecture.

* When we heard about the attack on Red Deer Station we thought it was a mixed bag for the Bounty Hunter's Guild. On the one hand, Liberty's typical lust for vengeance might result in some extra high paying bounties. But on the other hand, an attack on a police outpost is just the sort of thing that gets those preening Navy types talking about "jurisdiction", when they really just want to hog all the glory and press coverage. Still, a few of us are here doing patrols, and we'll see what shakes out. So far, LPI seems to have run with its tail between its legs, and the Navy doesn't seem motivated enough to even enter the system.

* There is a LSF agent that's been skulking around the station lately. I was just about to turn a corner in the corridor when I overheard him say something about "dark matter influenced", but then he stopped talking as soon as he heard me. These spooks are worse than naval officers. If they aren't trying to pull rank, they're looking down their noses at you with that "need to know" look they teach them in spook school. They're always off "investigating" when things get hot, and the only intel you can get out of them is the same prattle you can get from the barkeep. I may have to pay the barkeep for it, but at least he doesn't read me the "don't even tell your sweetheart" lecture.

*NOTE: Page generated on the 28/10/2023 at 17:59:46 UTC*