Tsukishima Liner Yards

CLASS: Hirado

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 600

The Tsukishima Liner Yards are a joint venture between the Renzu Corporation, a small yet prominent Kusari company, and Interspace Commence. Following the initial success and solid continued market share of their smaller crafts, Renzu thrived to fulfil a long lingering demand for a Kusari domestic luxury liner. However, as successful as their smaller vessels were, the Renzu Corporation could not afford a large space-borne shipyard and had to reach out to foreign investors for speculative large-scale investments.

Interspace answered the call, and the Tsukishima Yards were built between the years 813 and 816 A.S. with full dedication to the construction, refit, maintenance and customisation of Liner-class vessels in mind. The Shukensha-class proved to be a total success, with even conservatives such as the Hogosha among their first clients. Aside from their signature liner, the Tsukishima Yards are often used by Kusari entrepreneurs to 'domesticate' other luxury vessels of foreign designs.

## News

Partially as a result of the geological activity, the equatorial monsoon season produced some of the strongest tropical storms ever recorded on Kyushu since its colonisation. These storms devastated the world's agricultural sector as they blew through the most fertile tropical lowlands, destroying as much as 20%% of the planet's annual crop yield, on top of damage to infrastructure and tragic loss of human life.
Many rural communities are reported to be struggling, with some farming communities still remaining flooded ghost towns even a month after the worst of the storms abated, though smaller-scale tempests still rage around the equator. A Samura spokesperson outlined the company's intent to restore the planet and its communities to full productivity by the middle of next year, despite the ongoing circumstance.

Immediately upon learning of this, Battleship Matsumoto and its battlegroup were redeployed from Hokkaido, and within two days were poised and ready to face this new threat. Only a short few hours later, a patrol of fighters reported a warship with the transponder reading Battleship Matsuda operating in the relative open, heading for but not yet reaching the relative safety of the Seiran Dust Cloud.
Matsumoto itself departed with its escort to confront the Chrysanthemum battleship, close to the edge of the nebula. Within minutes of it coming into sensor range, bomber and fighter squadrons from both sides closed in and opening salvos were exchanged between the battleships. It didn't take long before the KNF's preparation was shown to be well worthwhile; their superior numbers whittled down or otherwise preoccupied the Chrysanthemum's fighter force leaving a variety of openings in the Matsuda's defensive cover for KNF bombers to exploit.
While the Matsumoto was withstanding a heavy beating from the guns of its older sister, it was plain that the Matsuda was slowly being whittled away as its shields began to fail and the very same engine design flaws that had rendered it immobile in KNF service were now exploited by bomber wings to once again cripple the warship.
After several more minutes, the Matsuda's escape pods began to eject from the ailing battleship, picked up by Chrysanthemum fighters as they fled deeper into the Seiran dust cloud. It didn't take long thereafter for the ship's powercore to falter and fail completely, culminating in a vast explosion that reportedly almost turned night to day on the dark side of Planet Kyushu, if only for a split second.
Matsumoto itself sustained moderate damage in the engagement, relatively untouched by Chrysanthemum bombers however still suffering the ill effects of Matsuda's anti-capital weaponry. Despite its damage, it remains deployed in the Kyushu system to continue the blockade of the cardamine trade and to serve as a show of force to any who would challenge the might of the Emperor.

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.

Upon further investigation, the Navy has successfully identified the ordnance being transported as being sourced from Rheinland. Going as far as to state that they contained serial codes which correspond with weaponry used by Rheinland's own Military. Naturally given the circumstances around the discovery of these weapons and Liberty's history of hot and cold relations with the neighboring House, it is expected that this development will lead to further scrutiny when it comes to potentially suspicious activity.

Presenting the potential for cataclysmic damage to personhood and proprety prompted Ageira to shut down the gates leading into the system, as well as the respective trade lanes. In the time since then however, Ames has relayed a stunning report that the storm despite being violent at first, has now settled into quite a passive albeit looming stance over the system. Perhaps more surprising than even this is the phenomena regarding the storm's interactions with the established lane and gate network in the system, seeming to bend and contort around the structure rather than engulf them. This stellar formation has produced the spatial equivalent of a tunnel that travelers into the freshly reopened Kepler have taken to dubbing the "Murky Road", prompting a small degree of sensationalized tourism into the system. Which comes as a small positive after the harsh loss of the otherwise frequent traffic.
This news comes at the tail end of previous publications that cited the storm as having origins in Alberta, supposedly arriving via some form of leakage through the jumpholes in the system. Newer research has allowed for discoveries which now suggest the contrary and this has in turn reinvigorated research into these storms and their enigmatic natures.

## Rumors

* I am the IND press officer, it is a non-stop job. Cleaning up after this group is going to put me into an early grave. Ted alone has taken fifteen years from my life.

* I have found the Ships Inn to be the best place for me to relax, besides, Sophie makes the best coffee in Sirius. At least when I am here it is only a quick shuttle trip to Wall Street; when I am out on a run sometimes I have to go weeks without a fresh pot.

* Gallia? Of course we already have our own people up there, it is what we do, but do not quote me on that.

* The former Kusari government used some rough tactics in trying to keep foreign investment out of Kusari, so we have had to use some rough tactics to make sure we can do our business. With the fall of the Samura backed Emperor we have high hopes for a blossoming of our interests in Kusari.

* The IND's buyout of Renzu is only the latest in a series of moves to solidify our position in Kusari. We have put significant resources into the Gas Miners Guild's development of the Okinawa system, in addition to some more, ah, discrete support of some of Kusari's less than reputable organizations. All perfectly legal, of course.

* They say I am an optimist, and that I am always looking for a way to do business with the people who hate us the most, but that is just how we do things in the IND.

* This base is the corporate headquarters of the Renzu Corporation. The IND built these yards so Renzu could move its offices out of Roppongi and free itself from depending on Kishiro and Samura for facility space. The first ship fully developed and built here is the Shukensha Liner. The Shukensha's pre-order deposits alone have already paid for the building of these shipyards, and word has it that Orbital Spa and Cruise is considering purchasing a small fleet to spice up their tourism in the Tottori and Sigma 19 systems.

* I have worked for the IND for quite some time, and they keep saddling me with more and more corporate responsibility... But the thing I like best about working for the IND is meeting new people, at the least getting out into the field to open new doors to find new clients gives me a chance to stay ahead of the desk and keep to the adventure.

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