Planet Los Angeles

DIAMETER: 8,351 km.

MASS: 3.22 x 10e24 kg.

TERRAIN: Terrestrial

TEMPERATURE: -40°C to 45°C

ESCAPE VELOCITY: 8.98 km/sec

Mostly covered in deep salt water oceans, Los Angeles was popular among upper-class Manhattanites before terraforming efforts failed during the Great California Drought of 543 A.S. The planet's popularity has resurged with the economic windfall generated by Synth Foods. Synth Foods has perfected an engineered plant matter that can flourish in harsh environments and then processed into Synth Paste. The booming technology market recently induced Ageira Technologies to locate an optical chip plant here.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Cryer Pharmaceuticals
* Universal Shipping
* Ageira Technologies
* Bounty Hunters Guild
* ALG Waste Disposal
* Border World Exports
* Gateway Shipping
* Planetform, Inc.
* Synth Foods, Inc.

## Commodities

* Fertilizers
* Light Arms

* Beryllium
* Gold
* Silver
* Scrap Metal
* Hydrocarbons
* Oxygen
* Water
* Food Rations
* H-Fuel
* Superconductors
* Optical Chips
* Construction Machinery
* Pharmaceuticals
* Polymers
* Consumer Goods
* Luxury Consumer Goods
* Engine Components

## Rumors

* I hear the Lane Hackers get lonely for California sometimes. They got some asteroid base out in the Barrier someplace, where you never see the sun. IC and Ageira are determined to catch them. They might start right here. Word is, the Hackers got some secret friends inside still. That's how they are keeping up with all the security patches that Ageira releases.
* This is where they do all of the software development for Ageira. Few years back, some programmers got uppity and took off with a bunch of source codes for the USI tracking software. IC was furious; came in and had a big investigation done. Hasn't stopped the Lane Hackers.

* We know there's a Rogue asteroid base in the Whitney Field. Problem is getting close enough to nail someone without disturbing the hornets' nest. Believe me, you'll know if you did. There's Outcasts around too. So ya gotta be careful.
* Bagged me a trophy Outcast the other day just inside the Tahoe Cloud to the west of the San Diego Lane. Just an escort for a smuggler, but still a pretty good bounty. Drinks are on me tonight.
* It's hard to get to, but there's a Jump Hole to Texas pretty close to the Rogue base. Tough to hang out there for long; Rogues and Outcasts will swarm you pretty quick. Only the gutsy guys risk it.
* I'm new to the system. Got tired of New York. Only way to move up there in the Guild is to head into the Badlands. Nasty, that dark cloud is. I prefer open asteroid fields, personally. I think I'll head out to the Whitney Field for a look.
* I'm heading off to Cortez. I hear there's Rogues as far as the eye can see out there. A big group of ex-LPI guys is based at that resort Curacao -- keep asking me to join them. They expect to cash out pretty quick, although two of them already bit it. Definitely some risk involved.
* We know there's a Rogue asteroid base in the Whitney Field. Problem is getting close enough to nail someone without disturbing the hornets' nest. Believe me, you'll know if you did. There's Outcasts around, too, so ya gotta be careful.

* I haul Luxury Food from Cambridge all the way here. You really have to push it to make it before the Food spoils. We typically pick up a load of Luxury Goods for New London on the return. That's less time-sensitive but more dangerous for the Lane Hackers in Cortez and Magellan. They always seem to know when we're coming.
* I've hauled Superconductors and Boron from New York to New London and Leeds as long as I can remember. I usually pick up a load of Polymers or Hydrocarbons in Manchester for the return trip across the Barrier.
* I handle Gold and Luxury Goods runs between New London and Manhattan. It gets pretty stressful. The armored transport helps, but it also serves as a flashing billboard for every criminal in scanning range to come and take a look.

* One day Liberty will rid itself of the Outcasts and its Cardamine habit. There will be much safer ways for users to feel good using future Cryer products, without funding the activities of illegals like the Rogues and Outcasts.
* Cryer transports don't handle small shipments to police and military bases. We also don't go to Cortez or Magellan. So Universal, Gateway, and Orbital Spa perform distribution duties for us in this part of Sirius.

* Sometimes I really can't take the superior attitude of the Synth Food and Ageira types with their fancy houses and all. They expect us to keep their little world perfect, but at the same time, stay invisible. We're just honest, hardworking Joes trying to make a living.
* Had a long patrol today. Went all the way to the New York Gate. We ran into some Rogues at the Mojave Trade Lane bend. Seems to be a popular place for the criminally minded.
* We're pretty sure there's a Rogue base in the Whitney Field, but the higher ups say that's a Bounty Hunter problem. We should just find it and clear out the nest. My guess is that Bounty Hunters are paying off the LPI execs back in Houston. They don't want the criminal population to be reduced too much. Bad for business.
* California is Rogue central. We got 'em in all the asteroid fields. No Xenos, though. Never been any mining or manufacturing workers in this system.
* We think there's an illegal access route from Cortez into the Tahoe Cloud somewhere, but that's not our problem. I won't set foot off the Trade Lane in that area.
* I'm heading out on a patrol into the Sierra Ice Field tomorrow. It'll be my first time on an assault crew. I'm pretty pumped. We're looking for Rogues to fill this week's prison convoy bound for Texas.
* I heard some Bounty Hunters talking about trailing an Outcast in the Tahoe the other day. He lost 'em before they could get close enough. Probably hauling Cardamine. All those scum use it.
* They got me on California Minor patrol. Pretty boring. Nothing like the Tahoe Cloud. That's the hardest place LPI goes in all of Liberty.
* The military handles most of the tough Lane Hacker and Outcast areas of the western Tahoe Cloud. They don't want us interferin', they say. Just a bunch of privileged, arrogant hotheads in my opinion.
* Next week they're transferring me to the Los Angeles-San Diego Trade Lane patrol through the Tahoe. You're liable to run into Rogues, Lane Hackers, even Outcasts. It's an assignment for gung ho young 'uns straight out of the academy, or bored vets about to join the Bounty Hunters. I'm neither.
* Last week the Rogues attacked the prison convoy bound for Texas somewhere near the New York Gate. It's tough keeping that area under control -- no bases nearby. They didn't succeed, but it was close there for a while. It shut down the Trade Lane for a couple of hours.

* Just got in on a Gold run from the Hood in Dublin. Everything was fine until we got to the Barrier Cloud in Magellan. The Lane Hackers were waiting as usual -- pounced on us as soon as we entered the Trade Lane to Freeport 4. We got lucky when a Universal convoy showed up. Still lost one of my escorts.
* Gateway supplies most of the IMG bases in the Sirius Sector and hauls their products to market. Take Freeport 4 in Magellan, for example. We ship them their Food, Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Goods, Engine Components, and H-Fuel. We bring Water back. Not a killer run, but it pays the bills.

* I'm on leave from the *Yukon*. They gave my squadron some time to recuperate after doing a month of combat patrols in Cortez. Liberty is a joke compared to the Independent Worlds. The LPI wouldn't last two seconds out there.
* It's frustrating trying to stop the Cardamine smuggling. All of those rich New Yorkers keep buying the drugs, then they turn around and tell us that it's a big problem that has to be fought. Rumor is that Cryer is doing some pretty hard lobbying back in Manhattan to keep the drug war going.

* I run the Silver to California Minor for the cloud-seeding operation, which will need to go on for another few decades at least. The Rogues wait patiently for the Silver run. I've been attacked so many times I don't even think much about it anymore.
* California Minor gets their Terraforming Gases and Water from Magellan and Manchester. All the Water here is so full of toxic, dissolved mineral salts that it's too expensive to attempt desalinization. That's why they mined out so much of this system's ice asteroids over the centuries. All that's left is low grade, dirty stuff.

* This is Synth Foods' home base. We still produce a fair amount of Food here, although not as cheaply as Stuttgart. Our plan is to eventually phase out growing operations on Los Angeles. The soil and climate just can't support the sustainable production levels that we need.
* We are committed to enhancing Food production throughout the Sirius Sector, whether it is through increased use of biodomes in the Independent and Border Worlds, or the introduction of more efficient use of technology to traditional growing areas like Stuttgart and Kyushu. We will prevail.

* I do the New London to Manhattan Gold run inbound, Luxury Goods on the return trip. Gets rough crossing the Barrier. Pretty much a breeze inside of Liberty. We usually stop in L.A. because there's always a lot of demand from all the luxury boutiques here.
* I'm heading out in a couple of hours to do an Optical Chip run from the Ageira plant to Houston. I hope to pick up some Construction Machinery and return next week sometime. Otherwise I could be stuck on Houston for a while.
* I'm heading out in a couple of hours to do an Optical Chip and Polymer run to Houston. I hope to pick up some Construction Machinery and Engine Components and return next week sometime. If I'm lucky, they might give me a Silver shipment for the cloud-seeding programs here in California.
* I'm just passing through from Trenton HQ with a load of Superconductors bound for Southampton in New London. It's more interesting than the Water run from Manhattan. Now that's a bore.