Narita Outpost

CLASS: Tatsu

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 620

After the construction of the Jump Gates that linked Kusari to the other Houses, it was decided that a new station would be necessary to offload and store the new goods flowing into the New Tokyo system, and also serve as an administrative centre for foreign corporations. Initially, this was all done onboard Roppongi and Deshima, but as time went by it became clear that this wasn't enough. With this in mind, Narita Outpost was completed in late 714 AS

While not as large as Roppongi Station in terms of population, the bulk of Narita consists of warehouses and deep freeze storage bunkers. It is designed to be a large depot where cargo bound for or coming from other houses is transferred, and then distributed by smaller Kusari shippers to the local economies. Several House corporations have offices here, primarily Republican, Universal, Bowex and Gateway - the latter two were expelled for several years following the Kusari/Bretonian conflict, but have since returned. Gallic traders were briefly able to trade at Narita but following the war and return to dictatorship in Gallia, all trade ceased.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Border World Exports
* Gateway Shipping
* Kishiro Technologies
* Orbital Spa and Cruise
* RGS Shipping
* Samura Industries
* Synth Foods, Inc.
* Farmers Alliance
* Hogosha

## 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.

It remains to be seen how this united Farmers Alliance will impact affairs on the wider stage, with the security forces of both Houses already strained by their fair share of crime and dissidence.

## Rumors

* We have problems with Hogosha stealing from the storage depots around this base. Narita is too small to store all of the cargo that is generated. The Hogosha are harmless, though -- just skimming a little bit from the Gaijin shippers.

* The Kusari government established this base to give foreign shippers from Rheinland and Bretonia a suitable location to trade their goods within New Tokyo space. Liberty corporations prefer to use the more accessible Roppongi Station above the planet.

* It is difficult being surrounded by so many foreigners all the time at this post. Our nation has fought everyone except Liberty in my generation. Now we have Rheinlanders, Bretonians and Gallians here. My ancestors fought to make Kusari a place free of foreign taint. These ships should be stopped at the border, and their goods transferred onto Kusari vessels to complete the journey.

* I've never understood why they put it so far from everything else in the system. The official word is that Tokyo didn't want a congested trading area of shipping above the planet. Privately, I heard that they wanted to make it a little more costly and inconvenient for shippers like Republican to trade with Tokyo, giving Samura and Kishiro an edge on those trade routes.

* The life of a Kusari State Police Junsa is not really very exciting most of the time, unless you are posted in Hokkaido. Sapporo is the most dangerous assignment on the force. It is all clouds and radiation up there. You never know when the Blood Dragons or Golden C. will strike.

* I went on an assault patrol yesterday into Chiba. Suzuki-san was my patrol leader. We tracked two Blood Dragons for some ways before they discovered our presence and engaged us in battle. Suzuki-san was able to destroy both of them. I feel ashamed that I was not of more assistance.

* It is tiresome to guard against the Hogosha here. They patiently wait until all of our patrols are out. They seem to prefer shipbuilding materials, which is puzzling, because they take far more than they might use for their custom-built ships. I hear they've been spotted in Shinjuku on occasion. Apparently some of them work for Samura as salary men.

* We believe there is a Jump Hole to Honshu in the Chiba Field, but they can be very difficult to locate. The Hogosha won't say anything, but we see many Artifact smugglers crossing the system to the Kanto Field, so we are certain it is there.

* Gold is shipped to Narita rather than Tokyo, so we must bring the shipments back across two Trade Lanes that the transports have already traversed -- most inefficient. This smells of a Samura-backed government regulation that needs to be corrected. But even with a new government, Kusari bureaucracy is slow to make changes - this is the nature of government I am afraid.

* The real reason this base exists is to allow a place for those slimy Hogosha to steal supplies for Samura's factories. We at Kishiro abhor these unscrupulous methods employed by our competitor to gain competitive advantage.

* It seems like the Hogosha always manage to steal shipments from the storage area before they are officially signed over to Samura. This port is too small. If it had proper storage, we wouldn't need to expose our goods to theft. It's probably all part of Samura's grand plan.

* I'm headed to Roppongi after this. If I'm lucky, maybe some Golden Chrysanthemums will show up at the bar. They've always got extra Cardamine to share.

* This is not a very lucrative run because it is only one Trade Lane jump to Yokohama. Republican ships its High-Temperature Alloys and Boron all the way from Rheinland but must terminate here at Narita. Only Samura ships are allowed to land at Yokohama -- no Rheinland ships. Rules and regulations ...

* Even though this is a short run, the Blood Dragons are always waiting. You never know when they will hit next. Sometimes I think I should change companies to Kishiro, although that would be disgraceful to my employer. At least Kishiro captains don't have to worry so much about pirates.

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