Barrow Base

CLASS: Calvin

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Limited

CREW: 270

Built in 764 AS, out of an abandoned mining facility from "the days when Liberty did its own mining", Barrow is a bastion of the Xeno cause against Rheinland. Before the Liberty/Rheinland war the Xenos targeted mainly Republican and ALG transports moving to and from Liberty. When this traffic came to an abrupt end, their focus shifted to the Unioners and Liberty Rogues, who use the system to smuggle Diamonds into Liberty.

Barrow was a small mining outpost, even by DSE's standards at the time it was built. The Xenos tried to repair and expand the station, with partial success. The base is nevertheless a crowded station, and most Xenos that don't live on Barrow prefer not to stay longer then it takes to refuel and make repairs.

## News

The Outcasts and their most loyal agents stepped in almost immediately in anticipation of something like this happening, and set new rules for distribution according to set keys. A small group of Liberty Rogues defied them and followed their own rules of distribution, but they didn't fare too well - the Dons, despite the ongoing crisis in Malta, do not tolerate insubordination.
For this reason, several powerful Junkers and Rogues immediately decided to dilute Cardamine instead of redistributing ostentatiously against the wishes of the Outcasts at the expense of their clients, thereby raising their own shares. Fortunately for these savvy businessmen, word did not reach the Outcasts until some time later, and thanks to an improved network of cooperation, most of the organizers were able evade Malta's assassins.
However, all these measures had only limited effectiveness. Many end-clients and casual Cardamine users have been forced to seek medical attention due to their deteriorating health due to potentially fatal withdrawal symptoms. It is not known how many Cardamine users eventually died because of the shortage, but it appears to be in the order of single-digit percentages - much to the very verbal displeasure of the Outcasts themselves.

Professor Nagel and her team are certain the Pulse originated from outside Sirius, but are otherwise no closer to identifying its source or mitigating a future Blackout event. "Following the Blackout, we began to see immediate signs of jump hole destabilization in multiple different regions, with many ultimately falling out of phase alignment altogether", she commented. The dramatic upending of Sirius' jump hole network has already prompted many groups to abandon stations and withdraw from systems that appear to risk being cut off.
While months-long trips between the stars are possible thanks to the Liberty Engine and many centuries of innovation, few ships are designed or provisioned to make such arduous journeys. Those who were displaced by Sirius' redrawn map hope that system connections will return, while adventurers and explorers rush to discover new routes.

Some combat veterans and pilots filtered directly into the Xeno movement proper, while others fight for our cause or otherwise contribute to our goals in other ways, blending into the oppressed population of Planet Erie or operating in our cells on other Libertonian worlds. Many of the Insurgent's former intelligence operatives have been repurposed in the Xenos' ever-growing cardamine business, allowing the movement to consolidate and grow its strength with fresh injections of credits.
If there is one thing that can be taken from the Insurgency, however, it is that Liberty cannot be contested in a direct confrontation of military strength. To think otherwise would be folly. Instead, we will expose the rot inside the government and let the masses decide the rest for themselves, so that we may all enjoy a better future for ourselves and for the Republic we love.

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.

## Rumors

* We make supply runs and attack runs into the Bering system. We get our supplies from the Zoners at Freeport 2 and attack the Unioners. When we see Unioner ships we attack them. The Unioners should go back to Rheinland where they come from. This is Liberty space, and they got no business coming here.

* The LPI embodies everything that is wrong with Liberty. It shouldn't surprise anybody that most of the "criminals" that operate the Texas factories where rounded up for slave labor, not for any real crimes they committed. We used to get paid for our work in the former times; now we get thrown in prison and are forced into slave labor. Us Xenos abhor slavery in any form, whether it be those bastard Junkers and Rogues doing it illegally, or the LPI abusing the law. Death to slavers, I say. The lot of them.

* The Xenos exist throughout Liberty, because the Xenos are a part of Liberty. We were the common man who worked the mines, shipyards and factories, before outsiders came and took our livelihoods away. The government isn't doing anything about that, so we take matters into our own hands. Kill all who come, and they will stop coming. A simple philosophy, but it works.

* Our base is actually an old abandoned mining plant from a time when Liberty did its mining. It had been abandoned for years - probably forgotten about by Deep Space Engineering. It was still called Monumental Engineering when this base was in operation, that's how old it is. Good thing we know how to patch things up, old space stations can be a death trap if you don't know what you're doing.

* As much as Xenos hate Junkers, we aren't strong enough to get rid of those scavengers... yet. They run the shipping points for inbound drug shipments into Liberty, which makes them buddies of both the Outcasts and Liberty Rogues. We don't want that stinking drug peddling in Liberty, so we have to oppose all three of them. That can be rough at times, but there ain't a Xeno alive that can't handle rough.

* There weren't many of us Xenos when we first began, but the LPI solved that problem for us. The first of us captured were sent to the Huntsville in Texas, where we found others that saw the truth. Our numbers grew as we recruited from the prisons. LPI got wise after a while and started isolating Xenos from other inmates. They realized that for every Xeno they put away, three more converts would walk out five years later. Things haven't really changed much. When you're at the bottom of the barrel in Liberty, the Xeno vision is the only one that makes sense.

* Hudson is perfect for our operations in this sector. The Jump Hole to Bering and our supply point at Freeport 2 is in the Wrangell Field - where you'll find plenty of Rogues. They'll only attack you if they outnumber you - bunch of opportunistic cowards they are. The Texas Jump Hole is in the Sitka Field. It's our portal for conducting business in Texas - liberating our comrades from Huntsville, and hitting the Junkers and Outcasts.

* Liberty's plans for terraforming the Hudson system's planet Atka came to a rumbling halt in 771 when one of our attack squads blew up a Planetform terraforming vessel. Now they're back with that damned Battleship watching over the operation. Didn't we show what happens to foreigners enough when Republican was fouling up this place? Bah, guess our boys will have to fry a few more Bretonians to get the point across.

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