Sarcelles Shipping Facility

CLASS: StV.D-18

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 720

Ile-de-France Shipping was founded in 501 AGS. As a shipping company that specializes in space cargo transportation, the company considered establishing headquarters in space rather than planetside to be a major benefit. Construction of the station that was named Sarcelles took five years to complete, and in 506 AGS it was officially opened. In years to come, it was rebuilt and expanded several times to match an increasing amount of IDF shipments heading through Sarcelles to and from the Gallic Border Worlds.

The First Gallic War was a disaster for many small shipping companies, especially those heavily involved with Normandy region trade. IDF focused on the Core Worlds and Border Worlds instead. Backed by the government and supported by EFL Oil and Machinery, IDF currently controls a vast portion of civilian shipments across the Gallic house space, and has a practical monopoly on exporting goods to Sirius. Sarcelles is still considered the headquarters of the company, but not many board members and chief officers choose to live and work there. Despite the best efforts of IDF designers, living on Planet New Paris is much more comfortable. IDF Shipping owns a small island near Ile du Palais where a large "office city" was constructed to serve as the company's actual headquarters and most of its top employees live and work there.

Public opinion has turned against Ile-de-France Shipping since the end of the Second Gallic War, as they were known as staunch Royalists, even supplying naval operations as far as Bretonia. With many distrustful of the company so openly loyal to the Crown, they have fewer clients to rely upon than they once did. It remains to be seen whether this is a permanent trend, or a fad of the times. Regardless of this, Ile-de-France Shipping continues their traditional style with pride.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* EFL Oil and Machinery
* Gallic Metal Service

* IDF Shipping
* Gallic Metal Service
* EFL Oil and Machinery

## News

Once a beacon of our national ingenuity, Metz was the site of the experimental Metz Mirror Array, more commonly known as the MMA project. The project was intended to assist the terraforming operations through a sophisticated array of orbital mirrors. The array would redirect additional sunlight onto the equatorial band of Metz, further raising local temperatures on the otherwise icy world.
Decried by its detractors as a "fool king's endeavour", the ambitious project never had the opportunity to prove its capabilities, as the nearly complete array fell victim to Kusari's invasion of Lorraine. With the array gone and supplies severed, the terraforming project and the biosphere it maintained collapsed during the occupation, leading to widespread famine across Metz. Unfortunately, in the wake of King Charles' gambit in Bretonia and the near complete destruction of Lorraine and Languedoc by Kusari forces, the Union government has declared the system a total loss and ordered a full evacuation of the planet.

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.

The situation was not resolved with the Minarchy supporting a vote of no confidence in the current leadership; later causing the resignation of Jean Besson, the President of the Parisian Assembly, on the 15th of October. Elections to renew the Assembly were held on the same day of Jean Besson's resignation, and the results were revealed on the 18th of October.
To the surprise of many, the Militarists were victorious; with considerable support of the Defense Forces, and thanks to their alliance with moderates and independents within the other parties. The new President of the Assembly, Dorian Lasalle made a short but resolute announcement after his nomination to President, the most important role in the Assembly: "My new government and I will immediately start to solve the internal affairs and a solution with the conflict against Kusari will soon be found. Then, a new era for Gallia will rise."
Overall elections have opened many doors for the Militarists and closed some for divisionist representatives at the Parisian Assembly. The recent conflicts have shown an increase in unity among the states, confronted to their most difficult challenge since their creation in 742 A.G.S. The final seat count sets the Gallic Defense Guard Party (GDG) as the single largest party with 52 percent of the seats, followed by the Union for Tradition Party (UT) with 25 percent, the Democratic Federation of the Liberals Party (DFL) with 11 percent, the Gallic Commerce Guild (GCG) with 9 percent, and the Pacifists of Paris Party (PP) with only 3 percent of the seats.
The GDG, an authoritarian right leaning party of ex-officers from the Defense Forces, is arguably the biggest victor in these elections with their impressive 52 percent of the total seats available in the Assembly. The surprise and confusion is shared among all parties, but is overall explainable with the rapidly increasing popularity of militant views since the start of the invasion by the Kusari Empire.
Nevertheless, the rest of the deputies have accepted to collaborate with the GDG for the greater good of Gallia, solving the internal conflicts and finding a favorable outcome to the war with the Empire. Many citizens within every state have shown their hopes and concerns regarding the unexpected push of the GDG in the Assembly but President Lasalle reassured them saying "Every state will be listened to and we will work with all the parties for the greater good of Gallia".

President Orianne Castaignède of the Republic condemned the attack on the Duchy and the Minarchy, expressing that such a move in search of justice is a disgrace to the idea of justice. Going as far as stating that 'concerns over those responsible for the war should have been brought to them directly'; not 'Lashing out with past grievances'.
The Grand Duke of Burgundy, Valentin Trintignant, has declared his commitment to the total repulsion of the Kusari fleet, saying; "This attack is completely unprovoked, and misguided. The Kusari state should be ashamed of themselves - The forces of the Duchy will crush these invaders and the Kusari vandals will be brought to justice!"
The leaders of the Minarchy also came out to condemn the actions of Kusari. Stating that the attack on their territory is unwarranted and besides the stated goal. One prominent member, Patron Mathéo Dufresne commented with "[swearing] - What did we do?" when asked for his thoughts on the war.
The reaction among the general population of New Paris has been of shock and bewilderment. Many of those interviewed had believed we were past conflicts with Sirius, and many curse the aggression. The most common responses followed themes of colourful patriotic pan-gallic support, while other sizable portions of the population are still worried that La Vieille Garde are being deployed too far from home.
Lionel Balzac, a prominent politician on New Paris, has came out to assure the confederacy that there 'are no plans to withdraw the La Vieille Garde from the front-lines' as they continue to mount a united defence against the Kusari invaders. Going as far to express 'total commitment for the good of Gallia' in his public address. Since the institution of the Confederacy, Lionel Balzac has been seen as one of the guiding voices of Ile-De-France, and his support had reassured many across the sector.

The Confederal Government has so far remained divided on the "Rheinland Question", with the exception of authorising the deployment of the La Fierte battlegroup to the border. This decision appears to have been prudent, with reports circulating on Oerlikon that a large Rheinland engine plume was detected on a heading towards the Valais Cloud. So far Confederal Defence Force representatives have remained tight lipped about the possibility of a Rheinland battlegroup seeking refuge in the system.
Despite the political gridlock between Republican, Duchy and Minarchy representatives, the Defence Force has received authorisation to deploy into the Cologne system in order to secure Gallic assets. Intelligence reports have confirmed that the group known as the Red Hessians has attempted to assert control over the system, and infiltrate Zurich. A public warning has been posted advising that 'Hessians' approaching the Zurich jump gate will be fired upon.

Royal military analysts predict that the Bretonian resistance will surrender as soon as they witness this weapon in use, but even if they do not, their neutralization will be ensured promptly.

As a result, most financial institutions refuse insurance for any shipments going to and from the Core Worlds. Even if they do, insurance is so expensive that only a few shippers are able to afford it. As of now, the only efficient way to protect cargo is hiring Gallic Navy escort. Presence of Navy fighters usually scares pirates away, however, the Navy has many other duties to perform. Government promises to increase Police presence in the area, however, increased numbers of Police does not guarantee presence of their ships in the areas where pirates are going to attack. According to the reports from Briancon and Gap installations in Languedoc, some police patrols deliberately avoid patrolling areas where commercial transports are present and where pirate attacks are most likely to occur.
Solar Engineering, the only large space corporation without a significant presence in the Border Worlds, has actually gained profits from the war rather than losses: gaining large government contracts for building up the Core World defenses, its stock value has risen more than 80%% over the last 15 years, an unprecedented rise for any large company listed on the New Paris Stock Exchange (NPSE) for the last four hundred years.

## Rumors

*NOTE: Page generated on the 28/10/2023 at 17:59:45 UTC*