Philadelphia Station

CLASS: Frontier

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 1420

After it's discovery, Liberty showed little interest in developing the Pennsylvania system. Zoners were quick to fill the void in more than one way - they were the first to establish small settlements on Erie's surface, and soon turned to building a space station so the orbital landers could be refueled and maintained. With little technology and no orbital docking ring at the time, orbital landers were the only way for the early Erie colonies to be supplied. Philedelphia Station was opened in 764 AS

Philedelphia station was originally meant to be a Freeport, but over the years more and more of the station has been bought up by various corporate entities. The station has also been expanded significantly, with small manufacturing plants and biodomes providing for the diverse population on the station. The Liberty Police Inc. maintains order on the station nowadays, and most of the Zoners who once lived on Philedelphia have either moved to Bethlehem or Erie.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Deep Space Engineering
* Universal Shipping
* Ageira Technologies
* Cryer Pharmaceuticals
* Hogosha
* Samura Industries
* Zoners
* Bounty Hunters Guild

* Bounty Hunters Guild

## News

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.

In the video, a number of restrained people that have been identified as former residents of Planet Vespucci, board a Dromedary-class vessel registered to a freelance trader Vincent Ruthen. They are under supervision from several LPI officers, who exchange words with the ship's crew. Private investigators have trailed the ship, determining that it did not land at its purported destination of Gas Miner Naha in the Sigma-13, instead electing to travel away from civilized space into the Edge Worlds. The people aboard it have effectively vanished from the colonies.
This is the latest case in a streak of such disappearances, with investigators estimating as high as ten percent of all inmates thought to be awaiting their trial in LPI internment camps have been covertly shipped off-world for unknown reasons. The fate of these people is yet unclear, but theories range from secret trials to unethical experiments aboard Atka. Outraged by what is apparently an LPI-sanctioned human trafficking operation, protesters flooded the streets and had to be dispersed by police riot control squads.
A Liberty Police official has denounced allegations of corruption, stating that "All interned personnel are secured and all prisoner transfers have been done within the framework of the legal code". He refused to comment on the evidence presented, dismissing it as "slanderous fabrication against the good, hard-working officers of Liberty law". Meanwhile, political opposition already promises increased oversight over the law enforcement corporation for the next election cycle.

Over the last few days, Archer-class siege cruisers have been deploying their massive coaxial cannons to suppress military infrastructure on the planet, systematically targeting the very last bastions of the Insurgency. First to be destroyed were the planet's few remaining ground to space weapons installations, quickly crippled by bomber strikes from the Ohio herself, before the remaining desolate ground defences and deserted infrastructure were reduced to rubble, their populations having already long fled the world.
A small service was held on the Ohio as the bombardment drew to a close in memory of Rear Admiral Dylan Brandt and those thousands of sailors and marines who had given their lives in the name of Liberty; fought their own lost brothers-in-arms so that others may not live under their misguided yoke, and many more who had their lives irrevocably changed as a result of the evils the campaign sought to end.
The announcement also confirmed identical monuments to the Insurgency campaign would be erected on every world in Liberty, from Planet Houston to Planet Erie, each monument an obelisk carrying the names of every serviceman lost in the conflict and serving as a reminder that Liberty is stronger when it stands together.

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.

Admiral Brandt was heard to give the order to abandon ship right as the ship's hull could take no more and began to be torn asunder, with hull breaches on multiple decks. Tragically, the armored engines of the Delaware had suffered a great deal of damage, and as the armor and shielding was whittled away, vast quantities of radiation and superheated gas began to flood into the crew compartments of the vessel.
In an emotional announcement, the Liberty Navy officially stated that they consider the Delaware to be lost with all hands, including Admiral Brandt himself. No life pods could be secured in the heat of battle, with the remainder of the Delaware's escort making a fighting retreat back to the LNS Ohio which had herself been caught lagging behind the Delaware's doomed thrust into the heart of the Insurgency. The Ohio now remains with her own escort, augmented by survivors of the Delaware's battlegroup, and will continue as the Liberty Navy's bastion in the Vespucci system, ready to ensure that the Insurgents pay dearly for the toll they have extracted upon one of Liberty's finest Admirals.

Leading a fearsome line of some of Liberty's most advanced warships, the Delaware bore down on the Insurgency's remaining, cobbled-together fleet in the Vespucci system, out of position from dealing with a Bretonian thrust from Magellan. Immediately caught was the Battleship Vanquisher, one of the scant few Arbiter-class Battleships available to the Insurgents. Caught by itself, the Vanquisher put up a fearsome fight but was ultimately unable to stand against the Delaware and its escort, despite its fighter component dealing severe damage to much of the Delaware's own, smaller fighter contingent, as well as the Delaware herself.
With the great Arbiter all but vanquished, the Interdictor-class Battlecruiser Triton stared down the guns of the damaged Delaware and her escort. Outnumbered two-to-one, and outgunned to an even greater degree by the Libertonian heavyweight, Triton and her escorts launched their one and only advantage, their fighter and bomber superiority gained at the Vanquisher's expense.

It is widely speculated that the recent surge taking place in the Kansas system is related. The oddly self named Insurgency has long been categorized as a "Domestic Paramilitary Organization" that is of extremist political nature, in effect making them Liberty citizens with rights as such. The Act recategorizes them as a "Foreign Supported Terrorist Organization", a drastic shift in political standing. Sources have speculated the move is related to the Bering operation that precipitated the formation of the Insurgency as the root cause of the change in policy. Despite considerable cost both monetarily and in terms of material, the operation failed to expunge the organization to the desired level. The Act comes a considerable spending package for future operations and gives free rein to Liberty Navy admirals to take necessary measures to properly remove the long-standing issue.

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.

"The Surveyor is more than just a ship, it's a symbol of ingenuity and industrial development to all the Sirian Colonies. It's a pattern that dates back to our origins in the Sol system, and it's a pattern that will persist for many generations to come. Just as we have adapted to meet new challenges, so too must the Surveyor to meet emergent needs."
The Next-Gen Surveyor is slated to roll out multiple updates ranging from technological optimizations to upgraded armor and firepower capabilities. Many of the new modifications directly address a recent study by the Sirius International Institute of Statistics and Economics, citing up to 32 percent losses by BMM and Kruger Minerals to piracy and related factors.
The ship's expanded armour increased the ship's mass by almost 50 percent, which forced Samura's Surveyor team to completely overhaul the ship's power delivery system, powerplant, and hull. The new ship utilizes a power delivery system integrated into the super-alloy frame. The integrated frame was torture tested at the Aso High Altitude Proving Grounds, and sports certifications as best in class for maneuvering with a load under high Gs.
Though time will tell whether the upgrade will prove successful in addressing the increase of piracy, the stock market has greeted the welcome news with a 15 point general increase, and a relative high for Samura and mining sector stocks.

## Rumors

* There are many small factories on Philedelphia, but the largest ones are the Basic Alloy plants. Basic Alloys are so widely used that you can take them almost anywhere, especially to Shipyards and Manufacturing Stations.

* Philedelphia manufactures a small quantity of MOX. There is some controversy about having a nuclear fuel production plant in orbit of an inhabited planet, but the DSE officials who own that plant insist it's safe. I doubt they'll be closing it anytime soon. With LD-14 lost Liberty will need alternatives to Bretonian fuel.

* Aluminium has become a problem for Liberty now that Bretonia has lost control of Leeds. Rheinland has plenty of it, but with the war going on, that's a dead end - for them. Samura can turn a tidy profit by shipping it via the Sigmas to Kusari, and then back to Liberty.

* The Xenos are a problem for us. Those barbarians have cost the loss of countless transports and lives, and their numbers keep rising. The Liberty Police is either incapable or unwilling to put an end to their attacks, so we've had to start sending stronger escorts and ship less frequently.

* This is a bit of a backwater system for Liberty, which means there's more smuggling going on then actual attacks. Not to say that there's no trouble here - there's always work for a Bounty Hunter in systems where Freeports exist, because that's where most criminals go to lay low for a while.

* There's a Junker base near one of the moons of Sayre. I tailed a Junker leaving from Eerie to find it. Probably a smugglers nest, since there's no scrapfields in Pennsylvania. I doubt the Liberty Police will do much about it, they've got their hands full guarding the Gate and Lanes. All the better, it's a good spot for me to pick up a mark or two.

* Life used to be different here, before all these corporate windbags moved in. Us Zoners don't like being told how to live, but that's exactly what Liberty does all over Sirius. Manhattan fashion. Yech. I'd sooner go skyclad.

* Did you know that the hull plating on those Zoner Whales is brittle as chalk? Not common knowledge that! Some Rogue told me that it takes less than a Vengeance 1st generation to punch a clean hole into those. Makes you wonder why they even bother to attach them. Someone probably got rich producing that crap.

* A few days ago, the captain of the Anaconda told me that they had just discovered new properties of Hessian Tears. Yes, I guess its just about weapons research again... but the point is that due to those new discoveries the prices have increased significantly.

* ALG handles waste disposal here at Philadelphia. Their HazMat Canisters are irreplaceable. Since we started storing Toxic Waste in them, we haven't had a single hazardous leak. ALG is prompt picking them up to haul out of here too.

* I'm not drunk enough yet to start blabbering. Here's a thought: Buy me another round!

* The LPI maintains a garrison here on Philadelphia. This trade lane hub is a convenient spot from which to patrol to the New York Gate, Erie, and Bethlehem. The Rogues cause a lot of disruption in these parts, without constant patrols. The Prisoners brought back in by the LPI get transported off to the Texas prisons. Most of of them are actually from Erie. The Zoners talk and talk about peace and neutrality, but they sure do like their brawls with offworlders down there.

* If you've got your own ship, then you should talk to the dealers down at the space port. Erie's main export is Neon. You can ship it to Freeports, research stations, storage depots, all the major planets. People are mad for Neon, brother. Stark raving mad for the stuff!

* Say, Zoners are leaving Pensylvania, are they not? Anyone got some details about that? Yes? No? Maybe? Should I start packing? I don't think so.

* Dealing with the Xenos is often easier done then said. They'll usually avoid a confrontation, so we just approach them at half engines and give them time to run. Unless they've got it in for some foreigner convoy, in which case we usually have to blast every single one of them before they do the same to us -and- that convoy.

* The Zoners are a rowdy bunch. Down on the planet the LPI has adopted a tolerant approach. We simply don't have the manpower to enforce Liberty law on that entire planet. On this station it's a different story, as there's only a few hundred people here. It is easier to keep order on spacestations.

* Samura pilots often file complaints about Xeno attacks. We do what we can to prevent them, but frankly, there's just too much ground to cover. What annoys me is the tone in which they complain, as if they're entitled to be escorted. That doesn't help to motivate our officers.

* Smuggling is a problem here in Pennsylvania, more so then piracy. The Junkers are probably involved, although we've only been able to catch them once or twice. Most of the time, the cargo they carry is legit when we scan them.

* Our patrol ran into a few Rogues harassing an Universal convoy the other day. First it was the Universal ships that tried to run, but when another patrol arrived, we had the upper hand. Even the Universal escorts decided they'd join in for a bit of payback. Can't say I blame them.

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