Planet Manhattan

DIAMETER: 12,753 km.

MASS: 5.98 x 10e24 kg.

TERRAIN: Terrestrial

TEMPERATURE: -46°C to 43°C

ESCAPE VELOCITY: 11.27 km/sec

Founded in the year 1 AS, Manhattan was the first human colony established in the Sirius Sector. Over the last eight centuries it has grown into a teeming world of billions who live and work in a number of large metropolises that dot the planet's surface, making Manhattan the most densely populated planet in Sirius. Its main metropolis, suburbs not counting, numbers over 220 million people - with the hull of the Liberty sleeper ship as a towering beacon at it's center. It still remains a bustling tourist destination, with many gorgeous sandy beaches and crowded shopping promenades.

Nearly the entire population is dedicated to the manifest destiny of the Liberty free market, and today Manhattan is the hub of a vast commercial network that stretches into almost every corner of Sirius. While "going to Manhattan" has become a commonly accepted phrase for leaving home to seek your fortune, the cost of living on Manhattan itself is extravagantly high. If a trend is new and exciting -- and expensive -- then it almost certainly originated here.

Despite the turmoil surrounding the brief, but bloody, Nomad war that ended in 801 AS, Manhattan has continued to grow, and shipments arrive from all over Sirius on a daily basis. While there are reminders of the Nomad War still left over, most people prefer to focus on the future and, for Liberty at least, it appears to be a bright one.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Cryer Pharmaceuticals
* Deep Space Engineering
* Universal Shipping
* Ageira Technologies
* Border World Exports
* Orbital Spa and Cruise
* Junkers
* Gateway Shipping
* Synth Foods, Inc.
* Kishiro Technologies
* Bounty Hunters Guild
* Liberty Rogues
* Outcasts
* Samura Industries
* RGS Shipping

* Liberty Security Force
* Liberty Police, Inc.

## News

In a case which has gripped the nation, Sorderi's death due to Cardamine withdrawal was ruled "expected and calculated" by Cryer due to the treatment plan presented by them, which Sorderi had followed. The case now moves to the Manhattan Planetary Court.
Sorderi's family has expressed disappointment at the decisions, her mother stating: "This is an endless battle, and we don't have endless ammo! Our girl's dead because of them and they're just going to keep this going forever!".
Sorderi's fans, also known as "Rosebuds" for her net alias "Bloodrose", have vowed to continue fighting and are planning protests before the Manhattan court. Clashes have already been reported in Sorderi's home town of Opera, JN, as police were forced to use tear gas against enraged followers of the star who feel the trial is becoming lost in bureaucracy.

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.

Sorderi had made a name for herself by, among other things, speaking candidly about her Cardamine dependency and her attempts to overcome it by alternative pharmacological means. Though the circumstances of her death remain uncertain, theories abound which implicate the products of Cryer Pharmaceuticals that she had long championed as the future of Cardamine-dependent persons in the colonies.
"Cryer killed our baby!", says father Ernest Sorderi. "They used her as a guinea pig for their unproven treatments, and the reality was a family losing their daughter! We will pursue ALL legal means to find justice for her!"
The Neural Net is awash with an outpouring of sympathy from Sorderi's fans and scrutiny surrounding her sudden death.

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.

With the end of the war and Bretonia's withdrawal from Planet Gran Canaria, Poole's prominence waned. The cost of policing the system and maintaining infrastructure has significantly outweighed collected tax revenue in recent years, with Planetform's Terraforming Gas operations reporting disappointing year on year returns.DSE has already confirmed that it will begin deconstruction operations shortly, with the dismantling of the Cambridge jump gate expected to be completed by 833 AS.

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Planetform has confirmed its intention to withdraw prior to this point, while settling shareholder anxiety with the announcement of promising preliminary findings for a replacement site in Newcastle.

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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.

## Rumors

* We ship Side Arms from Detroit, our munitions plant that serves all of Liberty and much of Kusari and Bretonia. We don't usually ship Detroit weaponry to Rheinland because they produce their own, but it doesn't compare with Detroit Deathware.

* If it's personal protection you're looking for, Ageira Technologies has the answer. Try our famous Mk 11 Perforator -- a great price and guaranteed to put more holes in your target than necessary. If it's stopping power you want, you'll get it with our line of Wide Bore Pocket Cannons. The finest products are available exclusively from Detroit Munitions, just a quick Trade Lane jump away.

* Bowex transports Basic Alloy from here in Manhattan to Pittsburgh, where we pick up Boron for delivery to Ship Hull Panel factories. I was hired by Bowex to pilot their freighters, but I've been thinking about going into a new line of work. I was almost killed a few days ago when Lane Hackers attacked my ship in the Independent Worlds.

* Bowex ships Gold into Ft. Bush from Graves Station. This is one of the most dangerous runs you can make between Bretonia and Liberty. Think about it -- you're hauling Gold, something everybody wants.

* Cryer's Pharmaceuticals are shipped from our primary production facility in Denver. Most of the time we don't encounter too much difficulty. We fight off the Rogues occasionally, but that just comes with shipping in Liberty.

* With all that Cryer does to make the people of Sirius healthy and safe it still appalls me to see those poor Cardamine junkies dying in plain view. One day soon Cryer will make a synthetic Cardamine that isn't addictive or harmful. Cryer is dedicated to a healthy and fun lifestyle that doesn't reduce worker productivity.

* DSE is an important part of the machinery of Liberty power in Sirius, so you will see that we have adequate protection within her space. Unfortunately, many of our Trade Lane and Jump Gate construction projects are found far outside the safety of Liberty, where our affairs can often fall victim to pirates and vandals.

* We keep Ageira's Pueblo Station in Colorado well stocked with the Basic Alloy produced here on Manhattan that is used to build the massive structural supports used in Gate and Lane Parts.

* The Rogues are all over New York. Actually, LPI might be out of business if it wasn't for the Rogues. It doesn't matter too much though; some LPI will bring you in for nothing but being in the wrong place at the wrong time. LPI can always use more workers at Sugarland and Huntsville.

* A lot of LPI officers like the Xenos. The Xenos attack other criminal factions in New York and they don't attack Liberty shipping. They attack Ageira, but only for the guns. Just a bunch of harmless crazies, those Xenos.

* The Xenos don't usually mess with Liberty shipping, but that all changes when it comes to Side Arms. The Xenos love stealing guns, they've been concentrating attacks on the Detroit Munitions Plant for some time now. Ageira is guarding the plant better, so now they're focusing on the Trade Lane between here and Detroit.

* The Junkers are criminal dirtbags, but they are smart about it, unlike the Rogues. They have a legitimate cover as scrap collectors, but we know they are as crooked as any other criminal. And they will never give up one of their own. You squeeze a Junker to make him talk about other criminals.

* Xenos in the Jersey are in a turf war with the Junkers right now. I say let the scum kill each other off. It's not like we need Junkers loitering about anyway.

* LPI is almost like two companies: you got the LPI who police Liberty space and run the Sugarland and Huntsville prison stations, and then you have LPI the consumer goods manufacturer making all kinds of products with the captured criminals as their labor force.

* LPI is a privatized police force. I am an employee of Liberty Police, Inc. We are actually just executing company policy when we patrol Liberty space looking for criminals. LPI is sanctioned by the Liberty government so we have legal jurisdiction, but the bottom line is about money.

* One of the Rogues we arrested just spilled his guts. This guy and two of his wingmen had traveled from the Badlands all the way around Liberty space following the debris fields till he reached Baltimore Shipyards. They flew right by one of our patrols and got tagged on their final approach to Baltimore.

* Xenos are hitting the Trade Lanes surrounding Manhattan. They are moving in from the Jersey Debris Fields; there must be a Jump Hole somewhere within the Jersey. At least they don't really attack Liberty shipping, just Kusari and Rheinland.

* The LPI 8th patrol wing is assigned to the Detroit Debris Field. There are no criminal bases there that we know of, but it is a well-populated area for Rogues and Junkers. The Detroit Field lies on the west side of the system, just beyond Manhattan where they can find cover in the Jersey Debris Fields.

* People like dealing with Junkers, because we always offer a square deal. That's why we transport so many goods from Rochester, our base in this system. We bring in Gold, Diamonds, Niobium, and Luxury Foods. We don't ask many questions on where they come from; that's none of our business.

* In Manhattan we purchase Water, Oxygen, Food, and Basic Alloy for use at our Rochester base. It's completely legit -- so if you ever want to run supplies for us Junkers without getting your hands dirty, you can.

* We pick up Kusari Passengers here to be delivered to New Tokyo. There are a lot of people who come to Liberty to shop for Luxury Goods. Beauty and opulence are the benefits of being rich.

* If you own a ship you are going to need what we have to sell, that's right -- top-quality Kishiro H-Fuel straight from the refineries of Ogashawa, far away in the Sigma-19 system.

* The battleship *Missouri* runs a patrol along the Trade Lanes between Zone-21 and the Badlands. That's as dangerous as you are going to get here in New York -- unless you actually fly into the Badlands; then you are just asking to get aced.

* The Outcasts we have encountered in Liberty have been on the east side of the Badlands. We work in conjunction with Bounty Hunters to try and halt the Cardamine flowing into New York. Unfortunately, most infiltrators we've dropped into the Badlands have never returned.

* The Liberty Navy is the most sophisticated and well trained of all the navies in Sirius. Liberty's annual expenditures in the budget for naval and military spending are based upon cost estimates for a scenario in which Liberty would be fighting against two other Houses simultaneously.

* The Navy doesn't have the authority to enter another colony's space without the permission of the government. That's why sometimes if you want to catch somebody you have to hire a Bounty Hunter to do it, as unsavory as that is. Usually Bounty Hunters are just as bad as the scum you hire them to capture.

* Liberty Police, Inc., or LPI, doesn't have the will or the guts it would take to eradicate criminal activity here in New York. It's the Navy that patrols the Trade Lanes along the southern edge of New York; the police won't even go south of Detroit. Let's face it: If crime ended so would LPI, and they don't want that to happen.

* The Navy sends patrols into the Badlands, where the criminals are smuggling in a large portion of the contraband that enters the system. We have yet to find the Jump Hole they are using, but when we do the citizens of this system will be a lot safer than they are now.

* If you ever have the cash to purchase a Liberty Elite Fighter, it will have to come from a Liberty Navy base, and having the money to purchase the ship doesn't mean we will sell it to you. You have to prove that you are loyal to Liberty and the way of life she stands for.

* Sometimes the LSF will employ freelancers that pass our strict security clearance checks. If you are ever lucky enough to serve Liberty in such a way, whatever you do for us will have to remain a secret for the rest of your life.

* Right now Artifact interdiction is the LSF's priority; this comes from the top. Anyone in Liberty caught smuggling Artifacts is going to spend some time in an interrogation chamber, and then a long time on the Sugarland making toys.

* The LSF is keenly interested in any Artifacts that private citizens have purchased, even for private use. They are illegal, and will be confiscated if discovered in your possession.

* The LSF has been on high alert lately. The Liberty Security Force is chartered with providing our government with the information they need to make informed decisions regarding national security matters. We are Liberty's eyes and ears in New York and beyond.

* The LSF advises the Navy in various locations throughout Liberty, particularly in those areas known for their Artifact smuggling routes. We also have agents periodically raid the wealthy Liberty elites' private residences in search of Artifact collections.

* An entire LSF Dark Ops Shadow Team was found in a container on the edge of the Badlands. They had been sent in to interdict an Outcast shipment and capture one if possible. They were all dead and had bags of Cardamine stuffed into their mouths.

* Cardamine has become a real problem for the people of Liberty, but so far our attempts to get an operative within the Outcast organization have proved impossible. Somehow they have a way to tell whether or not you are an Outcast.

* The LSF has been commissioned with confiscating all Alien Artifacts in Sirius. Not all the other Houses are as cooperative as they should be, so sometimes we are forced to take unilateral action. Kusari officials have been particularly lax in their enforcement of the ban.

* All of our cruise ships require constant resupply of Luxury Goods for our clientele. I used to ship Luxury Goods from here at Newark to the Mackinac in the Tottori system, but those girls of the Golden Chrysanthemums blew her to bits. Kusari is a crazy place. Hogosha, mad Farmers, drugged out GC babes, Blood Dragons, Outcasts... Now they send me to Poole, that Molly-ridden hellhole. I really should demand a raise. Bartender, where's my drink?! I'm about to launch and I need three or four stiff ones!

* Ever hear of the LWB? They are some kind of militant Rheinland farmers who have turned to piracy. The Luxury Goods we ship from here in Manhattan to our resort on planet Baden-Baden in the Stuttgart system have been falling under their attacks.

* We ship Luxury Goods from here at Newark to Curacao in the Cortez system. We strive to provide our guests with the absolute best of all things, so when they think luxury, they think Orbital. It's quite a commitment since these shipments are often attacked by Rogues and Lane Hackers.

* Orbital has whatever you're looking for to meet your vacationing needs. Take a trip on the Shetland to the forests of Gaia, visit the hot springs of Baden-Baden, maybe dip in the cool waters of Curacao, or if adventure is what you seek, how about Hawaii?

* A lot of the Luxury Goods produced here in Manhattan are headed to the luxury liner Hawaii in the Sigma-19 system. I just got assigned the route a few months ago. So far I've had nine escorts come and go courtesy of the Outcasts.

* Samura gets the best for the people of Kusari. We do not manufacture Luxury Goods ourselves so we come here to get them. The finest Luxury Goods are bought here at Newark and shipped to our intermediaries on Planet New Tokyo.

* We supply Manhattan's luxury market with its Niobium from our dealers in Freeport 6. I used to pilot the flight myself a while back, but I lost my nerve; I just can't do it anymore. I'm not going to get killed for a paycheck. Luckily, I knew a higher-up and got transferred to a desk.

* Synth Foods delivers its best in synthetic Food Pastes to Roppongi and Deshima Stations in Kusari from its Los Angeles biodomes. From there we head into the Taus and Sigmas -- there's a hungry person everywhere, and our goal is to put a tube of Food Paste in their hands.

* We ship Manhattan's famous Luxury Goods to the booming destinations of Curacao and Baden Baden. A lot of the ultra rich go to Cortez or Stuttgart to play or retire. They are newer systems that cater to the elite. Of course, during the war with Rheinland, Libertonians detour through Bretonia to reach Baden Baden.

* We handle all manner of precious cargo bound for the outer colonies. We ship Luxury Goods to New London, New Tokyo, and New Berlin. It is extremely dangerous between New London and here, especially because of the Lane Hackers. They aren't the dangerous part, it's the Outcasts who they sell the shipping information to that you have to worry about. On second thought, if you see a Hacker in a P-Trans, don't laugh, juice the cruise engines!

* Universal Shipping handles many contracts for Side Arm shipments to LPI and navy bases within Liberty space. If you've ever had a cop or navy boy pull a Perforator on you, then I'm the guy who delivered it to 'em more than likely.

* Universal Shipping is the backbone of shipping within Liberty and New York. We supply all Liberty Navy and LPI bases with Food, Water, Oxygen, Light Arms, and H-Fuel. Usually the escorts we get are LPI or the navy to bring these goods in, so it is a pretty safe run. It took me a long time to get the seniority to pull these kinds of routes.

* We bring all manner of Commodities into Manhattan: Gold from Dublin, Silver from Omega 7, Niobium from Tau-37, and Consumer Goods from Ft. Bush. Universal uses her best pilots to make these runs. The commodities onboard are very valuable and their loss is sorely felt.

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