Scarborough Shipyard

CLASS: Loch Linnhe

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 970

Scarborough Shipyard is the headquarters of Border World Exports for the Newcastle system, and its main purpose is the manufacture of super alloys and high temperature alloys in conjunction with Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing. The station also serves as a shipyard, mainly servicing and constructing large civilian ships, though some military production is possible in times of need. A number of bounty hunters have also been frequenting the station because of frequent Molly attacks from the nebula west of Scarborough.

During the war, the Ark Royal protected the shipyard from attacks, however with the cessation of hostilties and the departure of the Embrun from the system, the Harlow, which had taken part in combat in Cortez moved to replace the Ark Royal. Bretonia, still without a shipyard and needing to replace lost ships, is using Scarborough to construct military ships and repair and maintain ships from the Harlow, at the expense of commercial production. The facilities, while not purpose built for military production, as a result of the Gallic war have undergone modification to provide some ship production capacity to reinforce the beleaguered Armed Forces fleets.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Border World Exports
* BMM
* Planetform, Inc.
* Gateway Shipping
* Bounty Hunters Guild

* Border World Exports
* Bounty Hunters Guild

## News

Jane Gilliam, whose commendation for repelling a Corsair raiding party as an Armed Forces Captain featured in a CNS article in 800, was not so convinced. "We all knew even back then that The Line wasn't fit for purpose. The Heilbronn disaster should have seen it scrapped, but the Regents on Cambridge didn't want New London looking too closely and pressured the Norfolk to lobby to keep it. If William was still with us, he'd say the same."
The exact catalyst for the extra attention from the edge world pirates is unclear, with various commentators speculating on increased resistance to their operations in Rheinland, Hessian efforts in the deep Omegas, or a shift in their internal politics. Regardless of their true motivations, Interspace Commerce has recognised the elevated peril and adjusted its premiums in response.

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.

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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While Bretonia is indeed witnessing an extraordinarily high rate of economic growth in particular, it may be the case that the strain of this effort is becoming untenable, and potentially the rewards misplaced. Timothy Ball, of the independent think tank Economic Review Institute, believes this may indeed be the case. "Bretonia's economy is definitely on the rise. While still not at pre-war levels, and not expected to be for some years, the recovery we've witnessed so far has been uneven", he says. "The reconstruction of damaged and destroyed public infrastructure is underway, but seems to be lagging behind the rate of recovery being enjoyed by several major corporations. This can be explained by various factors for a time, but unless rectified, at some point this inequality could become a major point of domestic political contention."

Yesterday at 2200 hours SMT, nearby Sheffield Station and Kingston Border Station received automated distress signals from Liverpool, indicating an emergency aboard the station. Guild patrols redirected from Sheffield arrived on the scene within minutes, finding the border station destroyed. Search and rescue operations headed by Guild and BPA units commenced immediately and successfully salvaged several escape pods bearing several dozen survivors, who were immediately delivered to hospitals on New London.
BPA spokesperson Sandra Halling held a press conference earlier this morning. According to joint police and BIS investigations, Liverpool was destroyed by antimatter explosives planted aboard the station. Their detonation caused a catastrophic chain reaction, resulting in the station's own reactors melting down and exploding. Of the estimated one-hundred-twenty persons on board at the time of the attack, seventy-eight have been reported as dead or missing.
\So far, no party has taken credit for this heinous attack. However, Bretonian police surmises that it was likely perpetrated by either the criminals known as the Mollys or the infamous pirate organization, the Lane Hackers. The attack occurred following a significant redeployment of local Armed Forces units to the Cortez system for the purpose of joint operations with Libertonian security forces. This, says Halling, may have allowed terrorist sympathizers to exploit undermanned BPA patrols and smuggle illegal explosives through Manchester's ice fields, onto Liverpool Station.
While investigations continue, Bretonian Police Authority has reinforced patrols within Manchester and established traffic controls at Kingston Border Station and Birmingham Station. Traffic to and from Liberty has been advised to reroute through the Cortez system.

## Rumors

* Our escort pilots try and do a good job, but they are constantly overshadowed by the IMG escort fighters. They're just incredible. I've seen one shoot down three Outcast ships by itself before, and then it continued escorting its transport as if nothing had happened! I guess they get a lot of practice out in the Border Worlds though.

* Producing Super Alloys at Scarborough... It certainly puts this place on the map. Bretonian Super Alloys have been the standard for decades, an essential component in Hull Panel production across the colonies. It's another reason why I don't think the other houses, especially Liberty, can afford to have Bretonia fall to Gallia. It would cripple their ability to maintain their own fleets.

* The only known entrance and exit in this system is to New London via the Jump Gate. There were plans to build a Jump Gate to the Manchester system, but so far our pleas are left unanswered. Manchester would provide us with a quicker way to Liberty with our goods. I heard that Ageira might begin construction on one in the next couple of years, funded by Interspace and presumably paid for after the war ends, but who knows?

* Belfast used to be owned by the BMM, a mining and production platform that used the abundant resources on Middlesbrough to supply Bretonia. Ever since the Mollys captured it, we've had requests from BMM to build warships here for an assault on Belfast, but Scarborough isn't equipped for military ship production. Besides, the government would never allow it. With all the forces in the system however, I think the Armed Forces stand a good chance to take Belfast back if they wanted to.

* The IMG were the first to discover the Newcastle system, although they just used the jump holes. They were already building South Shields by the time the Bretonian government built the Jump Gate. After the Jump Gate to Leeds was completed in 595 AS, BMM built Belfast to start exploiting Middlesbrough. We built Scarborough nearby to make use of the resources they mined.

* I don't like being assigned to this system. The Outcasts, Mollys and occasional Gaian were bad enough, but now we've also got an invading army to deal with here. Gallia isn't exactly interested in raiding cargo here. They want to take the entire place over!

* We mainly use Trains for our jobs. For the more experienced pilots on high-volume routes we may grant them a Crane-class, but that's somewhat rare as they are very expensive to produce. The standard Heron-class train consists of a tractor and container linkage, usually a top/bottom assembly. The larger the train, the larger the strain on the engines and linkage, so the more expensive the ship becomes.

* When Belfast was taken over by the Mollys - oh, excuse me, "abandoned", Scarborough became the nearest place to that Molly hive. We've faced an increasing number of attacks ever since. We've requested that the Armed Forces place a few weapon platforms to provide more defense, but so far they haven't come through. I suppose having the Ark Royal here reduces the urgency for them, though.

* South Shields Refinery is in a precarious position. The IMG have worked out some kind of deal with Gallia so that the Gallic Navy leaves IMG operations alone, but we're still supposed to think that they are no threat to Bretonia's security. As far as I'm concerned, I've had enough with the IMG wanting to have their crumpets and eat them too. Either they're with us, or they're against us. If they're against us, then we should take their stations over.

* Bowex always welcomes us with free drinks here. Too bad the rest of Bretonia doesn't appreciate the Armed Forces this much. Funny thing, though: I don't run into many Bowex security pilots on the station. They must run more rigorous patrols than we do to keep their pilots so busy. Either that or their own security rather leaves something to be desired.

* South Shields isn't especially worth much to Bretonia anyway. Cardiff, on the other hand, could really help the war effort. I don't have any great love for BMM, but I'd still rather see loyal Bretonians running a vital industry rather than shifty neutrals who you can't trust. The IMG wanted to be free from Bretonia anyway, so why should they exploit the nation's resources for their own gain?

* All of us based off the Ark Royal are really glad that Scarborough is so close by. The swill that passes for liqour on an Armed Forces battleship smells like what gets washed off a Gaian when he gets tossed in the tank for delousing prior to going into the brig. Bowex doesn't skimp on the good stuff, and I'm glad for it, even if it does cut into my paycheck. Morale has a price too I suppose, heh.

* Belfast is a blight on Bretonia. I can't understand why the Ark Royal failed to boot those ruffians from the station when they took it in the first place. The fleet must have been caught off-guard, for even that entire station isn't a threat to a Battleship. With the loss of Leeds and the Mollys not exactly in a cooperative mood, I dare say it may be time for some... agressive negotiations concerning the return of that station to Bretonian control.

* Finally things livened up again around here. When the Mollys were flirting with peace, all you could peg here was the occasional Outcast or Gaian, not worth a whole lot. But now that those ruffians have decided to fly their true colors again, I'm back in business. Popped four of 'em yesterday, so I can afford the Bretonian Stout for a while!

* Scarborough and Belfast were initially intended to be a chain of stations - resources mined from Middlesbrough would be converted to Basic Alloys and Hull Panels on Belfast itself, then shipped over to Scarborough for shipbuilding. That all went to hell when the Mollys managed to take it over. I do hope the Mollys decide to side with Gallia - that'd give the government all the reason they need to forcefully take that station back from them. Even without it, they'll have to sooner or later - without Leeds, we'll need the resources from Middlesbrough to keep the fleet operational.

* The loss of Leeds has been hard on all of Bretonia. I doubt even those IMG and Gateway fellows over on yon South Shields have been left unaffected. In the short term, we'll not feel the loss as harshly - BMM and Bretonia as a whole has had half a decade to prepare for this. But we have got to take Leeds back if we're to have any hope of beating Gallia back - if they can restart the factories on Leeds they'll have no problems maintaining their ships right on the frontline. That'd be the end of Bretonia.

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