BPA Newgate

CLASS: Whitechapel

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Restricted

AMENITIES: None

CREW: 740

INMATES: 62430

The BPA Newgate is a deep-max penitentiary, specially built as a high-security prison for those inmates deemed too risky to house on inhabited planets -- usually serial felons, terrorists, and escape artists. Not only do several meters of armored plate stand between Her Majesty's guests and freedom, but a thousand miles of hard vacuum in every direction provide an effective deterrent to escape. The Newgate is also the headquarters for the Bretonia Police Authority in the system, and is usually host to more than a few bounty hunters.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Border World Exports
* Bounty Hunters Guild
* BMM
* Ageira Technologies

* 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.

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.

## Rumors

* The guards who work this prison are the best in Bretonia. Most of them are incorruptible, though there are always bad apples. One crooked guard is now serving time here for delivering George Good's orders. He's the leader of one of the New London crime syndicates. I doubt he'll serve his sentence. Cops don't survive in prisons. But that's the risk he took I guess.

* Ever hear of Willy "The Snake" Logan? He's the prisoner some say escaped off this hulk. Me, I don't buy it. I say his corpse is out floating around somewhere in the vac-suit he fashioned. You can't go far without a spacecraft. It's six hours at least to the nearest station without a cruise engine. A vac-suit has four hours of air. You do the math.

* The inmates aboard this ship are considered so dangerous that all guards have the right to shoot and kill any prisoner at any time. That may seem somewhat brutal, but it is necessary to maintain order among so many violent felons. It also helps keep the guards alive. Despite that rule, we don't need to exercise deadly violence that often. Once a week at most, which considering the lot that is incarcerated here, isn't much.

* Mollys don't attack this base as much as they used to now that we have installed weapon platforms and a minefield along the Newgate's perimeter. The current problem is that they try to rescue their captured comrades by attacking the convoys headed into the base. We try to escort them, but the run from Sheffield to Newgate remains a very risky one for both Bowex and ourselves.

* Aye, the Mollys aboard this ship are a mean lot, but the main problem is the free ones who keep trying to liberate their fellows. The worst attempt I can remember was about two years ago when one of the attackers' missiles penetrated the hull and a whole cell block underwent explosive decompression. Everyone in there died, including guards and prisoners. Corsair prisoners...

* The prisoners do not cross Mollys aboard this ship, especially the Mollys that carry the Maguire spike. That weapon is a filed down metal splinter, and the Mollys are not afraid to use it on both other inmates and the guards alike. When we found one on an inmate last week, the guard shot him on the spot.

* Some of the guards here used to know Willy Logan. He was an escape artist who some people say busted out of the Newgate. Maybe he did. His cell mate says that the vac-suit he made looked pretty good. The closest base sure is a long way to go using a stolen fire extinguisher as propulsion. If he made it, he's the only one who's done it to date.

* We try to keep the Mollys separated on this ship. Anytime you have more than two of them together, trouble is just around the corner. We learned this only after three of them killed two guards, stole their weapons, and tried to fight their way to the bridge. Spacing the corridor they were in put a stop to that of course, we have means to ensure that riots are contained. The vacuum outside is an effective deterrent.

* Sheffield is a large distribution point for Commodities in Bretonia, and a clearing house for traffic bound to and from Liberty. Since it is so close, we bring basic supplies to this base from there. It's a simple run, but still requires a heavy escort because of the Mollys that will ambush ships travelling to Newgate.

* The runs that I make for Bowex are the only ones that bring supplies to this base from outside of Manchester. Pharmaceuticals from Cambridge are shipped regularly to this base. We also ship in Synth Paste from Los Angeles.

* We use a lot of Oxygen and Water at this base, so Bowex ships extras from Birmingham. The BMM mining operations produce a large surplus of these because those are byproducts from their hydrocarbon extraction from dirty ice.

* I used to collect lots of bounties on the Mollys who'd attack this prison, trying to free their mates. Not anymore. I hang out at this base to hear about incoming convoys of newly captured prisoners. That's where they try to make the breaks these days. And that's when I go for them. Best time is to hit them while they're already dealing with the convoy escorts. Prevents you from getting swarmed.

* My first trip to the Newgate I spent some time wearing a number. I decided then to go straight. After I finished serving my time I knew I'd never come back -- not as a prisoner at least. The Bounty Hunters Guild takes in a lot of ex-cons. Guys like us have the skills to survive and the attitude to get the job done, no matter what.

* I haven't really put many inmates in this prison; that's more of a police job. The chaps that I've collected my bounties on are dead. It's just easier like that and that's how most companies prefer 'em. Judging from the state of this place, I've done my marks a favor by killing 'em outright.

* If you find Mollys in this system, they are either sitting here doing time or they came through the Leeds Jump Hole. That Hole is tucked away nicely in the Birmingham Ice Field.

* I sat down at a bar in Freeport 4 once and met the only man to escape from this prison -- Willy Logan. It took him ten years to make his vac-suit, and then he escaped through the waste disposal system and was flushed into space with the garbage. His buddies had hidden a small shuttle on a dud mine. Took him less then an hour to reach safety. Takes some stones to head out in a selfbuilt vac-suit though.

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