Ames Research Station

CLASS: Cochrane

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Restricted

AMENITIES: Limited

POPULATION: 200

The Ames Research Station was originally established in 550 AS to study the movements of the strange clouds of dark matter in the system. The station is now largely occupied by Zoners, but a contingent of Deep Space Engineering support staff remains aboard.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Synth Foods, Inc.
* Universal Shipping
* Bounty Hunters Guild
* Samura Industries
* Zoners
* Lane Hackers
* Xenos

## Commodities

* Water
* Food Rations
* H-Fuel
* Pharmaceuticals
* Consumer Goods
* Engine Components

## Rumors

* The Lane Hackers in this system are former Ageira personnel who got panned after the Kepler Storm scandal cost IC and Ageira an untold fortune. Now they are making Ageira and IC pay an even dearer price for making them take the fall.
* If you're looking for Xenos, you’ll find them in the Denko Cloud on the western side of this system. If you keep going southwest past the cloud, you might run into a Jump Hole leading into Colorado.
* This system and Galileo are as far north as I like to go unless I'm cruising up along the Edge Worlds. I don’t like going into Kusari space, and the Kusari don’t like me there either. Their word for non-Kusari is Gaijin, which means outsider or stranger.
* In the east of this system between the Kuryo and Matsuo Clouds, you can find a Jump Hole leading to Galileo -- and Hacker territory.
* Xenos do a lot of their pirating in Colorado. You’ll find Lane Hackers there, too. Going north into Shikoku and beyond, you will run into the Kusari criminals such as the Golden Chrysanthemums, Blood Dragons, and Hogosha.
* The Samura armored transport Nikko Maru was carrying Luxury Goods from Manhattan to New Tokyo when it was caught in the Dark Matter Storm of 784. It lies somewhere in the Matsuo Cloud along the abandoned Trade Lane.

* The Ames Independent Research Station was established in 550 to study the Kuryo Anomaly in preparation for the construction of Trade Lanes by Deep Space Engineering. Jump Gates couldn't bypass this system because of the danger in traversing the dark matter clouds of the Anomaly -- a lesson painfully learned in the Texas Incident.
* Lane Hackers partly owe their origin to the Ames Research studies, which predicted that a huge storm would disrupt the system in 680. On the advice of Ageira technicians, Liberty financed a costly alternative Trade Lane through Galileo. When the storm didn't materialize, Ageira tried to redeem itself by ruthlessly ousting an elite development team and several executives, who re-emerged as the core of the northern Lane Hackers.
* The criminals in the area use our base as a supply point. Lane Hackers and Xenos come here to buy various supplies.
* The Zoners occupied the research station soon after it was opened and eventually took over its operation when the research phase was complete. It's a difficult place, as the clouds are constantly on the move and could someday engulf the Freeport.
* There’s an old Trade Lane route through this system that was damaged during a storm around 20 years ago. People say there are some old shipwrecks along it.
* Beware of the dark matter clouds. They have radiation and hide criminals. The Matsuo Cloud is named after the original Kusari explorer of this area, long before Jump Gates and Trade Lanes.
* The Trade Lane path through the sister system of Kepler, Galileo, was constructed mainly as an insurance policy in case the Kepler Trade Lane was ever severed, something that Liberty and Kusari could not allow to happen.
* We sell the Xenos the supplies they need. They're different from us -- that’s certain -- but we try and get along with everybody. They've been making trouble for Kusari shipping, and I’ve heard that the Kusari military has been vaporizing them here and there. But they keep coming and getting their supplies.
* The Bounty Hunters here are a rough lot. I heard them joking about how they killed a group of Xenos in the Denko Cloud a few days ago. It sounds like Bounty Hunters really enjoy doing their job; it’s just frightening how much they enjoy it.
* Xenos won’t mess with Liberty too much. They are more concerned with foreigners coming into Liberty space, so that's who they tend to attack. They've been squeezed hard in Colorado, which explains why they've set up a base here in Kepler.
* The Samura armored transport Nikko Maru was carrying Luxury Goods from Manhattan to New Tokyo when it was caught in the Dark Matter Storm of 784. It lies somewhere in the Matsuo Cloud along the abandoned Trade Lane.
* The Charles Kane and its escorts were ambushed in the Roatan Ice Crystal Cloud several weeks ago, probably by Rogues or Lane Hackers. They commandeered the ship and flew it further into the cloud. Several Bounty Hunters happened upon the hijacked ship, and a fierce firefight ensued. Only one limped back to tell the tale. She said the ship was still out there in the cloud, abandoned and drifting with the field.
* The Kobe Maru was making its weekly Artifact run across the Shikoku system when it was ambushed by the Blood Dragons. The ship is presumed destroyed, and its whereabouts are unknown, although it’s been rumored to be drifting somewhere in the Shiun Cloud.

* The Jump Hole to Galileo is directly between the edges of the Kuryo and Matsuo Clouds. Aim for the gap and you won't miss it.
* We like to hit Niobium and other high-value shipments coming through this system. Unfortunately, the misguided Xenos and scumbag Bounty Hunters are often lurking, so we have to be careful -- especially when we leave the no-fire zone around the station.

* I just made the run from Denver with some Pharmaceuticals. I'm turning around and heading right back out before any of the bad guys have time to set up anything. They prefer stealing their drugs to buying them. Then they usually torch the ship anyway, just for grins.
* I'm a pilot for the Universal ships that come through this area. They usually just need me on the stretch from Deshima to Ames, with the clouds and all. It can get really bad through here. Depends on how hungry the Hackers are. They tend to strike from the east side of the Trade Lanes, Xenos from the west. They don't bother us much.

* We share this system with those posh Lane Hackers. They attract the Liberty Navy 'cause Ageira despises them. It's a nice dark system -- lots of places to hide. But you gotta have a decent shield if you want to hang out in the clouds 'cause of all the radiation from that dark matter, or whatever they call it.
* Samura and Kishiro make lots of supply runs through here, inbound for Colorado. Universal makes Side Arm shipments sometimes; that's the only time we get interested in Liberty shipping.