Ciutadella Outpost

CLASS: Menorca

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 250

The Corsairs first detected the AI of Planet Gammu almost a century ago as they emerged from their mysterious underground cities. The machines would only respond aggressively when provoked, leading most Corsairs to avoid them when possible, unwilling to trigger a conflict with unknowable consequences. Despite this, concern would grow on Crete in 810 AS following a sudden surge in AI activity across Kappa. Ciutadella was rapidly constructed as a monitoring station in response.

Following the completion of Yaren Base in Omicron Delta, Ciutadella's squadrons would frequently scramble to chase off AI drones who were shadowing Corsair Iridium transports and pulsing garbled transmission bursts. When these transmissions were later studied by Order analysts based on Crete, they were discovered to be using extensively modified Western Alliance encoding. Using preserved records from the Hispania as a reference point, the first meaningful communications were established with Kappa's AI drones.

Ciutadella's role would change significantly following the Corsair expulsion from Omicron Delta in 822 AS. No longer needed as a supply relay, the station would instead be responsible for blocking any potential Nomad or Core advance on Gamma. When these invasions failed to materialise over the following years and with eventual collapse of Delta jump hole, Ciutadella's garrison was steadily eroded away. As Corsair operations intensified elsewhere, many believed the station had outlived its purpose and could be decommissioned.

Spared only by lingering paranoia about the Gammu AI's intentions, Ciutadella would continue with a skeleton crew up until the Core invasion of 832 AS. Without the forces to meaningfully intervene, the Corsairs have observed while the Core launched a lightning assault on Planet Gammu, subjugating or expelling the machines there. Despite urgent calls for reinforcements, the Corsairs have little left to spare, owing to their large expeditionary attacks in Dublin and Dresden, and the deteriorating situation in Omicron Theta.

## News

They cowardly waited for our forces to be dispersed between various theaters, the latest one being the Outcast return to Omicron Theta, and took advantage of our inability to crush them like the pests they are.
Special orders were relayed to Battleship Delos in Theta to coordinate additional patrols in the Amarus Cloud to interfere with their shipments of Gammu materials as much as possible.

The Elders have authorised the deployment of elements of the Omicron Gamma defence fleet to respond to the Outcast invasion and secure our borders. These elite fighters are more than a match for the drug-addled Outcasts and will hold the line until the Northern and Southern Fleets complete their assignments in Dresden and Dublin.
The Battleship Delos has been dispatched to the system to coordinate our counter-attack and avenge the loss of the Fes. The Elders have announced that a great honor will be bestowed upon the pilots responsible for the destruction of the Outcast Battlecruiser Augusta.

The Zoners seem to have prevented this previously by importing Fertilizers from the Houses. Similarly, Crete, Leon and Cadiz are facing a shortage of Pharmaceuticals, complicating the treatment of our casualties. The Zoners now refuse to sell us these goods, so we must look elsewhere to obtain what we need.
The Elders have decreed that the raiding fleets are to redouble their efforts in Cambridge, and make new inroads into the Frankfurt system. Petra Base in Sigma 15 is to be reinforced, and the Fertilizer convoys from Planet Holstein treated as priority targets.
The Corsairs have always prized strength, and we have the strength to take what we need from the weak. Prosperity is there to be seized.

The death of Juan Garcia was but the latest in a line of killings by the Bounty Hunters Guild, abetted by the Zoners who provide them with safe harbor. The Elders have decided: no more. One opportunity was offered for the Zoners to make amends for their transgressions, and instead they chose to ignore our reasonable demands. Last night, Freeport 9 was boarded and the station administration placed under arrest.
From this day forward, the biodomes will provide exclusively for the Corsairs, and the docking bays will admit only those we allow. Fortunately, our ancient enemies the Outcasts appear to be preoccupied with a self-inflicted revolt on their poisonous planet. By the time they turn their focus back to the Omicrons, we will be secure in our conquest.

Professor Nagel and her team are certain the Pulse originated from outside Sirius, but are otherwise no closer to identifying its source or mitigating a future Blackout event. "Following the Blackout, we began to see immediate signs of jump hole destabilization in multiple different regions, with many ultimately falling out of phase alignment altogether", she commented. The dramatic upending of Sirius' jump hole network has already prompted many groups to abandon stations and withdraw from systems that appear to risk being cut off.
While months-long trips between the stars are possible thanks to the Liberty Engine and many centuries of innovation, few ships are designed or provisioned to make such arduous journeys. Those who were displaced by Sirius' redrawn map hope that system connections will return, while adventurers and explorers rush to discover new routes.

For decades the Zoners of Freeport 9 have kept themselves safe from Corsair reprisals by offering useful services, with their biodomes providing Crete with respite from the famines that once ravished it. Despite this, outrage has swept Omicron Gamma after a flight of Hunters killed Commander Juan Garcia, before retreating back to the No Fire Zones of Omicron Theta.
The Council of Elders have ordered the administrator of Freeport 9 to attend Planet Crete to hear their demands. Elder Garcia has vowed that the station's halls would "run red with blood" unless the Zoners turned over all BHG aboard the Freeport. The Zoners are yet to respond, likely trying to anticipate how the Corsairs will react.

The Corsairs see the Pygar colony as a direct competitor for the region's scarce resources, with Elder Garcia warning that there would be "dire consequences" should Freeport 9's biodomes reduce or divert their exports to Planet Crete. Whispers of alien ruins and Artifacts discovered below Pygar's surface may also antagonize the Corsairs, who rely on the Artifact trade as a source of wealth. The hardship of Pygar's extreme conditions and the uneasy relationship with the Corsairs has already led many colonists to consider a return to the now liberated Gran Canaria.

In his later years, Montoya would act as a steadying hand on the Council of Elders, counseling against rash decisions and reckless action. The Council has since inducted Elder Rosita Garcia to their number. As she commemorated the launch of the Battlecruiser Santander, she declared that "Sirius shall be set alight as a pyre in Montoya's honor". The Santander and its squadrons have been dispatched to pillage Bretonia.

"The standing Navy of the Corsair Empire as well as its irregular raiders must do everything within their means to break existing stalemates or make progress. The enemies of Crete have grown arrogant and take for granted that Corsair offensives have lost their steam, this is an assessment which must be proved woefully wrong."
In response to these express instructions, activity across every Corsair installation has intensified to levels that suggest substantial mobilization.

## Rumors

* As the number of captured ships grew, we realized that a shipyard was needed to repair damaged vessels and build ships from stolen components and spare parts. We began to gather modules together and steal the goods necessary for the construction of this shipyard, which you can see is quite operational.

* Gammu treasures belong to Crete by birthright! Core has no business being here and we'll see to it that they don't stay here for long, mark my words!

* We kept requesting reinforcements from Crete but there were just none to send our way. Those Core bastards must have waited until we were too busy elsewhere to pull this off.

* Those bloody corporate lapdogs took over Gammu while we were forced to just watch, and because of the AI deployed minefields, we can't even attack them effectively. For now, we're just harassing their convoys with fighter wings. If all goes well, they'll just starve to death.

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