Birmingham Station

CLASS: Wellington

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Limited

CREW: 620

Prior to its destruction in the Gallic offensive of 825, Birmingham was a sizable ice processing facility run by BMM. With the war's end, Birmingham was the first destroyed station brought back into service, a symbol of the Bretonian people's recovery after over a decade of war and loss. With the Edinburgh system under Enclave occupation and the terraforming project on Ayr halted, the Bretonian Government began to look for alternatives. After careful consideration, Wight was chosen and the newly reconstructed Birmingham Station was handed to Planetform, Inc. to serve as a base for the terraforming project. Birmingham also continues to serve it's pre-war purpose, processing, storing, and transporting Methane, CO2, and Hydrocarbons mined from the nearby ice asteroids. The bulk of Birmingham's output is earmarked for the Wight Terraforming Project, though excess production is often sold to customers in Bretonia and Liberty to generate much-needed revenue.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

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

* 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

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