Shinkaku Station

CLASS: Nobunaga

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 610

Shinkaku Station was built in 602 AS to provide Kusari corporate giant Samura access to the abundant ammonia, water, and "dirty" ice fields present in the system. From these raw materials, Shinkaku produces the valuable Hydrocarbons and HydroGro Fertilizers that Samura needs to remain competitive with Liberty food giant Synth Foods. However, the frequent attacks on Samura operations throughout the system by the Outcasts have made extra security a necessary measure.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Farmers Alliance
* Samura Industries

* Hogosha

## News

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.

At present, no house stands to conclusively fill the vacuum of power in the Taus, clouding the future to secure exploitation of its rich natural resources in ambiguity. Following the withdrawal of Kusari from Tau-23 after the final confrontation in Languedoc, the lanes within the system seem to have been subject to sabotage, and Gallia has released a public statement that Orkney would instead be favored over Tau-23 for the route to Tau-31, likely owing to Orkney being the last major Tau system that Gallia holds bases in. Niobium futures have ballooned in response to plummeting consumer confidence in stable Niobium extraction, resulting in vicious multinational corporate and paramilitary competition over Tau resource exploitation. The Taus are now a lawless battleground of conflicting corporate interests, small scale military skirmishes, and pirate incursions, all scrambling for a piece of Niobium.
Given the thorough depletion of military might and expansionist ambitions in the surrounding devastated houses, chances are low that the Taus will find themselves tamed by a lawful house in the foreseeable future.

"The Surveyor is more than just a ship, it's a symbol of ingenuity and industrial development to all the Sirian Colonies. It's a pattern that dates back to our origins in the Sol system, and it's a pattern that will persist for many generations to come. Just as we have adapted to meet new challenges, so too must the Surveyor to meet emergent needs."
The Next-Gen Surveyor is slated to roll out multiple updates ranging from technological optimizations to upgraded armor and firepower capabilities. Many of the new modifications directly address a recent study by the Sirius International Institute of Statistics and Economics, citing up to 32 percent losses by BMM and Kruger Minerals to piracy and related factors.
The ship's expanded armour increased the ship's mass by almost 50 percent, which forced Samura's Surveyor team to completely overhaul the ship's power delivery system, powerplant, and hull. The new ship utilizes a power delivery system integrated into the super-alloy frame. The integrated frame was torture tested at the Aso High Altitude Proving Grounds, and sports certifications as best in class for maneuvering with a load under high Gs.
Though time will tell whether the upgrade will prove successful in addressing the increase of piracy, the stock market has greeted the welcome news with a 15 point general increase, and a relative high for Samura and mining sector stocks.

## Rumors

* I'm sure Samura didn't know that they had built this base so close to one of the Outcast smuggling routes. We often see Outcasts at the edge of our sensor range. Sometimes they get intercepted by Bounty Hunters. If the Hunters succeed, we can expect an Outcast attack on our operations here not long afterwards.

* Unlike the agricultural habits of our sister colonies, Kusari largely focuses on Rice and Fisheries to sustain its population. Our planets are mostly water worlds - New Tokyo, Honshu, Junyo. There are few products that cater to hydroponic agriculture, and none that work on a planetary scale. We decided to develop our own.

* The Shinkaku field is rich in various organic substances. There are light Hydrocarbons such as Methane and Ethane mixed with Ammonia, all frozen in ice. We extract all these components by crushing the ice asteroids in space, then gathering up the ice dust in an unheated hold. Back on the station, the ice is heated and refined. In space, there is no gravity, so we use density differentiation to seperate the compounds. It is cheaper then thermal seperation.

* I signed up for a dangerous assignment when I began working for Samura. It is the only way to get promoted quickly in my company, and I am an excellent pilot. I am proud to supply those who were left behind. It is a just cause to supply the Exiles - our Kusari brothers who were betrayed and exiled by Kishiro. Who would have thought Kishiro would be capable of such treachery?

* Tau-29 was discovered shortly after 300 AS by a Kusari research expedition. They encountered large fields of Hydrocarbons, frozen Methane, and Oxygen frozen in ice. The system's abundance was staggering, yet these resources could not be fully exploited until the addition of jump gates. Now the trade lanes extend all the way to Bretonia, and into Tau-23. It would have heralded the coming of civilization to the sector - if it were not for all the war that followed.

* One of the reasons we are developing agricultural growth acceleration is to revitalise the exhausted fisheries on Junyo and Honshu. The fisheries were exhausted through pollution and overfishing, which caused not the fish stocks, but the plants and microorganisms that feed them to falter. HydroGro will revitalise those quickly. We have, for some time, experimented with using Alien Organisms to supplement fish stocks but there are some... side effects that makes us want to consider alternatives.

* This station uses the gases it mines in this field to produce our customized HydroGro hydroponic fertilizer, along with small quantities of other organic base products. We have to bring in Food and Mining Machinery from Kusari, but we produce a surplus of Water and Oxygen. We sometimes sell our surplus to Freeport 6.

* My brother is an accountant and cost estimator for our corporation. He told me that Samura was well aware of the danger associated with this system, and this field in particular because of its proximity to Outcast operations. The profits gained outnumber the expenses; human life is relatively cheap on a balance sheet. Pilots know what they sign up for when they accept a posting here. We pay them well, but we do not guarantee anyone's safety here.

* Welcome to the very edge of Kusari space. This is the last Kusari station in the Tau systems, and it has a reputation as such an outpost. There are no safe postings here. The Outcasts frequently attack this station, in force. We believe their aim is to destroy this station and thereby push the Kusari border back. They will fail of course, but their attacks inflict a great deal of damage.

* This system was once an extension of Kusari space rather than a Border World. It is unfortunate that Gallia intruded when they did. It was a complete waste of Kusari lives for us to have fought like we did. This is what happens when two prideful nations meet under these circumstances. Still, not all of Kusari was beaten. Something Gallia will eventually be reminded of.

* I get an opportunity to see my family on Junyo when I fly HydroGro there from this base. Then I pick up Mining Machinery at New Tokyo, or Rice from Kyushu for the return trip. Although the trip to this base from the Kyushu system is not long, it is very dangerous because the Outcasts try to attack us almost every time. It is like they know we are coming.

* We have no love for Gallia, but they are not the enemy here. Not now, in any event. We shall see what the future holds. Kusari needs time to rebuild, and to do so, it must remain free of conflict, and its industry must prosper. We are doing our part to that end.

* The defeat of the Kusari Navy has created a lot of problems for our citizens out here on the fringes of Kusari space. The Hogosha will live up to their name in these times. Kishiro may look to outsiders to come to their aid, but Samura is different. Kusari has never needed outsiders. It certainly doesn't need them now.

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