Ainu Depot

CLASS: Unknown

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Unknown

POPULATION: Unknown

Most scholars date the start of the group as the publication of Golden Chrysanthemum in Bloom in 642 AS. The author, Yuyu Matsuda, was a young but critically acclaimed poet. Charismatic and well-spoken, Matusda had a considerable following among young Kusari women who found their lives lacking in direction but were reluctant to become married and fulfill their traditional role in Kusari society.

Matsuda decried what she saw as the corruption of the Kusari male-dominated culture and preached a revolution led by the long-suffering women of Kusari. These ideas were eventually encapsulated in Golden Chrysanthemum in Bloom, in which Matsuda described a fictitious nation called Yomi. A place of fat, lazy male bureaucrats who handed out concessions at the whim of entrenched mega-corporations, Yomi was eventually engulfed in revolution and united under the rule of a benevolent Empress personally selected by the goddess Amaterasu to watch over her people.

Matsuda looked to the foreigners as a model, where women could be president and run corporations. The Chrysanthemum went on to become a best-seller. Unfortunately, in 648 AS, Matsuda crossed the dangerous line between ideas and actions when she was implicated in the botched assassination attempt of the planetary governor of Kyushu.

Rather than face the ignominy of imprisonment, Matsuda chose ritual suicide instead. An increase in attacks on government personnel and installations followed soon after. Neither as well armed as the Blood Dragons nor as influential as the Hogosha, the Golden C. have been more of an irritant to the government than an actual threat.

Unfortunately, any attempts to locate the Golden C. base or learn more about their organization has been thwarted by their willingness to die rather than talk. A Golden C. pilot will trigger her ship's self-destruction rather than be captured, and suicide attacks are common. Attempts to infiltrate the Golden C. have proven equally fruitless. On several occasions the Kusari government has received the finger of an undercover agent wrapped in a page from one of Matsuda's books.

The Kusari State Police keeps a watchful eye on the faction, but has been unable to completely control them. This is at least partly due to the assistance of the Blood Dragons, who have made use of the Golden C. base in Hokkaido as a rest stop on the long journey to the inner systems of Kusari. The Blood Dragons also share the group’s desire to overthrow the government and reform House Kusari, although perhaps using more sophisticated methods.

## Commodities

* Luxury Consumer Goods

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

## Rumors

* This is the fastest route for us to access Kyushu and Shikoku, but we must cross the Gap and dodge the military patrols in the Kayo Cloud. It has been a difficult battle, but I believe we will be victorious soon. Samura and the military will declare victory and abandon that absurd Gate project.
* Our base is in Chugoku, through the Jump Hole in the Kayo Cloud. If you want to bring us supplies, there is good money to be made. We especially need Pharmaceuticals.
* We use Ainu as our forward base from which to launch attacks into Kyushu. The Hole lies just south of us here. Our favorite targets are the Samura transports, at least if the police aren't around. On occasion, we have made assaults on the Nansei Research Center, but that is risky with the *Nagumo* so close by.
* We use Kyushu to access Shikoku, where many of our sisters and brothers are held unjustly in Fuchu prison by the government henchmen of Samura. There we must contend with the Hogosha, Bounty Hunters, the military, and police.
* The Golden Chrysanthemums believe that they have the next emperor -- excuse me, empress of Kusari back in a corner of the living deck in the form of a seven-year-old Kyushu girl. They're teaching her everything she needs to know to run the country. Good luck.
* I was once a Shibuya shopping girl in New Tokyo. Now I have purpose in my life. We will lead the women of Kusari to a new future, according to the teachings of Yuyu Matsuda, the martyred leader of our movement. Kusari males beware!
* The Shoki, part of a Blood Dragon raiding party in the Kyushu system, was intercepted and destroyed by the Kusari Naval Forces. Two of the three ships have been located and salvaged. The patrol leader’s ship, the Shoki, remains at large. It is believed to be somewhere in the western Ohka Dust Field, which is difficult for the Blood Dragons to operate in, given its close proximity to the Nagumo.
* Many Naval Forces fighters have been lost recently in skirmishes with the Blood Dragons. Due to the low visibility and difficult conditions in the cloud, some weapons could still remain on the ships in some of the more remote locations.

* The only place we can land in Kusari space is Roppongi. The foreigners find us more amusing than threatening, and tolerate our presence there. So we buy Luxury Goods in the boutiques onboard, and sell our Cardamine to the highest bidders in the bars scattered around the station.
* We are not numerous yet, but that will change as more of the oppressed women of Kusari tire of the old ways. As we speak, underground cells of the disaffected youth are being formed on all the home planets. We encourage them to visit foreign lands, try exotic foods, and experiment with many new ideas.
* We must occasionally make the long journey to Leiden in the Independent Worlds to sell Cardamine and buy supplies from the smelly foreigners. The Lane Hackers are strange, but not so bad once you get to know them. The Rogues are disgusting pigs. They always harass us in the bar.
* Once we are more established in Kusari, we will no longer need this hellish place. Samura puts much pressure on us. Only the assistance of the Blood Dragons has allowed us to survive at all out here.
* I graduated from New Tokyo University with a degree in Quantum Engineering. I found work at Samura pouring coffee for my male boss. When the Golden C. approached me at a Roppongi bar, I jumped at the chance to finally fight back for the women of Kusari.
* We buy our Cardamine from the Outcasts on Cali in the Tau-23 system. They are disturbing people -- always wearing those masks, but we need the Cardamine. It defines our cause and serves as an important security mechanism. All recruits of Matsuda must become addicted to the drug before they are allowed to become full-fledged members. This makes it difficult for the Kusari security forces to penetrate our cell. And of course, they are not women...
* We support the Blood Dragons as well as we can. They need access to our base to rest and resupply after crossing the Gap, or after long Kyushu raids. We do not share the same beliefs, but they are not incompatible. We are all devoted to the overthrow of the Kusari government.
* The Ohtori was escorting the Yukari Maru from Cali to Ainu when it was ambushed by a Naval Forces patrol crossing Kyushu. The cargo ship fled to safety while its escort turned to fight the attackers to the death. There are rumors that the Ohtori may be still intact somewhere in the Seiran Dust Cloud.