Falkland Base

CLASS: Tautona

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 220

The Independent Mining Guild (IMG) established Falkland Base on an asteroid in the Tau-37 system soon after the construction of Freeport 10. Falkland has easy access to the rich deposits of Niobium in the system, a mineral rare enough to make the high-risk effort involved in mining and transporting it back to the colonies extremely profitable. However, Falkland and other IMG operations are subject to frequent attacks by the Outcasts, making life aboard the base a dangerous proposition at best. In the IMG, Falkland has a reputation of being an operation that attracts miners who enjoy to live on the edge. The miners who sign up on Falkland leave either rich, or dead.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Zoners

* Bounty Hunters Guild

## News

This shift has been particularly evident in recent events, as the Corsairs grow increasingly assertive across the Omegas. A stark example of this newfound vigor occurred when the famed space bazaar, the Battleship Hood in Dublin, met a merciless end at the hands of a Corsair battlecruiser. Furthermore, the once-unassailable Red Hessians now find themselves locked in a fierce struggle to safeguard their positions in the Dresden system against the relentless advance of the Rheinland Military.
The Corsairs appear poised to intensify their pressure on all independent and free-spirited individuals in the Omega Region, spurred on by the defeatist sentiments expressed by certain Zoners and independent miners who might consider Corsair protection if it promises safety.
Despite the imposing presence of our pivotal IMG station, Freistadt Base in Omega 7, which remains under the watchful guardianship of the formidable Elbe Border Fortress, the situation in the deeper reaches of the Omegas portends increasing complexity in the years ahead. Combined with the diminishing influence of Bretonia in the region and the resurgent Rheinland's efforts to reclaim its lost Dresden system, the Corsairs' audacious pursuits are set to escalate.

Within a month of the IMG's plea, the political leadership of the Crayter Republic unanimously concurred on the imperative need for assistance. Simultaneously, several of our courageous pilots volunteered to become supply carriers destined for the strife-torn planet Malta. While executing cargo operations in the perilous Omicron Alpha system posed a grave risk, the opportunity to strike a significant blow against the Outcasts on their home turf was deemed too compelling to forego.
In tandem with the preparations for breaching Outcast defenses on planet Malta, our fleet took the bold step of extending emergency military support to the IMG at Falkland Base. The ultimate objective: to drive the Outcasts out of the Tau-37 system once and for all.

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.

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.

## Rumors

* The IMG freighter Barossa is believed to have been ambushed by the Outcasts in the Malvinas Cloud while making a routine shipment of Niobium to Java. The Outcasts left the ship adrift after the fight, as a warning to others in the system. The Outcasts have no need for Niobium, so the ship might still have it's cargo.

* The richest deposits of Niobium aren't directly around this base but further northwest. The Outcasts know this as well, and have been looking for our base in that direction as a result. Their raiders are also much more numerous in that field, so watch your back if you go there.

* Falkland is supplied almost entirely by the Zoner base in this system. We can't make supply runs too frequently for fear of being discovered by the Outcasts, and when we do we send our best pilots

* Niobium mining is the only thing we are here for, and the only thing we are concerned with. That, and staying alive long enough so that we make enough to get out. Basic supplies come from the Freeport and from Java, but we have to stockpile a bit since you never know when the Outcasts might take out a shipment.

* My brother works for BMM. There is no way I would ever do that work. BMM will work you to death and then dock your pay for sleeping on the job when you keel over. I've got my pride. I don't need some damn overseer yelling at me about corporate profits and what not. It's just me, the Niob and the Outcasts out here. And the Outcasts you can shoot back at.

* This base can't last. It is too remote, even for the Guild. If the Outcasts ever attack it in force there'll be nothing we can do. We don't have the number of ships that they have, and we can't call in a house navy like BMM would. I hope there's an evacuation plan, or there's going to be hundreds of dead miners when the time comes. I also hope I'll be long gone by then.

* Some dirty Bounty Hunter paid me for poor old Rodney's ship identifier. I didn't know the jerk would use it right here in this system; I thought he'd be setting traps somewhere else. If they find out I'm the one who sold it to him, the other miners are going to kill me.

* The Bounty Hunters are often a valuable decoy. They've tried to patsy us for their activities a few times, but I don't think they know we use them as well. A few well-placed rumors on Freeport 10 can cause Hunters and Outcasts to clash at a position of our choosing, which distracts them long enough for one of our convoys to slip through. Most of the time.

* There's two kinds of miners on Falkland. Those who have no choice, and those who have no fear. Those who have no choice come only for the credits. If they live long enough to make what they need, they'll run back to the colonies. Those who have no fear never leave Tau-37. Eventually the Outcasts see to that. How long they survive depends on how well they handle themselves in space combat.

* This place is as far away as you can get from house space. We are in the middle of nowhere unless you count the Outcasts. Me, I don't give them lads any mind. If they kill us, then they kill us, a man doesn't control when his ticket gets punched.

* The slave revolt has been a tipping point in our struggle against the Outcasts here. And while the revolt did fail in ousting the maskers from their position of power entirely, it has leveled the playing field for the rest of us. We plan to send envoys to Freeport 10 as a show of support, together we might deter any acts of aggression the "victors" of this war might be planning.

* Mining Machinery is brought here from Java. If we are going to leave the system, we will take the Niobium we have mined and deliver it to Freeport 6, where it can be distributed.

* It's not for everyone, living on this base, under the constant threat of annihilation by the Outcasts. Were it not for the value and rarity of Niobium, noone in their right mind would have set up shop on the Outcasts doorstep. But we have.

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