Buffalo Base

CLASS: Leviathan

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Limited

CREW: 760

The Rogues are a product of over two centuries of systematic lower-class cleansing that occurred on the Liberty planets of Manhattan, Denver, and Los Angeles. Relocated to the Texas prison system, many of them end up planetside on Houston upon release. Some stayed straight and joined the population scratching out a living. The rest returned to their life of crime, often ending up vaporized by a pursuing Liberty police patrol or back in prison for longer stretches, manning the prison factories that are the economic lifeblood of the Texas system.

Some say the massive LPI roundups of even minor offenders in Liberty have more to do with staffing these plants cheaply than reducing crime. Fresh out of the incubator of the Texas prison system, they have limited choices. Either they work in the factories of Houston for a pittance, join the Bounty Hunters and hunt down their former brethren, go radical and hook up with the Xenos, or rejoin their former partners in crime. The latter path is the obvious one for most. Simply put, these are not-too-quick opportunists, people willing to do whatever it takes to make a buck and get by until tomorrow. Usually they end up taking the fall for anything illegal that occurs in Liberty, whether they were involved or not.

The Rogues were initially a disorganized lot, but over the last century have slowly evolved into quite a highly organised collection of criminals. They are responsible for most of the Trade Lane attacks in Liberty space and the adjacent Independent Worlds, usually operating in groups of three or more ships, utilising a variety of tactics that generally revolve around blasting their unsuspecting targets with overcharged laser weapons. They occasionally provide shelter for the Outcasts in exchange for Cardamine, but they are not averse to dealing in the artifacts trade either. The main Rogue ethos seems to be to make money however possible, regardless of how low or uncivilized their actions may be.

Buffalo Base is the original Liberty Rogue hideout, deep in the badlands of the New York system. Constructed in 672 AS by malcontents from Houston and Manhattan, it has served as the main operations centre for the Rogues across the entire of Liberty. With the authorities loathe to patrol or pursue suspects within the confines of the extremely dangerous Badlands, Buffalo Base is the safest criminal hideout in New York.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Liberty Rogues
* Outcasts

* Liberty Rogues

## News

Once they had captured the Outcast, the Rogues broadcast a message to their cartel, threatening to kill the hostage unless they were promised regular Cardamine shipments to keep turning a profit. The response was quick, and far more brutal than they could have anticipated. All six of the Rogues were found killed after several days of silence, with no Outcast hostage in sight. While it is unclear exactly what happened, the message was very clear to any who might tug at the Outcast leash; the reprisals would be unforgiving, and serve as a reminder that anyone can be replaced.
While many other Rogue groups have sought to distance themselves from the actions of the young and brash, grumbles of discontent have nonetheless been heard around our bars and bunks, and it is unclear if this is truly the last we will hear of conflict between us and the Outcasts.

The Outcasts and their most loyal agents stepped in almost immediately in anticipation of something like this happening, and set new rules for distribution according to set keys. A small group of Liberty Rogues defied them and followed their own rules of distribution, but they didn't fare too well - the Dons, despite the ongoing crisis in Malta, do not tolerate insubordination.
For this reason, several powerful Junkers and Rogues immediately decided to dilute Cardamine instead of redistributing ostentatiously against the wishes of the Outcasts at the expense of their clients, thereby raising their own shares. Fortunately for these savvy businessmen, word did not reach the Outcasts until some time later, and thanks to an improved network of cooperation, most of the organizers were able evade Malta's assassins.
However, all these measures had only limited effectiveness. Many end-clients and casual Cardamine users have been forced to seek medical attention due to their deteriorating health due to potentially fatal withdrawal symptoms. It is not known how many Cardamine users eventually died because of the shortage, but it appears to be in the order of single-digit percentages - much to the very verbal displeasure of the Outcasts themselves.

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.

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.

In the video, a number of restrained people that have been identified as former residents of Planet Vespucci, board a Dromedary-class vessel registered to a freelance trader Vincent Ruthen. They are under supervision from several LPI officers, who exchange words with the ship's crew. Private investigators have trailed the ship, determining that it did not land at its purported destination of Gas Miner Naha in the Sigma-13, instead electing to travel away from civilized space into the Edge Worlds. The people aboard it have effectively vanished from the colonies.
This is the latest case in a streak of such disappearances, with investigators estimating as high as ten percent of all inmates thought to be awaiting their trial in LPI internment camps have been covertly shipped off-world for unknown reasons. The fate of these people is yet unclear, but theories range from secret trials to unethical experiments aboard Atka. Outraged by what is apparently an LPI-sanctioned human trafficking operation, protesters flooded the streets and had to be dispersed by police riot control squads.
A Liberty Police official has denounced allegations of corruption, stating that "All interned personnel are secured and all prisoner transfers have been done within the framework of the legal code". He refused to comment on the evidence presented, dismissing it as "slanderous fabrication against the good, hard-working officers of Liberty law". Meanwhile, political opposition already promises increased oversight over the law enforcement corporation for the next election cycle.

For some time, it had been alleged that Insurgent and Xeno-backed cells had been stirring trouble on Erie, inciting violence in the population and seeking to turn the planet into a second Veracruz. Never, however, had such open acts of terror been visited upon the governing Libertonian forces.
The response was quick and decisive. In coordination with the LSF, Vice Admiral Hamish aboard the Battleship Alma lead a Liberty Navy task force directly into the system in Operation Pesticide, escorted primarily by Siege Cruisers, Gunboats and fightercraft, with many of the Navy's capital warships tied in the Vespucci campaign or ever watchful at Liberty's borders. They were met by Zoner Q-ships based from Bethlehem, with many coming from as far as Galileo or even the Sigmas, accompanied by a motley assortment of freelancers and other anarchist elements. Leading the Zoner line was a Aquilon-class carrier, the Pinnacle.
While the Pinnacle came under heavy bombardment from the Alma and her task force, supplies quickly gathered onto Zoner transports from Erie attempted to run the Navy blockade. While some transports were lost to Navy bombers, others yet escaped to parts as of yet unknown. This 'victory', however, came at a heavy price. The Pinnacle was lost with most of her hands still on board and the rest captured, while the Liberty Marines landed virtually unopposed, quickly securing population centers for both the safety of Libertonian assets and the civilians on Erie itself. The Alma is settled now into the low orbit of Erie, a constant reminder to those below that they are under the protection of the Liberty Navy. A comfort to some, a dire warning to many more.

It is widely speculated that the recent surge taking place in the Kansas system is related. The oddly self named Insurgency has long been categorized as a "Domestic Paramilitary Organization" that is of extremist political nature, in effect making them Liberty citizens with rights as such. The Act recategorizes them as a "Foreign Supported Terrorist Organization", a drastic shift in political standing. Sources have speculated the move is related to the Bering operation that precipitated the formation of the Insurgency as the root cause of the change in policy. Despite considerable cost both monetarily and in terms of material, the operation failed to expunge the organization to the desired level. The Act comes a considerable spending package for future operations and gives free rein to Liberty Navy admirals to take necessary measures to properly remove the long-standing issue.

## Rumors

* There's always traffic headed to and from Trenton and Newark station, plus Manhattan and Pittsburgh. You'll encounter attack squadrons all over New York space, and they all come back here. This base is a place for us to refit our ships, lay low between sorties, and enjoy Cardamine when we're not popping freighters.

* I just got out of Sugarland; they had me making toys in that hellhole. It's messed up, we get locked away for a stretch and they force us to earn them money making crap for families and kids. If I ever see another one of them Space Jumper Happy Bears I'm gonna blow a hole in its forehead.

* We take incoming shipments of Slaves from Pittsburgh and make the suicide run across the California system to Cortez. Many a shipment's been lost en route. Those Outcasts just don't get how hard it is to dodge all those Bounty Hunters and the LPI.

* Last week a buddy of mine got his ship cracked open by a Liberty military patrol. He hung around a pirated ship too long trying to get all the salvage he could. Sometimes it's the greed that kills you. When you hit a shipment, grab what you can, then bury the throttle and get out of there.

* The Flint didn't make it from Buffalo to Rochester on a routine Cardamine smuggling run several weeks ago. There was no distress call, no reports of LPI or Navy interdiction heard on comms. It probably hit an asteroid somewhere in the western quadrant of the Badlands, off of the regular patrol routes.

* Cardamine shipments are done to half of what they used to be, it's causing us tons of trouble with the Junkers. Everytime I make the burn to Rochester now, I get my ears full about how dead customers won't pay, and that we won't make any new ones by not ensuring steady supply. What do they think I am? Some kind of miracle worker? It's not up to me how much of this stuff makes it here.

* The H-Fuel run to Rochester is kind of like your Rogue graduation test. If you make it, you're ready to take on the Independent Worlds. Navy's waiting by West Point for smugglers -- so is the LPI in the north. Of course, the Xenos are also a wildcard.

* We get most of our supplies from Beaumont because it's actually safer to hit the Jump Hole into Texas. The Junker base is right on the other side of the Jump Hole in a debris field, plus we don't have to leave the cover of the Badlands on our side. It's all about the cover; we try and expose ourselves as little as possible.

* We smuggle stolen H-Fuel to Fort McMurray from here. It's a tough run that we usually only give to our most senior smugglers with the best ships.

* We're Side Arm central. We ship them to Beaumont, Alcatraz, Montezuma, Fort McMurray and Dawson from here -- pretty much the entire Rogue world of bases.

* The Rogues are annoying at times, but serve our purposes well. If Liberty becomes weakened enough by Cardamine addiction, we will no longer need them, as we will be able to enter the rest of the New York system ourselves.

* We have stopovers in Trafalgar, Mactan, and Montezuma on our journey in from Tau-23. If you want to make big money in the Cardamine business, you need to work your way up the stream a bit from here.

* This is the end of the road for Cardamine shipments, at least as far as we're concerned.

* Rochester ships black market H-Fuel to Manhattan. It's all stolen property that we are selling back to the very people who owned it in the first place.

* This is a very cheap place for us to purchase Side Arms for our bases far out in the Edge Worlds. The Rogues bring them across New York for us.

*NOTE: Page generated on the 28/10/2023 at 17:59:46 UTC*