Montezuma Base

CLASS: Unknown

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Limited

POPULATION: Unknown

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 are generally a disorganized lot. They are responsible for most of the Trade Lane attacks in Liberty space and the adjacent Independent Worlds, usually operating in groups of only two or three ships, without much grasp of advanced tactics. They also provide shelter for the Outcasts in exchange for Cardamine. Recently they have become the smugglers for much of the Cardamine in Liberty space, supplementing or even replacing the Outcasts on certain high-risk routes. This has made them accomplices to the most persecuted criminal group in Liberty space. They admire the Outcasts, wishing they could be as smart and careful as the Edge World faction. But they regard the LPI as their ultimate masters, perhaps aware that soon they will probably be under the LPI's thumb once again.

The primary Rogue base is Buffalo, deep within the confines of the Badlands of New York. Secondary bases are in the Whitney Asteroid Field in California, the Reppu Cloud in Galileo, the Corcovado Field in Cortez, and the Wrangell Field in Hudson. Rogues are frequent visitors to Junker and Lane Hacker bases.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Liberty Rogues
* Outcasts

## Commodities

* H-Fuel
* Pharmaceuticals
* Consumer Goods
* Engine Components

* Cardamine
* Light Arms

## Rumors

* A lot of money flows into this system from Liberty and Bretonia. All the Manhattanites come to Curacao to drink and snob it up. Sometimes their luxury transports don’t always make it. And we are happy to lift the Commodities between the two Houses that cross our paths.
* We juice up on much of the Cardamine that the Outcasts bring here. They take the rest with them as they go into Liberty, or we send it out ourselves to pay for what we use. From here we ship Cardamine to Buffalo, Alcatraz, and Beaumont.
* When we head to Alcatraz to deliver Gold, we pick up Side Arms to bring back here. That way our esteemed guests can haul weaponry to the far edges of Sirius.
* There's a Jump Hole into California in the Paloma Ice Clouds just south of the Jump Gate. If you’re trying to move some illegals and wanna stay clean of the scans, then that’s the way to get into California.
* Things got a little frosty around here last week. An Outcast killed one of ours for accidentally alerting some Bounty Hunters to his location. When the Outcast landed, the kid's best friend stood up to the masker. The Outcast, without saying a word, pulled a Detroit Pocket Canon and blew him in half.
* The Gold we get from the Lane Hackers is shipped to Alcatraz. Eventually it will make its way into New York.
* Our base is fairly well hidden here in the Corcovado. It’s useful to know that there is a Jump Hole into Magellan in this ice cloud, too. From Magellan there’s a Jump Hole to Manchester, so you can cross into Bretonia space unscanned if you need to.
* I love seeing the Outcast ship landing on this base. Some folks get so excited when he drops the inbound call that they fly out to meet him. Once one our greeters blew the Outcast's cover and put a couple of Bounty Hunters on him. When the mask breather was done smoking the two Hunters, he vaped the poor kid, too. Things got worse when he landed.
* A few days ago, the Outcast ship Balboa was damaged by an LPI patrol that surprised it in the Tahoe Ice Cloud. It escaped its pursuers, but the failing control systems eventually caused it to hit an ice crystal and explode -- at least that’s what they’ve been able to piece together from radar and the pilot’s last words. The wreckage was scattered and drifted over a large area. The Cardamine cargo remains missing, probably still in the hold of the ship.

* We mainly use Montezuma as a forward tactical base to stage attacks on Trade Lanes in Cortez via the Jump Hole into California. We prefer the safety of the Barrier Clouds, whereas the Rogues will attack almost anywhere.
* We'd like to use the hotel on Curacao. Orbital Spa and Cruise wouldn't care if we did, but IC won't insure any Trade Lane shipping in this system. Besides, there are too many Bounty Hunters lurking around the hotel. They give me the creeps.
* The Rogues are a simple lot. We don't really have much in common with them, except maybe the love of Cardamine. Most Rogues are products of the Liberty penal system. We're too smart to get caught by the LPI or navy. We'd rather die than set foot in Texas.

* I'm making the quick hop to Alcatraz tomorrow with a small payload of drugs. They've got Cardamine sleep chambers at the base here for itinerants like me. Not bad for an icy rock in the middle of nowhere.
* Heading back out to Cali with Side Arms. They're so cheap here -- much better deal than at Trafalgar. On my way in from Buffalo yesterday I did some target practice on a Universal convoy in California. Paid off -- got some Luxury Goods bound for New London.