Carrier Orion

CLASS: Orion

CREW: CLASSIFIED

ARMAMENT: CLASSIFIED

The Carrier Orion is a warship derived from the rugged Bustard-class platform. Commissioned by the Technocracy in 824 AS to serve as a command-and-control ship and electronic warfare platform, the Orion was placed into military service following a prototyping phase involving Technocrat and Zoner research teams.

Acting as the Technocracy's primary staging point for operations beyond Valravn's reach, the Orion was initially deployed in the borderworlds connecting Rheinland to Gallia, where it monitored the activities of both lawful forces and the Hessians during clashes over Tholey Station. Throughout this deployment, Orion kept a safe distance from any patrols, and after Rheinland's reunification there was little reason to remain in Cologne. Thus, the carrier was redeployed to Omicron Kappa.

Apart from brief hostilities when the Core's Battleship Mars attempted to enter the system in 829 AS, the Orion spent most of its time conducting scientific experiments in Gammu's orbit. Its research efforts were abruptly halted when the Mars returned to Kappa; this time, it came with a larger supporting fleet in order to launch the conquest of Planet Gammu. Still essentially a civilian capital ship despite her modifications, the Orion had to withdraw from Gammu's orbit around the time the artificial intelligences decided to abandon the planet.

The Orion, accompanied by AI vessels, sustained noncritical damage during an engagement with a Corsair heavy patrol in the Malvada Cloud. Despite these setbacks, the damaged Orion managed to reach Primus Outpost safely, where it is now undergoing gradual repairs in preparation for its planned departure to Inverness for refit and resupply.

## News

As Crete demanded the Zoners of Theta turn over any Hunters aboard their stations and surrender docking control, the Freeport 9 administrators were confident that some kind of compromise could be found. A delegation from Gran Canaria was requested to assist with negotiations, due to the close ties between Zoner and Corsair communities on the planet.
Tragically, the Corsairs interpreted this delay as refusal, and launched a surprise attack while the delegation was en-route. Many of Freeport 9's crew are now being held as hostages while the Corsairs pillage the station. An urgent conclave has been called on Gran Canaria to discuss the Zoner response, while militias on Pygar have taken up arms in case the violence spreads.

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.

For decades the Zoners of Freeport 9 have kept themselves safe from Corsair reprisals by offering useful services, with their biodomes providing Crete with respite from the famines that once ravished it. Despite this, outrage has swept Omicron Gamma after a flight of Hunters killed Commander Juan Garcia, before retreating back to the No Fire Zones of Omicron Theta.
The Council of Elders have ordered the administrator of Freeport 9 to attend Planet Crete to hear their demands. Elder Garcia has vowed that the station's halls would "run red with blood" unless the Zoners turned over all BHG aboard the Freeport. The Zoners are yet to respond, likely trying to anticipate how the Corsairs will react.

The Corsairs see the Pygar colony as a direct competitor for the region's scarce resources, with Elder Garcia warning that there would be "dire consequences" should Freeport 9's biodomes reduce or divert their exports to Planet Crete. Whispers of alien ruins and Artifacts discovered below Pygar's surface may also antagonize the Corsairs, who rely on the Artifact trade as a source of wealth. The hardship of Pygar's extreme conditions and the uneasy relationship with the Corsairs has already led many colonists to consider a return to the now liberated Gran Canaria.

We will welcome any ships willing to explore Gallic space and establish relations with local factions. In exchange for the passage, we ask for guarantees of neutrality towards the Council, its military and civilian personnel. We also warn that any capital ship fleets or other large military detachments will be denied passage, by force if necessary. Our goal is to prevent the war, not to encourage attacks of other Houses who might consider Gallia its enemy. Gallia is no one's enemy, and our task is to prove it. We hope that after our actions in the Gallic Border Worlds the King of Gallia will demonstrate responsibility and discretion by establishing diplomatic relations with all four Houses and by canceling plans of Sirius-wide aggression.
However, even if the relations will be established, we, the Council, will still remain sworn enemies of the Crown, and the Second Gallic War will continue. Our current goal is to hold the passage in Languedoc open for everyone for as long as possible. However, the Royal Navy has assembled an overwhelming fleet in Languedoc that will soon head towards Languedoc. Our casualties has been very high during the recent years of fighting in this system, and odds to win the battles that will follow are very low. Languedoc detachments of the Council, and all civilians willing to escape the prosecution by Gallic government, will have to seek refuge in the Sirius Border Worlds. We are already looking for possible locations where we can build our bases and defensive installations.
We are also aware that Sirius space has its own unlawful factions, much like Gallic Brigands and Unione Corse in Gallia. Since our situation is complicated right now, we might seek help of those factions in order to survive and prevent unnecessary casualties. But we also realize that our equipment, ships and weaponry contain Gallic technologies that many Sirius parties are willing to appropriate. We are not trading or exchanging any of our military technologies. If any attempts to capture or attack Council personnel and ships occur, we reserve the right to retaliate with deadly force.

Where did we get those ships? The Council was aided substantially by using our supply lines from the Core Gallic Systems. Supplying the Council comes for a price, and while they usually avoid dealing with us directly, caring about the "public eye", the Maquis trade with us freely and simply transfer goods that they purchase from us to the Council. While we are not much concerned by the political motives of the Council, we share their hatred for the government, a rotted monarchy that has no sense of style, and corrupt corporations. If the Council needs help, we will provide as much as they can buy. Since money is not the only thing we need, the Council's new factories on Marne provide us a wide range of various goods necessary for a brigand's life, including ammunition, side arms, ship weaponry, and, most important, new ships. Maquis deliver the stuff to our installation of Epernay, and from Epernay they come to many other Brigands' bases all around the Gallic Border Worlds.
Now, as the path to unfamiliar new worlds in Sirius has been opened, the Brigands consider the future possibilities of this unexpected change. While the information on Sirius is now much less expensive than before and is easily accessible from anywhere within Gallia, we still do not have sufficient data on the unlawful groups that most surely exist in the Houses of Sirius and in other populated areas. We are now negotiating with Maquis to see if our survey parties could be granted passage through the mine field to gather intelligence and to find places where we could establish new bases of operations.

## Rumors

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