Beaumont Base

CLASS: Ramshackle

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Partial

CREW: 360

This Junker base is rumoured to be the centre of slavery in Liberty, although little has been proven to date; shady shipments often depart to the southwest, that much is certain. Hidden deep within the North Dallas Debris Field, it is frequented by Liberty Rogues and Outcasts; this is the furthest south in Sirius that Outcasts will ever come. Disgruntled Xenos seeking to displace their Junker competitors in the cardamine trade launch sporadic attacks against Beaumont; though the occasional missile breaches the perimeter, no serious harm has yet been caused. Said cardamine often changes hands here; drug runners hailing from as far away as the Edge Worlds make port here to fuel Liberty's orange dream. The Beaumont bar is perhaps Liberty's most prime source of gossip and information; murderers lurk in the shadowy corners, ready to divest themselves of dark secrets, adventurers discuss their latest exploits, and the Junkers know everything there is to know, for a price.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Liberty Rogues
* Outcasts

* Junkers
* Liberty Rogues

## News

With recent waves of unrest and conflict brewing across Sirius, salvaging in freshly independent frontiers is quickly setting itself up as being the means by which we corner more lucrative markets.

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.

Over the last few days, Archer-class siege cruisers have been deploying their massive coaxial cannons to suppress military infrastructure on the planet, systematically targeting the very last bastions of the Insurgency. First to be destroyed were the planet's few remaining ground to space weapons installations, quickly crippled by bomber strikes from the Ohio herself, before the remaining desolate ground defences and deserted infrastructure were reduced to rubble, their populations having already long fled the world.
A small service was held on the Ohio as the bombardment drew to a close in memory of Rear Admiral Dylan Brandt and those thousands of sailors and marines who had given their lives in the name of Liberty; fought their own lost brothers-in-arms so that others may not live under their misguided yoke, and many more who had their lives irrevocably changed as a result of the evils the campaign sought to end.
The announcement also confirmed identical monuments to the Insurgency campaign would be erected on every world in Liberty, from Planet Houston to Planet Erie, each monument an obelisk carrying the names of every serviceman lost in the conflict and serving as a reminder that Liberty is stronger when it stands together.

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.

Admiral Brandt was heard to give the order to abandon ship right as the ship's hull could take no more and began to be torn asunder, with hull breaches on multiple decks. Tragically, the armored engines of the Delaware had suffered a great deal of damage, and as the armor and shielding was whittled away, vast quantities of radiation and superheated gas began to flood into the crew compartments of the vessel.
In an emotional announcement, the Liberty Navy officially stated that they consider the Delaware to be lost with all hands, including Admiral Brandt himself. No life pods could be secured in the heat of battle, with the remainder of the Delaware's escort making a fighting retreat back to the LNS Ohio which had herself been caught lagging behind the Delaware's doomed thrust into the heart of the Insurgency. The Ohio now remains with her own escort, augmented by survivors of the Delaware's battlegroup, and will continue as the Liberty Navy's bastion in the Vespucci system, ready to ensure that the Insurgents pay dearly for the toll they have extracted upon one of Liberty's finest Admirals.

Leading a fearsome line of some of Liberty's most advanced warships, the Delaware bore down on the Insurgency's remaining, cobbled-together fleet in the Vespucci system, out of position from dealing with a Bretonian thrust from Magellan. Immediately caught was the Battleship Vanquisher, one of the scant few Arbiter-class Battleships available to the Insurgents. Caught by itself, the Vanquisher put up a fearsome fight but was ultimately unable to stand against the Delaware and its escort, despite its fighter component dealing severe damage to much of the Delaware's own, smaller fighter contingent, as well as the Delaware herself.
With the great Arbiter all but vanquished, the Interdictor-class Battlecruiser Triton stared down the guns of the damaged Delaware and her escort. Outnumbered two-to-one, and outgunned to an even greater degree by the Libertonian heavyweight, Triton and her escorts launched their one and only advantage, their fighter and bomber superiority gained at the Vanquisher's expense.

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

* You can make a healthy profit running artifacts into Manhattan from here, but make sure you have a fast ship or you'll never make it past the patrols.

* Our legitimate cover business in Texas is mining Scrap Metal from the Texas Debris Fields and shipping it to Sugarland for recycling. We're providing a useful service to the Liberty government.

* We provide a lot of the essential supplies for criminals in California and New York. It's just a quick trip through the Holes.

* The Xenos are a small group and they are poor too. That's why they have no chance against us right now. Everybody owes the Junkers a favor or two, and we have plenty of money so we can buy protection as well. The problem is that the Xenos keep growing. Seems like every third ex-con that walks from Huntsville becomes a Xeno.

* If you're looking for some quick money while still learning the ropes around here just ask some of the other Junkers about collecting scrap in this system. It's a small part of our operation, but there's plenty of work for those who need quick cash.

* We bring in some of the stolen Diamonds from Rheinland and sell them on the open market in Houston. No way they can tell where they came from, is there?

* Occasionally bounty hunters come snooping around here. If Junkers were to attack them it would bring too much heat from the navy so we just tip off the Rogues and the Outcasts so they'll know just where to find them.

* The income we get from hauling scrap to the Sugarland from the debris in this system goes into our Xenos account. The Xenos account is the money we use to hire Junker-friendly smugglers and pirates to attack the Xenos and defend us against their attacks. What a waste of money.

* I've been poking around these fields for twenty years. Had a few radiation scares. Heard there's some great loot in those dark clouds, but I'm not going in there. Radiation's supposed to be lethal to even a decently shielded ship.

* Beaumont serves as a criminal supply center for many of the Rogue bases in Liberty. Consumer Goods, Light Arms, H-Fuel, Water, Food, and Oxygen are all shipped to Buffalo, Dawson, Fortaleza, and Alcatraz.

* The Outcasts stop here on their long Cardamine runs in from the Edge Worlds. I don't trust them a bit. They don't like any of us; we're just pawns to them. One day something bad will happen.

* This side of the Texas system is the major corridor for smuggling into Liberty. Smugglers take the jump hole from Hudson. Then they either come here or take the jumpholes to California or Pennsylvania.

* If you can slip past the patrols getting into Manhattan, you can make a fortune as a smuggler. If you aren't quite ready for that then try taking your cargo to Buffalo or Rochester in the New York system. It doesn't pay as much, but it's much safer.

* The first Junkers in Sirius came from Gallia. They came here to spy on the houses for Gallia. After being here for a few generations, they realized they could make more money and have more freedom working for themselves than they ever could serving some far off king. So don't believe what you hear from the Xeno propagandists and their political friends in the government. Junkers are Liberty Patriots just as much as anyone is.

* Several weeks ago I dragged a Bounty Hunter through the edge of the Negra Pequena and watched his ship disappear into the darkness -- quite enjoyable. His last distress call was sent wideband, so I was able to hear the fear in his voice.

* You can make a healthy profit running artifacts into Manhattan from here, but make sure you have a fast ship or you'll never make it past the patrols.

* There are many Silver and Diamond shipments in this system that the Lane Hackers give us information on -- well, perhaps "give" isn't the right word. The Lane Hackers are eager to trade their information for access to our black market contacts.

* The Outcasts who get caught hauling in Liberty space end up on the Sugarland, so we run occasional raids on the prison transports sending our men into lockup. A lot of Outcasts, once sent to the Huntsville or Sugarland, get killed by Xenos. So LPI decided to put all of us on the Sugarland, and all the Xenos on the Huntsville.

* This system is my home, and this base is one of my favorite hangouts. You can get whatever you want at this base or on the Lanes picking ships for cargo. One day I'm going to retire with a mountain of Cardamine and Gold.

* I've served three sentences on the Huntsville. If you've served time there, you know the real name given to her by the inmates. We call the Huntsville "the Walls."

* The Rogues can get to New York through the Jump Hole hidden in the same debris field this base is in. Also, there is a Jump Hole to California in the West Dallas Debris Field, though you have to be careful. Parts of that area are radioactive. There's another Jump Hole to the Hudson system in the South Dallas Debris Field. That about covers it.

* I kind of like the Xenos. Truth is I almost joined up with them on a tour of "the Walls," but I decided to join up with the Rogues instead. But the Junkers will pay me good money or Cardamine to kill Xenos, so if I see one flying solo, then I'll kill him. If there's more than one, I don't pay them much mind.

* The Rogue fighter Prudhoe was making a Diamond run from Hudson to Beaumont when it was ambushed by a Xeno assault patrol. It fled into the Pequena Negra Cloud, with the Xenos in hot pursuit. No one has seen them since. People here figure they all died in there from the radiation.

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