Arranmore Base

CLASS: Wicklow

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 960

Arranmore Base is the headquarters of the Mollys, a vicious separatist group fighting to maintain control over the Dublin system. The Mollys were formed from the Founder's Day Revolt in 752 AS, in which workers on Graves Station mutinied over working conditions and executed the CEO, Sir Edmund Graves. Arranmore was established after the miners fled into the Arranmore Asteroid Field to avoid Bretonian reprisals.

In the 80 years following the Revolt, the Mollys fought Bretonia to a standstill in the system, relying on guerilla strikes and terrorism to hold the Armed Forces at bay. Gold processed at Arranmore played a key role in financing this campaign, enabling the development of the Foyle Shipyards. In the years following the Gallic War, the Mollys would also receive a windfall of resources and support from dissatisfied workers in Bretonia.

Bretonia's increasingly desperate post-war situation saw BMM imposing ever harsher conditions and quotas on Graves Station and Planet Sprague. Bretonia's relentless focus on economic recovery would result in the Second Revolt in 831 AS, with Molly agitators inciting a worker mutiny on Graves. Rather than holding the station for concessions as the Founder's had attempted, Molly agents evacuated the mutineers and detonated mining charges as Bretonian forces boarded.

This paired with the Destroyer Shillelagh's actions would see the Battleship Essex retreat from the system. This victory was quickly marred by an escalation in Corsair raids, as the pirates attempted to exploit the power vacuum caused by Bretonia's withdrawal. This presence has complicated the Molly goal of governing the system's riches, with the destruction of the Battleship Hood and a blockade of Dublin placing a severe strain on Arranmore's supply lines.

## News

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.

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.

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Starved of the bloody Gold they use to subsidize their repression, Bretonia announced its withdrawal from Poole in a bloodless victory for the Mollys. All Poole's liberation required was patience - simply to wait for DSE to finish disassembling the jump gate. Sadly, these aspirations have turned sour with the destabilization of the Dublin jump hole, and signs that the Cambridge and Omega 48 jump holes will soon follow suit.

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If these jump holes fail, our people will be cut off and stranded to starve. We cannot risk such a disaster in this critical stage of our fight for freedom. Colraine has issued evacuation orders to Kilrea and Garvagh. Mull Base has offered to provide transports to assist with extraction to Lisburn Rock in Cambridge.
We will monitor this space; As soon as the jump holes return, so shall we.

## Rumors

* As nice as all the flag waving and chest thumping is, things feel more uncertain after our "victory" here. I see patrols get launched more often, and when those ships return, I count less among their numbers. It leaves me with a pinch in my throat. Sorry, I'm not good company right now, I'm going to finish this bottle and go.

* The mines we placed make working the Arranmore field a mite rougher then most, but it's still a bloody lot safer then working for ol' Graves. We at least know where the bloody bombs are.

* We bought our freedom in fire. When we told BMM in the strongest of voices we wouldn't be pushed around anymore, they decided to get violent. So we got violent too. Graves burned that day, as did Endeavour and the Armed Forces who were sent after us. And anyone who threatens our freedom, we will burn down as well.

* The Gold we mine goes to various parties. The Junkers buy some up and sell it off to other groups like the Lane Hackers, Outcasts and Liberty Rogues. They need it for shipbuilding. The Red Hessians also buy up a good bit. We give those guys a bit of a discount - an incentive to shoot more Corsairs before they foul up Dublin.

* The Gauls sure talked a big game, sayin' they were gonna take down the Queen and leave Dublin ta us. In the end they left with their tail between their legs, not before glassing Leeds though. Just goes to show, if we want Dublin to be free, we can't rely on others to do it. How you ask? Why that's easy. Kill em all, make sure we're the last men standing.

* The Junkers? They have their uses. Bring us a lot of goods that would be a mite hard to get otherwise. And they take payment in gold, and don't ask questions. That works for us. A good bit of the gold mined here goes over to Trafalgar, and we head back with various supplies such as Mining Machinery and Food, but sometimes also Engine Components or Hull Panels - after all our ships tend to take a beating.

* The Corsairs come in through various holes. They used to only come in from New London, usin' that bloody Junker hive as a base for theirs and them. Dunno why the lads dinnae raze it. Doesn't matter now, the Zoners showed em another way in through Omega-48.

* One of our lads got captured last week by a Bretonian patrol in Leeds during a supply raid. He's one of our best - Roger Patience's his name. He's on a prison convoy on its way to Newgate Prison. We're gonna crack him out in Manchester as the ships break from the Trade Lanes.

* We lost half a patrol the other day, not a pretty sight, what's worse is that we're being asked to go back out and salvage whatever's left. It's not right, but things are tough right now, especially without the Armed Forces to distract the Corsairs. Don't get me wrong, I don't miss their pomp and show, but I miss not having to rummage through the spaceborne coffins of my friends.

* The Scargill was participating on a Gold poaching run into the BMM Gold Field several weeks ago when it was caught by the company security patrol. They pursued the fleeing ship into the minefield, where it blew up. There may still be looted Gold in the cargo hold; the BMM patrol left it in place as a warning to other Mollys.

* The Corsairs are damned vultures. Always been a thorn in our sides, fighting us over gold, targets for extortion, and now control over the entire system. We've been going after them with everything we have, just short of the kitchen sink anyway, and they still won't go away. It's frustrating, because we're so close to finally getting what we fought for - real independence.

* Well, we lobbed old man Graves' head off in the Founders Day Revolt, but now his daughter runs BMM. She is just as bad as he ever was, but she is more dangerous because she is smarter. One day I will see her dead. Our attacks at their base are getting closer and closer to blowing the whole station.

* The Mollys hate BMM. They were the ones who worked us to the bone. The life expectancy for a miner before the revolt was less than six years. If you're gonna have a life expectancy for a job, you might as well be a soldier.

* The Mollys were established right after the Founders Day Revolt. All we were trying to do was let the government know how bad we were being treated by BMM. The government didn't care. We weren't worth anything in their eyes, just like the BMM executives. We knew that Bretonia wasn't our home, and if we ever wanted to have a home we would have to carve it from Bretonian space.

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