Belfast has had a grim and bitter past. Built in 726 A.S., the facility has been mining resources from the crust of the nearby planet Middlesbrough, and refining them in orbit. The base suffered some casualties in the wake of the Founders Day Revolt, but unlike the Graves massacre, station security was able to subdue the revolting workers on Belfast by sealing the station down until the Bretonian Police Authority could send extra forces. Still, Molly sentiments remained high among it's workforce, and Molly raids against the station steadily increased.

After several years of preparation and planning, the Mollys launched a second attempt to take over the station, using a number of improvised Gunboats and a large portion of their fighter force. The initial attack quickly overwhelmed the stations defense perimiter and allowed the Mollys to take the fight to the station interior. Within an hour, the Mollys seized the station and ejected the BMM management officials out of the top airlock.

The Armed Forces and Police Authority responded by restricting all traffic to the station, officially declaring it "Abandoned due to severe radioactive contamination", while the battleship Ark Royal was tasked to gather a fleet and boarding force to subdue the Mollys. The outbreak of war in the Tau borderworlds prevented the Ark Royal from making a move however.

The Mollys are currently running the facility, using the mined resources to manufacture ship components and various other goods that can be bartered on the black market. With the Gallic attacks on Bretonia taking up all of the Armed Forces military capacity, Belfast is not likely to be retaken any time soon.

A hot, arid planet with no atmosphere, Middlesbrough nevertheless has significant quantities of raw materials, from titanium and copper to beryllium and silicon. The planet has a considerable amount of volcanic activity, so there have never been any attempts at planet-side settlements. However, the Mollys have automated mining platforms on the surface, although they only ever use the materials onboard the orbiting Belfast Production Facility for their shipbuilding projects, and the goods are virtually never sold to anyone outside of the Mollys.

Belfast is a blight on Bretonia. I can't understand why the Ark Royal failed to boot those ruffians from the station when they took it in the first place. The fleet must have been caught off-guard, for even that entire station isn't a threat to a Battleship. With the loss of Leeds and the Mollys not exactly in a cooperative mood, I dare say it may be time for some... agressive negotiations concerning the return of that station to Bretonian control.

With all the Armed Forces now in this system, the lanes have become a lot safer. Well, except the ones south of Scarborough of course, but even the Mollys seem to keep quiet in Newcastle. They're probably wondering if they'll need to defend Belfast again before soon. It's small comfort though, considering the threat of invasion looms over this system like a shadow.

Scarborough and Belfast were initially intended to be a chain of stations - resources mined from Middlesbrough would be converted to Basic Alloys and Hull Panels on Belfast itself, then shipped over to Scarborough for shipbuilding. That all went to hell when the Mollys managed to take it over. I do hope the Mollys decide to side with Gallia - that'd give the government all the reason they need to forcefully take that station back from them. Even without it, they'll have to sooner or later - without Leeds, we'll need the resources from Middlesbrough to keep the fleet operational.

Belfast used to be owned by the BMM, a mining and production platform that used the abundant resources on Middlesbrough to supply Bretonia. Ever since the Mollys captured it, we've had requests from BMM to build warships here for an assault on Belfast, but Scarborough isn't equipped for military ship production. Besides, the government would never allow it. With all the forces in the system however, I think the Armed Forces stand a good chance to take Belfast back if they wanted to.

Mull is a fallback point for the Mollys in this system. Holding Belfast and it's production facilities is nice, but realistically, if the Armed Forces move against us now, we'll have no choice but to fall back a bit. There's just no way for us to muscle off a capital fleet like the ones they can manage. Unless we get ourselves one to defend that station.

With all the Armed Forces in the system, I'm getting a wee bit nervous. Sure, they might be gunning for Gallia, but I'm sure Bretonia hasn't forgotten about Belfast either. Wonder what they're planning - both the clanheads and the Bret military. There's gonna be trouble here, that's for sure.

We're probably on borrowed time here, now that the Bretonian military has rolled about half it's troops in here. Way I see it, one of two things happens. The clanheads throw an accord with Gallia, and Bretonia is forced to seize Belfast before it becomes an enemy base, or we don't throw an accord with Gallia and Bretonia is forced to seize Belfast for the resources it produces. Those talks of peace were the only thing holding the Queen's men back. Belfast doesn't have an asteroid field protecting it, we got no cover against the Bretonian heavies. No way we can hold. I'm leaving next week, before that'll go down.

There seems to be some method to the madness here in Bretonia. I was wondering why Bretonia had two battleships stationed here. Now there are three, and one Molly-held BMM station. You do the math. 20 credits says there's going to be a lot of Mollys floating around Belfast before the year's over. Not our problem though, holding a base like that in the open against a house navy was foolish to begin with.

At least the Bowex boys know the value of keeping Bretonia alive. They've been a right blessing, bringing in those raw materials that we need to keep our factories going. Having to deal with Rheinland for Aluminium now that we've lost Leeds is not the preferred option - we really need Belfast back under our control. The automated mining rigs it controls would produce all the Aluminium we need.

Scarborough and Belfast were initially intended to be a chain of stations - resources mined from Middlesbrough would be converted to Basic Alloys and Hull Panels on Belfast itself, then shipped over to Scarborough for shipbuilding. That all went to hell when the Mollys managed to take it over. I do hope the Mollys decide to side with Gallia - that'd give the government all the reason they need to forcefully take that station back from them. Even without it, they'll have to sooner or later - without Leeds, we'll need the resources from Middlesbrough to keep the fleet operational.