"Tales From Where Angels Fear to Tread" A White Star Lines Publication, A Division of Orbital Spa and Cruise 16 May 827 A.S.
A New Home
Orbital Spa and Cruise has taken another step in its quest to provide hospitality to all of humanity. Each of the four original houses are well served by OS&C facilities. Hawaii's observation lounge offers vantages of the beautiful gas clouds on the border of Kusari. Rheinlanders and their guests can relax in the volcanic hot springs of Baden Baden. The socialites of Liberty can chose to ski the slopes of Denver or ride the waves on Curacao. And Bretonian daytrippers can delve into the history of their house from Shetland in orbit of the legendary planet Broadstone.
However, the large swath of humanity under the Gallic banner has been, until now, tragically underserved by Orbital assets. Hundreds of years of secrecy followed by decades of war have left humanity's largest house outside of the reach of standard OS&C routes. However, commercial traffic to Gallic locations will see a major boost with Orbital's latest development in Ile-de-France: a place to call home.
Denizens of New Paris have a new star in their sky: Riviera Resort. Having been granted a permit to conduct business in the Confederation earlier in the year, the OS&C station will serve as a point of coordination for all Gallic routes. "I am very proud to announce that GMS has just finished the initial placement of our OS&C space station in Ile-de-France," said Captain Jack Ashton, director of OS&C's logistics wing, Orbital Network Express (ONE). "The Station looks great and both ONE and OS&C have a lot of trust in its rentability. This is of course a great day for all parts of OS&C, and it is my hopes that with this station we can bring our ventures into Gallia proper."
Riviera Resort offers stunning views of the Gallic capital along with planet Maudon, but at the moment that is the extent of its amenities. "The station is closed for business for the foreseeable future as it will be under construction," said Ashton. "When it is finished we hope that it will not only provide a base of operations for ourselves, but that it will also serve as a hub for Gallians wishing to travel to other houses."
A Friendly Tour
Successful expansion into a new house requires infrastructure, both physical and social. While ONE has been working on creating a physical space for Gallic excursions, others in OS&C have focused on reaching out to partner with Gallic entities to better serve the Confederation. EFL has been instrumental in licensing Gallic ship technology and GMS is an integral partner in getting the station online. But mining corporations are not well versed in the art of Gallic hospitality. For that, you need the Agenza Turistica di Pruvenza, a project spearheaded by the Gruppu Parlamentariu di Marsiglia.
The Agenza is a fusion of several historical local tourism agencies in Provence. "Our goal is simple," said Cristofanu Casanova, the Agenza's head of business development. "Enhance Provence’s tourism industry." The group boasts of decades of experience in running tours in Marseille, Cannes Resort Station, and in-space flights. "We’ve been working with Gallia’s most influential and rich people, providing a wide range of services like nowhere around," said Casanova. "Peace is coming back to Sirius. Tourists, holidays and business are following."
Mr. Casanova offered a private tour of Provence to OS&C leadership, which they eagerly accepted. Liners Reverie and Red Velvet Club served as guinea pigs to gauge passenger reactions to what the Provence system had to offer. They were not disappointed. "While we knew about the Cannes and the facilities it offered, we were treated to some of the more unique sights in the system," said Captain Jonathan Seabourne, who tagged along in a personal fighter as head of White Star Lines. "Planet Avignon in particular is quite stunning and I would not have appreciated its blue-green swirls had it not been pointed out to me. I imagine we will have many reasons to visit Provence in the future."
The Agenza has promised significant subsidies to Orbital liners visiting the system, which the corporation is happy to pass along to its customers. Those looking for a more rustic experience can eagerly look for discounted rates to the system in the near future.
A Thorn in Our Side
Orbital prides itself on its abilities to forge friendships with interesting factions, but not all the denizens of the sector are interested in mutually beneficial agreements. Some continue to insist on taking unfairly by force that which could be fairly earned to the benefit of all. But if life were fair, we wouldn't need SPA-SEC.
The Security wing of Orbital Spa and Cruise has been busy stationing assets in orbit of planet Baden Baden on the front lines of the Rheinland Civil War. Their goal is to ensure that all sides in the internal struggle respect the corporation's neutrality. So far, there have been no reported incidents of military interference with Orbital's relief efforts in the system from either side.
But SPA-SEC is far more than just a passive shield for Orbital's resort worlds. It can be a fiery sword of vengeance when called upon. Orbital aims to be a wonderful friend to all, but to those foolish enough to be blinded by greed, SPA-SEC is a reminder that a love of peace is not the same as a fear of war.
The Red Hessian Zwetschgenwasser, for example, extorted the ONE logistics vessel Chicago out of $6 million credits and attacked a Kishiro vessel that was servicing Baden Baden. He also heavily damaged the liner Red Velvet Club while it was running empty, fortunately sparing injuries to passengers. For these sins, SPA-SEC has issued a bounty on the head of the pilot, one which Hiian Muro was looking forward to collecting in-house. "I made contact with the Red Hessian Zwetschgenwasser in Stuttgart System, just as I used the tradelane from Baden-Baden," said Muro. "He flew in the other direction."
What ensued was a lengthy chase across Rheinland space. Despite his love for accosting transports, the Hessian seemed unwilling to engage in a true battle before Muro called off his pursuit and returned to patrol duty. Zwetschgenwasser's bounty currently stands at $15 million for a kill, with additional bonuses up to $40 million to ensure he learns his lesson.
Of course, OS&C is not blinded by vengeance. "If he returns the money he's extorted from OS&C ships, we'll lift the bounty," said Seabourne. "I'd rather have pirates out there who know how to strike deals everyone walks away from. Killing him just gives an opening for an even more violent Hessian to possibly fill the gap. But if he keeps assaulting our liners, I'll lose no sleep on having to parlay with his replacement."
An Unusual Manifest
Each liner has her own unique amenities and offerings. For the Breezewood, flagship of White Spa Lines and command for Captain Jonathan Seabourne, most know the vessel for its Menagerie, a starlit space featuring wildlife from the garden world of Gaia. With the Eden of Sirius under Enclave occupation (and ensuing "development") these creatures became one of the last links between Sirius and its most unique planet, not counting the smuggling pens on planet Harris. However, not all parties are pleased to see the creatures under any form of captivity. Fortunately, one batch of potential enemies decided to try finding a mutually beneficial settlement instead.
Layla Velasquez is part of a new wave of Gaians, the radical environmentalist faction that opposes planetary terraforming in general and the development of Gaia in particular. While their members have openly attacked OS&C assets in the past, Velasquez seemed open to negotiating the status of the animals aboard Breezewood rather than attempting to intimidate or destroy the liner.
"The negotiations were testy at first," said Seabourne. "They opened with wanting me to voluntarily hand over my wildlife and paying them a fine for the privilege of being pirated. I countered with putting out some brochures for their corporate virtual adoption program. We eventually met in the middle."
The "middle" ended up being the installation of Gaian designed CUMEC systems, essentially self contained environments to replicate the conditions of the creature's homeworld. This required sacrificing some of Breezewood's precious cargo space to house the filters and hardware needed to keep the containment devices operational, along with housing the Gaians trained to operate it. " If [the CUMEC systems] are in your possession," said Velasquez, "We can not leave them alone in your vessel." As a result, ten wary technicians transferred to the liner near planet Hiran in Sigma-19 in a tense but ultimately successful partnership.
After a special permit from the Liberty government, the Breezewood now flies with her animals living in comparable luxury with the blessings of a Gaian captain. "If they wanted Breezewood dead, they could have destroyed us in Sigma-19," said Seabourne. "Seems they do truly want the animals to have a better habitat, and I admit their expertise with the creatures outpaces what we've managed to pick up along the way through trial and error."
A Plea For Help
Luxury liner Martinique has officially been listed as missing once it was 24 hours overdue for a scheduled check-in. The aging liner was due to be retired after its last trek through the Omegas, and it is feared that the liner might have gotten too close to the unusual sites of those systems while trying to offer its passengers once last spectacular vista before decommissioning.
"Luxury Liners are equipped with advanced communications systems to relay requests for help even in remote space," said David Crooke, an OS&C director. "The fact that we have heard absolutely nothing is worrying. Even more concerning is the fact that no unlawful group has contacted us about any ransom."
However, not all OS&C directors are as pessimistic as Director Crooke. "There is a lot of space for a liner to hide in," said Seabourne, "and no group has claimed responsibility. As the proud Captain of an Enterprise-class liner myself, I can tell you that a ship like the Martinique can last a surprisingly long time on minimal power. Even dead in the water, it can take days for the passengers and crew to deplete the oxygen in the ship."
Captain Cross, director of Triton Expeditions, has taken point on the rescue mission. "Triton Captains know the Borderworlds Pretty well," said Cross. "I sent Triton's long range exploratory ship, the Bustard Carrier OS&C|TE-Cloud-9, to search for the Martinique. Until we find her, we will see her just as missing, not destroyed." In the meantime, OS&C has reached out to all parties with active efforts in the Omegas to see if their patrols have come across anything. "I do not want to have a bad end come to your people," said Doc Holliday of Med Force Enterprises, Sirisus's most well known humanitarian group. "I will dispatch a scout to search for them and have a Med Force cruiser on standby once they are found. We will assist however we can."
Anyone with information on the Martinique is urged to post what they know to the original press release. OS&C hopes the use of "citizen SAR" will speed up the recovery effort, and every possible theory and lead is being investigated, save for one.
"Its another ALIEN ATTACK the GOVERNMENT doesn't WANT you to protect yourself!" proposed a user only known as TinFoil Tom. "Time and time again Liner after Liner is assaulted by the ALIENS! CAN YOU SEE THEY WANT OUR SKIN FOR TOAST! STAY HOME!!!!!!! DON'T TRAVEL ORBITAL! They made a deal with the aliens to sell them your SKIN! Its true just look it up!"
"The economics of the accusation make no sense," said Seabourne when confronted with the "theory." "Why sacrifice an entire liner when you could skin and process the passengers on the ground and transport just the flesh in a much smaller vessel like a Democritus, or even a Dorado?"
After a disconcertingly large number of seconds, he added "Also murdering scores of passengers is morally wrong. We're a cruise company, not a slaughterhouse."
> > > > Closing Transmission < < < <
OS&C|Breezewood
Captain Jonathan Seabourne, Editor-in-Chief, Wanderlust Magazine
![[Image: Luxury_liner.png]](https://discoverygc.com/wiki/images/b/b8/Luxury_liner.png)
![[Image: PojtqNs.png]](https://i.imgur.com/PojtqNs.png)