A Kingdom of Iron Oxide

[Reeves]

Planet Pittsburgh; New York System; Republic of Liberty

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A veritable dust bowl circling the never ending drain, spurred along by the raw needs of excess and debauchery. Such was Pittsburgh's lot in life and for no fault of its own. The hopeful spent their nights with eyes turned skywards - towards that gleaming blue jewel. The pragmatic adopted different means entirely to cope with their circumstances.

Not all of which were peaceful.

The No Time For Decompression shot down through the night sky like a bullet, plunging into what seemed like a ceaseless ocean of smokestacks and furnaces. Home to both factories that never slept, and a population choked by the ambitions of people who never stopped wanting more. Though from this altitude and in this light, there was an odd beauty to that ordered sprawl more than a stone's toss beneath the Kestrel.

Not much time was spared to take it in, since almost as soon as the freighter had reentered the atmosphere, it banked hard and burned for the outskirts. The engines groaned, and the hull joined them in kind. But reprieve came soon enough when a town appeared on the horizon. Sanston, patrolled once yearly by the LPI from orbit given its utter lack of importance and zero ability to contribute meaningfully towards lofty quotas.

But unbeknownst to their protectors, Sanston was effectively an embassy for the LFR to network with other dissenters on the planet. With its furthest fringe playing host to a hideout revealed only at close proximity and once the pilot of the freighter broadcasted this week's clearance code.

A muffled thud and sudden shake of the ship marked a successful landing in this underground abode.

Heikkinen was free to disembark now, and hopefully not vomit from the tumultuous journey.