Independent Miners Guild Comm System (GuildComm)

[Derkylos]

*****GuildComm Activated*****

TO: The Guild
FROM: Goldwell, I
RE: Survey of Orkney

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Having recently received reports of several mining deposits in the system of Orkney, I decided to carry out a survey of the system with regards to the feasibility of setting up mining operations within.

Now, the primary concern here is access. Orkney has but one entrance open to us, that from Tau-23. This means that anyone entering the system has to pass through but one jump hole. While this may seem beneficial to us in terms of monitoring access to the system, no doubt several other parties have realised this, too (Cf. Outcasts). As such, there is a potential for the area within the immediate vicinity of the hole to become a warzone, something which could be highly detrimental to our operations in the system. We will have to rely on our stalwart defence wings to hold off any potential threats.

Speaking of defence wings, we come to the question of hostile presence in the system itself. Rumors run rife of a base constructed by the Outcasts. Now, while these rumors cannot be verified, the intensity of Outcast activity leads me to believe that there may be some substance to them, and, as such, I would recommend that our defence wings be on high alert whilst in the system.

Other interested parties include the Gaians. While mapping the system, I came across an anomaly which corresponded to a jump hole to a region of space which Bretonia's database classifies as "high risk, Gaian-controlled territory". To this point, we have yet to encounter major opposition from any Gaian movements, and I would prefer it to remain that way. As such, I strongly advise no one to use the jump hole labeled on your nav maps as "Lewis".

Now, our holdings. Dounby, our sole base in the system, is a rather well-hidden installation. It is an effective place to house our non combatant elements such as families, etc, as well as a possible place to conduct further research into new mining techniques and equipment.

Next, resources. This is, of course, our primary interest in any region into which we expand. This system contains many planets, however, none of them appear to yield anything of value. Scans of the gas giant "Sanday" are, as of yet, inconclusive, but I believe we can write the rest off as unusable. Asteroid mining in the system is sparse. The field around Dounby, named "Westray" contains minor deposits of Copper. The yield here is not sufficient to mount large scale operations, although I do believe smaller scale operations out of Dounby are meeting with limited success. The other asteroid field in the system, named "Stronsay" apparently yields some kind of resources, however, strong Outcast presence in the field prevented me from ascertaining exactly what and how much.

Finally, our neighbors. Doubtless, we have all heard about the new peoples referring to themselves as "Gallians". They have constructed a base in the system named "Reunion". There also appears to be a jump hole located further into the previously impassable minefield leading to their home systems. My advice would be that, until we manage to establish exactly what we are getting in to, our pilots refrain from using this jump hole or proceeding into their space.

Thus concludes the survey of Orkney so far. I shall attempt to keep you up to date with any new developments therein.

-Goldwell, I, Director of Mining.

*****GuildComm Deactivated*****

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