| Béziers Base | |
| Owner | |
| The Maquis | |
| Location | |
| E-1/2, Languedoc |
CLASS: Desaix
GRAVITY: Complete
DOCKING: Yes
AMENITIES: Yes
CREW: Unknown
Constructed in 742 AGS (826 AS), Béziers was excavated into a large asteroid formation after Limoux Base was abandoned. Following the Mazagran Massacre, the Maquis were forced to evacuate many of their holdings, fearing their former Council allies would lead government assaults on their home bases. The Languedoc Maquis' misfortune was compounded the following year, when the Ile-de-France Jump Hole collapsed, largely cutting them off from the wider Maquis movement and leadership. As a result, the Languedoc cell has largely operated according to their own isolated plans.
Wounded by the Council's betrayal, Languedoc's Maquis became more radical over time, primarily concerned with toppling local system authorities. Regular raids are launched on Gallic Navy and EFL targets, both to hinder the Gallic Union's operations and steal necessary supplies. The Maquis of Béziers have been known to target the Union Corse, accusing them of treacherous collaboration with Union authorities -- this has even led to raids into Provence and the assassination of Corse representatives on Quillan. In recent years recruitment has surged, owing to EFL's crackdown on worker unions, and Béziers' public opposition to resented Corsican gangsters.
This popular sentiment provides Béziers with a trickle of donated income that can be used to barter with the Brigands and scavengers aboard Lodeve. Maquis leadership has become increasingly frustrated with the Languedoc sect, owing to their refusal to send ships or resources to support the movement's larger plans and strategies elsewhere in Gallia.
Bribes & Missions Offered
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Ships sold
| Ship | Class | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Gecko | Light Fighter | 16,902$ |
| Agama | Heavy Fighter | 27,158$ |
| Stellion | Very Heavy Fighter | 27,679$ |
| Basilisk | Bomber | 84,362$ |
| Tarvos | Freighter | 21,876$ |
News
| [750 AGS] Quillan boils under EFL abuse |
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BÉZIERS -- 750 -- The rage of Quillan’s workers boils under the tyranny of EFL oppression. The dissolution of local workers’ unions has disposed of any pretense that affairs have improved since the fall of the monarchy. EFL continues the tradition of petty aristocrats throughout our history, with their security troops working alongside Corse thugs and Union Marines to brutalize those who resist the erasure of their rights. This villainy has sent the enraged masses flocking to our banner, inspired by the resistance cells on Marne. These sympathizers will be marshaled into a new Quillan vanguard, and nourished with the bread of revolution. |
| [750 AGS] Correcting the record |
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EPLESSIER -- 750 -- The Grand Marechal and Les Petit Chapeau pat their own backs on New Paris -- the Maquis have noted Gallia’s anniversary very differently. Targeting Amiens, Marne and Quillan, hardcopies of the True History of Gallia have been distributed en-masse. This rips away the lies and fabrications of King Louis I’s “Complete History of Gallia”, poison taught in schools since 118 AGS. This text peddled revisionist lies to vindicate the rule of kings, and in later centuries manufactured the narrative of the “Sirian Betrayal”. This myth is still being regurgitated to bolster the legitimacy of the military dictatorship, and stoke fear against the outside sector. |
| [750 AGS] Ile-de-France campaign avenges Petit |
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BRUNOY -- 750 -- As our righteous struggle on Marne grows, the Union’s thugs struck down Melodie Petit, an inspirational community leader. Border controls had previously been imposed across Ile-de-France, implicitly threatening to cut the colonies off from imported necessities -- a repressive tool of the fallen monarchy. In the largest operation since the end of the Second Gallic Civil War, Maquis fighters sortied from Ile-de-France’s Saint Cloud, Chevreuse, and Oise fields to simultaneously strike and annihilate the oppressor’s destroyer checkpoints. Despite losses, all objectives were achieved in Petit’s name. |
| [750 AGS] Labor leader assassinated on Marne |
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TINQUEUX -- 750 -- An outspoken leader of the Marne Industrial Union, Melodie Petit, has been assassinated in a brazen daylight shooting. Petit had been instrumental in organizing recent demonstrations against the Treaty of Oerlikon. Conspiracy theories about Petit’s death circulated rapidly on local data nets, with many blaming Unione Corse contract killers. Violent protests have radiated from Tinqueux Province, with rioters occupying the planetary spaceport and disrupting exports. Gallic Union security officials have labeled protesters as “Maquis seditionists” and threatened to authorize lethal force by Marines unless order is immediately restored. |
| [831 AS] Jump Hole Upheaval Causes Chaos |
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HEISENBERG -- 831 AS -- Jump holes across Sirius have become increasingly volatile and chaotic over the last year, with Professor Sophia Nagel from the Heisenberg Research Station linking the unusual phenomena to the Pulse. The Pulse was an unprecedented blast of hyperspace energy that was detected immediately prior to last year's Jump Gate Blackout. 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. |
| [742 AGS] Second Gallic Civil War has Ended! |
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NEW PARIS -- 742 AGS -- The Second Gallic Civil War ended in a ceasefire last Saturday, as Royalist forces under command of Rear Admiral Bastien Savatier de Fontenoy received the order to surrender from the Grand Duchy of Burgundy, a royalist secessionist polity formed in a state of emergency by the Duke of Burgundy. In the absence of the King or any heirs, Valentin Trintignant, Duke of Burgundy, gathered the support of the nobility of Burgundy, the Marquise de Vandoevres and Marquis de Roanne in Lorraine, while offering the Vicomptesse Allos de Metz, Grande Maitresse de l'Office Royal des Eaux et Forets the financial support needed to continue their terraforming operation in Lorraine. The Duke initiated talks last week to discuss the glassing of Leeds and the Crown's imminent defeat at the hands of Allied forces in Bretonia. Only minutes after the Council's Fleet moved on Planet New Paris, Trintignant declared himself Grand Duke of The Grand Duchy of Burgundy and authorized the surrender of the Royal Navy. His haste in calling for a ceasefire likely saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Gallic citizens threatened by collateral damage from battle over Planet New Paris. While most Royalist ships in Gallia's core systems recognized and surrendered to the authority of the Duchy, Admiral Savatier did not, and slipped the Rocroi away from the site of the battle in the confusion. Battleship Rocroi and her cohort remain at large, but have not been seen or heard from since the battle. The Council reciprocated not only the ceasefire but also with the formation of a new governing body. The systems of Champagne, Picardy, and Orleanais declared their independence as the Republique of Gallia, a decision which appears to have been in the works for some time. Unlike the ad hoc vassalage of the Duchy, the Republique presented itself with a fully fledged constitution and complete governing body, led by President Orianne Castaignède, the former Governor of Marne. The systems of Languedoc and Languedoc both formed provisional governments following the fall of the Monarchy, however both declined invitations to join the Republique. This decision could be linked to the significant losses both systems incurred on account of the Council's direct and indirect interference during the Second Gallic Civil War. Officials from Gap and Quillan are rumored be engaged in preliminary talks with the Minarchy of Provence, who have extended offers of free trade and protection to the two war torn systems, which seem reluctant to view both the Duchy and Republique as having the best interests of the historically poor region in mind. Ile de France, possessing no noteworthy standing military of its own following the mass exodus of nobles to the Gallic Hebrides, has declared itself a neutral, autonomous territory. This decision was grudgingly accepted by the Republique, aware of its low reputation among Parisians owing to decades of royal propaganda. Such a move was seen as the best way to demonstrate the fall of the Monarchy and secure the former seat of royal power without bloodshed. In response political instability after the Exodus of the King, the Acting Viceroy of Ile de France, a former low ranking regional official who now speaks for the political associations on New Paris, has called for the Republique, Duchy, and Minarchy to send diplomatic representatives to the negotiating table, where it seems the future of Gallia will be decided in the weeks to come. |
| [733 AGS] Maquis: Allies in War, Partners in Crime |
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MAZAGRAN -- 733 AGS -- After the well-known split between the Maquis and the Council, the special forces of Gallia have attempted to spur hatred between us and the Council through subterfuge. While we are fully independent from the Council, and while our methods were disapproved of by the Council (just as we disapprove of their ways), we are still allies. To the immense grief and disappointment of our enemies, the Maquis and Council can still stand united against our common foe. The course of the Second Gallic Civil War has proved many times that we can fulfill our obligations and act with honour and courage. The presence of Maquis on Planet Marne is stronger than ever, and several space ports on the planet are fully under our control, open for ships of our other allies, the Brigands and the Corse. Gallic Brigands and Unione Corse do not participate in our fight for the overthrow of the monarchy in Gallia, however, they share our desire for freedom from the control of corrupt officials and Gallic corporations. The liberation of Languedoc, a massive operation of the Council in which we participated, was our most recent - and most deadly - strike against the monarchy. While several hundred of our fighters were destroyed by the Gallic Navy during this operation, the goal is now achieved: isolation of Gallia from Sirius is a thing of the past. The Maquis also played an important role in securing a secret passage in the Lorraine mine fields. Unione Corse delivered us the prototypes of the devices that the Gallic Navy was going to use to neutralise their mines when the time for the Sirius-wide invasion came. Council engineers recreated those devices in sufficient numbers to disable a large portion of the Lorraine mine field, revealing a nearby system that is known as Omicron Tau by Sirius naming conventions. Despite our recent victories, the Second Gallic Civil War is far from over. Gallic fleets are gathering strength, and soon they will inevitably gain the upper hand in Languedoc. Our current objective is to secure our installations in the asteroid fields of the Gallic systems. We will also aid in defending the Champagne system from any Royal Navy attacks. Planet Marne is a new home to many of us. Fresh air instead of recycled space station atmosphere, fresh food instead of synthetic substitutes - this is what we missed for so long, and what this war's successes have made accessible for us. |