| Battlecruiser Tuscaloosa | |
| Owner | |
| Liberty Security Force | |
| Location | |
| C-2, Ontario |
CLASS: Interdictor
CREW: CLASSIFIED
ARMAMENT: CLASSIFIED
A member of the Interdictor class, Tuscaloosa emerged in 818 AS from the drydocks of Norfolk Shipyard in time to serve in the Hudson War. She participated in numerous offensive operations, striking primarily at enemy cruiser and gunboat squadrons, until she suffered significant structural damage to the bow from an enemy torpedo strike. She was repaired in the field and served as a second-line warship without further incident to the end of the war.
In response to the Toronto Massacre in 824 AS, Tuscaloosa was redeployed to maintain law and order in Ontario, serving as a fleet tender and command center from high orbit around Planet Huron. Once Ontario's promise as a stable territorial holding for Liberty had finally sputtered out, Tuscaloosa and its associated fleet assets were withdrawn. Most assets were reassigned to Colorado or California to secure the borders with Ontario from a position of strength, but Tuscaloosa herself returned to Norfolk Shipyard for repairs and refitting.
The modernization process was forestalled significantly, owing to political disagreements within the Navy as to whether Tuscaloosa should be used as a test platform for a new missile defense capability, brought up to the same armament standards as more recent battlecruisers, or moved as-is to a remote region of Texas to be used as a deep space training ship. After a few years at a Norfolk mooring, she was transferred unceremoniously to the LSF and hastily kitted out with deep space reconnaissance equipment for deployment to Inverness, following LSF scout reports pointing toward potential alien activity. What information was uncovered by this investigation is not publicly available, but she was withdrawn in 835 AS to Los Angeles for reactor refueling and resupply.
New rumors arose shortly afterward of non-human activity on Planet Sudbury, and Tuscaloosa returned to Ontario. She reached Sudbury orbit just before the Xenos began to lay siege to the California Jump Gate and Battlecruiser Lehigh. Tuscaloosa's commanding officer determined the ship was too far to provide effective support, and remained focused on the Sudbury mission.
Now Tuscaloosa monitors the shield emerging from Sudbury's surface, and seeks to breach and expose its once-dormant alien core before the Xenos cut off the link to California and force her retreat to Colorado.
Bribes & Missions Offered
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Commodities
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Ships sold
| Ship | Class | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Ghoul | Light Fighter | 21,827$ |
| Wight | Heavy Fighter | 24,108$ |
| Reaper | Bomber | 67,564$ |
News
| [835 AS] Congressional support for Navy hardens |
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PLANET MANHATTAN -- 835 -- In the wake of congressional hearings into the LSF’s bungled Ontario operation, a growing group of representatives are calling for budget cuts to the agency in favor of boosting the Navy’s capabilities. While interservice jockeying in Congress is not uncommon, the LSF’s Ontario scandal -- combined panic over “Artifact sites” and rising concerns over the Kusari Empire -- are beginning to tip the scales in favor of more traditional military responses. While the impact on both services is unlikely to be felt until the next budget approval, the tarnished influence of LSF advocates is already increasingly apparent. |
| [835 AS] Ontario mission faces disaster |
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BATTLECRUISER LEHIGH -- 835 -- The LSF position around Ontario’s California Jump Gate has been overrun by Xeno radicals. Following the departure of the Battlecruiser Tuscaloosa, the Lehigh’s came under attack by massed waves of Xeno fighters, followed by an antique battleship flagged as the Liberty Rose -- likely the missing Battleship Alabama. Reinforcements from California were slow to arrive due to sophisticated comms jamming, resulting in heavy damage to the Lehigh, and the destruction of the construction ship Robert S. Peary. DSE has withdrawn further support for maintaining the unstable Jump Gate. The Tuscaloosa has been ordered to complete its assignment at Planet Sudbury, and cruise for Colorado if this becomes untenable. |
| [835 AS] Tuscaloosa withdrawn from Inverness |
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LOS ANGELES -- 835 -- The Battlecruiser Tuscaloosa has been withdrawn from Inverness on the express orders of Director Maxwell. Current analysis suggests the Crayter Republic are capable of maintaining a quarantine of Inverness while LSF assets intervene to secure priority objectives in Ontario. This is primarily Site Alpha on Planet Sudbury. Agents launching from the Battlecruiser Lehigh also believe the Niyodo Component may be present in the system, based on radiation traces and prisoner interrogation. Once the Tuscaloosa has finished refuelling and taking on provisions at Planet Los Angeles, it will enter Ontario and secure Sudbury’s orbit. |
| [835 AS] Argonaut expedition fails |
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KEPLER -- 835 -- Upon arrival at the Niyodo wreck site, Kusari guard probes were alerted and escaped through a nearby Jump Hole. Soon after, our fears were confirmed when a hostile Kusari taskforce entered the operational area via a functional Jump Drive. While the Niyodo drive core was successfully extracted under fire, exit through a nearby Jump Hole placed the expedition in Kepler. The Kusari force was destroyed, however most LSF ships were lost. Lane Hackers took the opportunity to attack the survivors, hijacking the Argonaut and its payload. We do not believe they know what they have stolen -- retrieving it is of critical importance. |
| [835 AS] Earhart probes discover Kusari secrets |
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EARHART -- 835 -- Liberty’s drone mapping program continues to reveal more details about the Earhart sector. Programmed to attempt a return to Sirius by locking onto Jump Hole signatures, these probes have a 14 percent successful return rate. LSF retrieval teams are tasked with collecting returned devices from wherever they reappear. Probe AED325 shocked analysts by revealing a Kusari battlecruiser equipped with what is believed to be prototype Jump Drive technology. If so, this confirms suspicions on the state of Kusari’s program. The President has been briefed on options for securing and retrieving this evidence. |
| [834 AS] Eielson Strategic Reserve provides military resilience |
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JUNEAU -- 834 -- The Eielson Strategic Reserve is already the largest H-Fuel storage facility in Sirius, designed to ensure that Liberty’s military can continue to function under the most adverse conditions. Through a sealed executive order, President Hawthorne has also authorized an expansive funding drawdown to cover construction, fuel procurement and further resiliency measures in Pennsylvania. With Eielson forecast to be full by the year’s end, Navy logistics tankers have already begun transferring H-Fuel shipments from exchange depots near Norfolk Shipyard. |
| [834 AS] Pathfinders probe Kepler |
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KEPLER -- 834 -- Kepler was abandoned following cataclysmic Dark Matter storms, however it is known that safe passages through the storm exist -- raising fears they could be abused as an unsecured back door into Colorado by Liberty’s enemies. As a result, LSF agents have begun to carry out mapping exercises using teamed units of experienced pathfinders and remote drones. These efforts have already borne fruit, with several Kusari agents being intercepted and destroyed while carrying dangerous Alien Artifacts. It is believed there may still be an active Jump Hole to Shikoku nearby. |
| [834 AS] Nomad presence confirmed in Inverness |
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TUSCALOOSA -- 834 -- Contact has been made with Nomad entities, confirming our suspicions that Inverness is the epicenter of the infestation. Excelsus squadron was forced to retreat from the East Avlemore Nebula after taking heavy casualties from cruiser-class Nomad lifeforms. This is the first time Nomads of that size have been detected in the Independent Worlds, marking a radical shift in doctrine. Additionally, the ambush was executed using Jump Drive technology. This is the first time such capabilities have been observed, and the timing of this development cannot be ignored. A report has been made, briefing the President on the possibility of Kusari’s subversion by the Nomads; countermeasure proposals are being drawn up for approval. |
| [834 AS] Anomaly detected in Ontario |
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CHESAPEAKE -- 834 -- Spy satellites in Ontario have detected a hyperspace pulse matching the signature of Earhart structures and The Blackout. Before the sensors burnt out, data was relayed indicating the transmission source was Planet Sudbury. Due to the potential implications of an uncontained Earhart site, and the presence of numerous hostile entities locally, it is vital that the LSF gains access to the system and secures any Artifacts or anomalies immediately. An Ageira and DSE taskforce has already been assembled to determine the best course for re-establishing a jump link using abandoned Gate infrastructure. Once a solution has been agreed, the Battlecruiser Lehigh will be provisioned for the trip from California and dispatched to secure a safe zone for emergency works. |
| [834 AS] Kusari ambitions threaten Liberty interests |
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CHESAPEAKE -- 834 AS -- For several years, LSF informants have reported increased activity around Kansai Research Station in Honshu, amid speculation of a major technological breakthrough. A source embedded deep within Kishiro Technologies has obtained reports implying the existence of a functional Jump Drive prototype. A commercially viable Jump Drive is antithetical to Liberty’s strategic commercial interests, as well as posing a severe military threat. Significant resources have been allocated to verifying these reports, and establishing what countermeasures -- if any -- are presently available to the deployment of this technology. It is expected that Kusari’s internal dissidents will be equally concerned by this development upon becoming aware. |
| [833 AS] Liberty draws down forces in Crayter territory |
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YUMA -- 833 -- Liberty has announced the end of the Battlecruiser Yellowstone’s tour of Coronado, where it has spent several years targeting drug smugglers in the dangerous Barrier Pass. President Hawthorne has reportedly lost patience with indefinite foreign deployments of Liberty forces, and ordered the ship to be withdrawn to bolster domestic piracy and smuggling suppression in California. A Department of Defense spokesman stated, “we have for many years provided the Crayter Republic with the training and material support needed to police their territory. We have faith they will be up to the task”. The Yellowstone’s withdrawal comes as Deep Space Engineering deepens its own investments in Coronado, with the expansion of the Scottsdale Refinery. |
| [832 AS] A different kind of Houston heat |
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MARLTON CITY -- 832 AS -- A huge firefight has been reported in one of Houston's urban centers, involving a gang of heavily armed assailants and dozens of casualties. The target appears to have been a major LPI penitentiary facility, with one force spokesperson going so far as to say that the raid must have been carried out by a professional mercenary outfit. Malton City has gone into lockdown amid rumors of a mass breakout by Pennsylvania convicts. An enormous manhunt has been launched, involving Marine support from the Battleship Arkansas. |
| [832 AS] Counting doses |
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ROCHESTER -- 832 AS -- The catastrophic crash of the Cardamine market has been tough for all the associates involved in the chain of its distribution, and the substantial drop-off in the quantity of it available for use and resale has caused a new problem in this series of bad episodes. The Rogues and Hackers, former partners in feeding the needs of the underworld are now at each other's throats, unable to meet demands for the drug both by their own and by customers, it seems as if stealing it from each other at gunpoint is the new business model. |
| [805 AS] Houses ratify Denver Convention |
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PLANET DENVER -- 805 -- President Jacobi has thanked House delegates for attending a much anticipated summit on Planet Denver. The President requested the meeting shortly after the Colony Wars’ conclusion, however progress was blocked when Kusari refused to attend alongside Rheinland. With those issues now resolved, talks were held on a range of issues including economic recovery, naval limits, and joint security. Notably, the ratified Denver Convention upheld laws tightly restricting the trade of alien Artifacts, and explicitly prohibited research on “live” Artifacts. Several clauses were ultimately removed from the Convention, with provisions on border world resource exploitation being dropped over Bretonian and Kusari disagreements. |
Rumors
| Liberty Security Force |
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| Crayter Republic |
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