| Planet New London
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- Just came back from a rough patrol into the Cornwall Field. Those bloody Corsairs have decided to move in and have a little party at our expense. It's like they came out of nowhere. You would have thought they might give us a break now that we have an armada up in Leeds to deal with. Used to be an easy job, New London was. That's just a memory now.
- We used to handle the patrols throughout this system with the exception of the Dublin gate, where patrols from Suffolk take over. This works well for both ourselves and the Armed Forces, who can focus the majority of their efforts to drive the Gallic menace back. It is up to us to keep our civilians safe from terrorists and pirates.
- The Bretonia Police Authority is a highly professional organization that takes pride in its highly ethical conduct. We view that detestable corporation called the LPI as an embarrassment to Liberty. They are more interested in staffing their factories inexpensively than maintaining law and order.
- It used to be that all we worried about were the home grown criminals such as the Mollys pestering the BMM, and the upper class Gaians complaining about the environment - with photon blasters instead of words. But with two bloody invasions of our northern systems, I wish we could go back to those simpler days.
- There's been a spike in Molly and even Corsair raids across the House. I'm doing my level best not to say anything political in public, but if it hadn't been for Liberty pulling us into their war in Vespucci, the Armed Forces might be better off enough to help. As things stand? We're down a major border station, short staffed, and the economic forecast might as well be apocalyptic. I should just go private, might make ends meet if I did.
- I was relieved on Canterbury yesterday. Did a return patrol along the Lane. I'm glad to be back home. I'll take the rain any day over Corsairs and Gaians interrupting my sleep.
- My only experience with Molly attacks has been on the prison transport run to Newgate in the Manchester system. We're heading out momentarily with a crew of them brought in from the Essex yesterday. We have to keep them sedated and well secured, as they can get quite violent - not my favorite duty.
- They say that the Police Authority has been caught unawares of the Corsair threat because the director ignored most of the field reports from Cambridge during the last few years. The Corsairs were on the move towards New London and their activity in Dublin has been steadily increasing as well.
- This is the one of the best places to buy Gold, or you can head to Dublin for the producer's price. Just remember, that comes at an added risk of Corsair and Molly attack. I recommend sticking to the military patrol route from the gate to Graves if you go there.
- We focus our efforts in New London, Manchester, and Cambridge; the military takes over in Dublin and the systems bordering Bretonian core space. Needless to say, the military also handle the Gallic threat, although the police forces do on occasion interdict Gallic marauders looking for unprotected shipping.
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| Canterbury Station
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- The Corsairs are fairly indiscriminate in their targets. They seem to hate everybody, and relish confrontation. They will never allow themselves to be captured. I've seen more than a few attempts to ram you even with their ship afire and weapons knocked out. I guess it's more honorable for them to die than surrender. Not to say we haven't caught a few of them - there's a wing in Newgate reserved for Corsairs. Can't mix those up with the Mollys or there'll be blood, and lots of it.
- I was just trying to make it to retirement on New London making customs inspections. They issued a directive for all able bodied pilots to be on active combat duty until the Gallic threat is eliminated, so here I am, just trying to survive. Again. I hope my reflexes haven't dulled on the five years I spent planetside.
- I find the Bounty Hunters a distasteful and crude lot. They do perform essential and unpleasant tasks for the authority, though - they go after the criminals on their own turf. At least we don't have to go into the Somerset.
- This is a new post for the Police Authority. The sudden rise in the Corsair population in eastern London forced headquarters to substantially increase patrols on these Lanes. Planetform was happy to accomodate us on their HQ. More police here means fewer Gaian problems for them.
- I think I prefered it when it was just the Gaians we had to worry about. First the Mollys, who've been gaining in strenght steadily. How many bloody miners did BMM sack over the years? And as if that wasn't enough, the Corsairs show up.
- We run patrols on all four Trade Lanes that originate here. The Manchester Jump Gate and Cambridge Trade Lanes are the bad ones. Sometimes an entire squadron is lost. Corsairs move about freely, unafraid of our ships. The military is occupied on the far side of the system, with the Mollys.
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| Kensington Shipping Platform
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- We were asked to provide supplementary security for this group of bases following the sharp increase in Corsair and Gaian activity around here. We've had direct attacks from the Somerset Field seven times in recent weeks. It got pretty bloody, but the Bounty Hunters have wizened up and have a few ships waiting on Canterbury.
- The Gaians are always putting out probing attacks on this area to check for a lull in our patrols. Occasionally we give them one, then launch two squadrons from Canterbury and Kensington to overwhelm them. It is our hope a few ambushes like that will deter them from coming here.
- I almost caught me a Corsair smuggler crossing the Manchester Trade Lane the other day. Saw him scurry across in front of us. We pursued him, but lost him in the fields. The Corsairs mostly ship Artifacts, which wouldn't be a business model if those idiot aristocrats back in London would stop buying them.
- I alternately patrol the two eastern Trade Lanes that originate here, but I dread the Cambridge Jump Gate run the most. I start getting the shakes a good hour before heading out on those days. I signed up for police duty, not military work. The Corsairs rival the military in tactics and skill.
- The Gaians aren't really active south of the Devon Field. They're more of a northern Bretonian problem. I've never seen them in Cambridge, which is kind of ironic since that's where most of them originally came from, but with BMM moving into the system, that's bound to change.
- Corsairs in New London, Mollys in Dublin, Gaians in Edinburgh, Gallia in Leeds. Oh, and Outcasts in Newcastle. Those that say space is dangerous got it right. But that's why the police is there, to keep the civilians safe.
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| BPA Newgate
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- The inmates aboard this ship are considered so dangerous that all guards have the right to shoot and kill any prisoner at any time. That may seem somewhat brutal, but it is necessary to maintain order among so many violent felons. It also helps keep the guards alive. Despite that rule, we don't need to exercise deadly violence that often. Once a week at most, which considering the lot that is incarcerated here, isn't much.
- Mollys don't attack this base as much as they used to now that we have installed weapon platforms and a minefield along the Newgate's perimeter. The current problem is that they try to rescue their captured comrades by attacking the convoys headed into the base. We try to escort them, but the run from Sheffield to Newgate remains a very risky one for both Bowex and ourselves.
- The prisoners do not cross Mollys aboard this ship, especially the Mollys that carry the Maguire spike. That weapon is a filed down metal splinter, and the Mollys are not afraid to use it on both other inmates and the guards alike. When we found one on an inmate last week, the guard shot him on the spot.
- This ship, the Newgate Deep-Max Penitentiary Vessel, is a high-security prison for the worst of the Bretonian criminals. The terrorists, serial felons, escape artists, and others too dangerous to house planetside come here. Once locked behind the mines and guns, and with a goodly bit of vacuum inbetween them and freedom, they are not as much of a threat anymore.
- Aye, the Mollys aboard this ship are a mean lot, but the main problem is the free ones who keep trying to liberate their fellows. The worst attempt I can remember was about two years ago when one of the attackers' missiles penetrated the hull and a whole cell block underwent explosive decompression. Everyone in there died, including guards and prisoners. Corsair prisoners...
- Ever hear of Willy "The Snake" Logan? He's the prisoner some say escaped off this hulk. Me, I don't buy it. I say his corpse is out floating around somewhere in the vac-suit he fashioned. You can't go far without a spacecraft. It's six hours at least to the nearest station without a cruise engine. A vac-suit has four hours of air. You do the math.
- The guards who work this prison are the best in Bretonia. Most of them are incorruptible, though there are always bad apples. One crooked guard is now serving time here for delivering George Good's orders. He's the leader of one of the New London crime syndicates. I doubt he'll serve his sentence. Cops don't survive in prisons. But that's the risk he took I guess.
- Some of the guards here used to know Willy Logan. He was an escape artist who some people say busted out of the Newgate. Maybe he did. His cell mate says that the vac-suit he made looked pretty good. The closest base sure is a long way to go using a stolen fire extinguisher as propulsion. If he made it, he's the only one who's done it to date.
- We try to keep the Mollys separated on this ship. Anytime you have more than two of them together, trouble is just around the corner. We learned this only after three of them killed two guards, stole their weapons, and tried to fight their way to the bridge. Spacing the corridor they were in put a stop to that of course, we have means to ensure that riots are contained. The vacuum outside is an effective deterrent.
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| Sheffield Station
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- I fly a patrol from this base all the way to the New London Jump Gate and back again. Last week I came up against a few Mollys on their way from Birmingham. One of the Mollys escaped, one died, and the third is on a convoy to Newgate.
- I don't like being here at this base. I would prefer to be stationed at a police base where there are more of my kind. Several of the Bounty Hunters I have encountered here were criminals that I put away at one time or another. I doubt any of them have really changed their ways. Only their targets.
- The Crown has instituted a work program for the least dangerous criminals at the Newgate. They mine ice in the Sheffield South. I run the patrol from this base, which keeps their mining operation secure from attempted breaks. We've had a few attempts, usually assisted by Molly raiders.
- We maintain a presence here at this base because a lot of shippers, though they often rely on Bounty Hunters, still want to see the legitimate authorities. We run patrols from this area into the North and South Sheffield.
- A lot of the Cardamine that flows into Liberty comes through this system. Have you ever tangled with an Outcast? I and two other police interceptors engaged four of them a few days ago. It was a mistake to go against them with fewer numbers. The other two interceptors got cooked.
- Gaians are a bunch of pansy rich kids who had no problems in their lives, so they decided to create one. Terraforming isn't anything terrible or unethical. As a matter of fact, it will eventually save Bretonia. I take pleasure in wasting or busting those filthy snobs.
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| Kingston Border Station
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- I worked hard all my life to save up the money to put my boy through college so he can be more than I ever had the chance to be. And what happens? The worthless idiot gets caught up in the Gaian movement in Cambridge. When he told me, I pulled him right out of school and sent him to work with a cousin of mine in New London.
- Ever hear of Willy "The Snake" Logan, the famous escape artist people say cracked himself out of Newgate? It ain't true - he didn't make it, he got out of Newgate, but was picked up by the Mollys. They buried a pick axe in his chest for some wrongs he did to their people on the inside. That's what one of the Mollys I captured told me, anyway.
- I wish I knew how the Outcasts and Lane Hackers are getting into this system. They don't come through the Jump Gates, that's for certain, unless it's some kind of crazy Lane Hacker technology we don't know about. They're probably using a few Jump Holes, which we haven't yet located.
- The Gaians are getting too smart for their own good. We've heard reports that they are towing ice asteroids from Birmingham into the Trade Lanes. If this is true, then the Gaians just bit off more than they can chew. One thing the Crown will not stand is the blocking of Trade Lanes, and more companies are going to start increasing bounties. Once those ecoterrorists have the Bounty Hunters to deal with, they won't be as much of a problem for us anymore.
- Our patrol areas focus on the Sheffield North Ice Field and the Birmingham Ice Field. In any one of those areas you will encounter several criminal groups that populate this system, including Mollys, Gaians, Lane Hackers, and Outcasts.
- Gaians frequently attack the Trade Lanes near our base. They are always trying to take down Planetform shipments and steal supplies. Although they are pretty easy kills, there are plenty of them here. The Bounty Hunters get more money for Mollys, so it's more of a police issue.
- The two rookies that we got in here a couple of weeks ago both got killed on their first patrol. The veteran who was with them barely made it back himself. Those vicious Outcasts simply have no mercy. We'll be getting in two more rookies in the next few days.
- This station was constructed to protect the convoys traveling through the system from the Independent Worlds. The Jump Gate just beyond this station leads to Cortez, which is dangerous space for anyone. Luckily, Cortez is outside of our jurisdiction - it's up to the Liberty Navy and Armed Forces to keep the lanes clear there.
- We here at Kingston have an ongoing rivalry with Liverpool. Both stations' police are constantly trying to outdo each other by bringing in more arrests, killing more uncapturables, and so on. The competition is really healthy.
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| Planet Cambridge
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- Cambridge's big imports are Basic Alloys, Fertilizers, Light Arms, H-Fuel, Optical Chips and Optronics. The goods come from a variety of sources, all across Sirius. Ever since the outbreak of the war, Cambridge has become a much more somber place. Luxury Goods used to be massive import here, but the entire market has dried up now.
- A lot has changed on Cambridge since the outbreak of wars in the Taus. We used to produce the bulk of Bretonian Consumer Goods here, but most of the factories have now been shifted to New London to provide employment for the Refugees in the camps there. On the plus side, funding has been boosted for 'practical' farming.
- The Grasmere Cloud patrol is a volunteer-only assignment - mostly young hotheads out to prove themselves. They've got plenty to do with all the Corsairs in there. There are heavy casualties on that one, sometimes 20% a week. The folly of youth... Still, those that survive usually learn a trick or two. And to never volunteer for high-risk duty again for that matter.
- Cambridge is a very nice posting for one of us police types. It's not industrialized and all like Leeds and London. It does have those Cambridge University snobs, though. They help support the Green Front, which is the "official" arm of the Gaians. They provide financial support and sustain the media war with Planetform and BMM back in London. We keep an eye on them, but they know better than to directly involve themselves with ecoterrorism.
- Synth Foods hasn't arrived in Bretonia yet because nobody wants what happened to Rheinland. Consequently, the Cambridge growers are trying to be more efficient and lobbying London to insure that the Liberty megacorporations don't get a foothold here. Personally, I hope the day will never come. The Gaians would have a right fit if Synth started to tinker with the climate on Cambridge.
- The prison convoy bound for Manchester got attacked yesterday. Corsairs came out of nowhere and ambushed them along the Lane to the New London Gate. They figure they were hidden among the asteroids in that huge field north of Planet Cambridge. It's a common tactic for those savages.
- Now that Nottingham is being colonized in earnest, the Police Authority has had to assign folk to that system. It's been a right nightmare so far. Corsairs, Hessians... Even those Daumann rascals try to start trouble from time to time. And the Armed Forces aren't a lot of help, they have their hands full up north. Still, we make the best of a bad situation, that civilian militia initiative they're running is having some effect.
- The patrol to the Norfolk isn't too bad. You've got the Cambridge Line between you and the bad guys in the clouds, and the military not far away. You've just got to keep an eye out. The Line itself can be a hazard if an IFF detector fails.
- The Henry Jones Gold convoy was bound for Rheinland when it was attacked by Corsairs near the Omega-3 Gate. Its escorts were destroyed, and the ship was commandeered. An Armed Forces patrol responding to the initial distress call intercepted the raiding party near the edge of the Grasmere Cloud, and a bloody firefight ensued. The heavily damaged armored transport was the only pirate ship able to escape into the safety of the Grasmere Cloud. Its crew is believed to have perished in there before establishing contact with other Corsairs in the area.
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| Planet Sprague
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- The funds for colonisation are coming from a mixed bag of sources. Bowex and BMM have copped some of the responsibility, which they're groaning and griping about. The Crown has chipped in with what they can spare, which isn't as much as what we need. Last but not least is Interspace Commerce, who've financed a good chunk of the effort for reasons of their own. I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, but I suspect that one in particular has fangs.
- It's no secret that Rheinland is unhappy about us being here. The fact that they've stationed a battleship in Omega 7 just underlines that. A decade ago, that would have been more than enough reason to declare war for tearing up the Boorman Treaty. Today, it's a fact of life. Crazy.
- We used to get a lot of our water from one of the few surface lakes, about 30 miles away. Then there was some kind of earthquake, and a couple of hundred people in the settlements around it dropped dead. The Cambridge types were calling it a limnic eruption. Awesome. They put a name to it. Now stop it happening again, right?
- I think all this fear-mongering about Rheinland is ridiculous. Surely they're willing to stay on their half of the Omegas, and we'll stay on ours. All those tub-thumpers saying they hate us and are going to invade are just trying to stir up inter-house tension.
- This planet was colonized to house Refugees from Planet Leeds. The Crown got as many people out as possible in the years leading up to the invasion. A lot of people went to holding camps on Cambridge and New London. The process of getting them all to Nottingham is ongoing. I hate to think of how many people were left behind for the Gauls.
- The CDI has been drawing recruits directly from Sprauge - a lot of the men and women who volunteer think it'll get them off planet again. A notable few are doing it for patriotic reasons and want to protect their new home. We need the ships and the manpower more than anything, so quality has gone through the floor. The BPA won't ever drop the facade of incorruptibility, so that falls to us. We're the sump that collects the refuse they don't want.
- The pirates in this system have been drawn in like sharks to blood. We've run into trouble with Corsairs, Mollys, Gaians and the odd Hessian. They all want a piece of the pie, and there's only so much we can do to stop them. My constables receive constant complaints from Bowex, demanding more resources, more patrols. For the Police Authority, people come first. Refugee convoys get our attention first and foremost - we do what we can after that, but if the ships aren't there, they aren't there.
- One of the many tasks credited to constables these days is providing leadership for Civil Defence Initiative units. Our coppers are good lads and ladies and have experience in the line of fire. The CDI volunteers, not so much. Most of them have little to no combat experience, and are being thrown straight into the worst situations the Omegas can offer. A shocking number of them die in their first engagement. The best my staff can do is try to ensure as many survive as possible.
- It's hard for people to run fair businesses here. If you looks like you could bother any of BMM or Bowex's interests, they'll refuse to work with you. On a planet like this, you're straight out of luck if the near-exclusive shipping contractor won't touch you. You either end up paying fees to both of them and become a 'subsidary', or you get edged out and marginalised.
- Want to know something sad? On my residential level, there's blackouts every day. I'm usually in the dark for ten or twelve hours a week. Annoying on the surface, but damn dangerous if the air filters die on us half a mile below. The power never dies in the factories or the spaceport. Funny that.
- Police manpower only stretches so far. In peace time, we'd patrol the safer stretches of Cambridge and Leeds and all of New London and Manchester. Cushy job - if you'd suggested we stick our necks out in Dublin and Omega 3, you'd have been laughed out of the office. How times change. The Armed Forces are kept busy defending the front lines, and we pick up the slack.
- Life is pretty tough here. The facilities are basic and strained under the pressure of millions of Refugees being shipped in - I would say we're reaching a crisis point, but the standard of living is still better than what they were used to on Planet Leeds. BMM treated their workforce like cattle. Here they're, well, still cattle, but with a better welfare charity looking after them.
- It's going to take us years to get the colony here fully populated. A good majority of Leeds' population was evacuated, but they're scattered across refugee camps in New London, Cambridge, Liberty and Rheinland. The logistics of moving everyone back are immense.
- There's talk about the government reclassfying this system from the Omega sector to Bretonia. I guess that'd put it in the same bracket as Dublin - a chartered colony on the fringe of the core space. If London tried to press for a full claim, it'd probably rile Rheinland up more than they are already, so I can't see the suggestion going through Parliament.
- When I got home yesterday, my flat had flooded. Our hab block was built into a preliminary mine shaft that BMM had sunk and abandoned, but it doesn't seem to have been sealed properly. I'm trying to get compensation from the colonial board, but the interview officer won't even see me for an appointment.
- Bretonia Police Authority
Inspector Chloe Dunn
- The Militia System was set up to assist the police maintaining order and distributing supplies across Sprague. Although I'm not sure what good it's actually doing. We just need more actual officers of the law here, not imitators.
- I can't help but feel I'm protecting another corporate haven. Bowex and BMM have already applied for monopoly charters for Nottingham minerals and exports. BMM must have found something here to warrant that. Are the government really going to stand by and permit a second Leeds? The Gaians may be traitors, but they had a point. Besides, with security as it is, letting those corporations handle matters is setting this planet up for a fullscale riot, which would be well outside of our ability to handle right now.
- I heard that one of the other colonies on the other side of the planet was destroyed recently. BMM housed the settlers near a rich mineral patch, knowing full well that they were living near a live volcano. Well, I hope they're happy with what happened. I wonder if you can make up the cost of a colony with 6 months of mining? Pff. I hope that one hurt their pocket.
- The corporate security lads aren't too bad. A few of them have signed up with the CDI on a part-time basis, but most are still tied to the pay cheque of whichever corporation they're working for at the time. That can complicate matters for us due to clashing priorities. We're here to protect and serve, while their area patrols are guided by corporate policies.
- A lot of people were hoping there'd be a fresh start here on Nottingham, but nothing has really changed. All of us at the bottom of the pile are still the slag rats. BMM is still up to the same old - only they're further from New London and can get away with more now. The rich still get the cream of the planet while we toil for them. Some change, huh?
- There is a growing criminal element among the refugee camps. Ran by a man named 'Kelly'. We are trying to root the group out. But with the lack of manpower it's impossible.
- You wouldn't have thought that policing visitor visas and permits would be a huge deal, but illegal immigration is a problem the Crown is very wary of. Between you and me, I personally think that the government is worried about Rheinland claiming a serious stake in Omega 3 if they can settle their own citizens on Nottingham. That's really not a problem we want or need. It's bad enough having Rugen here.
- BMM security teams have had to chase off a few groups of squatters who were surveying their mining grounds without visas. They claimed to be Zoners, but the broad Rheinland accent tells me they're probably Daumann scouts. It makes me uncomfortable knowing that they're here. If they stir things up into a conflict with Rheinland, we're right on the front lines again.
- The BPA have requested a detachment of Vickers gunships be sent down to Omega 3 to reinforce our patrols. We've been considerably empowered by a Royal Decree giving constables requisition rights for the use of Crusaders, but the additional gunships would really help us keep volatile zones suppressed.
- When my CDI wing was mustered we had one BPA wing leader, two corporate escorts, and the rest green recruits straight from the Cambridge. I'm ex-Armed Forces and too old to re-enlist in the regulars. One of the greens was tagged by Mollys in the Keswick Ice Field on the first day. Lost another two to Corsairs over the next couple of weeks. The corps were from Gateway and Bowex - both died because they were squabbling instead of fighting. Grapevine has it they blew eachother to bits. Now we're out here in the wilderness. Five survivors.
- The Rheinlanders moving one of their battleships into Omega 7 is worrying. They say it's there to protect civilians from the Hessians and the Corsairs, but it's blatantly obvious that it's a reaction to our operations here. Militarising the buffer zones between our Houses brings back nasty memories of our not too distant past. Not that the Boorman Treaty is worth a Kusari ceasefire any more.
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| Planet Carlisle
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- Beyond all the normal teething problems you’d expect on a young colony, we suspect Carlisle is also the epicenter of the Slog problem. Running down dealers to try and work up to the source is an endless task. That’s not helped by both the Gaians and Mollys seeming to be up to their elbows in the trade. Interrupt the wrong deal, and you’re getting a pickaxe to the back of the head and a pocketful of pyrite for your troubles.
- It’s said that Carix is made from a local bacteria mixed up with industrial chemicals. Apparently the bacteria’s toxin and its effects were discovered by some Planetform scientists a few years back. There was a pay dispute going on then, so they must have decided they’d get rich their own way. Last I heard, a bunch of Planetform employees got arrested during the police crackdown not so long ago.
- The Governor has a lot riding on her shoulders here. Carlisle is being publicly described as a sister colony to Sprague, but the government knows that Sprague is untenable in the long run. The location, the... challenging societal conditions that developed. Carlisle is a chance to start over and build a foundation for colonization that will last a millennium. It’s vital we don’t repeat the same mistakes that blighted Sprague, even if those mistakes were regrettably necessary due to the war.
- There’s a lot of soldiers here in Currock City. From the big training camp out in the wilderness. Newly enlisted squaddies do a rotation out there to get to grips with military life and harsh conditions. Of course, when they get back to civilization, it’s like setting off a firework. Drunk and disorderly, public indecency, fights with the civilians. We give them a cell to cool off and set them loose in the morning. In return, the army’ll back us up if we ever need to cash in a favor.
- Colonization is expensive, and credits are something in severely short supply in Bretonia. To fund key infrastructure, the government has issued development charters to foreign corporations, primarily Universal Shipping and Deep Space Engineering. Both are preparing to establish their own frontier settlements. The combination of Liberty credits, Liberty citizens, and Liberty specialists managing Cryer’s bacterial project means Liberty’s interests are a major constituency we need to be mindful of.
- I lived on Sprague before Carlisle, and Leeds before that. Carlisle takes some getting used to. One-hundred percent humidity most days. Sprague is quite the opposite, so dry it’ll suck the moisture from your mouth. The smell is another issue. The forests stink. It almost reminds me of the smog on Leeds, but rather than acidic fumes that make your sinuses bleed, someone has mixed rotting grass cuttings with milk and left it to curdle in the sun.
- Any successful colony needs strong political backing to thrive, to access the resources and capabilities it needs. The Governor’s Office maintains a permanent staff on New London for the purpose of building relationships and currying favor with the government and other notable peers. This is an uphill struggle, because we are facing a campaign of political sabotage by Cambridge’s elites. The Lord Regents despise the Carlisle bacterial project, and are intent on seeing us fail.
- Nothing puts my hackles up like environmentalists on Carlisle. Cambridge students on sabbatical, posing for self-aggrandizing photos. Green Front firebrands sabotaging colony infrastructure and workplaces. Then there’s the bombings. Gaian work, right foul stuff. They’ve attacked the Terraforming Generators too. If they go down, the bacteria could kill us all. Mind you, I heard how the Gaians dealt with Fort Monarch -- maybe they wouldn’t care.
- Despite the problems, people are flocking to the colony here. Majority are Bretonians of some stripe, whether they were Refugees who ended up abroad during The War, or workers who’re trying to escape from Sprague or Croyton. Not to mention the forlorn lot that transferred here from Gran Canaria. Whichever staff officer concocted that campaign should have been court martialled. There’s a large Liberty presence here too, thanks to the Universal Shipping company towns.
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| Luxury Liner Shetland
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- Bretonia gave up Edinburgh without much of a fight. I can't say I blame the Armed Forces, because I think there's a purpose for the Gallic presence there. The only true asset there was Gaia, but those Green Party eggheads prevent people from settling that planet in earnest. I think most of Bretonia hoped Gallia would break ground on that world, so that if and when the system was retaken, the planet was no longer pristine. Not even the Greens would have been able to speak out against Bretonia taking over Gallic holdings on that world. Unfortunately, it didn't happen, and the Greens will continue to be a pain in the arse.
- The area around Carlisle is safe enough for the time being. Between the Harlow and the police forces stationed at Gateshead, we can deal with anything short of a dedicated military assault on this area. Word among the military has it that neither of the Outcasts, Mollys, or Gaians can amass the forces for that kind of an attack yet, so I was sent aboard the Shetland to Curacao as a border control constable.
- I used to be posted in Aberdeen, before Gallia laid waste to it. That wasn't a huge loss - police outposts are just that, small, largely automated outposts, which are cheap to maintain but don't tend to last long against a fullblown naval assault. At the time Gallia attacked it and cut off the Edinburgh gate, I was on the Shetland - I couldn't do a thing to help my fellow officers.
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| Gateshead Station
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- Gateshead has a large internal warehouse for storing Military Surplus that has been shuttled up from Carlisle. That covers goods ranging from armored combat vehicles to infantry arms and suits. The BAF handles the logistics of signing off on the export orders, but we still handle location security and access. Making sure that they're only loaded onto transports with authorization.
- Welcome to Gateshead Station, the gateway to Carlisle. Be aware that access to Carlisle's surface is restricted to the Clean Zone. Areas outside the Clean Zone are under quarantine and classified as a biohazard, level four. How may I serve you today?
- We're in the process of upgrading our equipment. Many pilots have received the latest Cavalier and Paladin models, the ones that saw war service. Most of these are off-casts from BAF scout squadron stockpiles, as they now have far more ships than pilots to crew them. A consequence of Bretonia's reservists and conscripts being released.
- I've got a fair respect for IMG security escorts, but they're not all made equal. The lads starting out at South Shields aren't much better than the other local corporates. You can always spot a veteran who's rotated in from one of their operations in the deep Taus though. That far out, your weapons and your skills are the only thing keeping you alive. Mediocre pilots don't get to come back again.
- Gateshead was heavily fortified during The War. In the years since, it's mostly been repurposed as a police patrol base, and a chemical factory for Cryer and Planetform. The reinforced armor and weapon compliment is still useful, as we're a frequent target of Gaian terrorists.
- Gateshead was constructed in orbit of Planet Carlisle initially as a supply station for a colony that was to be established there. Of course, the horrifying last transmission of the IMG freighter Fortunate put paid to that. Now there's a thriving colony below, sustained by the bacterial treatment aerosol fabricated by Cryer and Planetform on this base.
- The surface of Carlisle is hostile to human life. From orbit it looks lush down there though -- not as beautiful as Gaia, but still green and vibrant. Outside the Clean Zone, the surface is deadly however. A scientist remarked a bio-seal on a colleague's suit failed. Apparently, his skin started to dissolve, and his organs liquefied, leaving little more than bones and goo behind. Horrifying.
- A lot of lane policing has been handed off to private security forces by the Crown, mostly because we're stretched so thin we can barely cover the entire network. In the long run it's far more expensive to pay Bounty Hunters to do it, rather than training your own pilots. But that training comes with a long wait time, and you pay upfront for equipment and ships. Hunters bring their own gear and can be deployed immediately. There's a lot of short term thinking going on in Bretonia these days.
- Gateshead is hardened against attack, as a legacy of wartime fortifications. Due to that, the largest security issues arise from the possibility of items smuggled aboard. Especially after the attack on Deshima several years ago, we are careful to thoroughly scan and inspect inbound freighters for explosives or other harmful substances. It wouldn't be out of character for the Gaians to try and hijack a supply ship to slip a bomb aboard.
- A lot of Bretonian Military Surplus has ended up on the black markets. Locally and abroad, we've seen the most sophisticated organized crime outfits appearing with military grade hardware, which they certainly aren't afraid to use. We don't know where the leak is, but we can promise you it isn't on Gateshead. There must be someone crooked at the stockpiles on Carlisle.
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| Scarborough Shipyard
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- The BPA runs regular patrols between both Jump Gates and up to Planet Carlisle. Scarborough is a convenient stop-over for refueling and repairs. There's a small BAF garrison onboard that we can call on for quick backup if we run into anything we can't handle ourselves. Usually that'll be Outcasts. It's always nice to see old faces I served alongside during the War, too.
- The BPA was devastated by the war. Most of our pilots were conscripted or volunteered for armed service, and a great many of them never made it home. I transferred across after the war ended and the big draw-down started. I could see the writing on the wall, I knew my service record wasn't impressive enough to make the cut as one of the BAF's retained officers. Flying for the BPA let me continue to serve, even if the pay and the equipment is pretty terrible these days.
- Pretty much from its inception, BPA had a reputation as the foremost professional police force in the Colonies. The Gallic War took a hammer to that, sadly. The force came close to collapse from conscription, so Parliament created the Militia as a stop-gap the remaining proper constables could supervise. They're ex-cons, malingerers and mercenaries. Special Constables, Colonial Coppers, whatever you want to call them. They're a stain on our reputation. The Militia should have been dissolved years ago.
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