| Cold Bay Depot | |
| Owner | |
| Planetform, Inc. | |
| Location | |
| E/D-6, Hudson |
CLASS: Unalaska
GRAVITY: Partial
DOCKING: Yes
AMENITIES: Limited
CREW: 830
Cold Bay was built near Planet Atka in 816 AS, being the first step in a terraforming project ordered by the Liberty government. Rheinland discovered this base soon after and demanded its immediate deconstruction, fearing Liberty would unilaterally annex the system. Liberty refused to comply with this order, contributing to the outbreak of the Hudson War the following year. Planetform evacuated the station to avoid the fighting, only returning in 820 AS after Liberty had expelled Rheinland from the Independent Worlds and occupied the system.
Since then, Planetform has begun stage 1 terraforming works, constructing several orbital mirrors to reflect light down to the frozen planet. Cold Bay also began to import Terraforming Gasses to thicken Atka’s atmosphere and trap additional heat. This was complicated by wartime sanctions applied by Rheinland that prohibited Planetform from entering their territory or importing ALG Terraforming Gasses. While carrying out later geographic survey works, Planetform scientists identified a primitive bacteria living on Atka’s glaciers.
Working in partnership with Cryer and Synth Foods, the bacteria’s novel cell properties led to the development of bioengineered Xenobiotic Filters, which began commercial production in 822 AS. Planetform suspects that the bacteria will be driven to extinction relatively early in the terraforming process, and has accordingly attempted to develop artificial cultures aboard Cold Bay to ensure long term access. Planetform hopes that the Atka project will hit its first major milestone within the next decade.
Bribes & Missions Offered
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Ships sold
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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. |
| [833 AS] LPI commissioner sentenced following Erie probe |
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PLANET ERIE -- 833 -- Helen O’Shea, Pennsylvania’s former LPI Commissioner, has been sentenced on corruption charges over the mismanagement of Erie’s planetary internment camps. The facilities were constructed to temporarily hold prisoners from the Liberty Insurgency while the courts cleared sentencing backlogs. Following allegations of human trafficking, the LSF launched a major investigation, discovering that as many as 10 percent of inmates were suspected of having been sold to traffickers. O’Shea is the latest and most high profile prosecution to date, and is expected to serve a ten year sentence at a minimum security penitentiary on Planet Los Angeles. |
| [831 AS] Gate corps clash over 'Blackout'! |
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ABBEVILLE -- 831 AS -- EFL's 'Resilience Taskforce' today reported its findings on The Blackout, claiming to have gathered forensic evidence that proved the cause as Ageira negligence. A spokesperson claimed that the destruction of the Dublin Jump Gate by Molly separatists had created a hyperspace feedback loop that was propagated and amplified through the Ageira gate network. Ageira disputed this finding in their own press release, calling EFL 'fantasists' and countering that their own scientists had narrowed the cause to a rare 'hypernova' stellar event that originated outside the Sirius sector. Both corporations claim that network-wide hardware safeguards have been implemented that would prevent a similar occurrence in the future. Independent researchers have sharply criticized the corporate announcements, accusing both of self-interested misdirection. Professor Sophia Nagel from Heisenberg Research Station called EFL's accusation 'incoherent' and the hypernova explanation 'nonsense' that did not explain the characteristics of the 'Blackout Pulse'. Despite multiple different Pulse recordings being widely disseminated across the neural net, public efforts have so far failed to triangulate its source. |
| [831 AS] Pulse phenomenon linked to Blackout |
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AMES RESEARCH STATION -- 831 -- Independent researchers have announced that a hyperspace pulse of unprecedented strength was detected moments before The Blackout, destroying many of the sector’s most sensitive and finely tuned observatories. Surviving data about 'The Pulse' has been widely shared across the neural net in recent days, prompting mass speculation. Professor Katsuma Oster of Ames Research Station described the signal as “astounding”. “These readings are unprecedented, as if reality itself were struck like a gong.” House authorities have remained tight lipped, refusing to share their own observatories' data. |
| [831 AS] Imperial offers reward for lost liner |
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ALTONA -- 831 -- Imperial Shipping have released additional details about the lost liner RSS Von Albrecht. The bulk passenger ferry had been traveling from Houston when the chilling Blackout Crisis stranded it in Hudson. Cached communication logs confirm that the liner reached the Hamburg Jump Gate. Imperial has stated that the liner's last known signals were a hijacking alert, rescinded by a false-alarm code several minutes later. Imperial has offered a significant bounty for information leading to the return of the Von Albrecht, its passengers and crew. Rheinland and Liberty naval patrols are continuing to cooperate in their investigations. |
| [831 AS] 'Blackout' causes jump network failure |
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MANHATTAN -- 831 AS -- Two days ago Jump Gates failed simultaneously across Sirius, freezing commerce and neural net access across the sector. When communications resumed 31 hours later, the news broke of Bretonia's loss of the Dublin system. This twin shock has plunged markets into chaos, prompting fears of sector-wide economic recessions. Interspace estimates that the stoppage alone caused billions of credits in losses. Gallia immediately accused Liberty of causing the outage, claiming the destruction of Dublin's Jump Gate instigated a cascading failure in faulty Ageira infrastructure. Ageira has sharply refuted the allegation, claiming such a systemic effect would be physically impossible. |
| [830 AS] Liberty annexes Planet Erie |
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PLANET ERIE -- 830 -- The Liberty Navy has launched Operation PESTICIDE to annex Pennsylvania, following the collapse of talks between Liberty and Zoner authorities. President Hawthorne declared that Liberty could no longer tolerate a "lawless frontier" within its very core, and that the Zoners had repeatedly refused to extradite criminals and terrorists from the Pennsylvania protectorate. The recent destruction of an LSF satellite was the straw that broke the camel's back. Militias congregating around Planet Erie were routed following the Zoner Carrier Pinnacle’s destruction. The Battleship Alma then secured Erie’s orbit and landed Marines to impose Liberty law on Lake City. Surviving militants have vowed to resist Erie’s occupation. |
| [830 AS] Trouble in paradise on Erie |
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PLANET ERIE -- 830 AS -- Since the destruction of Williamstown Depot near Planet Tremont, Liberty and Erie's autonomous Zoner government have been locked in a standoff. Liberty has long suspected the Insurgency attack on its logistics station was facilitated by informants on Erie, and has accused the Zoners of allowing Insurgency and Xeno operatives to roam the planet with "impunity". This morning, a missile streaked from Erie's wilderness, shooting down an orbiting LSF satellite that had been tracking "terrorist activities". Liberty has accused Zoner militias of the attack, and ordered Erie authorities to hand over the perpetrators, and all Insurgency affiliates. Zoners have denied responsibility, calling the attack a “Liberty false flag”. |
| [817 AS] Planetform sanctioned over disputed terraforming |
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PLANET ATKA -- 818 -- Rheinland's Reichstag today passed a motion applying sanctions to Planetform Inc, condemning the Bretonian corporation for its work on Planet Atka in Hudson. The motion prohibits Planetform from entering or purchasing goods in Rheinland until such a time as the company ceases work on Atka and "desists in furthering Liberty’s imperialism". The move has drawn protests from both Bretonia and Liberty, and severs Planetform’s access to Rheinland-sourced Terraforming Gasses. Planetform representatives have called for peace talks between Rheinland and Liberty over Hudson’s status, arguing that a terraformed planet in the dangerous Independent World would mutually benefit both. |
| [817 AS] Liberty Declares Border Security Zone |
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HUDSON -- 817 -- In a significant escalation to ongoing tensions, Liberty has established a Border Security Zone in the two Independent Worlds of Bering and Hudson. President Powell announced that the Liberty Navy will maintain a blockade along what Liberty deems its zone of control. This is purportedly to prevent intrusions by the Rheinland Military, and thwart attempts to facilitate terrorist attacks in Liberty territory. All civilian shipping bound for Liberty through the affected systems are now being stopped for mandatory inspections. Rheinland has furiously condemned the move as military aggression, and called the deployment a flagrant violation of the Boorman Treaty. |
| [816 AS] Houses clash over Hudson terraforming |
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PLANET ATKA -- 816 AS -- Rheinland has reacted with outrage at the discovery of Cold Bay Depot, a Planetform terraforming outpost recently constructed in orbit of Planet Atka. Hudson’s status has been the subject of friction between Liberty and Rheinland for decades, however Liberty appears to have grown tired with the impasse and unilaterally commissioned further terraforming surveys and ground preparation. Rheinland has set an ultimatum for the “illegal” station to be dismantled within one month, threatening to do so by force if the neutrality of the contested Independent World is not respected. Liberty has rejected the demand, and declared that it is prepared to defend its intrinsic economic interests in the region. |
| [816 AS] Rheinland Torpedoes Talks on Hudson Status |
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HUDSON -- 816 -- Liberty’s newly elected President Powell has demanded talks with Rheinland on the status of the Hudson border. Liberty has long had ambitions of annexing the system, with Rheinland at several points coming close to selling their consent for the move. Since the last substantive round of negotiations collapsed in 812 AS, Rheinland has remained non-committal on the issue. This ended with a statement by Chancellor Reinhardt declaring Rheinland would “never countenance” auctioning away the “integral” border system, pointing to economic and defense interests. Powell blasted Reinhardt in return, arguing that Liberty was “owed” compensation for Colony War damages, and that Rheinland had a duty to negotiate in good faith. |
| [808 AS] Rio Grande puts pirates to the sword |
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RIO GRANDE -- 808 -- The Battleship Rio Grande and its fleet has carried out an expansive counter-piracy campaign in Hudson. Attacks on convoys in the region have already markedly dropped, with dozens of destroyed Liberty Rogue, Unioner and Xeno ships reported. Rheinland's Chancellor Steller called the deployment of the battleship into the border system ‘unlawful’, while the Rheinland Military announced a strategic defense review to probe its readiness levels. The Rio Grande’s ‘take no prisoners’ posture has also drawn criticism from Houston’s congressional representatives, who argue depriving the pirates the possibility of reform through the Liberty penal system is a breach of their human rights. Liberty says it was ‘forced’ to act by Rheinland’s failure to police the system adequately. |
| [807 AS] Colony War demilitarization complete |
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ODER SHIPYARD -- 807 -- With the deconstruction of the Battleship Goethe, the Rheinland Government has announced that the post-Colony War process of demilitarization has been completed. The Federal Audit Office has also provided a damning report to the Schweizer Commission, indicating that the bulk of the hulls examined were built to cheap, 80-Years War grade, rather than the modernized standards billed for by Daumann and Republican. Opposition politicians have called for the corporations to be charged with fraud. Addressing the Reichstag, Councillor Stellar announced that the day "closed a door on a dark period of Rheinland’s history". |
| [807 AS] Liberty concerned by Rheinland pirates |
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FREEPORT 2 -- 807 -- Liberty has raised a formal complaint with New Berlin over the deteriorating security situation in Hamburg, Bering and Hudson. Pirate attacks in the border worlds have risen dramatically over recent years, as Rheinland plunges ever deeper into economic crisis. The Rheinland Military advise that they do not have the resources to schedule additional patrols, while Liberty corporations claim that existing patrols rarely respond to emergency calls. Liberty Navy sources warn that unless Rheinland steps up, the Navy is going to be forced to ‘clean house’ itself. Preliminary discussions about a Liberty-funded RFP border force are ongoing, however Rheinland is reluctant to accept more Liberty debts. |
| [801 AS] Provisional Rheinland Government demilitarizes |
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POTSDAM -- 801 -- The Provisional Rheinland Government has begun urgent and immediate demilitarization. PRG representatives advised this was an absolute necessity to prevent Rheinland’s imminent financial collapse, and had been a requirement for both Bretonia and Liberty to drop heavy reparation demands. It is expected that these cuts will reduce the Rheinland Military’s headcount by over 80%%, leaving tens of thousands unemployed. This will reduce the force to levels last seen in 794 AS, prior to Chancellor Niemann’s build-up program. Already huge formations of capital ships have been mothballed in orbit of Potsdam, awaiting shipyard space for deconstruction. |
Rumors
| Planetform, Inc. |
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| Cryer Pharmaceuticals |
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| Synth Foods, Inc. |
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