| Kirkwall Base | |
| Owner | |
| Gaians | |
| Location | |
| B-7, Orkney |
CLASS: Adensay
GRAVITY: Partial
DOCKING: Yes
AMENITIES: Yes
CREW: 120
Kirkwall is a small installation built by Outcasts in 805 AS inside a large asteroid field. While the once-remote Orkney system is not a part of any Cardamine routes and is not within the scope of Outcasts' economical interests, Outcast leaders wanted to have a permanent base in the system to keep an eye on the mysterious mine field, not unlike the one located in the Tau-37 system.
When the Council broke through the minefield and revealed the existence of Gallia, Kirkwall became that much more important. The potential for distributing Cardamine to Gallia was not lost on the Outcasts. However, as most of those shipments were soon routed through Genoa, Kirkwall's importance diminished considerably, to the point of a large part of the local garrison being transferred to Cali, which suddenly found itself locked between Royal Navy patrols, IMG operations, Council patrols, and Crayterian raiders.
Sensing the opportunity, the Gaians of Edinburgh and Tau-31 organised a small strike force, consisting of a number of fighters escorting a single troop transport. The force took a long and perilous route through deeper Tau systems and surprised Kirkwall's defenders by approaching from the direction of Tau-23 jumphole. The battle cost both sides heavily, as Outcast pilots stationed on the base fought the more numerous Gaian attackers to the last ship. The Gaian boarding party had more luck than their spacefaring brethren, but took a long time clearing the outpost's interior of resistance. Some of the Outcast personnel were captured and were allowed to leave on one of the few intact ships left in the hangar. Once the base was fully under Gaian control, it underwent several thorough decontamination procedures.
With a sudden incursion of Nomads plaguing Orkney, Kirkwall has become something of an observation post for any further activity in the system. Despite being an extremely valuable and concealed piece of infrastructure in this regard, this has strained the resolve of its crew and assigned pilots immensely.
Bribes & Missions Offered
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Commodities
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Ships sold
| Ship | Class | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Dagger | Light Fighter | 21,052$ |
| Stiletto | Heavy Fighter | 24,108$ |
| Sabre | Very Heavy Fighter | 23,679$ |
| Cutlass | Bomber | 72,726$ |
News
| [835 AS] A different kind of intruder |
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ATACAMA -- 835 -- Atacama’s defenders were scrambled after a massive unknown contact was detected entering the Sonora Field. Rather than mindless aggression from transponderless raiders, the intruder was nothing less than an Order battleship. The vessel was heavily damaged and fighting fires on multiple decks. After a terse initial exchange between Gaian and Order fighters, it was agreed that the “Atum” would be allowed to moor near the wreckage of the Warspite to carry out damage control. The battleship’s officers were then shuttled across to Atacama for discussions with local cell leaders. Gaian patrols have since rescued several Order pilots from the wreckage of a new battlefield near Veracruz. |
| [835 AS] Recapture of Dublin commences! |
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BATTLESHIP ESSEX -- 835 -- Admiralty representatives have confirmed that the Bretonian operation to recapture Dublin has been initiated. Defense commentators have long assumed the Bretonia Armed Forces would breach the system via a Jump Hole believed to be concealed within the Cumbria Asteroid Field. Forecasts predicted a bloody advance, given the Mollys renown expertise as ambush fighters, and prolific use of concealed mines. Despite this, Bretonian officials confirm that the Battleship Somerset has established a bridgehead in the system without casualties. “This will be a quick operation,” Admiral Rowley noted. “The Mollys cannot stand in open space.” |
| [835 AS] Outcast assassins prowl Bretonia |
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NEWCASTLE -- 835 AS -- Newcastle’s criminal underworld waits with bated breath, following the disappearance of Outcast Arnold De Angelis, son of Don Liviano De Angelis. The enraged cartels have dispatched a squad of their elite assassins, who have resolved to uncover the fate of the missing son and mete out retribution -- whatever the cost. While a hundred thousand credit bounty for information has been offered, Dardi Squadron also promises to leave a trail of corpses in their wake. The presence of some of Sirius’s deadliest killers has already led to unease among Newcastle’s Gaians, Mollys and Bounty Hunters. |
| [835 AS] Atacama requests assistance against raiders |
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ATACAMA -- 835 -- In recent months, Gaian salvagers working around Planet Veracruz have come under attack by unknown vessels. Over this period, many pilots have been killed, captured or simply vanished. These attacks have continued to escalate, with reports of unmarked Liberty and pirate vessels launching raids on Atacama itself. After the local cell issued a distress call, Islay dispatched the Destroyer Artemis to investigate and provide support. She is expected to arrive shortly; in the meantime, Atacama’s wings are restricting non-essential deployments, and travelling in force when necessary. |
| [834 AS] BMM challenged on environmental record |
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REDCARR -- 834 -- The Green Front environmental group have sued BMM over alleged waste disposal violations at Redcarr Production Facility in Newcastle. The group assert that Toxic Waste is being vented into the moon Middlebrough’s orbit, rather than being handled in accordance with Bretonian safety regulations. Retired MP Terence Wimberley has led the move, declaring that the “private prosecution will hold BMM executives accountable, before they can ruin another system with their reckless corner cutting.” BMM has decried the case as a “malicious waste of public resources,” but offered no specific comment on the allegation itself. |
| [833 AS] Carlisle cartels move on Slog |
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CARLISLE -- 833 -- Slog has got its hooks into Bretonia’s workers, and there’s cash to be made filling that demand. It seems the Gaians and Mollys certainly think so, as both groups have sent their own people to put the screws to the producers on Carlisle. What once was an independent operation is now being torn in half by the Bretonian underworld, as both factions see the trade as a quick, if dirty, means of funding their causes. It remains to be seen how the Gaians and Mollys will settle their differences. If you’re in the market for Slog, your options have never been better. |
| [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. |
| [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. |
| [829 AS] Tau In Transition |
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Freeport 6 -- 829 AS -- Bretonia and Kusari have been quiet in recent weeks as the Tau cluster continues adjustments, partly by design, into a new reality. Kusari has abandoned Tau-53 completely as trade with Gallia is frozen indefinitely, a nearly depleted hydrocarbon deposit seemingly not worth the investment in itself. Misaki Station has seen its manufacturing facilities detached and towed to a new location as Samura attempts to recoup some of its investment in Tau-53. Meanwhile, both Gallia and Bretonia have readjusted their Tau focus to Tau-23 as Orkney descends into chaos. Existing gate infrastructure in Tau-31 and Languedoc have been redirected to Tau-23, and a collective deja vu is felt among Tau denizens and observers from all Houses as the resources of Tau-23 are eyed by competing mining interests. Trade between the houses however, as in Kusari, is completely off the menu. Independent trade factions have also been warned against attempting to cross the divide. |
| [828 AS] Tau Turbulence |
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FREEPORT 6 -- 828 AS -- After decades of constant warfare and shifts in dominance - the balance of power within the Tau sector has once again been reset. With the most recent conclusion of a brief yet bitter invasion by Kusari into Gallic space, the Taus have seen a rapid destabilization along the shattered Gallic defenses and Kusari borders. Coupled with a Bretonia still reeling from economic desolation by the Gallic invasion only a few years prior, the Taus have become something of a no-man's-land between the depleted militaries of the Gallic, Kusari, and Bretonian empires. In the aftermath of the decisive end of the Kusari-Gallic war, the once dominant Gallia pulled almost all its strength back to Gallia to repel the Kusari invasion, leaving in their wake a sector more independent than ever. At present, no house stands to conclusively fill the vacuum of power in the Taus, clouding the future to secure exploitation of its rich natural resources in ambiguity. Following the withdrawal of Kusari from Tau-23 after the final confrontation in Languedoc, the lanes within the system seem to have been subject to sabotage, and Gallia has released a public statement that Orkney would instead be favored over Tau-23 for the route to Tau-31, likely owing to Orkney being the last major Tau system that Gallia holds bases in. Niobium futures have ballooned in response to plummeting consumer confidence in stable Niobium extraction, resulting in vicious multinational corporate and paramilitary competition over Tau resource exploitation. The Taus are now a lawless battleground of conflicting corporate interests, small scale military skirmishes, and pirate incursions, all scrambling for a piece of Niobium. Given the thorough depletion of military might and expansionist ambitions in the surrounding devastated houses, chances are low that the Taus will find themselves tamed by a lawful house in the foreseeable future. |
Rumors
| Gaians |
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| Gallic Brigands |
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