LD-14

From Discovery Wiki
LD-14
Owner
Bretonia Mining & Manufacturing
Location
D-3/2, Leeds

CLASS: Wellington

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Basic

CREW: 800

The Uranium Processing Center stationed at LD-14 was a vital supplier of MOX to the other colonies, generating significant revenue for the Bretonian government. Despite the harsh conditions onboard, the salaries offered to those willing to serve ensured a steady supply of workers. However, the center faced frequent attacks from terrorist groups attempting to obtain weapons-grade plutonium, which added to the already hazardous working conditions. As a result, security measures were heightened.

Following a reconstruction period that lasted until 832 A.S, LD-14 is now fully operational in the Leeds system. Its reopening not only relieves fuel pressures on the house but also provides a valuable source of exports, particularly with the situation in Dublin.

Bribes & Missions Offered

Bribes
Missions


Commodities

Imports
Commodity Price
Robotics 28$
Energy Field Equipment 55$
Gin 37$
Medical Equipment 31$
Detroit Light Arms 83$
Slog 86$
Oxygen 9$
Water 9$
Food Rations 20$
Kyushu Rice 26$
Basic Alloy 18$
Construction Machinery 38$
Pharmaceuticals 29$
Hull Panels 39$
Consumer Goods 26$
Daumann Side Arms 124$
Gallic Enfer Blasters 80$
Ageira Gate/Lane Parts 958$
Synth Paste 25$
Industrial Materials 21$
Munitions 41$
Xenobiotic Filters 56$
HazMat Canisters 119$
Passenger Cabin (Bretonia) 18,777$
Iron 10$
Xeno Relics 225$
H-Fuel 111$
Exports
Commodity Price
Deployable Mining Container 50,000$
Crew 202$
Uranium 14$
MOX 11$
Hangar Provisions 250$
Toxic Waste 14$
Mining Machinery 21$


Ships sold


Ship Class Price
Raven's Talon Very Heavy Fighter 26,879$
Waran Bomber 69,116$
Jackdaw Heavy Fighter 31,269$
Heavy Tanker Super Train 1,856,006$


News

[835 AS] Freiburg targeted in terrorist strike

FREIBURG STATION -- 835 -- Emergency responders have rushed to Freiburg Station after a serious terrorist attack killed 7 Gallic visitors. 3 Gull-class Transports attempted to ram an IDF Shipping convoy moored to the station, exploding once they hit their targets. 1 of the vessels was successfully disabled by the station’s defense grid. The assailants had just arrived from Omega-7, broadcasting the convoy shipping papers of a small export company based on Freeport 1. RFP officers believe the Gallic ships were the actual target, and have suggested either the LWB or Bretonian radicals could be responsible. Bretonian and Rheinland authorities are cooperating to investigate the incident.

[835 AS] Coronado disaster sparks panic

YUMA -- 835 -- Public data feeds have lit up with distress calls from Coronado, after a system-wide EMP pulse wreaked havoc. Emergency requests for aid have been issued by the Crayter Republic and IMG, with early reports indicating that the system’s Trade Lane project has been destroyed. Ageira has confirmed that the Jump Gate remains unaffected thanks to post-Blackout safeguards, allowing relief to be delivered from Bretonia and Liberty. Panic erupted on many Liberty worlds after footage was released showing an energy field around the moon Jericho, seeming to indicate another activated alien site. President Hawthorne has called for calm, and reiterated that security forces were moving to contain the situation.

[835 AS] Gallic threats raise Tau fears

SCALPAY OUTPOST -- 835 -- The Taus are once more on edge, after Gallia threatens the use of force to retrieve the Tau-23 to Tau-31 Jump Gate. Bretonia constructed the first Jump Gate in the system, which was later annexed during the Gallic War. Bretonia was gifted the current Gallic Jump Gate by Kusari during their invasion of Gallia, and has held it since -- with Gallia formally ceding its Tau claims through the Treaty of Rishiri. Bretonia has historically refused to discuss the Gate’s status until its own demands on the extradition of war criminals and payment of Gallic War reparations are met. The Bretonian government has warned that Gallic aggression or threats “will not be tolerated”.

[835 AS] Recapture of Dublin commences!

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] Lend-Lease ships return to Liberty

CORDOVA -- 835 -- Liberty’s Hawthorne administration has ended the wartime Lend-Lease program with Bretonia. The initiative saw Liberty provide large loans and huge quantities of military materiel during the Gallic War, throwing the beleaguered House a vital lifeline. The sudden development sees most remaining Liberty capital ships in Bretonian service returned to their parent House with immediate effect. Anonymous Bretonian sources have expressed dismay with Liberty’s insistence on an expedited return, arguing it undermines domestic security at a critical moment of Armed Forces’ preparations for a major deployment.

[835 AS] Bretonia and Rheinland call for de-escalation

CURACAO -- The governments of Bretonia and Rheinland have called on Kusari and Liberty to attempt formal talks, amid fears that continued escalation and military friction could spark war. Queen Carina and Emperor Frederick have offered to mediate an emergency summit on Planet Curacao after Kusari and Liberty imposed mutual sanctions that are already having rippling effects across Sirius. Gallia’s Grand Marshall de Varax meanwhile has condemned Kusari as a “belligerent and destabilizing actor”, and called for Liberty’s demands to be met. Neither Kusari or Liberty has agreed to attend, with each demanding pre-conditions be met by the other. Gallia has not received an invite.

[835 AS] Arrests made after Freiburg killings

FREIBURG -- 835 -- Freiburg patrons scattered in terror after a bar disagreement between Bretonian and Gallic customers escalated to murder. Witnesses report an IDFS officer said “something about Leeds” to a drinking Bowex transport team. Within moments, a brawl erupted, with Gateway employees assisting their normally bitter rivals. “There was a flash of light and three bangs, and before I knew it, two Bretonians and a Gaul were dead,” bartender Benno Gramann explained. The RFP have held six Bretonians on suspicion of murder and released two Gallic citizens on bail, sparking outrage in Bretonia.

[834 AS] Police Authority lands blow against Slog

CARLISLE -- 835 -- Following a series of raids, 74 people have been arrested on Planet Carlisle in connection with the production of Slog. The outlawed narcotic has wreaked havoc on industrial towns across New London, Carlisle and Sprague, with some calling it the "working man's scourge". Chief Inspector Harry O'Donnell confirmed that a suspected laboratory was stormed by armed constables, resulting in the seizure of narcotics and equipment. Anonymous sources allege a number of those arrested were biochemists employed by Planetform Incorporated.

[834 AS] H-Fuel prices spike as market volatility increases

MANHATTAN -- 834 -- H-Fuel prices across Sirius have spiked after demand for future supply contracts surged. This unusual increase has been driven by Liberty corporations who are buying up all surplus stocks, although what has provoked the sudden frenzy remains unknown. Universal Shipping and Synth Foods both declined to comment on their own significant increase in buying activity, however many have noted that neither has the storage capacity to account for the excess. Share prices for Kishiro, GMG and Samura all rose on the news, despite Kusari warning that it may impose export caps on H-Fuel to limit market volatility and curb inflation.

[834 AS] BMM challenged on environmental record

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.

[834 AS] Notorious privateer released from prison

NEWGATE -- 834 -- Henry King has been released from Newgate Prison on parole, having served a 5 year sentence. Leading a squadron of privateers, King rose to fame for daring strikes on Gallic supply lines across the Taus and even Languedoc. It is believed that King had the largest personal bounty in Gallia for his exploits, which were recently adapted for holoreel in the feature-length hit, “Blade and Blaster”. King continued to attack Gallic Confederacy targets after the war’s end, and was arrested for piracy upon returning to Bretonia. When asked for a statement by journalists, he replied “444” before climbing into a waiting shuttle and departing.

[834 AS] Cryer delegation arrives at Harris

PLANET HARRIS -- 834 -- Cryer Pharmaceuticals location scouts have arrived on Planet Harris, amid speculation the medical giant will establish a facility on the remote planet. With the destruction of Atka Research Station, Cryer lost the primary production facility for their flagship drug -- Stabiline. Harris is believed to be a front-runner candidate for a replacement lab due to its strategic location in the Tau Border Worlds, BAF security perimeter, and option to tap into local supply lines. Liberty is believed to have provided significant diplomatic backing for Cryer's proposal, which is demanding complete legal autonomy for the site. Bretonian officials have declined to comment on the proceedings.

[832 AS] Houses outraged by Roppongi attack

NEW TOKYO -- 832 -- Kusari has received blistering criticism from the other Houses after the destruction of Roppongi Station. Roppongi hosted House embassies in Kusari, and was a major business hub for foreign companies. Liberty’s President Hawthorne is said to be “incandescent” over the attack, which killed Ambassador Luisa Mason and her aides. She has threatened consequences unless Kusari exert all “means and resources” towards the Farmers Alliance’s eradication, and announced the LSF will be taking “enhanced measures” to protect Liberty citizens. Interspace Commerce has quadrupled its bounties on Alliance targets. Kusari has opened an inquest into the attack.

[831 AS] 'Slog' banned throughout Bretonia

NEW LONDON -- 831 -- The drug 'Slog,' otherwise known as Carix, has officially been banned across Bretonia. It is now a criminal offense to possess or distribute this drug in any quantity. The strict prohibition comes in response to the rising popularity of this dangerous substance, which has ravaged the Bretonian working class. Authorities claim the Slog trade creates extreme public health hazards, and has strong links to the funding of terrorism. Despite this, journalists have suggested that the government’s real fear lies in decreased productivity, which Bretonia's struggling post-war economy cannot afford following the loss of Dublin.

[831 AS] Gate corps clash over 'Blackout'!

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] Bretonia announces Poole draw-down

NEW LONDON -- 831 AS -- The Bretonian government has announced a controlled withdrawal from the Poole system, citing ballooning costs and difficult post-Dublin state budget. Poole was once of critical importance to Bretonia, briefly hosting a Supergate to Liberty during the Gallic War, and acting as a launching point for Bretonia's colonial ambitions in Omega-49. This importance declined after the war and the abandonment of Gran Canaria. The cost of policing the frontier system has significantly outweighed tax revenue for many years. DSE has already confirmed that it will begin deconstruction operations soon, with Jump Gate and Trade Lane components expected to be removed by 833 AS.

[831 AS] Pulse phenomenon linked to Blackout

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] Gruesome reports as Dublin falls

Grotesque broadcasts have issued from Graves Station after Molly saboteurs captured the base. The terrorists filmed the execution of senior BMM officials with pickaxes, murdering station administrator Dame Helen Raleigh and maintenance chief Harland Streeve. The Battleship Essex was quick to respond to the atrocities, dispatching a boarding force to retake Graves. Unwilling to face justice for their crimes, the hijackers detonated the station, murdering all aboard. Simultaneous suicide attacks against the New London Jump Gate forced the Essex's withdrawal. The Government has stressed that this withdrawal is temporary, and that a blockade will be imposed while forces are assembled to pacify the system.

[831 AS] 'Blackout' causes jump network failure

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.

[829 AS] Tau In Transition

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.


Rumors

Border World Exports
  • I stay just long enough to load up a tanker full of MOX, and then I'm gone. I know they say it's all shielded and all that, but... their watered-down alcohol-free ale isn't worth sticking around through a rad-storm for.


  • This is perhaps BMM's most important operation, and we're more than willing to support them with shipping. MOX tankers are a bit unwieldy, and it's never fun when a trigger-happy pirate holds one up.


  • Part of the crown's recycling and reconstruction effort involves large-scale toxic waste reprocessing at LD-14. What that really means is we get hazard pay to haul around extremely volatile garbage that's one stray shot from smearing you across the system.


Bretonia Mining & Manufacturing
  • Used to be that LD-14 had its own Armed Forces garrison to keep the facility secure, but after the war everyone's spread so thin that the best we've got is the Ark Royal. Hopefully the new sticks they're training live long enough that we get some dedicated protectors again.


  • Everybody knows what radiation does to people, but it's almost worse to electronics. I can't tell you how many times we've had mining drones just give up the ghost on us, or industrial controllers spin out of control, or docking computers suddenly trying to send mooring requests to the star. Short of layering everything in six inches of lead there's not much we can do about it, other than keep plenty of spare parts around.


  • Your work stay on LD-14 is based on dosage - there's plenty of folk who make a mistake or spend too long out of shielding and get sent home early. That's why everybody's so careful - you don't make this kind of pay on any other station. Of course, I've heard some people swap out their dosimeters to stay here. It's called taking 'the short time', because once you do it, well... you'll only have a short time to enjoy the extra credits.


  • One of the big downsides of the radiation is that it's hard to get a communication out, or to get a long-range scan of the system for that matter. We can talk to the Ark Royal fairly easily because of the Trade Lane, but if they send a patrol we can't talk until they've made it through the field. Likewise, Gaians, Mollys or what have you don't show up on our scopes until they're practically on top of us.


  • If you wish to venture any further into the installation, I would have to first ask that you sign this non-disclosure agreement. It's standard fare for such a sensitive operation as this, I assure you.


  • I'm glad the Ark Royal is close by, because it seems like we can't go five minutes with someone trying to beat down the front door. I guess that comes with being in a big box of nuclear fuel with a big BMM sign stapled to it.


  • Corporate did a campaign alongside the reopening of LD-14, basically talking it up to be the revival of the Bretonian economy. They put in place some safety regs, and a lot of our equipment is new, so it definitely is better than it used to be - but it's still a dirty waste and nuke plant. You'd think if they were so worried about their image, they'd at least change the name.


  • If you plan on visiting LD-14 often, you might want to invest in a dosimeter. The station has plenty of radiation shielding, but there's still enough of a low-level dose that trickles in. It's why the workers here are only permitted to work for a few months at a time.


  • Because of how dangerous it is to actually get up close to LD-14 - other than through the Trade Lane corridor, of course - we only end up with the crazy pirates knocking on our hull. The paint had barely dried on the LD-14 rebuild before we had to scrape Molly remains off the reprocessor baffles.