Leiden Base

From Discovery Wiki
Leiden Base
Owner
Lane Hackers
Location
C/B-2, Galileo

CLASS: Cray

GRAVITY: Complete.

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 240

Leiden Base was built in 782 AS by a group of former Ageira Technologies employees after the Galileo bypass scandal resulted in several executives and an elite development team being forced out of Ageira. They quickly got in contact with the Lane Hackers at Mactan, securing the northern Independent Worlds as their primary areas of operation, preying on the heavy shipping between Liberty and Kusari.

Originally the Lane Hackers on Leiden focused on simple piracy, using their knowledge of the Trade Lane systems to obtain information on the most tempting of targets, carrying off what they could loot and destroying the rest. In recent time, the Lane Hackers have also begun to take an interest in smuggling Alien Artifacts. The Hogosha control the flow of artifacts through Kusari, and the Lane Hackers deal with them on Leiden out of necessity. The Lane Hackers also have dealings with the Golden Chrysanthemums, trading Cardamine for information on ship movements along the trade lanes in Kusari.

Bribes & Missions Offered

Bribes
Missions


Commodities

Imports
Commodity Price
Robotics 33$
Black Market Munitions 186$
Energy Field Equipment 37$
Medical Equipment 65$
Rum 73$
Detroit Light Arms 65$
Vodka 95$
Whiskey 54$
Military Surplus 1,272$
Oxygen 10$
Water 10$
Food Rations 43$
Luxury Food 66$
Kyushu Rice 26$
MOX 55$
Basic Alloy 15$
Mining Machinery 31$
Construction Machinery 28$
Pharmaceuticals 21$
Hull Panels 36$
Optronics 68$
Consumer Goods 25$
Daumann Side Arms 117$
Gallic Enfer Blasters 148$
Black Market Blasters 187$
Ageira Gate/Lane Parts 483$
Kemwer Technologies 273$
Hangar Provisions 259$
Volgograd Ordinance 268$
APM Advanced Hardware 194$
Holotainment Bands 171$
Black Market Augments 120$
Pineal Amulets 120$
Synth Paste 32$
Tobacco 81$
Wine 91$
Cigars 182$
Industrial Materials 20$
Munitions 34$
Tea 44$
Xenobiotic Filters 47$
Fire Pearls 39$
Iron 25$
Xeno Relics 219$
Hessian Tears 263$
Diamonds 264$
Shigeakiki 209$
Exports
Commodity Price
Liberty Ale 47$
Black Market Pharmaceuticals 96$
Counterfeit Computerware 122$
Luxury Consumer Goods 76$
Cardamine 233$
Black Market Light Arms 110$
H-Fuel 115$
Platinum 155$


Ships sold


Ship Class Price
Longsword Heavy Fighter 24,108$
Rhino Freighter 19,206$
Broadsword Bomber 82,562$


News

[835 AS] Interspace voids Coronado Trade Lane policy

SCOTSDALE REFINERY -- 835 -- Ageira Technologies and Deep Space Engineering have threatened to sue Interspace Commerce over an insurance dispute. Interspace provided a loss prevention policy for Coronado’s Trade Lane construction project, however the financial giant says the policy is now void. Describing the Jericho Pulse as an “act of god”, Interspace exercised force majeure clauses to deny compensation claims. Local transports caught in the blast are similarly out of pocket. Liberty itself has yet to comment on the situation, however the prospect of starting over with massively increased risk premiums has thrown the project’s future into question.

[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] LSF receives a black eye in Ontario

ONTARIO -- 835 -- For months, the Battlecruiser Lehigh has skulked around Ontario. Neither the Xenos or Lane Hackers were happy about having house guests, but it seems the Xenos were the ones to put their money where their mouth was. A tide of Xenos poured from the Georgian Ice Field, using suicidal waves to peck apart the heavy defenses with sheer numbers. Lehigh was sent packing with its tail between its legs in a major victory for the Xeno movement. “They laughed at us before, but no-one’s laughing now,” says veteran Xeno Hamish Garcia. The Lane Hackers avoided getting their hands dirty, but helped out by jamming Liberty’s comms and disrupting LSF transponders.

[835 AS] Leaks reveal Ontario alien technology

MANHATTAN -- 835 -- The neural net is abuzz with speculation and worry after sensor readings of an active alien facility in Ontario were widely distributed. The datafeed claims the source of an enormous beam of energy is an ancient alien ruin on Planet Sudbury. Inert alien ruins are often discovered in the remote Edge Worlds, enticing adventurers and scientific expeditions. According to professor Johan Miller of the Hammer Institute, the discovery of an active Daam-K’vosh site is “unprecedented”. In an attempt to reduce panic, government officials have confirmed that steps have been taken to secure Liberty’s borders, and reiterated that there is currently no threat to Liberty’s people.

[835 AS] Atum missing after Ontario battle

ONTARIO -- 835 -- The final messages from the Battleship Atum have been corroborated by Lane Hacker sensor readings. After catching and crippling the infested Battlecruiser Wyoming in Ontario, large Nomad warforms intervened to stage a rescue. Appearing to arrive via Jump Drive, these were likely entities of the Vagrant sub-specie. Contact was lost with the Atum after it pursued the retreating warforms through the Drive breach. The Atum likely considered that the risk was worthwhile to destroy the Nomads’ Liberty infiltrator network, which we believe is anchored by the Wyoming. Agents have been dispatched to Liberty’s Independent Worlds to search for the missing taskforce.

[835 AS] Liberty and Kusari trade sanctions

DESHIMA -- 835 -- Liberty’s President Hawthorne has announced sanctions targeting key Kusari high-tech industries, blocking their access to advanced Superconductors and funding. This came following a “security incident” in the Independent Worlds, and a failed Farmers Alliance attack on Deshima Station, which Liberty says is part of a state-endorsed campaign of terrorism against its citizens. Kusari has dismissed the claim as “lurid nonsense”, and responded by banning the export of Optronics to Liberty until its “economic coercion” is ended. Liberty has vowed to increase pressure until Kusari takes steps to eradicate the Farmers Alliance and root out their backers.

[835 AS] Galileo on the brink

GALILEO -- 835 -- Following an unspecified “security incident” in the Independent Worlds, military forces in Colorado and Shikoku have been ordered to high alert. Observers have raised alarms as the Liberty Navy and Kusari Naval Forces surge to their respective borders, warning of a heightened risk of “accidental escalation” in Galileo. Despite urgent calls for information from local system representatives, the governments of Kusari and Liberty remain tight lipped, other than confirming Manhattan and New Tokyo were in “active dialogue”. Both Houses have since put traffic controls in place, and are actively stopping and searching shipping entering their mutual borders.

[835 AS] Heist of the century

COCHRANE -- 835 -- Cochrane is abuzz after the heist of the century. Lane Hackers launching from Leiden first noticed a spike in encrypted comms bouncing off the Ames relay network. Checking in on Kepler, they, discovered absolute mayhem. “Liberty and Kusari ships fighting, dying,” noted the squadron lead. “Obviously LSF and KOI, but they had their transponders off.” The spooks were scrapping over a heavy lifter carrying a radioactive ship component. Not one to shy from destiny, the Gatebreakers overrode the “Argonaut” remote link and made off with it, bringing the loot back to Cochrane drydock.

[835 AS] Shocking battle in Kepler

AMES RESEARCH STATION -- 835 -- Ames Research Station has been thrown into chaos after a battle erupted nearby. Barbara Kaestner of the rescue ship Sunnyvale noted, “transponderless ships appeared from no-where and started blasting one another. Then the Lane Hackers joined in too!” The survivors seem to have grabbed their own pilots and beat a hasty retreat into the dark matter storm. Ames suffered light damage to its port wing during the commotion, with the station crew urgently requesting replacement materials to patch the compromised radiation shield. Who was responsible and why remains a mystery.

[833 AS] LPI commissioner sentenced following Erie probe

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.

[832 AS] A different kind of Houston heat

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

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] Lack of Cardamine, Liberty's Underworld Burns

When the convoys heading from Cali to Mactan and Buffalo thinned out - and even stopped for a brief moment - the underworld in Liberty literally imploded. Previously close alliances quickly fell apart to the displeasure of the Outcasts, and every part of the underworld in Liberty was desperately trying to get as much Cardamine for themselves as possible.

The Outcasts and their most loyal agents stepped in almost immediately in anticipation of something like this happening, and set new rules for distribution according to set keys. A small group of Liberty Rogues defied them and followed their own rules of distribution, but they didn't fare too well - the Dons, despite the ongoing crisis in Malta, do not tolerate insubordination.

For this reason, several powerful Junkers and Rogues immediately decided to dilute Cardamine instead of redistributing ostentatiously against the wishes of the Outcasts at the expense of their clients, thereby raising their own shares. Fortunately for these savvy businessmen, word did not reach the Outcasts until some time later, and thanks to an improved network of cooperation, most of the organizers were able evade Malta's assassins.

However, all these measures had only limited effectiveness. Many end-clients and casual Cardamine users have been forced to seek medical attention due to their deteriorating health due to potentially fatal withdrawal symptoms. It is not known how many Cardamine users eventually died because of the shortage, but it appears to be in the order of single-digit percentages - much to the very verbal displeasure of the Outcasts themselves.

[831 AS] Jump Hole Upheaval Causes Chaos

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.

[830 AS] Liberty underworld bolstered by Insurgency survivors

FONTANA -- 830 AS -- The Liberty Insurgency dramatically exploded following Liberty's invasion of Vespucci, with the human wreckage now scattered across Liberty's underworld. While some slunk away into the crowds of Planet Erie or the obscurity of foreign Freeports, others sought refuge with the Liberty Rogues, Xenos, or Technocracy. Those survivors are now having to prove their worth with their new hosts, with the Xenos in particular having an extremely rocky history with the Insurgency and its predecessors. More than anything else, these pariahs provide an object lesson on the risks of fighting Liberty head-on.

[830 AS] Liberty annexes Planet Erie

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

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”.

[828 AS] Kepler Reopened

AMES -- 828 AS -- In line with Ageira's prediction prior to 801 AS, the darkmatter storm makes an appearance after nearly two decades and no doubt sets the cosmic standard for being fashionably late.

Presenting the potential for cataclysmic damage to personhood and property prompted Ageira to shut down the gates leading into the system, as well as the respective Trade Lanes. In the time since then however, Ames has relayed a stunning report that the storm despite being violent at first, has now settled into quite a passive albeit looming stance over the system. Perhaps more surprising than even this is the phenomena regarding the storm's interactions with the established lane and gate network in the system, seeming to bend and contort around the structure rather than engulf them. This stellar formation has produced the spatial equivalent of a tunnel that travelers into the freshly reopened Kepler have taken to dubbing the "Murky Road", prompting a small degree of sensationalized tourism into the system. Which comes as a small positive after the harsh loss of the otherwise frequent traffic.

This news comes at the tail end of previous publications that cited the storm as having origins in Alberta, supposedly arriving via some form of leakage through the jumpholes in the system. Newer research has allowed for discoveries which now suggest the contrary and this has in turn reinvigorated research into these storms and their enigmatic natures.

[828 AS] - Shigeakiki. What is it?

AINU -- 828 AS -- A brand new kind of drug enters the market today. This new Cardamine derived stimulant is composed of multiple herbs and chemicals and is designed to enhance the performance of Chrysanthemum pilots during combat in high risk encounters against the Kusari Police and Navy. "This stimulant affects the nervous system which results in heightened senses. This can lead to oversensitivity. One of the most common symptoms is light sensitivity. Darkened visors or sunglasses can alleviate this." says Ishida Morika, a spokesperson for the Golden Chrysanthemum cell that developed the drug.

"These, like all effects of the stimulant, last roughly an hour and leave no permanent alterations. The only permanent effect is Cardamine addiction. None of the other components have addictive qualities." Ishida goes to elaborate further and states that "The full formula is a closely guarded secret and shall not be made public." This new drug is currently focused mainly for the Kusari market, but Ishida has not ruled out the possibility of expanding it further.

[827 AS] Junker woes in Liberty

ROCHESTER -- 827 -- The Junkers have suffered a blow in New York, after an fierce Xeno attack heavily damaged Rochester Base. An improvised force of Junkers, Liberty Rogues and Lane Hackers repelled the assault, but not before several torpedoes found their mark. The Junkers have posted record bounties for Xeno kills, however the disruption is likely to severely impact the flow of contraband down to Manhattan for some time. Rogue boss Arthur Clemons joked, “I wouldn’t want to be a Xeno right now. You ain’t long for this world if you get between an Outcast and business.”


Rumors

Lane Hackers
  • The Kobe Maru was making its weekly Artifact run across the Shikoku system when it was ambushed by the Blood Dragons. The ship is presumed destroyed, and its whereabouts are unknown, although it's been rumored to be drifting somewhere in the Shiun Cloud.


  • Cardamine has changed my life. It's the greatest stuff you can imagine. You have really strange hallucinations with heavy doses -- flying across alien landscapes, seeing creatures and places that you can't imagine. It's truly an amazing trip. I've noticed that I'm gradually losing interest in eating regular old Synth Paste. I've heard that Outcast Food is more palatable to heavy Cardamine users. Not sure why.


  • We receive Side Arms and Pharmaceuticals from the Rogue base Padua in the Reppu Cloud and ship Food, Software, Oxygen, and Water there.


  • The Golden Chrysanthemums get most of their supplies from us. We keep them living in the style that they are accustomed to. In return, they supply us with all the Cardamine we can use from their Hokkaido base.


  • We get most of our basic supplies -- such as Food, Consumer Goods, Oxygen, and Water -- from the Zoner Ames Research Station.


  • We get shipments of H-Fuel from the Golden Chrysanthemums in Hokkaido and ship them Food, Side Arms, and Software. Those Golden Cs love the latest Software versions. And guns, they really love guns.


  • The Shibuya Maru was making a Cardamine shipment across the southern end of the Shikoku system when it was intercepted by a Bounty Hunter named Jake Rush. He swears that he opened fire and badly wounded the ship. He searched the cloud for some time, but never found the Shibuya. The word around Deshima is that it never made it to the Galileo system. It's probably out there somewhere in the Keiun Cloud.


  • Although we sell much of the information we retrieve from Universal's data banks, we use some of the data ourselves to attack the most tempting targets. There are four jump holes in this system. The two most valuable to the Lane Hackers are the jump holes to Colorado and Kepler.


  • Ageira wonders how we can keep up with its advances in Trade Lane technology and security. Truth is, everybody who was sympathetic to the Lane Hackers didn't necessarily stop working for Ageira. That's right -- we've got insider friends who keep us one step ahead of the game.


  • The Freespirit was beginning its regular Artifact run from Leiden to Rochester when it was ambushed by Bounty Hunters. It fled into the Reppu Cloud and disappeared. No one has been able to locate the ship for some time.


  • The Lane Hackers are disinterested in politics. We do not fight for any political cause or rally behind a flag. The only thing that is important to a Hacker is money so that any wants are fulfilled. Ok, money and bringing down Ageira. I almost forgot how I've dedicated my entire life to destroying Ageira...I must need to replenish my Cardamine.


Golden Chrysanthemums
  • Down here we run Cardamine and H-Fuel from our base in Hokkaido in exchange for many of our basic supplies. Leiden indirectly supplies the Blood Dragon base in Chugoku via Ainu. That's the real reason we have to make so many runs down to this alien place. They often protect us from hostile attacks, so it's worth it.


  • The Jump Hole to Shikoku is very close, just to the north of this base. It is the first of three jumps to get to the dangerous but beautiful Hokkaido system.


  • We run supply shipments of Food, Side Arms, and Software to our base in Hokkaido. It's a long, dangerous run past the Farmers Alliance in Kyushu and the Bounty Hunters of Shikoku, but well worth it financially.


Hogosha
  • We use the Jump Hole to Shikoku, then skirt the west end of the system through the nebula clouds to avoid detection by the Blood Dragons -- our mortal enemies. The police and Bounty Hunters rarely bother us. At the far end of Shikoku is a Jump Hole to Kyushu, followed shortly by a Hole to New Tokyo. Very convenient.


  • This is the end of our Artifact smuggling route that begins in the Border Worlds and crosses all of Kusari space. We don't like to see the Golden Chrysanthemums here, but we have no choice if we want to sell these trinkets to the rich Liberty fools on Manhattan. The Lane Hackers seem okay, though -- nothing like those disgusting Rogues.


  • This is the cheapest place to buy Side Arms within Hogosha territory, if you can call this black rock fragment in a dark matter cloud "territory" in the conventional sense. Within Kusari space Side Arms cost considerably more.