| Noshima Freeport | |
| Owner | |
| Freelancers | |
| Location | |
| C-5, Shikoku |
CLASS: Sasaki
GRAVITY: Complete
DOCKING: Yes
AMENITIES: Complete
CREW: 820
Noshima Freeport was constructed in 827 A.S. under the orders of Kazuki Watanabe, more widely known as the Peddler. Though Kusari's black markets had long been dominated by the Hogosha, the Peddler, his wealthy associates, and an unknown third-party investor saw an opening for a station open to anyone, and for anyone. To the Peddler's surprise, Hogosha, and Farmer's Alliance pilots quickly began making use of the station as well. Whether to reduce the attention their own bases draw or to monitor the competition, the result has been the same: Noshima has been allowed to continue its operations unimpeded.
In addition to an extensive market and other common but well-furnished amenities, Noshima is noted for its gambling den, with a range of games both traditional and modern. This has made Noshima a popular destination for criminals in need of some down time.
Bribes & Missions Offered
| Bribes |
| Missions |
Commodities
| Exports | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Ships sold
| Ship | Class | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Drone | Freighter | 20,266$ |
| Kusari Explorer | Gunboat | 1,200,006$ |
| Vulture | Bomber | 61,826$ |
News
| [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] Kusari diet passes sweeping defense budget |
|
NEW TOKYO -- 835 -- Kusari’s national diet has passed a sweeping defense budget, allocating significant additional funding to fleet readiness, modernization, and shipbuilding. This has included extensive military contracts for Kure, Yukawa, and Yokohama Shipyards, with Kishiro Technologies and Samura Industries both announcing record hiring programs in response. The new budget also ended the remaining reconstruction funding grants for Planet Kyushu, noting Governor Toho’s termination of the local state of emergency. |
| [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] 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] Alliance attack on Deshima thwarted |
|
DESHIMA -- 835 -- The Bounty Hunters Guild have confirmed a major terrorist attack on Deshima Station has been thwarted. “Agents of the Farmer’s Alliance were apprehended while attempting to smuggle a large-yield dirty bomb aboard,” confirmed chief security officer Bill Parker. The attempt was foiled thanks to precautions put in place following the deadly Alliance attack on Roppongi Station in 832 AS. According to Parker, “this was the exact same playbook”. The detained crew and fissile material are believed to have been provided to the LSF; Kusari has lodged a furious complaint with Manhattan about the unauthorized interference in its own investigation. |
| [835 AS] Liberty court rules on Platinum dispute |
|
MANHATTAN -- 835 -- Liberty’s Supreme Court has issued its verdict on the Galileo Platinum dispute between DSE, Samura and Kishiro. Ruling in DSE’s favor, the court has ordered the Kusari corporations to end all mining activities in Galileo, and pay compensation to DSE for losses. Kusari’s courts have objected to the ruling, calling it an “unprecedented breach of protocol” due to the Liberty court’s failure to consult and reach a mutual finding on issues of cross-border law. Liberty has threatened to deploy the Navy to evict illegal miners, while Kusari has warned that this would be interpreted as an “illegal act of hostility”. |
| [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] 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. |
| [834 AS] Kyushu state of emergency ended |
|
PLANET KYUSHU -- 834 -- Governor Ikkaku Toho has rescinded the state of emergency on Planet Kyushu, confirming that much of the devastating storm damage has been repaired. Despite this, many farmers were driven to bankruptcy by the disaster and are now struggling to adapt to Synth Foods’ much enhanced presence within Kusari. Governor Toho has requested enhanced subsidies for Kyushu Rice in response, however New Tokyo has declined, advising that the Empire has other pressing funding requirements that must take priority. |
| [834 AS] Narita renovations bolster strategic independence |
|
NARITA -- 834 -- The completion of long-running works to expand the capacity of Narita Outpost have been jointly praised by the Ministers of Economy and Defense. The ambitious project saw the station’s storage capacity radically expanded, allowing it to service a wider range of foreign trade, and hold larger reserves of goods. “This much needed modernization will tap into the river of prosperity that flows through Kusari, while deterring malign interests who seek to damage Kusari by curtailing access to goods and markets,” noted Trade vice-minister Okazaki. |
| [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] Samura struggles with fraudulent claims |
|
SHINJUKU -- 834 -- Following the loss of Roppongi Station, Interspace withdrew most of their services from Kusari. Samura gleefully filled this void, establishing its own domestic insurance brokerage. Samura rapidly encountered trouble when Interspace refused to provide access to its proprietary USI system. This ubiquitous Trade Lane scanner allows Interspace to accurately track cargo shipments for insurance premiums. “Before USI was implemented, we had centuries of experience in fraud mitigation. Samura will learn the hard way,” one IC analyst noted. Samura is believed to have incurred significant losses on insurance in recent years. |
| [834 AS] Marine deployment to bolster Junyo economy |
|
JUNYO -- 834 -- Kusari has announced plans to open a Naval corps headquarters on Junyo. Ministers described the move as “financially prudent”, owing to the moon’s economic troubles; the establishment of Kusari’s primary Marine training facility and barracks will bring a significant number of jobs to the area. Troops will begin arriving to assist with works within a fortnight. In a further shakeup, Tokyo Command confirmed that the Battleship Nagasaki will be relieving the aging Battleship Myoko in Shikoku. The Myoko will be partnered with the new Fort Ainoura facility to aid in shipboard Marine training. Noting the sharp increase in foreign pirate raids, the Nagasaki’s Admiral Sakamoto commented, “our guns will provide a deadly deterrent to malign Liberty actors.” |
| [833 AS] Gold volatility taxes Kusari economy |
|
HONSHU -- 833 -- Kusari has been among the hardest hit by the severely damaged Gold market over recent years. This situation appears only to worsen as Bretonian stockpiles are depleted. Share prices in the high tech manufacturing industries of New Tokyo and Honshu plunged on the recent release of an Interspace report predicting crisis in Gold-reliant market sectors. When pressed for comment, Kusari’s trade ministry declined to respond, referring instead to the Ministry of Defence. Lord Tazuka of the Kusari Office of Intelligence confirmed that discussions were presently ongoing with counterparts in Bretonia, and that progress was anticipated in the near future. |
| [833 AS] Kyushu Faces Rising Temperatures And Falling Profits |
|
Kyushu, the key to Samura's monopoly on the organically-grown food industry, has faced rising ocean temperatures lately, owing to a vast temperature surge in the mantle plume underneath its largest ocean. This has been compounded by the resultant eruption of several underwater volcanoes, releasing enormous quantities of greenhouse gases into the planet's atmosphere. Partially as a result of the geological activity, the equatorial monsoon season produced some of the strongest tropical storms ever recorded on Kyushu since its colonisation. These storms devastated the world's agricultural sector as they blew through the most fertile tropical lowlands, destroying as much as 20%% of the planet's annual crop yield, on top of damage to infrastructure and tragic loss of human life. Many rural communities are reported to be struggling, with some farming communities still remaining flooded ghost towns even a month after the worst of the storms abated, though smaller-scale tempests still rage around the equator. A Samura spokesperson outlined the company's intent to restore the planet and its communities to full productivity by the middle of next year, despite the ongoing circumstance. |
| [832 AS] Battleship Matsuda Meets Its Demise! |
|
It had long been rumored that the grand Battleship Himeji had not been lost in the Tohoku system as previously thought; That it had been brought back and given a second life by the unlawful elements that are the antithesis of the Kusari state. This rumor had been proven true as the Kusari Office of Intelligence reported movements of a Meiji-class Battleship in the Kyushu system, deploying Golden Chrysanthemum fighter wings that seemed to deliberately target Kusari patrols in the northern part of the system. Immediately upon learning of this, Battleship Matsumoto and its battlegroup were redeployed from Hokkaido, and within two days were poised and ready to face this new threat. Only a short few hours later, a patrol of fighters reported a warship with the transponder reading Battleship Matsuda operating in the relative open, heading for but not yet reaching the relative safety of the Seiran Dust Cloud. Matsumoto itself departed with its escort to confront the Chrysanthemum battleship, close to the edge of the nebula. Within minutes of it coming into sensor range, bomber and fighter squadrons from both sides closed in and opening salvos were exchanged between the battleships. It didn't take long before the KNF's preparation was shown to be well worthwhile; their superior numbers whittled down or otherwise preoccupied the Chrysanthemum's fighter force leaving a variety of openings in the Matsuda's defensive cover for KNF bombers to exploit. While the Matsumoto was withstanding a heavy beating from the guns of its older sister, it was plain that the Matsuda was slowly being whittled away as its shields began to fail and the very same engine design flaws that had rendered it immobile in KNF service were now exploited by bomber wings to once again cripple the warship. After several more minutes, the Matsuda's escape pods began to eject from the ailing battleship, picked up by Chrysanthemum fighters as they fled deeper into the Seiran dust cloud. It didn't take long thereafter for the ship's powercore to falter and fail completely, culminating in a vast explosion that reportedly almost turned night to day on the dark side of Planet Kyushu, if only for a split second. Matsumoto itself sustained moderate damage in the engagement, relatively untouched by Chrysanthemum bombers however still suffering the ill effects of Matsuda's anti-capital weaponry. Despite its damage, it remains deployed in the Kyushu system to continue the blockade of the cardamine trade and to serve as a show of force to any who would challenge the might of the Emperor. |
| [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. |
| [832 AS] Terror in Tokyo orbit! |
|
ROPPONGI -- 832 -- In the worst terrorist attack in recent Kusari history, the Farmers Alliance have detonated a dirty bomb aboard Roppongi Station. Emergency responders are still working to rescue victims, however the known death toll has already risen to the thousands. Planet New Tokyo has gone into immediate lockdown amid fears Roppongi may break apart and rain radioactive debris upon the capitol. The Farmers Alliance broadcast a manifesto the following day, accusing Roppongi of “corrupting the soul of Kusari’s youth” -- alleging the widespread sale of the drug Cardamine. Interspace has condemned the attack as a barbaric and senseless atrocity. |
| [832 AS] Interspace auditors re-open files |
|
ROPPONGI -- 832 -- Interspace auditors working aboard Roppongi Station have reportedly re-opened the historic claims file relating to Osaka Storage Facility. The Samura station was allegedly destroyed through Blood Dragon sabotage in 822 AS, shortly after Samura purchased what some have called a “significantly overvalued” insurance policy. Insider Interspace sources claim the investigation was launched after random spot checks in seemingly unrelated cases detected anomalies that linked back to Osaka. Neither Interspace nor Samura have responded to requests for comment. |
| [832 AS] A foul wind |
|
KYUSHU -- 833 AS -- Ravaged by the worst storms in Kyushu's history, bustling farming communes have been thrown into total disarray. Local authorities are struggling to address the severe infrastructure damage caused by the violent typhoons and flooding, while the number of dead and missing has risen to the tens of thousands. Many communities are directly calling for external aid, as assistance from Imperial authorities has been slow to arrive. In response, Samura has demanded the restoration of their planetary management contract, which they claim will prevent imminent food insecurity. What was forecast to be a bountiful harvest now only offers grim tidings. |
| [831 AS] Courts battle over Galileo Platinum dispute |
|
MANHATTAN -- 831 -- Legal filings have been issued on both Manhattan and New Tokyo by Deep Space Engineering, Kishiro Technologies and Samura Heavy Industries. Public briefs shed more light on the dispute's background, with each corporation asserting that freelance prospector "Taro Yamada" had sold them exclusive rights to his discovery of Platinum in Galileo. Both courts have claimed jurisdiction over the complaint, and issued their own separate injunctions holding mining operations until their rulings have been issued. DSE has issued a bounty for the capture of Yamada alive. |
| [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] 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. |
| [831 AS] Platinum claim triggers dispute |
|
REPPU CLOUD -- 831 -- In a confusing turn of events, Deep Space Engineering, Kishiro Technologies and Samura Heavy Industries have all issued press statements claiming to have discovered the same Platinum deposits in Galileo. Galileo's mysterious asteroid fields have never previously been commercially surveyed due to the presence of hazardous Dark Matter clouds. Each corporation asserts their exclusive right to exploit the Platinum, citing recognised conventions on pioneer rights. DSE has already threatened to sue its Kusari rivals over any infringement, ensuring a costly legal battle is almost inevitable. |
| [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] '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. |
| [828 AS] Shotgun Diplomacy |
|
ERIE -- 828 AS -- In a turn of events for the quiet system, the Liberty Navy press corps has released information about an incident involving a Slave Liner. Spokesperson to the CNS Bradley Stern addressed the conference by stating the ship had refused to comply with orders issued by patrols, and that it was being conducted in a manner that raised all manner of red flags. The Delaware was forced to position itself such that the ship was forced to stop, and when a cargo scan was conducted it was revealed that the Liner was carrying a vast quantity of munitions. With its secret loose, the Liner attempted to escape and was promptly disabled by secondary cannon fire. Upon further investigation, the Navy has successfully identified the ordnance being transported as being sourced from Rheinland. Going as far as to state that they contained serial codes which correspond with weaponry used by Rheinland's own Military. Naturally given the circumstances around the discovery of these weapons and Liberty's history of hot and cold relations with the neighboring House, it is expected that this development will lead to further scrutiny when it comes to potentially suspicious activity. |
| [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. |
| [825 AS] Ibusuki station massacred - Kusari enters war! |
|
SAIGON -- 825 -- In a furious speech, Prime Minister Yukihara Reijiro of Kusari has declared a state of war against Rheinland. This follows the destruction of Ibusuki Survey Platform in Sigma-21, 12 hours before Rheinland's eviction ultimatum expired. Despite Rheinland's protests that it was not responsible for the act, Kusari has accused the Battleship Bayern of the murders, releasing the station's final distress calls that begged Rheinland forces to cease fire. As a result, Kusari has mobilized the Kusari Naval Forces to begin joint military operations alongside the Gas Miner's Guild. The Prime Minister has ordered Rheinland to withdraw all of its forces from the Sigmas immediately or face Kusari's fury. |
| [825 AS] War returns to the Sigmas! |
|
SIGMA-21 -- 825 -- Rheinland has declared war on the Gas Miners Guild (GMG), with both claiming to be victims of unprovoked aggression. Rheinland announced its intent to expel the GMG from Sigma-15 and 21, which it claims as territory. The GMG in turn aims to enforce treaty terms from the end of the 80-Years War that it says establishes Guild sovereignty over the entire Sigma cluster. Kusari has offered to mediate the dispute, while Liberty and Bretonia have called for an immediate cessation of hostilities over fear of disruption to the sector’s strategic H-Fuel supplies. Rheinland has advised it will not obstruct Sigma H-Fuel shipments by vessels operating under neutral flags. Interspace has substantially raised premiums for convoys in the region. |
| [804 AS] Treaty of Honshu eases Colony War wounds |
|
HONSHU -- 804 -- Dignitaries from Rheinland and Kusari today ratified the Second Treaty of Honshu, officially normalizing relations between the two Houses and ending Kusari’s embargo. Rheinland has formally accepted sole culpability for the Colony Wars and agreed to a 20 year reparations package. This includes preferential rates for Kusari corporations on military goods and resources needed to rebuild the Kusari Naval Forces, and financial compensation for the damages inflicted in Honshu itself. Chancellor Steller offered his sincere condolences to Kusari over the war, and promised a brighter future of mutual prosperity. |
| [801 AS] Kusari imposes embargo on Rheinland |
|
NEW TOKYO -- 801 -- Shogun Edo has announced that a full economic embargo of Rheinland will be imposed by Kusari due to the outrages of the Colony Wars. Liberty’s President Jacobi has taken a leading role in mediation between Rheinland and the other Houses, with the Provisional Rheinland Government offering a message of condolence to the Kusari people for the actions of the toppled previous regime. Despite this, Kusari has remained resolute that no normalization of relations will be considered until full reparations are made for the devastation in Honshu and New Tokyo, and the many crimes Kusari alleges were perpetrated there. |
Rumors
| Freelancers |
|
| Lane Hackers |
|
| Blood Dragons |
|