Tour [color=#FFFFFF]of Liberty

[font=Impact]*Flight log, Tour of Liberty , 11.03.818 - 12.03.818*

[font=Verdana]The Tour of Liberty is a part of a large scale cruise series to help people discover systems of Sirius and to increase their knowledge of the colony, planets and stations, which are part of their everyday life, yet they don't know too much about it. The Series include the tour of all four houses and if there is interest for it, the tour of the Sigma, Omega, Tau and Omicron systems. The idea of trying to arrange a tour around Gallia is on hold for now, due to not being able to negotiate with the Gallic government at this time.

Tour of Liberty is a two-day-long trip around the main Systems of Liberty. During our travels, we are trying to give the most information to people who are interested in knowing their home a bit more. For this reason, we have handed audio-logs out to all guests, containing all the information about each stop of the flight. For tourists visiting Liberty, the log is translated to all languages of Sirius.

After loading all equipment, resources and ensuring that all passengers are on board, the "Jamaica took off from Planet Manhattan. Due to the recent commercials , more then 1900 guests have purchased tickets for this tour. Our first stop was right at our departure, Planet Manhattan.

1. Departure: Manhattan, New York System

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Founded in the year 1 A.S., Manhattan was the first human colony established in the Sirius Sector. Over the last eight centuries it has grown into a teeming world of over 2.1 billion people who live and work in a number of large metropolises that dot the planet's surface. It still remains a bustling tourist destination, however, with many gorgeous sandy beaches and crowded shopping promenades.

Nearly the entire population is dedicated to the manifest destiny of the Liberty free market, and today Manhattan is the hub of a vast commercial network that stretches into almost every corner of Sirius. While "going to Manhattan" has become a commonly accepted phrase for leaving home to seek your fortune, the cost of living on Manhattan itself is extravagantly high. If a trend is new and exciting and expensive -- then it almost certainly originated here.

Despite the turmoil surrounding the brief, but bloody, Nomad war that ended in 801 A.S., Manhattan has continued to grow, and shipments arrive from all over Sirius on a daily basis. While there are reminders of the Nomad War still left over, most people prefer to focus on the future and, for Liberty at least, it appears to be a bright one.

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2. Baltimore Shipyard, Ft. Bush

Upon arriving on the trade lane, we were informed that pirate activity is high in the area, so we were escorted through by the Liberty Navy, so most unfortunate we couldn't stop here to continue the tour.
With a bad feeling about skipping this stop, we moved on to our next waypoint.

3. Planet Pittsburgh

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Pittsburgh is covered by a single vast desert, broken only by large rocky outcroppings that were big enough to escape being swallowed up by the sand. Without any ice asteroids in close proximity, the planet was not considered a good candidate for terraforming and remained sparsely populated until a full-scale mineral survey in 650 A.S. pinpointed enormous deposits of Boron in the form of borax salts deep within the Corridera Plateau. A large scale mining operation was established on the planet in 660 A.S. by Deep Space Engineering to exploit these deposits, and it is now one of the only raw material extraction facility left within Liberty space.

Since the success of DSE's boron mining concerns, there has been an increasing need for miners and other workers. Many refugees that come seeking asylum in Liberty often get redirected to Pittsburgh to find work in the boron mines, and to live in the cities that are slowly sprawling outwards around the mining facilities, and Liberty authorities estimate that Pittsburgh's population will reach the 85 million mark by 820 A.S.

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[font=Verdana]Upon returning from Pittsburgh, we were asked yet again to skip our stop at Baltimore, so we continued towards Texas. Since we do not poses any authorization from the Liberty Navy to give informations about their facilities and warships, we did not stop at Norfolk Shipyard, but continued straight to Texas.

4. Planet Houston , Texas

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Houston is an arid world whose population has slowly increased to slightly over 450 million people; these mostly consist of what Manhattanites would term "the economically undesirable", many of them former inmates of the orbiting prison ships. The cheap labour force has attracted a number of industries, however, including a major Deep Space Engineering manufacturing plant and several factories specializing in Consumer Goods and Construction Machinery. The presence of phosphates in Houston's alkaline deserts has also produced a booming market in Fertilizers.

Houston's biggest industry, however, is fuelled by Liberty's criminal element; the vast majority of Libertonian prisoners are housed in the system and prison gangs from the Huntsville and the Sugarland, as well as rehabilitated former inmates looking to go straight, power Texan industries.

Both the Liberty Police, Incorporated and the Bounty Hunters Guild maintain their respective local headquarters on the planet; the Bounty Hunters Guild is thicker here than anywhere else in Sirius. After all, not only forcing prisoners to labour is profitable; capturing them is vital, too. Houston is most often "visited" by Liberty Rogues and Xenos; Outcasts also end up pumping Fertilizers here, as the Texas system is the furthest south that Outcasts are generally seen in Sirius.

[font=Verdana]5. Bering Jumpgate , LPI Sugarland

[font=Verdana]We thought we could inform our passengers about the ongoing military actions between Liberty and Rheinland. This took place at the Bering Jumpgate, which was guarded by a Liberty Navy Dreadnought patrol at the time of our arrival. On our way back to New York we also passed by the LPI Prison Station Sugarland.

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The prison ship Sugarland, under the control of Liberty Police, Incorporated (LPI), was built in 600 A.S. to handle the Huntsville's criminal overflow. Sugarland is particularly hard-time, as a smelter worked by prison labour operates around the clock to re-process scrap from the Texas and New York debris fields (Scrap Metal; the Texas Incident's sole advantage). Apart from the prisoner population, a large contingent of cops, Hunters, and representatives of ALG Waste Disposal (the sole Rheinland faction still permitted into Liberty) round out the personnel on board.

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[font=Verdana]6. Planet Denver , Colorado

Back from Texas, we flew through New York without any stops, and headed straight to Colorado, where we continued our flight.

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Originally home to miners, smelters and shipyard workers, Denver has always had a sizeable population, but during the economic collapse of the silver industry in 600 A.S., many of the workers were put out of jobs and either left the system or ended up joining the nascent Xeno movement. The planetary population plummeted, with the remaining people left to scratch a living on Denver's farmsteads, and also in the small, but profitable, tourist industry.

With the California water shortages continuing unabated, the wealthy elite of Los Angeles began to search for an alternative holiday destination and place to call home, and they found it in the guise of Denver's rough savannahs and beautiful, pristine beaches. The resulting emigration injected new life into the planet's economy, reviving its flagging fortunes, even as the newly arrived upper class were in the process of systematically taking control of the local government authorities.

Nowadays the planetary population of Denver stands at a healthy 945 million people, making it the second most populated planet in Liberty after Manhattan itself. Such is the attraction of Denver that Cryer Pharmaceuticals maintains one of the largest medical research facilities in Sirius, just outside the capital city of Crichton Springs, while the headquarters of the Ageira Technologies corporation is also located on the planet. It is widely known that the Liberty Police are paid extremely handsomely by the wealthy residents to ensure the continued peace and security of Denver.

[font=Verdana]On our way, we flew past one of the Liberty Navy's stationary Dreadnoughts, but due to before mentioned reasons, we did not stop there, but moved on towards Pueblo Station.

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Ageira Technologies manufacturing facility. Notice: All ships should be aware that Ageira Technologies facilities are protected by private security authorized to use deadly force against any deviation from standard flight procedures.

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Upon returning to New York, we served lunch for the guests on board and also begun arranging an event to help our guests enjoy the time while we are on the move. All other services were available as well.

8. Planet Erie , Pennsylvania

With flying through New York and taking the trade lane through the Badlands, we arrived to Pennsylvania. Upon arriving , we headed straight to Planet Erie, where we continued our " history lesson " as one of our guests called it.

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The green world of Erie was discovered in 679 A.S. Although the Pennsylvania system is located relatively close to New York, it took some time before Liberty became interested in its exploration. Erie was the only planet in the system with environment suitable for human colonization. The ecosystem of the planet was exceptionally rich with various land and water species, and in some way resembled Earth of Triassic period. At first, Liberty considered Erie to be suitable place of colonization for undesired elements from Manhattan. Later, however, it became known that some of microorganisms that inhabit Erie can infect humans, and numerous predators posed significant danger. Since Liberty was not ready to provide socially undesirable colonists with expensive medical supplies or weaponry to defend themselves, plans to colonize Erie were delayed.

In 761 A.S., a group of Zoner colonists landed planetside. Aware of the dangers posed by local wildlife, they drained swamps in a few selected areas to eliminate insects that were major carriers of local diseases. Later, well-developed settlements were built in the drained territories. Settlements grew into cities, and many Zoners started to consider this planet as their new home, much akin to Gran Canaria. Liberty, of course, was aware of their progress, unwilling to allow an independent colony to arise within its borders. Liberty Security Force agents on the planet secretly bribed a group of high-rank Zoner councilors who controlled most of the planet's economy and space transit. At about the same time, Liberty Rogues and Xenos found jump hole paths into Pennsylvania and established bases of operation there. While the Zoners had enough firepower to fight back the intruders and protect their convoys, some of the councilors overestimated the threat, in an attempt to cause panic among pilots and the civilian population. In the end, the government of Erie made an ambiguous decision to invite Liberty Police Inc. to protect their Pennsylvania bases and trade routes.

Most of the local Zoners reacted negatively to this decision, and some even started to assemble resistance detachments in order to start a guerilla war in case Liberty will overstep its bounds. Liberty officials were witty enough to see economical benefits that the presence of Zoners provided, and avoided the fighting. Declaring Pennsylvania an independent system under Liberty protectorate, they offered Zoners economical and political freedom. Moreover, Liberty has built a system of trade lanes to allow safer and faster travels between Pennsylvania stations and New York. While the system is supervised by Liberty governor, the Zoner cities on Erie are self-governed and enjoy complete autonomy, unlike former Zoner space stations that have completely been taken under control of LPI. Zoners, of course, are not fully satisfied with their agreement with Liberty; however, they have to admit that any attempts to overthrow the Liberty reign will result in a war with the nearby House, leading to destruction of their new world.

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First surveyed when the California system was opened up for exploration, California Minor is a small, icy world with a barely breathable atmosphere. It has always been considered unsuitable for conventional terraforming ever since the initial survey landings, largely due to the frigid surface conditions and overall distance from the sun, although the surveys did detect unusual geothermic readings deep below the planet's crust.

In 741 A.S., Planetform devised a method to channel the planet's enormous subterranean stores of geothermic energy, releasing greenhouse gases and introducing alien organisms into the atmosphere to speed up the terraforming process. Planetform estimates that the terraforming process will likely be completed around the year 826 A.S. Despite the harsh planetary conditions, the increasing availability of jobs on the planet has attracted large numbers of manual labourers, particularly from the Colorado system, and California Minor's population is estimated to be just over 8 million at present.

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Tahoe Ice Cloud

A nebula of ice crystals. Two Trade Lanes pass through the cloud, but the presence of the San Diego Border Station and frequent Navy patrols discourage attacks. Rogues, Lane Hackers, and Outcasts are the most commonly spotted criminals. Willard Research Station is located deep within the Tahoe cloud, but the exact nature of its research is classified by the Liberty Navy.

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With the majority of the planet covered in deep salt water oceans and gorgeous, white sand beaches, Los Angeles was popular with the wealthy and privileged of Manhattan, before the terraforming efforts failed during the Great California Drought of 543 A.S. The ocean water was discovered to be unusable due to a chemical that, although it is completely harmless to humans besides from tasting foul, fatally disrupts the growth of crops and certain species of terrestrial animals. The available water supplies from the Tahoe and Sierra ice clouds were quickly running out, and as a result it was becoming ever more expensive to ship water into the California system.

Over the course of the following century, most of Los Angeles' population subsequently emigrated to planet Denver in the Colorado system, with only those who did not want to move, or couldn't afford to, remaining behind. A large portion of the remaining industry relied heavily on farming genetically modified livestock that are able to process the chemical in the water, although a number of corporations still retained offices on Los Angeles, including Universal Shipping's corporate training academy.

It wasn't until Synth Foods perfected their patented and hugely popular Synth Paste, created from a genetically engineered plant similar to that of the Earth Kelp, that the planetary economy resurged. The resulting success of the new food paste prompted Synth Foods to relocate their headquarters to Los Angeles, and the booming technology market has also encouraged Ageira Technologies to construct an optical chip plant here. With all the new jobs available on the planet, coupled with the recently opened trade lane to the Ontario jump gate, the population of Los Angeles has jumped to over 360 million, and the increasing prosperity promises a brighter future for the entire California system.