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Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Liberty in 818 A.S. - Printable Version +- Discovery Gaming Community (https://discoverygc.com/forums) +-- Forum: Discovery General (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=3) +--- Forum: News and Announcements (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=13) +--- Thread: Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Liberty in 818 A.S. (/showthread.php?tid=52722) |
Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Liberty in 818 A.S. - Igiss - 01-07-2011 Merry (belated) Christmas and Happy (belated) New Year to all Discovery players! The lack of traditional Christmas announcement will be compensated by some more news in the new year. Yes, we surely promise to get more updates to you. Both about Discovery Freelancer 4.86 development and about 4.86 storyline. And yes, we are planning to release the mod this year, most definitely we are. But exact release time will remain unspecified until everything is done and ready for you to test out. This post is dedicated to the events happening in Liberty in 818 A.S. (prior to the 4.86 release). Previous story posts can be found here: Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Factions of Gallia Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Tau Conquest Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Kusari in 818 A.S. Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Bretonia in 818 A.S. The war between Liberty and Rheinland is moving towards its logical conclusion, since both nations are interested in peace. Rheinland ended up in a tough economical situation and cannot allow itself to lose the whole warship fleet needed to defend its boundaries. At the same time, Liberty faces the threat of a future attack from Gallia. To prepare for the war with Gallia which seems to be inevitable, the war with Rheinland has to end, one way or another. The carefully planned attack against Munster could be one of the final blows of Liberty in this war, and also reveal some of Liberty's true goals and intentions for the attack against its neighbor... To access the story post from the forum's front page or from the website, use the following link: Discovery 4.86: Liberty in 818 A.S. If you are browsing the forum, you should see it already as a second post of this thread (after this introduction). Feel free to say what you think and share your opinions! Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Liberty in 818 A.S. - Igiss - 01-07-2011 Outline In a surprise attack in the middle of 818 A.S., Liberty breached the Rheinland defensive perimeter around the Munster Research Facility in Bremen, and cut free one of the isolated station modules that house a valuable cargo , living specimen of Nomads, the same type that infected human beings. Nomads are considered extremely hard to capture, because they are equipped with a biological self-destruct mechanism that kills them instantly and destroys most of their tissue leaving it useless for research. Outside of Munster, only the so-called Nomad Brains were available for research. The Brains, however, were isolated control mechanisms for space ships, not exactly living creatures. They are not capable of any sentient activities separated from the ships that contained them, and researchers could use them only for cellular and molecular research of Nomad organic tissues. Munster, on the other hand, had living Nomads extracted from the humans they were part of without activating the self-destruct mechanisms. To prevent it from activating the Nomads were put into stasis using complex chemical compounds (which was a technological accomplishment of its own because cryogenic stasis killed Nomads much faster than humans). Later, the Nomads were removed from their stasis chambers and their systems carefully activated one by one and researched. Munster had extreme safety protocols in place to prevent biological hazard for humans. According to some sources, researchers who encountered living nomads closely were affected by certain forces, possibly an unknown form of radiation that could not be blocked by current human technology. It was rumored that those who were affected experienced significant personality changes of unknown origin. No confirmation for those rumors exist to this date, and both Rheinland and Liberty refuse to officially acknowledge the existence of captured Nomads. Fearful of removing the specimens from the carefully constructed secure module, Liberty decided to take part the facility, intact back to Liberty for study. To transport a large module of Munster, Liberty brought a special heavy transport that was assembled in New Hampshire. Despite desperate attempts of Rheinland to intercept it, the transport successfully carried the module as far as Quebec Due to the extreme weight of the module, the transport was forced to move slowly. This gave a wing of Rhienland bombers a chance to catch up with the convoy in Quebec. While the wing of bombers was destroyed to a ship by the transport's escort, there were able to disable the ships engines. Now the transport is stationed in Quebec, escorted by a large Liberty fleet awaiting engine repairs to continue its way through the Liberty Belt systems. Meanwhile, a peculiar set of events began to happen in the Liberty government. President Powell seemed to be inclined to conclude the costly war with Rheinland, intent on preparing to help Bretonia in their fight against Gallia. The Council provided trustworthy evidence that Liberty would be the next target of Gallia after Bretonia is conquered, or possibly even prior to the time New London is captured. Powell's peaceful intentions are not supported by certain government officials who still consider Rheinland a greater threat to Liberty territory. If the war with Gallia started, they said, Rheinland would attempt to hit the republic from the flank and use the situation to conquer Texas and possibly other Liberty systems. Therefore, Liberty must continue to fight the war and destroy a major part of Rheinland Military to disable its offensive capabilities. Placing someone loyal to Liberty in charge of the New Berlin government is seen as an even better, although far less probable, option to consider. Some speculations arise of a secret agency in Liberty that is involved with Nomad-related research, and even has direct connections with the Omicron Nomads themselves. No strong evidence that such organization exists has been provided to the public so far. During this time, Liberty journalists spent a significant amount of time investigating the evidence that Gallia provided to prove that Liberty was behind the Gallic treachery in Sol. While Bretonia had more important issues to address, the public in Liberty was divided by the news on the treachery. Some refused to believe it and are seeking ways to discredit the evidence. Some people fully or partially believe the story that Gallia provided, but refuse to consider the current government (and themselves) responsible for the actions of their ancestors in the distant past. Some say that the decision was necessary to ensure the survival of the Alliance on the whole, not just to save the Americans and the British and their sleeper ships, but also the three other Sleeper Ships. A fairly large party developed, who insist that Liberty must apologize for the sins of the past, and possibly pay appropriate compensation to Gallia. However, Gallia expressed no signs that it was willing to enter negotiations with Liberty and its official or unofficial representatives. Yet, there is a common opinion that Liberty is much better defended and better prepared for the war than Bretonia, and stands a far better chance against the advancing Gallic fleets. Bretonia asked Liberty for help when Gallic forces got near the Leeds Jump Gate. This was the first time Bretonia asked for help explicitly, before, the House was hoping to deal with Kusari using its own strength. However, these days the Liberty Navy is concentrating its forces on the border with Rheinland to repel a counter-attack that the Rheinland Military started to avenge the loss at Munster. At least, this is how President Powell explained Liberty's refusal to provide military aid. Nonetheless, Liberty and its larger corporations are helping Bretonia economically. Bretonia receives large amounts of various goods, including weapons and ships, from Liberty, many on discounted rates or long term leases. Due to large deposits of gold found in Dublin, the Bretonian Treasury had built up substantial reserves over the past few decades. Now these gold reserves are rapidly depleting, and much of the gold goes directly into Liberty vaults. Some of the payments are so large that economists worry about the stability of the Sirius Credit, which has to be constantly and carefully pegged against the planetary currencies of the various Houses. The situation is not helped by the discovery that Gallia has recently fixed its own Gallic Franc to the value of the Sirius Credit in a move designed to both enable trade with some Sirius groups and simultaneously hurt the economies of the major Sirius Houses by passing on the inflation from its own overheating economy. Rheinland is currently experiencing money shortages due to increasing war costs, it is also close to signing contracts with Bretonia to increase its import of several important war-related goods. Factions Liberty Navy The Munster Operation staged in the middle of 818 A.S. was a by the book example of misdirection tactics. Liberty assembled a huge strike force near the Hudson Jump Gate in Texas, making Rheinland believe that the aim was to attack Hudson and finally advance into Hamburg. In fact, the true target of Liberty since the start of the war was the Munster Research Facility in Bremen. Two fleets consisting of fast and agile ships were prepared in Quebec and Texas, far out of the radar range of Rheinland scouts. Once Rheinland had reinforcements from Bremen and New Berlin relocated to Hamburg, Liberty Navy started the attack. First, the Texas fleet entered the Bering system, quickly reached the Hamburg Jump Gate and attacked the nearby trade lane. Most of the Rheinland fleet was waiting near the Hudson Jump Gate or in Hudson itself, and more ships had to be brought from Bremen to counter the unexpected attack from Bering. Second, the fleet from Quebec, using the same type of EMP mines that Kusari used to breach the Leeds Jump Gate more than a year before, disabled the Battleship Westphalia that guarded the entrance to Bremen, and quickly reached the Munster Facility. Many hours of fighting followed, with many capital ships and fighters involved on both sides. During the fighting the relatively thin mine field around Munster was breached in several places, but Rheinland ships and the station itself still showed resistance to the Liberty attack, and some Rheinland ships attempted to get back to Bremen from Hamburg. At this stage, Liberty had to move their Hudson forces into action, starting an offensive against Rheinland fleets staged in Hudson. At that point (beginning of the 4th quarter of 818 A.S.), Rheinland already outnumbered Liberty in the Hudson system, but the attack prevented the Military from relocating any Hamburg or Hudson ships into Bremen. Eventually, Liberty brought reinforcements to Bremen and won the battle for Munster. A huge component of the station was cut off and loaded onto a large transport that started carrying it back to Liberty, guarded by several Dreadnought-class ships of the Navy. Liberty Police Inc. The Police in Liberty had been under more supervision during Powell's times than ever before. This is partially because the Junkers and other unlawful forces, which the Police are constantly in contact, sometimes became safe haven for journalists and retired military officers who knew – or thought they knew – the truth regarding some of the more dangerous secrets of Liberty. The LSF and the Navy suspect that some of the information that Junkers, and even The Order, attempts to spread within Liberty media and computer networks is brought in by the corrupt (or careless) Police officers. Still, the Police is mainly tasked to maintain law and order in Liberty systems, which is becoming an increasingly hard difficult task since the Navy’s best pilots are nowadays based in Texas and in the Quebec Belt systems, tasked to patrol deep space and engage Rheinland scouts and strike forces. This left the Independent Worlds less defended, particularly Cortez and Magellan. While the corporations equip their convoys heading to and from Bretonia with heavy escorts and multiple support ships, the asteroid fields away from trade lanes are full of pirate patrols and freelancing traders of multiple factions. Smuggling in California and New York is constantly increasing and it is expected that some of the Gallic unlawful groups will be sending their scouts to Independent Worlds and even to Liberty itself. Liberty Corporations The corporations of Liberty continue to actively trade with all three Sirius Houses. Surprisingly enough, even the border with Rheinland is open for Liberty shippers, since formally the war still allows imports into both houses by private companies. Yet, Liberty trade with Rheinland has reduced significantly, surpassed by trading with Kusari which is on the increase since the new, more liberal government came to power in the House. Many of the Rheinland shipments are sent through Kusari these days. Despite increased distance, the way through Kusari is often safer than going through the war-torn independent worlds of Bering and Hudson. Currently, the majority of Liberty trade goes to Bretonia, with the government sponsoring large loans to Bretonia and encouraging Liberty companies to trade with Bretonia. This is a way of supporting Bretonia in the face of the Gallic invaders, to delay the defeat of Bretonia (which many already consider inevitable) and thus help Liberty to sort out the situation with Rheinland and build up its own defenses on the border with Bretonia. Liberty Rogues Liberty Rogues still maintain their position as the most powerful pirate group in Liberty and in most of the Independent Worlds. They gained a considerable advantage over the Junkers during the times when the Junker leadership lost most of its former reputation due to evident connection to the Junkers of Gallia. In the end, the new Junker leaders were heavily backed by the Rogues, and the number of Rogues appearing on Junker bases of Rochester and Beaumont has increased quite significantly. The Rogues, along with the few Outcasts present in Liberty, still control a large part of Cardamine trade in the House. Moreover, the Rogues were the first pirate group of Liberty to establish connections with the Gallic Brigands, a group with which the Rogues have a lot in common. The Rogues have also started relations with Maquis, and even with the Council in Roussillon. Yet, the Rogues now enjoy far less co-operation with Police and civilian authorities than they did prior to Powell’s administration. Many Liberty dissidents, journalists, anti-war activists, retired researchers, and Navy officers trying to save their lives from legal persecution, choose the bases of the Rogues as a safe haven before they could leave for another House or to The Order. The Rogues like the civilian freedoms, also, they like the money that the newcomers bring with them, for Rogue services are not cheap. And if one of them has no money… well, people disappear, and Rogue bases don’t really have a criminal code or police to find and reprimand the offenders. Based on this new tendency, the Rogues have become involved in some dealings with The Order, although the exact nature of the relations between two factions is not known. Lane Hackers Based out of Mactan and their outposts in the Independent Worlds, the Lane Hackers continue their activities within the House of Liberty and beyond its borders, but the economic decline of Bretonia forced them to seek new, more profitable markets and they head as far as Kusari. Leiden Base has proved a safe drop-off point for Kusari-based operations. The Hackers, along with Brigands, now became involved with politics: many of them have old ties with members of The Order, and while The Order ships can hardly get into Liberty these days, Lane Hackers often fulfill the role of couriers to transfer people, and information, from the planets of Liberty and from the Rogue bases towards Omicron Minor and Omicron Mu. Xenos The Xenos, contrary to what many had expected, did not disappear and were not defeated in their slow-developing war with the Rogues. In fact, the Rogues grew to avoid Xenos altogether with their frantic fighting habits, and rarely venture into Xeno-controlled areas of space. The Xenos became surprisingly interested in foreign policy after the Bretonia-Kusari War had started. Considering Bretonia a (relatively) friendly nation to Liberty, they would attack Kusari corporate transports above all other targets. What’s even more surprising is that the attacks did not stop after the war was over. On the contrary, the decline of Navy activities in Kepler and Galileo, as well as the increase in trade with Kusari and even Rheinland through those systems (for some Rheinland companies would now reroute their transports headed to Liberty through the calm Sigma sector and Kusari instead of Bering and Hudson) has contributed to the increase of the piracy activity of the Xenos, even allowing them to refit a few scrapped transport ships to haul off confiscated cargo. Now, as the situation with Gallia is developing, Gallia has been declared the number one threat by the Xenos. Some of them are even planning to head to the territory of Bretonia. However, there are not many enthusiasts willing to participate in such an undertaking. Written by Igiss, edited by Zelot Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Liberty in 818 A.S. - Alley - 01-07-2011 Very cool stuff, can't wait to see how it will be rheinland ! Also, it looks like Xenos are finally going to have some work. Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Liberty in 818 A.S. - Cond0r - 01-07-2011 It feels kinda boring and rushed, to be honest. Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Liberty in 818 A.S. - Not Espi - 01-07-2011 shush igor. xenos hug brets wtf? Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Liberty in 818 A.S. - Taneru - 01-07-2011 Uh... Having coded it, I was under the impression that Vespucci was going to the Legion in 4.86. Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Liberty in 818 A.S. - Guest - 01-07-2011 Two things: Why are the Rogues forcing attraction upon themselves by allowing dissidents to use their base? Why are some of the Xenos heading to Bretonia? Why do they care about Gallia? They're an anti-foreign faction that despise trade increasing in Liberty from the outside. Why would they, when according to what I've just read, stop caring considering that foreign trade has increased? Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Liberty in 818 A.S. - Zelot - 01-07-2011 ' Wrote:Two things: Because Gallia will be attacking Liberty next, and everyone knows it. The Xenos are just acting preemptively to defend Liberty. Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Liberty in 818 A.S. - NixOlympica - 01-07-2011 ' Wrote:Outline I will just comment only Xenos since it's my prominent Liberty faction. We don't prefer any house above other. We don't have any contacts with Mollys. They are pirates. We don't pirate. We have phobia of everything foreign, we don't go outside Liberty at any circumstances! We are not Salvation army, we don't want to help Bretonia. I think it's similar in other factions too. Because I think this completely ignores RP we did here in 1.5 year. No offense. Pilgrim Discovery 4.86 Storyline: Liberty in 818 A.S. - Zelot - 01-07-2011 ' Wrote:I will just comment only Xenos since it's my prominent Liberty faction. Xenos dont defend Liberty? Xenos dont confiscate cargo? Xenos dont prefer Liberty to any other house? |