Ever wanted to get a better grasp of a faction's lore?
Read the rumors.
Below is a compilation of all the rumors, infocards, mission specs, wreck text and anything else involving the Liberty Rogues npc faction.
Major Kudos to Snak3, who compiled this list for us!
EDIT: Forum color killing your eyes? Try the Pastebin Version!
EDIT2: I highly suggest you copy the PB version into Notedpad++, it shows the line count and is easier on the eyes.
LIBERTY ROGUES INGAME LORE TEXT
PART I
[[ NEWS ARCHIVE - 801 A.S. ]]\n\nMANHATTAN -- In one of their boldest moves yet, the Liberty Rogues have kidnapped famous Sculptor John Frankel. He was discovered missing from his apartment two days ago. This afternoon, a ransom demand was received from his captors insisting that a million credits be left within the Pittsburg Debris field at a specific location, where upon he would be released. Frankel's family fears that the Rogues may kill him even if they do pay the ransom.
[[ NEWS ARCHIVE - 801 A.S. ]]\n\nHUNTSVILLE -- Soon a Xeno leader will finish his sentence aboard the Huntsville and likely rejoin his partners in crime. Figures show that for every Xeno that enters the Texas prison system, three more exit. Apparently the Xenos are using the LPI ships as prime recruiting stations for their war against foreign shippers. This criminal group is currently the fastest growing illegal faction within Liberty. If this trend continues, Xenos will outnumber Rogues in fifteen years.
[[ NEWS ARCHIVE - 801 A.S. ]]\n\nHOUSTON -- According to New Berlin, the crew aboard the battleship Mississippi is not doing an adequate job of protecting Rheinland ships passing through Texas. This statement was made after Republican Shipping lodged a complaint with the Rheinland government concerning the number of convoys that have fallen victim to Xenos, Rogues, and Outcasts in the system. Liberty asserts that its own ships are offered even less protection in the Hamburg system.
[[ NEWS ARCHIVE - 801 A.S. ]]\n\nCORTEZ -- IC has released numbers detailing the credit amount of shipping losses incurred each year by the three criminal groups that populate the system. According to IC statistics the Lane Hackers are responsible for the greatest loss in profits of stolen goods. The Liberty Rogues account for the most strikes undertaken, and the Outcasts kill more than both of the other two groups combined. "These numbers are very disconcerting, and obviously more must be done to stop the perpetrators of these terrible crimes," said Raymond Green, an IC representative.
[[ NEWS ARCHIVE - 801 A.S. ]]\n\nBUFFALO -- The trade and use of Cardamine has brought three criminal factions together around the Outcasts, who produce the powerful narcotic. The Golden C. use Cardamine as part of their ritualistic subculture and distribute it into Kusari space. The Lane Hackers trade valuable shipping information to the Outcasts in exchange for the drug. Finally, there are the Rogues. They supply and shelter the Outcast smugglers on their way through Liberty space. This symbiotic relationship has been very effective in spreading the drug throughout Sirius.
[801 A.S.] Liberty Rogues Won't Help Junkers
[[ NEWS ARCHIVE - 801 A.S. ]]\n\nROCHESTER -- The Rogues have decided not to take sides in the fighting between the Junkers and the Xenos. This decision has raised some tensions in Rochester, where the Junkers are most commonly harassed by Xeno attacks. "We supply the Rogues with almost everything they need. It just ain't right, them not helping us against those crazy Xenos," said Junker Abraham Washington. A Rogue pilot who was questioned about the decision had this to say, "It isn't our place getting into the middle of a fight between two groups we've got nothing personal against."
[[ NEWS ARCHIVE - 801 A.S. ]]\n\nPITTSBURG -- Rogues have been encountering more patrols than usual near Pittsburg these days. If you decide to do some hunting in that area, be careful and stay hidden in the Pittsburg fields as much as possible. Junker sources believe that the increased patrols are due to LPI's recent "Get Tough on Crime" campaign that they have been waging against the party crowd in Liberty. LPI pilots are getting paid bonuses to bring us in, so they are going deeper into the debris than they normally do.
[[ NEWS ARCHIVE - 801 A.S. ]]\n\nKENAI FIELD -- A small flight of Bounty Hunters was ambushed by Rogue pilots just south of the Kenai fields yesterday as they completed a circuit of the area. Rogue patrols had been ghosting the three novice Hunters for about a week as they searched the system to collect bounties on Rogue scalps. Yesterday the trap was laid and sprung. A force of seven Rogues destroyed all three Bounty Hunter ships. The action is an example of the organization and teamwork that Rogues have been attempting to instill within the membership lately.
[801 A.S.] Rogues Suffer a Loss to Kusari
[[ NEWS ARCHIVE - 801 A.S. ]]\n\nRAIDEN CLOUD -- High-value Kusari goods will be entering Liberty soon, despite efforts by pilots from Padua. Rogues attempted to waylay an armored transport in the Trade Lanes just west of the Raiden Cloud. The ship's defenses and escorts proved to be too much for the outgunned Rogue force, and after the loss of three of our men and their ships, the remaining members of the raiding party broke off the attack and limped back home. This is discouraging news, but we will come back from this experience stronger than ever.
[[ NEWS ARCHIVE - 801 A.S. ]]\n\nPADUA -- Two Rogues are recovering from injuries tonight in Padua after an encounter with a military patrol almost cost them their lives. The two were transporting Artifacts on behalf of the Outcasts when they were jumped by two military flights running a circuit from Colorado. The smugglers were caught at their most vulnerable point: halfway between the Komatsu and the Reppu Clouds. Luckily the pilots were able to make it to the Reppu Cloud and escape, although their ships were badly damaged. They also managed to save the Artifacts, which will be smuggled into New York next week.
[[ NEWS ARCHIVE - 801 A.S. ]]\n\nCALI -- It appears that the Kusari terrorist organization, the Golden Chrysanthemums, has become completely dependent upon Cardamine. Outcast observers were able to ascertain that the Golden C. is even using the drug as part of several of their high-level ceremonies. "I believe that they will be even more obedient than the Liberty Rogues, given time," said observer Javier Soto. The organization is perfect for distribution because it has its finger on the pulse of the Kusari youth.
Perhaps the most recognizable Rogue base of all (for scoundrels and rapscallions, anyway), Alcatraz has become a welcoming beacon and a safe haven for all the flotsam and jetsam Liberty has to offer. One of the few Liberty Rogue bases within Liberty proper (most criminals tend to live at the fringes of society in more than one sense), Alcatraz was originally constructed in 515 A.S. as a waystation and resting place for Californian pirates and drug runners headed into New York, as well as a remarkably secure place of refuge for those attempting to evade the long arm of the law. Housed within a hollowed-out ice asteroid deep in the notorious Californian Whitney field (the LPI harbours a whole range of superstitions about the cloud, since pirates that manage to enter even the outskirts of Whitney almost always manage to slip away), Alcatraz had always maintained a colourful assortment of patrons and population. The lively if somewhat chilly bar pours a mind-boggling assortment of Liberty's best drinks, and the local bartender is rumoured to be one of Sirius' most well-informed, and for the right price, he can put in a good word for even the most despised foe with Liberty's criminal triad. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Said triad is well-represented here, with Outcast Cardamine smugglers bringing in the orange drug, Lane Hackers bartering information for goods, and even the occasional Junker looking to pick up or drop off a load of cargo. The omnipresent Liberty Rogues that run the show here maintain a solid background core, keeping a watchful eye over proceedings and moving quickly to quell any potential fights before they start - unless it is them starting it.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Alcatraz might be best compared to an unlawful Freeport of sorts, since if you're not a Xeno, you're welcome here to drink, deal or simply kick back after a long, hard day of busting Universal Shipping open. Be warned though, the no-blaster rule is strictly enforced.
Commissioned in 739 A.S., the Battleship Yukon has been patrolling the California system for nearly eighty years. It was originally scheduled to be decommissioned in 805 A.S., but a campaign by the residents of Los Angeles a year before its removal from active service, sponsored by Synth Foods, resulted in the Yukon being sent to Norfolk Shipyards for a complete overhaul, extending its operational lifespan until at least 825 A.S.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The Battleship has been an integral part of the Liberty Navy's efforts to keep the Lane Hackers and Liberty Rogues under some semblance of control within the system, with limited successes to date. Most patrols start out at the Yukon before heading into Magellan, Cortez and occasionally Ontario, to assist traders and put down the unruly pirates from the independent systems. The current commander of the Yukon is the newly minted Flag Captain Luke Sensicle.
San Diego Border Station monitors the Magellan Jump Gate to stem the rise of criminal activity throughout the area, particularly that of Lane Hackers, Rogues, and Outcasts. The facility is entirely owned and operated by Liberty Police, Inc. (LPI) and its support staff.
Constructed in 777 A.S., the Battleship Rio Grande has been at the forefront of many assaults against the Xenos and Liberty Rogues. It first became famous in the 792 A.S. campaign against the Xenos in the Hudson system, later followed by the 808 A.S. campaign against the Liberty Rogues, again in the Hudson system. Currently commanded by Commodore John Palmer, the Rio Grande's primary mission is to safeguard the vitally important Ageira Technologies manufacturing facility at Pueblo Station. It is also the home base of all navy patrols into Kepler and Galileo.
Pueblo Station is the main Ageira Trade Lane and Gate component manufacturing plant. It has been in operation for centuries, but much of it's interior is still a very closely guarded secret. Components only leave the secured sections in "Whiteboxes", secure containers with an elaborate locking mechanism set to destroy its contents if any form of tampering is detected. To date, no white box is known to ever have been compromised - but to keep up with innovations, Ageira continues to refine their design, and holds an annual "Crack the Whitebox" contest to see how the boxes stand up to Liberty's finest rogues. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Security around Pueblo is tight. The Lane Hackers frequently attack the facility, but their attacks are more a disruption then a serious threat to Pueblo. Rogue fighters have also on occasion threatened the facility, but aside from a major incident in 800 A.S., their attacks seem mostly focused on seizing cargo they can use. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>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.
Completed in 684 A.S., Montezuma has been the main base from where the Liberty Rogues raid civilian traffic in both the Magellan and Cortez systems. Trade between Liberty and Bretonia has always been heavy, so the Rogues have no shortage of targets to ply their brutal trade. The base isn't as well concealed as most other Rogue bases, and some of the Rogues suspect that both Liberty and Bretonia are aware of the base's location, but so far, neither nation has made an agressive move towards the Corcovado. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The base is also frequented by both Outcasts delivering Cardamine, and Lane Hackers who come to trade information on important shipments for Cardamine and supplies. Junkers also visit the base from time to time, usually to pick up goods to fence.
Undoubtedly the most veiled and well-hidden of all Liberty Rogue hideouts, these murky tunnels, roughly cut from the core of a massive, deformed asteroid in the centre of Galileo's Reppu dark matter cloud, have housed perhaps the shadiest and most dubious elements of the Rogues for over a century, ever since the base's construction in early 602 A.S. Copiously dosed with pharmaceuticals to counter Reppu's constant radiation, Padua's murderous population subsists by striking at and hijacking trade between Kusari and Liberty. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The Reppu cloud scatters most known scanning devices. The Rogues use this effect to strike from the nebula unexpectedly, and often vanish into the murky mists once law enforcement shows up. Rogues generally waste no time in travelling to Padua once in the Reppu, as the disruptive effects of the nebula will quickly erode most normal matter, including their own spaceship hull. The Kusari and Liberty navies are reluctant to enter the nebula for this reason, although Bounty Hunters will sometimes follow the Rogues in. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Padua is also frequently visited by the Lane Hackers from Leiden. The two groups have an informal division of their influence in the system, with the Rogue turf being the south part of the system, and the Lane Hackers staying up north. The two factions trade frequently, as the availability of goods on both bases tends to depend on what their raiders are bringing in.
Little is known about this shady asteroid base, tucked away in the southeast of the sleepy Hudson system. It was originally constructed in 736 A.S. by the Liberty Rogues who wanted to gain a foothold in the southern Independent Worlds. The base is well hidden by an asteroid field that harbors no valuable resources, and while it is widely suspected that the Rogues have a base in the field, the Liberty and Rheinland navies have not shown much interest in locating it. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Dawson is a relatively small Rogue base, which is more used by smugglers then pirate raiders. Traffic through Hudson was never very dense, with most shippers preferring the faster (but riskier) Bering run. The Liberty/Rheinland war has caused what little traffic remained to completely disappear. Still, Dawson remains an important point of contact for the Rogues and Unioners. Unioner smugglers bringing in Artifacts or Blood Diamonds transfer their cargo at Dawson, after which the Rogues distribute it through Liberty. The Xenos, envious of the profits this brings, often attack these smugglers.
Built in 764 A.S., out of an abandoned mining facility from "the days when Liberty did its own mining", Barrow is a bastion of the Xeno cause against Rheinland. Before the Liberty/Rheinland war the Xenos targeted mainly Republican and ALG transports moving to and from Liberty. When this traffic came to an abrupt end, their focus shifted to the Unioners and Liberty Rogues, who use the system to smuggle Diamonds into Liberty. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Barrow was a small mining outpost, even by DSE's standards at the time it was built. The Xenos tried to repair and expand the station, with partial success. The base is nevertheless a crowded station, and most Xenos that don't live on Barrow prefer not to stay longer then it takes to refuel and make repairs.
Lane Hackers are mostly composed of former Los Angeles Ageira Technologies employees who created the extremely complex scanning and database system known as USI (Universal Ship Identification). Departing the company rather acrimoniously in 750 AS, they have become a growing problem in the Independent Worlds. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The Lane Hackers in Magellan and Galileo share one common origin -- Ageira. The scandal that erupted within the company after the great Galileo bypass project, which resulted in the unnecessary construction of a hugely expensive set of Jump Gates and Trade Lanes, forced several executives and an elite development team out. This would become the second part of the core of the Lane Hackers, along with the original California scanner group that fled to Magellan. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The investigation continues to this day, but has so far been unsuccessful in locating the Lane Hacker bases. No Hacker leader has ever been captured, although various Rogues in the Independent Worlds have been caught possessing remarkably accurate information regarding upcoming high-value shipments. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Security measures have been added to the software, but the Hackers remain one step ahead, leading Ageira security experts to believe that there are many sympathetic programmers still within the company, possibly being secretly paid off with the proceeds from the thefts. The Lane Hackers prefer to sell their information to others rather than do the dirty work themselves, although they sometimes swoop in and tractor in cargo if it's particularly juicy. Fancying themselves as modern-day Robinhoods, they avoid direct confrontation when possible, unless they are dealing with Interspace Commerce or Ageira. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>They like to frequent Freeport 4 and the Ames Research Station, as their asteroid bases within the clouds can become claustrophobic. Their cardamine addiction forces them to trade Lane shipment info for drugs with the Outcasts and the Liberty Rogues at Mactan, although usually it ends up being the Liberty Rogues who act upon any information, and take the fall when anything goes wrong.
The Rogues are a product of over two centuries of systematic lower-class cleansing that occurred on the Liberty planets of Manhattan, Denver, and Los Angeles. Relocated to the Texas prison system, many of them end up planetside on Houston upon release. Some stayed straight and joined the population scratching out a living. The rest returned to their life of crime, often ending up vaporized by a pursuing Liberty police patrol or back in prison for longer stretches, manning the prison factories that are the economic lifeblood of the Texas system.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Some say the massive LPI roundups of even minor offenders in Liberty have more to do with staffing these plants cheaply than reducing crime. Fresh out of the incubator of the Texas prison system, they have limited choices. Either they work in the factories of Houston for a pittance, join the Bounty Hunters and hunt down their former brethren, go radical and hook up with the Xenos, or rejoin their former partners in crime. The latter path is the obvious one for most. Simply put, these are not-too-quick opportunists, people willing to do whatever it takes to make a buck and get by until tomorrow. Usually they end up taking the fall for anything illegal that occurs in Liberty, whether they were involved or not.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The Rogues were initially a disorganized lot, but over the last century have slowly evolved into quite a highly organised collection of criminals. They are responsible for most of the Trade Lane attacks in Liberty space and the adjacent Independent Worlds, usually operating in groups of three or more ships, utilising a variety of tactics that generally revolve around blasting their unsuspecting targets with overcharged laser weapons. They occasionally provide shelter for the Outcasts in exchange for Cardamine, but they are not averse to dealing in the artifacts trade either. The main Rogue ethos seems to be to make money however possible, regardless of how low or uncivilized their actions may be. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Buffalo Base is the original Liberty Rogue hideout, deep in the badlands of the New York system. Constructed in 672 A.S. by malcontents from Houston and Manhattan, it has served as the main operations centre for the Rogues across the entire of Liberty. With the authorities loathe to patrol or pursue suspects within the confines of the extremely dangerous Badlands, Buffalo Base is the safest criminal hideout in New York.
This Junker base is rumoured to be the centre of slavery in Liberty, although little has been proven to date; shady shipments often depart to the southwest, that much is certain. Hidden deep within the North Dallas Debris Field, it is frequented by Liberty Rogues and Outcasts; this is the furthest south in Sirius that Outcasts will ever come. Disgruntled Xenos seeking to displace their Junker competitors in the cardamine trade launch sporadic attacks against Beaumont; though the occasional missile breaches the perimeter, no serious harm has yet been caused. Said cardamine often changes hands here; drug runners hailing from as far away as the Edge Worlds make port here to fuel Liberty's orange dream. The Beaumont bar is perhaps Liberty's most prime source of gossip and information; murderers lurk in the shadowy corners, ready to divest themselves of dark secrets, adventurers discuss their latest exploits, and the Junkers know everything there is to know, for a price.
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 specializing in Nanocapacitor production. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> 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. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Both the Liberty Police, Inc. 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 (former and current) Liberty Rogues and Xenos.
This is the home base of the Liberty Rogues. Sure, we got a base in California, but this is the big leagues. Everyone comes to New York, and we're here to make sure they leave something behind before they go. Being a pirate is better than working the industrial plants in Texas. So what if we take more risk? Prison isn't an unfamiliar thing to a Rogue.
Rogues come in here and pick up Side Arm shipments for their Badlands base. It's a long haul around the system to safety for them.
We ship Luxury Consumer Goods and Superconductors to Buffalo. The Rogues can't get enough of these pricy goods, and they can't seem to keep Superconductors in their ships functioning, so they constantly have to replace them. Must be all the banging into things they do in the Badlands.
We get our Artifacts from Leiden, up in the Galileo system. The Hogosha hand them over to the Rogues there.
Operating from here or our base in the Badlands, you’ll find Liberty Rogues pirating the Trade Lanes and hitting the storage depots near the various commercial stations in this system.
California is a good home to the Rogues. First off, there’s ice asteroid fields all over the system, which makes for good cover when traveling through the system hauling illegal goodies. Our base is hidden in the same asteroid field that hides the Jump Hole to Texas, and from Texas you can jump into New York space, no problem.
Rogues live life for the day, not for the future. We don’t dwell on the past neither. If I got money in my pocket and some Cardamine stashed, then what do I gotta worry about tomorrow or yesterday for? Besides, I can’t always remember what happened yesterday and I might be dead tomorrow.
The Lane Hackers in Galileo are a bunch of pansy rich boys who can’t do their own dirty work. It’s that kind of attitude that has let foreigners come in and take jobs from the Liberty working man. At least they use Rogues to do their work for them and not Kusari pirates. That still makes the Rogues the pawns of the rich and lazy. Lane Hackers don’t know what real work is, how hard it is for so many of us to survive.
The Rogues can get to New York through the Jump Hole hidden in the same debris field this base is in. Also, there is a Jump Hole to California in the West Dallas Debris Field, though you have to be careful. Parts of that area are radioactive. There’s another Jump Hole to the Hudson system in the South Dallas Debris Field.
This system is home to a lot of Liberty Rogues. Most of us have spent about half our lives on either the Huntsville or Sugarland. I just got off “the Walls” myself a few months ago; I wouldn’t be surprised if I were heading back some time or other. Going back isn’t so bad -- it gets to be kinda like home. A lot of my buddies are in there pulling time.
The Rogues can get to New York through the Jump Hole hidden in the same debris field this base is in. Also, there is a Jump Hole to California in the West Dallas Debris Field, though you have to be careful. Parts of that area are radioactive. There’s another Jump Hole to the Hudson system in the South Dallas Debris Field. That about covers it.
Cryer's Pharmaceuticals are shipped from our primary production facility in Denver. Most of the time we don't encounter too much difficulty. We fight off the Rogues occasionally, but that just comes with shipping in Liberty.
The LPI 8th patrol wing is assigned to the Detroit Debris Field. There are no criminal bases there that we know of, but it is a well-populated area for Rogues and Junkers. The Detroit Field lies on the west side of the system, just beyond Manhattan where they can find cover in the Jersey Debris Fields.
One of the Rogues we arrested just spilled his guts. This guy and two of his wingmen had traveled from the Badlands all the way around Liberty space following the debris fields till he reached Baltimore Shipyards. They flew right by one of our patrols and got tagged on their final approach to Baltimore.
LPI’s biggest problem is the Liberty Rogues. Lucky for us they are completely disorganized and usually not great pilots either. The problem is there are so many of them. They are all over the place -- kill one and two more pop up.
The Junkers are criminal dirtbags, but they are smart about it, unlike the Rogues. They have a legitimate cover as scrap collectors, but we know they are as crooked as any other criminal. And they will never give up one of their own. You squeeze a Junker to make him talk about other criminals.
The Rogues are all over New York. Actually, LPI might be out of business if it wasn’t for the Rogues. It doesn’t matter too much though; some LPI will bring you in for nothing but being in the wrong place at the wrong time. LPI can always use more workers at Sugarland and Huntsville.
We ship Luxury Goods from here at Newark to Curacao in the Cortez system. We strive to provide our guests with the absolute best of all things, so when they think luxury, they think Orbital. It's quite a commitment since these shipments are often attacked by Rogues and Lane Hackers.
Plenty of Bounty Hunters have spent time on an LPI ship making Consumer Goods, but that is where I learned to think like the criminals that I hunt down. You see, before I went to the Huntsville I wasn’t really a criminal. When I got out I had three choices: mine Boron, join the Rogues, or become a Bounty Hunter.
I cracked a team of Rogues that was raiding the Food shipments coming in here from Ft. Bush. So I guess that they won’t need to steal as much Food with three less mouths to feed.
Xenos don’t really come this far into New York; mostly they try for Detroit weapon shipments on the west side of the system. Plus the amount of Junkers and Rogues between here and New Jersey makes for a rough trip if you’re a Xeno. Most likely he’d be dead by now.
We ship Boron from this plant into Bretonia, specifically Stokes and Thames Outpost. It's a long and brutal run to those bases. You got Rogues here, Mollys there, and Outcasts in between. And they will all try and kill you for your cargo. In the past few years, half the time it seems like there's a shooting war going on too!
We ship some of the Boron produced here to Planet New London. It is a relatively short run up to the safety of Fort Bush, but that doesn't mean it's easy. Rogues come barreling out of the Pittsburgh Debris Field all the time.
The Rogues in the area can make it difficult for us to keep our operations running smoothly. The LPI at Ft. Bush are spread too thinly in this area to interdict all the Rogue attacks on our Trade Lane.
The police maintain a presence here on behalf of Deep Space Engineering. We try to keep an eye on the Lanes that this base’s suppliers use to deliver the supplies needed to keep this place running. The Rogues love to hang out in the Pittsburgh Field. It provides ample cover for their attacks, and they can sell their goods at the Junker base in the Jersey Field.
Most of the Junkers in this area aren’t really doing anything illegal, just looking for scrap. Occasionally we’ll catch one of them trying to steal some equipment, which means we are gonna bust some Rogues that the Junker will rat out to save his own hide.
The Outcasts are using the Rogues. The Outcasts smuggle their Cardamine into the Rogue base in the Badlands, and then the Rogues and Junkers get it planetside. Most of the Rogues I’ve brought in were strung out on the Cardamine, so I’m guessing the Outcasts are the ones with their hands on the throttle.
The Industrial Materials here are shipped by Universal to the Philadelphia Station in Pennsylvania. The trip is not an easy one, and my ship is almost always beat up when I come limping into Philadelphia. They patch me up and send me on back to do it all over again. I swear I lose a hair each time worrying about whether I'm gonna make it or not. The Rogues raiding those lanes are some seriously wicked degenerates. Oh, the things they say over comms...I need a drink.
ALG ships High-Temperature Alloys and MOX to this facility from Rheinland. On the last run we lost two in our convoy to Xenos and Rogues as we passed through Texas.
Gateway ships Robotics to this base from Aland Shipyard in Omega-3. The Rogues' ability to sniff out the Robotics convoys seems uncanny. I'm told that they get their info from the Lane Hackers, so they are the real enemy -- the ring leaders versus the attack dogs.
The Robotics shipments we bring in from Omega-3 are a fight all the way to this station. First we have to fight the Hessians out of Omega-3. Once we hit the Bretonian Trade Lanes, we have to contend with the Mollies and Corsairs and in the Independent Worlds there's the Lane Hackers or whomever they've sold our cargo manifests to. Once we get into Liberty space, we have to fight the Rogues off.
If we didn’t need labor for our consumer goods facilities, I’d kill all the Rogues I came across. I just get tired of putting away the same scum and watching ‘em get released a couple years later to start doing the same illegal activity.
We ship Beryllium to this base from Java. Our shipments are frequently attacked in the Independent Worlds; no doubt the goods that the criminals manage to steal will end up back in New York fenced by the Junkers. It's always fun losing cargo containers to Rogues only to get to buy them back from Junkers a few days later.
Outcasts, Corsairs, Red Hessians, Blood Dragons, Golden Chrysanthemums, Liberty Rogues, Unioners, Xenos, the LWB, the Farmers Alliance, Gaians, and Lane Hackers -- all these groups attack Trade Lanes. And that’s why IC will pay any Bounty Hunter top dollar to kill them, any of them. But especially Lane Hackers.
Kishiro supplies this base with H-Fuel from Fujisawa in Okinawa. Much of the H-Fuel that we attempt to ship here is stolen by Rogues and Xenos, which forces us to raise our costs to cover expected losses due to theft.
Samura supplies Norfolk Shipyard with Ship Hull Panels from Planet Kyushu. Both Kepler and Galileo are difficult systems to cross, and once inside Liberty we are plagued by the accursed Rogues.
I’ve killed Red Hessians in Rheinland; Rogues, Lane Hackers, and Outcasts in Liberty; Mollys in Bretonia; Hogosha and Blood Dragons in Kusari; I’ve even bagged a few Corsairs. But I’ve never brought any of 'em in. Bounty Hunters aren’t paid to capture criminals; we’re paid to kill them.
We run patrols along the edges of the Badlands and the Trade Lanes leading to California. We intercept Rogues trying to make the run between the Detroit Debris Fields and the Badlands.
I’ve been waiting to get into West Point my whole life, but now I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it. Last week my dorm mate and best friend died on one of our patrols sweeping the outer edges of the Badlands. Outcasts weren’t supposed to come through that area, just Rogues.
Universal ships Water and Oxygen from Manhattan; Synth Foods brings Food in from Los Angeles. It's a good thing that I run supplies to the academy. I was in trouble on my way here a few weeks ago until a training squadron came in from nowhere and wiped the Rogues on my tail.
We run Synthetic Marijuana shipments from the Corsair base in Simga 13. We used to get them from the Junkers, but things have changed out there... Not an easy run through Hamburg and Frankfurt, but decent profit. We sell it on Freeport 2 for eventual sale to the Xenos and Rogues. Hopefully they won't find out they're getting high by making us rich.
Blood Diamonds acquired from the Hessians are shipped to Denver and Manhattan, while Superconductors and Consumer Goods are transported on the return trips. The Rogues and Junkers are generally handling the last leg of the trip. They've got better contacts in Liberty then we do.
The Unioner base is out there in the southwestern part of the system. You'll know if you've stumbled onto that hornet's nest, believe me. The Xenos and Rogues tend to be more in the northwest part of the system. The Rogues deal with the Unioners at Pacifica, part of their smuggling business I guess. The Xenos mostly head to the Freeport. When Xenos and Unioners meet, it usually gets violent.
We run supply shipments of Food, Oxygen, Consumer Goods, and Water to our base out in the southern asteroid fields of this system. Just watch out for Bounty Hunters and Xenos. Both of them are our enemies. The Liberty Rogues, not so much. You still need to watch them, some of their lot can get a bit triggerhappy, but we try to stay friendly with them, since they have connections in Liberty that we can use.
The Rogues and Unioners run a smuggling line from Liberty to Rheinland through here. We hit the Unioners whenever we can, but they are tough bastards. From what we can tell, they're handling all kinds of goods - Blood Diamonds, Artifacts, Munitions and other stuff we can use ourselves.
The Unioners have a base out in the asteroid fields in the southwestern part of the system. They visit us frequently to purchase supplies - a freeport is the easiest place for them to get your basics from. The Liberty Rogues sometimes visit us for the same reason.
Attacks on the Trade Lanes have almost ground to a halt. There's simply no traffic anymore, other then whatever comes to our Freeport. The Liberty Rogues and Xenos might occasionally try to hijack a Synth Foods food shipment, but it's rare.
Zoners firmly believe in the concept of Freeports - places where anyone, regardless of their criminal or political affiliation, is welcome. Unfortunately, the authorities in the House systems do not subscribe to this philosophy, so there are very few within House boundaries. Those that are within House space are usually there because the Houses expanded their borders around them. Liberty often tries to pressure us into disallowing Rogues and Unioners to dock here, but we'll have none of that. Ironic, no? That our port enjoys more freedom then a House named for that concept. Ruddy corporate hypocrites...
The LPI embodies everything that is wrong with Liberty. It shouldn’t surprise anybody that most of the "criminals" that operate the Texas factories where rounded up for slave labor, not for any real crimes they committed. We used to get paid for our work in the former times; now we get thrown in prison and are forced into slave labor. Us Xenos abhor slavery in any form, whether it be those bastard Junkers and Rogues doing it illegally, or the LPI abusing the law. Death to slavers, I say. The lot of them.
As much as Xenos hate Junkers, we aren’t strong enough to get rid of those scavengers... yet. They run the shipping points for inbound drug shipments into Liberty, which makes them buddies of both the Outcasts and Liberty Rogues. We don't want that stinking drug peddling in Liberty, so we have to oppose all three of them. That can be rough at times, but there ain't a Xeno alive that can't handle rough.
Hudson is perfect for our operations in this sector. The Jump Hole to Bering and our supply point at Freeport 2 is in the Wrangell Field - where you’ll find plenty of Rogues. They'll only attack you if they outnumber you - bunch of opportunistic cowards they are. The Texas Jump Hole is in the Sitka Field. It's our portal for conducting business in Texas - liberating our comrades from Huntsville, and hitting the Junkers and Outcasts.
Our base is through the Jump Hole to Bering. We don't really like to stay long in this system - the Xenos hate us for some reason. The Rogues here are a rough, uncultured lot, but they'll buy many smuggled goods. The war with Rheinland also makes High Temperature Alloys a commodity in demand here.
There's plenty of work for us Bounty Hunters in this part of the Barrier. Between the Rogues in the Weddell field and the Lane Hackers and Outcasts in the Barrier Cloud, it's a non-stop hunting party. Gotta watch out for those Outcasts, though - I've lost more than a few buddies to those lowlifes. Tough bastards those.
If you want to find Rogues, just pop through the Cortez Hole. You'll find them in abundance over there. I think their base is pretty close to the Hole. Just watch yourself out there, the Outcasts also use that hole. If you get swarmed, things can turn ugly real quick. Don't play with your prey.
We buy supplies here for our base in the Barrier Cloud to the west. It's pretty mundane stuff - H-Fuel, Food, Oxygen, and Water. We prefer if freelancers like you haul them, as it attracts less attention with Bounty Hunters. Watch out for the Rogues though, they will try to rob freelancers like yourself blind.
There's a Jump Hole into Cortez from here. That's how the Rogues get into this system. There's no way directly into California except through the Gate. It's been a while since I've seen the beautiful skies of Los Angeles.
The Lane Hackers and Outcasts prefer the safety of the Barrier Clouds for their attacks. The bloody Rogues don't care - they'll attack shipping in the Weddell Field, until the Liberty Navy shows up from the California Gate. Then they all scatter like rats. Kind of funny to see as long as you're not the one getting shot at.
The Rogues are our main problem between here and California Minor. They like to hit you in the asteroid fields or in the Sierra Cloud. You can't really see much ahead of you, so the first sign of trouble you get is when you're getting shot at. All escorts and turret gunners are on high alert as soon as we enter into one.
Since we know what ships are hauling what, we can hit the Gold freighters and sell the Gold to the Rogues at their Montezuma base in Cortez. This keeps the Rogues pretty happy with us, and oftentimes they do our dirty work, which leaves more time to pursue our own diversions - like dropping Cardamine.
The Outcasts run Cardamine in here from somewhere out in the Tau worlds. They ship it out from here into Liberty, with the Rogues handling much of the dangerous work in New York. We pay a pretty high price even here. If you wanted to make a killing, get in close with the Outcasts and buy some Cardamine further up the stream, closer to the source.
This is one nice place to be based, although those snooty, rich Manhattan types don't seem to like us much. Lots of work around here. Rogues, Lane Hackers, Outcasts. We've got our hands full in Cortez.
We do a lot of patrols in this system. There's a Rogue base somewhere out in the Corcovado Field. Good luck getting close to it. It's swarming with Rogues, Hackers, and Outcasts.
I'm taking a well deserved R&R, compliments of Orbital Spa and Cruise. My patrol saved Orbital's butt last week on the east Trade Lane to the California Gate. A crew of Rogues was about to make off with a Luxury Goods shipment. We saved the day.
I heard that some visiting dignitaries were kidnapped en route by Rogues in the Paloma Cloud. That's unsettling.
The Rogues are very good customers for the Software we distribute through the Zoners. Cardi and the latest hologames make for serious relaxation after a day of raiding.
We mainly use Montezuma as a forward tactical base to stage attacks on Trade Lanes in Cortez via the Jump Hole into California. We prefer the safety of the Barrier Clouds, whereas the Rogues will attack almost anywhere.
The Rogues are a simple lot. We don't really have much in common with them, except maybe the love of Cardamine. Most Rogues are products of the Liberty penal system. We're too smart to get caught by the LPI or navy. We'd rather die than set foot in Texas.
This base serves as the primary trans-shipment point for Artifacts inbound from Sigma-17. The Hogosha run them through Kusari space, terminating their long run here. The Rogues then haul the Artifacts into Rochester via their base in the southern end of the system. Don't know why people love those Artifacts so much.
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.
Every Rogue likes his gun collection. Most Rogues have several pieces of Detroit death machinery, so we need to supplement our Side Arm shipments from Beaumont with extra shipments from Buffalo. They usually come from shipments we nabbed on the lane in New York.
The Bounty Hunters are the biggest nuiscance to the Rogue way of life. Many of our boys have been sent out to Texas or the next life by those bastards. If you want to do us Rogues a favor, burn as many of them from the sky. Do that, and you'll be okay in our books.
Most of the corporate types in Liberty hate the Rogues, but the truth is, the suits are the ones who made us. You think I’d be doing this if I could have made it in their world? The only choice I had was to become a Rogue or burn my life away in the Boron mines of Pittsburg. If you aren’t born into a company, you aren’t going anywhere but the slag pile.
The Junkers don't take a lot of new blood these days; they have their own inner circle. The LPI are corporate lap dogs, the Lane Hackers are rich corporate types turned bad, and the Outcasts - hell, they aren't even human anymore. And don't even get me started on the Xenos or the Legion; fanatical patriots, the whole lot of them. It was Rogues or nothing for me.
Let me tell you, never stray into Zone-21. One of our patrols got off course chasing some Rogues. They went straight into the mine field and got heavily damaged. Then the navy flyboys showed up and started shooting, no questions asked. One of the LPI guys didn't make it home that night. No apology or nothing from them military folks.
Manhattan says we have to snag a dozen Rogues a day there. That's a pretty tall order. Guess they're getting shorthanded on the assembly lines in Texas. Looks like I'll be hanging out in the Pittsburgh Debris Field for the next few days.
I just got back from a tough run into the Alamosa Field. It was swarming with Rogues and Hackers. They must have a Hole somewhere up there. Bagged me two Rogues, though. Not a bad day's work. Way better than my old job at LPI.
I've heard the Rogues make smuggling runs from the Galileo Hole across the east side of the system to the New York Hole. If you figure out their route, you can ambush them pretty easy.
We patrol the Trade Lanes in the eastern half of the system; the navy boys the west side. Mostly Xenos in their part of the system. We get more Rogues on this side. Also get a few Lane Hackers in the Alamosa Field.
Caught myself a Rogue smuggling Artifacts behind Denver in the Cheyenne Field last week. He tried to run for it but smacked straight into an asteroid. Gotta tell ya, it cracked me up watching that ship explode. Stupid Rogues.
Those Xenos are kind of crazy. Rogues, I can relate to them. Just trying to make a living on the wrong side of the law. But Xenos, they hate everybody. Even the Rogues can't figure them out. Who cares about foreign shippers anyway? They still have stuff to steal.
The LPI doesn't have the guts to come into the fields very far. First sign of trouble, and they're hightailing it back to Denver. That's where we come in. Since a lot of us are Rogues who did time in Sugarland or Huntsville, we know where the Jump Holes and bases are. Guild rules are that you tell no one or you may have a little "accident" out there.
I hear the toughest systems for the navy are the Independent Worlds between Texas and Hamburg. Colorado is pansy land -- just some stupid Rogues and Xenos.
We run two patrols into the fields from the Rio Grande. One goes into the Copperton Field, the other into the Alamosa. Usually the bad guys hightail it out of there when we show up, but not always. I killed me twelve Rogues and twenty Xenos so far since being posted up here -- no Lane Hackers yet, though. They don't stick around as much as the others.
The Lane Hackers and Rogues both have bases somewhere in Galileo, probably in those dark matter clouds. Kusari won't let us go take a look though. Says it's their responsibility. Hey, Liberty was the one that paid for those Trade Lanes up there. Kusari didn't have to put up a cent for the Galileo route.
Liberty does seem to have a lot of criminal problems -- not as tough as our Mollys, and certainly nothing like the Corsairs -- but plenty of them, especially those Rogues.
We get attacked on the way down from Shikoku by Lane Hackers and Rogues, and both ways by Xenos. Kusari space is certainly much safer than this. We don't have crime problems like this. I wish Liberty would clean up the Independent Worlds, since the criminals come from here.
We often make Cardamine shipment transfers at the Rogue base in the Cortez system, or here. I'm heading on to the California Rogue hideout with my Cardamine - I can make more money with only a little more risk. The Rogues can then handle the last leg into Liberty. I don't like going there, too many Bounty Hunters.
If you want to get in with us, you'll need to take some Cardamine on a short run. Be friendly to the Hackers and Rogues; stay away from those Corsairs, though. Bad news. The Corsairs came here on the same sleeper ship as us, the Hispania, but decided to abandon the ship before it arrived at its destination. We had to build our fortunes with less then half the resources the other Houses had.
I'm starting to get sick - guess I've been away from home too long. These runs to Liberty can be taxing. The inhaler masks aren't a long term substitute for the Cardamine-infused biosphere of Malta, and the concentrated Cardamine doses we sell to the Rogues and Hackers aren't suitable for us. It'll be a week or two before my condition gets critical. I plan to be back home well before then.
I'm heading out to Beaumont, the pit of Texas, to deliver another load of Liberty's poison. It was a long journey from Cali. These Rogues are scum, but they perform an essential duty for us -- at least for now.
The Lane Hackers very rarely do their own dirty work; they usually sell or trade ship Commodity information to the Rogues or Outcasts. The most infuriating part of it all is that there has been no way to stop them yet. We kill the occasional Rogue or Outcast, but we’ve never been able to catch a Lane Hacker.
Ageira has hired me to hunt down and kill any Rogues I can find. They need Hunters to kill Outcasts too, but I don’t have the ship I need to take down those guys. But with every Rogue I bag, I come a few thousand credits closer to getting it.
I lie in wait for Rogues as they leave the cover of the Detroit Debris Field on their way to the Trade Lanes between this base and Manhattan. Their base is in the Badlands, so they have to come through that point if they want to use the debris fields in the system for cover.
I run a patrol that skirts the edge of the Jersey Debris Field -- that’s where you can hit the Rogues headed for the Junker base getting ready to drop their stolen cargo and contraband.
This place makes me a lot of money, and I don’t have to go far to earn it. If I go out along the Trade Lanes or into the Pittsburgh Debris Fields, I’m bound to come across some Rogues.
The Rogues that fly this area are a pretty disorganized lot. Most of them feel the prison ships in Texas are like second homes. I prefer to offer them permanent housing in a chunk of space debris that was their imploded ship.
This base’s close proximity to the Pittsburgh Debris Fields, coupled with the amount of traffic that comes through here, makes this an irresistible target for Rogues and the like.
In the old days, they didn't need Ft. Bush. We just had the Baltimore Shipyard out here. With the rise of the Rogues they had to do something. Too many ships were getting wasted right in front of our eyes. If they hadn't let that debris build up so close, there wouldn't be all the problems around here. Where there's debris, there are roaches. That's what I say.
One of these days they'll have all the Rogues in prison, and the debris fields will be gone. Then all we'll build is cruise ships, and they'll shut this place down. Yeah right.
We run regular patrols into the Pittsburgh Debris Fields. Lots of Rogues back there. A few Junkers, but they're not smuggling anything in that area, so we generally leave them alone.
The Xenos aren't too bad in the southern area of New York. Just Rogues and occasional Outcasts. We Rheinlanders don't have to deal with them too often. Now Corsairs and Red Hessians, that's a different story. I told my dispatcher, "No more of those Omega-7 runs -- I want to live to retirement."
Bowex brings this shipyard the finest in Super Alloy from Scarborough. Yes, we brave the Rogues to ship these components to Liberty space.
This is the last of the commercial shipyards in Liberty. We had to specialize in prison and cruise ships to survive. Kusari took over the general transport business a while ago. That's when they shut down the Edison Yard in Colorado. Lot of good people lost their way of life on that dark day. Now they're Rogues and Xenos.
I've heard that some of the Rogues in this system have been tipped off about our Gold shipments to Fort Bush, not by the Lane Hackers but by Bowex. I wouldn't put it past those corporate bastards.
The Rogues in the area seem to know which ships are bringing the Gold into Fort Bush. They must be getting the information from the Lane Hackers. Whenever Gateway ships Jump into the system, some of us are contracted to escort them into this base.
I killed four Rogues trying to escape into the Pittsburgh Fields last week. They almost made it, but I blew out the engines on one of their ships, and the other three came back to tried and save him. They must have been high on Cardamine the way they were flying.
Kishiro put up some contracts for us Bounty Hunters to exterminate the Rogues who were attacking their shipments on the Trade Lanes. Here is something to think about: We are to engage and destroy all Xenos that we encounter, unless they’re attacking Samura shipments, in which case we are to break off.
The employees who work at this station are prime examples of the disappearing working class in Liberty. If you aren’t an ultra-rich Manhattanite or a technocrat, you are working too hard for your money. Some of the labor force here is temporary. Between big contracts they do other things, like fly for the Rogues.
Just made a circuit of the Sierra Field. We like to troll for Rogues close to the Trade Lane to Mojave. They like to hang out there at the edge of the field, waiting for ships to come along.
It's hard to get to, but there's a Jump Hole to Texas pretty close to the Rogue base. Tough to hang out there for long; Rogues and Outcasts will swarm you pretty quick. Only the gutsy guys risk it.
I'm heading off to Cortez. I hear there's Rogues as far as the eye can see out there. A big group of ex-LPI guys is based at that resort Curacao -- keep asking me to join them. They expect to cash out pretty quick, although two of them already bit it. Definitely some risk involved.
One day Liberty will rid itself of the Outcasts and its Cardamine habit. There will be much safer ways for users to feel good using future Cryer products, without funding the activities of illegals like the Rogues and Outcasts.
Had a long patrol today. Went all the way to the New York Gate. We ran into some Rogues at the Mojave Trade Lane bend. Seems to be a popular place for the criminally minded.
I'm heading out on a patrol into the Sierra Ice Field tomorrow. It'll be my first time on an assault crew. I'm pretty pumped. We're looking for Rogues to fill this week's prison convoy bound for Texas.
Next week they're transferring me to the Los Angeles-San Diego Trade Lane patrol through the Tahoe. You're liable to run into Rogues, Lane Hackers, even Outcasts. It's an assignment for gung ho young 'uns straight out of the academy, or bored vets about to join the Bounty Hunters. I'm neither.
Last week the Rogues attacked the prison convoy bound for Texas somewhere near the New York Gate. It's tough keeping that area under control -- no bases nearby. They didn't succeed, but it was close there for a while. It shut down the Trade Lane for a couple of hours.
The Planetform folks let us use their site as a forward base for our operations in the central part of California. They're mostly interested in stopping the Rogues who prey on their Silver shipments from Freistadt Base in Omega 7.
I made it all the way to the Texas Jump Hole in the Whitney Field yesterday. I didn't hang around for long. Didn't even a take a shot at the Rogues in the area. I'll go back next time with a posse.
I just got back from Cortez. Did an assault patrol into the Corcovado Field. It's crawling with Rogues. We got a bunch, but there were plenty more. They should send the military in there to clean it out. Its like a rat's nest.
I just got reassigned from the Mississippi based in Texas. We were in Hudson chasing down Xenos and Rogues. The Rheinland Military doesn't help at all in that area. Guess they're broke.
I'm getting bored around here. Same old stuff with the Rogues and Hackers. I want to get out to the Border Worlds. The Corsairs and Red Hessians are supposed to be nasty in the Omega systems.
I'm here to patrol the area and look for Rogues and Outcasts. I have no idea what research they do. That area of the base is restricted access, scientists only. They have some biological quarantine barrier between the labs and the rest of the ship.
Most of this ice around us is ammonia. Not much help for California's water problems. They mined the Sierra and Whitney Fields for a long time, however. Nothing left there now but some old, abandoned equipment and Rogues.
They say if you want to get in with the Outcasts, get friendly with the Rogues. Then graduate to the Lane Hackers. Run some drugs. Then you're on your way. Hard to turn back at that point, since you'll be a Cardamine addict for life.
I'm just countin' the days. I got thirty-two left before I go back to a life. The attrition rate here is real bad. So far, twenty guys this month got vaporized by Outcasts, Hackers, or Rogues. That's some bad odds. I need to look for a new line of work if I make it through this.
We do quick hops across these systems. I'm on a convoy headed for Beaumont in the Texas Debris Fields. We started in Cortez yesterday at the Rogue base. Normally the Rogues do these runs, but they were losing too many shipments. Sometimes you just have to do it yourself.
We provide Optronics, H-Fuel and Engine Components for Bretonia. They are shipped from our plants in Honshu. It is a long and arduous journey through Liberty and the Independent Worlds, where Liberty Rogues are an ever present threat. Recently, Corsairs have started attacking our ships within New London itself. This is most unsettling.
Bretonia is the largest source of Gold for the entire Sirius Sector. We are heading back to Yokohama with a load as soon as we can arrange the escort. Between Outcasts, Lane Hackers, Liberty Rogues, Xenos, Blood Dragons and Golden Chrysantemums, whomever we hire will have plenty to do.
I like to patrol out by the Negra Pequena and the North Dallas Debris Field. You can find Rogues, Outcasts, Xenos, and Junkers in that area. There is a Jump Hole around there that leads to New York, I believe. Somehow a lot of the criminals find their way into this system from California in that general area, too.
Though the Rogues try to be friends with the Xenos, the simple truth is that they are friends with no one and nothing but money and Cardamine. So if the Xenos start becoming too troublesome, we pay a few Rogues to go bag a couple.
I kind of like the Xenos. Truth is I almost joined up with them on a tour of “the Walls,” but I decided to join up with the Rogues instead. But the Junkers will pay me good money or Cardamine to kill Xenos, so if I see one flying solo, then I’ll kill him. If there’s more than one, I don’t pay them much mind.
Rogues like to come into this system since there is so much shipping passing through. They come in from New York I believe, and run their sorties from the Junker base somewhere in the North Dallas Debris Field.
ALG hired me to kill all the Xenos and Rogues I run across, with a bonus for every Xeno. The truth is that Outcasts do a fair bit of pirating and raiding in this system, too. They probably drop their Cardamine with the Junkers and instead of going back home with empty hulls, decide to pick up some goodies on the way home.
Universal handles various levels of Commodities on the Manhattan to New London route. Our armored transports handle the Bretonian Gold bound for Manhattan, and the Luxury Goods on the return trip. If they're well escorted, they usually make it okay through the Independent World gauntlet. The same can't be said for all their escorts. Between the Liberty Rogues, Lane Hackers and Outcasts, they've got a lot to do.
Cardamine was the one good thing that fate gave us. When we first landed on Malta the weak who didn’t want to live anymore could go to a better place chewing the orange grass. Taking an extreme dose of Cardamine raw from the grass is almost always fatal, but it's a gentle way to go. It was also a curse, as we became dependent on Cardamine to survive, though we don’t get a high from it anymore. Now we use Cardamine to make money. Eventually we’ll run Sirius. Once a large enough portion of the populace is hooked, we've got them. The Rogues and Golden Chrysantemums are proof of that.
Our efforts to synthesize Cardamine have not gone unnoticed by the Outcasts. The Atka Research Station in Sigma-17 is under constant attack, and their cronies in Liberty, the Rogues, are also stepping up attacks against our company. We definitely have a dangerous criminal enemy, which has led management to suspend direct shipments outside of Liberty unless Outcast activity is minimal along the route. Those criminals are feeling threatened by our Stabiline product.
This is a very cheap place for us to purchase Side Arms for our bases far out in the Edge Worlds. The Rogues bring them across New York for us.
The Rogues are annoying at times, but serve our purposes well. If Liberty becomes weakened enough by Cardamine addiction, we will no longer need them, as we will be able to enter the rest of the New York system ourselves.
One of our allies is the Rogues. They aren’t our partners as much as our pawns. We have them under control because they are addicted to Cardamine. Soon more groups will fall to the allure of the drug, and they will also be ours to control. I see this upon the horizon for the Golden Chrysanthemums.
Tokyo is the only place we can buy Light Arms legitimately within Kusari. It's very controlled here -- not like Liberty, I hear. We don't have rabble like the Rogues and Xenos in Kusari -- just misguided souls like the Golden C. and those Blood Dragons.
Kishiro competes directly with Samura in the New York-New Tokyo Luxury Goods and Niobium trade. We both suffer equally in Libertonian space at the hands of the Rogues and Xenos. Once we enter Kusari, we are targeted by different kinds of pirates. The Blood Dragons attack Samura mercilessly. We Kishiro merchants are targeted by the Farmer's Alliance. The Farmers will never forgive us for turning our backs on the monarchy.
Once you leave Bretonian space into the Independent Worlds, you are usually rid of the Gaians. Of course, that's when the Outcasts and Liberty Rogues become a problem instead. We rarely get hit by the Lane Hackers, I guess they don't think our cargo is worth the time.
I hate crossing the Independent Worlds. When I signed up for the H-Fuel run from Los Angeles to here I thought it would be an adventure. I'd say it's closer to a nightmare. Gateway doesn't pay me enough to get killed. Gateway's route goes by Sheffield and over Manchester. Our IMG partners often help us out near Freeport 4, but travelling through the Barrier ice fields is quite dangerous. Lane Hackers, Outcasts and Liberty Rogues are on the prowl there.
This station is supplied entirely by Bowex. We deliver Light Arms from Detroit Munitions. It's not too far, but the last delivery almost got destroyed by some marauding Liberty Rogues in Cortez.
My brother joined the Bounty Hunters Guild a few years ago. He's not tough enough to take on Corsairs yet; he should still be popping Rogues. The idiot sent me a message telling me he was ready for the big leagues in southern Sirius. I'm trying to find him before he gets killed.
They're sending me on the Artifact run to Leiden tomorrow. I don't like going there. Those Lane Hackers are drug addicts, and the Liberty Rogues smell badly. The GC will also show up sometimes, which can be dangerous for us. There have been Hogosha "accidents" in the cloud near the base.
We do not need the Bounty Hunter Gaijin to do our difficult jobs for us in Kusari. The State Police has patrolled the fields and clouds of the Crow Nebula as long as anyone can remember. Our culture does not produce common criminals like the Liberty Rogues. Kusari internal problems are more political in nature.
We must occasionally make the long journey to Leiden in the Independent Worlds to sell Cardamine and buy supplies from the smelly foreigners. The Lane Hackers are strange, but not so bad once you get to know them. The Rogues are disgusting pigs. They always harass us in the bar.
I do not like coming here usually, though it is rewarding at times. They brought in a group of Liberty Rogues that had been attacking our shipments for weeks. It was good to see their faces, particularly when they were pushed into their cells.
This system is a crossroads of Kusari and Liberty shipping. Consequently, we get a lot of Liberty criminals here. There are Rogues and Lane hackers as well as our own Blood Dragons, Golden Chrysanthemums, Farmers Alliance, and Hogosha.
I wish that the Liberty Rogues would confine themselves to Liberty. They are not skilled or coordinated in their attacks, but they are plentiful, which is unfortunate. I must try harder to kill more of them. They are the foulest of the Liberty criminals; they have no intellect or honor.
Strange that Samura never pays to have Farmers Alliance activity popped in this area. They seem most concerned with Lane Hackers and Rogues that enter the system and loiter near the Keiun. They use the Jump Hole from Galileo.
I am glad that I do not work at the Fuchu prison. It would make me sick to be surrounded by so many bloodthirsty Rogues. Even stepping foot on Deshima makes my eyes water; it smells so foul there.
We make our living smuggling Diamonds and Tobacco from here to Pacifica. Unioners carry them all they way to Dawson, where they are sold to the Rogues, who smuggle them past the Xenos in Hudson and Texas and across the final stretch in New York.
The Junkers have approached us with a proposal to smuggle Artifacts into Dawson. We have not accepted, although it would be very lucrative and give us much more money to buy ships and weapons. If the Unioners became smugglers like the Rogues, then we would deserve to be called common criminals. It's also a dangerous proposition to become indebted to the Corsairs, even if indirectly.
Our most lucrative runs for MOX are into Colorado. One must first survive the Xenos in the Independent Worlds, however. The Rogues would also like to get their hands on bomb-making material -- especially the group found in Hudson.
The Hole to Bering is up in the Nordheide. If you're looking for diamond smuggling Unioners, then that's the place to be. There isn't a direct route between here and Hudson, which keeps the Xenos and Rogues out of Hamburg.
Some of the Hunters use this as a base for journeys into Hudson. Most of the bounties up there are for Xenos and Rogues. Republican posts the bulk of them, though Universal and IC chip in on occasion.
I have been giving thought to becoming a Bounty Hunter. That way I would be better equipped and much better paid. I see them collecting rewards on every vermin they kill. Perhaps I could go to Liberty and kill Rogues.
The Charles Kane and its escorts were ambushed in the Roatan Ice Crystal Cloud several weeks ago, probably by Rogues or Lane Hackers. They commandeered the ship and flew it further into the cloud. Several Bounty Hunters happened upon the hijacked ship, and a fierce firefight ensued. Only one limped back to tell the tale. She said the ship was still out there in the cloud, abandoned and drifting with the field.
The Universal Shipping transport Chesapeake was hijacked several months ago and flown into the Komatsu Cloud. It is rumored to still be there, serving as a Pharmaceuticals storage depot for the Lane Hackers and Rogues.
Not too long ago there was a prison break by some Rogues from a Sugarland work convoy in the East Dallas Debris Field. They fled into the Pequena Negra Cloud, pursued by a Bounty Hunter named Annie “Shorty” Davis. She flew a nice rig called “the Avenger.” The Rogues eventually doubled back and escaped through the California Hole. Annie must have gotten confused in there, or maybe her ship was damaged by some enemy fire. Either way, she never emerged from that dark cloud.
I've heard that Graviton-based shields work best if you're tackling the Rogues' Energy-based weapons.
If you know you're going to walk into a fight with the Liberty Rogues, don't use Plasma and Particle-based weapons against them. You see, those weapons don't work well against Molecular-based shield.
You were with King on that escort, weren’t you? That was an awesome job you did out there. These Rogues have been pestering us for a while now and it’s time that the LSF put a stop to them. Be careful, though. We believe that the Rogues have a fortified base somewhere near Pittsburgh.
I've never even heard of "The Order" before the whole Schultzky incident. I'm no expert but I find it difficult to believe that the LSF, who is supposed to be protecting our interests and who we already know has a deep intelligence channel, didn't know much about the attack. How could they not see this coming? Well at least they got the Rogues around Pittsburgh. That's something.
Aren't you the guy who flew with King and took out that Rogue base? I’ve known King forever. He’s been fighting these Rogues ever since he joined the LSF many years ago. King’s a bit eccentric, but otherwise a nice guy. I would fly with him anytime.
I just heard that the Rogues launched an attack near Fort Bush today. That must be the first time in years that they dare attack such a large installation. An LPI officer told me that they were trying to free a prisoner -- an Artifact smuggler from what I’m told.
We just heard that a convoy was attacked in the Barrera Passage. It must have been undercover operation since it wasn’t listed on any official flight path. They should have talked to us before trying to take the Passage, artifact smugglers, Rogues and Outcasts have been operating in that area for a few days now. I wonder who was crazy enough to try this.
I hear the LSF took matters into their own hands with the Rogues around Pittsburgh; they didn’t even give them the chance to surrender. Bonnerille’s men have gone way beyond “official” orders and now they are using this problem with the Order as an excuse to clean house.
[735 AGS] Brigands Secure Deal with Liberty Rogues
MONTAUBAN -- 735 AGS -- In a move guaranteed to cause envy among Gallia's underworld networks, the Free Brigands of Gallia has secured a lucrative agreement with the Liberty Rogues for the import of contraband material from Gallia into Liberty, via their new base in the Roussillion system. At the same time, the Gallic Brigands gain access to a wide variety of Sirian goods to take back into Gallia. With the main effort of the Gallic Navy directed at Bretonia, smuggling opportunities through the Tau systems are plentiful. Brigand representatives are reportedly in talks with the Outcasts to safeguard their passage through the Tau systems, but regardless of the outcome of those negotiations, the volume of goods flowing to and from the Liberty and Gallic black markets is expected to increase dramatically.
MANHATTAN -- 819 A.S. -- Sugarland Prison's long time warden and several of his deputies were forced into permanent retirement after conviction for numerous counts of felonious conduct for their operation of a "labor racket" on board the prison. After a lengthy investigation by the LSF, the LPI's upper echelons of management on Sugarland were indicted and subsequently convicted of several thousand counts of felony kidnapping, false imprisonment, and conspiracy, among other crimes. Some of the felonious acts date to the warden's former posting as a LPI officer on Planet Houston.\nRather than facing certain death by imprisonment alongside their former prisoners, or construction of expensive isolation cells on Huntsville or Sugarland, the former LPI officers have been given sentences of hard labor for life in Pittsburgh's boron mines, where authorities assure the public they will both be punished and prevented from further exploiting Liberty's most vulnerable members of society.\nThe conclusion of the trials brings an end to a sordid tale of corruption, exploitation, and alleged slavery that have plagued Houston politics for decades, and mired the LPI in scandal for over a year. An LPI spokesman hailed the verdicts as long overdue justice and pledged that "Liberty is once again a safe haven for the unfortunate, and free of the wicked institution of slavery that exploits the vulnerable for the enrichment of the unscrupulous." Liberty politicians have used the trials as a forum for heaping scorn on the Outcasts and Liberty Rogues, who are reputed to be the criminal syndicates behind the abuses.
I can believe that LPI is too chicken to retaliate for Red Deer Station, but that doesn't mean the Navy should sit around on its thumbs. I guess the Admirals figure the Rogues would never be so brazen as to attack us directly like that. I bet that's what those poor schlubs at Red Deer thought just before the station exploded.
CRETE -- 818 A.S. -- Following the revelations of slavery at Etna Base, laws expressly forbidding slavery have been passed governing the entirety of Corsair territory. The penalties for involvement in slavery range from ten year prison sentences, to execution. Laws regulating the transport of human organs within the Corsair Empire have also been passed, to insure that all such shipments are composed entirely of either organs produced in scientific laboratories, or harvested from voluntary donations.\nEven after the executions of the Etna Six for their egregious violations of military regulations, rampant rumors persist of slaves being used on remote Corsair bases for vile purposes. The Elders have appointed a special Inspector General, Javier Morales, to investigate all rumors of slavery within the Corsair Empire, and to prosecute all perpetrators to the fullest extent of the laws.\nWhile most citizens blame the Outcasts for somehow instigating the activites on Etna Base, many rumors of involvement by the Hessians, Liberty Rogues, Mollys, Junkers, Lane Hackers, and even Zoners also persist. The long term consequences for Corsair relations with these factions are yet to be determined.
The Gold we mine goes to various parties. The Junkers buy some up and sell it off to other groups like the Lane Hackers, Outcasts and Liberty Rogues. They need it for shipbuilding. The Red Hessians also buy up a good bit. We give those guys a bit of a discount - an incentive to shoot more Corsairs before they foul up Dublin.
A couple of months ago the Hogosha syndicate purchased exotic women from the Liberty Rogues. About twenty of them arrived at the Golden Dragon Casino. You can say that they will practically have their hands full, if you know what I mean.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>
I don't get it. Why did the Rogues risk bringing down the unholy wrath of the Liberty Navy on their filthy hides by blowing up Red Deer Station, but haven't made a move since? I feel like everybody in this system is just waiting for doom to strike, but nobody knows where it's going to come from next.
The calamity at Red Deer Station is an unfortunate circumstance, and rest assured that the criminals responsible will be pried out of their hiding places and brought to justice. The Liberty Rogues have gone too far this time.
I was a little worried about pirate activity in this system after Red Deer Station was destroyed, but so far I haven't seen any signs of Rogues. They must be laying low in fear of Navy retaliation.
Nothing makes me smile like the sight of a derelict LPI outpost. Those corrupt nitwits got just what they deserved from the Rogues!
I've been working on some of the early warning systems we installed here a few years back. These Rogues really need to learn how to handle this stuff. Trust me, it's like working with trained monkeys.
Hidden deep within the Illinois system, Attica is the most heavily-defended and secure Super Max prison facility in Sirius. Enshrouded in a mine field in the middle of a system full of the LPI's finest, the infeasibility of escape is multiplied by the fact that an entire SWAT Heavy Weapons division is stationed on board. Absolutely no ships are permitted to stay on board the Attica, and the only ships allowed to dock are transports bringing new prisoners and supplies. Both occasions are cause for a substantial increase in security, in case any of the inmates should somehow break free of their cell and try to escape.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The cells themselves are nearly impregnable, some fitted with EMP devices or localised graviton shields to keep cyborgs or Nomads from breaking loose. Inmates are confined to their cells 24/7, behind ten-foot thick walls and doors. It is rumored that the LPI has such convicts as Phantoms, Order pilots, Coalition pilots, Nomads, and some of the worst Xenos and Rogues in here, but nothing is confirmed as no one but LPI personnel are allowed on board. Only once has their ever been a rumor of a breakout, of a criminal named Salazar Kithe. However, most believe this to be a foolish lie, as the station is truly the most secure prison facility in Sirius. This security comes at a cost however - the prison can only hold a tenth of the prisoners of a standard Tantalus-class prison. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Current warden is Simon "Hardass" McPherson.
We do a small amount of business with the Lane Hackers hiding in the St. Lawrence Ice Field. Most of what we sell them comes from Rochester, and most of the goods we fence for them go to Rochester as well since there isn't much market for them out here, except for the small amount we ship to the Rogues is Alberta and the Zoners in Yukon.
Even the Liberty Rogues have tested the Council of Dons' patience in the past year. So far, things are tense but we have maintained a working relationship. I sense trouble ahead, though. The Lane Hackers are increasing their Cardamine requisitions all the time. Some of us think they intend to replace the Rogues as the primary Cardamine suppliers in Liberty. The Hackers would have to be crazy to try that. The last thing anyone wants to do is cross the Rogues.
If the Hackers ever do make a move against the Rogues, the Junkers will be the first to know about it. Most of the Cardamine only gets to Liberty's planets on Junker ships, so the Hackers would have to obtain Junker cooperation in order to push the Rogues out of the Cardamine business. The Junkers would drive a hard bargain to participate in something like that. Rogues aren't known for forgiving anyone who stabs them in the back.
What happened to Red Deer Station is unbelievable. The Liberty Rogues have never done something so brazen before. Personally, I think the Navy ought to handle Alberta. Military justice often has a lot less red tape to deal with when it comes to rules of engagement.
All that's left for us now is to make sure that this area stays secure. With the Gates down, Rheinland may not be as big a threat anymore, but the Rogues and Xenos aren't going anywhere. We'll likely be assigned to Atka until that project is done. I suppose they could contract the LPI to handle things here, but they'll argue the system is still being claimed by Rheinland.
I thought for sure the Alma would be tasked to the west. There's been talk about greater support to Bretonia against the Gallic agressors for months now, but instead we have been ordered to hold here and secure the system. Suppose the Admiralty knows best, but what's the bigger threat, a bunch of Xenos and Rogues, or a fullsized invasion fleet barreling down from Cortez and Magellan?
Ah, the Independent Worlds. Here's where the Guild starts to seperate the boys from the men. Most Bounty Hunters that receive their basic assignments in Texas eventually "graduate" to one of the Independent Worlds. Hudson is one of the easier ones, for two reasons. One - the Xenos and Rogues each don't know port from starbord, and pretty much rely on firepower over agility. Two, with that big bad battleship over here, you got a place to fall back to if the heat gets to be a bit much.
There's two kinds of criminals in Hudson. First, there's the Rogues. They're your typical kind of criminal. Will rob you blind, extort you if they get the chance. Also tend to smuggle a lot of stuff. Good bonuses if you capture some illegal cargo of theirs when you pop one of them. Second, there's the Xenos. Planetform has some bounties out on those, since they specifically target foreigners. And folk carrying stuff they need. Xenos are more numerous in the north, Rogues in the south.
If you head into the asteroid field southeast of here, you may even run into a Unioner or two. They've crept out of Rheinland of late, and seem to be expanding their territory. Not sure if that'll sit well with the Rogues. It sure as hell don't sit well with the Xenos. They hate all kinds of foreigners in Liberty. Especially the Rheinish kind.
Barrier Gate is one of the few privately owned space stations in Sirius. Freelancer George Tinsley made a name for himself in underworld circles when he discovered the "Barrier Pass", a shortcut between Tau and Liberty space that completely bypasses Bretonia. Knowing full well that his secret would not remain that way for long Tinsley called in favours and invested his entire fortune into having a rock on the edge of the Barrier Ice Field hollowed out and turned into a base. When the Independent Miners Guild (IMG) workers he had hired finished, Tinsley began to tell his peers about the new passage.
</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Although retired from freelance piloting, Tinsley has become the administrator of Barrier Gate, which has grown steadily over the last decade. The station is ocupied by a motley crew of Rogues, Hackers, Outcasts, Bounty Hunters, IMG, Colonials, Zoners and various Freelancers all looking to trade or lay low for a while. Most of the revenue on the station is generated by smugglers and pirates, although the IMG use the station as refuge from the cold conditions on Pecos. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>As Tinsley planned, Barrier Gate has become a place where the Outcasts exchange Cardamine with the criminals of Liberty, producing astounding profits. Not that his plan hasn't been without its problems. Tinsley is constantly fighting subtle attempts to take over the station from the Rogues, Junkers and the Outcasts themselves. In addition, the publication of the Barrier Pass and the new station earned Tinsley several large bounties from Molly gangs who have lost most of their cardamine smuggling business, which have thus far gone uncollected. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The arrival of the Colonial Republic in the system has presented the station and it's inhabitants with a quandry of possibilities and concerns. The Republic has not stated its intentions in regards to the station and so poses both a potential grave threat but also a potential market for the Gate's many amenities.
San Quentin is more or less the Rogues' "gate to Cassini". Doing business with other factions, quickly offloading some cargo, or docking for repairs, it is all done at San Quentin. The Lane Hackers, Outcasts and Junkers each have a permanent presence on the base.
One of the largest Rogue bases in existance, Attica is to many the symbol of Rogue resourcefulness and expertise. Situated in a large, hollowed out asteroid, it relies on both stealth and it's formidable size to deter would-be raiders (consisting mostly of overconfident Bounty Hunters). Several defense platforms along with strong patrols defend it, and the nearby shipbuilding facility.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The station houses the heart of chaotic Rogue life, from gun shops selling any technology to any man for the right price, to bazaars for offloading "appropriated" cargo of all kinds, to the gambling establishments where raiding parties meet new crew, the station is the Rogues way of life.
Terre Haute Shipyard, informally known as The Nonsense Factory by the Rogues, is where most of the Rogue ships are made. It's output is low though, and it's failures many. Most of the failures get turned into weapons platforms and sold to various clients. Terre Haute is a mishmash of rocks, girders and construction bays mashed together haphazardly, with components being added or replaced whenever the required materials became available.
One of the first Scylla-class destroyers ever constructed by the Liberty Rogues, it was previously used to support fighter and bomber units whilst they raided ships in border systems such as Kepler and Galileo, free from the reign of House capital ships with the ability to destroy her. The ship was critically damaged when one such raid into Colorado went badly for the rogues. Although the Graviton managed to returned to Terra Haute for repairs, it's engines sustained too much damage for it to ever be able to jump safely. The Rogues decided against scuttling the ship, instead assigning it to guard Attica and Terra Haute.
The remains of one of the last transports to leave Foster base, it was caught by the Rogues. The convoy attempted to take shelter in a nearby asteroid field, but failed to shake their attackers and was destroyed.
The Product is a product of Rogue overambition and avarice. Formerly known as the LNS Magnificent, this ship was crippled during an ill-fated sortie into Cassini. Deemed unsalvagable by her crew, the ship was scuttled by the Liberty Navy. The Rogues dragged the wreckage back to Terra Haute and began to try to restore the ship. In the end, this proved all but impossible, as the Rogues did not have access to either a suitable shipyard, the required parts, nor the design schematics for the ship itself.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> Unwilling to let their prize go to waste, the Rogues did what they do best: They improvised. In the end, they managed to seal most hull breeches and install a generator capable of powering almost the entire ship, but the massive engines proved impossible to repair. In essence, the ship has been turned into one giant (and highly effective) weapons platform, which still tends to take more damage from the occasional asteroid impact, then from would-be threats.
I don't mind Rogues dropping by now and again, but that last one... I thought he was about to rip Martin in half! I think we've got an understanding now, though. We don't get in their way, and they make sure most of their unneeded cargo comes our way.
Rogues round these parts are a different breed to the ones you find elsewhere. These poor buggers got the bosses breathing down their necks the whole time. Makes em scared and scared Rogues are scary Rogues. They'll cut you soon as look you. Just in case that's what the boss wants. Makes living here kinda erratic.
There's only two kinds of Rogues that really scare me: Ones short on booze, and ones short on Cardi. Then there's the lot returning from a stay on Sugarland. Those can be unstable and best avoided completely.
Rogues got us shipping all sorts of stuff down to Fort McMurray ya? No idea why, but y'know, they pay good money. Mostly. Reckon they got something big going down.
Most Rogues enjoy a good brawl, but things often get messy. After the last brawl in the bar, I was in Medical for weeks with three busted ribs. Three ribs from one punch! Thank God he wasn't using his knife...
The DSE survey vessel Armstrong was destroyed in a pirate attack. Can't say I'm unhappy about it. We know damn well that this is a prime smuggling route into Liberty, and I think the Rogues were as unhappy with DSE nosing around here as we were. I guess they finally did something about it, which is more then I can say for the IMG.
I am here to pick up a load of Cardamine, then I will head for our base in Shikoku. It is a long journey, but away from the Trade Lanes, we have few enemies. Only the Hogosha pursue us there, and sometimes the Farmers Alliance will attack us too, but they are more after their own interests. We can sell part of our Cardamine supply to the Junkers and Liberty Rogues, and make some credits for our cause that way.
Despite the clamoring that we should seek ties with those other 'unlawful' faction within Liberty, the pirating Rogues and slave trading Junkers, the only groups with whom we have any accord are the Zoners, IMG and The Order. The Zoners are, well, the Zoners. But the IMG are almost like brothers in their struggle and The Order represents a righteousness and sense of justice that Liberty desperately needs to see return. That's why we remain neutral with both groups.
One of our allies is the Rogues. They aren't our partners as much as our pawns. We have them under control because they are addicted to Cardamine. Soon more groups will fall to the allure of the drug, and they will also be ours to control. I see this upon the horizon for the Golden Chrysanthemums.
Manaus Asteroid Field does not contain any valuable mineral resources. One of the larger asteroids, however, proved quite useful for Liberty Rogues who established a new base in this remote place.
The wreck of the </TEXT><TRA data="2" mask="2" def="-3"/><TEXT>Jamaica</TEXT><TRA data="0" mask="2" def="-1"/><TEXT>, Junker ship carrying a cargo of synthetic marijuana. Apparently, rogues in Humboldt prefer cardamine.
One of the most remote bases the Rogues maintain, Fortaleza is mainly used by people who need to "disappear" a while. Junkers and Lane Hackers also visit the station occasionally.
Constructed in late 815 A.S., Morioka is a small depot constructed by the Golden Chrysanthemums in the southern part of the Shikoku system. Hidden by the Keiun nebula, it is mainly used by Cardamine smugglers. The Liberty Rogues and the occasional Lane Hacker visits the station for this purpose. Blood Dragons looking to make repairs also visit, but they rarely stay longer then needed.
Of course there are no Slaves working our cardamine fields. That's just Corsair propaganda. Those workers are liberated from the bondage of crushing poverty in Liberty, or are poor convicted Rogues and Junkers whom we save from corrupt LPI wardens. These people literally beg us for the chance to come to Malta and labor like men for their bread, instead of wasting away their lives in Liberty's corrupt dungeons.
The Rogues sell the Neon and Basic Alloy they loot from passing transports to us. We ship it to the stations in Newcastle, or the Zoner space stations in Omega-50, or just sell it back to passing Freelancer smugglers. Either way is a profit for us.
The Rogues really love their Light Arms. They can't get enough of them! You can make a tidy profit bringing us some fine Light Arms from Detroit... and we don't ask for any receipts.
Not far from this base is a jumphole to California. It's in the south end of the Appalachian Asteroid field. It's a safe easy way to get to Alcatraz base on our supply runs to the Rogues.
I wasn't always a Rogue, you know. I started out a Boron miner on Pittsburgh. But I lucked out one day and punched a LPI Captain in the nose in a bar brawl, and ended up on Sugarland with the best crew of real men I've ever met. Yep, they was Rogues through and through, and I've been one ever since. Sure, I get called criminal, fiend, murderer and so forth by the so-called polite society in Liberty. But the one thing they don't call a Rogue is sissy. Not to his face and live they don't. Oh, and that cop got what was coming once I got out.
Those Rogues on Sugarland, why they put some real brass in my spine, they did. I growed a pair o' stones there the likes o' which you ain't never se... EGAD! Blue-eyed Bill just walked into the bar! I owe that dude 15 credits and I'm late on the vig. Where's the back door, I gotta hightail it outta here 'fore he eyes me!
We also get H-Fuel from Beaumont in Texas. See, first we Rogues steal the H-Fuel. Then we sell it to the Junkers in Texas. Then they sell it to us here. Then we sell it to the Junkers at Allentown. Then they sell it back to the fools we stole it from to begin with. That way, everybody important makes a fat profit. You know, if all of Sirius ever wised up to the Rogue way of doing business, we'd never have an economical recession ever again!
The LPI maintains a garrison here on Philadelphia. This trade lane hub is a convenient spot from which to patrol to the New York Gate, Erie, and Bethlehem. The Rogues cause a lot of disruption in these parts, without constant patrols. The Prisoners brought back in by the LPI get transported off to the Texas prisons. Most of of them are actually from Erie. The Zoners talk and talk about peace and neutrality, but they sure do like their brawls with offworlders down there.
We ship Prisoners out from here to the Texas prisons. Xeno and Rogue activity in this system is fairly high, and they manage to infiltrate Erie all the time, despite our best efforts. I suspect the Junkers help the Rogues get onto the planet. Nobody has figured out how the Xenos do it, yet. Some say they've got some sort of pact with the Zoners, but I'm not so sure. Aren't Zoners foreigners? Who knows... Those Xenos are nuts.
One thing we do get plenty of here is Light Arms and grunts to fire them. Oh, I guess that's two things. I have to hand it to the Marines, those numbskulls are fearless. Some Rogue was hijacking Helium miners out in the fields a while back, using a Pirate Transport to intimidate the smaller mining ships. An Assault Transport of Marines flew out there and started transmitting broadcasts like they were a mining ship. Sure enough, before long that Rogue posse showed and boy did they get a surprise. The field is so thick that the Assault Trans managed to hide right up until the last moment when they popped out from a dense cloud and magnetically latched onto the P-Trans. That Rogue boarding party must have been awful surprised when they got boarded by those Marines. Those Rogues are rotting in Sugarland as we speak.
As far as pirates are concerned, you've got the Liberty Rogues and Xenos out here. The Rogues are generally easy to deal with. Your basic thugs with big lasers and bigger ships that usually flee rather then confront us Hunters. The Xenos on the other hand are fanatics who love nothing more then to get into fights, even if it ends up costing them their lives.
Our patrol ran into a few Rogues harassing an Universal convoy the other day. First it was the Universal ships that tried to run, but when another patrol arrived, we had the upper hand. Even the Universal escorts decided they'd join in for a bit of payback. Can't say I blame them.
Rogues or other fences will sometimes come here to sell some of their stolen goods. The Zoners don't really care for the criminals, but take their business anyway. Their only alternative is to invite the LPI over, and they hate those guys even more.
There's one more place to keep in mind as a Hunter. The Junker smugglers hive near Sayre. Rogues go there to sell off whatever they looted. Xenos come there to stomp on the Junkers. I usually limit myself to the Xenos down there, that way I actually get some help from those damned Junkers. Won't last though, those bastards are criminals themselves, but not worth my time until Liberty puts a bounty on them. Shout me another Liberty Ale?
The Zoners don't want us around, that much I know. If it wouldn't violate standing orders, I'd simply no longer "opress" Liberty Rogues taking apart one of their Dromedaries one laserblast at a time. Hypocrites, the lot of them. Yech.
I've drawn far patrol this week. It's the least desirable assignment: You go out in a patrol ship outfitted with extra sensors and just fly practically blind, scanning for anomalous readings. Mostly, this is to prevent the Xenos or Rogues from establishing a base within striking distance of the lanes or Erie. You're out there on your own, and if a stronger flight of Rogues ambushes you, you're in for a hard fight.
The Rogues and Xenos have both attempted to build small bases nearer to the tradelane. Our blind patrols help spot those. The last attempt was only two months ago, when the Rogues tried to build a small depot on the far side of Planet Bruin. Gettysburg blew their attempt out of the sky not long after we found it - what's left of it left a nice impact crater on the planet.
It hasn't been dull so far, this first posting of mine. My first flight after receiving my posting, I was travelling to the Gettysburg by lane. Usually a very simple journey, just one gate, three lanes. But there was a large Rogue raiding party right at the Pennsylvania gate. I think they were as surprised to see us as we were to see them. Half of them fled while the other half opened fire - it would have been even if those Rogues stayed together, but with only half of their force staying, it was over in minutes. I scored 2 kills!
Disgusting and decadent. That's Liberty summed up in two words. It is also excessively wealthy. Cardamine allows us to siphon a lot of that wealth into our pockets, from both the Rogues and the addicts on Manhattan and Los Angeles.
The Rogues have their uses. Along with the Junkers, they keep the plantations on Malta well supplied with laborers. I'm not sure where they all come from, but I suppose we don't need to care, or worry about them leaving. After a few weeks on Malta, escape means certain death.
The Rogues don't like us engaging in straight up piracy within Liberty itself. That's their turf, they say. All fine and dandy, but some cargo is either too well-escorted or too valuable to leave in their hands. They just don't have our skill as pilots.
The Rogues represent some of the worst Liberty has to offer. Thieving, murderous scum that'll do anything for a wad of credits. They also help the Outcasts in their Cardamine poison trade. The only time a Xeno'd leave them be is if they have a bunch of foreigners at gunpoint. What's better to hit two birds with one stone? Let them birdies hit eachother and keeping the stone.
When it comes to my blastlist, the slaving Junkers top it. Then it's the Kusari, those blasted slantyeyed employment stealers. Liberty Rogues, who are nothing more then thugs. Outcasts, the poison peddlers. Rheinlanders, 'though you rarely see those anymore. Bounty Hunters, just for payback. Bretonians, 'cause they too need to stay the hell out of Liberty. And finally the Liberty Police and Navy - 'though I'd rather not shoot them at all. Still, they leave a Xeno little choice sometimes.
The Rogues and the Xenos... Sure, on the one hand they make life dangerous for us. On the other hand, they create business for us. Plasma burns, limb replacements. And for the higher ranking Rogues who Liberty wants to keep alive, Stabiline. They generate as much business as we lose to them, unlike most other corporations.
There's more Rogues then Xenos around this base, although both the groups have a strong presence in the system. I suspect the Rogues have a hideout in that asteroid field north of Bruin. Haven't found it yet, but enough Rogue activity to keep me busy here.
The Rogues got feisty the other day. A group of them hung around the base perimiter waiting for a transport to arrive. We signalled Erie and West Point to hold traffic, then prepared a little surprise for them. A group of Hunters took up position behind Bruin, while additional officers from Erie arrived to intimidate the Rogues into turning tail. When they did, well... Let's just say the Hunters got down to business quickly.
This system is rather quiet compared to the hustle-and-bustle of New York. The biggest trouble on the way here is also in the New York system, nice little corner of space they call the Badlands. Lots of Rogues out there, but that's for the New York boys to sort out. Our juristiction goes as far as the Jump Gate, and no further.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?><RDL><PUSH/><TRA data="1" mask="1" def="-2"/><JUST loc="center"/><TEXT>RM-2A "Storta" Outcast Destroyer</TEXT><PARA/><TRA data="0" mask="1" def="-1"/><JUST loc="left"/><TEXT></TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The RM-2A is a recent development to replace the aging RM-1 Destroyer in service with the Maltese Navy for almost a century. Although it is larger and has a higher mass, it is more maneuverable than its predecessor, sports heavier firepower, and marginally heavier armor. The first prototypes were powered by conventional H-Fuel powered fusion generators, but some of the production models incorporate a new type of reactor: A contained quantum singularity. These singularities can only be created in the intense gravitational pull of the Razgriz Abyss, and will implode when deactivated.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Some Stortas have been sold to close allies of the Outcasts such as the Lane Hackers and Liberty Rogues, but these models all use the conventional reactor.
Liberty Rogues rarely use Outcast Destroyers these days, but several ships of this class still remain in their posession. One of them had previously been stationed not far from West Point; when the war with Rheinland has started, the Liberty Navy has increased security in all Liberty systems, forcing the ship to move into the small nebula located within the Pittsburgh Debris Field. Previously, this location was occupied by a small Rogue depot that was destroyed in 800 A.S. by a Liberty Security Force squadron. Edison Trent, at that time an unremarkable freelancer working for the LSF, participated in this attack.
CLASS: Huegenot</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>CREW: Unknown</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>ARMAMENT: Unknown</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Huegenots are used by Liberty Rogues and Mollys not only as assault cruisers, but also as bases of operation in relatively distant regions of House systems. Huegenot is more vulnerable than any space station, but in case of danger it may easily flee into nearby asteroid field.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?><RDL><PUSH/><TRA data="1" mask="1" def="-2"/><JUST loc="center"/><TEXT>RA-4 "Hellhound" Liberty Rogue Gunboat</TEXT><PARA/><TRA data="0" mask="1" def="-1"/><JUST loc="left"/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Developed by the Liberty Rogue engineers at Buffalo, the Rogue Gunboat is known as a clumsy and roughly constructed ship. However, in skillful hands this inexpensive gunboat can become a devastating weapon due to its formidable armor and advanced power array. Liberty Rogues are not only using the gunboat for their own purposes in the Liberty systems and the Independent Worlds; many ships of this class are sold to Mollys of Dublin to aid their endless struggle against the Corsairs.
MALTA -- 814 A.S. -- The Bretonia-Kusari conflict continues to escalate in Tau-29 and Tau-31, and the Corsairs are expected to also make a move soon. The Outcasts are preparing their defenses as Corsairs continue to try and ensure a lack of Zoner involvement in any military operations that would take place in Omicron Theta. Despite the obvious Corsair threat, the Zoners of Freeport 9 continue stalling between proposals for cooperation from both the Outcasts and the Corsairs.\n\nDespite this surprising lack of direct military activity, the Outcasts have succeeded in rallying many core world factions to their cause. These include Mollys from Bretonia; Liberty Rogues and Lane Hackers from Liberty; Blood Dragons and Golden Chrysanthemums from Kusari; and lately and most importantly the Red Hessians and Bundschuh from Rheinland. In contrast the Gaians of Bretonia, Hogosha and Farmers Alliance from Kusari, and Unioners from Rheinland, as well as in an extremely surprising move, The Order chose to side with the Corsairs. Both sides continue to try to rally support from the other factions of Sirius, however no other group has openly declared support for the Outcasts or the Corsairs so far.
Riverside Station was constructed by Liberty Police only a year ago to secure commercial traffic near Mojave. In the past, Mojave was a favourite place for Liberty Rogues to attack hapless traders.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?><RDL><PUSH/><TRA data="1" mask="1" def="-2"/><JUST loc="center"/><TEXT>Z-8500 "Bullmastiff" Pirate Transport</TEXT><PARA/><TRA data="0" mask="1" def="-1"/><JUST loc="left"/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Designed by the Liberty Rogues, the Pirate Transport is one of the few transport-class vessels available to the unlawful population of Sirius. This ship is too distincitive to be used for smuggling in areas heavily patrolled by police and military. However, the Transport is great choice for smugglers carrying goods from one pirate base to another using dangerous and lengthy routes. Heavy armor and advanced equipment come in handy if the ship is threatened by hostile pirates and bounty hunters alike.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?><RDL><PUSH/><TRA data="1" mask="1" def="-2"/><JUST loc="center"/><TEXT>Z-9000 "Barghest" Liberty Rogue/Molly Bomber</TEXT><PARA/><TRA data="0" mask="1" def="-1"/><JUST loc="left"/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The Barghest is a mythological creature from English folklore: a monstrous black dog with huge teeth and claws that comes at night to bring sorrow and fright. The fearsome name belongs to a ship no less fearsome: designed by the Liberty Rogues, the Barghest Bomber is the most heavily armored bomber built in known space, comparable to small gunships and Super Heavy Fighters in size. Piloted by a crew of three, this ship is not only capable of destroying enemy capital ships, but also has a large cargo hold capable of carrying much more salvage than any other fighter could take aboard.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>This vessel, and the technology powering it, is jealously guarded by both of its parent organizations. Any pilot outside of their ranks found to be in its possession is subject to a short life indeed.
LEIPHEIM -- 819 A.S. -- Despite the risk of a rift with the Red Hessians, the Unioners in the Munich system are once again cooperating with the Corsairs. Unioner leaders stated they "expect no more trouble then the Junkers" in doing so, which suggests they are primarily motivated by the Alien Artifacts smuggling profits. So far the Hessians seem to tolerate the cooperation, so both the Unioners and Liberty Rogues are likely to be making a fortune in smuggling both Artifacts and Blood Diamonds into Liberty.
The Moorhead Station was the first base built in Minnesota, to claim the system as part of the Liberty territory. The base was established in 720 A.S., and has been controversial from it's inception. It is much larger then an initial supply depot needed to be. The base is also home to a Liberty Navy garrison, which were based there in 796 A.S. and not withdrawn since. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>For the most part however, life aboard the station is quiet. The base handles supplies being sent to the frontline in the New Hampshire system, but has thus far not come under serious attack by Rheinland forces. The Liberty Rogues, which sometimes make raids near the station, are the biggest threat to the operations on Moorhead.
Battleship Concord led the attack against the Munster Research Facility in 818 A.S., despite stiff opposition from the Westphalia and her battlegroup. The ship managed to complete its mission - that is to recover a large station component and then withdraw, but not without losing most of it's supporting fleet. The ship also sustained heavy damage, with over a hundred crew lost when her lower decks decompressed. Her withdrawal was covered by the Whitefield, and she was taken to the Norfolk yard for extensive repairs. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>While the ship is again fully operational, the same cannot be said for her crew. Many of the survivors of the "Battle for Munster" suffer from shellshock and combat traumas, and it does not help that Liberty has classified the operation top secret, meaning they may never speak of it. Her supporting fleet is still at a quarter strength, and her replacement crew is fresh out of West Point. Deemed unfit for frontline duty under present conditions, the Concord has been sent to the remote Alberta facility, to secure Liberty interests in the system after the destruction of Red Deer Station at the hand of the Rogues.
The Junkers arrived in Pennsylvania not long after the Zoners, but it wasn't until Allentown was already being built that the two groups met. The Zoners had come from the north end, through the California jumphole. The Junkers had come from the south, through Texas. The two groups mostly ignored eachother - trading a little when it was convenient, but otherwise going about their own ways. Allentown eventually grew into an important smuggling post, dealing mostly in Cardamine and "human cargo". Allentowns remote location makes sure the Navy rarely pays a visit - and if they do, there are always Rogues nearby to either destroy or distract them.
Pennsylvania houses a large populace of Liberty Rogues, many of whom are family members of other Rogues who operate in more dangerous areas of Liberty. Niverton is a relatively safe hideout for them, since the base is fairly remote and does not see a lot of Navy or Police scouts intruding on it. The asteroid field is nearly impassable for capital ships, so even if the Navy would discover Niverton, there is not a whole lot they could do about it.
Appalachian Asteroid Field is a place where New York Jump Gate in Pennsylvania is located. The gate and nearby trade lane made this area popular with pirates, most notably Liberty Rogues. It is rumored that a Rogue base is located in one of the remote regions of this large field. Despite the dangers, Appalachian is an asset of value for freelancers and small shipping companies: central part of the field is rich with hydrocarbons that can be mined from asteroids without much effort. Quantities of hydrocarbons are not sufficient for industrial extraction, and larger companies did not show interest in using local deposits.
A medium-sized field of rock asteroids. Barely explored, this field is located in one of the most remote regions of Pennsylvania and often serves as a hideout for Rogues and other dangerous criminals chased by Bounty Hunters or Police patrols.
Fort McMurray is a notable installation of the Liberty Rogues, probably being the first base that the Rogues built in a system with no lawful activity at the time. The Liberty authorities have shown interest in Alberta only recently, after the unexpected success of Ontario operations. The supplies being sent to Camrose have given the Rogues an unexpected opportunity, one they are glad to capitalise on.
CLASS: Ithaca</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>GRAVITY: Virtual</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>DOCKING: No</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>AMENITIES: None</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>POPULATION: 0</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Exploration of the Alberta system proved to be a dangerous business due to the constant threat of Liberty Rogues. Red Deer Station was built to defend Ontario against the Rogues and provide a safe haven for local police operations.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Late in 817 A.S., Red Deer experienced a surprise attack and suffered a hull breach that proved fatal to its entire crew. There are currently no plans to repair or replace the station. Liberty patrols are now based from Fort Severn in Ontario.</TEXT><POP/></RDL>
Exploration of the Alberta system proved to be a dangerous business due to constant Liberty Rogue threat. Red Deer was built to defend Ontario against the Rogues and provide a safe haven for local police operations.
A large field of rock asteroids. The Liberty Rogues have built a base inside one of the larger asteroids in the central part of the field.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?><RDL><PUSH/><TRA data="1" mask="1" def="-2"/><JUST loc="center"/><TEXT>RA-9 "Scylla" Rogue/Molly Destroyer</TEXT><PARA/><TRA data="0" mask="1" def="-1"/><JUST loc="left"/><TEXT></TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Long before it became apparent that the eminent discontinuation of the RM-1 Outcast Destroyer would pose a severe threat to the tactical operations of their organizations, the Liberty Rogues and Mollys found themselves meeting again to discuss possible solutions to the heavy burden the technically complex Outcast vessel was placing upon their mutual resources.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>With the decision that a possible replacement vessel could be in order, the best minds available were recruited at gunpoint and put to work with utmost secrecy to craft a capital class vessel capable of defending critical infrastructure against the heaviest of hostile incursions. Composed of a heady blend of the best in available Outcast operational technology and robust design ethos, the Scylla is the pride of the factions who crafted her.
Megion was part of a Liberty Police patrol tasked to track Liberty Rogue activity in the Alberta system. Instead, Liberty Rogues tracked the activity of Police and did not let any of the patrol's pilots to leave the area alive.
This Deep Space Exploration train was on its usual route from Minnesota to Texas when a group of Rogues attacked its convoy. The escort fought bravely but was defeated, and remaining Rogues had to retreat. The ship with disabled engine and failing life support drifted away into the depths of the Lamberton Ice Field.
Gaeta once was a light fighter belonging to the Zoners. It was lost while escorting a valuable shipment heading from the Bethlehem Station to Planet Erie in the end of 816 A.S. The attackers were not identified, but most likely options are Liberty Rogues or Xenos.
Ripknot is a civilian heavy fighter that once belonged to a Leo Mathews, a Xeno raider from Nome base. The ship never returned from a reconnaissance mission to the Alberta system. Most probably the Ripknot was attacked by Liberty Rogues who frequent this system.
VOGTLAND -- 817 A.S. -- Despite the increased Wilde attacks and the prospect of war in Rheinland, the Red Hessians still pour significant resources into their expansion in the Omega edge worlds, especially the Omega-47 flank. In a recent unexpected development the Hessians have begun reactivating their old diamond smuggling routes to Hudson and the rest of Liberty via the Unioners and Liberty Rogues. These diamonds however are unlike any other ever encountered. Their reddish tint and plentiful applications serve as both a political statement and a lucrative source of income for the Red Hessian movement. Some believe that this is connected to their recent build-up in the edge systems, however no such rumours have been confirmed so far.\n\nWhile the corporate backed Rheinland government lobbies Kusari to outlaw this new commodity in order to assure continued income for Daumann, opportunists flock to Hessian bases with the market in Liberty standing wide open, as the house stands in their refusal to declare it as contraband. Whether future political developments will change this attitude is unknown, but the Red Hessians plan to use the resulting profit to further their goals for as long as they can.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?><RDL><PUSH/><TRA data="1" mask="1" def="-2"/><JUST loc="center"/><TEXT>Rogue "Tartarus" Pulse Cannon</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TRA data="0" mask="1" def="-1"/><JUST loc="left"/><TEXT>Desperate to end their dependence on Outcast technology, the Liberty Rogues and Mollys established a joint research team to design and build a pulse cannon of their own. Reflecting the Rogues' and Mollys' need for lightning fast offensives that allow ample time to disappear before hostile reinforcements arrive, the Tartarus inflicts 20 percent more damage to shields than the Inferno, but also requires 20 percent more energy and inflicts less hull damage. The Tartarus thus cannot be fired as often as the Inferno, making it less useful in extended battles. Instead, it functions as a devastating opening salvo against shielded targets.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>
You'll meet a few Rogues and Outcasts around here. It's not a good idea to be seen flying with them. However, if you stay close enough to track them and still stay off the scanners, you might be able to share in the profit when they hit big convoys.
Occasionally bounty hunters come snooping around here. If Junkers were to attack them it would bring too much heat from the navy so we just tip off the Rogues and the Outcasts so they'll know just where to find them.
I'll admit, my favorite part of this new partnership is that it got me out of Bretonia. And getting out of Bretonia means no more Green Party and their nonsense about despoiling nature blah blah blah. We enhance nature. We take the crud that nature failed to deliver on and turn it into a thriving ecosytem. Of course, in Hudson we have Xenos and Rogues... but at least they don't sputter on and on about Gaia and her blah blah blah. They just shoot.
We get the Consumer Goods for our population from Fort Bush. It's ironic that those goods are being manufactured at the Huntsville by the relatives of the Rogues and Xenos who try to hijack the shipments when they enter Hudson. What's even more ironic is when those criminals get captured by the Alma they get sent to the Huntsville to manufacture more Consumer Goods for us. The Liberty sense of justice. I approve.
Our Pharmaceuticals come straight here from our factories on Denver, even though the Xenobiotic filtration system installed on Cold Bay removes nearly all the pathogens brought onto the station by arriving passengers. Every so often though, a pilot needs treatment after a brush with the Xenos or Rogues in the system, so we have to keep a fully stocked medical bay ready to treat any injuries.
This Junker base is rumoured to be the centre of slavery in Liberty, although little has been proven to date; shady shipments often depart to the southwest, that much is certain. Hidden deep within the North Dallas Debris Field, it is frequented by Liberty Rogues and Outcasts; this is the furthest south in Sirius that Outcasts will ever come. Disgruntled Xenos seeking to displace their Junker competitors in the cardamine trade launch sporadic attacks against Beaumont; though the occasional missile breaches the perimeter, no serious harm has yet been caused. Said cardamine often changes hands here; drug runners hailing from as far away as the Edge Worlds make port here to fuel Liberty's orange dream. The Beaumont bar is perhaps Liberty's most prime source of gossip and information; murderers lurk in the shadowy corners, ready to divest themselves of dark secrets, adventurers discuss their latest exploits, and the Junkers know everything there is to know, for a price.
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.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>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.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>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.
A medium-sized field of debris that is home to a large settlement of Junkers that have, according to sporadic reports from Liberty Police patrols that wandered into the area, constructed a permanent base amongst the scrap. Though criminals such as Rogues and Outcasts are frequently seen near Junker bases (indeed, Texas is the furthest south Outcasts are seen in Sirius), the North Dallas Debris Field remained relatively harmless up until several years ago, when Texan authorities first began to suspect the field as sheltering slavers. Despite an increase in patrols in the region, however, nothing definite has yet been proven.
Originally built prior to the Nomad war, Riverside station was destroyed during the Battle of Mojave between loyalist Liberty Navy forces and Nomad infested Liberty Navy pilots in early 801 A.S. It remained as a twisted heap of broken debris and scrap metal that the Junkers occasionally salvaged from to recycle for many years, until finally after many complaints from shipping companies the Liberty Police agreed to clean it up. The attacks on the California trade routes by the Liberty Rogues had increased tremendously, with little to no police presence around the planet Mojave, and it was decided to rebuild Riverside Station. In 815 A.S. the station was declared operational once more and the presence of Riverside has helped to reassure shipping passing through California.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> However, the LPI found that maintaining the station purely as a police outpost was rather costly. As early as 816 A.S., the LPI sent out feelers to various corporations, to see if a joint administration of the station were possible. In late 819 A.S., Synth Foods purchased a majority share in the station, essentially taking over all operations except for a few docking facilities the LPI still makes use of. As a result, activity in and around the station has increased significantly. Synth Foods intends to expand the station into a research base and processing facility, where it can develop and produce new products in relative safety.
Perhaps the most recognizable Rogue base of all (for scoundrels and rapscallions, anyway), Alcatraz has become a welcoming beacon and a safe haven for all the flotsam and jetsam Liberty has to offer.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>One of the few Liberty Rogue bases within Liberty proper (most criminals tend to live at the fringes of society in more than one sense), Alcatraz was originally constructed in 715 A.S. as a waystation and resting place for Californian pirates and drug runners headed into New York, as well as a remarkably secure place of refuge for those attempting to evade the long arm of the law. Housed within a hollowed-out ice asteroid deep in the notorious Californian Whitney field (the LPI harbours a whole range of superstitions about the cloud, since pirates that manage to enter even the outskirts of Whitney almost always manage to slip away), Alcatraz had always maintained a colourful assortment of patrons and population. The lively if somewhat chilly bar pours a mind-boggling assortment of Liberty's best drinks, and the local bartender is rumoured to be one of Sirius' most well-informed, and for the right price, he can put in a good word for even the most despised foe with Liberty's criminal triad.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Said triad is well-represented here, with Outcast cardamine smugglers abound in the system and a sizeable percentage of the orange dreamers frequent Alcatraz for a Sidewinder Fang and the latest news from around the area. Alcatraz's version of the Colony News Service has a direct port to the Newark Station feed, which was a gift from a particularly technically-minded Lane Hacker that happened through the area one day, and is as such a popular source of amusement and first-rate information. Lane Hackers from Magellan drink their fair share here, as well, and even Corsairs have been known to dock here once or twice, although they never stay onboard long due to the amount of Outcasts and Lane Hackers around. The omnipresent Liberty Rogues that run the show here maintain a solid background core, keeping a watchful eye over proceedings and moving quickly to quell any potential fights before they start.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Alcatraz might be best compared to an unlawful Freeport of sorts, since if you're not a Xeno, you're welcome here to drink, deal or simply kick back after a long, hard day busting Universal Shipping open. Be warned though, the no-blaster rule is strictly enforced.
Commissioned in 739 A.S., the Battleship Yukon has been patrolling the California system for nearly eighty years. It was originally scheduled to be decommissioned in 805 A.S., but a campaign by the residents of Los Angeles a year before its removal from active service, sponsored by Synth Foods, resulted in the Yukon being sent to Norfolk Shipyards for a complete overhaul, extending its operational lifespan until at least 825 A.S.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The Battleship has been an integral part of the Liberty Navy's efforts to keep the Lane Hackers and Liberty Rogues under some semblance of control within the system, with limited successes to date. Most patrols start out at the Yukon before heading into Magellan, Cortez and occasionally Ontario, to assist traders and put down the unruly pirates from the independent systems. The current commander of the Yukon is the newly minted Flag Captain Luke Sensicle.
Constructed in 777 A.S., the Battleship Rio Grande has been at the forefront of many assaults against the Xenos and Liberty Rogues. It first became famous in the 792 A.S. campaign against the Xenos in the Hudson system, later followed by the 808 A.S. campaign against the Liberty Rogues, again in the Hudson system. Currently commanded by Commodore John Palmer, the Rio Grande's primary mission is to safeguard the vitally important Ageira Technologies manufacturing facility at Pueblo Station, and is also occasionally assigned to patrol the Kepler and Galileo systems.
The Rogues are a product of over two centuries of systematic lower-class cleansing that occurred on the Liberty planets of Manhattan, Denver, and Los Angeles. Relocated to the Texas prison system, many of them end up planetside on Houston upon release. Some stayed straight and joined the population scratching out a living. The rest returned to their life of crime, often ending up vaporized by a pursuing Liberty police patrol or back in prison for longer stretches, manning the prison factories that are the economic lifeblood of the Texas system.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Some say the massive LPI roundups of even minor offenders in Liberty have more to do with staffing these plants cheaply than reducing crime. Fresh out of the incubator of the Texas prison system, they have limited choices. Either they work in the factories of Houston for a pittance, join the Bounty Hunters and hunt down their former brethren, go radical and hook up with the Xenos, or rejoin their former partners in crime. The latter path is the obvious one for most. Simply put, these are not-too-quick opportunists, people willing to do whatever it takes to make a buck and get by until tomorrow. Usually they end up taking the fall for anything illegal that occurs in Liberty, whether they were involved or not.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The Rogues were initially a disorganized lot, but over the last century have slowly evolved into quite a highly organised collection of criminals. They are responsible for most of the Trade Lane attacks in Liberty space and the adjacent Independent Worlds, usually operating in groups of three or more ships, utilising a variety of tactics. They occasionally provide shelter for the Outcasts in exchange for cardamine, but they are not averse to dealing in the artifacts trade either. The main Rogue ethos seems to be to make money however possible, regardless of how low or uncivilized their actions may be.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Buffalo Base is the original Liberty Rogue hideout, deep in the badlands of the New York system. Constructed in 672 A.S. by malcontents from Houston and Manhattan, it has served as the main operations centre for the Rogues across the entire of Liberty. With the authorities loathe to patrol or pursue suspects within the confines of the extremely dangerous Badlands, Buffalo Base is the safest criminal hideout in Liberty, and arguably one of the safest in the entire Sirius sector.
The Liberty Rogue destroyer, dubbed the "Drunken Codger" by easily amused Liberty Rogue pilots who frequently use it to rearm and repair their vessels, was originally constructed at the Terre Haute Shipyard in the Cassini system in 812 A.S., with its primary function being the protection of the shipyard facilities there. </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>With the Liberty Police increasing its patrols and cracking down harder on the Liberty Rogues, their leaders decided to move the destroyer into a concealed location of the Detroit Debris Field, from where it can resupply Rogue raiders.
Leiden Base was built in 782 A.S. 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.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Originally the Leiden Hackers focused on straight out piracy, using their knowledge of the Trade Lane systems to hack information on the most tempting of targets, carrying off what they could loot and destroying the rest. After meeting with representatives of the Golden Chrysanthemums to negotiate smuggling arrangements, cardamine has since started flowing southwards from Kusari, with the shipments exchanging hands on Leiden Base. The Liberty Rogues at Padua have taken to purchasing cardamine off the Golden C. girls as well, although the Liberty Rogues prefer to sell it on than consume it themselves.
Undoubtedly the most veiled and well-hidden of all Liberty Rogue hideouts, these murky tunnels, roughly cut from the core of a massive, deformed asteroid in the centre of Galileo's Reppu dark matter cloud, have housed perhaps the shadiest and most dubious elements of the Rogues for over a century, ever since the base's construction in early 702 A.S. Copiously dosed with pharmaceuticals to counter Reppu's constant radiation, Padua's murderous population subsists by striking at and hijacking trade between Kusari and Liberty. The Rogues' burgeoning Artifact trade is housed here, funnelling said artifacts from the north to Liberty proper, where they ultimately end up at Rochester Base in New York's Jersey field.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The Reppu cloud obfuscates scanners and makes it impossible to catch criminal elements fleeing from local law enforcement, relatively sporadic though it may be, a fact that has been thoroughly exploited not only by Padua's Rogue inhabitants, but also by the Lane Hackers housed in Leiden to the distant north of the system, who can frequently be seen docking here to divulge important information on traders and cargo convoys passing through the system. Padua, comparatively out-of-the-way, has in recent years been receiving a population boost from an unusual source: the Rogue Guard. The Liberty Rogues' home system of Cassini may be found immediately north of Padua proper and is defended rigorously and zealously, and uninvited "visitors" are well advised to stay clear of the system.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Padua's slanting hallways harbour many a dark secret; visitors hurrying through the dimly-lit passageways may see gleaming eyes peering at them from behind chiselled doorways, or hear the malignant click of a Detroit blaster being cocked. Despite, or perhaps because of, its suspicious and vaguely threatening ambience, Padua remains fairly popular, especially for Rogues looking to make a quick getaway and/or lay low for a while. Its bar is said to be the finest in all Liberty, though the Hackers of Leiden vehemently claim that theirs is really the best.
Little is known about this shady asteroid base, tucked away in the southeast of the sleepy Hudson system. It was originally constructed in 736 A.S., and appears to shelter a moderately sized contingent of Liberty Rogues. Despite rumours of light arms and diamond smuggling deals within its shadowy corridors, little has ever been proven. Indeed, Dawson's very location remains uncertain and unknown to the Liberty Navy, although up until recently the Liberty Navy rarely bothered to take any overt interest in the region.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The truth, surprisingly enough, isn't far from popular belief. Dawson is indeed a Liberty Rogue installation, though it's never been particularly large due to somewhat turgid regional trade and a tendency for cargo haulers to avoid Hudson in favour of the more compact, though admittedly less well-protected, neighbouring Bering route. Since the war between Rheinland and Liberty started, traffic through the region has crawled nearly to a standstill, with all non-living goods indefinitely suppressed and slow but steady militarization of the zone's Rheinland and Liberty poles, although a hefty amount of smuggling still continues.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Never particularly lively, Dawson, like the other pirate havens in the region, has been stripped of population, spacecraft and resources until its begun to resemble a clearing house. The remnants of the onboard criminals are the bare minimum necessary in order to ensure the continuation of Dawson's primary trade, even more so than piracy, which is diamond and weapon smuggling. Dawson handles practically every black market diamond shipment that passes through the region, and it is Dawson that doles out armament to fellow pirates and insurgents. However, due to increased military patrols as a result of the Rheinland - Liberty hostilities, and the terraforming project on the planet Atka, Dawson has managed to maintain some importance as a safe criminal port of call during these turbulent times.
Built in 774 A.S., out of an old, abandoned mining facility from "the days when Liberty did its own mining", Barrow is a bastion of the Xeno cause against Rheinland. Any Republican ship seen passing is immediately tagged for destruction, something the Xenos refer to as "making more Rheinland widows". Also important to the economy of the base is interdicting hostile diamond shipments, mostly those of the Rogues or Unioners. As a matter of fact, the base launches as many sorties against their hostile pirate brethren as they do against foreign shipping, making staunch opponents of both the Unioners and Rogues in the area.
Completed in 780 A.S., Montezuma is the home and birthplace of the Liberty Rogues' infamous spacecraft, the Greyhound, and is rather less well-hidden than most other Rogue bases. Some of the more paranoid elements within the Rogues suspect that the Liberty Navy has a very good idea where the Cortez Rogues take their spoils after a long, hard day of honest piracy.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Regardless, Montezuma remains, as it has always been, a popular destination for much of the pirate element that accumulates around western Liberty. The colourful assortment of Rogues, Lane Hackers, Outcasts, and the like sprawled across rickety chairs or lounging at the tiki bar serves as a vibrant reminder of the diversity Liberty has to offer in criminal terms, though it also has a more sinister connotation, as the more discerning visitor aboard the ice asteroid may soon realize what a potent threat the pirate hordes can and do pose to the safety and sanctity of the House where they ply their trade. Nick Creeley, Montezuma's greying chief, once proposed that the Outcasts aboard the station teach the Rogues the tricks to their skilful piloting, but arrangements eventually petered out in the face of disorganized chaos.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Practically any good or ware can be purchased in Montezuma's expansive storage bays, from artifacts to niobium, it is for sale here. The prices are in proportion, as well, since Montezuma's dealers do a brisk trade most every day supplying Liberty's undesirables with their daily necessities. "Shady" transactions aren't made aboard this base, with bales of dried cardamine lie heaped beside food rations and superconductors. The nature of the ware doesn't matter, only the amount of credits in the buyer's pocket do.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Crime in the region generally is centered on here and Bretonia, as the only House that yet maintains truly positive relations with Liberty, does a brisk interregional trade, and the Rogues accordingly fatten their pockets with trader spoils. Life is easy on Montezuma, they say, and the Rogues certainly maintain that appearance, for the sake of business if for nothing else, but the ominous threats of the Navy finally getting wise as well as of the roiling pirate masses loom more or less constantly, and every now and again, as the space-raid klaxons wail, it's all the Rogues of Cortez can do to thrust aside their fears.
The Magellan Lane Hackers are mostly composed of former Los Angeles Ageira Technologies employees who created the extremely complex scanning and database system known as USI (Universal Ship Identification). Departing the company rather acrimoniously in 750 A.S., they have become a growing problem in the Independent Worlds.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The investigation into the former Ageira employees continues to this day, but has so far been unsuccessful in locating Mactan Base, which was completed in 753 A.S. No Hacker has ever been captured, although various Rogues in the Independent Worlds have been caught possessing remarkably accurate information regarding upcoming high-value shipments.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>Security measures have been added to the software, but the Hackers remain one step ahead, leading Ageira security experts to believe that there are many sympathetic programmers still within the company, possibly being secretly paid off with the proceeds from the thefts.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The Lane Hackers prefer to sell their information to others rather than do the dirty work themselves, although they sometimes swoop in and tractor in a cargo if it's particularly juicy. Fancying themselves as modern-day Robin Hoods, they avoid direct confrontation when possible, unless it is the henchmen of the despised IC and Ageira.</TEXT><PARA/><TEXT> </TEXT><PARA/><TEXT>The Mactan Hackers like to frequent Freeport 4, as their asteroid base within the ice fields of Magellan can become rather claustrophobic. Their cardamine addiction forces them to trade Lane shipment info for drugs with the Outcasts and the Liberty Rogues at Mactan base, although usually it ends up being the Liberty Rogues who act upon any information, taking the fall when anything goes wrong.
Having all these resources at our disposal generates a lot of revenue for us. Doesn't compare to the gold business, but the Junkers haul off whatever goods we don't use ourselves towards Liberty. I guess they supply the Rogues and Lane Hackers.
There's a jump hole to the Inverness system, not far from here, at the southern end of the barrier nebula that you will find east of here. We use it as a shortcut to trade with the Liberty Rogues in Cortez, and to take breaks on Curacao from time to time. The Outcasts also run some Cardamine through there from time to time, but it's not the route they use most often for smuggling to Liberty.
The Zoners colonised planet Erie in 761 A.S., but Liberty moved into the system in 768 A.S., after we realised that we'd screwed up in not bothering to colonise this system. I arrived here in '09, and enjoyed it so far. We've had a few problems with the Zoners on occasion, and we hear from our sources that the Xenos and the Liberty Rogues have both set up bases in the system fairly recently, but with the Gettysburg in orbit I doubt we'll get any problems on the planet itself.
I was born on planet Hamburg originally, and lived there for quite a few years. My father was an executive for Republican Shipping while my mother worked in the offices that Universal Shipping has on Hamburg. They were killed in 807 A.S. by a Liberty Rogue ambush on the Texas side of the jump gate when their transport was destroyed. I considered joining the Rheinland Military, but they're too strict and they can't operate in Liberty, so I joined the Bounty Hunters Guild. I mainly target the Liberty Rogues and look for information on Rogue hideouts, and eventually I'll find out which ones killed my parents. And those won't end up on Sugarland by the time I'm done with them.
I would say don't listen to my friend, Max Flight, but unfortunately his bragging isn't just bragging. He really is one of the best fighter pilots I have ever met. I guess he was aptly named. He might have a loud mouth, but you can rely on him to back you up in a fight. He took out seven Liberty Rogue fighters by himself last week, while I was out on patrol with him. I only killed two others. If it hadn't been for him and his prowess in a fighter craft, I think the Rogues might have killed us both.
I know of a jump hole to the California system, in the far west of the system in relation to your nav map display. I hear either the Rogues or the Junkers have a base somewhere out that way too, but I wouldn't put too much stock in rumours. Never been out that way myself, I tend to stick to the trade lane network wherever I can, it is much safer.
Finally a familiar run again. Albeit with a slightly changed starting point. Delivering Beryllium to Liberty was one of the runs I was often assigned to before the Tau war. Good folk, down in Liberty. Well, except the Xenos of course. And the Rogues. And Lane Hackers. But otherwise, good folk! Always kind enough to set me up with a load of Light Arms or Superconductors to bring back to Bretonia.
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