Aland Shipyard

[Traxit]

A large station within the Wilkes Ice Field, Aland was established in 805-817 AS by the Independent Miners Guild. The IMG used the unoccupied space between two trade lanes to construct their first shipyard capable of building and maintaining large vessels. The war in the Tau borderworlds, and more recently in Bretonia's core systems, caused Aland to attract a significant number of workers from that region.

One of the few industrial complexes not directly affiliated with a house, Aland enjoyed a relatively peaceful status quo largely unmarred by politics since its construction in the early 800s. This changed in 826 AS when Bretonia, still reeling from the loss of Southampton shipyard in the Gallic blitz, laid claim to the Guild station.

While Bretonia originally extended an offer to upgrade the shipyard and return it to the Independent Miners Guild by the end of the war, the Guild was skeptical of such a promise from Bretonia in their weakened state. Seeing a Gallic victory as an inevitability, the Guild chose to resist. Both Rheinland's ALG and the Red Hessians came to the aid of the miners, mounting a staunch defense which kept Bretonia at bay for nearly three weeks. Aland's defensible position in the dense Wilkes field and phalanx of weapons platforms and cruisers withstood several large scale offensives from Bretonia's Norfolk battlegroup, resulting in a costly stalemate for both sides.

When the Guild threatened to scuttle the shipyard on March 19th, 826, in the event of a successful Bretonian push on the Wilkes field, Bretonia abandoned conventional offenses. Realizing that a lightning strike would be needed in order to successfully wrest control of the base from the Guild, Bretonia devised Operation Chrysalis. Pivotal to Operation Chrysalis was the Olympia's experimental jump drive, which the Crayterians assured Bretonia would be able to plot a jump solution into the Wilkes field without intersecting the celestial debris.

Although Operation Chrysalis did not proceed as planned, two thirds of the main attack group's vessels reached Aland, including five of the six Clydesdale freighters packed with Bretonian fireteams. As the battle raged outside, Bretonian marines breached the station near critical points such as the command center and life support, where sleep gas was distributed via Aland's CO2 scrubbers. Though the naval engagement was costly, the station itself was taken with a minimal loss of life and its infrastructure fully intact in under five minutes.

Now under the control of BMM, Aland has begun much needed repairs to wounded Bretonian vessels which have not been properly serviced since the fall of Southampton in November 825. In addition, the first Fortitude class Bretonian battlecruiser chassis have been laid down at Aland in time to see action for the closing days of the Gallic War. Following the end of hostilities, Aland Shipyard remains in Bretonian hands, and continues to produce military ships to replenish Bretonian fleets while a new shipyard is being constructed.

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