Patch Plot Log: The story so far

[jammi]

Moving forward, story changes will be separately in this thread rather than patch changelogs. This will allow new and returning players to quickly catch up on plot changes over time.

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[jammi]

5.2: Escalation - 5th October 2024 (834 AS / 749 AGS)

• A mysterious Wild convoy is dispatched from the deep Omicrons carrying an unknown cargo for Kaarst Drydock. While the convoy is decloaked by Order sensors and quickly intercepted, one of the vessels manages to slip away in the confusion of the resulting fight. The wreckage of the convoy in Omicron Delta has since become a flare point for conflict between the Order and Core, who are both trying to secure the Bustard Tinsdale's contents.
  
  
• BMM has adopted a new method of radioisotopic labelling to "stamp" legitimate Gold stocks and authenticate their legitimate source. Authorities are instructed to confiscate "Wildcat" bullion being shipped without these markers.
  
  
• Clisham Research Facility is established on the north pole of Planet Harris, in a decommissioned terraforming plant. The scheme was influenced by Liberty who placed heavy pressure on Bretonia to accept. The LSF now maintains a presence on Clisham to protect Stabiline production and monitor both Outcast and Kusari activity in the Taus.
  
  
• The Bretonian drug Slog has been insidiously spreading across the Colonies for several years. Finding purchase in impoverished populations and heavy industrial sites, Slog is produced from common solvents and a yet unidentified neurotoxin. In recent months, Slog has spread as far as Junyo and Planet Amiens. House authorities are attempting to stamp out Slog use due to the detrimental impact addiction has on worker productivity.
  
  
• Charost Depot in Tau-31 is abandoned by the Maquis. It has long since outlived its purpose, as the ongoing maintenance costs can no longer be justified. The Maquis' sporadic Tau-31 operations are now coordinated with the Gaians from Sandur Base.
  
  
• Zoner Zackery Phelps discovers an unstable Jump Hole between Dublin and Omega-48. The discovery stokes fears among Gran Canaria's communities that if the Mollys fall, they will be on Bretonia's borders once again. Militant militias begin to form with some proactively heading to fight in Dublin.
  
  
• DSE defies court orders by progressing with the construction of Hinsdale Refinery in Colorado, beginning to refine stockpiled Platinum Ore. This is in response to Kishiro and Samura having already begun illegally mining Galileo despite the legal hold, with apparent approval by the Kusari government, which is using prison labour to refine the ore on Fuchu.
  
  
• The Gaians establish the "Green-Gold Road" with the Hogosha. This sees Gaians purchase Wildcat Gold from the Junkers as intermediaries, and selling it to the Hogosha aboard Sandur Base in exchange for Engine Components and other Kusari specialty goods. The Hogosha then launder the illicit Gold for industrial applications on Kusari's markets.
  
  
• The Outcasts become aware of the Cryer presence on Harris and the massive bounties for captured Outcasts that have sent Bounty Hunters flocking to the Taus. The Battlecruiser Bastia is redeployed from Tau-44 to Tau-31 to find ways to damage the Cryer presence.
  
  
• The Unioners successfully repressurise Wedel Base in Hamburg, allowing it to stage squadrons for raids on Alster and local shipping. It also remains valuable as a smuggling waystation, particularly for those still superstitiously avoiding the route through the Kielfeld.
  
  
• Gallia's recent trade deal with Rheinland, seeming prosperity (to an outside observer), and the release of a high-profile privateer leader from Newgate Prison reopens fresh wounds. Additional anti-Gallic resentment and hatred is spurred on across Bretonia.
  
  
• The lone survivor of a Hogosha Artifact convoy reports that an LSF attack wing wiped out his men in Kepler. It is speculated that the Libertonians were scouting for a reliable route into Shikoku.
  
  
• The Battleship Essex finishes refits at Portsmouth Shipyard and returns to service at the New London Deployment Zone. The Battleship Somerset is a more complex technical challenge, however works are approaching completion. Bretonia will soon deploy its jump bridge for the invasion of Dublin.
  
  
• The Mollys use their Gold reserves to bribe both the Ithaca Council and Coalition to provide fighting ships to support their cause. Pirate gangs have begun to trickle into Bretonia to harass shipping and generally tie up the BAF and BPA's resources.
  
  
• Minefields are deployed across the Achill Asteroid Field in Dublin to harden the chokepoint against attack. The IMG's Maderia Station in Omega-48 agrees to repair Molly and Coalition ships at its drydock, as a safe harbour beyond the reach of Bretonian notice or retaliation.
  
  
• The Red Hessians have finally reconstituted their Dresden forces and launch a counter-offensive against the Corsairs. Two brigades are advancing on the Battlecruiser Penitence, pushing from the north and aiming to sever its route to the Frankfurt Jump Hole from the west. The depleted Penitence garrison has called for immediate reinforcements or permission to withdraw.
  
  
• Kusari concludes its Phase II low traffic Drive Trials at Experimental Zone Ishikari and Ogawara. Phase III trials are initiated by redirecting the Jump Bridge to Tohoku. This allows the KOI to discontinue use of the unreliable Tohoku Jump Hole for convoys headed to Ichigaya Drydock and their headquarters on The Arch.
  
  
• The GNI have begun probing the Bretonian disposition around Planet Harris. The Battlecruiser Livingstone has repeatedly called for reinforcements to bolster the local garrison, but New London has been slow to respond. In reaction, the Livingstone's officers have disobeyed orders to continue with mine clearance around Harris, fearing the defences may be needed sooner or later.
  
  
• To shore up waning popular support before the next round of elections, the Crayter government coordinates with the IMG to rescue a stranded population of ex-slaves from Freeport 10. During the operation, Crayter border troops intercept an IMG liner they believe is trying to breach the Gallic embargo and destroy it. Relations between Crayter and the Guild further sour, with the IMG expelling CR ships from their stations.
  
  
• After months of deteriorating relations, LWB activist Sabine Schroder murders a Farmers Alliance technician on Darmstadt. She is captured and taken to be publicly executed as a warning on Kagoshima. This is the final straw for Rheinland's LWB, who intercept the transport, rescue Schroder and eject the FA from their stations. The LWB is now an independent force again, struggling to adapt to the withdrawal of the FA's funding and resources.
  
  
• Farmers Alliance's commanders have been summoned by their Benefactor (Samura) to answer for their failures in Rheinland. The senior Rheinland commander responsible for overseeing the LWB has been "disciplined" and disappeared. Desperate to provide tangible results and put the shame of the Rheinland defeat behind them, the FA are rushing forward plans for a decisive strike on Deshima Station.
  
  
• LSF and Crayter units investigating Inverness are attacked by large Vagrant lifeforms, confirming their suspicions of a local infestation. Excelsus Squadron is ambushed by Jump Drive, the first time such Nomad capabilities have been observed by Liberty. The LSF notes the timing of this situation and the development of Kusari's own drive, and issues a presidential brief on the possibility of Kusari's compromise or collusion.
  
  
• GMS shutters Toulon Mining Station in Provence, and its Marne Molybdenum Refineries, citing competitive pressure from Rheinland imports. Some jobs are transferred to the newly renovated Oerlikon Refinery in Zurich, which GMS says can operate more competitively thanks to reduced shipping overheads, and industrial Robotics imported from Kruger.
  
  
• As riots and industrial action begins spreading on Marne, the Gallic Gendarmerie executes waves of raids to detain or incapacitate suspected ringleaders. Border checkpoint cruisers are deployed across the entrances of Ile-de-France until the disorder has subsided.
  
  
• Kusari, Liberty and Rheinland have all devised their own variants of autonomous probe capable of exploring Earhart, then seeking out a Jump Hole exit at random to try and convey their findings home. Very few make it back to Sirius, with the retrieval of the few that do being among the most urgent assignments for intelligence operatives.
  
  
• The KOI's "Chochinbi" Special Operations Division oversee the completion of a large energy emission relay at Ichigaya Drydock, and the construction of several manmade replicas of alien structures. It is unclear what the intended function of these structures is, as the project's objective is highly classified for anyone outside the SOD.
  
  
• As local factions struggle to wrest control over Planet Sudbury, the Battlecruiser Wyoming arrives in Ontario with the Order's Battleship Atum hot on its tail.
  
  
• Versailles Station in Ile-de-France continues to lose money quarter on quarter, owing to its lavish construction as a royal palace. IDF Shipping has received offers for lease and purchase from OS&C and Imperial Shipping, both who are looking to expand their presence in Gallia. IDF intends to pitch a business case and funding proposal to Nevers' elite Gonzaga Society for a domestic rescue package before considering the foreign offers.
  
  
• During a battle between LSF, Order, Technocracy, and Wild squadrons in Sudbury orbit, the moon emits a large pulse of hyperspace energy, as an ancient subterranean mechanism grinds to life. A ziggurat structure emerges from the dusty surface, firing an enormous beam of energy into deep space. The beam's orientation means it is likely to enter or pass through Coronado.
  
  
• A Liberty probe discovers the wreckage of the IKN Niyodo in Earhart.

Comments and discussion can be posted in the main update patch notes.

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