| Darmstadt Depot | |
| Owner | |
| LWB | |
| Location | |
| F-5, Stuttgart |
CLASS: Schuppen
GRAVITY: Partial
DOCKING: Yes
AMENITIES: Limited
CREW: 290
For centuries, the Stuttgart Growers Association (WVS) successfully lobbied for rich agricultural subsidies from the Rheinland government. During the 80-Years War, the Rheinland government secretly borrowed huge sums from Liberty and by the war’s end in 685 AS, was on the brink of bankruptcy. The subsidies were cut almost overnight. In exchange for debt relief, Rheinland sold Synth Foods complete access to Stuttgart. Immediately the corporate giant moved in, buying out huge numbers of nearly bankrupt Stuttgart farmers. Much of Stuttgart was rapidly converted into vast expanses of Synth Foods’ bio-engineered mono-crops. Over the following century, Synth expanded their grip on Stuttgart by unethically coercing independent farmers into selling their land, or forcing them into punishing and restrictive supply contracts. The once proud Stuttgart farmers were reduced to indentured servants.
The WVS tried to fight back legally in the courts but soon discovered that their influence had been sold to a higher bidder. In 772 AS, the VWS was struck a fatal blow when Synth accused them of facilitating arson attacks against their properties. The WVS board was removed by the Rheinland government, and replaced with Synth corporate stooges. In an act of desperation, radical elements of the WVS left and founded the Landwirtrechtbewegung (LWB) farmers rights movement. They built a small depot called Darmstadt within the Ostnebel and began attacking Synth transports, expanding across Rheinland over the following decades. Despite this, the LWB had little appreciable impact on Synth’s operations. By 825 AS, Synth controlled almost 90% of Stuttgart’s agriculture, up from 60% five decades earlier. The LWB’s decline began with the opening of Supply Station Neckar.
Intending a once in a generation show of force, the movement planned to destroy the station during its opening ceremony. Anticipating an attack, Synth had hired a large force of Bounty Hunters to stage an ambush, shattering the attack and killing or capturing many commanders. Interrogations led to a crackdown across Stuttgart -- sympathizers who funded the LWB were rounded up by the Battleship Karlsruhe’s Marines. On Darmstadt, internal conflict exploded as factions clashed over who should now assume leadership. Between infighting, broken morale and crippled finances, the movement collapsed by the year’s end -- by the end, Darmstadt was left a burnt out wreck. The survivors scattered, with some returning to Planet Stuttgart, others resorting to independent piracy, or joining the Bundschuh and Unioners.
Many later flocked to the Imperial cause during the Civil War, serving in the rebel militias of Stuttgart. Despite hopes the new Empire would expel Synth entirely, little practically changed. By the time of the Holstein Accords, Synth remained entrenched, and the previously useful Stuttgart rebels were discarded as inconvenient. Furious at this betrayal, a new generation of radicals trained during the Civil War began to reach out for support to reform the LWB. They found willing patrons in Kusari’s Farmer’s Alliance, who quickly offered funding and resources to establish an Alliance presence in Rheinland. This partnership was initially celebrated, however LWB fighters quickly became resentful of the exploitative relationship imposed by their Kusari commanders. By late 834 AS the relationship had collapsed, and FA officers expelled from LWB stations. The movement now faces a difficult but truly independent future.
Bribes & Missions Offered
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Commodities
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Ships sold
| Ship | Class | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Hawk | Light Fighter | 14,182$ |
| Falcon | Heavy Fighter | 18,778$ |
| Eagle (Damaged) | Very Heavy Fighter | 17,979$ |
| Tiger Shark | Light Fighter | 17,022$ |
| Sichel | Very Heavy Fighter | 25,029$ |
| Sense | Bomber | 70,176$ |
| Humpback | Freighter | 18,706$ |
| Rheinland Pirate Cruiser | Cruiser | 2,507,900$ |
| Rheinland Blackmarket Frigate | Frigate | 1,337,466$ |
News
| [834 AS] Victory for an independent LWB! |
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DARMSTADT -- 834 -- We looked to the Farmers Alliance for camaraderie in the war against Synth Foods. Instead, we found arrogant foreigners who expected us to be subservient pawns who’d follow their orders, even when it harmed our own people. Sabine Schröder ended this tyranny when she struck down an FA technician on Darmstadt who had abused her. When she was arrested, we rose up. Sabine was sprung from the prison transport, and the FA were ejected from Darmstadt. Now, we begin the truly hard work of repairing the connections in Rheinland the FA damaged, and taking the fight to both Synth and Gallic agri-business. |
| [834 AS] Farmers prepare for war over Gallia deal |
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DARMSTADT -- 834 -- The recent trade deal with Gallia is a nightmare for Stuttgart’s farmers. Already Gallic Food imports have poured into our space, sparking a price war with Synth as both race to the bottom. Independent farmers cannot keep up, with many having only months of margin before they go under. Our people are furious that the government has betrayed them yet again. We must act immediately to strike both Synth and Gallic targets, halting the tide of this foreign filth. Despite this, the Farmer’s Alliance have threatened punishment if Gallic shipping is targeted. This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We have dispatched envoys for urgent discussions with our Kusari sponsors. |
| [831 AS/747 AGS] Gate Corps Clash Over 'Blackout'! |
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ABBEVILLE -- 831 AS/747 AGS -- EFL's 'Resilience Taskforce' today reported its findings on The Blackout, claiming to have gathered forensic evidence that proved the cause as Ageira negligence. A spokesperson claimed that the destruction of the Dublin jump gate by Molly separatists had created a hyperspace feedback loop that was propagated and amplified through the Ageira gate network. Ageira disputed this finding in their own press release, calling EFL 'fantasists' and countering that their own scientists had narrowed the cause to a rare 'hypernova' stellar event that originated outside the Sirius sector. Both corporations claim that network-wide hardware safeguards have been implemented that would prevent a similar occurrence in the future. Independent researchers have sharply criticized the corporate announcements, accusing both of self-interested misdirection. Professor Sophia Nagel from Heisenberg Research Station called EFL's accusation 'incoherent' and the hypernova explanation 'nonsense' that did not explain the characteristics of the 'Blackout Pulse'. Despite multiple different Pulse recordings being widely disseminated across the neural net, public efforts have so far failed to triangulate its source. |
| [831 AS] Jump Hole Upheaval Causes Chaos |
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HEISENBERG -- 831 AS -- Jump holes across Sirius have become increasingly volatile and chaotic over the last year, with Professor Sophia Nagel from the Heisenberg Research Station linking the unusual phenomena to the Pulse. The Pulse was an unprecedented blast of hyperspace energy that was detected immediately prior to last year's jump gate Blackout. Professor Nagel and her team are certain the Pulse originated from outside Sirius, but are otherwise no closer to identifying its source or mitigating a future Blackout event. "Following the Blackout, we began to see immediate signs of jump hole destabilization in multiple different regions, with many ultimately falling out of phase alignment altogether", she commented. The dramatic upending of Sirius' jump hole network has already prompted many groups to abandon stations and withdraw from systems that appear to risk being cut off. While months-long trips between the stars are possible thanks to the Liberty Engine and many centuries of innovation, few ships are designed or provisioned to make such arduous journeys. Those who were displaced by Sirius' redrawn map hope that system connections will return, while adventurers and explorers rush to discover new routes. |
| [831 AS/747 AGS] 'Blackout' Causes Jump Network Fail |
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MANHATTAN -- 831 AS/747 AGS -- Two days ago Jump Gates failed simultaneously across Sirius, freezing commerce and neural net access across the sector. When the network resumed 31 hours later, restored communications broke the news of Bretonia's loss of the Dublin system. This twin shock has plunged the market into chaos, prompting fears of sector-wide economic recessions. Interspace estimates indicate that the stoppage alone caused billions of credits in losses. Gallia immediately accused Liberty of culpability for the outage, claiming the destruction of Dublin's jump gate instigated a cascading failure in faulty Ageira infrastructure. Ageira has sharply refuted the allegation, claiming such a systemic effect would be physically impossible. Independent researchers in Cologne and the Edge Worlds have also announced that a hyperspace pulse of unprecedented strength was detected moments before The Blackout, with data about 'The Pulse' being widely shared across the neural net in recent days. House authorities have remained tight lipped, refusing to comment on their own observatories' data. |
| [830 AS] Bessemer Struck by Corsair Raiders! |
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MAINZ -- 830 AS -- An Ageira Technologies research vessel, the ATS Bessemer, has come under a Corsair attack during its final venture through the Munich Jump Gate. The Bessemer, dispatched on a joint expedition by Ageira and the University of Berlin, was en route from the Raubling junction to the Frankfurt gate when it was waylaid by Corsair raiders on the edge of the Schwarzwald cloud. The RPU Dohna, a police gunboat tasked with overseeing the gate during the expedition, was quick to respond, but not before the raiders dealt significant damage to the unprepared civilian vessel. Anonymous sources report that as many as five Ageira employees lost their lives in the attack. The incident came as a shock to the public and the law enforcement alike, as pirate activity was believed to have completely died out in the desolate Munich system. The frequency of strikes, from both Corsairs and domestic pirates, have steadily declined ever since the antimatter storm first ravaged the system. While the chaotic evacuation efforts from Nuremberg had initially caused a spike, as the system's population decayed to just skeleton crews and Junker scavengers, the criminal element became nearly absent. Some theorize that the Corsairs were there for the Bessemer specifically, intending for one last taunt at Rheinland's people. Thankfully, the Dohna and her crew were there to thwart their efforts. The ATS Bessemer was dispatched into the Munich system in order to deploy a network of specially reinforced satellites, meant to monitor the advent of the antimatter storm's core. According to the University of Berlin, the core will wash over Munich around the end of this month, stripping away planetary atmospheres and most likely collapsing all remaining jumphole anomalies. The probes deployed by the Bessemer will provide the scientific community with first-hand data of the storm and its effects, transmitting it back to Berlin through a central relay nested within the safety of Raubling's hulk. With the task complete, the Bessemer was meant to be the final ship to make the jump from Munich, with the Jump Gate being shut down later the same day. However, due to the damage sustained in the attack, the RPU Dohna did the honours instead, covering the Bessemer's departure to ensure its safe return. |
| [828 AS] Birds of a Feather |
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STUTTGART -- 828 AS -- Many ex-LWB remnants took up the Imperial cause during the Civil War, hoping for a government that would expel Synth Foods from Rheinland. They were left feeling betrayed and enraged when these promises were abandoned. Lacking funding and resources, the fighters looked abroad to find support. An unexpected benefactor was found in Kusari’s Farmers Alliance, who fight a near identical battle against the Liberty corporation. The Alliance has provided leadership, funding and resources to relaunch anti-Synth operations in Rheinland as a wing of their own organization. It remains to be seen how this united Farmers Alliance will impact affairs on the wider stage, with the security forces of both Rheinland and Kusari already strained by internal conflict and crime. |
| [825 AS] Scores Die in “Show of Farce” |
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DARMSTADT -- 825 -- Supply Station Neckar was an insult too far for the farmers of Stuttgart. Our leaders drew together LWB from across Rheinland, claimed to have a plan to destroy the Libertonian lair -- instead they led us only to ruin. Now they are dead or captured alongside dozens of our countrymen. The largest force of Bounty Hunters any of us have seen were laying in wait at the edge of the Ostnebel -- they knew exactly when and where to hit us. Were we sold out? Is there a Synth mole among us even now? Perhaps one of those “captured” was really cashing out, and has been sabotaging us from the inside for years? |
| [824 AS] Saalburg falls to Corsair barbarians |
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SAALBURG -- 824 -- Saalburg Depot in Frankfurt has fallen after being attacked by an overwhelming force of Corsair raiders. Our pilots recognized they stood no chance against the attack and retreated to avoid unnecessary loss of life. The Corsairs have occupied the base and dug in, aiming to use it as a forward base for renewed attacks on Rheinland. This is the largest Corsair force to enter Rheinland since the invasion of 815 AS -- Bundschuh and Red Hessian fighters have launched an immediate counter-attack to prevent the barbarians from gaining a permanent foothold. |
| [814 AS] Saalburg LWB scythe down enemies |
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SAALBURG -- 814 -- Squadrons from the newly excavated Saalburg Depot have scored their first victory, destroying a Synth Foods Fertilizer convoy near Frankfurt’s New Berlin Jump Gate. Daumann has recently opened Fertilizer plants on Holstein, likely using Synth loans. Already the Liberty parasite has begun shipping these chemical Fertilizers to Stuttgart, reducing both the distance and cost of imports compared to previous routes from Planet Houston in Texas. There is now an unbroken LWB presence in every system along this new route. Daumann now joins the ranks of domestic traitors, such as ALG who fuel the perversion of Stuttgart’s atmosphere with their Dortmund Terraforming Gasses. No place in Rheinland is safe for Synth or their enablers. |
| [803 AS] Driven to desperation |
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NEW BERLIN -- 803 -- As Rheinland falls further into economic crisis, many face financial ruin. Desperation has driven political radicalism and crime. Where tens of thousands of Military personnel were laid off in the aftermath of the Colony Wars, huge numbers of trained pilots have found themselves unemployed. As local corporations stop recruiting, some have turned to the Bounty Hunter’s Guild, however many have resorted to the Bundschuh, Red Hessians and Unioners. The RFP has already noted a sharp increase in criminal activity across Rheinland and the surrounding border worlds. |
Rumors
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NOTE: Page generated on the 15/12/2024 at 15:50:59 UTC