Philadelphia Station

From Discovery Wiki
Philadelphia Station
Owner
Deep Space Engineering
Location
G-5, Pennsylvania

CLASS: Frontier

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 1420

Philadelphia Station was built in 758 AS by disaffected Houston drifters looking to escape from the poverty and corruption of Texas. These colonists quickly affiliated themselves with the Zoner movement, recruiting like-minded individuals from Freeport 2. Philadelphia was constructed in orbit of Planet Bruin as a midway point between Texas and Planet Erie, with the Zoners landing Erie’s first settlements later the next year. During this early period, the station acted as a vital lifeline for supply ships and colonists traversing the remote Pennsylvania frontier, providing amenities and refueling. The arrival of Deep Space Engineering (DSE) construction ships in 774 AS signaled Liberty’s renewed interest in the system, changing everything. The completion of the New York Jump Gate shortly after toppled Philadelphia’s business model overnight, as supply shipments rerouted and Liberty corporations began to arrive.

While desperately looking for ways to sustain the station, the Zoners discovered the unusually high concentrations of Neon in Bruin’s atmosphere. With neither the expertise or capital to set up gas harvesters, Philadelphia was facing destitution by 778 AS. It was only after Liberty Police Incorporated (LPI) deployed to secure Pennsylvania that DSE offered an investment package. This provided the necessary facilities in exchange for a significant ownership stake, and a near-exclusive Neon contract for Universal Shipping. The station council reluctantly agreed to the deal, however many residents reacted negatively to the encroaching Liberty presence, and departed for Erie. Over the decades, DSE incrementally expanded its investments and control over the station. By the time of Liberty’s annexation of the system in 830 AS, Philadelphia was a de facto DSE refinery, possessing only a nominal Zoner presence.

Bribes & Missions Offered

Bribes
Missions


Commodities

Imports
Commodity Price
Energy Field Equipment 33$
Liberty Ale 28$
Medical Equipment 48$
Heavy Water 73$
Oxygen 3$
Water 3$
Food Rations 32$
H-Fuel 98$
MOX 46$
Pharmaceuticals 26$
Consumer Goods 17$
Synth Paste 14$
Industrial Materials 23$
Xenobiotic Filters 37$
Passenger Cabin (Liberty) 15,408$
Xeno Relics 221$
Exports
Commodity Price
Deployable Mining Container 50,000$
Crew 200$
Neon 2$
Criminal Cells (Liberty) 13,460$
Toxic Waste 27$
Mining Machinery 17$


Ships sold


Ship Class Price
Surveyor Heavy Fighter 5,408$
Scraper Very Heavy Fighter 11,729$
Arrastra Bomber 43,176$
Civilian Gunboat Gunboat 855,006$
Asteroid Miner Heavy Miner 207,905$
Mining Drone Light Fighter 1,604$


News

[831 AS/747 AGS] Gate Corps Clash Over 'Blackout'!

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/747 AGS] 'Blackout' Causes Jump Network Fail

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] Rampant Human Trafficking Cases on Erie

ERIE -- 830 AS -- A scandal rocked Planet Erie's administration when a video recording of Insurgency prisoners, escorted by LPI officers, were being loaded aboard a transport bound for the Edge Worlds, surfaced on the Neural Net. As the Republic's forces maintain law and order on the pacified planet, this leak has undermined their authority, causing waves of public outcry and calls for police reform by both local Zoners and Liberty citizens alike.

In the video, a number of restrained people that have been identified as former residents of Planet Vespucci, board a Dromedary-class vessel registered to a freelance trader Vincent Ruthen. They are under supervision from several LPI officers, who exchange words with the ship's crew. Private investigators have trailed the ship, determining that it did not land at its purported destination of Gas Miner Naha in the Sigma-13, instead electing to travel away from civilized space into the Edge Worlds. The people aboard it have effectively vanished from the colonies.

This is the latest case in a streak of such disappearances, with investigators estimating as high as ten percent of all inmates thought to be awaiting their trial in LPI internment camps have been covertly shipped off-world for unknown reasons. The fate of these people is yet unclear, but theories range from secret trials to unethical experiments aboard Atka. Outraged by what is apparently an LPI-sanctioned human trafficking operation, protesters flooded the streets and had to be dispersed by police riot control squads.

A Liberty Police official has denounced allegations of corruption, stating that "All interned personnel are secured and all prisoner transfers have been done within the framework of the legal code". He refused to comment on the evidence presented, dismissing it as "slanderous fabrication against the good, hard-working officers of Liberty law". Meanwhile, political opposition already promises increased oversight over the law enforcement corporation for the next election cycle.

[830 AS] Troubles in Erie's Paradise

ERIE -- 830 AS -- It was the early hours of the morning when a missile was launched from Erie's surface; A missile that struck its target of an LSF satellite in orbit of Erie. The attack was claimed to have originated by militant Zoners seeking to separate themselves from Libertonian governance, and proved to be the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.

For some time, it had been alleged that Insurgent and Xeno-backed cells had been stirring trouble on Erie, inciting violence in the population and seeking to turn the planet into a second Veracruz. Never, however, had such open acts of terror been visited upon the governing Libertonian forces.

The response was quick and decisive. In coordination with the LSF, Vice Admiral Hamish aboard the Battleship Alma lead a Liberty Navy task force directly into the system in Operation Pesticide, escorted primarily by Siege Cruisers, Gunboats and fightercraft, with many of the Navy's capital warships tied in the Vespucci campaign or ever watchful at Liberty's borders. They were met by Zoner Q-ships based from Bethlehem, with many coming from as far as Galileo or even the Sigmas, accompanied by a motley assortment of freelancers and other anarchist elements. Leading the Zoner line was a Aquilon-class carrier, the Pinnacle.

While the Pinnacle came under heavy bombardment from the Alma and her task force, supplies quickly gathered onto Zoner transports from Erie attempted to run the Navy blockade. While some transports were lost to Navy bombers, others yet escaped to parts as of yet unknown. This 'victory', however, came at a heavy price. The Pinnacle was lost with most of her hands still on board and the rest captured, while the Liberty Marines landed virtually unopposed, quickly securing population centers for both the safety of Libertonian assets and the civilians on Erie itself. The Alma is settled now into the low orbit of Erie, a constant reminder to those below that they are under the protection of the Liberty Navy. A comfort to some, a dire warning to many more.

[830 AS] Victory Over Veracruz!

OHIO -- 830 AS -- An announcement by the Liberty government today unilaterally declared victory over the once-Insurgency as the LNS Ohio settled into high orbit over Veracruz last week. The Battlecruiser Triton, the infamous warship that felled the Delaware, was left as little more than debris burning through the planet's atmosphere that now rests in a crash site located on Veracruz's smallest continent.

Over the last few days, Archer-class siege cruisers have been deploying their massive coaxial cannons to suppress military infrastructure on the planet, systematically targeting the very last bastions of the Insurgency. First to be destroyed were the planet's few remaining ground to space weapons installations, quickly crippled by bomber strikes from the Ohio herself, before the remaining desolate ground defences and deserted infrastructure were reduced to rubble, their populations having already long fled the world.

A small service was held on the Ohio as the bombardment drew to a close in memory of Rear Admiral Dylan Brandt and those thousands of sailors and marines who had given their lives in the name of Liberty; fought their own lost brothers-in-arms so that others may not live under their misguided yoke, and many more who had their lives irrevocably changed as a result of the evils the campaign sought to end.

The announcement also confirmed identical monuments to the Insurgency campaign would be erected on every world in Liberty, from Planet Houston to Planet Erie, each monument an obelisk carrying the names of every serviceman lost in the conflict and serving as a reminder that Liberty is stronger when it stands together.

[829 AS] Battleship Delaware lost In Vespucci: Part II

LOS ANGELES -- 829 AS -- Navy pilots fought in a heated scrap with many of their former comrades-in-arms as a fearsome shroud of flak rippled around the great Battleship Delaware, several trails of explosions snaking towards myriad bombers and torpedoes swarming the vast Mitchell-class. Delaware herself launched volley upon volley of anti-capital torpedoes at the Insurgent Battlecruiser Triton, whose own flak screen was considerably weaker than that of the Battleship. The missiles found their mark, but the battlecruiser retained its hull integrity as the Insurgents' one advantage in fighter superiority began to shine through. Torpedoes and antimatter cannons landed hits on the Delaware's vital flak batteries as they went silent, one by one.

Admiral Brandt was heard to give the order to abandon ship right as the ship's hull could take no more and began to be torn asunder, with hull breaches on multiple decks. Tragically, the armored engines of the Delaware had suffered a great deal of damage, and as the armor and shielding was whittled away, vast quantities of radiation and superheated gas began to flood into the crew compartments of the vessel.

In an emotional announcement, the Liberty Navy officially stated that they consider the Delaware to be lost with all hands, including Admiral Brandt himself. No life pods could be secured in the heat of battle, with the remainder of the Delaware's escort making a fighting retreat back to the LNS Ohio which had herself been caught lagging behind the Delaware's doomed thrust into the heart of the Insurgency. The Ohio now remains with her own escort, augmented by survivors of the Delaware's battlegroup, and will continue as the Liberty Navy's bastion in the Vespucci system, ready to ensure that the Insurgents pay dearly for the toll they have extracted upon one of Liberty's finest Admirals.

[829 AS] Battleship Delaware lost In Vespucci: Part I

LOS ANGELES -- 829 AS -- The state-of-the-art Delaware was the tip of Liberty's spear in the Kansas system; it was from here that the charismatic RAdm. Dylan Brandt commanded the fleet that secured the system from both Rogue and Insurgent elements. But now, he sought to strike a crippling blow to the Insurgency in their very home, an attack to break the back of the movement and stand as a warning to those who would stand against Liberty's unity.

Leading a fearsome line of some of Liberty's most advanced warships, the Delaware bore down on the Insurgency's remaining, cobbled-together fleet in the Vespucci system, out of position from dealing with a Bretonian thrust from Magellan. Immediately caught was the Battleship Vanquisher, one of the scant few Arbiter-class Battleships available to the Insurgents. Caught by itself, the Vanquisher put up a fearsome fight but was ultimately unable to stand against the Delaware and its escort, despite its fighter component dealing severe damage to much of the Delaware's own, smaller fighter contingent, as well as the Delaware herself.

With the great Arbiter all but vanquished, the Interdictor-class Battlecruiser Triton stared down the guns of the damaged Delaware and her escort. Outnumbered two-to-one, and outgunned to an even greater degree by the Libertonian heavyweight, Triton and her escorts launched their one and only advantage, their fighter and bomber superiority gained at the Vanquisher's expense.

[829 AS] Fingers in the broth

MANHATTAN -- 829 AS -- Liberty's High Congress has passed the recently submitted Organization Categorization Revision Act (O.C.R.A) by a considerable majority. The Act sets out to revise long-standing categorizations of domestic and foreign organizations, which in turn allows or disallows certain actions by Navy and Law Enforcement agencies.

It is widely speculated that the recent surge taking place in the Kansas system is related. The oddly self named Insurgency has long been categorized as a "Domestic Paramilitary Organization" that is of extremist political nature, in effect making them Liberty citizens with rights as such. The Act recategorizes them as a "Foreign Supported Terrorist Organization", a drastic shift in political standing. Sources have speculated the move is related to the Bering operation that precipitated the formation of the Insurgency as the root cause of the change in policy. Despite considerable cost both monetarily and in terms of material, the operation failed to expunge the organization to the desired level. The Act comes a considerable spending package for future operations and gives free rein to Liberty Navy admirals to take necessary measures to properly remove the long-standing issue.

[828 AS] Shotgun Diplomacy

ERIE -- 828 AS -- In a turn of events for the quiet system, the Liberty Navy press corps has released information about an incident involving a Slave Liner. Spokesperson to the CNS Bradley Stern addressed the conference by stating the ship had refused to comply with orders issued by patrols, and that it was being conducted in a manner that raised all manner of red flags. The Delaware was forced to position itself such that the ship was forced to stop, and when a cargo scan was conducted it was revealed that the Liner was carrying a vast quantity of munitions. With its secret loose, the Liner attempted to escape and was promptly disabled by secondary cannon fire.

Upon further investigation, the Navy has successfully identified the ordnance being transported as being sourced from Rheinland. Going as far as to state that they contained serial codes which correspond with weaponry used by Rheinland's own Military. Naturally given the circumstances around the discovery of these weapons and Liberty's history of hot and cold relations with the neighboring House, it is expected that this development will lead to further scrutiny when it comes to potentially suspicious activity.

[828 AS] Samura Debuts Next Generation Surveyor

NEW TOKYO -- 828 AS -- Samura Spokesperson Kenichiro Watanabe introduced a new line of Next-Gen Surveyors to the Consumer Utilities Convention Keynote Expo to thunderous applause: "The Surveyor is more than just a ship, it's a symbol of ingenuity and industrial development to all the Sirian Colonies. It's a pattern that dates back to our origins in the Sol system, and it's a pattern that will persist for many generations to come. Just as we have adapted to meet new challenges, so too must the Surveyor to meet emergent needs."

The Next-Gen Surveyor is slated to roll out multiple updates ranging from technological optimizations to upgraded armor and firepower capabilities. Many of the new modifications directly address a recent study by the Sirius International Institute of Statistics and Economics, citing up to 32 percent losses by BMM and Kruger Minerals to piracy and related factors.

The ship's expanded armour increased the ship's mass by almost 50 percent, which forced Samura's Surveyor team to completely overhaul the ship's power delivery system, powerplant, and hull. The new ship utilizes a power delivery system integrated into the super-alloy frame. The integrated frame was torture tested at the Aso High Altitude Proving Grounds, and sports certifications as best in class for maneuvering with a load under high Gs.

Though time will tell whether the upgrade will prove successful in addressing the increase of piracy, the stock market has greeted the welcome news with a 15 point general increase, and a relative high for Samura and mining sector stocks.

[823 AS] Liberty and Rheinland formally end conflict

NEW BERLIN -- 823 -- President Powell and Chancellor Neumann have signed the Treaty of Atka formally ending the state of war between their two Houses. 6 years of devastating conflict has seen tens of thousands killed and both Houses severely economically damaged. The agreement sees Rheinland cede all claims on Planet Atka, while Hudson and Bering are split in half, creating two security zones. The boundary between these two zones remains neutral territory, to be policed by the Bounty Hunters Guild under a joint contract. In return, Liberty has agreed to immediately end all economic sanctions, and fund 85% of the Jump Gate cleanup and reconstruction project.

[817 AS] Liberty Declares Border Security Zone

HUDSON -- 817 -- In a significant escalation to ongoing tensions, Liberty has established a Border Security Zone in the two Independent Worlds of Bering and Hudson. President Powell announced that the Liberty Navy will maintain a blockade along what Liberty deems its zone of control. This is purportedly to prevent intrusions by the Rheinland Military, and thwart attempts to facilitate terrorist attacks in Liberty territory. All civilian shipping bound for Liberty through the affected systems are now being stopped for mandatory inspections. Rheinland has furiously condemned the move as military aggression, and called the deployment a flagrant violation of the Boorman Treaty.


Rumors

Universal Shipping
  • Philedelphia manufactures a small quantity of MOX. There is some controversy about having a nuclear fuel production plant in orbit of an inhabited planet, but the DSE officials who own that plant insist it's safe. I doubt they'll be closing it anytime soon. With LD-14 lost Liberty will need alternatives to Bretonian fuel.


  • Titanium is in high demand on Philedelphia. The Basic Alloy manufacturing process uses it in moderate quantities, but Liberty does not have a source of the material anymore. We have to import it from abroad, usually from Bretonia.


  • There are many small factories on Philedelphia, but the largest ones are the Basic Alloy plants. Basic Alloys are so widely used that you can take them almost anywhere, especially to Shipyards and Manufacturing Stations.


Samura Industries
  • The Xenos are a problem for us. Those barbarians have cost the loss of countless transports and lives, and their numbers keep rising. The Liberty Police is either incapable or unwilling to put an end to their attacks, so we've had to start sending stronger escorts and ship less frequently.


  • Aluminium has become a problem for Liberty now that Bretonia has lost control of Leeds. Rheinland has plenty of it, but with the war going on, that's a dead end - for them. Samura can turn a tidy profit by shipping it via the Sigmas to Kusari, and then back to Liberty.


  • Basic Alloy is a commodity that is in demand in Kusari. Our nation does not have many raw materials, so we need to import a lot of those. We usually ship it to Yokohama Shipyard in New Tokyo.


Bounty Hunters Guild
  • 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 than to get into fights, even if it ends up costing them their lives.


  • This is a bit of a backwater system for Liberty, which means there's more smuggling going on then actual attacks. Not to say that there's no trouble here - there's always work for a Bounty Hunter in systems where Freeports exist, because that's where most criminals go to lay low for a while.


  • There's a Junker base near one of the moons of Sayre. I tailed a Junker leaving from Eerie to find it. Probably a smugglers nest, since there's no scrapfields in Pennsylvania. I doubt the Liberty Police will do much about it, they've got their hands full guarding the Gate and Lanes. All the better, it's a good spot for me to pick up a mark or two.


Zoners
  • Say, Zoners are leaving Pensylvania, are they not? Anyone got some details about that? Yes? No? Maybe? Should I start packing? I don't think so.


  • I'm not drunk enough yet to start blabbering. Here's a thought: Buy me another round!


  • Did you know that the hull plating on those Zoner Whales is brittle as chalk? Not common knowledge that! Some Rogue told me that it takes less than a Vengeance 1st generation to punch a clean hole into those. Makes you wonder why they even bother to attach them. Someone probably got rich producing that crap.


Deep Space Engineering
  • Life used to be different here, before all these corporate windbags moved in. Us Zoners don't like being told how to live, but that's exactly what Liberty does all over Sirius. Manhattan fashion. Yech. I'd sooner go skyclad.


  • If you've got your own ship, then you should talk to the dealers down at the space port. Erie's main export is Neon. You can ship it to Freeports, research stations, storage depots, all the major planets. People are mad for Neon, brother. Stark raving mad for the stuff!


  • A few days ago, the captain of the Anaconda told me that they had just discovered new properties of Hessian Tears. Yes, I guess its just about weapons research again... but the point is that due to those new discoveries the prices have increased significantly.


  • 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.


  • Have you seen the Dublin races finale? Pretty intense! I loved how nearly every one of those ships ended up wrapping themselves around one of the course rings. But I bet its all fixed long before they even start the engines.


  • ALG handles waste disposal here at Philadelphia. Their HazMat Canisters are irreplaceable. Since we started storing Toxic Waste in them, we haven't had a single hazardous leak. ALG is prompt picking them up to haul out of here too.


Liberty Police, Inc.
  • Samura pilots often file complaints about Xeno attacks. We do what we can to prevent them, but frankly, there's just too much ground to cover. What annoys me is the tone in which they complain, as if they're entitled to be escorted. That doesn't help to motivate our officers.


  • Dealing with the Xenos is often easier done then said. They'll usually avoid a confrontation, so we just approach them at half engines and give them time to run. Unless they've got it in for some foreigner convoy, in which case we usually have to blast every single one of them before they do the same to us -and- that convoy.


  • We run regular patrols around the bases and Trade Lanes, right up to the New York Jump Gate. If you stray away from the lanes or bases however, you're on your own. Not even the Navy patrols much in the deep reaches of this system. Pennsylvania is just too big for that.


  • The Zoners are a rowdy bunch. Down on the planet the LPI has adopted a tolerant approach. We simply don't have the manpower to enforce Liberty law on that entire planet. On this station it's a different story, as there's only a few hundred people here. It is easier to keep order on spacestations.


  • Smuggling is a problem here in Pennsylvania, more so then piracy. The Junkers are probably involved, although we've only been able to catch them once or twice. Most of the time, the cargo they carry is legit when we scan them.


  • 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.


NOTE: Page generated on the 15/12/2024 at 15:51:00 UTC