Barrow Base

Barrow Base

File:Iw02 01 base.png

Owner

Xenos

Location

D-3/2, Hudson

CLASS: Calvin

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Limited

CREW: Unknown

The Xenos descend from heavy manufacturing and mining workers from Colorado and Texas. Excavated in 764 AS, Barrow Base was originally a Deep Space Engineering (DSE) extraction platform from the "days when Liberty did its own mining". DSE chose to shutter expensive local operations and import cheaper minerals from Rheinland and Bretonia instead. Over time, most blue-collar miners became unemployed and were pushed to the economic fringe of Liberty society.

By 816 AS, Barrow’s population had exploded due to mass recruitment aboard the LPI’s prisons, and sudden layoffs at Houston’s Fertilizer chemical plants. Despite expansions to the base's cramped tunnels and caves, overcrowding quickly hit critical levels. The southern Xeno clans were forced to expel surplus pilots, sending them away to larger bases such as Fort Ramsey. Despite this, Barrow remains a claustrophobic bastion of the Xeno cause against Rheinland, primarily targeting Republican and ALG transports.

Barrow’s patrols are also a persistent thorn in the side of the Junkers, Liberty Rogues and Unioners, as Xenos frequently disrupt their smuggling operations across Texas and the Independent Worlds, stealing valuable contraband. Since 827 AS, the Rogues have become more aggressive in proactively targeting the Xenos in return, with some speculating that furious Junkers have handsomely paid them off as mercenaries.

Bribes & Missions Offered

Bribes

Xenos Zoners

Missions

Xenos

Commodities

Imports

Commodity Price Hessian Tears 133$ Criminals 573$ Liberty Ale 37$ Medical Equipment 34$ Light Arms 52$ Prisoners 194$ Black Market Pharmaceuticals 25$ Counterfeit Computerware 48$ Silver 140$ Oxygen 14$ Water 15$ Diamonds 144$ Food Rations 60$ H-Fuel 125$ MOX 36$ Pharmaceuticals 34$ Consumer Goods 16$ Artifacts 196$ Consumer Goods 196$ Black Market Munitions 42$ Black Market Augments 39$ Platinum 117$ Synth Paste 24$ Munitions 52$ Xenobiotic Filters 18$ Xeno Relics 244$

Exports

Commodity Price Deployable Mining Container 50,000$

Ships sold

Ship	Class	Price
Rebel	Very Heavy Fighter	92,180$
Aggressor	Bomber	83,427$

News

[832 AS] A Different Kind of Heat

HOUSTON -- 832 AS -- A horrifyingly large scale firefight broke out in one of Houston's major city centers - Marlton, hundreds upon hundreds of arrests have been made and dozens of brave officers lost their lives in the vicious attack. The attack itself seems to have specifically targeted the city's dedicated police station, resulting in significant amounts of private property damage. The attack appears to have been highly coordinated, reliant on insider information, and carried out by contractors or former professionals, with one LPI spokesperson going so far as to say that this must have been a bought and paid for terrorist attack. Many of the perpetrators of the attack were killed by officers on scene, or by the Naval Emergency Response Team that responded to scattered reports of small arms fire. The LPI has currently released no statement about the progress of the investigation.

[832 AS] Kusari's Plight

KAGOSHIMA -- 832 AS -- Synth Foods audacity knows no bounds. They use a time of tragedy as an opportunity to bloat their already bloated purses with more ill-gotten wealth. We cannot allow this. There can be no room for Synth in Kusari. They already control too great a share of the market and with Kyushu's food production on a downward spiral after the storm, our intervention is necessary now more than ever. We must commit ourselves fully to our mission for the greater interests of Kusari unless we wish to live under the jackboot of Liberty and its vile corporate interests!

[832 AS] Counting Doses

ROCHESTER -- 832 AS -- The catastrophic crash of the Cardamine market has been tough for all the associates involved in the chain of its distribution, and the substantial drop-off in the quantity of it available for use and resale has caused a new problem in this series of bad episodes. The Rogues and Hackers, former partners in feeding the needs of the underworld are now at each other's throats, unable to meet demands for the drug both by their own and by customers, it seems as if stealing it from each other at gunpoint is the new business model.

[831 AS] Lack of Cardamine, Liberty's Underworld Burns

When the convoys heading from Cali to Mactan and Buffalo thinned out - and even stopped for a brief moment - the underworld in Liberty literally imploded. Previously close alliances quickly fell apart to the displeasure of the Outcasts, and every part of the underworld in Liberty was desperately trying to get as much Cardamine for themselves as possible. The Outcasts and their most loyal agents stepped in almost immediately in anticipation of something like this happening, and set new rules for distribution according to set keys. A small group of Liberty Rogues defied them and followed their own rules of distribution, but they didn't fare too well - the Dons, despite the ongoing crisis in Malta, do not tolerate insubordination. For this reason, several powerful Junkers and Rogues immediately decided to dilute Cardamine instead of redistributing ostentatiously against the wishes of the Outcasts at the expense of their clients, thereby raising their own shares. Fortunately for these savvy businessmen, word did not reach the Outcasts until some time later, and thanks to an improved network of cooperation, most of the organizers were able evade Malta's assassins. However, all these measures had only limited effectiveness. Many end-clients and casual Cardamine users have been forced to seek medical attention due to their deteriorating health due to potentially fatal withdrawal symptoms. It is not known how many Cardamine users eventually died because of the shortage, but it appears to be in the order of single-digit percentages - much to the very verbal displeasure of the Outcasts themselves.

[831 AS] Jump Hole Upheaval Causes Chaos

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] Xeno Ranks Bolstered By Insurgent Veterans

RAMSEY -- 831 AS -- With the Insurgency all but a memory, one can't help but wonder where so many of the movement's most ardent and veteran members faded away to. Liberty would like to believe that the Insurgency died with Veracruz, to put the thought of real freedom out of the minds of their subjects once and for all. While Liberty trumpets its triumphs from the parapets, reassuring the public of their own ostensible personal liberties and safety, the ranks of those who would show them a better way swell every day. Some combat veterans and pilots filtered directly into the Xeno movement proper, while others fight for our cause or otherwise contribute to our goals in other ways, blending into the oppressed population of Planet Erie or operating in our cells on other Libertonian worlds. Many of the Insurgent's former intelligence operatives have been repurposed in the Xenos' ever-growing cardamine business, allowing the movement to consolidate and grow its strength with fresh injections of credits. If there is one thing that can be taken from the Insurgency, however, it is that Liberty cannot be contested in a direct confrontation of military strength. To think otherwise would be folly. Instead, we will expose the rot inside the government and let the masses decide the rest for themselves, so that we may all enjoy a better future for ourselves and for the Republic we love.

[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.

[817 AS] Houston workers flock to the cause

BARROW -- 816 -- Chemical Fertilizer workers on Houston have been kicked in the teeth after Synth Foods outsourced their jobs to Rheinland. Liberty stood by and let the layoffs roll in, so now betrayed workers turn to us. The Xenos know what it's like to be kicked to the bottom, and we welcome these new brothers and sisters to the struggle as we fight our way to the top. The Houston clans are already training up these chemical workers as bomb makers and preparing them for the fight to come. Soon Houston will be a no-go zone for any foreign shipper.

Rumors

Xenos

Liberty's plans for terraforming the Hudson system's planet Atka came to a rumbling halt in 771 when one of our attack squads blew up a Planetform terraforming vessel. Now they're back with that damned Battleship watching over the operation. Didn't we show what happens to foreigners enough when Republican was fouling up this place? Bah, guess our boys will have to fry a few more Bretonians to get the point across. Our base is actually an old abandoned mining plant from a time when Liberty did its mining. It had been abandoned for years - probably forgotten about by Deep Space Engineering. It was still called Monumental Engineering when this base was in operation, that's how old it is. Good thing we know how to patch things up, old space stations can be a death trap if you don't know what you're doing. 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. The Xenos exist throughout Liberty, because the Xenos are a part of Liberty. We were the common man who worked the mines, shipyards and factories, before outsiders came and took our livelihoods away. The government isn't doing anything about that, so we take matters into our own hands. Kill all who come, and they will stop coming. A simple philosophy, but it works. 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. We make supply runs and attack runs into the Bering system. We get our supplies from the Zoners at Freeport 2 and attack the Unioners. When we see Unioner ships we attack them. The Unioners should go back to Rheinland where they come from. This is Liberty space, and they got no business coming here. A lot of Diamonds get mined in the Walker Nebula systems, especially in Dresden and Omega-11. The Unioners smuggle a lot of them into Liberty since Rheinland refuses to sell them legally, with the war and all. We try and nab as many of these Diamond shipments as we can, since it's easy to sell these ourselves. The demand for Diamonds is high, so the price is as well. The Diamond business sure helps us buy new ships and get the equipment we need to run our operations. There weren't many of us Xenos when we first began, but the LPI solved that problem for us. The first of us captured were sent to the Huntsville in Texas, where we found others that saw the truth. Our numbers grew as we recruited from the prisons. LPI got wise after a while and started isolating Xenos from other inmates. They realized that for every Xeno they put away, three more converts would walk out five years later. Things haven't really changed much. When you're at the bottom of the barrel in Liberty, the Xeno vision is the only one that makes sense. 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.

NOTE: Page generated on the 07/06/2024 at 15:55:47 UTC