| Portsmouth Shipyard | |
| Owner | |
| Bretonia Mining & Manufacturing | |
| Location | |
| E-3, Cambridge |
CLASS: Nelson
GRAVITY: Full
DOCKING: Yes
AMENITIES: Yes
CREW: 3250
After the Gallic War's conclusion, the Bretonian government was forced to evaluate its long term options for the construction of a military shipyard. Despite the symbolic and cultural value of Southampton Shipyard, it was ultimately determined that the cost of recovery and the wider strategic position made a New London site infeasible. Following the Glassing of Leeds, Bretonia's reduced ability to adequately secure the Tau frontier would place a repaired Southampton at unacceptable risk in the event of a future war. Similarly, it was deemed unacceptable for Aland to continue operating as Bretonia's main military shipyard on anything but a short-term emergency basis due to its exposed location and inadequate facilities. After a protracted deliberation period a decision was made to develop a new installation in Cambridge, orbiting Planet Sarum. The Construction Ship Fenland was deployed to handle this task, hauling large sections of the new shipyard consisting of individually constructed modules. Each module is hauled to the construction site to be welded together.
After a lengthy construction period which saw non-Bretonian participation, even from BMM mining rival Daumann, the ship yard was completed in late 827, and was officially named Portsmouth Shipyard in a ceremony observed by the monarch. The shipyard completion has made Aland no longer required for ship building efforts, with most of the production being moved over to the far more capable Portsmouth.
Bribes & Missions Offered
| Bribes |
| Missions |
Commodities
| Exports | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Ships sold
| Ship | Class | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Bretonia Cruise Liner | Liner | 2,370,001$ |
| Bretonia Gunboat | Gunboat | 1,225,006$ |
| Bretonia Destroyer | Cruiser | 3,128,900$ |
News
| [834 AS] Senior admiral unexpectedly retires |
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NEW LONDON -- 834 -- In an unexpected move, Lady Watson has announced her retirement from the Armed Forces, resigning her commission as an Admiral with immediate effect. Admiral Watson had been tipped as the most likely candidate to lead Bretonia’s pacification of Dublin, prompting surprise and concern among commentators. The Admiral’s office issued a curt statement advising that she was stepping down to spend more time with her grandchildren. Despite this, anonymous Whitehall sources claim the admiral was disgusted by the treatment of Admiral Byng, and had reached “breaking point” over alleged political interference in the planning and disposition of the upcoming campaign. |
| [833 AS] Gold Insecurity Invites Crisis |
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WATERLOO -- 833 -- Interspace analysts have published a report on the continued volatility of sector-wide Gold supplies, claiming that further instability invites disaster. The reports note the pressures placed on advanced Optronics, Bio-Neural Processor and Quantum Multiplexor manufacturing were already causing spiraling cost increases in adjacent market sectors. Market analysis also indicates that the bulk of Bretonian exports now consist of recycled and in some cases adulterated materials, likely indicating that stockpiles are running low. Interspace has called upon House authorities to collectively find the means of addressing the Dublin question before economic crisis becomes inevitable. |
| [833 AS] Queen greets troops during military tour |
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PORTSMOUTH -- 833 -- Queen Carina has conducted a tour of the First Cruiser Flotilla, marking the launch of the Agincourt class destroyer. Developed by BMM shipwrights using the hard-won lessons of the Gallic War, the Agincourt has been described as a potent blend of traditional Bretonian engineering and modern innovation. Phasing out the aging Crecy class, the Agincourt’s enhanced fire control systems and hardy armor will allow it to excel in the roles championed by its forebear. The Queen also celebrated the pivotal role played by the Cruiser Flotillas in saving Bretonia from Gallic tyranny, bestowing them with the ceremonial “Royal” title of Household troops. The First Royal Cruiser Flotilla is expected to be fully outfitted by year’s end. |
| [833 AS] Cambridge on the Line |
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NORFOLK -- 833 AS -- The number of recorded Corsair incursions across Cambridge has increased by 193%% in the last 3 years. According to Captain Edwards of the Battleship Norfolk, this is simply a result of the successes in detecting and reacting to attacks. "You can't respond to a Corsair you don't know is there," he noted. "The Cambridge Line ensures we know when and where to deploy our resources for maximum effect." Retired Major Jane Gilliam disagrees. "The Line was never fit for purpose," she says. "The Regents lobbied London to keep it, and so the pantomine continues." It is speculated that the spike in Corsair raids may have been prompted by increased resistance elsewhere, or a shift in their internal politics. Regardless of their true motivations, Interspace Commerce has recognised the elevated peril and adjusted its premiums accordingly. |
| [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] Bretonia Announces Poole Draw-Down |
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NEW LONDON -- 831 AS -- The Bretonian government has announced a controlled withdrawal from the Poole system, citing ballooning costs and an increasingly strained state budget. Poole was once of critical importance to Bretonia, briefly hosting a Super Gate to Liberty during the Gallic War, and acting as a launching point for Bretonia's colonial ambitions in Omega 48. With the end of the war and Bretonia's withdrawal from Planet Gran Canaria, Poole's prominence waned. The cost of policing the system and maintaining infrastructure has significantly outweighed collected tax revenue in recent years, with Planetform's Terraforming Gas operations reporting disappointing year on year returns.DSE has already confirmed that it will begin deconstruction operations shortly, with the dismantling of the Cambridge jump gate expected to be completed by 833 AS. Planetform has confirmed its intention to withdraw prior to this point, while settling shareholder anxiety with the announcement of promising preliminary findings for a replacement site in Newcastle. |
| [831 AS] Bretonian Focus Turns on Mollys |
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SHEFFIELD -- 831 AS -- The Bretonia Police Authority has announced that the eradication of the Molly movement is their top priority. In light of the loss of the Dublin system and the seemingly connected 'Blackout', the dangerous terrorist movement has leaped to the top of Bretonia's most wanted board. Bounties on Molly terrorists have doubled, with Bounty Hunters flocking to the beleaguered House. Guild Master Tina Hale of Sheffield Station commented that, "this is a good deal for a job that's less dangerous than many of our Edge World boards." Despite this, prospective Hunters should be cautious, as the Mollys are notoriously cunning and brutal fighters. The bounties and Police crackdown do appear to be having some initial effects however, with reports of Molly attacks on shipping in the Cambridge and Newcastle systems falling over recent weeks. |
| [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. |
| [831 AS] Cost of Rebuilding too High? |
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NEW LONDON -- 831 AS -- Bretonia continues to face a difficult and lengthy recovery process following the conclusion of the Gallic War. The Bretonian people initially accepted this, and quietly pledged to come together and struggle on. While Bretonia is now witnessing an extraordinary rate of growth, it has come at the cost of severe cuts and harsh industrial quotas. Professor Timothy Ball of the Economic Review Institute says, "the recovery we've witnessed so far has been uneven, mainly benefiting Bretonian corporations and Crown agencies. If dividends of recovery are not felt by the average citizen, this inequality could become a major point of domestic political contention." |
| [829 AS] Marauding in Manchester |
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MANCHESTER -– 829 AS -- Reports from the Manchester system have now been confirmed by BPA and Bretonian intelligence officials: Liverpool Border Station, guarding over the Magellan jump gate and serving as the command center for police operations in the system, has been destroyed in what is being deemed a terrorist attack. Yesterday at 2200 hours SMT, nearby Sheffield Station and Kingston Border Station received automated distress signals from Liverpool, indicating an emergency aboard the station. Guild patrols redirected from Sheffield arrived on the scene within minutes, finding the border station destroyed. Search and rescue operations headed by Guild and BPA units commenced immediately and successfully salvaged several escape pods bearing several dozen survivors, who were immediately delivered to hospitals on New London. BPA spokesperson Sandra Halling held a press conference earlier this morning. According to joint police and BIS investigations, Liverpool was destroyed by antimatter explosives planted aboard the station. Their detonation caused a catastrophic chain reaction, resulting in the station's own reactors melting down and exploding. Of the estimated one-hundred-twenty persons on board at the time of the attack, seventy-eight have been reported as dead or missing. \So far, no party has taken credit for this heinous attack. However, Bretonian police surmises that it was likely perpetrated by either the criminals known as the Mollys or the infamous pirate organization, the Lane Hackers. The attack occurred following a significant redeployment of local Armed Forces units to the Cortez system for the purpose of joint operations with Libertonian security forces. This, says Halling, may have allowed terrorist sympathizers to exploit undermanned BPA patrols and smuggle illegal explosives through Manchester's ice fields, onto Liverpool Station. While investigations continue, Bretonian Police Authority has reinforced patrols within Manchester and established traffic controls at Kingston Border Station and Birmingham Station. Traffic to and from Liberty has been advised to reroute through the Cortez system. |
| [816 AS] Terrorist attacks rising in Omega-3 |
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FREEPORT 1 -- 816 AS -- Omega-3 has a long and turbulent history of being a lawless space. In recent days there have been a particularly brutal spate of killings, with several BMM and Bowex convoys massacred. The Bretonia Armed Forces has been on the case for weeks, and yesterday successfully intercepted the mysterious attackers mid-ambush. Major Helen Hardy identified the assailants as Rheinland Military vessels, commenting that, “it was like 800 all over again” -- referring to Rheinland’s assault on Omega-3 during the Colony Wars. Following a complaint to the Rheinland government, defense officials were quick to deny responsibility for the attacks, pointing instead to the Military deserters-turned-terrorist group commonly known as The Wild. |
| [812 AS] Rheinland warns about “Wild” attacks |
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FREISTADT -- 812 -- For many years rumors have spread about attacks on Omega shipping by a group known as The Wild. Now their ships have been sighted marauding across Stuttgart and New Berlin. Rheinland has announced that MND intelligence has identified these menaces as traitorous Colony War deserters and war criminals, who stole Military hardware and vanished into the border worlds to enrich themselves. It is unclear what prompted the renegades to extend their attacks into Rheinland core space, however it is speculated that they may have been driven out of their old hunting grounds by other pirate organizations such as the Red Hessians or Corsairs. |
Rumors
NOTE: Page generated on the 15/12/2024 at 15:50:59 UTC