Cochrane Depot

	Cochrane Depot
	Owner
	Lane Hackers
	Location
	G-3, Ontario

CLASS: Archer

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Limited

CREW: Unknown

Cochrane Depot was constructed in 810 AS, shortly after Liberty funded the construction of the California Jump Gate. Initially used as a simple staging post to harass Ageira operations, Cochrane quickly evolved into a joint project between the Lane Hackers of Magellan and Galileo. Pooling the skillsets of Ageira defectors from Colorado and California, Cochrane became a hub for the development of sophisticated sensor technologies and the underpinning firmware. This collaboration bore fruit with the Minified Spyglass Scanner, a Lane Hacker derivative of a stolen Liberty Navy prototype.

While this scanner was later discarded as impractical, it was an important stepping-stone to the Spyglass Network, a decentralized matrix of sensors hidden across Liberty. These satellites allow Lane Hackers to fit powerful scanners to smaller ships, outsourcing energy-expensive processing to the wider network. As a result of the expertise cultivated at Cochrane, the base has begun to offer premium sensor tuning and refit to the wealthiest of clients. In recent years, the Hackers of Cochrane have bartered these services to Outcast cartels for preferential access to stressed Cardamine supplies.

Cochrane is also the primary source of Lane Hacker produced Counterfeit Computerware -- off-the-shelf hardware and software bundles that allow even the least sophisticated groups to execute plug-and-play cyberattacks and scams. Stemming the flow of Counterfeit Computerware has become a major priority for Liberty authorities due to the significant cost its dissemination imposes on the Sirian economy.

Bribes & Missions Offered

Bribes

Missions

Commodities

Imports

Commodity	Price
Liberty Ale	34$
Medical Equipment	26$
Light Arms	51$
Black Market Pharmaceuticals	14$
Oxygen	18$
Food Rations	60$
H-Fuel	176$
MOX	52$
Mining Machinery	42$
Pharmaceuticals	26$
Consumer Goods	33$
Cardamine	231$
Consumer Goods	231$
Ageira Gate/Lane Parts	159$
Bio-Neural Processors	205$
Black Market Munitions	69$
Black Market Augments	48$
Synth Paste	21$
Munitions	52$
Xenobiotic Filters	45$

Exports

Commodity	Price
Deployable Mining Container	50,000$
Counterfeit Computerware	16$
Water	16$

Ships sold

Ship	Class	Price
Lane Hacker Gunship	Gunboat	990,006$
Liberty Heavy Transport	Heavy Transport	1,086,006$
Liberty Transport	Transport	101,006$

News

[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.

[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.

Rumors

Lane Hackers

The Junkers at Thunder Bay offer a nice price for fresh Cardamine. It's a good alternate drop-off point when the patrols in New York make it too dangerous to enter the system. I wonder where's the profit for them to buy it at such price.

We do quite well raiding the convoys that stop at Hamilton and Toronto. We unload the Platinum to the Junkers, but the high tech material we send to Airdrie for research and reverse engineering.

There's not as much traffic here as in Magellan, but Ontario is very conveniently placed. From Cochrane we can hit California, New York, and Colorado. I wonder how much time it will take for the Navy to figure out we have a base here.

Cochrane has been used for hitting convoys shipping Military Vehicles from Fort Severn. We were causing so much trouble the Liberty Navy dispatched the Battleship Ottawa to protect the convoys. But we still find a way to intercept traffic.

There is a lot of military material passing through Ontario. Guns, munitions, and of course, Military Vehicles. All these shipments are heavily escorted, but the price for these on the black market is so high that it's worth the risk, tenfold.

This is the place where we make most of our Bio-Neural Processors. We hit Ageira's high-tech computing shipments, bring them here in transports and adjust them to our needs. When you think about it, most of our ships are built thanks to these. Funny, isn't it?

Not many people know about this base, mostly Lane Hacker allies and occasional smugglers supplying it. It gives us quick access to the California and Colorado systems when there is a special shipment to be ambushed by surprise.

Becoming a Lane Hacker was the best choice I made in life. I was fed up with all the lies and oppression Ageira was doing to their workers. Here my work is recognized and awarded, I have all the things I need in life.

There is a Junker base located in this system, some of our pilots visit it frequently to gather useful rumors from the underground world and to relax in various entertainment rooms.

The real reason we're here is Hamilton. There is something strange going on there, much more than the so-called "mining operations". Our recon wings have detected high emission of radiations all around the station. Strange, I tell you.

This base was primarily built to monitor Ageira operations in this system, we frequently catch their shipments of Robotics on lane to Toronto station in this system and we monitor their transmissions from Hamilton base.

Battleship Ottawa is a joke. It never leaves Huron's orbit, so all we have to do to hit Navy shipments is to wait for the Ottawa to be behind Huron. With the planet on their way, undocking fighter wings have to travel all around it. It takes so much time that we're already docked by the time they leave orbit.

Outcasts

I stop here occasionaly with my smuggling convoy for a drink and some holo entertainment, but I never have too many contact with the Lane Hacker pilots. They seem like an odd lot, I can't even understand half of the words they are saying.

Even the Liberty Rogues have tested the Council of Dons' patience in the past year. So far, things are tense but we have maintained a working relationship. I sense trouble ahead, though. The Lane Hackers are increasing their Cardamine requisitions all the time. Some of us think they intend to replace the Rogues as the primary Cardamine suppliers in Liberty. The Hackers would have to be crazy to try that. The last thing anyone wants to do is cross the Rogues.

This is a great stop when we're moving from Alberta to California, and we often drop of Bioneural Processors here to the Lane Hackers. I don't understand what they do do with them, but they pay a nice amount of credits for them.

Not many people are aware of this, but Lane Hackers sometimes buy off slave girls for their bars. I guess they appreciate better things in life with the best women they can find in Sirius sector. That is why I often come by on this base.

The grand "Outcast Alliance" has really taken a beating in the past few years. We've fared the worst in Bretonia and Rheinland, and a lot of Outcasts think that is because those Houses are free of dependence on Cardamine. Fortunately, Liberty is not similarly free...You have to love the irony.

If the Hackers ever do make a move against the Rogues, the Junkers will be the first to know about it. Most of the Cardamine only gets to Liberty's planets on Junker ships, so the Hackers would have to obtain Junker cooperation in order to push the Rogues out of the Cardamine business. The Junkers would drive a hard bargain to participate in something like that. Rogues aren't known for forgiving anyone who stabs them in the back.

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