Vendome Station

From Discovery Wiki
Vendome Station
Owner
IDF Shipping
Location
C/B-4, Orleanais

CLASS: Ronsard

GRAVITY: Complete

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 260

Construction of the Vendome Suite was financed by King Richard V and finalised by the late 6th century AGS. This space habitat was intended as Richard's present to his wife, Duchess Cecile de Piney. However, Cecile preferred the comfort of her home and never set foot on Vendome, as a result of their relationship souring in the midst of the project. Instead, Vendome Station was a hotel and guest house reserved mainly for disfavored members of the royal court. Because of the excess space, entire sectors were refurbished into a museum of Gallia's history and growth.

Vendome would later find itself housing the renowned Sirian Bounty Hunters Guild for a few short years, but alas, the Gallic Union deemed the Guild's detachment a superfluous, diplomatic gesture and repositioned them elsewhere. Today, Vendome Station rightfully serves as an Ile-de-France Shipping outpost, and the aforementioned museum now directed by the critically acclaimed Bouvet Space Entertainment firm.

Bribes & Missions Offered

Bribes
Missions


Commodities

Imports
Commodity Price
Hessian Tears 188$
Gin 79$
Liberty Ale 85$
Rheinbier 59$
Sake 68$
Oxygen 1$
Water 1$
Diamonds 189$
Food Rations 10$
Luxury Food 19$
Pharmaceuticals 75$
Consumer Goods 28$
Cardamine 205$
Consumer Goods 205$
Artifacts 235$
Consumer Goods 235$
Gaian Wildlife 401$
Synth Paste 48$
Promethene 33$
Tea 79$
Xenobiotic Filters 78$
Nox 130$
Consumer Goods 130$
Passengers (Liberty) 1,162$
Passengers (Bretonia) 976$
Passengers (Kusari) 922$
Passengers (Rheinland) 840$
Fire Pearls 70$
Biodome Materials 90$
Exports
Commodity Price
Deployable Mining Container 50,000$
Crew 237$
Luxury Consumer Goods 90$
Vacationers 515$
Wine 22$
Cigars 30$
Passengers (Gallia) 391$


Ships sold


Ship Class Price
Gallic Frigate Frigate 1,042,506$
Gallic Transport Transport 416,557$
Gallic Liner Liner 2,056,005$


News

[750 AGS] Grand Marshal secures economic victory for Union

NEW PARIS -- 750 AGS -- The Grand Marshal has declared a decisive victory in trade negotiations with Rheinland. Military envoys successfully pressed the Rheinlanders for concessions as recompense for a number of insulting breaches of diplomatic protocol during the recent state visit. As a result, excellent rates on imported minerals have been secured, in addition to the removal of tariffs on Gallic agricultural surplus. The Treaty of Oerlikon will be an enormous boon to rebuilding Gallia's strength and greatness; Bretonia, Kusari and Liberty's furious criticisms of Rheinland for their forward thinking is simply evidence of their weakness and fear.

[748 AGS] Lorraine Evacuation Nearing Completion

ORLEANS -- 748 AGS -- According to the information released by the Ministry of the Interior, the evacuation of the Lorraine system is proceeding ahead of schedule. The final convoy of refugees from Metz has arrived in the Orleanais system, pending resettlement onto Orleans in the coming days. As of now, only EFL staff and a token Navy garrison remain in Lorraine to oversee the deconstruction of the remaining infrastructure. According to official projections, the docking ring and the remaining trade lanes will be dismantled and shipped back to the core worlds by the end of next month, with jump gate shutdown following soon after.

Once a beacon of our national ingenuity, Metz was the site of the experimental Metz Mirror Array, more commonly known as the MMA project. The project was intended to assist the terraforming operations through a sophisticated array of orbital mirrors. The array would redirect additional sunlight onto the equatorial band of Metz, further raising local temperatures on the otherwise icy world.

Decried by its detractors as a "fool king's endeavour", the ambitious project never had the opportunity to prove its capabilities, as the nearly complete array fell victim to Kusari's invasion of Lorraine. With the array gone and supplies severed, the terraforming project and the biosphere it maintained collapsed during the occupation, leading to widespread famine across Metz. Unfortunately, in the wake of King Charles' gambit in Bretonia and the near complete destruction of Lorraine and Languedoc by Kusari forces, the Union government has declared the system a total loss and ordered a full evacuation of the planet.

[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.

[743 AGS] Gallic-Kusari War Close to Conclusion?

LODEVE SPACE PORT -- 743 AGS -- An unprecedented loss of life occurred throughout Gallia as Kusari, Confederate and Enclave forces came to a massive confrontation in the early hours of the day. The fighting was most intense in the Languedoc system as several fleets of all sides rained down fire on each other. Several eye witness reports indicate the crossfire was visible from as far as Planet Quillan.

In the heat of battle the Confederate forces seemed to be losing to the Kusari invaders, but in their hour of need the Royal Enclave arrived on the scene and jumped to Gallia's aid. Even with their combined forces it was a devastating battle. With significant losses on both sides, the Languedoc system has suddenly become a graveyard of destroyed vessels and their former crew.

The struggle was not in vain as the Kusari forces located in the system ended up pulling out of Languedoc and regrouped in the Tau-31 system, giving the locals in Languedoc a much needed reprieve from the ongoing fighting.

However distressing unverified messages are coming from the Lorraine system, claiming that the Kusari forces have started pulling out of the system and are applying a scorched earth tactic. Taking down as much of the local infrastructure and bases as they pull back to the Tau-53 system.

We are working around the clock to try and verify these messages, as well as the resulting loss of life if it is true.

With the Kusari forces pulling out of our house we can finally hope the end of the war is near, however it is clear it has come at a great cost.

[743 AGS] Alarm raised in Zurich

OERLIKON OBSERVATORY -- 743 AGS -- The Gallic Confederation has reacted with alarm at the unfolding events in Rheinland. The First Rheinland Republic has fallen to a violent coup, resulting in the creation of a new Empire. The 'Zurich Corridor' linking Gallia and Rheinland had been intended to open a new avenue for trade and investment across southern Gallia, transforming the Zurich system into a highly profitable trade artery. Rheinland's collapse into civil war has come at an extremely inopportune time, mere days after the successful completion of the Zurich gate and lane projects.

The Confederal Government has so far remained divided on the "Rheinland Question", with the exception of authorising the deployment of the La Fierte battlegroup to the border. This decision appears to have been prudent, with reports circulating on Oerlikon that a large Rheinland engine plume was detected on a heading towards the Valais Cloud. So far Confederal Defence Force representatives have remained tight lipped about the possibility of a Rheinland battlegroup seeking refuge in the system.

Despite the political gridlock between Republican, Duchy and Minarchy representatives, the Defence Force has received authorisation to deploy into the Cologne system in order to secure Gallic assets. Intelligence reports have confirmed that the group known as the Red Hessians has attempted to assert control over the system, and infiltrate Zurich. A public warning has been posted advising that 'Hessians' approaching the Zurich jump gate will be fired upon.

[735 AGS] Sirian Campaign Picking Up Steam

NEW PARIS -- 735 AGS -- The Royal Navy is claiming victory after victory in the Bretonian colonies. After successfully flushing out what appears to have been local pirate forces, our forces took the sparsely inhabited "Edinburgh" system with only token resistance. The first real test of our forces against the enemy came in the toxic wasteland called Leeds, where the first heavily inhabited planet lays. Enemy resistance was stiff, but our forces have managed to gain the upper hand in virtually the entire system. This puts the Gallic Expeditionary Forces in a position to strike at New London, and the heart of Bretonia. Military analysts predict that all organised Bretonian resistance will falter if New London falls, and that taking London itself would mean a quick end to to the war, avoiding needless bloodshed.

[734 AGS] The Reconquest Begins

NEW PARIS -- 734 AGS -- King Charles XI addressed the nation today to announce the beginning of the Great Reconquest, the reclamation of the rich and fertile regions of Sirius stolen from the rightful control of Gallia by the Libertonian and Bretonian traitors.

"My faithful subjects! We have stood by long enough while the ravenous remnants of the Alliance feasted upon the lands they have eyed for themselves from long before the landing! We know what they did to assure themselves domination, we know that they led Coalition forces to our sleeper launch site so that they may escape like the rats that they are, and take the best of this region for themselves. All their actions must have consequences! Starting from today, they will be running once again. They will run, or they will be included into the rightful control of House Gallia! Hail the reconquest!"

The crowd gathered at Ile du Palais cheered throughout the speech. The first Royal Navy units are expected to reach and pacify Tau-23 within days, officially marking the first step on the road to victory.

[733 AGS] The 2nd Gallic War: True Goals of the Council

BRIANCON -- 733 AGS -- The so-called Second Gallic War that was inspired by the Council two decades ago is nowhere near its ending. The Council, the powerful and wealthy group formed mainly by Royal Navy and Royal Police deserters, and financed by semi-legal businesses and criminal cartels of the Core Worlds, is sometimes described as a revolutionary movement. Yet, through the course of the war the Gallic media collected evidence that Council is nowadays more like a state within a state, having its own bureaucracy, enforcement agencies, and even newly established oligarchy that came into fortune due to the war.

The Council leaders claim that their goal is to change the government of Gallia and overthrow the monarchy, in addition to breaking the isolation of Gallia from the rest of Sirius worlds. According to our today's expert Robert Broussard, Doctor of Economy and senior consultant of Solar Engineering and Ile-de-France Shipping, the Council never had an intention to overthrow the New Paris monarchy. "Our information on the Council agenda is mainly based on their own public announcements and press releases. Yet, New Paris is so far from the Gallic Border Worlds that the Council will not be able to overtake the Core Worlds by force, even if all Border Worlds fall under their supreme rule," - Broussard says, - "On New Paris and other prominent worlds of Gallia, public support for the warlike actions of the Council is relatively low, and the Council is aware that the chances to inspire revolts in the heart of our nation are very slim."

Independent analysts estimate black market operations in Gallia rising by 150%% during the last 30 years. At the same time, frequency of pirate attacks had risen twice in the Core Worlds, and more than three times in the Border Worlds. This unprecedented wave of piracy occured mainly because of the demand for various smuggled goods that the Council generates, and because of the overall chaos caused by the war. Royal Police was caught unprepared by this new dangerous tendency, unable to defend corporate and civilian shipments. The pirate groups are expected to grow even larger now that the path to Sirius was breached by the Council in Languedoc. Being able to take advantage of this new development, pirate groups like the Unione Corse, Gallic Brigands, and Maquis now plan their expansion into Sirius, searching for new markets and recruiting more pilots.

The Council supports those pirate groups almost openly, in return for their help against the Royal Navy. Sporadic raids of Brigands and Maquis never cause significant losses, but play a crucial role in delaying Navy operations against the Council. Almost every asteroid field and nebula in Gallia is now swarmed with ships of various unlawful groups. It remains unknown for how much longer the Council resistance will continue, but it is already evident that there are forces within the Council and within the pirate groups interested in using the war as a source of income. For the Council leadership, political struggle and the well being of their own people appears to be less important than gaining personal wealth and power. This is the reason why the Council would never support any peace negotiation initiatives.

[735 AGS] Cardamine the New Scourge of Gallia?

NEW PARIS -- 819 AS -- Royal Police spokesmen dismiss media reports of widespread abuse of the new drug Cardamine within Gallic society, but arrests for drug related offenses seem to be on the rise. Cardamine, which has an unknown origin, seems to have spread throughout the upper tiers of Gallic society quietly, and has only received media attention after becoming a dominant force in street level crime. Some blame contact with Sirius as the source of the problem, pointing to a conspiracy among the Sirius Houses to afflict Gallia with degenerate addictions. One prominent politician called for investigation of the Junkers as the likely culprits who introduced Cardamine to Gallia, but so far his allegations have been seemingly ignored by the Royal Police. Inquiries to the Royal Navy about whether Cardamine has shown up in cargo interdictions on Gallia's borders have gone unanswered.


Rumors

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