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Freelancer Houses - The Bretonia
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The Bretonia was one of the
last sleeper ships to arrive in the Sirius Sector, almost
twenty years after the Liberty, Kusari, and Rheinland had made
planetfall on what became their respective homeworlds. In the
chaos of Exodus, the starboard engine array of the Bretonia
was destroyed, requiring her to limp the rest of the way to
Sirius.
By the time the Bretonia arrived, most of the
resource rich areas of the sector had already been claimed by
the passengers of the Rheinland and Kusari, while the Liberty
had settled the lush planets at the sector core. Bretonia was
forced to select a less than ideal site near the Barrier, a
giant belt of ice that spans the entire western half of the
Sirius Sector. Here they established the colony of New London,
on one of the few habitable planets in the area. Isolated by
the Barrier from the other houses and years behind, Bretonia
began an accelerated program of rebuilding their industrial
civilization.
Historically quiet in terms of crime,
Bretonia is the home of two narrowly focused terrorist groups,
the Mollys and the Gaians. Common criminals were quite rare
until the recent arrival of Corsairs and Outcasts within the
colony, which has severely tested the capabilities and
resources of the Police Authority and Armed Forces.
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Polluted and littered with old mining areas and debris fields, New London is not exactly the vision of a new beginning that its founders intended so many centuries ago. Capitol of the Bretonia colony and home to the government, New London is by far the most populous of the four primary Bretonia systems.
New London is the seat of the Bretonian government, but almost as important, it is the heart of the Bretonian way of life. Despite the pollution resulting from years of industrialization, the vast majority of the Bretonian aristocracy lives here -- and even the most impoverished citizen is comfortably middle class.
Most of the population works in the Bretonian bureaucratic aristocracy, an almost impenetrable network of obscure titles, government offices, and rules of procedure. Because of (or perhaps, despite) this, all of the major Bretonian companies, including Bowex and Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing (BMM), have offices on New London. The police and military also locate their organizational headquarters here.
Diameter: 10,723 km.
Mass: 4.90 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: -46°C to 43°C
Escape Velocity: 10.27 km/sec
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Soon after settlement, Bretonia needed raw materials and Leeds was quickly recognized as the most resource-rich system under Bretonian control. To harvest the resources, companies were formed and given royal charters -- near carte blanche -- to develop the system in any way they saw fit. Settlers, meanwhile, were handed generous incentives to move to Leeds and serve as the workforce.
Over the centuries, however, unchecked industrial progress has led to significant environmental pollution as exemplified by the omnipresent smog clouds. Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing (BMM) operates the bulk of the planetside mining, smelting, and manufacturing facilities, while Bowex handles transportation of finished goods throughout Bretonia.
Today, the Leeds system has the dubious distinction of being the most polluted system in the Sirius Sector. Exploited by Bretonia Mining and Metals for centuries, the planet is now close to ecological collapse. Health problems abound among the population of Leeds, resulting in the lowest life expectancy of all the colony planets.
Leeds and the surrounding asteroid fields within the system are almost exhausted, which has prompted BMM to expand into the Border Worlds to feed the smelters at Stokes, the largest space side industrial installation in Bretonia. Various alloys and ship hull panels are produced for export at the sprawling facility.
Diameter: 10,723 km.
Mass: 5.11 x 10e25 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: -30°C to 63°C
Escape Velocity: 9.21 km/sec
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Cambridge is the bread basket of Bretonia and one of the most pristine planets within the colonies. Home of the most prestigious university in the Sirius Sector, Cambridge’s population consists chiefly of academics and farmers. To protect their common interests, they have restricted industrial development on the planet, hoping to avoid the environmental disasters that befell Leeds and New London.
This lush green world is home of the Cambridge Research Institute -- an institution devoted to pure scientific research. Bretonia's epidemic food shortages required the planetary Regents to place farmers with scientists to develop more bountiful crops, making Cambridge the primary food producer for Bretonia. Now several Cambridge scientists sympathize with the Gaian eco-terrorist movement, igniting bitter debates among researchers over terraforming.
Diameter: 10,723 km.
Mass: 5.11 x 10e25 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: -49°C to 73°C
Escape Velocity: 10.21 km/sec
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A large gas giant with only trace elements of useful resources. Canterbury Station and the Kensington Shipping Platform both orbit the planet, generating a considerable amount of traffic.
Diameter: 26,216 km
Mass: 9.89 x 10e24 kg
Terrain: N/A
Temperature: N/A
Escape Velocity: 15.42 km/sec
A small, icy, airless moon. Initial surveys found no mineral or gas deposits of any size worth exploiting, while the environment was inhospitable to colonization.
Diameter: 9,348 km
Mass: 3.83 x 10e24 kg
Terrain: Ice
Temperature: -88°C to -60°C
Escape Velocity: 8.42 km/sec
A beautiful but barren world of magnificent ice formations. Glasgow Outpost orbits the planet, headquarters for Bowex. While Bowex often collects natural ice sculptures from the surface for use as place settings for official banquets, Waterford otherwise lacks any useful resources.
Diameter: 11,679 km
Mass: 5.32 x 10e24 kg
Terrain: Ice
Temperature: -74°C to -58°C
Escape Velocity: 11.03 km/sec
A frozen planet locked in a deep crust of ice. Scientists theorize that Wight might once have supported life until its atmosphere was ripped away during an ancient catastrophe. Today, Birmingham Station orbits Wight, but its mining operations focus on the more profitable free-floating ice fields nearby.
Diameter: 12,220 km
Mass: 5.66 x 10e24 kg
Terrain: Ice
Temperature: -92°C to -64°C
Escape Velocity: 11.27 km/sec
Smaller than some asteroids, the Ross Planetoid exists at a gravitational sink where ice fragments have collected over the millennia and begun to compact under their own weight into the seed of what might eventually become a planet. Ross presents a unique opportunity for the Cambridge Research Institute to study planetary formation and extend their terraforming technology.
Diameter: 200 km
Mass: 0.66 x 10e24 kg
Terrain: N/A
Temperature: N/A
Escape Velocity: N/A
Graves Station is entirely owned by Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing (BMM) and produces the bulk of all gold mined in the colony. A contingent from the Bretonia Police Authority is also stationed aboard to provide security against mounting attacks by the Mollys.
Class: Wellington
Gravity: Partial
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Yes
Population: 900
Birmingham Station is a sizeable ice processing facility run by Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing (BMM). Frozen methane, CO2, and hydrocarbons are mined from the nearby ice asteroid fields, processed, and stored until transported to their ultimate destination in Bretonia or Liberty. As a byproduct of processing hydrocarbons into polymers, Birmingham also produces substantial quantities of oxygen which are often sold to terraforming operations in the California System.
Class: Wellington
Gravity: Partial
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Limited
Population: 600
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Owned and operated by Orbital Spa and Cruise Lines, the Shetland is a moveable feast for the rich and those who service them. Aside from its gourmet restaurants and shopping arcades, guides aboard the Shetland offer tours of the protected preserve of Gaia -- a beautiful, pristine world -- but planetside visas are an extraordinarily rare and expensive item.
Gaia itself is a tropical paradise -- a rich, green world of plants and animals -- the likes of which have not been found anywhere else in the Sirius Sector. Until its potential treasure trove of genetic material can be better understood, however, Gaia has been placed under the control of the Cambridge Research Institute.
Aside from the very limited number of planetside tourist visas, only Institute researchers are allowed on the planet. Unfortunately, poaching has become prevalent. Rumors of the aphrodisiac qualities of certain animals has generated a tremendous demand among those who can afford to pay for the privilege of sampling.
Class: Wilde
Amenities: Yes
Passengers: 500
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Perth Station is owned and operated by Planetform Inc. as a base for the arduous and hopefully lucrative process of terraforming the planet Ayr. This operation is under almost constant attack by Gaian eco-terrorists, despite increased protection from the Bretonian government.
Planet Ayr is a prime candidate for terraforming, being an arid world with a thin atmosphere but an active volcanic system beneath its crust. Particularly attractive to Planetform, Inc., were the initial surveys showing that a considerable amount of water vapor, CO2, and other greenhouse gases remain locked in the polar ice caps.
Planetform, Inc. initiated first stage terraforming in 752 A.S. and continues to oversee the operation from nearby Perth Station.
Class: Eden
Gravity: Complete
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Yes
Population: 450
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A Jump Gate allows instantaneous travel between two distinct points in space. Jump Gates were pioneered by Ageira Technologies and are constructed in partnership with Deep Space Engineering.
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