Freelancer Houses - The Liberty

Five great ships launched during the Exodus, each protecting precious human cargo deep within their metal wombs. They fled for the stars, away from the final spasm of war that swallowed their first home in fire and then in blackness. Somewhere out there they would make a new home. They would begin again. This time...this time they would not repeat the mistakes that had been made before.

Five great ships. One was lost en route. The names of the other four now are legend: Kusari, Rheinland, Bretonia, and Liberty....

Pre-Settlement

In the tumult of the Exodus, The Liberty launched before the other great sleeper ships. Colonists whisper, even today, that the launch date may have been intentionally moved forward against the explicit wishes of the Great Planners. Early launch would have guaranteed the Liberty free access to the worlds of the Sirius Sector before the other sleeper ships arrived, but all proof of such a betrayal of trust was lost along with Earth. Even if the Liberty did launch early, there is little that can be done about it now...but there remains a lingering feeling of resentment among the other houses: a vague feeling that, somehow, Liberty does not entirely deserve the position of superiority it enjoys eight centuries later.

When the Liberty first arrived in the Sirius Sector they found an area rich in resources but lacking in habitable planets. With a hundred systems at their fingertips, they settled on those near the center of Sirius where the highest number of main sequence stars and Earth-like planets existed and a fair number of resources could be easily obtained. Eventually they made planetfall on Manhattan, in the system they christened New York. They began the difficult task of rebuilding civilization two full years before any other sleeper ship arrived

As the capitol of the Liberty System with a population of 220 million people, Manhattan was the first human colony to be established in the year 1 A.S. Since its founding, Manhattan has served as an important hub for the conquest of Sirius as, little by little, Libertonian explorers took to the dangerous task of exploring and settling other planets and other systems in the name of Liberty's "manifest destiny." Today Manhattan is still the vital heart of Liberty, sitting at the center of a vast commercial network.

The surface of Manhattan is broken up into two continental plates connected by a magnificent land bridge. Both continents are now almost entirely covered by a single, teeming city, which stretches from the desert regions in the south to the cooler lake areas in the north. The resulting climate differential poses a significant challenge for the urban engineers and city planners who are continuously building and rebuilding to accommodate the increasing population of new emigrants come to seek their fortunes on Manhattan.

Diameter: 12,753 km.
Mass: 5.98 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: -46°C to 43°C
Escape Velocity: 11.27 km/sec



Pittsburgh's vast red deserts cover its entire surface, broken only by the large rocky protrusions yet unconsumed by the sand. Once considered to be rich with mineral deposits, fortune-hunters and industrialists flocked to Pittsburgh, despite substantial hazards. During this boom, great areas were paved over to make way for large-scale commercial development.

Over the next several centuries, Pittsburgh was depleted of most of its "financially attractive" natural resources and its atmosphere was densely polluted by industry. As environmental conditions declined, many of those on Pittsburgh departed for more hospitable planets or stations. This population shift left behind those who either knew little else beyond mining, drilling, and refining, and those who were simply unable to afford the ticket off-planet.

Despite this, Pittsburgh has experienced something of a minor economic resurgence since the cheap real-estate and available labor force attracted the attention of Monument Engineering, who moved the bulk of their planetside operations to Pittsburgh in 698 A.S. Monument is the largest construction firm in Liberty and one of the "Big Three" companies that also includes Valhalla Research and Sirius Shipping.

Diameter: 6,485 km.
Mass: 4.73 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Desert
Temperature: -38°C to 69°C
Escape Velocity: 9.04 km/sec



California Minor is a small icy planet with an unusually active volcanic system. The volcanism onworld creates harrowing living conditions but also creates pockets of intense geothermal energy. Previously considered inappropriate for a conventional terraforming operation, Terraforming Inc. is now working to channel the enormous stores of geothermal energy contained by the planet through a new process.

The harsh conditions and potential work have attracted a rough-hewn, blue collar class to its few hospitable areas.

Commodities

Import: Food, Nomad organisms, H-Fuel, construction machinery, pharmaceuticals, terraforming gases.
Export: Hydrocarbons.

Diameter: 3,101 km.
Mass: 2.77 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Ice
Temperature: -110°C to -12°C
Escape Velocity: 6.7 km/sec



A hellish world of freezing nights and burning days, devoid of any life. Terraforming is impossible and settlement infeasible.

Diameter: 14,891 km
Mass: 6.22 x 10e24 kg
Terrain: Barren
Temperature: -69°C to 72°C
Escape Velocity: 13.66 km/sec





Denver was originally the home of miners, smelters, and shipyard workers, but these industries eventually collapsed in 600 A.S. With the declining long-term water situation in the California System, however, the wealthy elite of Los Angeles began to look elsewhere for a vacation spot and found Denver’s rough, beautiful vistas to be ideal. Emigration from Los Angeles and Manhattan injected new life into the Denver economy, reviving the planet even as the new upper class assumed control of the local government.

Today, Cryer Pharmaceuticals maintains a major research lab on Denver while Ageira Technologies has a planetside headquarters to oversee their interests in the system. Liberty Police, Inc. (LPI) is well paid by Colorado's new elite to handle security.

Diameter: 12,211 km.
Mass: 5.54 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: -88°C to 59.1°C
Escape Velocity: 10.02 km/sec



Houston is an arid world whose population consists mostly of what Manhattanites would term the "economically undesirable," many of them former inmates of the orbiting prison ships. The cheap labor force has attracted a number of industries, however, including a major Deep Space Engineering manufacturing plant and several factories specializing in consumer goods and construction machinery.

The presence of phosphates in Houston's alkali deserts has also produced a booming market in fertilizers. But Houston's biggest industry is fueled by its substantial criminal problem, with both the Bounty Hunters Guild and Liberty Police, Inc. (LPI) maintaining their respective local headquarters on the planet.

Diameter: 8,201 km.
Mass: 3.38 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Desert
Temperature: -88°C to 100°C
Escape Velocity: 9.02 km/sec



Mostly covered in deep salt water oceans, Los Angeles was popular among upper-class Manhattanites before terraforming efforts failed during the Great California Drought of 543 A.S. The planet's popularity has resurged with the economic windfall generated by Synth Foods. Synth Foods has perfected an engineered plant matter that can flourish in harsh environments and then processed into Synth Paste. The booming technology market recently induced Ageira Technologies to locate an optical chip plant here.

Diameter: 8,351 km.
Mass: 3.22 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: -40°C to 45°C
Escape Velocity: 8.98 km/sec

Fort Bush was one of the earliest established outposts in the settlement of Liberty. Explorers, surveyors, researchers, and colonial military personnel made this their base camp as they struggled to push the boundaries of the known universe, eventually making contact with other settlements. As Liberty grew, Fort Bush became a popular jumping-off point for ventures that required the use of an orbital ops base.

Even now, Fort Bush provides a haven for traders from all over the colonies and contributes richly to the Liberty economy. Merchants, police, freelancers, and civilians -- a veritable cross-section of humanity -- make up the ebb and flow of the population on Fort Bush. Some even prefer to live there permanently, rarely setting foot planetside.




The prison ship Sugarland, under the control of Liberty Police, Inc., was built in 600 A.S. to handle the overflow from Huntsville, aka "The Wall." Apart from the prison population, a healthy contingent of Liberty Police, Inc., bounty hunters, and representatives of ALP Waste Disposal round out the personnel on board.

Import: Food, H-Fuel, oxygen, water ice, optronics. Export: Basic alloy, consumer goods.






The Norfolk Shipyard, constructed in 230 A.S. and in continuous operation since then, has the honor of being the oldest functional shipyard in the Sirius Sector. The facilities at Norfolk are chiefly used by the Liberty Navy.

Commodities: Import: Beryllium, gold, hydrocarbons, niobium, boron, copper sulfide, MOX, basic alloys, super alloys, high temperature alloys, superconductors, optical chips, hull panels, polymers, electronics, engine components, food, H-Fuel, oxygen, water ice. Export: N/A