Igni Irae
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Tephrike and codify Firemane's presence for future rp.
Image Credit: Here.
Canon: N/A.
Links: Into Darkness, Dominion of Light, After Darkness, Republican Guard.
SETTING INFORMATION
Space Station Name: Messenger Base.
Station Model: Asteroid Base
Classification: Observation and Covert Operations Station.
Location: Tephrike.
Affiliation: Firemane, GRU.
Population:Sparse.
Demographics: Firemane does not limit recruitment to humans, so the base personnel is a fair mixture of aliens and humans. Aside from a small garrison of soldiers and battle droids, the facility is inhabited by the science staff and support personnel.
Accessibility: Messenger Base is located in a system that has been isolated from the rest of the Galaxy for several centuries. Even now the Sivas System and thus Tephrike are virtually unknown. The system has a dense asteroid field, which impedes access to the base. It is carefully hidden from prying eyes. Firemane only makes those with the corresponding security clearance aware of its existence. GRU, Firemane's intelligence service, is responsible for security and runs the station.
Traffic: Low. The location is very remote and not known to or accessible by the general public. Incoming and outgoing vessels belong to Firemane.
Description: Messenger Base is located on one of Tephrike's many asteroids. The facility has been carved out of the rock of the asteroid. Messenger Base is a Firemane observation post, and research facility. It allows the Firemane military to monitor the ongoing conflict on Tephrike, facilitate trade deals with the Republican Guard and conduct clandestine military research. Firemane provides the rebels on the planet with medical supplies and more modern armaments in return for resources, as Tephrike is rich in ores, diamonds and alloys. Moreover, its science staff can pursue projects the Board of Control would prefer to keep out of the public eye. Operations are governed by strict security protocols.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Research: The main laboratories are located there. Also a place to examine samples from Tephrike. Mainly of the projects are devoted to military purposes, but medical research projects are also conducted here. This includes studying plant life from Tephrike, as some of these can be used for medical purposes.
Advanced Weapon Components Facility XII: A special high-security section of the laboratories. It is sealed off from the rest of the Research complex. Devoted to clandestine weapons' projects. This includes studying the thaumaturgical weapons the Dominion used against Firemane. This is a high-security zone, so access to it is heavily restricted and monitored constantly.
Command Centre: The administrative hub of the station. Responsible for command and control. The area has a powerful communications suite with an Enlightenment communicator. A secondary command centre has also been set up. This decentralises the essential systems of the station.
Warehouse: This area is home to supplies as well as ores procured from Tephrike. It is lightly patrolled by soldiers and battle droids.
Hangar: Doubles as a loading dock for shipments from and for Tephrike.
Mess: Self-explanatory. The food is decent enough.
Detention: Holding area for prisoners, though they are generally not kept on the base for long. There is also an interrogation room. Cell doors are made out of Turadium. In addition to Force Cages, the facility also has ysalamiri in oblio tree groves.
Space Garden: Messenger Base receives regular deliveries from Firemane ships, but headquarters is still far from home and transports can be disrupted. Acquiring food from Tephrike is problematic. The Dominion and the Disciples of the Vader are openly hostile, and while there is an accord with the Republican Guard, it is not an entente cordiale. Thus an advanced biodome has been set up, allowing the residents to grow their own food. It is largely automated, relying upon specialised droid labour. It gives the residents a degree of self-sufficiency.
Medbay: Takes care of the medical needs of the base personnel. The equipment is sophisticated enough to perform serious surgeries. However, the remote location imposes certain limitations on supplies. Force healers can be found here occasionally, though the medical staff largely relies on medical droids and mundane doctors.
Barracks: Is able to accommodate a small force of soldiers. An armoury is attached to it.
Guest Quarter: A small guest area for visiting Firemane personnel and people from Tephrike to stay. Visitors must stay in the designated areas and cannot access anything sensitive. They are monitored throughout.
SECURITY
Medium
- The facility's greatest strength is its obscurity. Tephrike is barely known and ships will have to navigate a very dense asteroid field. This makes it difficult to reach Messenger Base. Only a select number of Firemane members know about the base. Some quad lasers have been set up on the rock, but Messenger Base relies on stealth rather than firepower.
- Motion sensors, lifeform scanners and security scanners have been set up. The sensors also include hyperwave signal interceptors.
- The asteroid has been seeded with surveillance equipment and early warning systems, enabling the base residents to be warned of intruders ahead of time.
- Messenger Base has a small garrison of Firemane soldiers. Organic soldiers are supplemented by battle droids. The security force includes a few Truthseekers. These Force-Using agents specialise in counterintelligence, mentalism and investigation. This makes them ideal for ferreting out infiltrators and enemy agents.
- Listening devices in form of full-spectrum transceivers are scattered over the surface of the asteroid as well as on neighbouring ones to triangulate signals and increase uptake. There is a subspace antennae on a satellite in orbit with a backup on the asteroid.
- Security checkpoints have been set up at major junctures inside the facility. Keycard are required to access many areas, with retinal scans being mandatory to enter important locations. The retinal scanners can detect whether or not the retina they happen to be scanning belongs to a live person. All people in the facility are constantly watched by a network of security cameras. Auto-turrets have been set up over the hallways. They remain deactivated unless an intruder has been spotted. Upon activation, they will open fire on individuals who do not carry a clearance keycard or are not logged into their facial recognition system.
- There is a redundant self-destruct system. The asteroid has been rigged with it. Senior personnel can trigger it with as little as a few seconds' notice.
When the Scarlet Destiny embarked on its maiden voyage, it was supposed to be a peaceful expedition. It would go boldly where no Firemane had gone before, explore strange worlds, and seek out new life and new civilisations. The intention was to discover worlds that had been cut off from the rest of the Galaxy by the outbreak of the Gulag Virus, help them reconnect and find new commercial opportunities for Firemane.
Unfortunately, the first meaningful world they came across was Tephrike. This planet had experienced a profound social, political and economic collapse during the Four Hundred Year Darkness. Here, the Dark Age had never ended. The Dominion of Light, a totalitarian Jedi theocracy, vied for power with the Disciples of the Vader, a cult of human supremacist Sith who worshipped Darth Vader as a dark god, and the Republican Guard, a rebel movement inspired by the ancient Rebel Alliance that reviled Force-Users and sought to place power in the hands of the common people.
After initial skirmishes with Firemane, the Dominion sought accommodation. Firemane dispatched a delegation to its capital to initiate negotiations. However, an extremist faction in the Dominion's regime regarded this as heresy. Firemane's delegation came under attack. Elpsis, one of its members and the adoptive daughter of Firemane's ruling couple, was captured by the Jedi Inquisition. She would be subjected to physical and torture in a Dominion black site.
In response, Firemane declared war. It proceeded to enter an alliance of convenience with the Republican Guard. A short, but intense campaign followed. After heavy fighting, the allied forces were able to seize a major Dominion fortress. Meanwhile, Elpsis was able to overcome her brainwashing and defeat her captors with the aid of rebellious prisoners and a Firemane rescue force. The Dominion had been humbled, but was not beaten. Instead the Mad Grandmaster was assassinated by the Council and a junta of hardliners and pragmatists took power.
Unwilling to get bogged down in a conflict far from home and with allies it distrusted, Firemane decided to be satisfied with measured gains. The Dominion had been given a bloody nose, so it withdrew its troops. Before the pullout took place, the corporation did its allies a favour by razing the headquarters of the Vaderites, killing their Dark Lord and several members of the Dark Council.
However, Firemane did not want to entirely abandon Tephrike. The prisoners who had been rescued were given the choice between being resettled on a safe world or returning to Tephrike to continue the fight. Moreover, Firemane made a deal with the Guard. In return for resources, the corporation would provide the rebels with medical supplies and weapons. Occasional orbital strikes and aerial attacks would also be on the cards.
Tephrike is far away from Firemane's sphere of influence, so it was only logical for the corporation to set up a base in the system. This would allow it to observe the conflict, facilitate trade with its native partners and give it a potential launching point to intervene if its leaders desired this. This led to the creation of Messenger Base, which was set up on one of the asteroids. During construction it became apparent that the facility would also be a good location to conduct research away from prying eyes. Thus laboratories were set up. Most of the research would serve military purposes, but Force arcana would also be studied.
