Bastia

Originally a mining operation conducted in an asteroid to supply Morant's industry, Bastia has grown into a star-fort and a city on its own rights. It is currently one of the major hubs in the Nassau System.

While it's located on a system known for its pirate activity, Bastia remains as the most moderate and safe places to live in thanks to its administration, offering one of the best alternative for independent captains to buy, refit or scrap their ships in the system.

• Population: Approx. 500,000 of various races (70% of the population lives inside the asteroid).
• Dimensions: 15km radius with the artificial ring. 12km maximum radius of the asteroid.

Bastia is an asteroid station that has been re-purposed into a heavily fortified and industrialized star city. The surface of the asteroid is pockmarked with metallic sprawls from the living areas that sprouted from inside the rock or from empty shafts of all sizes that serve as more discrete docks for passing spacecraft. Insde, the old parts of the station have all the markings of poorly maintained areas, with stale-smelling air from old life support units, rusted walkways and dusty corridors excavated through bare rock, some still having the same set of fluorescent lights from the mining days hanging off the ceiling.

The newer parts of the station, such as the artificial ring and the large industrial structure, have a very different look, with gleaming metallic corridors and sterilized air from the newer air scrubbers, the vast majority of these new areas are located outside of the rock, but there are a few more private areas carefully dug inside.

Despite having a population record ever since its conception, Bastia still has several abandoned or uninhabited tunnels from its mining days, which serve as a good hideout or headquarters for its more illegal activities.

The artificial spaceport ring is the main entrance to the station, and thus is the most crowded area of Bastia, with people coming to and fro. Most of the business and offices are also located in this sector, and although it isn't primarily the area where the residences are located, several small hotels can be found for the ship crews that stop by the station.

The structure was constructed around the station during the economic boom of the station's mining days to serve as the spaceport, bringing the processed minerals out and ferrying people and supplies into the asteroid. For ease of logistics in transports, the warehouse of most factories from the asteroid are also located around it, with a mixture between hangars of different sizes and the warehouses.

Currently, the spaceport still serves the same purpose, and little about it was changed, which reflects on the rugged and used appearance on the parts of the sector that weren't overhauled as new businesses moved in.

Situated mostly inside the rock and around the core, the current residences of the station are composed of the old, bunker-like low cost housing used by the asteroid's miners, or the newer, high-cost and high quality residences.

The older, cheaper areas are mostly located in the re-purposed mining tunnels, with the houses dug into the had rock. Most of these don't even have metal plating to cover the rock, with the cabling and pipes exposed. Also, because these are usually closer to the core, the air around these parts feels heavier by being farther away from the air scrubbers.

In contrast to that, the richer areas, closer to the orbital ring and space, usually have their own dedicated life support units, making the atmosphere more pleasant to breathe in. These areas, being new, look miles better than their counterparts, with walkways and metal walls covering the rocks and other systems, while the houses tend to be much more larger and roomier.

Located partially outside the asteroid on one section of the orbital ring but mostly inside the hollowed-rock is where the main concentration of Bastia's industrial power is located. Originally only being heavy metallurgic industries, and once the resources ran out, the space and machinery were re-purposed to manufacture more valuable goods.

Being in Nassau - a hub for pirate and independent activity - it came as a little surprise that most of this new industry was directed at producing ships and ship components. Most of the of Bastia's economy revolves around processing materials or re-purposing manufactured goods. It isn't hard for salvagers and pirates to make a good buck off their salvage or captured ships by having them be cannibalized by the station's industry, while it also isn't hard for any independent captain to overhaul or even set up their own ship thanks to that.

Being the most valuable parts of the station, its industries are also the most defended. All along the orbital ring and the massive industrial structure there are several weapon batteries dedicated to defend the station.

While the life support of the station is handled by several small facilities spread throughout Bastia, the vast majority of the asteroid's power comes from the core. Inside two separate chambers that are covered with a wall that's a meter thick of Durandium Alloy are two massive fusion reactors. Ideally, each reactor runs at half of their maximum power, but in case one is disabled the remaining one is enough to power most of the station's subsystems.

What passes for the government in Bastia is an administration led by a committee of the seven wealthiest industrial barons, merchants and/or landlords of the station. Their prerogative, as any CEOs, is to maximize efficiency and profits, as well as to secure the independence of the station against the aggression of entities like pirates or the main factions, with a strong array of orbital defense guns and re-purposed starship weapons to defend against the former.

To safeguard against the latter, Bastia retains a position of neutrality in Nassau, never really joining any conflicts but keeping an open-port policy to any crews or persons that want to go there, as long as they don't disrupt the station's businesses or way of life. For example, the station may take in a pirate crew and their stolen ship and quickly cannibalize it as to leave no evidence, unless the pirate ship in question is being actively pursued by another party.

Internally, Bastia's social leans strongly towards corporate capitalism, with the seven biggest individuals owning 90% of the station. Each of these individuals own several smaller companies that are tasked with administering different aspects of their sectors independently, such as policing to acquiring their own supplies. Due to that, there is a lot of red-tape involved when one company has to act on a place that's under the jurisdiction of the other, but surprisingly enough the administrative committee knows how to “keep the trash out” by dealing with troublemakers inside the station most of the times.

Due to that dynamic, it is not uncommon, for example, for one member of the committee to hire an independent party to deal with a problem that's under the sector of another member.

Run by a pure-blooded ID-SOL who named the company after him, along with a small staff, Binkowski's Arsenal is a small workshop/warehouse located near the station's core. Initially tasked with producing tools, machine components and precision parts, the company has lately shifting its specialty in supplying weapons and personal gear to the station's security forces, but also producing custom gear and weapons on demand.

Easily accessible to any client, anyone can approach Mr. Binkowski and offer their project for him to build, as long as its interesting enough for him.

Chef Bob Yardee, also know as “the Master” is the person in charge of one of the most well-known, low-cost food joint. The establishment is located on the bottom of the station's largest residential shaft, and is run by the chef himself and a single, teenage waitress.

The restaurant specializes in all manners of noodles and Yamataian ramen and, by being low-cost, it is economically accessible to all the members of the station. Thanks to its chef's phenomenal cooking skill, the food tastes nothing like the canned, preservative-ridden medium from where they came from.

Jutting out of the asteroid away from the artificial ring, the Spire is the most expensive and luxurious hotel, casino and resort on the station, aimed to provide comfort for the most wealthy residents or captains that happen to pass by Bastia.

Spanning several stories upward, the building is also the place is widely known on the station for being a “neutral zone” where the administration committee conducts its meetings in person, since secrecy and quality is one of the establishment's guaranteed features, for a price.

Situated on the most active docks in the artificial ring, the Crying Galleon is the most popular pub for the crews on shore leave in Bastia. It's located at the top of one of the many buildings that sprawled out of the ring, with a full 360 degree view of space and the asteroid.

Despite the view, the pub's main attraction continues to be the “Bastia Moonshine,” a famous local drink that gained its popularity by being the only thing available on the station when an independent crew member realized the -then- mining station had no drinking establishments, and proceeded to brew his own stuff by stuffing braking fluid, among other things, in an abandoned washing machine and letting it ferment.

A strange off-white pillar placed as a monument on an intersection between the station's main thoroughfares. It was initially discovered in a hollow pocket inside the asteroid during its mining days, and how it got here and the strange material it is coated in remains a mystery, though it smells rather fishy.

Situated nonchalantly within the residential sector is the barely operable yet fully occupied Last Chance Orphanage. This orphanage has been around as long as there has been a spaceport. The “Last Chance” as locals call it has always been a place that any child, regardless of species could find a home and a meal. While barely scraping by, the owners of the orphanage have always found the resources to keep going, be it fundraising, grants from the local committee or soliciting donations from the companies doing business with Bastia.

In YE 36, Desmond Stroud and a former NMX Nekovalkyrja named Amanozako visited the station to refit a salvaged NMX ship. During the three day visit, the former of the two also bought a custom set of armor.

foxtrot_813 created this article on 2015/04/12 23:37.