Bifrost is a settlement of Valhallans on the planet Sandraker run, at least notionally, by the Iron Company.

Bifrost…said to be the bridge between the mortal realm and that of the gods. While the name is grounded in mythology, its existence is very real-at least in terms of a place. Founded in YE 44¹⁾, though some would say it would be sometime in 43²⁾, it is the very first settlement of the dispossessed Valhallans, though this was not by choice. During the exodus-what the valhallans have come to call the rather… sudden and admittedly necessary evacuation of their home universe, many of the vessels, ranging from small warships-which were little more than converted tugs to large-scale transports found themselves barely spaceworthy, if not outright stranded after conducting an emergency inter-dimensional jump. With their only options were either a slow death via the cold void, or a chance at survival, however slim, on the barren landscape that would come to be known as Sandraker.

Ships, at least those that were deemed the most habitable were brought down, with others being cannibalized for components to keep what few space-worthy vessels running provided overwatch even as the foundations were laid and the last of the hulls were pressurized and sealed the first hydroponics gardens were erected and what ships were deemed capable of it were turned towards agriculture with extensive tunnels dug into the toxic soil to lay new underground structures even as the Mishu hordes assaulted them. As it took shape-the colonists took to calling the settlement Bifrost-the bridge between worlds-in this case universes; though whether this is meant in jest, or perhaps possessed of some darker meaning is unknown. Since it was finished, the settlement has been under near constant harassing attacks from Mishu, as well as Senti and has led to a very competent local militia.

Bifrost is, when one lays eyes upon it described as a 'scrapyard posing as shanty town' with buildings being crafted from repurposed starship hulls with a series of trenches running along the surface and perimeter to allow all essential personnel, both company and civilian to move between areas-the underground isn't much better, consisting of sealed hab areas, reinforced tunnels both plated and being little more than the toxic rock of the planet reinforced with support bars.

Bifrost's layout is one of organized chaos, more out of necessity than anything given the planet's rather…hostile natives. The town itself is set in a rough oval shape, more due to the semi-crashed cargo vessel in the middle of it than anything, surrounded by a series of zigzagging trench lines and fortifications with a few smaller craft reproved as vehicle garages, barracks, and lookout posts with trench lines running between them to connect them to the central facility. The underground follows a similar method, though not quite stretching out as far to minimize the chance of collapsing any of the surface fortifications.

This is by far one of the most important facilities in Bifrost-Manufacturing Complex Alpha, simply known as Bifrost Manufacturing Complex serves as the heart of the Iron Company's Industrial complex on Sandraker-filled with numerous gantries, smithies, refineries, and industrial lines it is one of the only places wholly under Iron Company control despite the protests of the civilian leadership as in addition to its aforementioned industrial systems it houses a working shipyard-however it only has the capacity to manufacture small vessels³⁾ planetside at a rate of 1 every 3 months, or 3 to 4 a month with the use of nanofabrication units. Anything larger must be manufactured piecemeal and assembled in orbit-if one can spare the resources to do so.

These gantries, four in total at the northern with each being given its own name designation on the northern, western, eastern, and southern parts of the settlement, were formerly small-scale cutters primarily used for surveillance and anti-piracy duties-unfortunately they were one of many vessels that were left in a rather poor state after the jump. However, they remained intact enough to be deemed of some use and were repurposed as garages and strongpoints unfortunately for anyone foolish enough to attack one as their weapon systems are still fully operational. Each of these gantries houses anywhere between 20 to 40 vehicles and their crews at any given time with fully half of them being on standby in an emergency with others undergoing basic maintenance plus the gun crews, lookouts, and any additional personnel, up to 250, at any given time.

The Dirge, named for the sound the wind makes when it blows through-are a series of trenches used to move vehicles between the Manufacturing Complex and the four strongpoints; little more than being a wide trench with a large concrete road; mostly to keep the area passable for the tanks. It was constructed as a means to provide some cover for supply and combat vehicles from potential anti-tank snipers and can be destroyed with explosive charges in the event of it being compromised by the enemy.

There are a total of six sublevels, all listed here; each one, for the most part, serving a specific purpose. Getting around these usually involves a maintenance shaft, vehicle ramp, or elevator.

The first sublevel is used almost exclusively for military storage or industrial transportation; while the Dirge does serve a similar purpose in this regard to function at least in terms of the latter, this level was added as a redundancy in the event the Dirge was rendered useless for whatever reason; as a result next to the civilian areas this is arguably one of the more heavily reinforced in terms of structure; doubly so given the inordinate amounts of munitions being stored here as well. Additionally, there are smaller corridors located through to move personnel along and are able to be rigged with various defenses such as murder holes, booby traps, and automated turrets; the staging areas for troops to sally into the trenches are also located here.

Sublevel 2 is a bit of a hodgepodge; originally intended to be nothing more than a temporary area to serve as a go-between from the surface to Level 3; which was originally intended to be the Second Level buried around 80 feet below ground; and was little more than a series of artificial caves that had been hollowed out with temporary barracks along with machine shops to provide immediate repairs to any mining equipment used during the dig. As the operation to hollow out the third level expanded, so did level 2, though eventually it was gradually abandoned as operations were moved to the third level with the Smiths beginning to either scrap or disassemble any unnecessary components and systems. These days aside from being a rather dull posting for Yeoman and Milita aside from the occasional mining⁴⁾ attempt from the NMX-being stationed as a token garrison to keep order, along with a couple of the machine shops being kept active to provide some basic maintenance to the level's systems, a few civilians have moved in-repurposing the old temporary barracks as habitation units or using some of the ever-present scrap from the fleet to make their own. Though a few more enterprising individuals set up shop and looked to sell to cater to the civvies or military men, one must be somewhat wary as the wares these individuals sell are somewhat dubious.

As a whole, the level is considered low priority, any additional expansions or system installs are usually done by civilians though the former is carefully monitored to prevent any weakening of the defenses or endangering the other levels as it's not unheard of for these expansions to collapse on their inhabitants or the systems to fail due to shoddy workmanship or bypassing safety measures for expedience; consequentially militia or company units will occasionally displace the civvies to the more stable areas to prevent loss of life and damage to rest of Bifrost proper. This is occasionally met with resistance which is “peacefully” dealt with.⁵⁾

Sublevel 3 was originally planned to be Bifrost's sublevel 2; built as a 'nerve center' for the running of the settlement; a combination of industrial center and infrastructure management; primarily geared towards the upkeep of the other levels as well as administration purposes consisting of office complexes, manufacturing blocks for its day to day upkeep as well as several power stations housing a number of Wrath Fusion Reactors providing power to the settlement-while these are not the only means to keep Bifrost powered and maintained as redundancies have been built into each level. Any military hardware produced is usually for the militia and the occasional bit of Company-related gear is either body armor, and personal equipment.

These sublevels serve as the civilian habitation complex; the seething mass of humanity that keeps Bifrost going. The main settlement levels despite being cobbled together from starship components have proven to be surprisingly livable as long as one can ignore the occasional system failure or sudden influx of toxic dust due to the. Ranging from shanty towns made in some of the larger caverns to hydroponics to marketplaces. Outside of a few of the more vital areas as well as regarding expansion, the Iron Company maintains a minimal presence and mostly leaves the civilians alone to govern themselves. Of course, this does occasionally lead to some friction in the civilian leadership, both between the Grandmaster and each other, the latter occasionally requiring the application of 'diplomacy through other means.'

A recent expansion to the settlement-reports have it that it was meant to house a new power generation system-however, for unknown⁶⁾ reasons all work has stopped with a cohort's worth of soldiers stationed to guard it by order of the grandmaster having declared it 'off-limits'.

Bifrost can only be reached by starship, and once on the ground it is usually considered wise to either stick to the tunnels or the surface trenches due to the planet's frequent sandstorms, and it is advised to limit surface operation time to a few hours at most should they be required to operate outside of the settlement. Ground transportation is advised as air transport is nearly impossible to utilize as the weather conditions create difficulties if not outright hazardous to the operators.

The Valhallans are a mixed bunch; an odd and eclectic clashing of cultures ranging from barbarian tribesmen going on about honor and glory to some of more posh individuals of noble birth and thus can lead to one needing to learn 6 different types of diplomatic protocol to avoid winding up with one's head on a spike. They do tend to be a bit wary of outsiders, but most of the time they'll usually at least do business; likely at a significant markup.

Here's an automatic list of all characters currently in this place.

Characters can take the time to explore the settlement and soak up Valhallan culture; sample some food, grab some beer, get mixed up in local politics, and possibly get in their good graces by providing some assistance. The Iron Company, more out of necessity than any real want to do so will allow outsiders to join up with them under short-term contracts to combat the Mishu menace. The Iron Company also offers bounties for Senti carcasses-particularly those of a piratical origin; this does little to endear them to the greater sector.

• There's a lot of friction at the civilian levels, mostly due to conflicting interests; though there's been, albeit unsubstantiated, reports of the occasional skirmish happening. If this is the case, it could spell disaster for the colony.
• The systems in the settlement have begun to look increasingly shaky as of late, even by Valhallan standards; though this has been addressed, there's still that niggling doubt that things are well…fine.
• While nothing new given their tendency to err on the side of caution-the excessive security placed by the company around Sublevel 6 has many concerned as to what's down there; speculation continues on what it is; captured gribblies, a potentially dangerous piece of technology or a stockpile of components. Regardless of what it is, one thing is for certain: you don't just put that much security around nothing.

There's always a chance of some rare piece of hardware, exotic food, or some other oddity being peddled on the open market in the sublevels.

Commissar Farzi created this article on 2024/03/28 19:04. Art by Midjourney AI.

This article was approved by Wes on 2024/05/04.⁷⁾