Paris Spatiale

Description

The capital of the Gaule system, Paris Spatiale is home to the Gaule Protectorate Navy and the First Consul of the Protectorate, Simone Beauharnais. Once known as a hub of culture, trade, education, and tourism, Paris Spatiale was commandeered by the Gaule after the Catastrophe as their home base.

When the Catastrophe struck, explosions ripped across the city as planted charges were remotely set off. The museums collapsed, burying their precious artifacts under tons of steel and rubble. Now, atop the ruins of some of the most famous repositories of history in the galaxy, squat large gray buildings, low and wide, which house legions of Gaule soldiers and in which the business of the Consul is conducted. The station is vast and burrows deep into the belly of its asteroid. While the entire structure was searched by the occupying soldiers, there are large swaths of it that have since been left intentionally empty and ignored. In these dark corners, survivors huddle by gas lit lamps and make do with limited amounts of electricity.

Chronicle Text

Where Tau Station is the jewel of the Consortium, Paris Spatial is the pendant on the lapel of the uniform of the Gualish Protectorate. Very much the galactic capital of the Protectorate, Paris Spatiale is austere, often severe, stoic, and proud! Mighty fleets of Gaulish cruisers orbit the Patron station of stability and expansionism.

Arrival Text

You have now landed on Paris Spatiale. Conduct yourself with civility, Citizen.

Statistics

System: Alpha Centauri A
Affiliation: Gaule
Level: 8
Legal: Strong
Orwellian: Poor

Areas

Bank (Banque de Paris Spatiale (BPS))

Broad marble stairs lead up from a dim public square to the ornate pillars that mark the bank’s entrance. The footsteps of the few customers within the cavernous, glass-fronted lobby echo over whispered voices.

Bank employees hold gleaming brass lamps as they guide customers to the vault in the back. The Gaule Navy has their own internal banking system, so turning the lights back on for an area mostly used by off-stationers or non-military folk hasn't been a priority yet. From somewhere in the blackness of the tall ceiling, a melodic tinkling can be heard as warm air, pushed in to keep customers comfortable, causes glass chimes to sway. No matter how often they sweep, the clerks can't seem to ever control the dust that settles on every surface.

NPCs

Brig (The Bastille)

The station's prison is a tight run ship, with grim looking guards pacing back and forth. Their large weapons are pointed at the ground, but their fingers stay ever close to the trigger.

The Bastille hosts those who have broken local and military laws, as well as military prisoners of war. Because of the latter, the level of security is extremely high. Prisoners sit in gray cells whose fronts are thick, clear plastic. Some of the inmates do push-ups in their cells to pass the time, while others sit on the cot against the back wall, staring out at nothing. During the day, prisoners are not allowed to speak with each other, and at night they are kept isolated. The lights are always on at the Bastille.

Clones (Clonage)

The words, “Live to Fight Another Day!” arch grandly over the entrance to the clone vats. Within, neat rows of vats and printing tables wait to bring fallen soldiers back to life.

Essential to the health and survivability of a large army, the cloning vats were one of the first areas of the station to be repaired. The smell of antiseptic cleansers is strong, and the staff all sport matching red lab coats as they wander between the vats, checking settings and taking measurements.

Available Clones

Consortium Embassy

The embassy building squats like a toad on the edge of a dried up artificial lake. The chandeliers in the central dome and stained box offices suggest a time when this structure served a different audience to the one currently filling out forms in its moldering lobby.

Within the august structure, a handful of small lights reveal staffers working to complete data entry for visa petitioners. Queues of people are lined up to meet with the frequently harried embassy workers. Now and then the lights will struggle to a dimness, and the Consortium staff will look around hopefully before they flicker back off again.

NPCs

Government Center (Administration)

The large building that houses the station's government doubles as the offices of Simone Beauharnais, First Consul of the Protectorate, and the command center for the Gaule Navy.

Dark and imposing, the administration building looks newly built and shows no wear or damage from the Catastrophe. The tall hulking structure looks like it's made from granite, its thick walls seemingly impervious to the blasts that once shook this station to its foundations. Huge banners with the Gaule Protectorate logo hang on either side of the front door, its golden rooster gleaming within a spiral of red.

Emergency Shuttle to Tau Station: 5090 cr

Inn (The Iron Lady)

Hissing gas lamps cast flickering shadows over everyone eating and drinking inside the inn. Tables and chairs are also set outside of the warm pub, and friends and family gather close to the light talking, drinking, and eating together.

One of the only places to survive the Catastrophe, The Iron Lady is set deep into the shell of the station's carved out asteroid. The Inn is frequented by guests who've come to visit loved ones who are doing their mandatory terms in the Gaule military, and by travelers passing by on business. As it's not part of the military sectors, the Inn has been left to fend for itself, which means the lights are only on for part of the day, leaving the rest of the illumination to gas lamps hung high over the tables and on walls. The front of the building is deeply scarred and pocked from what must have been nearby explosions during the Catastrophe.

NPCs

Bar (Le Bar de la Roche)

Soldiers, dressed in casual gray and black fatigues, and their loved ones crowd around tables, catching up and laughing or crying together. Being drunk and disorderly is considered behavior unbecoming to an officer of the Gaule Navy, however, now and then a hearty drinking song bursts forth from a group that's imbibed a bit too much.

Lantern light flickers on the faces of soldiers and visitor, some smiling, some with their faces long and draw with worry. It's easy to tell the ones who're green and due for their first ship out. They're usually the ones being clapped on the back and told not to worry by an older compatriot. The beer flows freely here, and soldiers, friends, and family gather around tables together. Along the walls, long and wide screens show local station channels, which alternate between Gaule talking heads and intimate looks at the lives of high ranking Gaule soldiers and officials. Between the screens, the walls are decorated with old helmets, decommissioned rifles, and tattered and faded posters of renowned soldiers.

Menu
NPCs

Hotel Rooms (Hôtel dans la Roche)

Bleak and utilitarian, the guest rooms are like small tunnels, burrowed into the station's bedrock. The room is barely large enough to turn around in, and the bed folds up against the wall when not in use.

Prices
  • 1 day: 65.8 cr
  • 5 days: 263.2 cr
  • 10 days: 460.6 cr
  • 30 days: 1184.4 cr

Lounge (Le Salon)

Off-duty soldiers crowd around holo-tables, images of playing cards shimmering in the air before them. One table cries out with anger as their table shutters and goes dark. A solid kick to the underside of it and the holograms flicker back to life.

The ancient holo-tables in the Lounge are powered by generators and are unreliable at best. Though programmed with hundreds of games, the soldiers seem to prefer those involving cards and credits, be they Mille Bornes or poker, though there's a dedicated crew that plays three-tiered Mahjong. Dart boards have been hung on the rocky walls, and cheers go up when a soldier scores a perfect bullseye, her friends clapping and pouring her another drink.

Employment (Centre d'emploi)

Job seekers huddle around the scroll covered bulletin boards in the center of the open plaza. Sharing handheld lights to brighten the dim, they take turns browsing the haphazard collection of job postings. Off to the side, soldiers have set up a small table where they encourage those who pass by to consider signing up for military service.

People move quickly here, scanning for new postings and checking the discarded scrolls on the ground before dejectedly retreating back into the darkness. The scrolls are plastic, and their ends curl up unless pinned down. They show the wear and tear of their many iterations, and in some places the lettering from a past printing that didn't quite scrape off all the way can still be seen. A few hopeful job seekers remain, ceaselessly circling the boards in desperate search of work.

Side Jobs

This is the right place if you are looking for quick and easy jobs.

Name Description Credits Statistic
Art Hunter The ruins are rife with treasures from before the Catastrophe. Join the Gaule Preservation Society as we search for them and earn credits for your time. 33 Intelligence
Bank Sweeping Our customers deserve quick service and a clean environment. Help us with the latter and earn credits for your time. 33 Stamina
Building Restoration This station was beautiful once. It can be again. Work with our reconstruction corps and help us rebuild Paris Spatiale. 33 Strength
Hospital Waste Disposal The Hospital needs assistance disposing of medical waste. Walk-in shifts are available. 33 Stamina

Market (Nouveau Mouffetard Market)

Located in the civilian sector, the market is made up of a mixture of larger, higher-end shops, and smaller vendors who set up outside of the established shops, displaying their wares openly on the streets, their rickety booths like barnacles on a ship.

The market exists primarily to supply the local soldiers with food, goods, weapons, and other items that might not otherwise be included in their government-issued supplies. Heavy cords and cables hang just barely above the height of the tallest Belter, crisscrossing each other and tumbling in tangled jumbles. These exposed veins of the station carry stolen power to the market from the military sectors. Many of high-end shops are buildings that were salvaged after the Catastrophe, and most bear marks of the damage caused by the detonations that ravaged the station. Now and then, one of the stores will host an event featuring one of the station's elite soldiers as they promote a label of clothing or a scent that they've signed their name to.

NPCs

Vendors

Here you can find many things sold by different vendors.

Storage

You can find here enough space to store the things you do not want to carry.

  • Small: 164.5 cr
  • Medium: 394.8 cr
  • Large: 987 cr

Port (Aerodrome de Paris Spatiale)

The port is a bustling place, divided into military and civilian sections. The military lanes are full of the Protectorate's fleet of battleships and war cruisers. Huge flags hang here and there, bearing the golden rooster of the Gaule Protectorate.

Access to the port is highly restricted. The civilian section is also heavily guarded, with multiple checkpoints that visitors to and from the station must pass through. Lines of people, defined by rows of posts with chains strung between them, snake back and forth across the waiting areas before the check points. The queues are full of people waiting to give their credentials and explain their business on the station. At the end of each line are full body scanners, strong enough to differentiate between nanites and powerful enough to sense every manner of weapon and explosion.

NPCs

Shipping Bay (Baie d'expédition)

The shipping bay is mostly utilized by those merchants who ship in goods and other supplies for the military, which are manufactured off-station. Heavily guarded transports full of weapons and tactical gear share space with more domestic shipments of goods for those stationed here.

Local Shuttles (Métro de Paris Spatiale)

A hushed silence lays over the local shuttles waiting area like a heavy blanket. One of the most heavily guarded locations on the facility, the local shuttles serve to bring guests to and from nearby stations.

Armed guards stand a careful watch nearly every few meters, and guests arriving and departing must pass through long inspection lines. Now and then, the silence is broken as a shuttle arrives or departs. Once on board, and out from under the watchful eyes of the Gaule soldiers, everyone seems to let out a breath they didn't realize they'd been holding.

Residences (Les Banlieues)

Military housing for Gaule soldiers consists of rows of identical regocrete buildings, each one painted a pale yellow with a red roof. Children play together in the streets under the warm glow of the overhead lighting.

Ensigns of the Gaule Protectorate are housed together in large barracks. As soldiers move up through the ranks, they move into dorms and then finally to Les Banlieues, a well-lit section of the station lined with rows of identical houses. High-ranking officers live in condos or larger houses at the edges of the complex, and these dwellings tend to be more opulent and unique. Other denizens of the station are allowed to find shelter in the few remaining pre-Catastrophe houses that survived the explosions, or to create their own dwellings from the scraps that the explosions left behind.

NPCs

Ruins

Patchwork hovels, their walls and roofs cobbled together with found materials, stand in stark contrast to the uniform, identical buildings of in military housing. Lighting here is dim and untrustworthy, the product of stolen power from the military's areas of the station.

Once, this level of the station was full of museums, restaurants, and luxury apartments for tourists and residents. The buildings were all destroyed during the Catastrophe, from explosions so powerful they nearly pulverized everything. Ancient and prized artifacts from Earth were vaporized in an instant, and some say the loss is a deep wound that humanity will carry all its days. Every now and then, a treasure hunter will emerge from the rubble, having recovered some lost piece of history: a shattered pot, a torn painting, a warped gold coin, or a chunk of a statue, its marble streaked black with soot. From the ash and the dust, the survivors on the station moved on, building themselves new dwellings out of scrap metal and rubble.

NPCs

Security (Gendarmerie)

The garrison for the local Station Security Division forces is a sturdy looking building, whose face only juts out a few feet from the asteroid's bedrock. Huge Gaule banners hang on either side of the doorway, and armed Security officers come and go with brisk efficiency.

Law and order on Paris Spatiale are monitored and enforced by a local police force made up almost entirely of former Gaule soldiers. The SSD on this station is a close cousin to the military units stationed on board, and the building is always crawling with soldiers and officers alike.

NPCs

Sick Bay (Hôpital des Étoiles)

The hospital on Paris Spatiale is enormous, with many floors and two wings that arch around a busy plaza like a swan of ancient Earth enfolding the patients in its wings. The large building is painted white with large glass windows at its front, looking out over the plaza.

Originally built as emergency facilities to treat wounded soldiers, the hospital has grown and expanded in the past few decades, and now offers care to the military, station locals, veterans, and patients from off station. The hospital is known as a facility that specializes in artificial organ transplants, and has some of the best 3D printing machines and small vats for growing new organs. A small clinic in the east wing caters to emergencies and walk-ins. The plaza before the hospital is a lovely park, round, with fake trees dotting a plot of astroturf. Recovering patients, visitors, and locals loll about the park, relaxing against the trunks of the trees or sitting on the concrete benches. A fountain in the center of the park sprays arcs of light, which sparkle as they cascade into the basin below.

NPCs

Gym (Gym Kinétique et Amphithéâtre)

Always packed full of off-duty Gaule soldiers, the gym is the place to see and be seen. The equipment is shiny and new, though it seems like some guests prefer posing next to workout stations rather than putting them to use. In addition to the indoor facilities, this level of the station is also home to the outdoor amphitheater.

Everyone who's anyone ends up at the gym for people watching or to strut their stuff. The Gaule Protectorate's elite soldiers are often found here, lifting ridiculous amounts of weight and being cheered on by their fellow compatriots. Speakers around the facility pump loud tunes with slamming beats that barely serve to drown out the grunts, groans, and growls of the bodybuilders and fitness fanatics. The walls are lined with screens, some with Gaule-centered talks shows, while other screens are full of smiling or scowling high ranking Gaule soldiers, their lives constantly showcased for all to see by a rabid paparazzi. A section of the gym is reserved for VIP training by off-duty elite soldiers, while outside, behind the gym, lies a gloomy amphitheater, surrounding an oval running track which is bordered by climbing walls and obstacle trenches. Freestanding arc lights cast sharp circles of illumination on platforms reserved for wrestling, gymnastics, and even the occasional theatrical performance. Visitors and uniformed Gaule personnel partake in the courses or sit and chat on the terraces that enclose the training area. Voices are quickly swallowed by the stone of the structure, but what can be heard are stories about homes and families far from Paris Spatiale. The bright white lights of slates illuminate faces as images of loved ones and home are shown to friends and strangers alike.

You must have minimum combined physical stats of 36 to avoid injury at this gym.

Additional information from the storyline

In this Station for a few days there's a sustainable fabrics fashion show, as mentioned and attended by Pietro (A Rude Awakening).

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