Description
During the Catastrophe, Ross 154’s Jump Gate was destroyed, not to be repaired until cycle 120. However, this initial period was focused on recovery, and public shuttles were not allowed to enter the system until cycle 207*, once the system as a whole had stabilized. The site of the old Jump Gate is now in ruins after the coordinated explosions that decimated it, a stark reminder the Consortium has chosen to leave untouched for the time being.
Chronicle text
Gateway to the system, the jump gate of Ross 154 sees itself as the protector of the stations herein. The military here chose to double down on their own presence before beginning any repairs on the gate itself post Catastrophe, being unsure of what they may encounter once functionality was restored. Military traditions, married to omni-reality tech from the nearby House of Syria, evolved into one of the most advanced wargames institutions in the galaxy. Today, a cyclical occurrence on the patron station of the artistry of war, the Wargames draw in competitors of every ilk and allegiance.
Arrival text
Welcome to Ross 154 Jump Gate, Citizen! Safe journeys from here on.
Statistics
System: Ross 154
Affiliation: Consortium
Level: 16
Legal: 10 (High)
Orwellian: 10 (High)
Areas
Bank (Pangala People’s Bank)
As a result of the other Ross 154 stations using Pangala’s neutral banking services, the leader of the Jump Gate decided to follow suit, as a show of camaraderie. Consortium blue banners have been replaced by Pangala gold, and military patrols are replaced by more impartial freelance security services. Despite the armed guards and relatively scarce decorations, people are happily chatting within the bank, as they form orderly queues for automated bank services or tellers. Children run around the serpentine golden rope maze that gives structure to the queue, making up their own games as they wait for their guardians to finish their business.
Brig
A nondescript regocrete gray building which is just as austere on the inside. The Consortium guards are friendly even as they are strict, and happily chat with detainees who don’t cause a scene. Visitors are frequently allowed, even encouraged, and it’s a common sight to see someone visiting with snacks under one arm. Despite this, there’s a cold current whenever the guards’ backs are turned, as though not everyone is as comfortable with the friendly veneer.
Clones
While at a first glance the Cloning Vats are reminiscent of others you’ve seen, a second inspection reveals that many vats are empty or broken. Technicians scramble from one warning signal to another, trying to keep everything working, while lamenting their lack of resources. A digital sign explains that many lower-ranking officials don’t need clones, given the lack of open conflict in the system and the low availability of clone vats. Local citizens and travelers are given priority, something perhaps unexpected, but which suits the local military’s idea of being protectors of the innocent.
Available Clones
Decommissioned Area (Stadium)
Visiting the Stadium is a completely different experience depending on whether it’s a game night or not. During a game, the whole place is lit up and full of people, each tuning into the game using their CORETECHS’ VR functionality, or enjoying the AR overlays. Otherwise the stadium is just a large open-top building with tight seating, narrow aisles and overpriced snacks.
A section of the stadium that is closed off to the general public is used as part of the practice area for Consortium military in training.
This area of the station was clearly designed for some other purpose, but much of the machinery in it has long since been removed.
NPCS
Employment (Employment Center)
The Employment Center is one large, regocrete gray building with two wings - one for short-term contracts and another for long-term work. In addition to helping people find the right task, the Employment Center occasionally deals with work disputes or payment issues, so there’s always more work than people who can handle it. As soon as you step in, you’re ushered into the right area by a helpful volunteer.
Career Advisory (Long-Term Work)
A large booth decked out in blue reads “Join the Consortium Military - Help the People Closest to You!”, although they don’t seem to be garnering as much interest as you’d expect. Elsewhere, career advisors talk to surly teens, energetic adults and friendly seniors and about their life prospects.
Side Jobs (Short-Term Contracts)
There are different queues for military, local citizens and travelers, though you can’t tell if the work offered is any different - perhaps it’s just for administrative purposes. While the military line is short, the other two stretch out almost to the doors. Some locals have brought their own folding chairs, seemingly ready for a wait of this length.
| Name | Description | Credits | Statistic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guerrilla Marketing | Assist a military marketing campaign. | 61 | 3x Agility |
| Wargame Calibrations | Assist in calibrating the military omni-reality games. | 61 | 1x Intelligence 1x Agility 1x Stamina |
| Weapons Hot | Run maintenance on training weapons. | 61 | 3x Stamina |
NPCs
Discreet Work
Sometimes jobs are offered by those who need to be able to deny involvement. Don't ask too many questions; you won't get many answers. And don't be surprised if you wind up in the brig or sickbay.
NPCs
Gaule Embassy
These are the official offices of Gaulepresentatives. They are here to help the Gaulee and assist in all matters related to Gaul
Government Center
A large, single story building that sees a constant flow of pedestrian traffic. As the entry point into a system with Consortium, Gaule and Independent stations, and with the Jump Gate only recently having opened to the public, there is a lot for the overworked clerks to handle. Some citizens have volunteered their time helping direct people to the right queue or showing them where to pick up rations - they can be identified by their small ‘Volunteer’ badges. Consortium military patrol the building, but very few of them can be found inside the Government Center itself. They greet people as they enter, with a small smile and a curt nod.
NPCs
Info Hub
Holo screens illuminate the area as news sources flow like a river of data from one terminal to the next. Occasionally, some government drone will adjust a particular metric or record another before buzzing about their duties.
Syndicate Services
A number of recruiters, both in physical as well as hologrammatic form, interact with would-be members or peruse applications on the wall of terminals that lines this room.
VIP Lounge
Soft music and soothing lights drift through the atmosphere in the lounge. Robotic waiters clad in shiny (but not too shiny) chrome wheel between Citizens, dispensing smooth looking beverages.
Inn (The Snooze Inn)
Colloquially called the Snoozing, the Inn is a gathering place for Citizens and visitors alike. Locals love to hear stories from other systems but are reluctant to offer their own, claiming nothing interesting goes on in the Jump Gate. There are rooms available to rent, a lounge to chat, and The Stiff Drink pub, which is open to under-40s until the evening segments.
NPCs
Bar (The Stiff Drink)
Contrary to its name, there are plenty of non-syntheholic drinks, especially marketed towards off-duty military. However, it’s not unusual to find a table of rowdy soldiers after a long day of work, with station Citizens edging away towards the booths. Plenty of families can be found here, as The Stiff Drink is one of the more entertaining parts of the station, with evening singers and the occasional comedy act brightening up the atmosphere.
Hotel Rooms
Rooms at the Snooze Inn are comfortable, if quite small. Various gadgets and services have to be specifically requested, from electronic chargers to tea cups, but the concierges are happy to oblige. They also know the station inside and out, self-admittedly because there’s not much of interest, and will direct people to the Stadium whenever a match is on the horizon.
Lounge
The lounge’s decor is evocative of high-class bars, though it’s clear this is just an imitation. Amidst business deals and friends catching up are people looking to meet handsome strangers, especially visitors to the station. The lights are low, the music is quiet, and the attendants are all too happy to leave people to their own affairs.
Port
Large streamers cover the port help desks, along with signs announcing the opening of Ross 154 to non-official visitors. There’s a small group of locals attempting to sell tickets to “a VR experience better than you could even imagine”, routinely chased away by port authorities, who request that they move their business elsewhere. Slightly more discreet are the Pompadour travel guides, who sing the praises of the system’s only Gaule station.
Arrivals
A bustling river of humanity with endlessly branching tributaries flows from the shuttles arriving here, through the processing gates, to crash onto the banks of eagerly awaiting locals receiving visitors from near or far flung parts of the galaxy. A number of travelers post the usual glazed looks of those recently harangued by any type of transportation system created and run by the human species. They drift with a mixture of existential confusion and relief through to the station beyond. Always, they are scrutinized by security or some type of subspecies therein.
Shipping Bay
A selection of arriving packages are destined for further travel, and need to be processed before their corresponding ships leave. The staff here are constantly busy, and request that anyone who can use the automated systems attempt that first. Large screens remind everyone of scheduled departure times, as well as urging them to be patient while their requests are processed.
Docks
While the docks themselves are sectioned off rigidly, the myriad personal ships in clashing colors and shapes, as well as their motley crews, make the docks feel as eclectic as those of any other station. Captains confirm schedules, technicians make final checks and dock workers oversee everything as ships land and depart in a coordinated fashion.
Local Shuttles
There are many more shuttles departing for House of Syria, the other Consortium station, than anywhere else. Many people check their CORETECHS while standing, laughing intermittently and elbowing each other as they repeat catchphrases. A few others huddle in groups, chatting excitedly about their holiday to Madame de Pompadour, or how they’ve been studying the Balance so as not to offend people from LeGuin.
Interstellar Shuttles
Neatly organised landing areas, volunteers directing newcomers, and plenty of signs and announcements mean that no one gets lots when arriving in Ross 154 Jump Gate. The gate is seeing more traffic than it has since the Catastrophe, but thanks to the many organizational efforts, it’s coping with high volumes of traffic.
Destinations
| Destination | Distance | Ticket Price |
|---|---|---|
| Sol |
Ruins (Old Jump Gate)
The ruins of the old jump gate were meant to be a cautionary tale, until accidents started to happen. Whether due to the harsh terrain left over from the old Jump Gate’s explosions, or perhaps opportunistic rogues, the area has now been sectioned off. To go in, one needs to cross a tall metal fence, but there appear to be enough gaps that haven’t recently been closed. Intrepid adventurers always manage to find a way in.
The Ruins serves up danger in all sorts of flavors. Scavengers pick through The Wrecks, fighting savagely for overlooked prizes among the debris. Syndicates, under license from station authorities, renew buildings and facilities within the Syndicate Districts. And The Wilds are nothing short of a warzone, where the toughest Syndicate militia battle hardened criminals in an endless struggle for spoils and turf.
The Wrecks
Pieces of the jump gate, debris from the explosion, and chunks of regocrete hide technology or useful materials. From the Wrecks, you can see the nuclear reactors that power the station, as well as the occasional flash from a distant scavenger’s blowtorch.
On any given day the Wrecks pivot between desolate emptiness and sparse population by desperate people avoiding prying eyes, bandits, and merchants looking for some cheap and interesting wares. It can be worth your time to pull on a pair of gloves and dig through the debris in the wrecks in search of something useful, just keep your wits about you during your excavation. You never know who's watching in the wrecks.
The Wilds
Near the remnants of the jump gate are a series of buildings damaged by the Catastrophe’s explosion, which were subsequently abandoned. Now they’re home to all manner of brigands who evaded the station’s military and security forces… but have nowhere else to go.
Syndicates use these bullet-riddled spaces for insecure storage, and many a bandit has been cut down attempting a bold raid on someone else’s well-guarded cache. Once a benign web of service tunnels; every inch of The Wilds now serves treachery and murder. Deep in the festering darkness, heartless animals track their prey guided by primordial instinct. Only fools come here without first securing a serious weapon and a clone back-up.
Security
While the Consortium’s soldiers appear to get along with the independent security guards, there’s a palpable tension when they have to interact. Inside the Security Office, the bodyguards are lax, laughing loudly and clapping each others’ backs as they share stories of time spent in the Old Jump Gate’s ruins.
Sick Bay
While other parts of the station are low on resources, ensuring every Citizen has top-of-the-line care is important to the leaders of the Jump Gate. Volunteers soothe patients as they wait for their turn, while medics and their assistants make sure everyone is seen as soon as possible. There’s a small jar with colorful sweets for children, once their visit is over.
NPCs
"Galactic Destinations" text
As the jumpgate pathways are being realigned and brought back into the galactic network, we are able to access further information on the stations of Ross 154. As always, the entry-point into the system is the jumpgate and, with the mesh links reestablished and lines of communication now open, we can bring you some information about it!
As the militaristic entry-point into the system, the Ross Jump Gate takes its role as protector of the system seriously. Every station leader has focused on protecting both the civilians in the Jump Gate itself, as well as the other Consortium stations. In the past, Consortium soldiers would come here for military drills, to admire how organised and regimented everything was, and how much the people appreciated the Consortium peacekeepers – a shining example of what things could be like. The local citizens almost relished their lack of station identity – they were a military Jump Gate, and they would fulfill that role, nothing more.
Judging from the feeds we have been able to connect to, many buildings look the same, in regocrete grey, with large the holo-signs claiming their purpose being the only way to tell them apart. The only exception is the residential area, but even then, structures are very uniform, set apart only by their inhabitant’s decorations.
There is, obviously, a strong military presence here and they are strict in observing the law, but individual soldiers are friendly to residents and visitors (thus far only from the other stations of the system). Their identity as caretakers is highlighted during their training, and one can often see soldiers helping residents and visitors when they have problems. Of course, not all people look comfortable with the soldiers…
The station is otherwise clean and well-kept, with people lining up in orderly queues, folks are generally quite formal.
Following the Consortium ethos, there’s a prevailing feeling that as long as you respect the rules, uphold the peace and generally do things right, you’re free to do what you want. Many people in this station are here out of a sense of duty to the Consortium, trying to keep the jump gate running, protecting the system, and hoping Le Guin Stronghold will rejoin the Consortium peacefully.
In terms of entertainment, the station has adopted a love of e-sports from their ongoing (but some say begrudging) relationship with their neighbor, The House of Syria.
The chance to let off steam and promote team-building, while appealing to their righteousness and competitive spirit, has made e-sports a perfect fit for the Jump Gate. There appears to be a big tournament each cycle (set up by House of Syria technicians) which is a huge attraction, bringing people in from other stations and, we soon foresee, other systems, including many participants from Syria.
The military believes that seeing soldiers participate in the tournament can show civilians that everyone likes to unwind sometimes… But anyone watching the tournament can see that they still treat the game like a military exercise. We found that this, however, does not diminish its entertainment value!
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