Community Event / Creation The Elite Bulletin Board System and The Huge Plasma Accelerator Saga / Longhaul Outpost

jonbluestone

jonbluestone
UPDATE: NOW playing Elite: Dangerous, ignore out of date opening line.

I'm returning to ELITE soon via ELITE: Dangerous and have been playing ELITE since the BBC version of 1984. Chief among my creations was a character called Jannah Berihn and Longhaul Outpost (LHO) which initially appeared at the Elite Bulletin Board System (EBBS). I'm sure there are some old Commanders around who remember that, but for those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, here is a quick history lesson. Before ELITE: Dangerous there was Frontier: First Encounters (FFE) and before this there was Frontier: Elite 2 (aka FW2) but the game which started it all off was ELITE (1984). During the era covered by classic ELITE and FE2 I and others wrote a lot of sci-fi ELITE universe related fiction.


The Diso System appeared in ELITE and it appeared also in FE2 and it was here, located at the very edge of the system that an ancient and patched-up Coriolis class space station existed. Known as Longhaul Outpost (LHO) it was owned and operated by Jannah Berihn (pronounced: Jahn-narr Bur-ring), a ELITE combater who had dropped out of the power struggle being fought throughout the galaxy and who declared herself an independent acting only for her own self-interests. LHO was a freeport and as such although it had it's own security and patrol vessels and it's own security teams on board they were not deployed against wanted fugitives unless they actually caused damage on the station, or to it. Once docked visitors could expect the best that could be looted and would wander around unmolested within it's interior. Gambling, dens of vice and the illegal modification of vessels was all done there and none of it was seen as criminal. Naturally, Berihn made a very large amount of money from her operation and plowed it back into keeping the station running and herself in a moderate degree of luxury. In addition to the station, Jannah Berihn owned and operated a small fleet of vessels, with her favorite being the MOONLIGHT SHADOW, a modified Panther class transport. She also utilized a older model Cobra MK III known as the WASTED YEARS and would use it for occasional 'business trips' and 'economic tourism' when the mood took her. Since the station existed just a few parsecs beyond the edge of the Diso System and was technically in Interstellar Space the Galactic Co-Operative law enforcement community (GalCops) could not technically pursue charges against Berihn, or any of her 'guests' and LHO's own fighter craft made sure that nosy or inquisitive police were kept busy if they attempted to 'arrest' parties leaving the station for other systems (at a price).


In the year 3307 (according to the HPA Saga) the 'criminal genius' known as Norman Mosser came to LHO and entered into discussions with Berihn as to sanctuary as he was by then a very wanted man. Berihn agreed to protect Mosser, but warned him that any attempt to destabilize the operation of the station or to bring down a fleet on it would be met with ramifications and he would face expulsion - as she was quite willing to give Mosser, or anyone else for that matter, to a war party in order to save the station. LHO was heavily armed but even Berihn appreciated that there was only so long it could hold out for, and more importantly that ''war is bad for business. ... unless of course, I'm the one starting it.'' Unknown to Berihn, her daughter, Leila Berihn had become involved with a plan to smuggle a stolen artifact, a massively powerful super-weapon of mass-destruction called the Huge Plasma Accelerator (HPA) onto the station from Mosser's vessel, the Azure Sunset; It was subsequently held in one of the bays normally reserved for Python or Boa class vessels as the Azure Sunset itself was a Long Range Cruiser which was much too big to enter the station and which was kept in orbit close by LHO. In this instance, Berihn's reluctance to carry out surveillance on her 'guests' (unless she felt like it, or because it was tactically sound to do so) led to a series of incidents which saw the station destroyed, and it apparently took Jannah Berihn along with it. As of the time of the stations destruction she disappeared and was presumed dead and among the wreckage of LHO.


Berihn survived the incident, having only just escaped in the WASTED YEARS as the station came apart. Berihn had taken the time to pre-program the MOONLIGHT SHADOW to depart the area during the attack; using it as a 'dirty decoy' and it was subsequently chased down and was destroyed when LHO disintegrated, along with several of the attacking vessels. Since the HPA incident Berihn has been laying low, biding her time, making money from off-world accounts and projects. Her daughter, Leila went on to carve out a career for herself, believing that her mother was deceased - and Annalise Berihn, a relative to the previous two mentioned here was at last report still with Mosser.


If anyone is interested in picking up where all of that stuff left off, let me know.

UPDATE: Small liberties have been taken with the lore after original character development sheets came to light.
 
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Corbeau

Corbeau
Hmmm, maybe, just... maybe. Maybe it would be time to reignite those old fires, to show the n00bs how real stories are written ;)

Speaking of HPA Saaaargha, does it still exist anywhere on the internet? All links I found are dead. I have it SOMEWHERE on some of my computers, but would have to start an expedition to try to find it.
 

jonbluestone

jonbluestone
That's the one! Thank you - I've now downloaded a copy to my own terminal for archiving purposes, and because, let's face is, the Huge Plasma Accelerator Sagarrghhhhh was a total work of anarchy - and I loved it. Sadly one of the contributors (my late friend and associate, Sally Parks) is not around to enjoy it or Elite: Dangerous. I have also noticed that Berihn's name is mis-spelt in the EBBS/FEU wiki and will if possible be addressing the filing mistakes there if I can contact the admin on that issue. Of note is the fact that chief among the instances that took place on those last days of Longhaul Outpost is that a secular hysterical cult of religious fanatics known as THE ARCHIVE OF HESTON were planning bloody revolution on Reidquat, and utilized LHO as their base of operations. Berihn knew that they were on board and that their regular 'prayers' meant the discharging of large bore weapons but she never appreciated that for the Followers of Heston ("He Who Shall Protect the Right to Bear Arms") would begin their revolution there. It is not known just how much trouble these maniacs caused during the HPA but at last report a few of them survived and have been growing in number - and that they still plan religious revolution on Reidquat; a planet they see as their spiritual homeland.
 
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jonbluestone

jonbluestone
UPDATE! I took the time to find and re-work the original notes that Sally Parks and I produced in the early Nineties and re-published them. I would be nice if Frontier Developments Limited included LONGHAUL OUTPOST (LHO) in Elite: Dangerous, but I suspect that would be a fantasy as they have more important things to be getting on with. This said, if anyone is interested in seeing it and want to petition FDL to include LHO we can make a try of it. The original commentary is included here:

The LEGEND of JANNAH BERIHN and LONGHAUL OUTPOST

Born on January 11th 3130, the 32nd Century, Jannah Berihn grew up in the twisting shantytowns of the northern continent on the planet Birmingham in the Diso system. Throughout her life, Berihn would often comment when asked where she was from by replying ''Diso'' and left it at that. Diso (pronounced: dis-co) was notorious among nearby systems for the number of combaters and traders that it seemed to spawn, with emphasis on those who preferred to fly just that bit too close to the flame and who often managed to brag about it in seedy bars anywhere within a fifty light year zone adjacent to Diso. It is for this reason that many of Diso's best became somewhat suspect and when 'arrested' they almost universally refused to cooperate with the GalCops, instead choosing to tell them to ''Ask somebody who gives a **** at Diso, flatfoot'' just to infuriate the authorities at both ends.

Life on Birmingham was often violent and nasty, and the planet was undergoing terraforming at the time of her childhood with emphasis on a wet surface, dominated by deep oceans and small continents with island chains with a comfortable constant surface temperature of 320 Kelvin. Although records are fragmentary at best it is clear that she attended a number of educational facilities, was kicked out of at least one of them for some minor criminal misdemeanor but eventually received sufficient education to obtain the necessary credentials under the then active Galactic Co-operative of Worlds (GalCop) interplanetary governmental system to take and pass the Space and Interstellar Pilot's Examination which rewarded the cadet with a pilot's license. At the time, Birmingham was given over to agricultural development so Berihn could not in her own words, "Get off of that damned rock fast enough."

In 3149 she became the recipient of a Faulcon deLacy Spaceways Cobra MK III trading craft, donated by the company in an effect to promote galactic trade. We do know that Berihn spent a lot of her time exploring and is recorded as having 'discovered' a number of systems and stars and despite a somewhat and predictable uncertain start she went on to become a respectable combater who delighted in highly unconventional and dangerous tactics which given the circumstances of many of the incidents she was involved in, made sense as Berihn was often of the opinion that, "either they buy the farm or you do. You're hit; you're dead. Sorry to break it to you like that, but there are no second chances in space combat." Credited with numerous RIGHT ON COMMANDER signals from GalCop, she carved out a career, which saw her visit a large number of systems, although she often spoke of feeling most comfortable in the old core worlds, especially those around Lave and Reidquat.

When it was operating, she would sometimes call in on Beebeecee and visit the Elite Bar and Grill. Those who made unwelcome advances were often given to understand that they would be on the receiving end of a 'frell grenade' or two. Naturally, nobody wanted that and as such, when present the usual bar brawls and infighting which was often commonplace was muted considerably.

By 3153 and aged twenty-three, Berihn had achieved the rank of ---- E L I T E ---- and it is rumored subsequently became a member of legendary DARK WHEEL organization; although records regarding this have been impossible to confirm given it's suspected criminal links. The following year (3154) and quite unexpectedly, Berihn purchased a defunct and reportedly stripped Class II Coriolis type station and had it relocated to the edge of the Diso system where it came to rest approximately five hundred thousand kilometers outside of the system authorities jurisdiction and orbiting just beyond Diso 8, an icy planet consisting of frozen Helium and dark rock. Berihn subsequently named it LONGHAUL OUTPOST in reverence to the fact that it was more than 9AU out from the primary and because it was outside of the GalCops jurisdiction they had no legal right to interfere with the stations operation or to impede its services.

Using her underworld connections, Berihn had the station extensively outfitted and at enormous expense brought it back online. Although the station was not to achieve fully operational status for fourteen years, it operated successfully during that time by closing off sections, which were deemed hazardous to personnel (such as being open directly to space or containing hazardous chemical or radiation traces). LONGHAUL OUTPOST, often shortened to LHO was considered a ''freeport'' and operated it's own defense force, it's own wing of Viper Class patrol vessels (although Berihn later had these replaced with a mixed force of Moray Star Boats and Sidewinder Scouts. For those who were willing to pay the 'docking fee' and who were willing to surrender all arms when confronted by station security, anything and everything was permissible as long as it did not (a) interfere with the running of the station, (b) cause the GalCops or anyone else to raid or attack the station.

Berihn effectively 'retired' from trading and instead recouped her losses with income from the station, often taking a comfortable percentage of the action, which took place there. Now taking the position of SysOp (systems operator) she had staff that did the actual work but she kept a close watch on what was going on - in as far as that was possible under the circumstances. Chief among these were known criminal organizations, loan shark operations, illegal outfitters in both weaponry and vessel enhancements to say nothing of the gambling, pleasure-suites and quasi-military groups who found the station security adequate for secure meetings away from the eyes of their respective governments. Among the more bizarre of the groups was the Brotherhood of Heston, a 'religious' sect whose prayer consisted of firing assault weapons into the ceiling (or indeed any unfortunate 'sinners' who happened to come their way) while plotting insurrection throughout the galaxy.

Representatives of Heston eventually proved such a problem for Berihn that she was forced to 'space' two hundred of them by decompressing a section of the station that they were occupying and which contained a number of high-energy arc plasma reactors which the group had threatened to destroy because she had refused them immunity from prosecution from those who they had attacked at Reidquat. Much of the fourteen years that the station was in place were fairly mundane, with groups from the Federation and Alliance arriving as they pleased and attempting to coerce Berihn into acting in their interest. Sometimes money was offered, sometimes threats of violence. It is known that Berihn turned the stations armaments on two Alliance patrol ships destroying them both. In another instance it was known that Berihn had somehow managed to get her hands on a defunct Fer-De-Lance (manufactured by the Zorgon Petterson Group (Zee Pee Gee)) fully intending to have the craft refurbished for assassination purposes.

Longhaul Outpost was effectively a well-armed, well-defended independently operating port and this fact did not go unnoticed by the GalCop. In 3171 the criminal known as Norman Mosser (or at least one of his many clones) arrived at LHO and he convinced Berihn to allow him to conceal a stolen Huge Plasma Accelerator (HPA) within the station. It is rumored that an eye-wateringly large amount of cash was transferred between accounts before it was permitted on board. However, it is speculated that the HPA was stolen from the Empire and that the ruling elite wanted it back. Eventually they traced Mosser to LHO and in typical Imperial fashion arrived at the edge of the Diso system with a well-armed fleet intending to use intimidation to have both Mosser and the HPA turned over to their control. Berihn stubbornly refused to cooperate with the Empire.

She did not even agree to them being permitted on board the station as they demanded, and instead choose to enter into discussions screen to screen (causing considerable personal offence to the fleets commanding officer). It is uncertain what happened after this, although it seems that the Imperial vessels deployed fighters and formed up to assault the station, and this led to Berihn ordering full retaliation, complete with a launching of the stations own wing of fighter patrol craft. During that engagement (''The Battle of Longhaul'') it is believed that Mosser deliberately powered up the Huge Plasma Accelerator and aiming it down the long central chamber opened fire on the Imperial capital ships. The resulting energy ripped the station to pieces and when it detonated it took the Imperial fleet with it.

It is rumored that Berihn told members of the traffic control section immediately prior to the detonation of the station that, ''sure, we're all gonna die ... you're gonna die, I'm gonna die. We're all gonna die - just don't think it's gonna be today.'' (This highly controversial quote is often repeated in popular holo-drama's chronicling the life and times of Berihn. At the last count, two hundred and forty-six such screenplays existed, and at least ninety documentaries exist which claim to chronicle her life and achievements).
In the immediate aftermath, the authorities at Diso launched a massive recovery and humanitarian operation and acted to rescue survivors - charging those who were discovered to be wanted criminals. By 3173 the bulk of the debris from the battle was still orbiting out beyond Diso 8 and was being picked over by scavengers and looters, to say nothing of bounty hunters who were intent on claiming on any 'wanted' corpses they might come across in the wreckage. Having failed to find any evidence for her body, and with her private accounts being untouched since the stations destruction, Berihn was declared DECEASED (declared dead in absentia of a corpse aged forty-one) in 3175 and her holdings passed into the hands of her known family members who were still living on Birmingham. Rumors continued nevertheless that she had not died and that she had in fact been 'positively identified' by known criminals and in locations across a four hundred light year sphere of known space. Such rumors were seldom matched with visual or other evidence.

The legend of ''The Battle of Longhaul'' continued to live on in the Diso system and even became the stuff of urban legend in neighboring systems ... but even legends fade in time and are forgotten to all but the most dedicated antiquarians. Late in the year 3300 an application was made for a pilots license at LHS 3447 by a woman by the name of Jannah Berihn, aged forty-eight (or so said the documents). The attending flight surgeon confirmed this for the insurance documentation, but noted a physical similarity to a known criminal of the same name who according to GalCop records died one hundred and twenty-five years earlier. A records comparison was attempted, but with subsequent governments, minor revolutions and data losses it was impossible to associate this Berihn with the person who she closely resembled. Unknown to the authorities, this was indeed the Jannah Berihn they suspected. Having survived the destruction of the station by utilizing the heavily armored and stealth-capable Fer-De-Lance Berihn had chosen to put as much distance between herself as the Empire as possible as it was well understood that the Empire had a very long memory and was unforgiving in regards to matters such as came to pass at LHO.

Let's just say that cryogenics is a wonderful thing.
So we come to the present.
''Once you have tasted power it's all you dream of.'' ~ Jannah Berihn, LHO (3171)

SOURCE: http://jonathanbluestone.deviantart.com/art/LONGHAUL-OUTPOST-LHO-519567977
 
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