Powerplay Faction: Edmund Mahon The Alliance and the California Nebula

[DNA-Decay]

I got my Asp The Green Dream kitted up with a 45 LY jump range and headed out to the California Nebula.
Not there yet, but totally worth the trip.

SCIENCE! For the Alliance!

I got as far as the Mahon Research Base at HIP 18077 6 C

drove due East - out past the long range comms tower.

there is a field of fungus like growths:

Just keep reading the scanner and you'll find at least four types of Life forms:

Spoiler

They're harvestable.
Shoot them and they turn into materials. My original post here was wrong hence Vectron's question about scanning them.

From most common to rarest they are:
CORDYCEP GROWTH

POLYPORUS GROWTH

MUSSIDAEN SEED POD

PHLOEM EXCRETION

 

[Martin Schou]

I didn't seem to get any info from them when I scanned them - any advantage to scanning them?

 

[William H. Bonney]

this looks awesome and i feel like i'm missing out on something!?! How did you find out about this place, is there a thread or something i should be following? i never "stumble" across these sorts of places, do i need to align meselves to Mahon or to the Alliance? i'm a friendly fellow and prefer the independent "prosperity to our species" so don't like the idea of killing other humans. i also won't kill the aliens unless they threaten our existence, i'll give away me chocolate hob 'nobs before i be firing the first shot.

 

[goemon]

thanks for sharing

do you know, which services are available at the two stations? do they have outfitting? and/or a shipyard?

thinking about moving out there for a bit, and wonder what i should bring with me.

 

[Martin Schou]

thanks for sharing

do you know, which services are available at the two stations? do they have outfitting? and/or a shipyard?

thinking about moving out there for a bit, and wonder what i should bring with me.

They're both planetary, so they do not have shipyards.

https://eddb.io/station/65129

https://eddb.io/station/64402

 

[DNA-Decay]

I didn't seem to get any info from them when I scanned them - any advantage to scanning them?

Uh yeah - don't mind me, I'm an idiot.
Apparently the fungi are analagous to other things already in game, and you can get RARE materials from them.
There's one in my video and I didn't even notice until laterz.

Fortunately CMDR PanPiper of Cannon (and a stand up Alliance sympathiser -eg veteran of the DBX CG Hamilton Gateway) knows the exploartion malarkey a lot beter than me and prepp'ed this:

PanPiper was the one who found the Mahon Research Base:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...acle-sources?p=5015637&viewfull=1#post5015637

He gave me the lead about the fungus field, but he hadn't found the four fruits of the 'shrooms.

Actually I'm at the Mic Turner base right now - about to have a look at the fungus field there.


Also my video which is not in my original post:
https://vimeo.com/200777844
[video=vimeo;200777844]https://vimeo.com/200777844[/video]

Go for it - blast away and gather those mats.
Just don't be surprised if we get a fungal outbreak when we get home.

 

[goemon]

They're both planetary, so they do not have shipyards.

https://eddb.io/station/65129

https://eddb.io/station/64402

thanks! data of mahon research base isn't complete on eddb.io - but for me as a small ship commander it is good to know there is outfitting

genreally, there are quite some planetary shipyards, though.

 

[DNA-Decay]

There are some WEIRD things about these research bases.
1) Single minor faction. - Turner Research Group.
2) Government type - Alliance Dictatorship
3) Black Market.
4) The Commodities Market.

I was running ED Market Connector when I was out there, so you should be able to get a list.
https://eddb.io/station/market/65129

Scrolling through that - there's a lot of stuff that's generic- but it's not just a standard High Tech Market - there's some stuff they have good supply of that you would put on your shopping list if you were doing BioWeapon fungus research.
Microbial Furnaces.
Pesticides.
All the medicines.
Narcotics.
And the technology section is skewed towards bio-science or at least somewhat away from computer science.

I don't want to make too much of this but I think these bases are hand crafted not procedural.
So it's possible to infer what the designers are thinking.

For example linking the words "Mic Turner" and "Research Group" definitely puts this into the part of Turner's lore around the Mycoid Virus rather than the lore around say shipyards or founding the Alliance.
I'm assuming you know "Mycoid" means "Fungus like" (or possibly "acting on Fungus").

From lore, the Thargoids are insects.
And some of the growths at the Alliance fungus farm are Cordyceps.
Here's a quote from Wikipedia

All Cordyceps species are endoparasitoids, parasitic mainly on insects and other arthropods (they are thus entomopathogenic fungi); a few are parasitic on other fungi. Until recently, the best known species of the genus was Cordyceps sinensis,[1] first recorded as yartsa gunbu in Nyamnyi Dorje's 15th century Tibetan text An ocean of Aphrodisiacal Qualities.

The key bit though is what you get on an image search for Cordyceps:

I was talking with my kid about it, and he'd been watching an Attenborough show where the fungus would change the behavior of the insect to help spread the fungal spores.

And suddenly we're in the world of freaky hallucinogens.
You know who has freaky hallucinogenic visions of fungus from outer space? HP Lovecraft.
And who is most into the C'thulu mythos at Frontier? Michael "The Alliance are traitors to humanity" Brookes! He said that while wearing a C'thulu T shirt in a livestream.

So if these new bases really are the Alliance BioWeapons division - I'm going to import some leathery eggs from Ridley Scott.

If this is the way the Thargoid menace is going to play out -
The Alliance will be ready for it.
https://www.yog-sothoth.com/wiki/index.php/R'lyehian

Cthulhu fhtagn

 

[goemon]

So if these new bases really are the Alliance BioWeapons division - I'm going to import some leathery eggs from Ridley Scott.

hm.

HIP 118311 Swarm
Borasetani Pathogenetics

both are rares listed as weapons, both are bioweapons, and Borasetani Pathogenetics is especially outlawed by alliance allegiance ... as we found out when trying to get it into production.

if i set out there, I'll see to have some in my cargo - maybe this will give us new insights.

 

[goemon]

hm.

HIP 118311 Swarm
Borasetani Pathogenetics

both are rares listed as weapons, both are bioweapons, and Borasetani Pathogenetics is especially outlawed by alliance allegiance ... as we found out when trying to get it into production.

if i set out there, I'll see to have some in my cargo - maybe this will give us new insights.

so, i went out, having borasetani pathogenics and hip 118311 swarm in my cargohold, as well as toxandji virocide.

to my astonishement, neither borasetani pathogenics nor hip 118311 swarm were classified as illegal at mahon base - mind you, borasetani is illegal in "liberty party of borasetani"-space, an alliance dictatorship. both are classified as weapons, and both are biological weapons:

i'll recheck the legality of both back in the bubble with another alliance dictatorship as well as a freemen- (alliance anarchy-) faction - anyway, there is something significant about two generally outlawed rares being legal in this place.

and than i did a cargo scan of one of the local haulers ...

... i really don't want to know what the poor souls being sold are expecting ...

I drove to the fungus field - interesting to see - and i'll stick around a bit, will visit the barncles and mic turner base, too.

 

[DNA-Decay]

and then i did a cargo scan of one of the local haulers ...
http://i.imgur.com/mDrzWgE.png

... i really don't want to know what the poor souls being sold are expecting ...

Gold Card members of the bad luck club.

No, Really!

Well, at least it's not contagious. I mean, if it was contagious, then you'd get fungal outbreaks in the systems where you dump your explo data on return.

oops:

From Wikipedia:

Absidia is a genus of fungi in the family Cunninghamellaceae. The best-known species is the pathogenic Absidia corymbifera, which causes zygomycosis, especially in the form of mycotic spontaneous in cows. It can also cause mucormycosis in humans. It is an allergenic that could cause mucorosis in individuals with low immunity. It usually infects the lungs, nose, brain, eyesight and skin. Absidia spp. are ubiquitous in most environments. They are often associated with warm decaying plant matter, such as in compost heaps.

Or even Bark Mounds perhaps.

Murcormycosis:

Spoiler

 

[DNA-Decay]

Also at Mahon Research Base, the Bark Mounds have turned into a Giant Pumpkin patch.

And there's an Alliance trade CG this week to create a third Alliance base out here in the California Nebula. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/349919-Alliance-Outpost-Campaign-(Trade)
It's being run out of the new Asteroid station out here: Darwin Research Base.
Hey, that's my hometown.

The last two CGs to build Alliance bases were run out of Furuhjelm III.
There's an 'Alliance' Player Minor Faction there called 160th SOAR.
Unfortunately the guy who runs 160th SOAR is a senior PvP wing commander and BGS strategist with Empire Player Group: Achenar Immortals, so while having the CG hosted in the Nebula is a pain, at least "Mic Turner Research Group" has some serious credibility as the Alliance.

I wonder if the the backstage story about Empire / Alliance shenanigans in Furuhjelm III will turn out to have some connection to the possibly resurrected or never dead INRA. hmmm anything's possible with enough tin foil.




Side note: I'm keeping my ship open for Multi-Crew explo, and if you've got voice comms, I'll stop and give you a guided tour of these bases. I've bored the ears off a couple of forum personalities already.

Spoiler

"I got no time for living, yes I'm working all the time"

I promised him Pumpkins - I trapped him downstairs and gave him bark mounds. Well, what can you expect - the guy's a dirty Fed.

 

[DNA-Decay]

I reviewed this thread and I just noticed the bit about fungus parasites causing a behavioral change in their insect hosts.
I know there's some bit of lore around two types of Thargoids, the warriors having their fear glands removed. Can anyone point out a primary source for this?

All I've got is the "Trading with other species" which I'm pretty sure is retconned out.

 

[Ashnak]

I'm at Mahon Research Base right now, after a trip through the pumpkin patch. That was the most expensive Sulphur I've collected so far... 3000 Cr fine for shooting in a no fire zone.

Off to Mic Turner base next, just to take a look.

Oh, and thanks for your offer, DNA-Decay, but I'm not a forum celeb and I'd like to keep my ears.

 

[DNA-Decay]

New Alliance Research Base in California Nebula.

After the recent Trade CG out to Asteroid Base: Darwin Research the new Alliance Base is Ford Research Laboratory.
Just as the first two were built on the back of Community Goals and have biological structures within the No Fire Zone this new base has a field of Fumeroles within the No Fire Zone.

The other Big news is that Ford Research Laboratory has a shipyard. It is now possible to get to the California Nebula in an Asp or other explorer and then bring out a combat ship.

There are two Tourist Beacons at Mic Turner Base:
"Mic Turner Bark Mounds" within the No Fire Zone.
"Alliance Outpost in the California Nebula" which is in orbit on the sunny side.
The only other tourist beacon in the region is "Little Blue" a beautiful Nebula about a third of the way back to the Pleiades.

Turner Research Group has a presence at every Alliance Base out there, and generates well paid Passenger Missions to the regional Tourist Beacons. The missions are stackable and can be done quickly. You can get cabins from Mic Turner Base and Mahon Research Base (First class and Business) and Redmarch Laboratory and Ford Research Laboratory also have outfitting. With the shipyard now at Ford, we can easily bring out Pythons and other mission running ships.
At most of the bases, Turner Research Group is the sole minor faction, so the regular mission board generates nothing and Turner is always a 100% influence. But at the Darwin Asteroid Base, there are two other factions and there are normal missions as well as the Passenger Lounge.

The first Alliance goal should be to depose Deep Space Industries as the ruler at Darwin, and enstate Turner Research Group there as well.

You can get allied to Turner Research Group (TRG) by selling exploration data anywhere EXCEPT Darwin. Once Allied - collect passenger missions to the local tourist beacons, but only for Turner Research Group. There is a Compromised Nav Beacon at Darwin as well so Bounty Hunting is available to move the BGS there as well. (When the states are suitable).

With Deep Space Industries sitting at 90% there's quite a swing to achieve before TRG is installed at Darwin.

I don't know what Frontier has planned for us out here, but we are slowly being equipped with a tiny, but viable Alliance bubble.

Mic Turner Base
California Sector BA-A E6
Bark Mounds - Fungi
Two tourist beacons.
Four barnacle sites.

Mahon Research Base
HIP 18077
Pumpkin Patch - Fungi

Redmarch Research Facility
California Sector JH-V c2-12
Two other settlements (not landable)

Darwin Research Laboratory (asteroid station)
California Sector BV-Y c7
Full mission board and compromised Nav beacon.

Ford Research Laboratory from the May 3303 CG
California Sector HR-W d1-28
Shipyard and Fumeroles.

Fly safe or deadly as you prefer CMDRs
DNA-Decay o7

 

[DNA-Decay]

https://community.elitedangerous.com/en/galnet/uid/591ebb27943cd631325ff687

Galactic News: Halsey Stages Anti-War Protest

20 MAY 3303

Former Federal president Jasmina Halsey held a public demonstration in the Alioth system yesterday in protest of the ongoing conflict between the Empire and the Federation.

More than 30,000 people attended the event, which lasted for several hours and occupied one of the main public plazas in Nerah City on Argent’s Claim.

A number of high-profile speakers and activists addressed the crowd, although Alliance Prime Minister Edmund Mahon was notable by his absence. Political commentators were quick to point out, however, that the demonstration could not have taken place without his foreknowledge, if not his explicit approval.

In an address to the crowd, Halsey said:

“As a 20th Century historian once wrote, ‘The underlying reason for war is always economic.’ This conflict has nothing to do with freedom or liberation – it is about resources. And I believe enough people have died to line the pockets of already wealthy individuals in the Federation and the Empire.”

“I speak now directly to President Zachary Hudson and Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval: It is not too late for you to listen to reason.”

Neither the Empire nor the Federation elected to respond to Halsey’s statement.


The whole Jasmina Halsey saga is here: https://inara.cz/cmdr-logbook/3414/17371/ thanks to Texas Pete for the links

Also here's some burning flags of the Federation for
you enjoyment.

 

[DNA-Decay]

Meanwhile The AllIance continues to develop the California Sector.
With 2.3 there is a new base at Redmarch and a new asteroid base at Darwin.
[video=vimeo;216616496]https://vimeo.com/216616496[/video]
The system at Darwin isn't Alliance yet.
But is soon will be.

And those circles show the war. But someone has been pushing FFE and now they're at 61.5% which is almost enough to start another war.
Need to get that back down Alliance CMDRs. Come and stack Passenger missions for Mic Turner.

Does anyone else notice that Far Flung Entertainments = FFE = Frontier First Encounters. That was the game where the whole Mic Turner / Alliance / Mycoid Virus story came from. Did the Alliance even exist before FFE?

If you'd like to help flip the system, there's a guide kicking around. PM me or ask at one of the Alliance discords.

Pushing the Turner Research Group has solved my financial problems for the time being.
I even bought an Anaconda and named it Turner's Call.

 

[DNA-Decay]

I was checking the bounty boards the other day.
Seems like I've been a naughty boy.

And I wonder if I know any of the other CMDRs on this list?

Spatula007 - hmm I'm sure I know that name from somewhere.

[video=youtube_share;k5apyiQoRXI]https://youtu.be/k5apyiQoRXI[/video]

 

[spatula]

oh no! I've been found! LONG LIVE DEEP SPACE DANGUS INVESTIGATIONS

 

[DNA-Decay]

oh no! I've been found! LONG LIVE DEEP SPACE DANGUS INVESTIGATIONS

Take CMDR Spatula007 away and put him with the other CMDR Andy Gill in the "med ward" over at Mahon Research Base. Don't let him read the news feed there.
And don't let him near the Pumpkin Patch.

And especially don't let him near 34.83 / -40.39 on Mic Turner Base.