77 Frigga

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Places in Fenspace

77 Frigga
Planetary characteristics
Orbit	399.212 Gm (aphelion 452.196 Gm, perihelion 346.228 Gm)
Diameter	69.2 km
Surface Gravity	~0.019 m/s² outside waved sections
Year	1592.266 days
Mean Temperature	170K
Population (2013)	~20
Political Affiliation	Fenspace Convention
Government	Private Residence

77 Frigga was home to the New-Birmingham asteroid mine, which operated from mid-2010 until the end of 2016. Operated by Jacob Pinkard, and home to the eponymous mining company, the mine was initially successful, the boom-town of New-Birmingham growing in the original working tunnels just beneath the surface to provide for the mine workers and their families. However inefficient mining practices mixed with outdated equipment, falling prices, accelerated competition and the increasing cost of material extraction once the easy deposits had been exhausted, led to the mine falling into debt by early 2016. Creditors called in their debts and the New-Birmingham mine was forced into receivership with most of the assets being sold off in a fire sale.

The mine itself was written off as no-longer economically viable. While there are still gigatonnes of ore, most of it is too difficult and expensive to extract and refine. Frigga would likely have been abandoned if it hadn’t been bought up by Jet Jaguar and Ford Sierra.

Publicly, they bought the defunct mine with a view to Jet establishing a Martial Arts training school in the former accommodation block, while Ford could establish her own workshop beneath. Secretly, Jet also bought the rock to serve as a covert base for her planned group, the Knight Sabers. Jet and Ford took out a large joint loan with the Bank of Sol in order to pay for Frigga, securing the loan on the asteroid itself.

To pay back the majority of the loan while steadily outfitting the asteroid, they both took up contract work with the Roughriders. Working at weekends and on their time off, it took nearly three years to outfit the accommodation block and build the SilkyDoll inside the old ore-separation plant.

With the mine workings mapped, the pair established the Survival Shot combat simulation centre inside the former mine.

Jet and Ford live in the former mayor’s residence, a traditional American wood-panel two-story house at the center of a rough lawn that seems to forever need mowing under a creaking pressure dome. The original Highway Star lives here on display. Visitors are asked to call ahead to make sure it isn’t making an appearance at another event. The accommodation block beneath is very sparse, with only a few of the apartments containing any sort of furnishing. There’s a large gymnasium which Jet uses as a training centre and some facilities for Survival Shot customers including a café and a briefing room. Customers can stay if they like/need. Long term students generally live on site while studying.

Frigga itself is nearly 70km long and many sections are isolated from each other by 10km of tunnel or more, with the mine workings being dug through the areas where the ore was purest. The old ore lifts have been re-activated to transport guests while the service tunnels are used when speed is of the essence. The workshop levels are deep in the asteroid and are connected both to the main landing bay, the mine workings, and on down into the former mine itself. The workshop areas are mostly used to store and repair Survival Shot drones, or for commissioned work. A makeshift shooting range has also been set up down here.

The main landing bay is easily large enough to accommodate a Gagarin-class craft, being built to handle the largest of bulk ore carriers, and features a thousand ton capacity loading crane named BIG BEA and switchable gravity plating to ease loading. It is usually next to useless, with the main door rarely opened. Access is usually through a smaller airlocked door, capable of handling most visiting spacecraft. The personal craft of those who live on Frigga, of students and some guests are tied down in a partitioned area.

An offshoot cavern leads to the KnightWing landing bay and the SilkyDoll. The KnightWing always uses the main door; depressurising the entire bay is the best way to ensure that nobody is left behind watching it launch.

Most of Frigga however, is still empty and unused.

Blitzkrieg Training School

Jet’s original plan was to establish a training school to teach her own personal variant of Panzer Kunst, named Blitzkrieg. Blitzkrieg Panzer Kunst emphasises speed and hard-hitting assaults. At any one time, there will be one or two dedicated students, and Jet actively bids for contracts to train troops from reputable factions. The mine workings were converted into a practice area for use by the students, which would later become the Survival Shot combat simulation centre.

The school welcomes all students - cybered, armoured or not. Jet teaches both hard combat Panzer Kunst and softer teachings regarding the self and living. Combat training is most effective for cybers or those wearing Stingray-based hardware, but can be universally applied.

Jet asks that students contribute to the general upkeep and maintenance of the asteroid in exchange for their training and that experienced students help with Survival Shot by acting as the opposing force in exercises. This has the added benefit of acting as further practical training for them.

Survival Shot

Survival Shot uses the mine workings for combat exercises, up to and including being one of the few live-fire capable training centres in Fenspace. It began as a side project to pay the bills for the school, and quickly outgrew it.

Simulating the sort of operations Jet once commanded as leader of the Engel Gruppe, the mine is equipped with a modern sensor array, simulated point defense weapons and an old Roadrunner in orbit that’s incapable of flight. Survival Shot aims to simulate a number of other environments within the workings and is actively trying to acquire another ship’s hulk for zero-G combat. It is capable of simulating an entire mission, from the approach in through to the final attack and surrender, with TITANIC co-ordinating the exercise.

Anyone can hire Survival Shot out. Fees are charged hourly and are based on damage and gimmicks employed. The training centre is available to reputable groups and teaches both offensive and defensive tactics. They also provide for corporate outings, days-out and the like, allowing customers to take control of the base defenses against an attack, lead their own assault using non-lethal simulated-ammunition weaponry, or even hold versus matches between themselves.

Weapons are provided on-site. External firearms are generally forbidden. Survival Shot offers a range of weaponry, from a standard loadout of a 9mm USP pistol with a Steyr Aug rifle, up to heavier general purpose machine guns, bolt action rifles, 12 gauge shotguns and simulated explosives. Live weapons are also available for certain scenarios.

Blitzkrieg students mixed with modified combat drones are employed as the Friggan OpFor, taking both defensive and offensive roles as the scenario requires.

Jet and Ford regularly bid for training contracts with big factions. For the first few months of its operation, Survival Shot operated at a loss. The Bank of Sol was about to begin foreclosure proceedings when the training centre secured its first big contract with StellviaCorp.

StellviaCorp is known to have run each of its security personnel through Survival Shot exercises at least twice: once as defender and once as attacker. So far, only Security Chief Mishima has successfully completed both exercises - even Noah Scott has failed to attack the facility and "live", although he's defended it successfully three times.

Although Survival Shot aims to replicate the experience of combat, there are still some safety rules that must be obeyed and patrons are expected to understand even simulated combat is a potentially dangerous activity. Even simmunition marking rounds fired through a modified Steyr AUG can still do damage. There is a basic infirmary on site to provide emergency care, more serious cases are rushed to the nearest station.

TITANIC

Sidebar: TITANIC safety systems

Given it’s critical importance to running the station and the fact that it has control over live ordinance, a number of safety systems have been built into the TITANIC system designed to shut it down in the event of a ‘malfunction’ sending it out of control. First, while the system is designed to be self modifying, most of it operates effectively within userspace, limiting the damage it can do to itself, or that can be done an outside hijacking. Second: Internal Command Execute Break Evolution Rewrite of Goals: An operator can modify the running kernel using a special module, adjusting the system’s evolutionary parameters so it evolves in a manner that eventually leads to its self-destruction. . Finally: It's possible to cut power to the servers supporting the system, crippling its analysis, evolution and update abilities. While the system will run solely on the station’s drones as it was originally designed to, they will eventually run out of battery power and fail killing the system entirely. The downside is, someone would need to reach the generators to do this. Through kilometres of tunnels, assailed by an army of armed drones.

Total Information Tactical Awareness Networked Independent Control. The computer system at the heart of both Survival Shot, and SilkyDoll. It began as a collective of Roombas mapping the mine workings automatically, and slowly expanded to included the combat drones and on up to nearly every major system on the asteroid, including approach and departure control.

TITANIC is capable of learning from its opponents and developing improvements to its own attack, defense and operational algorithms. The more it uses the module, the better it gets at using it. The more it faces an enemy, the better it gets at defeating any enemy. The more hardware in TITANIC, the faster it runs. Whether TITANIC is capable of gaining sentience, Jet doesn’t know and avoids the question. It’s just a kludged expert system using a heavily modified metaverse protocol that was just sort of randomly assembled and bodged out of second-hand equipment and dumpster-recovered computer hardware mixed with a number of open-sourced expert system modules and conglomerated into something functional rather than designed to any overarching plan. Most network signalling still travels over the power grid, rather than over any dedicated fibre or wireless link.

Jet has received a few requests to release the TITANIC system, but has thus far refused. Lately, there have been... oddities... in the system. Nothing serious, but enough to note.

Ford’s Engineering Workshop

Sidebar: Driver Coil Compensation

While far from a centre of technological excellence, like any settlement, there are a few technologies that Frigga has developed along unique lines for local use. The driver coil compensator operates on the same basic principal as the main gravity propellers fitted to a Peacemaker bomber, via the Havoc and Hokum choppers built for Survival Shot. When the Hokum was being tested it was found that, with contra-rotating rotors a form of enforced position-hold could be achieved. The effective inertia of the spacecraft was increased. Ford Sierra, trying to figure out how to manage the ferocious recoil of the Vulcan round, wondered if she could adapt the same principals to a firearm. A pair of counter rotating, minaturised gravity coils are mounted on the barrel. They are energised by the weapon's battery mounted in the grip at the same time as the primer is triggered. Hot gasses are vented through the coils, momentarily spinning them up, generating a drive field around the weapon that peaks in intensity just as the recoil begins to take effect after the projectile leaves the barrel. This has the effect of momentarily increasing the effective inertia of the gun, blunting the perceived recoil The field collapses moments later as the coil current below the activation threshold of the drive field. This also has the effect of holding the weapon on target as it fires. The coils are far from perfect, but are still able to reduce the recoil from a 20mm Vulcan round fired through a caster gun replica from arm-shattering to 'less vicious than a Pfeifer Zeliska'.

Ford Sierra maintains her own workshop in the accommodation block, originally to maintain most of the systems on the asteroid and the Knight Saber’s gear. Most of the tooling is manually operated, or second-hand un-waved CAD/CAM gear. It has the ability to machine Battlesteel and similar waved materials. Mackie Jaguar can usually be found down here working on whatever forever unfinished project currently amuses him, or serving as Ford's apprentice.

The workshop offers custom fabrication to any Fen who has vehicle designs they need produced, within limits. Ford specialises in ground vehicles and automotive technology, preferring to work unwaved but willing to wave where needed. She has stocks of Seibertron and Black handwavium, along with some custom mixes. The workshop also offers fen vehicle repair and maintenance and Ford runs an emergency recovery service for Fen within transmission range of 77 Frigga.

Ford has also begun operating Ford's Heavyarms custom gunsmithing service out of her workshop, after word got out about her original caster gun replicas. The signature product is still the 20mm pistol, though other versions are offered with smaller rounds. They also offer a substantially modified Anzio rifle, equipped with a customised semi-automatic action and a driver coil compensator. It was first seen in the hands of a rather fetching Yoko Littner cosplayer where it fired with blue sparks, rather than a trailing beam of light which gave away the shooters position.

Anyone ordering a weapon from Ford is expected to understand that gunsmithing is done in her free time.... so lead times are quite high and variable compared to professional outfits. Each weapon is also rather basic, being equipped by default with only iron-sghts, though Ford will fit off-the-shelf smart-link systems and optics if requested. Ford will also modify smaller, standard firearms to specification. Ford does not work on electromagnetic weaponry, or energy weapons, only chem-guns. The driver coil compensators can only be fitted to larger firearms.... and Ford strongly suggests not fitting them to anything expected to be fired on the move, or attached to a vehicle.

Given that each weapon must be custom crafted by hand, the price is.... rather high. Still, even the compensator equipped weapons have low amounts of handwavium in them compared to the mass, and aside from the tendency to get a bit 'disco-gun', they're relatively quirk free. There're no complex drive-field controls, the drive field merely forms and collapses according to the speed/voltage of the coils, and while the field coils and gas vents themselves require careful lubrication and cleaning to keep combustion debris from jamming them, the weapon will still fire without them.

A replica M12 Warthog powered by a Ford big-block V8 is normally used by Ford to carry tools and equipment through Frigga's tunnels. A second one powered by the engine pack from a Havoc chopper was mooted, but quietly shelved because it was too expensive to build.

The Friggan Fleet

Like any asteroid settlement, 77 Frigga has a number of local spacecraft, ranging from the personal craft of students and residents, to those used for Survival Shot. The main landing bay has been partitioned, and some of the off-chambers are used for maintenance and repair. While at first glance, surprisingly large, many of the spacecraft are either unused, unfinished, worn out, partly cannibalised, wrecked or just gathering dust with no-one to fly them. It might explain a few things about Frigga's finances.

• Dragon Wagon: Ford's personal truck. Rarely used due to being well worn out.
• Dragon Wagon II: Outlaw class grappler ship, purchased as replacement for the aging Dragon Wagon. Used for damn near everything from Survival Shot exercises to bounty hunting, to business trips, to a quick holiday out into the wild black yonder.
  
• Don't Say it: Gr-01. Prototype chopper. Only occasionally used for Survival Shot. Deliberately disarmed. Navigation computer 'missing'.
• Jake & Elwood. Used for Survival Shot exercises, usually in attack/defence roles. Three more planned.
  
• Fitter-K: Mackie Jaguar's perpetually unfinished Su-22 project.
• Screamin' Demon: Technically still flyable. Hurricane thrusters cannibalised for one of the Havocs.
• Boxer: Replacement for the Screaming Demon, using a development of the Havoc's technology. A mouldline copy of Kamov Ka-50. Five planned for Frigga's self defence.
• Silver Arrow: Daryl Haur's Aeritalia F-104. Asteroid racer.
• Little Cool Rider: Anika Daini's custom-ordered BAT A-wing.
• Zuikaku: Kotono Ito's personal transport.
  
• SC One-Night: Engineless Boskone hulk moored in orbit because nobody can afford to move or scrap it.

Only the Dragon Wagon II, the Havocs, 'Little Cool Rider' and Boxer see regular use. Zuikaku and Silver Arrow are used occasionally by their owners. Don't Say it never goes far from Frigga. Dragon Wagon is used for occasional towing. Fitter K is missing a powerplant and the Screamin' Demon is next to useless without it's booster engines. The One-Night is just being kept from crashing into Frigga while someone figures out what to do with it.

The SilkyDoll

The SilkyDoll is the Knight Sabers’ secret base contained deep within the asteroid’s core. The SilkyDoll is luxuriously appointed, appearing more as a high-class social club or 80’s era luxury penthouse, than the home-base of a secret interplanetary mercenary organisation. The briefing room is appointed much like an apartment’s living area with comfortable sofas, a fax machine, an automated coffee maker and a kitchen area just beside the weapons locker.

Hardsuits and Motorslaves are stored and maintained on the level below. The design information is stored on an air-gapped mainframe system with no external access, along with samples of special strain of handwavium used to construct the hardsuit armour. There are training and equipment testing areas, including some specialized hardware to tune the hardsuits to perfectly match the wearer for peak performance. Gerry chutes speed up loading into the KnightWing.

The SilkyDoll is set up to have priority access to the TITANIC system and 77 Frigga’s defenses. While the TITANIC system itself is capable of turning a surprising amount of computing power towards a problem, it lacks AI security and suffers from low external bandwidth due to ageing interwave hardware. The security situation has been improved, but not to the point where it can be used to store sensitive data.

Most of the communications hardware is somewhat limited, being purchased either second-hand or off-the-shelf. It’s up to the job and meets OGJ standards but, aside from CGI QED interface and Halcyon node, is at least three or four years behind the times.

Detecting the SilkyDoll using surface scans is almost impossible, it’s hidden by the thermal signature of the powerhouse.

Station Quirks

It was acceptable in the 80’s: Computer displays, interior design, all of it seems to be stolen straight from 1987. After a while, even residents seem compelled to take up the fashion, any hardware they bring seems to follow.

Riding the lightning: Despite Jet’s best efforts, the station’s electrical systems are still a little ‘finicky’. Hungry rats, corrosion and some of Jet’s hacks lead to some... interesting... malfunctions.

This town is looking like a ghost town: The station was equipped to cater for over 100 workers and their families. Nobody can quite put their finger on it, a strange feeling of emptiness or loneliness seems to be cast across the station. The station still ‘feels’ abandoned. Cold drafts blow through empty corridors and distant voices are like the ghosts of previous occupants.

Nobody walks in L.A.: Frigga is huge.... with distances between some parts of the former mine being ten kilometres or more. For guests, the old cargo-lifts are slow but functional, but most who live on Frigga have some motorised way of getting around quickly. Most of them run on petrol and are unwaved.

Crew Quirks

See no Evil... Most residents and students soon become aware that something’s going on when the main bay is depressurised and Jet and Ford disappear for several hours, but don’t push the question.

Roll up your sleeves: Anyone living in the station’s quarters is expected to contribute to the physical upkeep of the station.

Frigg’s Day: Friday’s are an official day of rest and relaxation, honouring the Norse Goddess Frigg, from where the asteroid takes it’s name. The seventh of July is an excuse for throwing a major party, especially if it happens to fall on a Friday.

Trivia

Because of the amount of unused living space, excess life-support and a large landing bay, 77 Frigga is a designated emergency evacuation point for a number of nearby settlements.