LF Zone

Black Star's open training grounds, where space becomes a controlled battleground exercise for contract troops. The LF Zone encompasses a large swath of the Alkes field that was quickly snagged by the Black Star Group for a tidy sum in the early days of the system.

The field didn't suffer any real loss by this private acquisition, its size dwarfing any other inner-system asteroid body. Home to one of the corporate headquarters for Black Star, the LF Zone is frequented by non-combatant business-people as they court for potential contracts. Trespassing is strictly prohibited as the zone is a live-fire combat area. For the safety of such trespassers Black Star operates a private holding prison until Astrum officers arrive to handle the matter.

Training grounds encompass the whole of the Zone, minus a small chunk carved out for the corporate headquarters and ship transit to-and-from. This transit cooridor is frequented by trolley ships that bring in loads of waste purchased from Tarsa Prime to populate the training area with suitable targets outside of the a-typical asteroid.

History

Barrier Breech

Moving early on the prime real estate of the open Alkes Field Black Star could not wait to begin using their newly purchased playground. Contract troops moved in and began training drills using the bleak expanse as their stage the Black Star combatants lit up space with volleys of fire.

Buoys were deployed on the edge of their territory, simple static nodes that would broadcast a short notice to incoming vessels that they should stay back. These simple warnings couldn’t keep everyone away from the private territory, as the remainder of the field existed as prime mining territory – either free range or private.

Several mining crews working suitable asteroids near the LF Zone in active mining affixed their great vessels directly to the slowly shifting asteroids of dense metal and ice. Not surprisingly Black Star operatives were equally active, sweeping through combat routines with fighters zipping back and forth in an assault on an entrenched asteroid base. The fighter’s flight was awe inspiring, and their aim matching. Impeccably placed shots destroyed the target area and set the small asteroid base spinning off through space. Already lost in congratulatory com-channel chatter as it careened through open space the Black Star contractors took little note.

It wasn’t long before the asteroid had moved to the edge of the LF Zone, the fighters having returned to base. On and through, it crossed the threshold at an explosive pace. Lost in their own work the mining crew could only react in horror as their computer systems alerted them to the incoming threat, one not mapped until moments before. The warning would come too late they all knew – many watched from the open surface of the mined asteroid as their death approached.

Their sister ships hurriedly disconnected their own vessel and began searching for survivors, throwing a bullet emergency signal across space as they prayed to find any of their co-workers surviving. None were ever found alive.“Twenty-eight men and women, able-bodied and loved by families back home,” the news rang out – Black Star soon on the chopping block for their blatant safety failings. Monetary damages, the first of many for the company, would follow to help mend fences in what poor way money could.

With the incident Black Star was also required to bump up their security measures, encasing the whole of their property in advanced beacons that would harass incoming ships that did not have the appropriate signaling keys, while also alerting the main base of the potential intrusion. Overnight the Black Star facilities’ staff tripled. In addition to the perimeter beacons, Black Star was required to use over-sight ships for each training exercise, with the number of oversight ships increasing alongside the number of combatants to help manage errant debris.

Since the first company image tarnishing problem no more safety violations have been reported for the LF Zone. But, those are the ones which are reported.

Black Cells

On the shadow of previous problems with the LF Zone training facility Black Star quickly found itself digging another hole with public relations as its stance on trespassers became known.

Several well-to-do young heirs to mining fortunes decided to go joyride through the Alkes field their parents owned grew bored with their usual haunts and as fate would have it spied one of the many floating warning beacons that rim the LF Zone. As they say, boys will be boys, and so it was with these still-naive youths as they directed their ship across the threshold and onto Black Star property. Ignoring not only the implicit legal concerns, but also the vast danger of moving inside the LF Zone un-charted the heirs found the void of rubble, discarded ships, and infinitely varied targets a far greater experience than the typical dull-drum cruising in the mine-fields they were used to.

It didn’t take long for the Black Star forces to encircle and disable their ship, albeit not painlessly as the boys tried to make their escape and had their engines destroyed by a well-fired laser blast. The perimeter beacons had of course alerted the Black Star station of the intrusion and military police were dispatched in kind.

Yet the problem didn’t begin for Black Star until the boys returned home, their wealthy parents having willingly paid damages to the training ground. Such payments were quickly challenged when the boys recounted the events that had transpired.

On their capture the boys reported being taken to the main station and locked in a lightless brig, where they were held for nearly three days, “For punishment,” as they recounted to reporters later. After that period their worried parents were notified and the situation was apparently resolved. However, with this forced incarceration Black Star had crossed the line, and despite having not harmed the adolescents physically they had created quite the scandal for themselves.

Since this story broke light a few other unfortunate trespassers have stepped forward to report similar problems with the company. Each case has ended in hefty damages for Black Star, as it is forced to repay time spent in such “payment brigs.” These cases, coming on the heels of numerous others against the Black Star Group, have led more people to wonder if this mammoth military power is really nothing more than a corrupt man's club with too many guns.

The brigs still exist in the base, but apparently the company has shaped up in this regard – surprising many and now only uses the brigs to manage trespassers properly, promptly contacting authorities to resolve the matter.

Open Doors

In a recent management decision, some say marketing ploy to show a softer side, Black Star has opened its once-private training grounds to the public. With the doors open Black Star has breeched a new market as the largest, they say only, exercise field where individuals willing to pay membership dues can come in and train side-by-side professional military operatives. Offering up live-fire against Black Star and outside groups and dummy fire exercises against outside and robotic opponents, the center caters to a wide crowd of those seeking the best in private military training.

Many mercenary groups and bounty hunters have already sprung at the opportunity, driving the price of membership steadily upward as interest in the private arena increases. Such groups generally find that the membership costs are far greater than they initially appear, as when sparring against Black Star units no punches are pulled. Thankfully Black Star is more than willing to repair and refit ships, for an additional fee of course so that they can engage in more runs safely. Not an inexpensive training camp.

This arrangement and surprising business move has boosted traffic to the area and strained the once-limited space-base Black Star operated there. The company has since undertaken construction of a sister station which will help alleviate the pressure for space in the area.

As a note the "membership" is a misnomer, that simply entitles buyers to a free pass through otherwise private space along with a complimentary session in the training field itself. All additional training sessions are on a per session basis, unless Black Star finds the sparring sessions particularly interesting in which case complimentary trials are not unheard of - often followed by offers for contractual employment.