One of the first things you’ll notice as you travel throughout the universe of Tau Station is the different nature of each and every station you visit. With humanity scattered after the Catastrophe, the survivors on each station rebuilt and developed their communities in response to the specific challenges they had to overcome. In a recent post we invited you to read about some of the inspirations behind Tau Station’s missions. Today we’d like to share how the space stations themselves, with their unique backstories and societies, have served as muse to our process time and time again. Come and visit three of our stations below!
Taungoo
Originally a facility rich in mining resources, the entire station became a battleground after the Catastrophe. Every clan and gang wanted to stake a claim and wrest control of its potential for valuable production. After years of war and strife, the titular group seized control with the help of the Consortium and has been mining the asteroid ever since. Today, the situation is stable on the surface, but deep down, unrest brews within certain radical elements still nursing the scars of the old war.
You’ll encounter this conflict firsthand in some of the missions on Taungoo. In Tools of the Revolution, you’ll meet a group of daring dissidents looking to smuggle weapons into the station, and in Uprising you’ll have a choice to make, and may find yourself working with the Consortium to quell the uprising and restore order.
Paris Spatiale
Paris Spatiale is a glorious contrast of past and present, an ever-present reminder of how even the mightiest can fall from grace. Once the very pinnacle of culture and engineering, the station is now characterized by colossal, empty skyscrapers and ruined museums. Fractured sculptures of heroes and beasts of legend cast ominous shadows in the perpetual twilight of a damaged fusion core. But there is also hope here. With the fragments of its former glory strewn around the station, one is reminded of the station as it once was, and as it could become again.
Several of the missions and stories you’ll come across as on Paris Spatiale deal with the theme of reclaiming the past. Sometimes in the tangible form of valuable art, lost for decades within the broken ruins; other times in the form of people, and their hopes and needs for the future. One such mission, Last Night in Paris, introduces you to a tragic couple who seeks your aid in settling their affairs before they join the past they have been chasing for so long.
København
København is a station whose past very much informs its present. Once a renowned shipbuilding facility, København suffered tremendous damage during the Catastrophe when the restraints failed on overhead shipbuilding berths, causing the ships to crash down on the buildings below. Its ruins are littered with the husks of once grand vessels of all sizes, from gargantuan frigates to smaller transports. Indeed, hollowed out hulls of some of the hardier ships have been retrofitted to accommodate some of the station’s current needs, with some even serving as housing. København has remained one of the most trusted producers of space worthy crafts, even as its residents work to reclaim their lives and rebuild their station.
Many of the missions and jobs you’ll come across as you travel through København will provide glimpses into life onboard a station whose lifeblood and source of destruction were one and the same. Downed Quixote will provide some insight into the dangers aboard a station littered with ancient spaceships and forgotten cargo, and in The Search for the Ardestrad you’ll encounter some surprises as you try to locate a particular ship in the ruins.
In Conclusion
As you travel from station to station you’ll experience many stories, each one showing a different side to the struggles, challenges, and hopes of humanity as we rebuild our place in the galaxy. With every visit a new piece of our civilization’s tale will unfold and, maybe, somewhere even a happily ever after.