Camp Vastus

Camp Vastus is a small Avarix Corps outpost on the shores of the Burbling Silk Sea.

Demographics

Comprised of tents and semi-permanent dugouts, Camp Vastus is mostly used as a waystation or hideout for Avarix pirates traversing the harsh landscape of the Red Velvet Desert. Camp Vastus has a transient population of between 20 and 50 people at a time. Only two to three Avarix pirates are assigned to Camp Vastus at any given time to stand watch and provide maintenance services for the facility.

Defences

Camp Vastus only really remains intact because its remoteness and small size make it a target not worthy of a RACMF task force's attentions in comparison to other Avarix positions on adjacent cube faces. A long-immobilized suit "Ixulova Tun" Amphibious Assault Auto-Armor lies concealed beneath the sand near one edge of the camp and can be boarded at a moment's notice to provide defensive fire against airships and autogyros. One or two sandsails are generally parked at Camp Vastus when pirate crews are using the camp, and these may provide platforms for small arms fire should the campers not be caught unawares.
Though Camp Vastus is hypothetically protected well enough for the purposes of the Avarix Corps, it is not equipped to handle a determined, sustained attack by outside forces. If besieged, the residents of the camp will most likely mount a fighting retreat, scattering in the hopes of returning later to reclaim the camp. At the outset of 10,000 AR, when Angela Foxglove was briefly held at Camp Vastus, A'adekpf "Iodex" Sagan and Bixby "Bix" Hickory, of Parasol Private Holdings, were able to flush all ten pirates out of the camp with a surprise attack and rescue the verdial hostage unharmed.

Assets

Large tanks buried in the clearing that forms the 'town square' of the camp contain caches of water and biodiesel for use by visiting crews. Crates of dry rations may or may not be found under camouflage netting near the town square depending on how successful the Avarix Corps' recent raiding activity has been.

Architecture

Structures at Camp Vastus are dug half-way into a sandstone tableau, then sandbags are piled up to give the resulting walls additional height. Then, reddish camouflage fabric is raised over the structure on poles to form a roof and provide shade from the hot afternoon light. Simple slats of wood or corrugated steel serve as doors and are butted up against raised stoops to help prevent sand from blowing into the structures when closed. Less permanent structures are simply oversized tents made from spare fabric and poles, both often sourced from the envelopes of downed airships.

Climate

Camp Vastus is hot, arid, and generally considered miserable - even by the standards of the Rostrans who call it home. The camp is generally employed as a matter of necessity, not pleasure. Night watchmen must often wear goggles and bandanas across their mouths to forestall the onset of velvet noose when the wind picks up.

Type

Military, Camp

Population

20-50 Avarix pirates

Location under

Red Velvet Desert

Owning Organization

Avarix Corps