Saturn Base

Poseidon Base
Skyshroud Facility
An aerial photo of Headquarters Sector in Saturn Base
Facilities
Opened	7 January 2032
Location	Obock Region, Djibouti
Owner	Skyshroud
Area	462 sq km
Population	43,562
Garrison	17th Skyshroud Division 19th Skyshroud Division 21st Skyshroud Division Gulf of Aden Naval Command 498 Air Squadron Saturn Special Operations Command Saturn Military Police Command
Commander	Bruce McClendon

Saturn Base is a military base located in Obock Region, Djibouti, owned and administered by private military company Skyshroud LLC. The base is home to more than 44,000 Skyshroud personnel of various nationalities. Pursuant to the 150-year lease agreement signed between Skyshroud and the Government of Djibouti on 1 August 2031, the territory occupied by Saturn Base is privately administered and not subject to the jurisdiction of Djibouti. Instead, the laws in effect within the base are those of the Skyshroud Military Code, which is enforced by the Saturn Military Police Command. According to the terms of the lease, Skyshroud is obligated to defend and protect the territorial boundaries of Djibouti, and its forces may be requisitioned by the President of Djibouti for national security purposes at any time.

"Although Skyshroud is supposedly a neutral, for-profit company, the way it is now set up makes it comparable to a nation-state. It has its own military, its own laws, and now, its own sovereign territory. The rest of the world should be terrified."

Gordon Thune

Secretary of State for Defense, United Kingdom

8 September 2031

The land area of Saturn Base includes a stretch of coastline as well as large swathes of rocky desert. It is believed that there are at least four silos containing up to 500 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) on the base, although multiple independent reputable sources have verified none of them are armed with nuclear warheads.

For administration purposes, the base is divided into six sectors, namely Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo and Headquarters Sectors. The high command of Saturn Base operates out of the Wheel, a 50,000 sq ft headquarters building with multiple operations capabilities located inside Headquarters Sector.

Capabilities

Skyshroud personnel from the 19th combined arms division in Saturn Base

Conventional Land Forces

Skyshroud maintains three conventional combined arms divisions on Saturn Base, all of which consists of veterans from various national armed forces. These divisions are capable of being mobilized rapidly in the event of a threat to the base.

As with most of Skyshroud's units, most of the enlisted ranks are drawn from countries in Africa, Latin America, South Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, with the average fighter having 2.3 years of experience in a national military or armed police force. Its officers are drawn from all over the world, with a significant number of senior officers coming from the militaries of the US, UK, Australia, Russia, China and South Korea.

A number of countries, including Russia, China, Pakistan and Israel, have enacted laws which prohibit former military personnel from joining private military companies following their discharge, with severe penalties of up to 15 years imprisonment. However, there are still substantial numbers of both officers and enlisted men from these countries in Skyshroud's ranks, attracted by the high salaries and other benefits on offer.

Skyshroud personnel assembling with the heavy destroyer Genghis Khan in the background

Naval Forces

Saturn Base is home to Skyshroud's Gulf of Aden Naval Command, which oversees a fleet of 4 heavy destroyers, 4 cruisers and 12 frigates. Additionally, it is thought that there are up to 20 stealth submarines operating from Saturn Base, although this has not been confirmed.

The fleet is frequently deployed to patrol the waters between Djibouti, Somalia and Yemen, and has participated in at least 10 anti-piracy operations since January 2032. In June 2032, after Somali pirates abducted and killed four crew members of the Maersk cargo ship Vayenga Maersk, Skyshroud naval forces were engaged in a retaliatory search and destroy mission which resulted in the deaths of more than 150 pirates, including Abdirahman Ali, a prominent leader of the Salebaan Clan. Following the operation, piracy in the Gulf of Aden decreased by 82%.

In December 2032, following the outbreak of the Fourth Intifada, Skyshroud naval forces were jointly engaged by the governments of Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon to patrol the Red Sea to maintain peace in the region and prevent an all-out Israeli invasion. It was believed that Skyshroud earned more than $40 billion in revenue from conducting the operation.

Operatives from the Saturn Special Operations Command during a training exercise in 2034

Special Operations Forces

The Saturn Special Operations Command consists of more than 400 elite and highly-trained black operations specialists who are well-versed in infiltration, sabotage, counter-espionage, extraction, and targeted assassinations. These operatives are capable of acting in small groups of 2 to 8, and are also trained for more traditional platoon and company-level warfare. Most of the activities of the Special Operations Command are classified.

It has been reported that operatives from the Saturn Special Operations Command have been involved in fomenting unrest and rebellion with the ultimate goal of implementing regime change in countries including Chad, Niger and South Sudan.

In 2033, Memadji Abakar, the President of Chad, accused Skyshroud operatives of being involved in the bombing of the Supreme Court building, and further alleged that they had done so at the behest of "imperialist Western nations" intent on deposing him. However, Skyshroud has never confirmed or denied this, stating that the company's longstanding policy has always been not to comment on either their clients or their missions.

The Webmasters, a covert group of elite hackers supporting the Saturn Special Operations Command

Cyberwarfare

There are two specialized cyberwarfare units within Saturn Base, namely the Cyberwarfare Branch, which is a subsidiary unit of Headquarters Command, and the Webmasters, an elite black ops unit under the Saturn Special Operations Command. Skyshroud is known to invest significant amounts of resources in recruiting the world's top cybercriminals and transitioning them into cyberwarfare operatives. It is believed that the Saturn Base units have capabilities including advanced hacking, surveillance, sabotage, espionage, misinformation, cyber defense, and economic warfare.

In July 2033, Saturn Base's Cyberwarfare Branch acquired sensitive information pertaining to terrorist group Boko Haram, leading to the capture of 14 of its top leaders. The African Union and the United States Central Intelligence Agency both paid tribute to Skyshroud for its contributions in bringing the terrorist leaders to justice.

In January 2034, Skyshroud operatives hacked four bank accounts of Sudanese rebel warlord Omar Yousif, emptying them of more than $500 million and crippling his ability to wage war against the Sudanese government.