Here goes:

Bretonia


By the time the Bretonia arrived, most of the resource rich areas of the sector had already been claimed by the passengers of the Rheinland and Kusari, while the Liberty had settled the lush planets at the sector core. Bretonia was forced to select a less than ideal site near the Barrier, a giant belt of ice that spans the entire western half of the Sirius Sector. Here they established the colony of New London, on one of the few habitable planets in the area. Isolated by the Barrier from the other houses and years behind, Bretonia began an accelerated program of rebuilding their industrial civilization.

Next Leeds was terraformed and settled, and prompt expansion was planned. Nearby asteroid fields rich in Niobium, Titanium, Copper, and even Uranium ore were discovered and mined. Stokes Mining Station was constructed near the Niobium, Titanium, and Copper field and began minig straight away. LD-14 was constructed in the Uranium field and immediatly became the number one supplier of MOX fuel (used in Gunboats, Cruisers, and Battleships) to first of all Bretonia, and then later the other three Houses.

Infocards for Major Planets:
New London - New London System


Polluted and littered with old mining areas and debris fields, New London is not exactly the vision of a new beginning that its founders intended so many centuries ago. Capitol of the Bretonia colony and home to the government, New London is by far the most populous of the four primary Bretonia systems.

New London is the seat of the Bretonian government, but almost as important, it is the heart of the Bretonian way of life. Despite the pollution resulting from years of industrialization, the vast majority of the Bretonian aristocracy lives here -- and even the most impoverished citizen is comfortably middle class.

Most of the population works in the Bretonian bureaucratic aristocracy, an almost impenetrable network of obscure titles, government offices, and rules of procedure. Because of (or perhaps, despite) this, all of the major Bretonian companies, including Bowex and Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing (BMM), have offices on New London. The police and military also locate their organizational headquarters here.

Diameter: 10,723 km.
Mass: 4.90 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: -46°C to 43°C
Escape Velocity: 10.27 km/sec


Leeds - Leeds System


Soon after settlement, Bretonia needed raw materials and Leeds was quickly recognized as the most resource-rich system under Bretonian control. To harvest the resources, companies were formed and given royal charters -- near carte blanche -- to develop the system in any way they saw fit. Settlers, meanwhile, were handed generous incentives to move to Leeds and serve as the workforce.

Over the centuries, however, unchecked industrial progress has led to significant environmental pollution as exemplified by the omnipresent smog clouds. Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing (BMM) operates the bulk of the planetside mining, smelting, and manufacturing facilities, while Bowex handles transportation of finished goods throughout Bretonia.

Today, the Leeds system has the dubious distinction of being the most polluted system in the Sirius Sector. Exploited by Bretonia Mining and Metals for centuries, the planet is now close to ecological collapse. Health problems abound among the population of Leeds, resulting in the lowest life expectancy of all the colony planets.

Leeds and the surrounding asteroid fields within the system are almost exhausted, which has prompted BMM to expand into the Border Worlds to feed the smelters at Stokes, the largest space side industrial installation in Bretonia. Various alloys and ship hull panels are produced for export at the sprawling facility.

Diameter: 10,723 km.
Mass: 5.11 x 10e25 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: -30°C to 63°C
Escape Velocity: 9.21 km/sec


Cambridge - Cambridge System

Cambridge is the bread basket of Bretonia and one of the most pristine planets within the colonies. Home of the most prestigious university in the Sirius Sector, Cambridge's population consists chiefly of academics and farmers. To protect their common interests, they have restricted industrial development on the planet, hoping to avoid the environmental disasters that befell Leeds and New London.

This lush green world is home of the Cambridge Research Institute -- an institution devoted to pure scientific research. Bretonia's epidemic food shortages required the planetary Regents to place farmers with scientists to develop more bountiful crops, making Cambridge the primary food producer for Bretonia. Now several Cambridge scientists sympathize with the Gaian eco-terrorist movement, igniting bitter debates among researchers over terraforming.

Diameter: 10,723 km.
Mass: 5.11 x 10e25 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: -49°C to 73°C
Escape Velocity: 10.21 km/sec


Infocards for Major Bases
Graves Station - Dublin System

Graves Station is entirely owned by Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing (BMM) and produces the bulk of all gold mined in the colony. A contingent from the Bretonia Police Authority is also stationed aboard to provide security against mounting attacks by the Mollys.

Class: Wellington
Gravity: Partial
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Yes
Population: 900


Birmingham Station - Manchester System

Birmingham Station is a sizeable ice processing facility run by Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing (BMM). Frozen methane, CO2, and hydrocarbons are mined from the nearby ice asteroid fields, processed, and stored until transported to their ultimate destination in Bretonia or Liberty. As a byproduct of processing hydrocarbons into polymers, Birmingham also produces substantial quantities of oxygen which are often sold to terraforming operations in the California System.

Class: Wellington
Gravity: Partial
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Limited
Population: 600


Luxury Liner Shetland

Owned and operated by Orbital Spa and Cruise Lines, the Shetland is a moveable feast for the rich and those who service them. Aside from its gourmet restaurants and shopping arcades, guides aboard the Shetland offer tours of the protected preserve of Gaia -- a beautiful, pristine world -- but planetside visas are an extraordinarily rare and expensive item.

Gaia itself is a tropical paradise -- a rich, green world of plants and animals -- the likes of which have not been found anywhere else in the Sirius Sector. Until its potential treasure trove of genetic material can be better understood, however, Gaia has been placed under the control of the Cambridge Research Institute.

Aside from the very limited number of planetside tourist visas, only Institute researchers are allowed on the planet. Unfortunately, poaching has become prevalent. Rumors of the aphrodisiac qualities of certain animals has generated a tremendous demand among those who can afford to pay for the privilege of sampling.

Class: Wilde
Amenities: Yes
Passengers: 500


Perth Station - Edinburgh System

Perth Station is owned and operated by Planetform Inc. as a base for the arduous and hopefully lucrative process of terraforming the planet Ayr. This operation is under almost constant attack by Gaian eco-terrorists, despite increased protection from the Bretonian government.

Planet Ayr is a prime candidate for terraforming, being an arid world with a thin atmosphere but an active volcanic system beneath its crust. Particularly attractive to Planetform, Inc., were the initial surveys showing that a considerable amount of water vapor, CO2, and other greenhouse gases remain locked in the polar ice caps.

Planetform, Inc. initiated first stage terraforming in 752 A.S. and continues to oversee the operation from nearby Perth Station.

Class: Eden
Gravity: Complete
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Yes
Population: 450

Edited by - [PCaRdAmInE[X on 08-12-2003 12:23:32

Kusari


As the Kusari sleeper ship approached the Sirius sector, they looked for evidence of high percentages of water, analyzing spectrographic wavelengths of various planet atmospheres. One area in particular looked interesting. Lying near a distinctively shaped blue nebula that the on-board astronomer named the Crow, it was composed of relatively young stars, and possessed at least two planets with high amounts of atmospheric water vapor and oxygen. Planetfall was made on the New Tokyo in 5 AS., five years after the arrival of the Liberty. New Tokyo had plenty of water. What it didn't offer was much land. The ocean planet was dotted with a few small volcanic islands. A culture that had left their cramped homeland far behind had to accept a cruel twist of fate once again, on the other side of the universe.

Shortly after planetfall, the Planners decided to restore the title of Emperor as the leader of the Kusari government after centuries of figurehead status. Strong and absolute leadership was needed to rebuild their civilization. The political maneuvering was intense. There were two rivals - Masamune Samura and Yosai Hideyoshi. Ultimately, Hideyoshi won. As a compromise, Samura was offered the presidency of the corporation that would rebuild the industrial might of the Kusari people from scratch. He accepted, and Samura Heavy Industries was incorporated, the first of the two great Kusari industrial conglomerates that dominate commerce in the region to this day.

By 100 AS., Samura had constructed the Yamamoto Shipyard and established its reputation as the premier shipbuilder in Kusari. Over the next several centuries, Samura expanded its gas mining operations throughout Kusari space, began regular trading with the other houses, and perfected the construction of polymer hull panels and shielding. Samura's contracts to construct ships for the Kusari Military remain highly lucrative, while its commercial transports almost entirely dominate that sector. Throughout its history, Samura Heavy Industries has exhibited many of the traits of its founder: methodical, implacable, slow to change, quick to anger.

The second company had far more humble origins. In 10 AS., a small research company, headed by Katsuhiro Kishiro, genetically modified an existing earth fish species and introduced a super-breed optimized for life in New Tokyo's alien ocean waters. He also tackled the rice problem. The soil conditions were quite different than Earth, lacking certain nutrients that rice brought on the sleeper ship needed. Again, Kishiro came to the rescue, this time with a new rice strain that could handle the harsh growing conditions found planet side. Kishiro won the adulation of the Kusari imperial family, and thus began the second of the two industrial dynasties of Kusari. Adapting the name Kishiro Technologies for his company, Kishiro espoused a progressive research oriented environment that relied more on brains than sheer size and intimidation, unlike his primary rival, Samura.

In 91 AS., Kishiro Technologies achieved a breakthrough in the development of quantum circuitry that revolutionized the entire economy almost overnight. Just as its founder had originally planned, Kishiro products found their way into almost every consumer, commercial, or military product on the market -- including those made by Samura. With their new found capital, Kishiro Technologies rapidly expanded their manufacturing capabilities and established the Yukawa Shipyard within the nearby Honshu system, devoted almost exclusively to the construction of ships to be used in gas mining operations in the nearby Crow Nebula.

Kusari was generally poor in natural resources, although the New Tokyo system did contain limited deposits of aluminum and titanium, which enabled Kusari shipbuilders to be relatively self-sufficient, at least for the first three centuries after arrival. The surrounding Crow Nebula had little in the way of asteroid fields found in such abundance in the Walker and Barrier regions. It did offer one key resource, however, that the entire Sirius Sector needed. Virtually unlimited supplies of Helium-3 and Deuterium were present inside the great clouds of ionized gases in the nearby Sigma systems. Both isotopes were quite rare on planets, but essential for the fusion engines that powered spacecraft of all sizes. Kusari soon became the exclusive supplier of H-fuel, as they called it, to all of the colonies. H-fuel was the foreign currency source that allowed Kusari companies to purchase the many raw materials found in the other colonies that Kusari lacked.

Infocards for Major Planets
New Tokyo - New Tokyo System


Settled in 5 A.S., New Tokyo is the capitol of the Kusari Empire and, with nearly two hundred million people clinging to its scattered islands, its most populous planet. Despite (or perhaps because of) this crowding, New Tokyo is a vibrant world with centuries of history and some of the most advanced technology in the colonies. It is also a culture in transition, as bureaucrats and corporations wrestle with the best ways to manage the rapidly increasing pace of change.

To more gracefully accommodate the difficulties of change, the Kusari ruling body, the Shogunate, works closely with corporate keiretsu -- such as Samura and Kishiro -- to advance the interests of the Empire while safeguarding the heritage of the Kusari people.

New Tokyo's fields have been long since mined out, but it still remains the unquestioned cultural and commercial capitol of the entire colony. Home to Samura's Yokohama shipyards, the system also houses the headquarters of both Kishiro and Samura, naturally at opposing ends of the Trade Lanes from New Tokyo. New Tokyo contains two other bases of interest. Interspace Commerce maintains the Roppongi Station, high above New Tokyo planet.

Home to IC and other Liberty companies, it is regarded with suspicion by many of the Kusari bureaucrats in New Tokyo, especially since the Trade Embargo of 521. The system is also home to the Kusari crime syndicate known as the Hogosha. The Kusari equivalent of the Junkers, they dominate the Artifact trade within Kusari. They also have been known to perform dirty jobs for Samura on occasion, such as stealing supplies from depots outside the Narita Outpost, home to the foreign shippers in New Tokyo.

Diameter: 14,802 km.
Mass: 6.01 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Archipelago
Temperature: -35°C to 39°C
Escape Velocity: 12.01 km/sec


Honshu - Honshu System


The first Kusari colony established after the settlement of New Tokyo, Honshu is mostly covered in water with few sizable land masses. The first settlers struggled for several centuries before a catastrophic decline in ocean harvesting forced most of the inhabitants to turn their attentions to the nearby Crow Nebula and its bountiful gas resources.

Honshu is also the original home of an interesting independent faction, the Gas Miners Guild. The Guild traces its ancestry to those dispossessed Kusari fishermen who left Honshu many centuries ago in search of Crow Nebula gases. Over time, the former Honshu settlers moved entirely into space and formed the Gas Mining Guild (GMG), all but abandoning their ancestral home. The GMG yearns to be a truly independent entity, although they were forced to depend on covert Kusari military aid during the Eighty Years war with Rheinland. Honshu lay fallow until Kishiro selected the planet in 510 A.S. as the location for their main optronics manufacturing facility.

Today, Honshu is home to Kishiro's Engine Component and Optronics plants, who supply most of the Sirius Sector with these vital commodities. Samura maintains a huge gas facility at Osaka, established many centuries ago to facilitate the shipment of GMG H-fuel to the rest of the colonies. The GMG also maintains the Aomori base within the Hiryo Nebula near the Sigma-19 Gate. They coordinate many of their Crow Nebula operations from here, safely within House protected space.

Diameter: 15,201 km.
Mass: 6.12 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Archipelago
Temperature: -52°C to 40°C
Escape Velocity: 12.02 km/sec


Kyushu - Kyushu System


The Kyushu system represents tradition in Kusari. Colonized by Samura backed farmers many centuries ago, Kyushu planet has been the rice supplier for Kusari since the second century. Consumer goods were also once produced here, although most of the plants have shut down in recent times due to cheaper labor costs in the Shikoku system. The arrival of Synth Foods within Kusari has been the most serious threat to the Kyushu way of life, however. Operating from the Deshima base in Shikoku, they have managed to break the long stranglehold on the Kusari food market that enabled generations of Kyushu farmers to prosper, albeit at the expense of urbanite Tokyo residents.

Kyushu has few appreciable mineral resources but does possess arable land and an ideal climate for rice farming. While the independent farmers of Kyushu provided much of the basic food stuffs for New Tokyo for over three centuries, a recent Shogunate directive to further develop the planet has resulted in Samura assuming control under government contract. Samura has organized the farmers into collectives growing new, genetically engineered rice purchased from Samura's labs in New Tokyo. But the farmers have had difficulty recouping their investment as Synth Foods products have grown more popular among young Kusari.

A terrorist group called the Farmers Alliance was recently formed in reaction to the farming crisis. Attacking Synth Foods transports and bases, and most foreign shipping for that matter, they have become somewhat an embarrassment to the more progressive elements within the Kusari government. It is rumored that most of their funding may be coming from Samura, who has the most to lose from a successful foreign invasion of the Kusari food business.

Diameter: 13,820 km.
Mass: 5.98 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: -38°C to 40°C
Escape Velocity: 11.99 km/sec


Junyo - Shikoku System


Junyo is almost entirely covered by a deep ocean that remains liquid across the planet's entire surface due to the young, hot, Shikoku sun. While initially dismissed as infeasible for further development, the impending collapse of fisheries throughout Kusari in 630 A.S. motivated the government to begin terraforming the planet using recently discovered alien organisms in order to jump-start the nascent ecology. Within 50 years, the planetary environment had been sufficiently altered to begin wide-scale production of luxury seafoods under the administration of Samura, a company that refuses to concede the market to the competing Liberty firm of Synth Foods.

Diameter: 5,280 km.
Mass: 3.89 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Water
Temperature: 4°C to 46°C
Escape Velocity: 8.83 km/sec


Aso - Kyushu System


Aso is a massive gas giant whose rings were once a rich source of gas and polymers for the orbiting Tsushima Depot, but they have since been depleted.

Diameter: 25,412 km
Mass: 11.68 x 10e24 kg
Terrain: N/A
Temperature: N/A
Escape Velocity: 18.02 km/sec


Kitadake - New Tokyo System


A large gas giant whose ring system provides a scenic backdrop to the orbiting complex of the Yokohama Shipyards, but which otherwise lacks any useful resources.

Diameter: 23,652 km
Mass: 9.02 x 10e24 kg
Terrain: N/A
Temperature: N/A
Escape Velocity: 14.37 km/sec


Fuji - New Tokyo System


One of the largest gas giants ever discovered in the Sirius Sector, Fuji's massive gravity well prevents any effective exploitation of its resources. Shinagawa Station, headquarters for Kishiro, orbits the planet at a safe distance but within sight of its magnificent rings.

Diameter: 31,121 km
Mass: 14.02 x 10e24 kg
Terrain: N/A
Temperature: N/A
Escape Velocity: 24.26 km/sec


Seto - Shikoku System


The gas giant Seto consists primarily of hydrogen. Its striking orange color and location astride the primary Liberty-Kusari trade route make it a memorable landmark. Its only moon, Junyo, is the sole habitable planet within the Shikoku system.

Diameter: 25,412 km
Mass: 13.04 x 1024 kg
Terrain: N/A
Temperature: N/A
Escape Velocity: 18.02 km/sec

Edited by - [PCaRdAmInE[X on 09-12-2003 14:36:02

Liberty


In the tumult of the Exodus, The Liberty launched before the other great sleeper ships. Colonists whisper, even today, that the launch date may have been intentionally moved forward against the explicit wishes of the Great Planners. Early launch would have guaranteed the Liberty free access to the worlds of the Sirius Sector before the other sleeper ships arrived, but all proof of such a betrayal of trust was lost along with Earth. Even if the Liberty did launch early, there is little that can be done about it now...but there remains a lingering feeling of resentment among the other houses: a vague feeling that, somehow, Liberty does not entirely deserve the position of superiority it enjoys eight centuries later.

When the Liberty first arrived in the Sirius Sector they found an area rich in resources but lacking in habitable planets. With a hundred systems at their fingertips, they settled on those near the center of Sirius where the highest number of main sequence stars and Earth-like planets existed and a fair number of resources could be easily obtained. Eventually they made planetfall on Manhattan, in the system they christened New York. They began the difficult task of rebuilding civilization two full years before any other sleeper ship arrived.


Infocards for Major Planets
Manhattan - New York System


As the capitol of the Liberty System with a population of 220 million people, Manhattan was the first human colony to be established in the year 1 A.S. Since its founding, Manhattan has served as an important hub for the conquest of Sirius as, little by little, Libertonian explorers took to the dangerous task of exploring and settling other planets and other systems in the name of Liberty's "manifest destiny." Today Manhattan is still the vital heart of Liberty, sitting at the center of a vast commercial network.

The surface of Manhattan is broken up into two continental plates connected by a magnificent land bridge. Both continents are now almost entirely covered by a single, teeming city, which stretches from the desert regions in the south to the cooler lake areas in the north. The resulting climate differential poses a significant challenge for the urban engineers and city planners who are continuously building and rebuilding to accommodate the increasing population of new emigrants come to seek their fortunes on Manhattan.

Diameter: 12,753 km.
Mass: 5.98 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: -46°C to 43°C
Escape Velocity: 11.27 km/sec


Pittsburgh - New York System


Pittsburgh's vast red deserts cover its entire surface, broken only by the large rocky protrusions yet unconsumed by the sand. Once considered to be rich with mineral deposits, fortune-hunters and industrialists flocked to Pittsburgh, despite substantial hazards. During this boom, great areas were paved over to make way for large-scale commercial development.

Over the next several centuries, Pittsburgh was depleted of most of its "financially attractive" natural resources and its atmosphere was densely polluted by industry. As environmental conditions declined, many of those on Pittsburgh departed for more hospitable planets or stations. This population shift left behind those who either knew little else beyond mining, drilling, and refining, and those who were simply unable to afford the ticket off-planet.

Despite this, Pittsburgh has experienced something of a minor economic resurgence since the cheap real-estate and available labor force attracted the attention of Deep Space Engineering, who moved the bulk of their planetside operations to Pittsburgh in 698 A.S. DSE is the largest construction firm in Liberty and one of the "Big Three" companies that also includes Ageira Technologies and Universal Shipping.

Diameter: 6,485 km.
Mass: 4.73 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Desert
Temperature: -38°C to 69°C
Escape Velocity: 9.04 km/sec


California Minor - California System


California Minor is a small icy planet with an unusually active volcanic system. The volcanism onworld creates harrowing living conditions but also creates pockets of intense geothermal energy. Previously considered inappropriate for a conventional terraforming operation, Planetform Inc. is now working to channel the enormous stores of geothermal energy contained by the planet through a new process.

The harsh conditions and potential work have attracted a rough-hewn, blue collar class to its few hospitable areas.

Diameter: 3,101 km.
Mass: 2.77 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Ice
Temperature: -110°C to -12°C
Escape Velocity: 6.7 km/sec


Los Angeles - Califronia System


Mostly covered in deep salt water oceans, Los Angeles was popular among upper-class Manhattanites before terraforming efforts failed during the Great California Drought of 543 A.S. The planet's popularity has resurged with the economic windfall generated by Synth Foods. Synth Foods has perfected an engineered plant matter that can flourish in harsh environments and then processed into Synth Paste. The booming technology market recently induced Ageira Technologies to locate an optical chip plant here.

Diameter: 8,351 km.
Mass: 3.22 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: -40°C to 45°C
Escape Velocity: 8.98 km/sec


Denver - Colorado System


Denver was originally the home of miners, smelters, and shipyard workers, but these industries eventually collapsed in 600 A.S. With the declining long-term water situation in the California System, however, the wealthy elite of Los Angeles began to look elsewhere for a vacation spot and found Denver’s rough, beautiful vistas to be ideal. Emigration from Los Angeles and Manhattan injected new life into the Denver economy, reviving the planet even as the new upper class assumed control of the local government.

Today, Cryer Pharmaceuticals maintains a major research lab on Denver while Ageira Technologies has a planetside headquarters to oversee their interests in the system. Liberty Police, Inc. (LPI) is well paid by Colorado's new elite to handle security.

Diameter: 12,211 km.
Mass: 5.54 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: -88°C to 59.1°C
Escape Velocity: 10.02 km/sec


Houston - Texas System


Houston is an arid world whose population consists mostly of what Manhattanites would term the "economically undesirable," many of them former inmates of the orbiting prison ships. The cheap labor force has attracted a number of industries, however, including a major Deep Space Engineering manufacturing plant and several factories specializing in consumer goods and construction machinery.

The presence of phosphates in Houston's alkali deserts has also produced a booming market in fertilizers. But Houston's biggest industry is fueled by its substantial criminal problem, with both the Bounty Hunters Guild and Liberty Police, Inc. (LPI) maintaining their respective local headquarters on the planet.

Diameter: 8,201 km.
Mass: 3.38 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Desert
Temperature: -88°C to 100°C
Escape Velocity: 9.02 km/sec


Chisos - Texas System


A hellish world of freezing nights and burning days, devoid of any life. Terraforming is impossible and settlement infeasible.

Diameter: 14,891 km
Mass: 6.22 x 10e24 kg
Terrain: Barren
Temperature: -69°C to 72°C
Escape Velocity: 13.66 km/sec


Infocards for Major Bases
Fort Bush - New York System


Fort Bush was one of the earliest established outposts in the settlement of Liberty. Explorers, surveyors, researchers, and colonial military personnel made this their base camp as they struggled to push the boundaries of the known universe, eventually making contact with other settlements. As Liberty grew, Fort Bush became a popular jumping-off point for ventures that required the use of an orbital ops base.

Even now, Fort Bush provides a haven for traders from all over the colonies and contributes richly to the Liberty economy. Merchants, police, freelancers, and civilians -- a veritable cross-section of humanity -- make up the ebb and flow of the population on Fort Bush. Some even prefer to live there permanently, rarely setting foot planetside.


LPI Sugarland - Texas System


The prison ship Sugarland, under the control of Liberty Police, Inc., was built in 600 A.S. to handle the overflow from Huntsville, aka "The Wall." Apart from the prison population, a healthy contingent of Liberty Police, Inc., bounty hunters, and representatives of ALP Waste Disposal round out the personnel on board.


Norfolk Shipyard - New York System


The Norfolk Shipyard, constructed in 230 A.S. and in continuous operation since then, has the honor of being the oldest functional shipyard in the Sirius Sector. The facilities at Norfolk are chiefly used by the Liberty Navy.

Rheinland


The Rheinland was among the second wave of sleeper ships to arrive in the Sirius Sector, along with the Kusari. The Rheinland eventually elected to make planet-fall in an area of Sirius close to the Walker Nebula and with easy access to the resources required to rebuild the Rheinland nation.


Infocards for Major Planets
New Berlin - New Berlin System


On New Berlin, the capitol of Rheinland, day and night each last for nearly a standard year, with the nightside of the planet being plunged into frigid, bitter winter, and the dayside a more temperate summer in which temperatures hover above the freezing point. Despite this potentially hostile environment, New Berlin is very close to the abundant natural resources of the Walker Nebula and so became the first planet settled by the Rheinland people. After the economic collapse brought about by the 80-Years War with the Gas Mining Guild (GMG) and the subsequent Popular Revolution in 702 AS, New Berlin became a society of marked contrasts. As millions try to recover from years of economic mismanagement and political scandal, the black markets of Rheinland boom while the underground clubs and cabarets of New Berlin are rumored to provide anything - for a price.

Diameter: 18,207 km.
Mass: 7.11 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Ice
Temperature: -73°C to 1°C
Escape Velocity: 14.22 km/sec


Hamburg - Hamburg System


Despite its forbidding cold and gray skies, Hamburg is a cosmopolitan environment of suits, traders, dock workers, security, and freelancers. Hamburg is the place to go if you want to buy something in Rheinland space, hire a bounty hunter, or maybe just hear a rumor; however, Republican Shipping levies a tariff on all transactions for the continuing maintenance of facilities both planetside and in orbit.

Diameter: 13,552 km
Mass: 6.00 x 10e24 kg
Terrain: Ice
Temperature: -62°C to 8°C
Escape Velocity: 11.99 km/sec


Stuttgart - Stuttgart System


Stuttgart is a green, almost inconceivably fertile world owing to the high concentration of carbon dioxide and oxygen in its atmosphere. While the oxygen rich atmosphere made industrial development infeasible - one stray spark could set off a massive conflagration - farming has been hugely successful as many plants from Earth and elsewhere in Sirius took to the environment without problem.

Stuttgart has since become the primary source of food for the entire Rheinland nation; however, concessions granted to Synth Foods by the Rheinland government have allowed them to purchase many of the cooperatives and individually owned farms on the planet, spurring the creation of the LWB farmer's rights group.

Diameter: 15,209 km.
Mass: 6.12 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: -1°C to 34°C
Escape Velocity: 12.23 km/sec


Baden Baden - Stuttgart System


Baden Baden is an idyllic world of large oceans, black sand beaches, and the odd hot spring bubbling from volcanic outcroppings of rock. Orbital Spa and Cruise Lines maintains a popular resort here, though it has seen a decline in business as the economic situation in Rheinland grows worse while radicals sympathetic to the LWB farmer's movement attack government officials who vacation here. Orbital has reportedly been trying to remedy the situation by attracting bargain-hunting Liberty tourists.

Diameter: 11,293 km.
Mass: 5.96 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: 6°C to 42°C
Escape Velocity: 10.99 km/sec


Holstein - Frankfurt System


Holstein was ignored for centuries until the government decided that it would be politically advantageous to develop the planet as a hedge against encroachment by the Gas Mining Guild (GMG). However, the Eighty Years War doomed the project before it could be completed; Holstein was rendered marginally habitable, if not pleasant. However, Daumann engineers performing a routine survey recently discovered the presence of large amounts of valuable mineral salts in the oceans and a small extraction facility was constructed planetside.

Diameter: 14,320 km.
Mass: 6.00 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Terrestrial
Temperature: -29°C to 17°C
Escape Velocity: 12.11 km/sec


Aalen - Stuttgart System


A harsh, rocky moon of narrow peaks and deep valleys once formed in volcanic upheavals that have long since stilled and grown cold. Whatever atmosphere may have once been present has evaporated into space over the millennia.

Diameter: 6,472 km.
Mass: 3.19 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Barren
Temperature: -51°C to -38°C
Escape Velocity: 4.11 km/sec

Breisgau - Stuttgart System


A dense planet covered in sheets of ice several kilometers deep. Surveys have detected no signs of life or mineral deposits worth excavating. Freiburg Station was constructed in orbit to provide a cargo switching facility for ships carrying goods to and from Stuttgart along the nearby Trade Lanes.

Diameter: 12,548 km.
Mass: 5.21 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Ice
Temperature: -81°C to -63°C
Escape Velocity: 7.25 km/sec


Hannover - Hamburg System


A medium-sized gas giant whose upper layers are mostly composed of frozen methane. The vast bulk of Hannover often blocks the light of the sun from reaching the dark cells of orbiting Vierlande Prison.

Diameter: 18,468 km.
Mass: 4.89 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: N/A
Temperature: N/A
Escape Velocity: 12.02 km/sec


Kiel - Hamburg System

A sterile, frozen world located at the periphery of the Hamburg ice fields. The Battleship Westfalen is usually stationed in nearby orbit.

Diameter: 11,992 km.
Mass: 6.23 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Ice
Temperature: -60°C to -48°C
Escape Velocity: 12.11 km/sec


Munich - Frankfurt System


A large gas giant with substantial traces of deuterium and tritium in its upper atmosphere, Munich is currently being mined by Kruger Minerals from their base on Mannheim Station in orbit.

Diameter: 29,949 km.
Mass: 13.98 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: N/A
Temperature: N/A
Escape Velocity: 19.21 km/sec


Potsdam - New Berlin System


A tiny moon with no appreciable resources. Scientists speculate that it may have wandered into the system from elsewhere and been captured by New Berlin's gravity well.

Diameter: 5,989 km.
Mass: 2.75 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Barren
Temperature: -71°C to -30°C
Escape Velocity: 4.21 km/sec


Infocards for Major Bases
Bonn Station - New Berlin System


Bonn Station was constructed soon after agreements had been reached with Liberty regarding the disposition of Trade Lanes and Jump Gates in sovereign Rheinland space, providing a headquarters for Interspace Commerce (IC) to oversee the transition of the Jump Gates and Trade Lanes to national control. Now IC works closely with the shipping companies to insure shipments throughout Sirius.

Class: Cathedral
Gravity: Complete
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Yes
Population: 3,000


Freiburg Station - Stuttgart System


Freiburg Station was originally constructed in 312 A.S. as a clearing-house for produce harvested on Stuttgart, but now it also handles traffic from foreign shipping companies who increasingly use the Stuttgart System as an alternative to shipping through the Hamburg System.

Class: Abbey
Gravity: Complete
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Yes
Population: 250


Mainz Storgae Facility - Frankfurt System


After the Eighty Years War, all shipments from the Gas Mining Guild (GMG) to Rheinland are made using neutral Kusari shipping companies who are required to transfer their fuel to Republican Shipping transports at the Mainz Storage Facility.

Class: Abbey
Gravity: Partial
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Yes
Population: 200


The Ring - New Berlin System


The Ring is probably the most recognizable symbol of Rheinland and a source of great pride among its people. Originally a loose amalgamation of shipyards, habitats, manufacturing centers, and smelting plants built to support the first great push into space from the surface of New Berlin, the structures soon merged into the shape from which its name is derived. The Ring is now a single, massive complex, producing vital components for Rheinland industry.

Class: Special
Gravity: Partial
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Yes
Population: 9K


Volgtland Base - Dresden System

Little can be definitively said about the Red Hessian base known as Volgtland. The Red Hessians first organized in this vicinity, establishing themselves in opposition to Daumann Heavy Construction on Von Rohe's Day in 700 AS. Sometimes feared, sometimes dismissed as ragtag militants, they have persevered to this day as a serious threat to the stability of space in many sectors.

The scope of operations maintained at Volgtland could be extensive. Since the ranks of Red Hessians swell and recede with seemingly every release of large numbers of unemployed workers through the years, no reliable predictions about the future of activity on Volgtland can be made.

Class: Unknown
Gravity: Complete
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Yes
Population: Unknown

The Border Worlds (1)

The Walker Nebula - Omega Border Worlds
Omega-7 lies deep within the clouds of the Walker nebula, filled with mineral rich asteroids and explosive gas pockets. Not really a system, it's more of a waypoint along the Trade Lane that was constructed from Cambridge to Stuttgart in the middle of the eighth century. The long and dangerous construction process took 20 years, with drifting asteroids an ongoing problem.

Five years after the Trade Lane's completion, a motley crew of independent miners from Bretonia and Rheinland rehabilitated an abandoned DSE construction site for use as a mining base. They named it Freistadt, a free port operated along similar lines as the Zoner run bases scattered throughout the Border and Independent Worlds. In 760, they became official members of the Independent Miners Guild. Over time, the miners discovered significant pockets of silver, copper, and cobalt. Lacking the facilities to refine the minerals, they shipped much of the raw ore to the relatively new ALG smelter in Berlin. The IMG dominates mineral production in the system to this day, although Kruger and Daumann have recently opened mining operations in higher risk areas off the Trade Lanes.

Piracy is an ever present threat in Omega-7. The ongoing attacks by Corsairs and Hessians have led Interspace Commerce to recommend closing the Rheinland-Bretonia Trade Lane unless security can be improved. Little can be done given the complete lack of funding available for Rheinland Military patrol operations

Omega-11 is a dying and dangerous system located at the southern edge of the Walker Nebula. At its heart is a late-stage red giant, a sun grown huge and hot as it begins to burn off the last of its helium reserves in its final death throes. Most of the planets in the inner system have already been consumed in the fires of the Omega-11 solar furnace, leaving only the volcanic planet of Schutz. Between the sun and the orbital path of Schutz lies the astronomical anomaly known as the Von Rohe Belt, named after the famous Rheinland deep space exploration leader who initially surveyed Omega-11 in 110 AS. Von Rohe theorized that the belt was comprised of the molten remnants of a destroyed inner planet. Rich in diamonds, it has lured miners to Omega-11 ever since.

With the construction of the first jump gate to Omega-11 in 376 AS, commercial exploitation became a priority despite the inherent dangers. Daumann established the Solarius base within the planetary shadow of Schutz, the only area close to the Von Rohe Belt safe from the debilitating effects of the frequent solar storms. Mining the Belt is a very simple process that hasn't changed much in the preceding centuries. Ships make runs to the inner edge of the Belt and literally grab as many of the molten asteroids or loose diamonds as they can before retreating to the relative safety of Solarius.

The system also sits astride the Omega Jump Hole network, so both Red Hessians and Corsairs are frequently spotted in the area. Attacks are common along the tenuous supply line that stretches from Solarius back to the Stuttgart Gate. Omega-11 offers great riches, but only to those who are able to take care of themselves in this lawless frontier.


Infocards for Major Planets
Deidus - Omega-11 System


Despite possessing a thin atmosphere, this planetoid is rendered uninhabitable by the choking, acrid dust that covers its surface - in some places to a depth of several kilometers.

All survey probes have either been swallowed by the dust oceans or ceased functioning shortly after planetfall, presumably due to the nearly microscopic dust particles working their way into the delicate electronics.

Diameter: 8,972 km.
Mass: 4.78 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Desert
Temperature: -70°C to 50°C
Escape Velocity: 9.75 km/sec


Schutz - Omega-11 System


Named after the senior lieutenant on Von Rohe's fateful expedition, Schutz is a dying planet, slowly being melted by the swelling red giant sun at the system's center. One of only two planets still intact in the system, its surface is convulsed by numerous volcanos. It serves as a shield for the Solarius station, protecting it from the intense radiation emitted by the dying sun.

Diameter: 4,972 km.
Mass: 3.0 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Volcanic
Temperature: 300°C to 500°C
Escape Velocity: 6.75 km/sec


Sprague - Omega-3 System


Planetary data is classified, although it is rumoured that an archaeological dig site is present here.

Diameter: 7,053 km
Mass: 10.98 x 10e24 kg
Terrain: Desert
Temperature: -71°C to 70°C
Escape Velocity: 13.57 km/sec


Infocards on Major Bases
Briesen Mining Facility - Omega-7 System


The Briesen Mining Facility is controlled by Daumann Heavy Construction for the extraction of copper and cobalt deposits from the system.

Class: Cathedral
Gravity: Partial
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Limited
Population: 275


Freeport 1 - Omega-3 System


Freeport 1 was founded by a group of Zoners over sixty years ago. It was the first station of its kind to be declared open to all and it still provides a place for commerce and food sales to everyone, regardless of legal status.

Class: Dern
Gravity: Complete
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Yes
Population: 2,000


Friestadt Base - Omega-7 System


Freistadt Base is run by the Independent Mining Guild (IMG) to provide support for the mining of copper, cobalt, and silver from nearby asteroid fields. Of course, the IMG asks few questions about where the ore was actually mined from and a few Red Hessians have been known to take advantage of that fact when selling their goods. Gateway Shipping handles most of the cargo runs from Freistadt, while Deep Space Engineering teams and members of the Bounty Hunters Guild are also frequently seen aboard.

Class: Cochrane
Gravity: Partial
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Yes
Population: 300


Rugen Station - Omega-3 System


Rugen Station was built by Daumann Heavy Construction for the manufacture of polymers using the abundant raw materials found in the system. While pirates are always a problem, their long-running rivalry with the neighboring Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing (BMM) operation on Douglas Station has resulted in more than a few exchanges of weapons fire.

Class: Abbey
Gravity: Partial
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Limited
Population: 250

Edited by - [PCaRdAmInE[X on 08-12-2003 13:34:11

The Border Worlds (2)

The Barrier - Tau Border Worlds
The Barrier is one of the four dominant physical features present in the Sirius Sector. Stretching across the western side like a great wall, its abundant ice and rock asteroid fields created a formidable barrier to trade and commerce between Bretonia and the other colonies until the relatively recent arrival of Trade Lanes.

Plagued by the powerful Edge World criminal organizations, the Barrier Border Worlds are not a friendly place for a rookie freelancer. Only more experienced pilots with advanced ships dare venture forth into these often hostile systems. The pirate problem in the Tau region has now reached crisis levels, forcing the Bretonian Armed Forces and the Kusari Naval Forces to permanently station battleships in Leeds and Kyushu and conduct daily patrols into the adjacent Tau Border Worlds.

Consisting of a cluster of star systems anchoring the northern end of the Barrier, the Tau systems all share one thing in common: dense asteroids fields of ice and rock, and very few planets. In fact, there is only one known planet of appreciable size within the entire region.

Infocards on Major Planets
Harris - Tau-31 System


Previously a barren world, Harris was the object of one of the first large-scale terraforming efforts by Planetform Inc. Initiated in 450 A.S., the project was made easier by the abundance of pure water and oxygen ice in the system, while terraforming gases were easily transported by Border World Exports from the Stokes Mining Station in the nearby Leeds System.

Harris was originally scheduled to open for colonization in 820 A.S., but the project has recently suffered a series of setbacks due to attacks by Gaian terrorists.

Diameter: 23,118 km.
Mass: 8.76 x 10e24 kg.
Terrain: Transitional
Temperature: -35°C to 48°C
Escape Velocity: 16.78 km/sec


Infocards for Major Bases
Freeport 1 - Tau-29 System


Originally a loose assemblage of habitat modules intended to provide quarters for Deep Space Engineering crews constructing a Trade Lane through the system, the station was abandoned upon completion of the Trade Lane and eventually became home to the Zoners.

The station was dubbed Freeport 6, and with the addition of a Synth Foods biodome, has become largely self-sufficient. Because of its strategic location in the border world systems, it is a frequent way station for cargo runs by Liberty, Bretonian, and Kusari shipping companies, as well as a springboard for Independent Mining Guild (IMG) and Zoner expeditions.

Class: Unknown
Gravity: Partial
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Yes
Population: 800


Holman Outpost - Tau-31 System


While Tau-31 was considered infeasible for development by Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing (BMM), the smaller Independent Mining Guild (IMG) - eager to exploit areas in which BMM feared to tread - was quick to establish Holman Outpost to mine the large quantities of pure water and oxygen ice in the system.

IMG ships water and oxygen to Harris in partnership with Planetform. The IMG and Deep Space Engineering also use the station to supply their respective operations in the recently opened Tau-23 System.

Class: Ellison
Gravity: Complete
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Yes
Population: 250


Nago Station - Tau-29 System


Constructed in 603 A.S. by Kishiro, Nago Station is one of Kishiro’s primary sources for the hydrocarbons needed to fabricate the polymers used in optical chips. Optical chip manufacturing is one of Kishiro's major business sectors and Kishiro depends on a supply of polymers to manufacture them. The station also houses a standing security force to repulse frequent attacks by pirates and protect its interests from interference by corporate rival Samura.

Tau-29 also excompasses a large field of asteroids rich in hydrocarbons. After a Kusari research expedition stumbled onto the system and its abundant resources, a joint construction project between Bretonia and Kusari opened the system to exploitation. Kishiro immediately established Nago Station along the trade route to the Kyushu Jump Gate for the express purpose of mining the field and manufacturing Polymers.

Class: Akebono
Gravity: Complete
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Yes
Population: 200


Shinkaku Station - Tau-29 System


Shinkaku Station was built in 602 A.S. to provide Kusari corporate giant Samura access to the abundant ammonia, water, and oxygen ice fields present in the system.

From these raw materials, Shinkaku produces the valuable fertilizers and terraforming gases that Samura needs to remain competitive with Liberty food giant Synth Foods.

Frequent attacks on Samura operations throughout the system by unidentified criminal elements have made extra security a necessary measure.

Class: Nobunaga
Gravity: Complete
Docking: Yes
Amenities: Yes
Population: 300

Border Worlds (3)

The Crow Nebula - Sigma Star Systems
The Crow Nebula is so named because of its distinctive shape, and was dubbed so by a pilot on the Kusari sleeper ship as it neared its new home. Rich in H-fuel, it is the focus of a massive operation by the Gas Mining Guild (GMG), who mine throughout two of the three Sigma systems.

Also in the Crow Nebula, in a part known as the Yanagi Cloud, are the remnants of a long battle fought between the once-proud Rheinland Navy and the GMG. Here is a painful reminder of how tactics can overcome brute force.

The three Sigma systems straddle the eastern edge of the Crow Nebula, also encompassing elements of the mysterious Edge Nebula which traverses the entire eastern side of the Sirius Sector. Sigma-13 and Sigma-19 are both binary systems, while Sigma-17 has three stars, the only known tertiary star system within the Sirius Sector.

Infocards on Major Planets
Kurile - Sigma-17 System
>>>>> COMING SOON <<<<<


Hiran - Sigma-19 System
>>>>> COMING SOON <<<<<


Cerebus - Sigma-19 System
>>>>> COMING SOON <<<<<


Hades - Sigma-19 System
>>>>> COMING SOON <<<<<


Infocards on Major Bases
Gas Miner Naha - Sigma-13 System


Rich in vital gas resources, the Sigma-13 System has been contested by a number of groups since its discovery in 60 A.S. Conflict reached a fever pitch when the system became one of the more fiercely contested prizes during the Eighty Years War between the Gas Mining Guild (GMG) and Rheinland.

Using speed and a thorough knowledge of the territory, the GMG managed to push back the Rheinland forces, finally obliterating the bulk of the Rheinland Navy at the Battle of the Yanagi Nebula.

Since that time the system has been almost exclusively under GMG control and the Gas Miner Naha has provided support for the GMG's extensive mining operations.

Class: Nostromo
Amenities: Limited
Population: 400


Atka Research Station - Sigma-17 System
>>>>> COMING SOON <<<<<


Luxury Liner Hawaii - Sigma-19 System
>>>>> COMING SOON <<<<<


Gas Miner Ogashawa - Sigma-19 System
>>>>> COMING SOON <<<<<


Helgoland Station - Sigma-13 System
>>>>> COMING SOON <<<<<


Yanagi Depot - Sigma-13 System
>>>>> COMING SOON <<<<<

Impressively done. I just wonder where Canada came in....

Life: No one gets out alive.

If any mod's are reading this, could you please make this a sticky so all the confused n00bs could read this and stop asking the same annoying questions ?

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"Snake ,we are not tools of the government or anyone else, fighting was the only thing I was good at , but at least I always fought for what I believed in" - Grey Fox
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Cheers guys. It took me ages so I'm glad people appreciate it!

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Estupidud Rex



http://www.cardamine.net/ - should be up and running after Christmas!

Somebody sticky this plz! It's annoying when you see thread after thread about sleeper ships, the Hispania, etc., and this is a very good thread that no doubt took good old CaRdAmInE a bloody long time.

@[PCaRdAmInE[X - BTW where is the Hispania bit?

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Junkers rule
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The Hispania bit is on my HDD at home

gr8 work!


" Does killing PKs makes me any better! ? "

Great effort Cardy.

cheers to you

Edit: Damn spelling.

It's better to chase a rabbit then to catch a hare...