Essen Station

CLASS: Abbey

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

POPULATION: 2K

Essen Station is the headquarters and primary manufacturing facility for Kruger Minerals, a once proud company currently experiencing hard times. Wishing to exploit the vast gas resources of the Crow Nebula despite claims made to the territory by the Gas Mining Guild (GMG), Kruger was a primary supporter of the 80-Years War. After that conflict ended in disaster, Kruger's capital was exhausted and the company persecuted. Today Kruger is attempting to rebuild by allying itself with ALG Waste Disposal.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* ALG Waste Disposal
* Gateway Shipping
* Kruger Minerals
* Bounty Hunters Guild
* Daumann Heavy Construction
* Synth Foods, Inc.
* Republican Shipping

## Commodities

* Water
* Diamonds
* Food Rations
* MOX
* H-Fuel
* Basic Alloy
* Optical Chips
* Pharmaceuticals

## Rumors

* Kruger has seen better days. We've been forced to lay off many of our workers in recent times. Our company incurred vast debts at the beginning of the Eighty-Years War when we lost more than half our mining fleet to the GMG. We've never recovered from that dark period.
* Secret negotiations are underway between ALG and Kruger. ALG would like to merge our companies into one giant corporation that can build all types of machinery and Engine Components to finally truly compete with Daumann's Ring. It is a tempting offer, but there are complications. The membership of the IMG, one of ALG's partners, views us with suspicion. Many of them are former Kruger employees.
* The Aachenfeld was Kruger's primary mining area for centuries. When it was exhausted, we were forced to expand our exploration efforts into Omega-7. We have a profitable Silver mine in operation there now. We also own a synthetic H-Fuel-extraction facility in the Frankfurt system.
* Kruger could once compete with Daumann, but they are now much larger and more diversified. We still hold a commanding lead in Mining Machinery, and hold key deposits of Diamonds and Silver. But that is not enough. Kruger Minerals will eventually be crushed by the Daumann goliath if radical steps are not taken soon.
* Daumann lies at the heart of Rheinland's problems. They have paid for many a Rheinland government functionary's palatial residence in the countryside of Stuttgart over the centuries. At the same time, their merciless treatment of workers in Leipzig led directly to the Popular Revolution and all the unrest that followed. You can thank them for the rise of the Red Hessians.
* Our operations in Dresden and Omega-7 have been plagued by the Red Hessians in recent times. We never mistreated our workers as Daumann has. Yet many of our laid-off workers that joined the Hessians soon felt that way. We are always in the shadow of Daumann -- paying for their mistakes, or watching them profit from ours.
* Kruger's management felt that we had no choice but to expand into the Crow Nebula. Daumann had blocked our expansion plans in Dresden, and Berlin was exhausted. We felt that there was enough gas for everyone in Sigma-13, but that viewpoint was obviously not shared by the GMG.
* Our H-Fuel-extraction operation in Mannheim is totally dependent on government subsidies for its survival. It has not been profitable since the end of the war, 120 years ago. Once Berlin can no longer support it, the last vestige of that sad chapter in Rheinland history will be gone.

* There are a lot of people at Gateway who aren't sure we should get so close to the Rheinlanders. We were doing fine with the IMG before ALG came along. Now they want to buy Kruger, which will result in a massive corporation like Daumann or Republican. We're being straight-armed by ALG into accepting their proposal, with little or no say in the matter.
* Gateway does not often deal with Kruger. But that could change soon. They say that ALG will soon acquire the remnants of this once-proud company for next to nothing. Can't say it surprises me; Kruger's been on the ropes for decades.

* One day soon we will no longer stop here. Rumor has it that the ALG/Gateway alliance is gaining a new member. That would be a sad end to the proud family company of Kruger, last of the old "Mittlestand."
* We must contend with many pirates on our journey to Liberty. The Unioners await our ships in Hamburg and Bering. If we take the alternative route through Hudson, we often encounter Xenos. I'm not sure which are worse. Both groups represent the dregs of humanity.