The Ring

CLASS: Special

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

POPULATION: 9K

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 that produces vital components for Rheinland industry.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

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

## Commodities

* Hydrocarbons
* Oxygen
* Water
* Diamonds
* Food Rations
* MOX
* H-Fuel
* Basic Alloy
* Superconductors
* Optical Chips
* Mining Machinery
* Pharmaceuticals
* Optronics

* Niobium
* Copper
* High-Temperature Alloy
* Construction Machinery
* Polymers
* Engine Components
* Light Arms

## Rumors

* The Kusari Engine Component manufacturer Kishiro has benefited greatly from ALG's entry into the High-Temperature Alloy market. It has been difficult to compete with the cheaper Kusari imports since ALG began shipping them their raw materials. Daumann feels that ALG has betrayed the future of Rheinland industrial might for their short-term monetary gain.
* The Ring also houses the Oder Shipyard. It has served as headquarters for Daumann Heavy Construction since it was first built in 310 AS. Engine Components, Construction Machinery, and Side Arms are the primary products of the factories around us.
* The workers in Leipzig and the Ring have always been treated as well as market conditions could justify. That is a myth spread by the Red Hessian miscreants in order to recast their acts of common piracy as part of a just political cause.
* Many goods pass through the Ring on their way to distant lands. This facility serves as Daumann's transfer point for its various mining operations further afield in Dresden and the Omega systems. From here, Republican ships haul our minerals and finished goods to Kusari, Liberty, and Bretonia.
* The industrial pollution and horrors that have been blamed on Daumann are completely groundless. The Bundschuh and other political terrorists view us as the villains of Rheinland. We have provided generations of Rheinland workers with secure jobs and decent pay. Yet they always want to work less and make more. We couldn't possibly meet their demands and still be profitable.
* The Ring is the terminating point for inbound Daumann transports delivering Polymers and Hydrocarbons from the base of Reugen in Omega-3. That system also contains a BMM operation producing the same materials, so it is a very competitive route.

* Republican has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with Daumann. We view the ALG/Gateway/IMG partnership as a serious challenge to the proper way of doing business in Rheinland. After all, two of these companies are of Bretonian origin. It would be a grave mistake for Kruger to join forces with those foreigners.
* The Ring is the focal point for Republican-shipping activity within Berlin space. We import superconductors from Liberty and Beryllium from Bretonia via our Freiburg station. Engine Components are exported from here to Liberty and Bretonia on a regular basis.
* Kusari shippers are still not allowed into Rheinland space; the only concession from Kusari that Rheinland was able to be granted in the treaty that ended the Eighty-Years War. Samura and Kishiro offload their Optical Chips, Optronics, and H-Fuel at the Mainz Outpost in Frankfurt.
* The Ring is a key transfer point for Colorado-bound raw materials like Copper and Cobalt. Daumann ships them here from their mines in Dresden and Omega-7. The security risks are considered too high for Republican to ship directly from those systems.
* From this base, we supply the Alster Shipyard with some of its key raw materials -- Engine Components and Polymers, to be precise. It is not a hugely profitable run, and the Unioners make it difficult for Republican ships.