Helgoland Station

CLASS: Abbey

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Yes

CREW: 200

At the Battle of the Yanagi Nebula, the forces of the Gas Miners Guild managed to obliterate almost the entire Rheinland Navy in a surprise maneuver. The remnant of that great battle became a vast field of Scrap Metal and radioactive cores that has rendered the area a major navigational hazard. Under an agreement brokered by Interspace Commerce, ALG Waste Disposal was allowed to build Helgoland Station and begin clean-up of the affected area, shipping Scrap Metal and other waste back to Rheinland for re-smelting.

The Yanagi cleanup was finally completed in late 818. As part of the original contract, the Gas Miners Guild purchased the Helgoland facility from ALG and has begun converting the facility in a small shipyard, with the intent to sell shipbuilding capacity to Kusari and maintain their transports and gas miners at Helgoland.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Kishiro Technologies
* RGS Shipping
* Gas Miners Guild
* Rheinland Police
* Zoners

## News

Ageira disputed this finding in their own press release, calling EFL 'fantasists' and countering that their own scientists had narrowed the cause to a rare 'hypernova' stellar event that originated outside the Sirius sector. Both corporations claim that network-wide hardware safeguards have been implemented that would prevent a similar occurrence in the future. Independent researchers have sharply criticized the corporate announcements, accusing both of self-interested misdirection.
Professor Sophia Nagel from Heisenberg Research Station called EFL's accusation 'incoherent' and the hypernova explanation 'nonsense' that did not explain the characteristics of the 'Blackout Pulse'. Despite multiple different Pulse recordings being widely disseminated across the neural net, public efforts have so far failed to triangulate its source.

In an immediate show of change, the Federal and Imperial fleets have completely withdrawn from what used to be the battle lines separating the two Rheinland fractions - many have returned to stand-down docks for maintenance and repairs, and off-duty military and civilian personnel have already begun to travel back to their homes.
While details of how the reunification will proceed, or whether it will be successful are yet to be seen, but the Holstein Accords has brought the Rheinland Civil War effectively to a close.

## Rumors

* Aside from maintaining our own ships, we hope to entice some independent shipping companies to call at Helgoland for maintenance eventually. It is in a very strategic spot - right between the abundant minerals that Rheinland is blessed with, and the Optronics and Hull Panel industries of Kusari. It should allow us to set very competitive rates here.

* Helgoland is likely part of the GMG's long term plan for this region. Sigma-13 is our sovereign space, and a major trade route, but once Gas Mining becomes unfeasable here, we'll need another purpose for this area. Making a profit from its location and the presence of the Trade Lanes seems the logical thing to do.

* With the radiation gone, this part of the Crow Nebula is slowly returning to it's natural state. That means where there is light traffic, there will be Oxygen Pockets which pose a hazard, especially to lightly shielded ships. Transport Shields can usually handle them, but Freighters or smaller Fighters need to avoid those areas or risk being destroyed. Sometimes, transports under attack by pirates will try to flee into one - not all of them make it back out however. The heavy traffic around various stations and along the lanes ensures those areas stay safe.

* Trade between Rheinland and Kusari has been steadily increasing over the past years. The two Houses are growing closer to eachother, which is good for us. It stabilises the region. Corsair and Outcast raiders remain a problem however, so ships do tend to get damaged. It is another reason why a shipyard in this system is not a bad thing to have.

* Sometimes people ask if those protostars in the center of this region pose a danger. In all honesty, they do, but not within our lifetimes. Stellar formation takes millions of years, and these two concentrations are relatively recent ones, probably some 50,000 years old. Eventually, they are likely to merge and ignite into a standard M type dwarf star. When that happens, we'd best not be around, but that's a few hundred thousand years ahead of us yet.

* There used to be a jumphole to New Berlin to the east of the base, but it is gone now. When the largest irradiated components were removed from the debris field, it changed the balance of the system, and several far Jump Holes destabilised as a result. The Jump Gates are unaffected as far as we can tell.

* This GMG project is ambitious. We do not have any experience in doing large-scale shipwrighting. Most of our ships are small, and are built aboard our larger Gas Miner platforms. A fullsized shipyard, even a small one, is new ground for us.

* Now that the remnants of the Yanagi battle have been cleared, Helgoland has been turned over to the GMG as per the stipulations of the contract ALG had. Helgoland has been a large salvage yard for years, it won't be hard to convert it into a small shipyard to maintain our Gas Miners. The GMG does not have many large ships, it is not our way - but it is still good to have a place to service the few we have, then to have to rely on an outside party such as Kishiro to maintain them.

* Our contract to Kusari and Rheinland for cleaning up the Yanagi field is almost completed now. Only a few kilotons of debris remain to ship to our smelters back in New Berlin, and the Helgoland facility needs to be repurposed. As per the contract, the base was turned over to the GMG as-is, but they have hired some of the Helgoland staff on as contractors to help them reshape the station into its new role.

* With all the components we managed to salvage, we have turned a fortune. But it doesn't feel right to me. Feels like we've dug up a mass grave. Still, Daumann was happy to buy most of the parts we salvaged that were still spaceworthy. Rheinland Cruiser and Battleship engines have largely remained the same, so many of the parts are still compatible. I just hope they aren't haunted like some of my friends claimed.

* Officially the Rheinland Military were not allowed in the system until recently, but at least the GMG had the respect to make one exception - The Seewinde, a burial ship. Thousands of sailors perished in the Yanagi battle, and many bodies were still sealed inside the wrecks. The Seewinde took these sailors home, and gave them a proper burial.

* I'm here to pick up a shipment of salvage bound for the Oder Shipyards. It may seem odd to reuse over two centuries old ship parts, but keep in mind that in space virtually nothing decays. Anything the GMG haven't shot up back then is potentially refurbishable, and many parts are still compatible. The Junkers have made off with many small parts, but the market for Rheinland capital ship components isn't that big.

* It is good that the Yanagi debris are finally cleared away. It is not a pleasant thought to hit a large chunk of an old cruiser while travelling through the Trade Lane. A hit like that overwhelms any shield in moments. We lost quite a few ships that way, until ALG was contracted to clear the wreckage.

* I wonder how Rheinland messed up the Yanagi campaign so badly. They had a huge advantage in ships and men. They must have been ill-prepared to fight inside a nebula. The GMG also suffered terrible losses, but they still secured a decisive victory, one that bolsters their reputation to this day.

*NOTE: Page generated on the 28/10/2023 at 17:59:45 UTC*