Rheinland Police

**ALLIES:**

Rheinland Military, Rheinland Corporations

**ENEMIES:**

Federalists, The Wild, Red Hessians, Unioners, Coalition, Bundschuh, Corsairs, Outcasts

The Rheinland Imperial Police is an impressively well-equipped organization acting as the primary security force in Rheinland space.

## Rumors

* Rheinland has been humiliated militarily and economically bankrupted by the poor decisions of Empress Leicht 200 years ago. Now we must suffer the injustice of foreign corporations occupying our homeland. Someday Rheinland will once again be strong enough to control its destiny.

* Artifacts and Cardamine have recently begun appearing in the high-end clubs of Berlin. We think the Junkers are involved, though they're hard to pin down. They always seem to know when we're planning a sting operation. Smells like a mole to me.

* Rheinland has seen better days. Since the end of the war, we've had one crisis after another. The Popular Revolution never fulfilled its promise. The government just keeps issuing more money in order to pay off its debts, so the inflation rate is out of control. It's running about 5 percent a week right now.

* The Federal Police runs a daily patrol up into the Aachenfeld to keep an eye on the Bundschuh and the Unioners. Rheinland's full of splinter groups like them. Their usual targets are the Ring and the Oder Shipyard. Everyone wants to overthrow the government and big business in Rheinland.

* Berlin's a strange place. Night and day each last a year because of the planet's extremely slow rotation rate. You're lucky -- we just emerged into daylight a month ago. People get crazy toward the end of the dark period.

* The old Harz mining area south of New Berlin is favored by the Red Hessians. They prefer to attack the Trade Lane to Brandenburg, especially Daumann ships. There's some pretty bad blood between those two.

* Sometimes we have to deal with demonstrations and riots, which has become an all-too-frequent occurrence in Berlin these days. It's easy to control them because so much of Berlin was built underground. We just seal the doors to the entire affected area.

* New Berlin was once the mining center of Rheinland. But over the centuries all of the deposits were exhausted. Now most of the new activity is in Omega-7. Even Dresden is not what it once was.

* I wouldn't be surprised if there's a Jump Hole in the Saarfeld. It sure seems to get a lot of criminal traffic. My guess is that the Hole accesses Dresden or Stuttgart. Hard to tell which.

* There are many of us torn by our orders to dispose of so many of the Rheinland workers who have fallen onto hard times during the last eighty years. The LWB is a good example. They were once prosperous farmers on Stuttgart. Now they have resorted to violence against the foreign corporation of Synth Foods, which has occupied their homeland. Is that so wrong?

* Daumann and Kruger convoys coming in from the Dresden Gate have been attacked numerous times in recent weeks. The Hessians patiently wait in the fields on either side until they enter the Trade Lane. Then they come out, guns blazing.

* We do two field patrols out of here; one along the northern end of the Saar, the other into the Harz. Neither one is a walk in the park. The Hessians and the LWB lurk everywhere.

* Many of my comrades are joining the Bounty Hunters. They say you can make as much in one day killing Hessians as we get paid in a month. That is, if we get paid at all. The rich aristocrats of Berlin do not seem to be feeling our pain at all. There is money in Rheinland, but it is concentrated in the hands of an elite few.

* Privately, the people of Rheinland are very unhappy with the greedy Liberty companies -- especially Synth Foods. They have destroyed the traditional way of life for the growers of the WVS on Stuttgart and stolen one of Rheinland's most precious assets from her people.

* The asteroid fields around us were once the pride of Rheinland. Generations of early settlers mined the metals that brought riches to all. Then the rich and powerful grew greedy, and decided that they needed more. So they took it from the common man, instead of expanding their companies through innovation and sensible investment.

* Berlin ordered this post built about fifty years ago. The Hessians were using the old Saar and Harz mining areas as staging grounds to attack the southern Trade Lanes. We're the only thing holding back the Hessian hordes from controlling the entire southern end of the New Berlin system.

* The real reason we've got so many Unioners is simple -- no work. Hamburg's got a 30-percent unemployment rate currently. Hard times and empty stomachs lead to anger and resentment, mostly directed against Republican Shipping. They broke the union after the war, which effectively ended the good times in Hamburg.

* We have a lot of Bounty Hunters on Hamburg. Gives this place a bit of a hard edge. The ones in from Texas can be a rough lot. A few of my comrades have joined the Guild, mostly to make better money. They're definitely a little more casual about killing people than they were as police officers.

* The Rheinland military patrols the Trade Lanes in the northwestern part of the system. It's one of the few places in Rheinland space where we get any assistance from them. There is little we can do about the Independent Worlds, though. You're on your own until you reach the Liberty Navy patrols in the northern portions of those systems.

* If we catch a Junker with Cardamine or Artifacts, they usually try to run for it. Their ships are not very fast, so we often can catch them quickly. They almost always refuse to surrender, though. Guess they prefer to die rather than be interrogated and imprisoned.

* Republican pays us well to clear out the Unioners and keep the peace in Hamburg, so we can't complain. I hear that other Federal Police stations have been caught extorting passing ships for "security" money. Berlin sent a crew of them to Vierlande last month to appease the Liberty companies.

* They've got me on prison convoy duty this month. We're usually hauling a load of Unioners picked up from the North Field. Their comrades wait for us in the Sud Fels, which we have to pass to get to Vierlande.

* There have been reports of Junkers sighted in the Alsterfeld. They aren't often found outside of capitol systems like Berlin, so we assume they're smuggling Artifacts and Cardamine.

* We've got two regular field patrols. One goes up into the North Field -- mostly Unioners up there. The Alster Field patrol will sometimes see Bundschuh or Junkers. And lots of Unioners, of course -- they're the dominant criminal species of Hamburg.

* This post is really not that bad. A friend of ours was transferred to Dresden. He sent several messages over the next few weeks, each more despairing than the last, then nothing. We heard later that his entire patrol vanished in the Giftnebel.

* There are Bundschuh spotted here on occasion. It looks like they're just passing through on supply runs, although there have been attacks up in the northern end of Hamburg on the Westfalen.

* Lubeck can get lonely. We don't get up to Hamburg too often. Wouldn't matter anyway, because we never get paid. We're here to keep an eye on the Sudheide. Lot of criminal activity in there. Berlin's nervous about the prison convoys mostly.

* We do a daily up into the fields and along the Trade Lane to Alster. It can get fairly exciting. There seems to be a big crossing point for smugglers and such about half way up the Lane.

* Without this border post, southern Hamburg would be chaos. As it is, we lose good officers every week, especially when the Hessians show up. Soon they'll have no choice but to staff our base with Bounty Hunters. There are plenty of those ruffians to go around.

* One day Rheinland will be great again and we will be proud to be police officers. For now, we suffer along with the rest of our proud nation through these economic hard times.

* We've caught a few Junkers running Artifacts and Cardamine across Hamburg. It's unusual to see them outside of Berlin. Seems like it started when they built that base up in Sigma-13.

* Hamburg is an important junction in the criminal network. We believe there may be Jump Holes into Berlin, Frankfurt, and Bering, but we are not certain. The Bounty Hunters know where they are, but will not tell us. Company secret, they say.

* It took some time to safeguard the populace of this planet from the risks of fire. This much Oxygen makes the air flammable, but we learned to deal with it. Almost everything here is made from plastics, ships land and take off at the poles where the cold reduces the Oxygen amount and combustion engines aren't used, everything is battery powered.

* Synth Foods' cellulose plant was bred to survive in less than perfect growing conditions. That is what I don't understand. Why did Synth Foods wish to take Stuttgart? They changed a garden planet capable of growing the most exotic and delicate flora into a factory for their tasteless weed.

* Several days ago, the Belknap was traversing the Trade Lane from Stuttgart to the Berlin Gate when it was hijacked by LWB pirates. They flew the ship into the Ostnebel, where it is likely stationed for use as a temporary food supply.

* The Oxygen content is very high on this planet. A man can work twice as hard without tiring when he has that much more Oxygen to breathe. And that euphoria you are feeling...also caused by the Oxygen concentration, the human body loves Oxygen.

* Even now, the finest foods found in all of Sirius are grown or raised here. My family was able to hold onto their farm, they weren't over extended like many others when the subsidies came to a screeching halt. But now Synth Foods is dumping Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere, and adding rough Fertilizers to the soil. These changes are making it difficult to cultivate the more delicate crops.

* In the midst of the Eighty Years War the Rheinland government bankrupted itself fighting the GMG. With no other avenue left, they indebted themselves to Liberty, that was the beginning of the end for Stuttgart. At the war's finish, the debts needed to be settled.

* Once Synth Foods moved into Stuttgart they destroyed a way of life that had been going on for centuries. Mighty growing dynasties were torn apart overnight. Only the strongest families were able to keep their plantations, the rest were thrown free of the land by their own government.

* The WVS was the Stuttgart growing association that all farmers paid their dues to. The dues paid for lobbying in New Berlin and many other things that kept life good here. The WVS was a powerful voice in the old empire's parliament. Now the WVS is an entity controlled by Synth Foods.

* My ancestors moved here centuries ago and began growing roses. Stuttgart is where people moved when they had made their fortunes and wished to retire. Originally, my family were freelancers who made their money running Luxury Goods. We lost everything when the subsidies came to a halt.

* Several days ago, the Belknap was traversing the Trade Lane from Stuttgart to the Berlin Gate when it was hijacked by LWB pirates. They flew the ship into the Ostnebel, where it is likely stationed for use as a temporary food supply.

* The LWB has made a foolish mistake by attacking the tourist transports to this base. Orbital must get their food from somewhere, it might as well be Stuttgart. To attack innocent vacationers is going too far. They will be made to pay...later.

* Yes, Orbital knows how to keep its resorts well-protected; they offer discounts to higher-ranking members of the Rheinland Police. Police presence is stretched to the maximum in Rheinland, yet there are two bases within Stuttgart -- a system that houses two Liberty corporations as its primary residents.

* The Nurnberg was making a gun run from here to Omega-11 when it was attacked by a Federal Police patrol while crossing the open area in the center of the system. The ship was pursued into the Westnebel, where it lost contact. Because it never arrived in Freital, the police must have destroyed it.

* I am furious that the criminals we fight are better equipped than our finest. The Hessians have better ships and better weapons. We have better pilots, but we are running out of them. More of us die each day, and for what?

* We intercepted a Red Hessian supply shipment crossing the system between the Ostnebel and Westnebel. It was quite a boost in morale around here; normally things are rather glum, but we were able to salvage all manner of goods. Of course, we don't turn in everything we find, they barely pay me enough to feed my children.

* There is a pilot here who wishes to leave our ranks. He has tried to keep it secret but I found out. He wants to become a Bounty Hunter and leave Rheinland. I'm sure it is because he is afraid to fight Red Hessians -- he has trouble killing them.

* Several days ago, the Belknap was traversing the Trade Lane from Stuttgart to the Berlin Gate when it was hijacked by LWB pirates. They flew the ship into the Ostnebel, where it is likely stationed for use as a temporary food supply.

* My brother is a police pilot in Frankfurt. He says that conditions are worse there. Of course, that is the system that got ravaged by the GMG, but we all lost in "the Eighty." I wish I had been alive to fight in it.

* My family, the Steiners, have grown thin in number. We were once a large group of men and women known as excellent pilots and daring fighters. Now there is just my brother and me left alive.

* I have been giving thought to becoming a Bounty Hunter. That way I would be better equipped and much better paid. I see them collecting rewards on every vermin they kill. Perhaps I could go to Liberty and kill Rogues.

* One of the other policemen at this station, Steiner, has two brothers, though he will only mention one. The third is a Red Hessian. One day, perhaps the two brothers will face each other out there. I don't know who will win. Steiner is the best pilot here, but his brother...I hear he is an incredible pilot, a soldier in the Corsair Wars.

* Patrol 421 was doing a routine sweep of the Westnebel when it abruptly ceased communications with Ulm Control. Red Hessians are suspected as the culprits, but no one is sure. The Federal Police have been unable to locate any debris so far.

* We are the guardians to the gates that lead into the Border Worlds. We patrol our side, but dare not go into Omega 7. It is grounds for immediate termination. No lives or ships can be spared defending space that Rheinland cannot even lay claim to.

* The Nurnberg was making a gun run from here to Omega-11 when it was attacked by a Federal Police patrol while crossing the open area in the center of the system. The ship was pursued into the Westnebel, where it lost contact. Because it never arrived in Freital, the police must have destroyed it.

* Red Hessians attack this system from the southern end near the Jump Gate to New Berlin. That is not our problem, we are here to stop GMG incursions into Rheinland space. Only there hasn't been a GMG incursion in months.

* Police presence here is the absolute minimum required to keep this system from degenerating into anarchy. The Bundschuh, a terrorist organization, can be seen walking the corridors of corporate bases here in the open. The people of Frankfurt don't care about who is who, only that they have money to spend.

* The Taunus Field is where you are going to find the Bundschuh -- and lots of them. A lot of the people in this system agree with the reasons they are fighting, so they get plenty of popular support. Of course, that makes our jobs harder.

* I'm thinking of quitting the police. We have the oldest ships and equipment in Sirius. Every time I strap into my patrol craft, I wonder whether or not life support is going to function or my engines will give out. This is not what I should be worrying about.

* I will probably die defending the pathetic idiots who still make this system their home. I don't know why I risk my neck each day bringing in Unioners and Bundschuh when the people don't care if they have criminals walking amongst them. Frankfurt should be left to the criminals and sealed up forever.

* Unioners make their way into the system because Republican Shipping still does business in Frankfurt. They are the ones who supply this base with its basics. One shipment the Unioners don't harass is the police supply shipment. If they did, there would be little we could do to stop them.

* I came to Frankfurt because I wanted to go to a place where I could make a difference; a piece of space where people needed support. The only thing I found here is a haunted chunk of Rheinland that died at the end of the Eighty-Years War. I realized that nobody can make a difference. What is, is simply the truth -- the rest is illusion.

* Kruger employees were systematically pulled here from the Dresden system when the diamond field there was drying up. There are still a decent number of diamonds left there but nothing that wouldn't be mined out in a few years. Combine that with the rampant pirate attacks and it simply wasn't worth the effort anymore.

*NOTE: Page generated on the 28/10/2023 at 17:59:49 UTC*