Planet New Berlin is the capitol of Rheinland. Local 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.
infocard[]
- LOCATION: New Berlin system
- OWNER: Rheinland Police
- DIAMETER: 18,207 km.
- MASS: 7.11 x 10e24 kg.
- TERRAIN: Ice
- TEMPERATURE: -73°C to 1°C
- ESCAPE VELOCITY: 14.22 km/sec
Ships Selling[]
- Rheinland 72-ARKM-G3 Banshee Light Fighter
- Rheinland 203-ARM-B5 Humpback Freighter
- Civilian CTE-3000 Falcon Heavy Fighter
Commodities Buying[]
Commodities Selling[]
- Consumer Goods - $150
- Diamonds - $396
- Engine Components - $225
- Food Rations - $30
- H-Fuel - $150
- Light Arms - $280
- Luxury Consumer Goods - $900
- Mining Machinery - $120
- Oxygen - $5
- Water - $15
Guns For Sale[]
Turrets For Sale[]
Missiles For Sale[]
- Slingshot Missile - Class 3
- Windstalker Missile - Class 3
- Sweeper Missile - Class 4
- Catapult Missile - Class 5
- Moonstalker Missile - Class 5
Shields For Sale[]
- Sconce Fr. Shield - Class 3 (Level 2)
- Sconce H.F. Shield - Class 3 (Level 2)
- Sconce L.F. Shield - Class 3 (Level 2)
- Adv. Sconce Fr. Shield - Class 4 (Level 6)
- Adv. Sconce H.F. Shield - Class 4 (Level 6)
- Adv. Sconce L.F. Shield - Class 4 (Level 6)
- Palisade Fr. Shield - Class 5 (Level 10)
- Palisade H.F. Shield - Class 5 (Level 10)
- Palisade L.F. Shield - Class 5 (Level 10)
- Adv. Palisade Fr. Shield - Class 6 (Level 16)
- Adv. Palisade H.F. Shield - Class 6 (Level 16)
- Adv. Palisade L.F. Shield - Class 6 (Level 16)
Torpedo/Cruise Disruptors For Sale[]
Mine Dispensers For Sale[]
- Wardog Mine
- Razor Mine
- Tadpole Mine
- Driller Mine
News[]
CHANCELLOR CONDEMNS BERLIN LIFESTYLE: NEW BERLIN -- The Chancellor sharply criticized the black markets and cabarets that have become commonplace on New Berlin. "We must learn to live wholesome lives even in times of economic uncertainty and civil strife," he stated in the televised speech delivered yesterday. Many interpreted it as an attempt to address the planet's rapidly rising Cardamine problem, blamed by some on the Junkers.
TODAY IS EMPEROR PAUSBECK'S DAY: NEW BERLIN -- This Pausbeck's Day is of special significance because it marks the 500-year anniversary of the disaster that destroyed Muleheim. After spending millions to outfit the Ring with mirrors in the hopes of reflecting the sun's energy onto the dark side of New Berlin, Emperor Pausbeck's contraption fired a beam that was effectively an orbital laser strike on the city of Muleheim. Every year since it has become tradition to do something foolish for Pausbeck's Day, so what are you going to do?
OPINION DIVIDED ON LATEST TAX LAW: NEW BERLIN -- The Rheinland government announced that the old tax codes are being thrown out and rewritten. "We are going to start from scratch," an anonymous government source reported. Many of Rheinland's citizens feel that the taxes imposed upon them are unfair in light of the economic turmoil facing the colony, and the Reichstag agrees. There are still skeptics out there, but who can blame them? "I've heard this all before," one interviewee uttered. This will be the third time in four years that the tax code has been revised.
Rumors[]
"The Federal Police runs a daily patrol up into the Aachenfeld to keep an eye on the Bundshuh 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."
"The old Harz mining area south of New Berlin is favored by the Red Hessians. They prefer to attack the Trade Lane to Branderburg, especially Daumann ships. There's some pretty bad blood between those two."
"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 period."
"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 was once a proud agency. Now we are underpaid and demoralized. Many of the younger officers accept bribes, which was unheard of among the old timers. Guess the hard times have hit us too."
"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."
"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 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."
"The Valkrie (sic, Valkyrie) is the most sought-after Rheinland craft. Fortunately, I know of the only place that one can be purchased: the battleship Westfalen."
"We purchase our basic supplies and H-Fuel hare for the Dortmund Smelter. Berlin needs Basic Alloys for the Consumer Goods factories, which we produce in our Scrap Metal recycling unit in Dortmund."
"Unlike Republican and Daumann ships, ALG ships are not viewed by of Rheinland criminals as a threat. We've tried to take a less antagonistic in dealing with our current and former employees in the hope that we can avoid the poor labor relations that have plagued other Rheinland companies."
"ALG has cleaned up this system dramatically since the early Daumann days. They are still operating smelters using centuries-old technology. one visit to Leipzig will show you the harmful effects of Daumann's unregulated emmisions of pollutans."
"Our headquarters is in the Ring, high above Berlin at the La Grange (sic, should be Lagrange) point between New Berlin and Potsdam. At least up there we never have to worry about the notorious Berlin night, which lasts upwards of a year here. It would be lifeless on this planet without the strong volcanic and geothermal activity."
"At least in New Berlin, one has a reasonable amount of security provided by the Federal Police. Out in Omega systems an Dresden, the Red Hessians are running amok. Their flame is fed by the growing legions of unemployed Rheinland workers."
"Daumann buys supplies for most of our bases in Berlin. Republican does not enter Dresden or Omega-11, so we must support our own operations. I'm bound for leipzig with Water, Pharmaceuticals, and Consumer Goods."
"It's nice to be in a civilized city again. Our ship just came in from Omega-7 with a load of Silver. The Hessians love the thick clouds of the Walker. Once you enter open space in Stuttgart, it gets better. Then there's another difficult stretch passing the Saarfeld in this system -- a notorious area for Hessians pirates."
"My ship just arrived from Bautzen. That's our base in Dresden. The Hessians attacked us twice. The first time it was just before the Berlin Gate. Then another group ambushed us on the south Trade lane in New Berlin. Good thing we had an armored transport."
"Kruger has an experimental H-Fuel center in Mannheim, Frankfurt. I don't know why we bother to continue the operation. Only the government subsidy keeps our price competitive with Kusari and GMG gas from the Crow Nebula."
"The Silver that Kruger mines in Omega-7 ends up in Commodity markets of New Berlin. We then transport it to Kusari and Liberty. It's especially in demand in terraforming operations like the one on California Minor."
"New Berlin produces most of Rheinland's Consumer Goods. My ship makes the runs to the other home planets on a regular basis. Unioners are always waiting for us in Hamburg. in Stuttgart it depends on the Red Hessian activity level."
"Berlin is the Diamond-trading center of Sirius. They're mined-out in Dresden and Omega-11. Daumann and Kruger ship them in here, where the initial sorting and cutting takes place. Then we ship them to the far corners of the universe for use in Luxury Goods of Mining Machinery."
"The LWB has many supporters in New Berlin, so we must spend heavily here to defeat their cause. The Rheinland officials expect ever-larger bribes from us. It's the cost we pay to continue our expansion plans in Stuttgart, unfettered by government interference."
"We are concerned by recent reports that the Red Hessians have become sympathetic to the LWB and are planning new strikes focused on Synth Foods convoys. The LWB are a irritating annoyance. The Hessians are an entirely different matter."
"Synth Foods is proud to be the exclusive supplier of both standard and Luxury Foods to the people of Rheinland. The citizens of New Berlin have grown to love our products, which are considerably cheaper than the food formely produced by the WVS on Stuttgart."
"Let me tell you, Rheinland is tough. It's a cakewalk through Liberty, even the Texas system isn't that bad. Then wham, you hit the Independent Worlds. We have to rearm in Houston and beef up the escorts for the rest of the trip here. At least we don't have the LWB headache that Synth Foods is dealing with."
"My ship's down from Bonn -- that large space station at the western end of this system. We buy our basic supplies here. Kind of a Liberty outpost up there. Synth Foods, Bounty Hunters, IC -- they all call Bonn home."
"Berlin is a new route for Universal. Before the little loan agreement between Liberty and Rheinland, Universal and Synth Foods couldn't land on any planets here. now that's all changed, of course, We do the Luxury Goods-Diamonds circuit between Manhattan and Berlin."
"If you want to make the real money, haul in some Cardamine or Artifacts from Kreuzberg. Just remember, if you get caught by the police, I've never seen you in my life."
"Just picking up supplies for our base in the Ruhrfeld. We need a wide variety of goods for all the people who might just happen by our base. Side Arms and Engine Components are two of the higher-value items that have proved popular with criminally minded."
"If you want to find Diamonds cheaply, go out into Omega-11. That's where the Hessians find them. They bring'em in to Kreuzberg, we sell them to the Berlin Diamond traders. It's all perfectly legitimate."