Founded over 300 years ago in the system of Hamburg, right after to the Eighty Years War, the Unioner movement was created from dispossessed Alster shipyard workers, formed in 521 A.S due to a catastrophic accident aboard Republicans biggest shipyard that cost the lives of several hundred shipyard workers. Imperial Shipping, Republican Shipping's direct ancestor and the shipyard's owner, concerned itself little with such trifling details as worker health and safety, rationalizing that the occasional life pension or widow's compensation was nothing compared to the sum to be made from constant productivity.
The Unioner movement was formed to improve working conditions for the citizens of Hamburg aboard Alster and, later on the neighboring Altona station. The skills required to work aboard either station were highly specialized and quite esoteric at the time, and so the Union rapidly established dominance over its employers - benefits and bonuses poured in, and Hamburg's industry began to change.
The Union, over the centuries, attained so many government subsidies and concessions from Imperial Shipping that labor and production aboard the Hamburg shipyard and aboard Altona was no longer viable ' They simply could no longer compete with the Kusari shipbuilding giants of Samura and Kishiro, and plummeted into financial deficits. Though the Eighty Years War's onset led to a dramatic increase in spacecraft demand, its conclusion, not to mention the Rheinwehr's shattering defeat at the Battle of the Yanagi Cloud, meant that Imperial (rechristened Republican after the Rheinland government was vanquished) was paying for a colossal worker horde without producing anything at marketable prices.
Republican's decision
So it came that Republican no longer needed its workers - their highly specialized skills had initially led to the Alster Union's great strength - and so it callously disposed of them. Thousands of laborers were cast out to starve to death, any and all concessions to employees were immediately repealed, and the dockworkers of Hamburg were sold into slavery by the corporation they'd once had by the throat, in similar, if not worse, conditions as two hundred years previously.
A more radically-minded contingent of the unemployed shipyard workers - at the turn of the century, Hamburg's unemployment rate had topped 30%, a ridiculous figure even by the standards of the corrupted Rheinland government - resolved that, if the soulless Republican suits had left them to die, and if the impotent Rheinland cabinet would let the corporation do as it pleased, they'd simply alter their fates themselves. Thus the Unioners as we know them at this time were created.
Though initially a comparatively small organization, similar to the beginnings of the LWB thirty years later, their numbers skyrocketed after the Popular Revolt of 703 A.S., during which Rheinland's industrial heart made its last beat after years of weakening. Many more downtrodden throughout Rheinland realized their government's incompetence and incapability and their employers' Orwellian dictatorships - all for the sake of profit - and cast off their shackles to fight for independence. Yet again, ex-Republican employees, particularly Alster and Altona shipyard workers, formed the majority of the new Unioner recruits. Many Daumann and Kruger miners, for example, left to the Hessians, while students at the New Berlin university created the Bundschuh. Every industrial or economic sector in Rheinland had its revolters - the ranks of the populists swelled, and the Unioners grew mightier.
Idealistic Terrorists
When the first cell of Unioners rebelled and left Hamburg with a fiery farewell (in the form of a series of gravometric mines planted in the Alster docking bays), they needed a semi-permanent base of operations to launch their (remarkably brutal) reprisals against Republican and others. Freeport 2 in Bering tempted them (Freeport 2 had originally been a Republican supply depot, a fact many Unioners found amusing), and there they went. After twenty years of residence there, Freeport 2's Zoner owners had had enough - they issued the Unioners an ultimatum to get off their base. The Unioners, having grown comfortable in Bering, decided to leave the base, but not the system - they carved their own base, Pacifica, out of a sizeable asteroid in the western Tanner Field. Pacifica counts as one of Sirius' most well-hidden pirate bases; though located in a comparatively small system, it's out-of-the-way enough to remain completely invisible at long range, and is concealed among hundreds and hundreds of similar asteroids, as the Tanner Field covers all of Bering. The system's moody lighting, due to its yellow sun, lends Pacifica a tranquil, untroubled setting - quite at odds with its murderous inhabitants.
The Unioners are vicious and unprincipled, and they launch terrorist strikes of unparalleled brutality, even by Rheinland pirates' generous standards, against targets of opportunity throughout Rheinland - their arch-nemesis Republican Shipping and their points of origin, Alster Shipyard and Altona Station in Hamburg, are their favorite victims.
The Unioners finance themselves, outside of the aggressive piracy and theft they're notorious for, by dominating Liberty-Rheinland Diamond smuggling - they run said Diamonds from Kreuzberg to Dawson, occasionally even further. The Xenos have been trying to encroach on Unioner routes for years and years, without any success to speak of. The Unioners have come into frequent conflict with the Red Hessians over Diamond supremacy throughout the years - their relation has always been a precarious one at best, and Unioner incursions into Dresden to pilfer Diamonds off the books has been met by savage Hessian attack. Though the Unioners remain dominant in the Independent Worlds smuggling trade, they've nearly always been forced off Hessian turf, and the Hessians retain control of Diamond sources outside of Junker bases. Unioner provisions are primarily pilfered off of trade convoys (as always, preferably those of Republican) throughout their zone of influence, although Kreuzberg in New Berlin is a reliable supplier of H-Fuel and Side Arms. The Unioners also put their hereditary ship-building skills to work for them, producing Basic Alloys and maintaining ships.
After the Nomad War
The years that have passed since the Nomad War have marked a time of tribulation and change for the Unioner movement. Though originally idealists and terrorists, most Unioners have degenerated into nothing more than a pirate, hijacking shipments in the Independent Worlds and throughout Rheinland indiscriminately. Membership hadn't been on the rise since the years after the Popular Revolt; Rheinland's government, though still corrupt, had stabilized somewhat and had begun to crack down on its pirate problems. Republican and similar corporations also began to flourish again, with the exception of Kruger Minerals, which was slowly being pushed out by Daumann. Events came to a head after the Nomad War - though this time of confusion presented a golden opportunity for recruitment, chaos and incompetent leadership within the faction, as well as the average Unioner losing sight of the organization's initial goal (however destructively implemented), led to the Unioners failing to take advantage of Rheinland's situation and to its subsequent weakening. The notorious Outcast and Corsair Alliances throughout Sirius also dealt the organization a severe blow - initially betraying all its fellow Rheinland pirate factions, excepting the LWB, who distanced themselves from the conflict, by joining the Corsairs, the Unioners were consistently beaten back by its fellow unlawfuls with hardly any allied intervention. Unhappy with these results, the Unioners abandoned the Corsair Alliance, thus alienating their erstwhile compatriots, and retreated from the war, attempting to maintain a position of distinct neutrality. This diplomatic bungling is also to be attributed, primarily, to lack of solid leadership.
The movement today
Recent events that affected the Unioners aside from these include, most prominently, the Rheinland-Liberty trade embargo. This proved to be a double-edged sword - though trade throughout Bering was throttled, thereby necessitating the faction to move more into Rheinland for successful piracy, so was lawful presence which allowed the Unioners to prove themselves capable of moving Dresden and Omega-11 Diamonds with unparalleled speed and precision, even though the Unioners have been alienating themselves further from the Hessians for various reasons, turning their eyes back towards an Alliance with the Corsairs, which appear to more then happy to find a save harbor within Rheinland. The Unioners in turn expect to be able to make their profits with the transport of Corsair produced Artifacts, should the Diamond trade with the Hessians break in.
The modern Unioner has quite lost sight of his ancestral objective, aside from a desire to wreak havoc upon Rheinland's corporations for personal gain. Piracy, theft and murder have become primary goals, although the workers' rights problem remains in the consciousness of many faction members. Unioners are to be spotted much more frequently throughout Rheinland, the outskirts of Liberty and even the Omega and Sigma Systems than they were two decades ago, attempting to increase their influence in these areas and they also have begun to intercept various life-giving House trade routes , causing them to be more of a serious problem for the Rheinland government and law enforcement units. Rumors indicate that Rheinlands leading figures actively trying to act against the movements increased activity have rather short lifes.
Goals
-Increase the Unioners influence in Rheinland and the bordering systems
-Increase the profits made by smuggling and piracy operations
-Make Rheinland and especially Republican Shipping pay for their wrongdoings
Diplomacy
Allied Liberty Rogues
Hellfire Legion Friendly Junkers
Landwirtrechtbewegung
Neutral
Red Hessians
Corsairs
Zoners
Mollys Unfriendly Everyone not mentioned elsewhere Hostile/At war Rheinland
Liberty
Xenos
Bounty Hunters
Strange Blue Aliens and other freaks of nature
Equipment
It is long due that Unioners have been using vessels designed by different corporate organizations. However, in the end of 816 the Unioners announced that they had produced a prototype. Called 'Arbeiter' the ship went into production just short after that announcement. It soon became a common sight within the Unioners ranks.
Two Years later another prototype appeared, the Solidaritat Bomber, built on the studies and mistakes learned while constructing the Arbeiter, this new ship soon entered production. Lonely trade vessels, unguarded convoys alike and even some Military members fear that they might encounter these ships when passing through Rheinland.
Except for these two vessels the Unioners also started to construct their own Capital vessels on the now finished Speyer Shipyard, even though previously a Hessian design the Hel Cruiser soon found its use within the Unioners operations.
The Unioner movement also utilizes different types of allied and civilian vessels and weaponry, mostly defect gear that they managed to restore to a functional vessel, in order to bypass the full costs and resources a new ship would cost.
Zone of Influence:
The Unioners are a common sight within Texas, Rheinland and the surrounding independent worlds. Recent MND studies also showed increased activity in the Omega and Sigma systems.
Affiliation, ID, Tag and Naming
Affiliation: Unioners
ID: Unioner ID
Tag: UN| Naming Convention:
Fighters: UN|Firstname.Lastname or UN|Callsign
Gunboat: UN|GB-GermanCity
Cruiser: UN|C-GermanCity
Transports:UN|T-
Ranks
Rekrut
Someone who just recently joined the Unioners ranks, will be watched closely and any wrongdoings might lead to his death. Ships allowed: Arbeiter , Solidariat
Arbeiter
Someone who survived long enough to be called a full member of the Unioner movement Ships allowed:Arbeiter , Solidariat, Eagle , Falcon , Uruz
Veteran arbeiter
A Veteran who allready won many fights against the enemys of the Union Ships allowed:Arbeiter , Solidariat, Eagle , Falcon , Uruz , CTE-12400 "Condor" Civilian Gunboat
Kommandant
Highest rank outside of the Leadership. He has great experience in leading and fighting. A true master of his profession. Ships allowed:Arbeiter , Solidariat, Eagle , Falcon , Uruz , CTE-12400 "Condor" Civilian Gunboat, RH-GM461 "Hel" Cruiser
Prokurator
A part of the leadership, supplying the Kurator with all informations needed to do his job, their word usually is law within the Unioners ranks (2iC). Ships allowed: Every available ship
Kurator
Short and simple: The boss Ships allowed:Every available ship
Roster:
Known bases:
Duisburg Base
Duisburg was built in 805 A.S., being the first installation of the Unioners in the desolate Duesseldorf system. It was built as a remote hideout, where the Unioners could plan their actions in safety, and where Unioners who had drawn too much attention could hide for a while. Since then, the station has grown steadily but is still used in the same way. It operates as both a home and a minor headquarters for the Unioners.
Speyer Base, Duesseldorf,
[color=#B22222]Speyer is the main shipbuilding and maintenance facility of the Unioners. Constructed between 813 and 816 A.S., this base is populated with a fairly large number of Unioners who once were shipyard workers from Alster. From 814 to 816 A.S., the station has been a hive of activity as the Unioners built what is now their first large drydock. With the drydock complete, the Unioners are capable of repairing some larger vessels and are also experimenting with developing their own cruiser class vessel to rival the Hessian's creation, but so far that project hasn't produced any result. Speyer is mainly used to repair and refit captured transport ships, usually ex-Republican, or strip them down for spare parts.
Krefeld Base
Krefeld is a small Unioner controlled base within one of the many asteroid fields in the Koeln system. The base serves mainly as a guard point for the nearby Duesseldorf jump hole, with the majority of its traffic consisting of diamond smugglers and supply ships. Placed well on the outskirts of the system, Krefeld is regarded as a safe haven from lawful activity, and is an important place of contact between Unioners and Red Hessians in Rheinland, right after Kreuzberg Depot in New Berlin.
Leipheim Base
Secretly constructed in 762 A.S., Leipheim Base lies in the south eastern reaches of the Alps Cloud. Carved out of a large asteroid within the nebula, the base is home to a large number of Unioners, many of whom prefer the seclusion that Leipheim offers, compared to the more well known Pacifica Base in Bering.
The base has seen a considerable surge of activity as the Unioners rekindled their ties to the Corsairs. Artifact smuggling out of the Sigma systems often passes by Leipheim, and Corsair raiders have begun to use the base to stage attacks on the lanes. Surprisingly, the Unioners do not seem too concerned with this intrusion on their turf.
Pacifica Base
The history of the Unioners is intimately tied to Alster. The shipyard opened in 412 AS, specializing in commercial transports and heavy lifters. Conditions were appalling in the yards, worker safety being merely a tertiary concern of the owners. Coupled with the excessively long spaceside rotations, the workers' morale gradually deteriorated until a major accident killed several hundred workers in 512 AS.
Three months later, the workers formed the Alster Union. Because of their highly specialized skills, the management had no choice but to capitulate to their demands. During the next century the union gradually strengthened and eventually included the dockworkers on the Altona Station above Hamburg. By the end of the 80-Years War, the union demanded increasingly high wages and progressively fewer annual hours. The system was out of balance. Republican was no longer competitive with Kusari shipbuilders.
With the war over, demand for ships plummeted. The bloated headcount of Alster was now a sore point for Republican Shipping, desperately trying to restore profitablity. Management was now back in the driver's seat after almost 200 years of acceding to union demands. They fired tens of thousands and won major concessions from the remaining workers, who lost centuries of gains in a matter of days.
As unemployment rocketed towards 30 percent in Hamburg, a radicalized version of the union reformed -- more of a revolutionary cell than anything. The presence of Freeport 2 in Bering proved alluring to the nascent Unioner movement of Rheinland during the unsettled times. Following the popular uprising of 702, the station's population exploded. In 720 the Zoners laid down the ultimatum: Take your criminal activities somewhere else. They would sell basic supplies to the rebels, but no more. So the Unioners carved their Pacifica base out of an asteroid in the Tanner Belt.
The Unioners range from Bering to New Berlin. Most of their attacks are focused on the Altona Outpost and the Alster Shipyard in Hamburg, which has alienated them from some of their still employed brethren. The bulk of their Trade Lane raids are directed against Republican ships traversing the Independent Worlds. Their main commodity is Diamonds, which they run from Kreuzberg to Dawson. Unioners are often spotted buying supplies on Freeport 2.
Wedel Mining Facility
Wedel is a Unioner base in Hamburg. Originally a Kruger mining facility, it was abandoned when resources in the Alsterfeld became too scarce to mine in 631 A.S., and lay abandoned for several decades. In the wake of their revolt, the Alster Unioners repopulated the base and partially restored it in 676 A.S., and started launching raids at Altona and Alster from it.
Wedel is a dangerous station. Many sections are still decompressed, and the Unioners seem in no hurry to repair them. The station is used as a waystation for smugglers heading into Liberty with Blood Diamonds and Artifacts. The Unioners skirt a dangerous road in dealing with both the Corsairs and Hessians to obtain these, but they and their Liberty Rogue partners benefit considerably from the trade.
"Though the past is scarred and the future untold"
" Be the boot heavy, the vacuum cold."
"I of the Liga, do not fold" "For suits or saints or beggar's gold. Information-Recruitment-Message Dump-Feedback
"Though the past is scarred and the future untold"
" Be the boot heavy, the vacuum cold."
"I of the Liga, do not fold" "For suits or saints or beggar's gold. Information-Recruitment-Message Dump-Feedback
"Though the past is scarred and the future untold"
" Be the boot heavy, the vacuum cold."
"I of the Liga, do not fold" "For suits or saints or beggar's gold. Information-Recruitment-Message Dump-Feedback
"Though the past is scarred and the future untold"
" Be the boot heavy, the vacuum cold."
"I of the Liga, do not fold" "For suits or saints or beggar's gold. Information-Recruitment-Message Dump-Feedback
(12-18-2014, 06:22 PM)SystemsFailing Wrote: So Hessi are now "unfriendly" ones? Bad for you.
We have no intentions to be hostile/unfriendly with Hessians , we want them at least in neutral terms since we can help each other in Rheiland.
"Though the past is scarred and the future untold"
" Be the boot heavy, the vacuum cold."
"I of the Liga, do not fold" "For suits or saints or beggar's gold. Information-Recruitment-Message Dump-Feedback
Any change of a little hogosha participation on the side, in case you want to send things out of the way? Could be useful to have some extra markets without harming too much other relations.
Do think about it. I'll try to establish some contact to test the waters.