Crystal Palace

The Crystal Palace is a toroidal space station located in the Lagrange point L-1, in a stable position between the Earth and the Moon.

Overview
The Crystal Palace is a five toroidal ring structure built around a large core extending for almost two kilometers through the center of the station. Each ring has a radius of 2.2 kilometers. The three central rings are entirely enclosed, while the two outer rings have two-meter thick leaded-glass windows to permit light to enter.

The torroids are protected from hard radiation by a thick shield of lunar rock. As with most space-borne equipment, all hardware on the Palace is hardened against EMP. The torroids spin at sufficient rotation to provide 0.8 G at the rim, dropping about 0.1 G for every 275 meters of altitude towards the hub.

Inside each inner torus are four levels of living facilities, manufacturing plants, life support systems, and apartment blocks. The two outer torroids support huge open parks; they are not only for recreation, but also provide the bulk of the Palace's oxygen supply. While most of this area is devoted to open space, there are common buildings, restaurants, and housing for high ranking corporate and European Space Agency officials.

While the ESA technically owns the Palace, it is in fact used by all space-capable nations, each of which maintains an embassy on the Palace for its nationals. Living space is leased by the ESA to the highest bidders on a twenty year renewable basis. In turn, the ESA maintains emergency services, general security, and station upkeep. Police services and law enforcement are the exclusive province of Interpol; the intra-European police organization, under an agreement with the ESA, reserves the right of judicial power over criminal offenses.

The Palace was suggested to be the home of the Angels, a specialized martial arms force, and was also home to luxuries like real trees, glamorous residents, and The Black Hole club. It also serves military purposes, such as being the testing ground for the Tsunami Defense Systems Airhammer pistol, as well as being part of the Fourth Corporate War. During the war, beginning in late September of 2022, a killsat artillery strike was aimed at the facility by accident, with three Highriders being killed protecting the station. Later that year, the ESA ordered delta jets on the Crystal Palace to destroy other orbital facilities.

2000 - 2025
In 2000, the European Space Agency begun the construction of the Crystal Palace at a cost of 7 billion eurodollars. Due to the First Corporate War of 2005, the construction was delayed.

In 2009, a USA "terrorist group" tried to take over the space station, but failed. Eventually, the ESA discovered who was behind this attack, uncovering the Defense Intelligence Agency plot, and decided to drop a five-ton rock off the coast of Washington, D.C. as a warning. Finally, in 2011, the Crystal Palace opened its doors, giving the ESA a permanent hold in the High Earth Orbit.

By 2025, the ESA still had control over the Palace.

2070s
By 2077, the Crystal Palace had already become the most famous space station orbiting the Earth, and the most expansive too. Still owned by the European Space Agency, the Palace offered a great variety of services, including apartments for high-ranking ESA officials and corporate CEO's as well as recreational facilities such as casinos, hotels and restaurants. All this made the orbital station gain the the nickname: "The Las Vegas of Space."

Anyone of importance in Earth's orbit, plus the wealthiest corporations, all have leased space in the Crystal Palace.

Database Entry (2077)

 * Everyone's heard of the Crystal Palace, but few have actually stepped foot inside. The majority of Night Citizens mostly just search for it in the sky since in fact it's a gigantic space station catering to the top one percent. It boasts everything from casinos, restaurants, low-gravity pools and luxury apartments to panoramic viewing rooms of Earth and outer space, concert venues, a hotel, a park and of course, conference halls for corporate clients. In other words, a city in the sky, equipped with the newest technology and sponsored by Orbital Air, among other entities. Whoever steps off the shuttle to the Crystal Palace and loses themselves in one of its many attractions can safely declare they've made it to the top.