International Electric Corporation

The International Electric Corporation (IEC), simply referred to as International Electric, was a corporation from Berlin, Germany. IEC boasted holdings and markets in consumer products, defense industry, heavy industry and durable goods, raw materials, computers, and in media. Ultimately, there was no doubt that manufacturing had been the principal milieu of IEC, but so many different products come out of IEC plants and so many different markets are reached that it is difficult to simply say that it had been a manufacturing conglomerate and leave it at that. IEC's non-manufacturing holdings included a media company, a bank, and various diverse retailing and service subsidiaries, but these assets amount to little when compared to the enormous bulk of the IE manufacturing empire.

History
In 1998, ownership of the largest American electro-industrial conglomerate moved offshore, to the control of Dr. Gerhard Kessler and his Berlin Industrial Investment Group. Kessler was a ruthless German industrialist and investor who had been consolidating manufacturing companies and resources from around the world, forming what would become by 2020 one of the largest mega-corporations in the world. Like Saburo Arasaka, Kessler preyed upon companies that had been weakened by the world and American economic collapses, cannibalizing the resources and holdings of corporations and companies financially ruined in the crash. Among some of his victims, Aerospatiale, General Electric, Fukuoka International Industries, Korea-Pacific Steel, and many other companies which had seemed indestructible before the collapse.

Kessler's methods were evil but his management and selectivity were impeccable. Under his guidance, and that of his close cohorts, the diverse holdings were molded into the Cyberpunk world's largest general manufacturing conglomerate, the International Electric Corporation. After Kessler's death in 2012 his son and heir Erich continued the skilled management of International Electric and its core company, the Berlin Industrial Investment Group. In 2020, IEC is a major contender, competing with the likes of Arasaka, Militech and EBM in the sale of items ranging from household kitchen appliances to toys to military weapons. IEC is, in fact, the second largest military contractor in the world, surpassed only by Militech, which sells more defense related items but which is less diversified. The Kesslers have always shunned alliances with other large corporations, choosing to remain aloof and cast their lot with none.

By the time of the Fourth Corporate War, IEC had become reputed as a prominent and diverse corporation, finding itself as a major target for both Arasaka and Militech, who proceeded to kill the corporation.

Main Products
Many of the corporations in the Cyberpunk world can trace their power and influence to some particular specialty; some product or service at which they are better than all the rest. International Electric is a little different. Its main strength lies not in any specialty, or the monopolization of some service, but in its sheer diversity. IEC boasts holdings and markets in consumer products, defense industry, heavy industry and durable goods, raw materials, computers, and in media. Ultimately, there can be no doubt that manufacturing is the principal milieu of IEC, but so many different products come out of IEC plants and so many different markets are reached that it is difficult to simply say that it is a manufacturing conglomerate and leave it at that. IEC's non-manufacturing holdings include a media company, a bank, and various diverse retailing and service subsidiaries, but these assets amount to little when compared to the enormous bulk of the IE manufacturing empire.

Military Industrial Contracting
International Electric is equal to Arasaka in terms of overall diversity, and second only to Militech in military and defense-related sales and manufacturing. (It is for these reasons that IE is included in this book.) The thing that separates IE from Militech, and keeps them from each other's throats, is their particular specialties. Militech specializes in finished weapons and defense systems: vehicles, aircraft, guns, ordnance and so on. IE specializes in components. Whereas Militech makes the aircraft, IE makes the engines, or perhaps only the turbine fans, the avionics, and the instruments. When Militech makes the vehicle, IE makes the supercharger. When Militech makes a laser sight, IE manufactures the laser element. When Militech makes the bomb, IE manufactures the fuse and the radar systems. When Militech makes a tank, IE makes the turbine engine and armor...and so on.

IE's true strength is in the electronic components that go into weapons. Some of its specialties are radar systems, avionics, audio/video information systems, tactical computers, special materials, propulsion systems and components, military telecommunications and military cybernetics. IE does also manufacture some complete systems however, and in this respect it is in limited competition with Militech. Products include ordnance, artillery, and heavy projectile weapons (especially electric cannon and miniguns).

IE also produces some items which are outside of Militech's capabilities. Militech maintains a shipyard but has only the capability to manufacture small ships and mini submarines. International Electric is one of the world's leading producers of full-sized submarines plus military and civilian ships. IE is also a leader in beam weapon technology. Currently, they are working on practical orbital defense systems using high energy particle beams and x-ray lasers. This work is kept extremely secret for reasons which will be detailed later. IE is also working on more practical and efficient versions of the man-portable laser weapon. Militech does research work on beam weapons but so far it lags behind IE in development and lacks the specialized manufacturing capability necessary for full scale production of these types of weapons.

IE does not manufacture small arms or complete land vehicles or aircraft (except some for industrial use), limiting itself instead to production of essential components for sale to corporations already established in these areas. One exception is in rockets and launch platforms and space transportation and recovery systems. See the Space Technology subsection below for more information.

Heavy Industry
International Electric is a leader in heavy industry and raw materials. One of the principal products in this area is metals. IE maintains steel and aluminum production facilities around the world and ships millions of dollars worth of raw and finished metal stock everyday. The corporation also maintains facilities for advanced metallurgical and polymer research and is one of the principal innovators in alloy and composite technology. IE ceramics, composites and alloys find their way into buildings, aircraft, satellites, personal armor and onto military vehicles as heavy armor.

Nuclear engineering is another important facet of IBs heavy industry capability. IE manufactures fission reactors for use in energy production for civil and space purposes and for use as power plants in nuclear powered ships and submarines. IE is on the forefront of fusion technology too, and considers a viable fusion reactor to be only a couple of years off. Special IE research facilities work full time on the development of fusion power systems. IE believes that fusion power will allow hundreds of power plants to con- vert away from CHOOH2, freeing millions of acres of land for food production. It could also make deep-space travel a viable possibility, opening up a whole realm of new frontiers. IE has no interest in the philanthropical values of these ventures, rather it is concerned with the commercial and public relations opportunities.

Some of IE's other heavy industry products include CHOOH2 and gasoline engines of the internal combustion and turbine varieties, civilian and military jet and turboprop engines (including the most common engines on the popular V-series Osprey aircraft, replacing the obsolete Allison engines), manufacturing and fabrication equipment such as lathes and laser mills, furnaces, cable products including fiber-optical, metal and ceramic element cables for use in terrestrial and submarine telecommunications and power transfer purposes, oil rigs, mining equipment and building and roadwork construction elements and tools such as cranes, graders and surfacing panels.

Consumer Goods
By far the thing that IE is most well known for, and most visible because of, is its huge line of consumer products. IE is truly a giant in the manufacture of consumer products, making and selling items as diverse as light bulbs, toaster ovens, refrigerators and cybernetics. Few and far between are the houses or apartments that don't have a few, if not several, IE items inside them. Even when you discount light bulbs and fluorescent tubes upon which IE has virtual monopoly, almost every urban residence in the world has one product or another made by IE. Some of their more common items are clothes washers and dryers, televisions and stereos, electric razors, personal computers and newsdecks, watches, telephones and fax machines. It takes some imagination to associate the light bulb in your illuminated garden gnome with the two screaming Sidewinder jet engines in the AVX you saw quelling that riot in the combat zone last week, but the connection is there.

IE does not showcase its goods like Militech does, there are far too many for that, but it markets them through standard retail outlets around the world. IE's products have their ups and downs, but by and large they are of good quality, reliable and reasonably well built. In addition, most of them are fairly well warranted. The future is only disposable if you're poor. If you can afford good products, you'll darn well buy them.

In the consumer electronics markets, IE competes with the likes of Braun, Klemperer AG, Sony, Mitsubishi, Whirlpool and so on. Its a big market but its crowded with a lot of big names. IE has a lot of marketing punch, however, and it is a solid competitor. It remains the single largest manufacturer of household and personal electronics in the world.

Cybernetics
IE is one of the largest and most successful manufacturers of cybernetics in the world.This is partly because the Berlin Industrial Investment Group, which assembled IE, also owned part or all of several of the firms which pioneered cybernetics research. IE's share of the cybernetics market has been slipping however, due to stiff competition from new Japanese and Korean developers and other established corporations. IE remains on the cutting edge in the development of civilian and military cyberware, but competition over the next few years promises to be stiff.

IE currently holds the U.S. military cybernetics contract. This has been an irritation to the Militech corporation, but for reasons which will be explained later in this section Militech has been loathe to take any hostile action as a result.

Commercial Shipping and The Submersible Transport
As an offshoot of its ship production facilities, IE maintains a large fleet of huge container cargo ships. It uses these ships for its own purposes, but it also does transcontinental shipping for several other companies and corporations. IE ships do not sail under the IE name, but under that of a subsidiary; Kessler North Atlantic Shipping. Despite the name, the shipping company operates in all oceans worldwide. The ships are registered in Germany however, and hence the North Atlantic designation. Kessler NA runs both surface and submarine tankers and cargo ships.

The nuclear powered submarine transports, developed by IE in conjunction with All Nippon Technologies and the Arasaka Corporation, are a relatively recent innovation in transcontinental shipping. Cargo submarines, which can be as long as 250 meters and run as deep as 750 meters below the surface, allow clients to ship large amounts of cargo across oceans without exposing the transports to attack from the air or from other surface craft. Thus the worries of maritime sabotage, corporate attack or modern day piracy can be largely eliminated, for a cost. The cargo submarines are detectable using sonar and thermal satellite imaging but they are impossible to individually identify by either of these methods. Since there are almost always several running in any given sea at any given time a potential enemy might find it nearly impossible to identify the correct target, even if they had the means to attack. Submarine shipping is expensive (2x normal shipping cost), but it is safe. The subs require only standard docking facilities, although, due to their deep drought, some harbors need to be dredged out to receive them.

So far, only IEC, All Nippon Transport (a subsidiary of All Nippon Technologies) and Sato Commercial Shipping (a subsidiary of Arasaka) own and run submersible transports. Many corporations buy shipping space on these craft however, and they have been a profitable venture. Currently,other corporations in Korea, Japan and Germany are producing designs for their own submersible transports, but none have created a serviceable design yet. The current models use an All Nippon Technologies hull design, an IEC nuclear power plant and Arasaka developed anechoic (silencing) technology. Both All Nippon and IEC manufacture the craft; All Nippon in Korea and IEC in Germany. There are a total of thirty-two full sized submersible transports in operation worldwide.

Space Tech
Gerhard Kessler firmly believed that space had only been exploited to fraction of its commercial potential. Now that he is dead, his son Erich continues that philosophy. Consequently, the Kesslers and other directors of the Berlin Industrial Investment Group have devoted a great deal of IE's resources towards the development of an aerospace engineering department. IEs aerospace department has developed several unmanned satellite and cargo boosters, most of which have been sold to the Orbital Air Corporation, NASA or to the European Space Agency. Although the ESA mass driver at Kilimanjaro and Orbital Air spaceplanes account for most commercial low orbit lifting, some payloads must still be lifted by rocket. IE has several classes of single and multi-stage disposable boosters that can be used to carry a variety of payloads into low earth or high geostationary orbits. IE has no launch facilities of its own, so these boosters are produced strictly for sale.

As with military weapons, IE's prime contribution to space vehicles comes not through any complete lifting system manufactured by the corporation but through the components and sub-systems sold to other manufacturers. Almost all other lifting systems in wide operation, including the spaceplane, NASA shuttle Mk II, ESA Hermes and the Kilimanjaro mass driver, use IE manufactured drive, avionics or control components. Key products include the Tornado 2 Hypersonic engines which drive the spaceplane in the critical period between when its standard jet drive cuts out and when the French-made rocket system which propels it in open space cut in. IE also makes the avionics package, including the proprietary computer system which allows the spaceplane to compute trajectories for successful re-entry and navigation without assistance from ground stations. An IE nuclear plant powers the Kilimanjaro mass driver and the original French magnets and magnetic control systems were refitted in 2012 with updated models designed and manufactured by IE.

Other than the rockets, only one group of space-related products is manufactured to completion by IE. These are orbital transfer vehicles. IE maintains a plant in low Earth orbit where it manufactures orbital vehicles using raw materials sent up from Earth via the Kilimanjaro mass driver and IE heavy boosters or from the Moon via the Tycho mass driver. Different types of vehicles manufactured at the IE orbital workstation include unmanned cargo sleds, small pressurized personnel craft and full sized, pressurized shuttle vehicles capable of flights between low orbit and the moon and all points in between. IE and Orbital Air are co-developing a series of second generation craft which will allow travel to the furthest reaches of the solar system. IE is designing the propulsion units and electronics and OA is developing the hull and interior design. The project is being carried out in deep secrecy, and no completion date has been announced.

Finally, IE has a large hand in making accessories for use in space. IE manufactures many of the essential components in the current ESA standard spacesuit, small maneuvering unit and manned maneuvering unit. IE is not responsible for final assembly of these products, but its contributions are essential to the design. Specialties include life support components, power systems, communications and computer packs and the in-helmet heads-up data display system for use by individuals with-out cyberoptic links.

Media
IE owns the Seward Entertainment Corporation, a large media conglomerate which, in turn, owns several broadcasting networks, a movie studio, a large recording label and a braindance label. While the Seward Corp. is not as large as any of the dedicated mediacorps, such as NET 54 or DMS, it is a major force in international media. IE obtained the media corporation as rider in the acquisition of a much larger industrial conglomerate. Recognizing the value of an in-house media group for P.R. access, the IE board decided to retain Seward intact. Seward was also well run, and had shown a profit for several years before the acquisition. Not wanting to meddle in an already successful operation, the IE board allowed the management of Seward to continue largely unmolested. They have, however, made extensive use of Seward's production resources as well as its catalog of artists, music and multi-media entertainment in a shrewdly constructed advertising and public relations campaign. DMS and NET 54, the two major worldwide media conglomerates, would both like to get their hands on the Seward catalog, but both realize the folly of irritating the vast International Electric. IE's relationship with the giant mediacorps has been acrimonious at best, however. Both of them were in the running for Seward before it was acquired by IE. This doesn't stop the media-corps from using a wide variety of IE products, however. Practicality prevails.

Enemies & Allies
IEC is in a rather unique position in that, while it has few allies in the true sense of the word, its relationships with most other large corporations, even the notoriously stand-offish Arasaka, are at least cordial. This is because IE supplies critical components which most other corporations need for the manufacture of at least some of their products. One thing IEC has done in order to protect its market is to ensure that it is the sole source of several important technologies. Other corporations are forced into maintaining a good relationship with IE since it is too large to take over, and if it was outraged by an attack or hostile politics it might choose to embargo key components, thereby causing serious economic damage to the offender.

Another reason why IEC has few open conflicts with other conglomerates is that it competes directly with very few of them. Because of that very tendency to manufacture critical parts for other corporations' products. IEC items usually aren't competing for sales with many Militech, Arasaka or EBM goods. Since these are the only other corporations large enough to cause IEC any serious trouble, there is little friction. What competition that exists between these corporations and IEC is taken with uncommonly good spirits for Cyberpunk companies.

Things may change eventually, however. IEC deals with both Arasaka and Militech, and both of these corporations have expressed indignation at having to buy from a company which also does business with its main competitor. If that long awaited fourth corporate war between Arasaka and Militech does erupt it is anyone's guess as to whether IEC will get caught in the middle and trampled underfoot, or whether it will ride the tide and emerge the most powerful of the three conglomerates after the rivals have savaged each other. The IEC board keeps its collective ear to the ground, always gauging the tension between the other two giants. In anticipation of an eventual conflict, IEC has been beefing up its army. Historically, Kessler has kept IE's army fairly small, a number sufficient only for guard and defense duty and limited combat operations. With IEC's generally good relations with the other mega-corps, and Kesslers penchant for using duplicity and black operations rather than open combat, that is all that has been necessary. Recently, the board has been buying more large weapons systems and recruiting more troops. If war erupts, Kessler intends for IEC to be able to defend itself and assure its position in a new order.

The other potential enemy of IEC is the Tycho Colony. The government of the Colony has long had its suspicions of both Arasaka and IEC, but the two corporations have managed to conceal any long range lunar plans. Nevertheless, Kessler suspects the Colony's paranoia, and IEC security is always on guard against espionage by Tycho agents. Although the Tycho colony uses IE products and IE uses raw materials purchased from the Moon, there are indications that tensions between the Tycho government and the IE board are increasing.

Public Relations
World Media Services and IEC's in-house public relations firm have worked together to create an extensive public relations campaign to back up the product advertising. This campaign promotes the image of IEC as a peaceful corporation working for worldwide technological progress. It also paints the picture of the industrious, benevolent corporation who's products form the backbone for the manufacture of other companies' goods. Except for the benevolence part, this second image is not far from the truth. The PR. campaign is used to aid in advertising and lobbying, as well as generally helping put the best spin possible on the corporation.

The PR. campaigns must have some effect because worldwide surveys have shown that the public conception of International Electric is a good deal more positive than it is for some other corporations such as Arasaka and Militech, both of which have reputations as violent warmongerers (not that it hurts their sales much), and EBM, which is considered by the public to be aloof and above the problems of the general populace. Of course there are plenty of people out there who, like the Murchison twins, are a little more aware of the truth: IEC was forged in a legacy of violence and is little different in conduct or attitude than any other corporation. These people are not very likely to be dazzled by IEC's advertising and P.R. campaigns, no matter how slick they are.

Resources & Capital
International Electric is, without question, one of the big boys. Its huge diversity of holdings and subsidiaries have a combined worth and power that is more than adequate to establish IEC as a leader in the corporate world of 2020. Brilliant management and direction by Erich Kessler and the members of the Berlin Industrial Investment Group has kept IEC healthy and growing and ensured its sovereignty and security in the turbulent, violent Cyberpunk world. Competition is fierce, however, and the corporation's directors must be ever vigilant if IEC is to maintain its standing in the years to come. Militech has its eye on that number five slot, and IEC is next at number four. If both Arasaka and Militech were worth more than IEC it could bode ill for the corporation if the two rivals went for each others throats.

Corporate Value
IEC's total value in assets and holdings is 450 billion eurodollars. This puts IEC squarely in the number four slot in the world corporate hierarchy, making it the second most potent Eurocorp on the planet. EBM is the only European corporation worth more. Of the other top five corporations, two are Japanese and one is American. The number five Japanese corporation is in danger of losing its spot to Militech within a year.

IEC's wealth, like that of all other 2020 mega-corporations, is divided amongst a variety of subsidiaries, assets and holdings. Particularly important segments of the corporation include the core Berlin Industrial Investment Group, which holds large shares in many IEC subsidiaries and properties, the IE Corporation (the group namesake), which holds title to most of the corporation's industrial facilities and plants, and the Seward Media Corporation. Most of IEC's real value can be traced to state of the art manufacturing facilities, a huge portfolio of profitable real estate and financial investments and subsidiaries, and IEC Shipping's ultra modern fleet of cargo vessels. IEC also owns a wealth of land rich in valuable raw materials and precious metals and is one of the few companies actively involved in the exploitation of space resources for commercial purposes.

Action Taken
IEC is a public corporation with 511 million shares of stock on the World Market. Although the two core groups are linked, stock shares are applicable to the International Electric Corporation, not to the Berlin Industrial Investment Group. Erich Kessler owns 8% of IEC. Twenty-five other major member individuals and groups affiliated with the Berlin Group account for another 38%. There is another 7% in the hands of individuals loyal to Erich Kessler but not affiliated with the Berlin Group. This combined ownership covers 53% of IEC stock, protecting the management of the corporation.

The remaining 47% of IEC stock trades on the open market. Although it has never intervened in the public trading of IEC stock the Berlin Group monitors all significant transactions. Although some other corporations and individuals own port- folios containing as much as 2 or 3% of IEC stock, there has been no attempt to interfere in the structure or management of the corporation. IEC would use military force to prevent any unapproved individual or company not affiliated with the Berlin Industrial Investment Group from amassing enough stock to sit on the inner circle of the IEC board of Directors. Membership to the Berlin Group is awarded strictly on an invitational basis.

Human Resources
IEC and its major subsidiaries and sub-groups account for over 800,000 employees worldwide. If IEC follows through on its plans to increase its military strength this number may increase to close to 900,000. Currently, 150,000 of these people comprise IEC's white collar work force. 550,000 are laborers, service employees and other blue collar personnel. 50,000 are IEC military and guard forces. The remaining 50,000 are technically specialized personnel such as special ops troops, sailors, pilots and so on.

Material Resources
IEC's vehicular resources lean towards the commercial and corporate and away from the military. This may change somewhat in accordance with IEC's new policy of military enhancement. Current corporate stocks include 200 V-series Osprey type aircraft, 175 AV-4 and AV-6 aerodynes, 100 Bell NOTAR executive helicopters and 30 Roland ESST-5A intercontinental SST jets. IEC's in-house commercial airlift capability is limited. For bulk transport IEC usually leases from commercial aviation companies. IEC shipping does own five C-25 aircraft and five of the new McDonnel C-181 SST transports, but these are always in demand and spread rather thin. IEC also has a trial group of twenty Militech AVX-9A assault aerodynes on order.

For commercial shipping and military sealift IEC Shipping maintains thirteen of the giant submersible transports. Two more are on order for company use. IEC Shipping also owns thirty other full sized tanker and container cargo ships, as well as four cruise ships on lease to Pacific Venture Vacations. Most IEC Shipping vessels are contracted out for use by other corporations. Some sail dedicated IEC cargo routes, transporting raw materials and finished products for the corporation. IEC owns over fifty of the pressurized minisubs manufactured by its maritime construction subsidiary.

Subsidiaries
The organization of IEC is a little unusual. The group under the legal name IEC does not represent the highest level of management. As it stands, the actual International Electric Corporation is the body which owns most of the holdings and resources associated with the corporation. It is also the body which is represented by the corporation's public stock. The group which financially and administratively manages the International Electric Corporation, and which owns the majority share of the corporation and owns outright many of the corporations peripheral assets is the Berlin Industrial Investment Group. The corporations board of directors is composed almost exclusively of members of the Berlin Group. The Berlin Group's industrial assets are linked to those titled under IEC by a typical system of cross-ownership and cross management. Ultimately, the Berlin group is IEC, and vice versa. When the term IEC is used it commonly refers to the entire conglomeration, including the Berlin Group and its holdings.

A few of IEC and the Berlin Group's subsidiaries are IEC America, IEC Asia, IEC Africa, IEC Shipping, IEC Maritime Construction, IEC Raw Materials, IEC Military Technologies, IEC Space Technologies, IEC Power Systems, IEC Consumer Products, IEC Distributing, The Seward Media Corporation, IEC Aerospace Engineering, Darian Construction, Souci Medical Centers, Akagi-NeoDyne Telecommunications, ChibaRock Nightclubs, Cleo's (upscale boutiques), Guillermo International Foods, Molecular Mechanics Inc., and many others.

As a point of interest, the Seward Media Corporation's subsidiaries include Andrew Seward Music, Raindance Music, Seward Braindance, STV Television Networks, Redline Pictures, Erian Productions, Kitahama Music.The Austin-Shimura Modelling Agency, NetStar Graphics, and several others.

Cyberpunk 2020

 * Erich Kessler - Gerhard Kesslers only child, and the current chairman and CEO of IEC.
 * Colin Powers - A corporate involved with IEC.
 * Hans Raeder - A eruosolo and long time associate of Erich Kessler.
 * Roy Murchison - Part of the Murchison Twins.
 * Lea Murchison - Part of the Murchison Twins.
 * Colonel Maxwell Von Bruckner - The Commandment of the IEC regular military forces.

Berlin Headquarters
In the Spandau district, on the outskirts of Berlin, is a group of buildings covering twenty city blocks and overlooking the waterway between Tegler See and Wannsee. This area is known as IEC City and it is the sole property of the International Electric Corporation. The IEC City is the hub of the corporation, housing not only the IEC main office, but also those of its core companies and many of its subsidiaries. Those IE subsidiaries with head offices outside Berlin have regional offices in the IEC City. On the bank of the waterway, rising out of the center of the IEC City, is the building which fulfills the dual role of IEC and Berliner Industries Kapital Gruppe Headquarters.

The IEC Headquarters Building is on the banks of the canal connecting the Wannsee and Telger See lakes, on the northwestern fringe of Berlin. The tower is on the eastern edge of IEC City, but between the City's northern and southern extremities. IEC owns land only on the western bank of the canal. The opposite shore is occupied by a park and residential areas. Several bridges cross the canal north and south of the headquarters building.

Architecture
Since the IEC City contains headquarters and office complexes for many IE subsidiaries, the actual Corporation Headquarters Building doesn't need to be very large. The Headquarters houses offices only for the Berlin Industrial Investment Group, the International Electric Corporation and a coordination and management department which oversees the relationship, trade, management and cross ownership of IEC subsidiaries.

Submarine Chamber
As part of the unique construction of the building, sections of the structure extend into the concrete foundation below both the ground and water levels. The canal has been dredged to a depth of fifty feet for large boats. Thirty feet below the surface of the canal, just to the south of the café cutaway, there is a pair of large, pressure tight doors set into the concrete wall of the foundation. These doors (normally kept open) lead into a large underground pool which is connected to the IEC building. The pool chamber is kept pressurized to two atmospheres to keep the water from flooding it. Cargo and personnel airlocks connect the chamber to the rest of the building. Frogmen and small, pressurized minisubs can be launched into the canal from the chamber without alerting anyone on the surface. A dummy outflow pipe empties a continuous stream of water into the canal over the hatch, covering any bubbles that might be released by operation of the heavy doors or the passage of men and submarines.

In an experiment one minisubs sailed all the way to the North Sea while submerged and rendezvoused with an IEC transport submarine. The minisub was piloted directly into one of the transport's giant holds. The hold was evacuated of water and the crew of the minisub transferred into the crew areas of the transport. They and their cargo were submerged all the way from Berlin to New York City, where the minisub carried out a black operation. Then the entire process was repeated to bring the minisub home. Throughout the round trip mission the team was never once above the surface of the water. For routine transfer operations IEC minisubs and transport subs have mating hatches that allow passage of crew and materials between the vessels without the hazardous and expensive process of flooding and clearing a cargo hold.

Other Buildings
Other buildings in the IEC City include the headquarters of IEC Shipping, IEC Maritime Construction, IEC Space Technologies, IEC Military Technologies, IEC Consumer Products, IEC Power Systems (nuclear and hydroelectric engineering), IEC Raw Materials, IEC Distribution, IEC Military Forces, IEC Special Operations Forces, IEC Security Headquarters/Security Forces School, Research and Development, an office of the Seward Corporation, an IEC Consumer Products department store (public), the German Industrial Bank (Deutschlander Industrie Bank—an IEC subsidiary and core company), and several other less important buildings such as fire stations, barracks, vehicular parks, warehouses and so on. None of the buildings is taller than 30 stories. 30,000 people work daily in the IEC City.

Special Facilities
IEC manufacturing and raw materials facilities span the world. Thousands of plants are connected with IEC or IE subsidiaries. Only a couple of the most major ones will be mentioned here, along with a few of IE's most important non-manufacturing facilities.

Space Facilities
IEC has an extensive space research program which is run by the Berlin based Space Technologies subsidiary. Ongoing re-search includes such subjects as special materials, effects of space and weightlessness on biological systems, space maneuvering and propulsion systems, space construction techniques,and field testing of IEC manufactured space equipment. IEC's space facilities include an orbital research station, a construction station where IEC orbital maneuvering vehicles are assembled, a lunar mineralogical research base and sales station adjunct to the Tycho Colony and a small store and representative department on the Crystal Palace.

The orbital research station is code named SuperLink. It is a ten module frame array in geosynchronous orbit over Europe.Its hundred person crew receives weekly supply/transport shipments from the assembly station via OTV. There is also an emergency evacuation OTV kept on site at all times. Individuals are rotated out of the research station every six months.Every person receives a seven day liberty on the Crystal Palace or the Tycho Station every five weeks. Ten of the one hundred people on board are security troops specially trained in space operations. SuperLink is under the command of its head re-search scientist, Dr. Elena Abramowitz.

Luna
The lunar station is known as Copernicus. It has a staff of fifty people: thirty researchers and twenty sales and equipment experts. It is supplied via the regular commercial runs to and from Tycho. Its security is provided by the Tycho Colony Militia, an arrangement which chafes IEC but which is unavoidable. As a countermeasure, at least ten of the fifty IEC personnel at the station are trained in espionage and special ops. Copernicus is under the command of Dr. Andrus Bradley who is both an experienced metals engineer and a black ops specialist.

OTV Construction Station
This is a giant frame station with over fifty modules, spaceplane and shuttle docking pens and remote workshacks. It is powered by a full sized nuclear reactor. OTVCS manufactures orbital transfer vehicles for sale to other nations and corporations.There are over three hundred and fifty workers and 100 security troops at OTVCS. It is the only IEC space facility under military command. The commander is a Lazarus trained special operations Colonel by the name of Wesley Gage. Gage is also in charge of the Space Operations School for IEC security and military forces. Roughly half of his one hundred men are in some stage of training.

OTVCS is the hub for all IEC space operations. It is sup-plied from Earth twice a week, once for raw materials by mass driver and once for personnel and supplies by OA spaceplane or ESA Shuttle II. There are also weekly OTV flights to SuperLink, Tycho and Crystal Palace. The crew rotation and liberty system is the same as that for SuperLink. There is a fleet of roughly ten company OTVs on site at any given time as well as those under construction for sale.

Regional Offices
IEC holds regional offices in many cities around the world. IEC's regional offices tend to be smaller than those of corps like Arasaka and Militech. Most IEC regional offices are twenty or thirty floors. Many of them are three or four-story buildings in industrial parks. The larger offices tend to be located in cities near major IEC manufacturing or testing facilities, or in the capital cities of nations with which IEC carries out a great deal of business. IEC has major regional offices in Hamburg, London, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Moscow, Algiers, Nairobi, Bombay, Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, Brisbane (Australia), Santiago (Chile), Brasilia, Caracas, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Night City, Chicago, New York City, Washington, D.C., Detroit and Toronto. Smaller offices can be found in other locations as well.