Cerberus Station
CERBERUS STATION is a new addition to postings in the HORIZON SEEKERS. Positioned on the edge of COALITION friendly space, this is the perfect place for a posting for any recruits who want ADVENTURE, value HARD WORK, and are skilled at IMPROVISATION. If YOU study and train hard, maybe YOU can pick up a posting at this important STATION!Cerberus Station is a retrofitted T-Class station originally built by the Sanadasin military. It is currently being jointly held by the Coalition and the Provisonal Government in an attempt to keep the sector stable. After being handed over it was retrofitted to Horizon standard and has undergone numerous, nearly continuous refits and revisions over the years. It was named by the Coalition due to its unique tri-ringed design and the dedicated function of T-Class stations as something akin to a fort, smaller than a full base and easily defendable, there to guard and keep an eye on an area - in this case, a planet under their control.
Demographics
Finding itself at an important trading intersection between Sectors, Cerberus Station hosts a diverse number of species and cultures. However, the vast majority are Urlta and those belonging to the Coalition, and a good number of those outside of these demographics on the station at any one time are not long-term residents.
Most people on the Station are workers, traders, or Seekers and militia - the few of higher class that can be found onboard are not permanent residents, but visitors for diplomacy or for the novelty of it. A significant portion of the labour onboard goes into just keeping the station running and the people within safe and fed.
Government
The station, according to the treaties struck, falls under Coalition control - but the station itself is considered Provisional Government property, and their law trumps the Coalition's if required. In reality, this mostly only happens when dealing with Urlta or Sanadasin, with the Provisional Government too busy and distracted to pay much attention otherwise unless the station is seriously endangered. With the increasing fragility of the Provisional Government as the disagreements between internal factions grow, it seems likely that in the near future the station will slip into full Coalition control.
Being under Coalition control means the usual governance - free food, housing, and clothes supplied to Coalition citizens and workers, Coalition subsidised food, housing, and clothes for non-Coalition residents at varying rates, and an overall peaceful approach to any issues. Taxation and rent (once again, only for non-Coalition residents) are currently set low to encourage non-Coalition citizens to settle and for the station to continue to grow.
Decisions are required to be shared between Horizon and the Militia, but after a teething period, there is now exceptional teamwork between the two factions, with an understanding of what sort of problems and bureaucracy is better handled by which.
Encrypted Transmission Intercepted. Decode?
With the station falling under Urlta command but them having no living Overseer, and the most Coalition species onboard being human, it means that it is human land by Overseer law. Considering the precarious nature of the station and the turmoil and distress many people onboard were sure to be dealing with or would need to deal with for a time, Stella Niga-Dita established herself on the station to keep an eye and rapidly became embroiled with the upper command and later into the overall politics of the station.
Defences
Being both an ex-Sanadasin watch station and now under Seeker and Militia control, the station is equipped with numerous defences. Outside, there are numerous far-range weapons stationed at equidistant points along both the outer rings and middle rings, including a few phaser cannons that the Sanadasin did not manage to destroy before leaving, some Horizon-standard laser ports designed for draining shields, and a number of the kinetic based launchers preferred by Terrans, allowing for an effective defence against a variety of assaulters.
The station also has a number of defensive space vehicles to be used by the Seekers and Militia in case they or the planet comes under attack. For security reasons the exact specifications and numbers will not be shared in a public forum, but they are fast and manoeuvrable, only requiring two people minimum to be manned, though three is preferable for combat scenarios, and all are armed and shielded.
Encrypted Transmission Intercepted. Decode?
Despite it being meant to be impossible to access the ops centre if not authorised, both a hijacking gang, Ratak, and Cora Rasa have been able to manage it. Furthermore, all of the Emporium employees were able to access system tunnels via a pre-existing bolt-hole in the shop location and attempt a rescue of the officers held hostage.
Industry & Trade
Cerberus Station is a major trading station, being one of the only refuelling stations within hundreds of light years that is considered safe and honest and therefore attracting most people making the journey between Sectors. While there used to be places onboard for the processing of ores into refined products, those areas have now been replaced by energy and refueling stations, temporary accommodation, and onboard gardens. There is plenty of space for travellers and traders, and fresh food is sold at only a slight premium, due to being able to get some trade going with the Urlta in recent years.
The Boulevard Market takes up a significant part of the public ring, and has grown in popularity and influence since leaving Sanadasin control. It is a very large draw for tourists and merchants alike, and brings much commerce to the station as a whole. It does have to be carefully watched, however, as criminals have tried to rob it or use it to smuggle things before.
Districts
The three rings are themselves physically split into three sectors in the inner ring, five sectors in the middle ring, and seven sectors in the outer ring. While they seem to have been used by the Sanadasin for different purposes, some of them have now been merged together under the new management. This is further complicated by the fact that every ring has at least three floors to it.
The inner ring is accessible only to Seekers and Militia, and people outside of that can only access it via invitation.
The middle ring is accessible to most people on the station, but is mostly residential areas, the security offices, maintenance and quartemaster offices, and a mess.
The outer ring is the public areas. It houses the docking and cargo bays, the famous Boulevard Market, a transit area for people who aren't staying long, temporary accomodation, and the medical facilities.
Ways of travelling between the rings is limited, presumably for security reasons. There is only one corridor between the inner and middle ring, though it is clamped in place in three other places, and it enters via the operations centre. Similarly, there are only three corridors between the outer and middle ring. Though they haven't been marked on this simple district map for security reasons, they will be easily identifiable on the station.
History
The station was originally built by the Sanadasin empire to keep an eye on the Urlta planet and process the ore that they were mining from it, as well as serving as a prison for the most dangerous of rebels and most important of political prisoners. While it stood uncontested for generations of occupation, it was constantly targeted by attempts at resistance and, towards the end of the occupation, was badly damaged by successful sabotage.
Its secondary function, to watch the edge of the sector, was also completed as it was one of the first points of official contact between the Sanadasin and Coalition. The two factions engaged in a cold war of a sorts for a few years before the Sanadasin were convinced, through some sanctions and some promised benefits, to withdraw from the Urlta world and allow themselves to be governed alone. As part of this agreement, Horizon would take joint control of the station until the sector was deemed stable by the Coalition and the Urlta recovered enough to no longer need the protection and assistance.
Since then, with hard work and clever decisions, the station has grown from barely functional and widely avoided to a beacon of safety and commerce in the surrounding sectors, and new advancements in technology and medicine come in a steady stream from the world-class researchers and workers onboard.
Architecture
Being an ex-Sanadasin station, the physical appearance of Cerberus' interior is strange and often off-putting for Seekers posted there. Despite now being in the modern era, their architecture still resembles the sorts of structures that would have been built in the dense jungles, so a lot of it appears to be holding itself up, curving spires that twine with themselves. However, multiple new Terran-style bulkheads have been added since the station was acquired to bring it to Coalition safety standards. While the clash may be confusing and unwieldy at first, people are quick to adjust.
It is also worth noting that, with Sanadasin environments being what they are, most of their building materials are dark and matte, absorbing light and keeping the interiors dim. Though the lights and heating have now been adjusted to Coalition standard, and new lights have been added slowly but surely over the years, some parts of the station remain rather dark. Despite establishments being taken over by a multitude of species over the years, most of them have simply added things on top of the original architecture instead of trying to change it completely, as that would take a lot of time and work.
Maps
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Cerberus Station District Map
Alternative Name(s)
Cerberus, Kirak-Tan
Type
Orbital, Station
Population
10,500
Location under
Additional Rulers/Owners
Characters in Location
