The Net - Coriolis station
The Net follows Coriolis like a shadow. Its spindly and seem-ingly fragile construction is actually the Zenith’s old skeleton, nowadays supporting commerce rather than an actual ship. From afar, the Net appears as a strange jumble of light and dark shapes against the starlight. A steady stream of spaceships come and goes, and as one comes closer, the enormity of the Net becomes clear. The old “ribs” of the Zenith, metal beams several kilometers long, act as an outer perimeter, but during the 50-odd cycles since the completion of Coriolis, the Net has been rebuilt, expanding, and breaking down in different sections at the same time, which makes the borders of it all far from clear. At the intersection of the beams are hubs of docks, loading ports, and service stations. Heavy freighters bearing the logo of the Consortium rest against the beams while their precious cargo is redistributed onto smaller vessels to be taken down to Kua. Banged up free trader ships glitter like tiny pearls in the dark as the welders mend the damages from their last trip. Stevedores in exos move across the ships and the beams in a never-ending dance.
THE PILOTS OF THE NET
To most people, the Net looks like a wild and unpredictable mess of tons of metal and explosive fuel, a disaster of epic pro-portions just waiting to happen. This is true, and such a disaster would surely have happened already if it weren't for the pilots who work the Net. Pilotage is an invaluable cog in the gears of commerce, and working the Net means working at the very heart of trade. The pilots have their own guild independent from any external interference. Their code calls for them to always act impartially, and their priority is always to make sure everything runs smoothly and effectively. This is how it works in theory at least, but not always in reality, although the guild is very quick to suspend members who take bribes that favor one company’s traffic over others. This stern practice means that you will find plenty of ex-pilots in the shadier bars of the station, drowning their sorrows after losing what is actually one of the best-paid jobs a common worker can get.
BARIS KHAN AND THE SHADOW TRADE
The Net is no place for business, and no money changes hands here. Everything is settled beforehand, and the Net is only a place of logistics and service. Loading and unloading, repairs and modifications – those are the activities of the Net. It is a place of workers, not of merchants in fancy dress or arrogant captains. Hard work and a sense of duty are valued here, not wealth or clan.
This, at least, is the image spread by Baris Khan, head pilot and COO of the Net. Khan is a stern but just leader. He cannot be bought and is absolutely impartial with all the factions in the Horizon. He does have an adventurous side to him however, which he lets out by allowing shady free traders and others who desire anonymity for their business to use the Net as a meeting point. No one can of course stop one captain from sending a courier over to another ship while on the Net, but Khan takes it one step further by offering empty docks as rendezvous points for negotiations, social gatherings and sometimes even duels.
He never charges anyone for these extra services, instead being content as long as he gets to hear the story of how the meeting turned out afterwards. He operates through intermediaries, but this is actually not necessary as all the factions who use the Net also have need of such informal meetings from time to time. After Coriolis, the Net is the most important station in the Kua system. Without its efficiency, commerce in the Horizon would be significantly hampered. All the factions are very aware of this and there is a careful status quo on the Net just like on Coriolis. Even if the pilots’ guild is a powerful force here, they have never had to demonstrate their full potential as all the players who rely on the Net make sure both that their own affairs are in order and that their competitors won’t cause trouble.
HOTEL HANG-SHAWA
The Hang-Shawa hotel is a block of living modules for low income earners on the Net. Via elevators and shuttles, most areas are within easy access of the hotel. The hotel is known for harboring several traveling peddlers who sell proxy tags. The hotel is in terrible condition and is run by slumlords assisted by the Kush mercenary group. The guests pay a small fee to rent a so-called coffin – a small, enclosed unit with a bed that extends from the wall, shelves, and enough space for one or two people, but it is well known that the coffins sometimes house whole families.
KHILARA 4
The Net has many hubs. One of the smaller ones is Khilara 4, an annex for unloading and redistribution of goods from the sector of the Dancer on the Net. The person in charge is Gulzar, a Dabaran, who tries to keep the hub running with slim economic means of doing so. There are two service platforms that rotate around Khilara 4 in eccentric orbits, Ara 1 and Ara 2. Although Gulzar is the official boss, the supervisor Zobotka is really the person the steve-dores and technicians look up to and treat as their leader. Zobotka is a member of the Free League and is a tough negotiator on behalf of the rights of her workers. Khilara 4 has a bad reputation and people say that the workers of the hub add to their meager salaries by dealing in contraband, either for trans-port to other systems or to Kua and Coriolis. Baris Khan has not sanctioned this, and if it is true, there will be consequences.
THE SHUTTLES
From the spaceports of Coriolis, several shuttles per day depart for the Net, the Monolith and the larger districts of the Conglomerate. The Popular Assembly and the Hegemony, who both wish to see blossoming trade between the station and the planet below, subsidize passenger tickets.
Type
District
Location under
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