You may be looking for realism, but game mechanics beat realism. At that point you use your imagination.
In the game big ships should be able to dock on space stations, rp wise that means the ship gets connected to the station no matter how small the base is, it can extend its shields to that ship. I mean if cannon worked for a couple of years so you could see the ships docked on the base though game engine wise it is inside, what issue of you trying to kill it would it solve?
Besides,if future is like this, I am sure if a neutral base allows you to dock, it will protect its reputation by extending its shields to you.
Here is a solution, email Baba Billy gates and ask him to release the source code so we can all make our dreams a reality and cannon dies of exhaustion.