Gran Vista Orbital - 'rescuing' a space station

[Doria]

Omega 49 System - in orbit of Planet Gran Canaria
March, 822 A.S.

Gran Vista Orbital... The 'new' station, being only about two years in orbit around Planet Gran Canaria, didn't look that new from the cabin of the OSI-Neutron.Starr, while they approached it from below. It was strange to see no ship going in or out of the station, in such a busy airspace as Canaria's orbit.

"Looks kinda abandoned, sir." - said one of the salvage engineers.

"Yes..." - answered David Starr - "at least the docking bays are all operational. And that's because the automatic repair systems kept them running. The old administration isn't heard of in months..."

As he guided the ship on the final approach, David was thinking how it could be very useful for a security division unit to be stationed there. It had twelve docking bays in total, four of which were big ones, that could even receive small transports, or even a gunboat. Perfect for a wing of fighters and bombers: several could be launched simultaneously.

As they docked, all systems operated as expected, no problem there. Despite having a few lights out, and lot of dirt around, the docking bay was good enough to be used safely. They exited the Dromedary freighter, and started to unload their equipment. David decided to go ahead and 'explore' the station a little more. He exited the docking bay and encountered a corridor that would lead to another part of the station. Despite being kinda dark and looking lifeless, it was not that bad.

"Let's just hope the rest of the station is as good as this, our job will be easy then" - thought Starr. Through a window he had a nice view of the planet below. But after a few more meters, he made a turn on that corridor and encountered a big hall. His mounth opened in disbelief, and he allowed a not-so-nice expletive escape his lips.

"$%&@#&% me!! What a mess!!"

David scratched his head while he comtemplated all that chaos, thinking on all the work ahead. He grabbed his comm-link and called the ship.

"Hernandez... Starr here. You wont like what I found. This main hall is a mess! We will need that heavy-duty cleanning crew after all..."

The answer was something incomprehensible, but didn't sound good. It was unbelievable the state the old administrators let the base fall to. After all that effort to rebuild an old station, dismantled long ago when a system was abandoned, how could they let it practicaly rot in space like that? David promised to himself he would make sure the station would be totally repaired and put to a good use, for the benefit of Gran Canaria and Omega 49.

"I better call Kelly, tell him what I've found..."

Starr walked back to his ship. They had a lot of work to do.

---

[Doria]

Omega 49 System - in orbit of Planet Gran Canaria
May, 822 A.S.

After two long months, cleaning and initial repairs on the basic systems were nearly completed. Gran Vista Orbital was ready to resume operations. Well, almost...

While approaching the station on his freighter, Starr saw the repair crew still working on something. He could also see that several other sections of the station had hull plates missing. They probably needed replacement and therefore were removed. With the station's shields not working, that was not very safe. Starr had passed the last couple weeks at the company's Headquarters in Las Palmas, with tons of paperwork to do, so he was out of the loop on how the repairs were going.

"Gran Vista, this is the OSI-Neutron.Starr, to dock."

"Hey, boss! Hernandez here. Good thing you came, I need to talk to you. I have a list of materials we will need now that the basic systems are repaired..."

"Almost repaired, you mean... I saw the space-workers..."

"Well, that was a power conduit that blew up. It's part of the weapons systems. We were testing it this morning and... Well, you better land first, right? You are cleared to Bay Four, boss..."

"Ok, Hernandez... We need this station back on its feet... Anyway, Neutron.Starr cleared to Bay Four, starting docking now."

* * *

David met Hernandez on the Main Deck. It looked like he had just landed on a completely different station, not the same of two months ago.

"Your crew did a fine job here, Señor Hernandez. It looks new!"

"Thanks, boss. Well, some parts are new... But we have done all we can for now, with the supplies comming from Nichols. We have energy in all decks, docking bays are operational, scanners and comms also operational... Basic housing and other facilities are ready, but just for a small crew for now. We will need to expand on that..."

"Yes... I pretend to have some OSI offices here, and also some infra-structure to serve the traffic going in and out the planet. Some travel housing, a few shops and restaurants..."

"Well, boss" - interrupted Hernandez - "that will have to wait. First we need some more 'basic stuff'. I can barely keep the shields running, so they are offline now, and also most of our weapons are not working properly. And we need to update most of our computer systems if we want to ever make this into any sort of useful station..."

"Alright, alright. Give me the list. I will make the arrangements to get the stuff here as soon as possible..."

Hernandez handed the datapad over to Starr:

Stage 1: Docking Bays and Security
List:
- Bio-Neural Processors (4K);
- Energy Field Equipment (2K);
- Hull segments (150);
- Munitions (5K);
- Nano Capacitors (1K);
- Optronics (5K);
- Robotics (3K);
- Solar Panels (500);

Starr walked to the control center, so he could use the comm terminal to request those materials. Since Kelly's retirement, and his nomination to CEO, things have been very confusing. It looked like they were correcting their route, now. Gran Vista's retrofit was the next waypoint.

---

[Doria]

Omega 49 System - Nichols Trade Center, in orbit of Gran Canaria
August, 822 A.S.

Looking from his office at Nichols, Starr could see a small service freighter finishing its docking sequence at Gran Vista Orbital space station, gradually disapearing inside one of the side bays.

From this distance little detail could be seen, but one was able to notice how there were no more "holes" in the station's hull, the navigation lights were now active... Looked like stage one of repairs on the station was almost complete. Starr decided to send a message to Hernandez, asking how things were going.

A couple minutes later, the reply arrived. "Stage One - Docking Bays and Security virtually complete. The list of materials needed for Stage Two follow." The list was bigger this time, but nothing OSI was not accustomed to handle.

Stage 2: Station Administration Infrastructure and Defense Systems
List:
- Bio-Neural Processors (10K);
- Optronics (10K);
- Polymers (3K);
- Quantum Multiplexors (2K);
- Robotics (15K);
- Ship Hull Panels (10K);
- Superconductors (2K);
- Xenobiotic Filters (4K);

It was time to move this thing forward, already. Starr's future plans for the company were tied with Gran Vista's retrofit. Several long months were still ahead, so more important to keep going. After finishing with the last few reports, he would send a message to the company pilots requesting the materials to be delivered. The bonuses helped motivate the pilots, and deliveries for stage one were made in record time, so Starr was expecting to see some whales soon from his office window.

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