Gladius Station

Overview

Gladius Station is the first, oldest and largest of the six stations in the defensive ring of the Starburst Sanctum which covers the borders of the No-Fly-Zone which was established years after the Purple Cataclysm.

Every main station of the defensive ring has the same layout, but Gladius Station was attacked, repaired and altered so often over the years that it now has stronger blast shields, enhanced armour against plasma-torpedos, and a lot of abandoned levels.

Task

The primary task of Gladius Station is rather simple: be one of the first stations to be engaged and coordinating the defense coming from the Galactic Center of the Milky Way with one of the other main stations and the smaller defense stations.

Secondary tasks are research of the radiation emitting from the Starburst Sanctum. Be it the reactions to different materials or living beings.

Tertiary tasks are supplying the closer defense stations with material, ammunition, tactical & research data, providing support and rotation of crew members. This also includes various social activities for every race serving on the stations like movie nights, sports, space walks and several festivities for the race-related holidays. Sometimes even music jams, poetry slams or entire concerts from bands from all over the galaxy.

Staffing

The staffing of the stations is as manifold as there are stars. Every race of the Council - including humans after their ascendence to the stars - has to serve on the stations, be it one of the main stations or the smaller defense stations.

Commanders are mostly Lyranians with Chronomancers. That has two very good reasons: the Lyranians has sponsored most of the tech and money; the Chronomancers have a different perception of time and can calculate a bit faster than every computer there is. Even the large Artificial Intelligences of Humanity can't really compete with them, not even John. Their only problem is to decide and that is where the Lyranians come into play.

The heavy lifting is done by Simiiforcs. They are the muscles of the security guards and the workers. Of course there are cranes and other machinery, but sometimes a Simiiforc can do it better. When they are employed as a guard they are commandeered by an Onian, sometimes a Human or a Lyranian who has fallen from grace.

Humans are also guards or marines. When a human marine is stationed on one of the stations, only Simiiforcs try to get into a fight with them. Not even a Lyranian in their hybris is trying to pick a fight with a walking killing machine. Even without weapons Simiiforcs and Humans are dangerous enough. Often one can see friendships forming between those races (not including other relationships, Humans tend to fall in love with nearly everything. I mean... how?!).

Engineers are mostly Igniters and Anthraxians. For smaller areas Nemeians come into play because their feline-humanoid mixed physiology allowes them to squeeze through small cracks or reach enclosed spaces.

Voidwalkers serve on the stations for their collective responsibility and are the ones who oversee the labs, some of them serve as facility manager.

Gorgonites are the ones who research and work up new techniques to harden the shields and armour plates of the different sections. Some humans make fun of that because of their name. Has something to do with a mythology on their homeplanet. A woman who can turn people into stone or something. They resemble the mythological creatures and so they have gotten the name.

Sylphids provide for the life support, for the plants, plant-based food and oxygen supply. They resemble walking plants, but that is just an optical illusion: they are humanoid beings with flesh & blood, even when it looks like tree bark.

Acteans are small, hairy and stumpy creatures with green-ish skin. They love to fix things and have no problems with being on a deep space station for years or decades. They are technicians by heart, can even fix things before they can walk sometimes and love to chit-chat about tech stuff. Some of them indulge into trading as well.

Naiads are humanoid fish-people, as a human would say. They are a nautical race and live in underwater cities and in the water surrounding their cities. Because of this they have a natural affinity for water (duh!), can taste the smallest change in current, quality and pollution. They assists the Sylphids in the life-support systems for the filters, the pipes and everything else including water.

For every race the station provides optimal living quarters. Except for humans, they... uhm... most of the races do not know how or why, but some of them tend to sleep in hammocks because it is easy. But if a human occupies a crew quarter, their entire life fits in a box. A large box, but still a box. There is fresh water, sometimes a large bathtub (for the Naiads) or more sunlight lamps for the Sylphids, a bed designed for the needs of the race and a every door is large enough to fit a Simiiforc through.

Gladius is old. It is fun to work here. But she is old. So old you can hear her talking. The humming of engines, the creak of bolts and seams, the groaning of the metal. Gladius is alive, more than we realise.

— An old Voidwalker

She good. She big. Purrs like ol' gramma when curling up.

— Namaian technician

Tech-Stuff

Energy Supply

Like all other main stations Gladius is powered by four main Anthraxian fusion reactors. Supplement power is generated by sixteen solar-powered generators which collect the distant lights of the stars and store it in they energy banks for the case one or more of the main reactors are going offline, be it because of an attack or for maintenance.

Research

As mentioned above the main stations are (secondary) tasked with the research of the radiation which still emits from the inside of the Sanctum. Because of the source the radiation is sometimes named Purple, which is not the official scientific classification of course.

Smaller labs in the whole science cluster of the huge station research weapons, collect debris from outside and analyse the incoming data, be it from battles or from inside the Sanctum. Some other try with small-scale shield-tec experiments. Others are for free-style research when it is not dangerous to the station or the crew.

Life Support

There are five (main) areas in the life-support systems of every station: water, oxygen, food, temperature and waste management.

Acteans happily tend to the waste management. Not because they like filth or are "dirty", they are using the chance to find stuff they can sell, repair or re-use with a different purpose. And they are really good with recycling, so they even tend to the recycling stations which are connected to the food and water supply.

Sylphids provide their knowledge and skills to grow crops, plants for oxygens, vegetables and other non-meat-based stuff including herbs and seasoning for the meat-alternatives.

Naiads are doing the same for the water and the systems running it. Be it filters, pipes or just broken seals. There are a few large water tanks inside every station, but most of it runs actively through the pipes, cooling stuff, getting infused with oxygen, running through drains, showers, toilets, getting recycled... you see, Naiads are not only really pretty, but they mean serious business.

Igniter and Namaians have the temperature management under their care. Igniters can feel temperature around them and despite their name they can also feel cold- and dampness. Namaians with their feline-like sensory can feel vibrations, hear even the smallest noises and with their nose they can smell the slightest change in the air.

The systems are distributed over four quadrants: up, down, left and right. Well, if you can speak of the terms in this way, they are officially declared Quadrant One to Four. Nearly every commander of a station has named the quadrants, only a few purists let them be Quadrant One to Four. Every Quadrant has its own support systems, including kitchens and eating halls. The one officer's mess being the only exception because there is only one for the entire station.

Well, if you live on a station at the Sanctum you must be good at ignoring noises which are not of the station. Seriously, sometimes I have the feeling there is not only the Purple radiating from the Sanctum. I swear, I could hear voices. By my old Pa and the cojones of the Undying One himself, in the Sanctum lives something. Or the Sanctum is alive. Something is lurking in there.

— Human Marine at his first day in pension

A few hundred beings on the main stations and Gladius... sigh
The old levels are haunted, I tell you. Something is living down there. Movements, noises, sudden repairs... never going unarmed in there.

— Actean technician

Defensive Capabilities

Gladius Station and the other main stations have twelve (12) Mark VI shield generators. Every generator can technically cover half of the station which is mostly enough to deflect or block incoming laser- and plasmashots for a few minutes. But with twelve of those highly advanced shield generators they can withstand heavy incoming fire for a good amount of time.

If one divide the circular station into sections two generators cover the "top", two the "bottom", four the "front" and four the "back". For the case that the enemy - whoever it might be in this particular moment - breaks one or more of the shields the generators are protected by at least two meters thick hardened metal. Every armour plate is coated with an alloy which scatters the incoming heat of the lasers and reflects the mostly liquid plasma.

For incoming missiles and torpedos the stations have a few flare-launchers and something which is called "Scatter Projectiles". Those things are shot out of small cannons to distribute a small field of debris where missiles and torpedos fly into and explode or at least lose some of their impact.

Against fighters, small incoming ships, boarding parties, debris and said missiles & torpedos the main stations offers fourty (40) PDCs, point-defense-cannons. Well, every cannon is basically a platform with four barrels which provide a staggered and steady stream of laser-shots, so effectively onehundredsixty (160) barrels which can shoot at you.

Offensive Capabilities

In terms of "Attack is the best defense" the main stations offer twelve (12) long-range laser-cannons, distributed evenly on top, on the bottom and in the middle of the station (4/4/4), covering almost every attack angle.

The same goes for the eight (8) plasma-torpedo launcher, they are distributed four on top and four at the bottom of the station. The twenty (20) close-range plasma-missile launcher are all distributed on both axis of the station, five on every "belt", be it horizontal or vertical.

Tales of Gladius

First time me saw Gladius bringing death it was like the Eternal Hunting Ground. Me was furious I couldn't be out, but fireworks made me happy.

— Smiling Simiiforc guard

I can't endure the loneliness out here long. I want to swim, to talk with my clan, hear and feel the ocean. A thub is not enough. Lucky me has only so much time left.

— A nervous Naiad

"I hope you learned your lesson."
"Yes, Sir."
"Good. The remaining two years shall teach you humility."
"But Sir... I thought..."
"Yes, I know. But you don't think, do you?"
"I guess not..."
"Correct. Now go and clean something."

— Lyranian Commandant to a fallen Lyranian

"You got stung?"
"Yeah, was kinda annoying."
"Like what?"
"It stung me, injected poison and died. It was a wasp after all."
"Metal. Me an Utru stung. Me sleeping two weeks."
"Two galactic weeks?"
"U-hu."
"Neat. I could go with a few days of sleep as well."

— Human and Simiiforc conversation of their Death Worlds aka homeplants

Gladius Station by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

Gladius Station Data

-4 fusion reactors
-16 solar-powered backup generators
-12 Mark VI shield generators
-40 independent working laser-based point-defense-cannons
-12 long-range laser-cannons
-8 plasma-torpedo launcher
-20 close-range plasma-missile launcher
-8 docking ports for all kind of ships

Type

Starbase