Corfu, Dry-dock A, "meeting" room 1
After several days in transit, the ship and its escort finally reached Corfu. The journey passed without incident: the Corsairs had been eerily quiet in recent weeks, though long-range scans showed a hum of activity around Freeport 9.
They call it a successful Corsair–Zoner venture; the local sensors and patrols saw only warships and snub craft. That place will never again be a forum for trade and peaceful exchange.
Which is why this meeting matters. Daumann alone cannot raise Corfu from a simple outpost and refueling stop to a true Freeport. With the Coalition’s industrial muscle alongside Daumann’s, turning Corfu into the Omicrons’ next trading hub becomes achievable—especially while Phoenix resources are tied up countering Nomads, their sympathizers, and the Corsairs’ imperial ambitions.
After an exhaustive security sweep, the crew received clearance to enter the living decks. With Nomads and infiltrators abroad, one cannot be too cautious. Arrangements began at once for a meeting room with the Coalition delegation. Corfu wasn’t built with diplomacy in mind; a hastily refurbished storeroom would have to serve.
Cayran took a seat, calling up the lists: fortification needs, habitat expansions, biodome modules, hull paneling, docking infrastructure, power redundancy and a new weapons systems. He reviewed each item against projected timetables and supply lines. The guests would arrive in a few hours. There was work to do, and a station to transform.
Coalition carrier whole this time of waiting was drifting in open space being under cloak. Spacecrafts time by time leaving it's hangars went to scout Omicron Theta to notify crew about any incoming corsair threat or any other enemy signatures. Recent battles of Coalition ships and their allies made Theta more calm place. But as always it was, only for a while and probably soon Hispania remnants could gather forces for another, maybe more sneaky, attack. Until that carrier will observe system to prevent any strikes with other Coalition ships.
But it's not always time to strike, but also about take a seat and discuss further plans instead go forward in rush. Offer that made Cayran could make Corfu even stronger to protect Pygar citizens from corsair invasion if they even show up in much more scales. For Biryukov, for sure, it's means about increasing docking places for Coalition ships and expand influence of Coalition in Theta to push back Corsair back in their God-forgotten place, Omicron Gamma.
Shuttle with few Coalition fighters left carrier when they received signal from Cayran about his arrivals. Carrier was on safe distance from Corfu to not being marked by other vessels like Freelancers, other Zoners and etc. After some time shuttle with escort arrived to Corfu. It was met by Zoners who was notified about Coalition ships incoming on meeting and they allowed to dock for shuttle, while escort ships turned around and went into cloak mode awaiting for orders.
From shuttle stepped out firstly Coalition troops which role was to protect Colonel, as standart procedure of security protocol. After them came out Colonel and greeted personal of station that already approached shuttle. "Greetings, comrades. I'm Colonel Vladimir Biryukov, as you was notified I'm arrived on meeting with Jonathan Cayran. You will lead us to him, I presume?" Colonel asked in calm manner, not stern or any too much positive reaction, simple tone with introducing himself to let personell know who is main guest.
Corfu, Dry-dock A, "meeting" room 1
As Cayran reviewed the shipment manifests, the intercom chimed, Colonel Vladimir Biryukov had arrived. A nearby Zoner crewman asked how to proceed. Cayran answered without looking up:
“Standard protocol. No weapons, full scan—Nomads are about, and we take no chances. His men may escort him to the door, but only the Colonel, and anyone he expressly designates, enters the room.”
The screening would take at least half an hour. Jonathan returned to his figures. Elevating Corfu to a true Freeport—fortified, self-sustaining, and open for trade—would cost hundreds of millions, perhaps more. Fortunately, Phoenix holdings were profitable: iridium exports, and now osmium and its associated armaments, kept the ledgers healthy. With projected throughput, the outlay could be amortized within a few months.
Colonel took a couple of men with him, while rest were ordered to protect shuttle. After discussing this with zoner crewmen, two sides decided to allow troops to keep their weapons in protective cases, and colonel and his couple people handed weapons over to zoner crewmen. Procedures proceeded peacefully, but colonel, like all such procedures, was dissatisfied. Afterward, he and his men were escorted to the meeting room, and during this quick walk, officer had already noticed some visible details that could indicate how much work remained to be done to even make this station somewhat equivalent to a freeport.
When they approached meeting room, which looked like a "technical personnel" room but had no sign on the door, zoner crewmen members reminded to colonel who was allowed to enter. He ordered troops to wait for him outside and then proceed inside personally. Coalition officer looked a little bit tired or irritated, due the loss of time, but he greeted Cayran with a coalition salute. "Greetings, Jonathan Cayran. I was looking forward to meeting you personally." Colonel said, slowly approaching the table, intending to shake your hand and sit down.
Corfu, Dry-dock A, "meeting" room 1
Cayran set the datapad aside and rose to shake Colonel Biryukov’s hand.
“Greetings, Colonel. I trust your journey through the edge worlds was uneventful, no small feat these days. And forgive the rough accommodations; the station is at capacity, and we’re making do with what we have.”
He gestured toward a chair.
“Please, have a seat, we have much to discuss. I hope the docking and security procedures weren’t overly long. With Nomad infiltration, one can never be too careful.”
Once they were seated, he tapped the datapad, and a holographic model of Corfu blossomed into view.
“This is Corfu as it stands. As you can see, it lacks many of the structures and amenities a true Freeport provides. Our intent is to transform it. Something on the order of Freeport 9, perhaps even approaching Freeport 11. But it’s a titanic undertaking, and we’ll need every heavy industry partner we can bring to bear.”
He paused, then queued another projection of a new schematics.
“If you’ve no immediate questions, I’ll walk you through the plan and a rough estimate of what it will take.”
Colonel watched on hologram which show scheme of corfu. Detalisation was good enough to understand and compare with other stations like Freeports, which Cayrayn mentioned. "For now no. Show me plan and when see more details for sure questions will be asked." Colonel said, change his look from hologram on Cayran for a short talk moment, before redirect his attention back on scheme.
Corfu, Dry-dock A, "meeting" room 1
Cayran gestured toward the existing structure, the current Corfu Station, so to speak.
“Everything begins here. We already support docking for all ship sizes, though the drydock capacity is limited to smaller capitals. That will let us prioritize the storage expansion first.”
He rotated the hologram, re-configuring the projection.
“To avoid repeating past design failures, the present and future docking arrays will be built as separate substructures. Only two secured corridors will connect them to the main station. A Freeport-9-style boarding scenario becomes vastly more difficult under this layout.”
Cayran chose not to mention the Zoner-only docking spine concealed within the industrial block.
“Those two links feed into the central core and primary storage decks with barracks above.”
Jonathan switched to a top-down view. The display showed a triad of biodomes reminiscent of Freeport 11’s layout, but spaced wider to accommodate in their triangle shape a central superstructure.
“From the core, you can reach the left and right biodome branches and the main residential quarter. We’re also planning a medium industrial module to process whatever Pygar requires. Naturally, a significant share of the budget goes to defense—following Livadia’s precedent, we’ll integrate weapon platforms directly into selected modules.”
He then zoomed on the biodome assemblies. From above they looked conventional; side-on, the innovation became clear: beneath each dome sat a storage ring with transits for personnel and cargo. Beneath that, a second biodome, creating a vertically symmetrical, double-stacked module.
“This is one of the marvels our engineers refined during Kadesh’s expansion. A standard frame hosts a single biodome; this architecture sustains two. One of the interposed storage depot doubles as the environmental control manifold, balancing atmosphere, humidity, and nutrient cycles across both domes. I’ll spare you the deeper technicals. In short: we estimate the upgrade north of a billion. Iridium alone wouldn’t cover it—not with our charming neighbors as MacDone will say—but osmium’s addition to our portfolio gives us the cash flow to fund a project of this scale.”
The Colonel watched the holograms and listened to Cayran's explanations. The explanations seemed mostly condensed and focused on thematic points. For someone whose background wasn't engineering, technical design and construction of space installations was what was needed, while the details would have been needed for review by a special committee.
"Your plans are ambitious, I admit, but I didn't count as many turret nests as I expected. I understand that the station's core also needs to support production facilities for the inhabitants of Pygar. It needs to be made largely self-sufficient. However, I believe it will require an increase in the number of turret nests and the installation of weapon platforms. About three or four around the station's perimeter."
The Colonel pointed to the biodomes to draw Cayran's attention.
"What can you tell me about the flora and fauna that will be used to generate oxygen and maintain the supply system? There's a proposal to take some samples from Planet Jiangxi, as they're fast-growing and highly productive. However, the possibility of using certain plants will be discussed after initial negotiations."
The Colonel only knew that the plants could be genetically modified using Planet Jiangxi's radiation. But he decided not to mention this detail, as their use would be decided by others. Biryukov then turned his attention to the dry docks.
"Our agreement that Coalition ships have the right to use your Corfu Base for resupply is subject to expansion. These dry docks could be used for more thorough repairs of our ships and for temporary berthing of higher-class ships, such as battlecruisers and battleships. Order capital ship on orbit of Corfu will not help us against Corsairs if they will try to Planet, as we perfectly know Order is collaborating with them. However, expanding dry docks would also allow more transport ships to dock simultaneously. "
The Colonel considered using Corfu as a staging area for ongoing offensives against Corsair forces and possibly besieging Freeport 9 in the future to reclaim it from enemy control. But a more pragmatic option was to fortify Corfu with as many weapons as possible, while still being able to deploy heavier ships in case of a full-scale siege from the Corsairs, in order to repel it or at least buy time until the main forces arrived.
Corfu, Dry-dock A, "meeting" room 1
Cayran took a few minutes to weigh Colonel Biryukov’s requests.
“As for the biodomes, their operation and substrates are among the most closely guarded Zoner secrets. Even if Freeport 9 is repaired, without willing Zoner engineers behind the systems, it will never achieve proper output. I’m sorry, Colonel—on that point, I can’t oblige.”
He paused, considering a compromise.
“That said, Corfu will host a significant number of biodomes. We had already planned to dedicate one to a joint research program. That deserves its own discussion. For now, let’s return to the weapons question you raised.”
He rotated the 3D model, acknowledging the Colonel’s argument while outlining the trade-offs of external batteries. Cayran favored layered defense: interceptor squadrons and a handful of cruisers. After all, defense must cover not only the station but the planet, and a static platform won’t stop a bombardment on the far side of Pygar.
“I hope you can see why we’re limiting fixed emplacements. And even so, this array exceeds anything previously mounted on a Zoner installation.” He gestured toward the primary weapons cluster, highlighting the new kinetic cannons. “On your last point: if you support this project, we will of course extend docking privileges. As ever, access is contingent on respecting standard Zoner diplomatic protocols.”
"Joint research program you say. We will see where it can lead."
Colonel replied shortly about biodome program. It was just an offer to help zoners to differentiate plant diversity for the eco-culture of biodomes, in case if any problems arose with their usual methods and technologies for reproducing such structures. The Colonel's thinking was along these lines, to find additional points of contact and increase sympathy for the Coalition. He mainly wanted to show the Coalition from different sides; even though its rabid militarism remained pronounced, trade and technological exchange were still important for the small state.
"Fixed emplacements could be connected with multiple other same structures and create in such case A kind of external dome creating a barrier to penetration. Although Pygar's weather conditions are already becoming an obstacle to atmospheric entry, individual system complexes could be installed in orbit. But that already sounds like a separate project for strengthening Pygar.
Regarding the option of installing them around the station and the possibility of replacing them with the options you mentioned, kinetic weapons are good, no doubt about it... Perhaps railguns would be useful as well for shooting down gunboats and engines for other capital ships, or as a means of penetrating armor plates. But still think weapon platforms also have place in this scheme, at least like irritation factor for their ships to destroy them or keep them on distance. Many things could be used for defense, but regarding the wings of the bombers and the cruiser.
I assume you've already approached the Red Hessians with a request for assistance with ships and pilots for the bombers, including the cruiser. Or are you planning to use your own pilots for this mission? In any case, I think will be valid option with placing Coalition bomber wings at your base as a permanent group for the defense and attack of enemy ships."
Colonel took little pause before continue his speech.
"So far there is no incidents connected with violating Zoners Laws from Coalition side as far as I know. I don't think anyone interested in it and make decrease rising relationship between Coalition and Phoenix. However, no fire zone restriction will not be valid option if there will be Corsairs and Outcasts. I presume You, Cayran, understand why it's necessary and what will happen if these two groups of Hispania will be around. There was already multiple incidents on Freeport 9 with their conflicts between each other, and as result Corsairs over take it. Better restrict access for Outcast too, by obvious reasons."
Biryukov said with calm voice and took pause to give opportunity for Cayran to reply on questions and possible offers. Idea about multi defensive complex on Pygar orbit sounds like something unreal, at least in near time, but Colonel sounds pretty confident when raised this idea and can make guess that he have plans on planet in long term development, even if it will take too much time.
