Orinoco Beta/The Rock

Orionoco Beta - "The Rock"

	Intro

Orinoco Beta is a Station in the Marchlands about 6 hours from Starbase 104, near a brown dwarf star by the same name surrounded by asteroids, that had never formed planets. The station is not visible and will not show up on scanners.

The asteroid is roughly one fifth the size of Luna. Just over two hundred and fifteen miles in diameter. Is has been hollowed out to build the station inside, surrounded by shielding rocks (a natural hull that was miles thick and shielding, structural integrity and camouflage) and protective mechanisms that hide it from view. However, with the right settings 'strange' energy readings can be detected.

The station -also called "The Rock"- is operated by the Orion Syndicate. To find it one needs the coordinate and contact the station on special frequencies. Starfleet would not be granted access, but if one finds a way through the identification and verification process and gains permission to enter, docking coordinate would be assigned and upon approach, a section of the asteroid would split and two concealed doors swing open to allow the ship to enter.

It really was hollow, like a Dyson sphere. What was the outer wall on the outside was the floor on the inside. There had to be gravity generators set into the inner surface but their sensors suggested that they were quite localized and somewhat variable. The core of the asteroid was open, with ships moving here and there. Nothing large. The docking pads were arrayed about that space; they would be viewed as being in the ‘sky’ above by those who were using the base’s facilities.

The Rock's docks were remarkably like any other commercial station. It had an open docking bay for shuttles, runabouts, gigs and the like. Then umbilical type docks for larger ships. Various crewmembers were hanging out, watching their ships or their docking port. Most of them seemed to be keeping themselves to themselves, although a couple of guys from different (and presumably neighbouring) ships were passing the time by laying out Orion playing cards on a cargo crate.

Gravity plating was only used where needed, the body of the asteroid helping out. Only the rich places had full plating.

	Personnel

This section will list known personnel:

• Hadar - COMMs, contact person for Identification and verification process

	Facilities

The Rock offered a wide variety of facilities from Dingy bars, cheap accommodation, brothels to medical facilities, shops and more. The docks took up the majority of the hollow core of the asteroid station but quickly gave way to more built-up areas of stalls, shops, and street vendors hawking their goods from hover sleds or from backpacks; including items for sale that were illegal in Federation space.

Deeper into The Rock, the venues became a bit larger and more permanent in nature. Clubs, bars, and other adult entertainment venues were advertised by gaudy holograms, bright lights, and loud music.

Drinking District

Built for navigating when extremely drunk, The Rock's drinking district was effectively one long, wide walkway. Bits of rock occasionally slid down the sides of the walls. They were in no danger of cave-ins... hopefully. It was hard to tell -- too many neon advertisements burning into every patron's retinas wherever they walked.

• The Pulsar Bar: The venue was identified by a bright, rapidly flickering hologram of a star, with a dozen languages floating underneath proclaiming "The Pulsar Bar, home of the quadrant-famous Pulsar Shot"
• Lwuin Qei: Situated nicely on a corner, wide windows allowed everyone to see in and out, with a view of a nearby turbolift. If they were going ahead with the disruption, they could see who was coming and from what side. Not to mention, electronic gambling equipment was docked at the back of the bar. That in itself indicated hard-wiring to the Rock's electrical systems. Perhaps they'd rather their cut of winnings wired directly to their pockets, rather than suffer unexpected wireless failure, as minute a possibility as it may be.

The Rich Section

The Rich section is where the rich and powerful live. They don't spare expenses to live in total comfort. This section is in an 'artificial center' of the station. While still on the wall of the asteroid and therefore no actual center being possible, the rest of the station's facilities has been built around the rich section giving it the appearance of a center from some locations. That location was chosen because that is where the rock of the asteroid outside is thickest and offers the most protection. This is the only area in the station with full gravitation plating. While all the station has Security forces, they are more present in this area.

Rules of the Rich Section

1. Security here is NOT on your side. They're only loyal to the highest payer and that's never gonna be 'us'.

	Appearances

• First Appearance: USS Constitution-B during the mission Pirates of the Marchlands: Dead Men’s Boots - Stardate 239901.11