Cage Station
Aye yo, fly yo ayuss up to the High-Up Sniper and have a blow-blow!
An ad spread via open comm channels for one of The Cage Station's shops, the High-Up Sniper.
The Cage Station is an infamous galactic commerce installation stationed in Namine's orbit. The installation is home to many a legitimate and scandalous business alike, and has gained a mixed reputation for its wide array of outlandish and aberrant shops as well as other commercial establishments. Until recently, Cage Station was owned and operated by a Vasacar (likely a Viirnok due to his lack of Human-like features) known simply as "Rex."
History
After a rough integration into life in Syndicate space, Rex decided to engage in a commercial endeavor: a pawn shop. However, none of the locations available for rent on Namine would allow him the freedom he desired when it came to the goods he would pawn. After he failed to locate a property fitting his needs, he entered into a business partnership with Joseph Gemintry and other as-of-yet unknown investors and partners, purchasing an abandoned Empire of Namine prison station orbiting the planet. This would be the home of his shop; this would become the Cage Station.
At first, space rental numbers were negligible, and so was profit. The station was in a state of massive disrepair thanks to the Corruption invasion decades previously. The disrepair was so extensive, in fact, that entire decks could not be fully accessed without environmental suits due to hull breaches. Through risky promises, business tactics, and lax-but-straightforward commercial rental regulations (which proved attractive to underhanded vendors wishing to set up shop in the station), Rex was able to attract vendors and make enough profit to begin renovation. The renovation would serve to reel in wave upon wave of new business, and put the Cage Station on the galactic commerce map.
As business increased, Rex and his partners secured contracts with several mid-level investors and began fully remodeling sections of the station. The rental regulations--which were a large attraction for vendors to begin with--never changed. Soon, nearly all of the available rental space had been taken, and profit soared. Rex was able to continuously upgrade the station, increasing its property value well beyond the nigh-worthless state in which he purchased it.
While regulations were (and still are) lax, Rex maintained a firm grip on most activity aboard the station (not including many of his deck crew, who regularly inhale reactor coolant fumes in an attempt to become intoxicated). Surprisingly, no notable accidents have been recorded on board the Cage Station; a testament either to Rex's management skills or his willingness to look the other way.
To the dismay and anger of many Empire of Namine officials, the Cage Station's management used a loophole in Imperial tax code to avoid property taxes, and taxes on revenue for nearly half a decade. The Empire saw not one of the billions of trinals that were being generated at the station each year. This came to an end in the Spring of 985 PRE, when Supreme Commander Vespid Heterodonyx pressured Rex to drop usage of the loophole, threatening future legal action if Rex did not comply.
Defense
The Cage Station's defenses consists of 16 Pulse Cannons, 8 missile batteries, 2 torpedo tube clusters, and a fighter wing.
Station Fleet
The station's fleet consists of eighteen maintenance craft, called "Work-Bees," eight Void Hunter-class starfighters, ten shuttles, twenty-five escape pods, and the personal vessels of the owner and partners.
Current State of Affairs
Due to Rex's incapacitated state, control of the station is now completely in the hands of the partners, investors, and Joseph Gemintry. This has left many wondering what the future of the Cage Station holds.
Shops on the Cage Station
- The High-Up Sniper in Space
- 010: The AI Mystic
- One-Stop-Slut-Shop Space-Sex Emporium
- Gunz 4 All
- Big Wazp Hell's Military Vehicles
- Chuckspear's Native Accessories
- GalactiSafe(TM) Insurance
Trivia
- The name "Cage Station" was chosen by Rex to reflect the fact that it was a former prison--something his investors and partners strongly objected to until cash filled their bank accounts.
- Out-of-universe, the name and lore had "subtle" basis in an old meme about Nicolas Cage. It's definitely not the bees.
- The Cage Station is home to a rip-off/pseudo-competitor of the Drunken Sniper--the High-Up Sniper.
- The original model of The Cage Station was created in the space world on the OGZ Minecraft server. It was one of the final structures created before the server was tragically wiped out.
- This was the first page created in the real-life year of 2017.