Cheng Station

Cheng Station is a major orbital station above Corvalis and the principal transfer point between Corvalis City and interstellar traffic. Ships berth along the station’s inner levels, while shuttles carry passengers and cargo between orbit and the planet. Its outer-ring districts contain restaurants, bars, lodging, commercial services, and gathering places used by crews during layovers. The station is one of the main operational centers of the repossession industry. Recovery crews wait there for assignments, arrange repairs, recruit specialists, exchange information, and monitor TrustUs! alerts. Shipping offices, cargo-bond services, legal agents, and repair contractors operate close together because a delay of only a few hours can determine which crew reaches a target first. Cheng Station also functions as a jurisdictional threshold. Business that would attract scrutiny on Corvalis can often be discussed more discreetly in orbit, while contracts and claims can be settled before a vessel commits to landing. Its permanent population is relatively modest compared with the volume of transient passengers, freight workers, repo crews, and corporate personnel moving through it each day. The station’s bars and restaurants serve as informal intelligence markets. Shipping gossip, employment offers, quiet corporate instructions, and rumors of delinquent vessels circulate alongside ordinary crew traffic, making the station socially important far beyond its official administrative role.