Meridian Station is a neutral harbour by the outer gate where fourteen civilizations trade, hire out and build. It is your home base: a plated spire with a turning main deck, a gravity ring of habitat windows, docking arms where ships berth and solar wings that face the sun. It opens after your third mission and grows as you build on it.
The decks
- Shipyard: buy capital ships. Four hulls (Corona Throne, Sunkeeper, Void Ark and Obsidian Crown) need a blueprint from their civilization’s saga first.
- Crew hall: hire crews for your squads; each brings stats and a skill.
- Warship dock: hire any capital ship for a few sorties; it flies beside you with its own role and powers.
- Market: a few offers that restock after every battle, or for credits.
- Workshop and fabricator: rank up mods, refit the flagship and build mods from materials.
- Bounty board: contracts that pay extra for things you would do anyway, plus command orders.
- Expansion deck: the station builds below, the power priority, the beacon and the trophy hall.
Station builds
The Expansion deck opens after five missions. Builds sit in lanes, and a build needs only the step before it in its own lane, so you choose the order. Every build has a fixed price, so the order never changes what the whole station costs. Each build appears on the 3D station, assembled by drones while you watch.
| Build | Lane | Price | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defense grid I | Defense | 3,000 credits, 150 scrap | Six twin turrets on the rim. Your outpost on the battlefield gets +20% hull and guns. |
| Defense grid II | Defense | 8,000 credits, 400 scrap, 25 exotic matter | Ten more turrets. Outpost +40% hull and guns, and two guard craft round it. |
| Defense grid III | Defense | 16,000 credits, 800 scrap, 60 exotic matter, 4 cores | A shield bubble over the station. Outpost +60% hull and guns, and double shields that recharge in battle. |
| Upper deck | Decks | 6,000 credits, 300 scrap, 20 exotic matter | A refinery and traders’ deck. +10% salvage credits and +10% scrap and exotic matter from every battle. |
| Lower deck | Decks | 12,000 credits, 600 scrap, 45 exotic matter, 3 cores | Repair bays and berths. Docking repairs 40% faster with 30% more supply, and room for one more hired warship. |
| Power array | Power | 10,000 credits, 500 scrap, 35 exotic matter, 2 cores | The main deck turns and six mirrors open above it. Opens once you win Meridian Rising. |
Two more lanes are listed on the deck and arrive with their content: embassy berths for guest civilizations, and a space elevator down to the planet.
The power priority
With the power array built, pick one priority at Meridian between battles (never during one):
- Harvest: expeditions bring back 30% more and contract rewards are 20% higher. What battles pay is unchanged.
- Shield: your outpost on the field starts behind a mirror shield (+50% shields) and resupplies your squads 25% faster.
- Lance: once per battle, when a capital or boss comes within range of your outpost, the mirrors fire a solar lance through it.
The beacon and raids
The beacon on the mast decides how much of Meridian’s own business comes to you. It never changes the difficulty, the Threat level or the Deep Space Atlas.
- Low: the usual contracts, no raids.
- Bright: battle contracts ask 30% more and pay 40% more. Raiders come for Meridian about every six battles.
- Blazing: contracts ask 60% more and pay double. Raids come about every four battles, and harder.
A raid is announced two battles ahead, then waits at the station until you launch it: a Hold the Station battle at Meridian itself, where your defense grid, shield lattice and power priority all fight for you. Winning pays 900 credits and 2 cores (Bright) or 1,500 credits and 4 cores (Blazing). Turning the beacon back to Low calls a raid off. The power array and the brighter beacon settings open when you win Meridian Rising.
The trophy hall
The first time you beat each of the nine bosses, a piece of it goes on the station’s keel with its name and your record (time and difficulty). It is a record of what you have done, not a stat bonus. See how to beat every boss.
What to build first
- If you lose battles, start with Defense grid I: it is the cheapest build and makes your outpost a real anchor for the fleet.
- If you are saving for ships, start with the upper deck: every battle pays 10% more from then on.
- If you hire warships, the lower deck’s extra berth and faster repairs pay off quickly.
- Leave the beacon on Low until your fleet wins comfortably, then try Bright for bigger contracts and raid rewards.
Supplies
The quartermaster sells materials when you are short:
- Scrap crate: 40 scrap for 420 credits.
- Exotic sample: 3 exotics for 900 credits and 1 core.
- Reactor core: 1 cores for 1,400 credits.
Expeditions
Ships you are not flying can go on expeditions: contracts that come home after a number of battles with credits, materials or mods. Each role has a calling, and a ship sent on a matching contract does better. Contracts have a visible risk; a ship that comes back damaged needs repair before its next job.