Dudes Rock is an asteroid in the vicinity of the Earth-like world, colonised by the Dudes Rock Engineering Combine (DREC) and used as their primary base of operations.
Dudes Rock Station
The asteroid's main point of interest is the eponymous space station build into it by DREC. The core of the station is a set of dockyards extending from the opening of the asteroid's natural internal hollow space, which provides partial shielding from meteor impacts and other space hazards. These dockyards provide docking and maintenance space for DREC's fleet of spacecraft, most of which call it their home port. A control tower (the "Lighthouse") is built onto one side of the main level, providing a pressurised living space for the station's inhabitants as well as equipment storage and other amenities.
Tunnels lead out from the dockyard in multiple directions, leading to a number of surface facilities of various purposes (currently a scrapyard, shipyard, and defence emplacements) as well as some embedded deep within the rock.
The station currently serves as DREC's primary base of operations, housing their most extensive storage and processing capabilities and being the most well-protected of their current outposts.
History
Dudes Rock was first colonised by DREC pioneers Ghosthands and Bulik shortly after their arrival in the System. Seeking a supply of water ice for reliable fuel as well as shelter from the System's frequent meteor showers, their discovery of the asteroid's natural cavern made it an attractive prospect for their initial foothold. Construction of a small structure in the cavern mouth began immediately, soon expanded to comprise manufacturing and docking capabilities, and Dudes Rock station was born. The nascent station soon became the site of the construction of DREC's first true ship in the System, a Graculus-class survey/light mining support vessel, which DREC used to reach and mine nearby asteroids for material to support further construction.
From then on, the station was continuously expanded to meet DREC's needs, accelerated by the arrival of additional DREC members Caasicam, Perp and Silvan. The addition of solar panel and oxygen farm arrays made the station fully self-sufficient for energy and O2. Construction of the "Lighthouse" tower provided a much-needed habitation space. A number of damaging meteor impacts made clear the necessity of a point defence grid, which was soon added (with the inclusion of a ludicrously overpowered by extremely satisfying railgun emplacement), transforming the station from a somewhat vulnerable outpost to a safe haven for DREC members. However, the turrets' need for a reliable ammunition supply proved to be a weak point in this system, as at one point a severe magnesium shortage resulted in a failure of the defence grid and several meteors striking the dockyards, causing significant damage to ships and infrastructure. This incident was a blow to DREC morale, and a major factor in their subsequent pursuit of nanite repair systems and laser point defences.