Orbital Station
Your planet itself fires at an enemy fleet sitting still in orbit, with no ships sent and no risk to your fleet.
The Orbital Station
The Orbital Station lets your planet strike back at an enemy fleet that sits still (hover) in orbit: a radar or attack fleet that lingers without ever engaging. Unlike a regular attack, you don't send a fleet: the planet itself locks onto the target and strikes it in place, with zero risk to your ships.
Requirements
Two buildables are needed before you can launch a strike.
The Orbital Station building
Built on the planet you want to strike from. It detects stationary fleets and triggers the lock — but it no longer affects the strike's power.
The Orbital Charge (ammunition)
A single-use equipment item, with no hull or shield, dedicated solely to the strike. Like any equipment, it can be manufactured on any planet and transported to the one carrying the Orbital Station.
Which fleets can be targeted?
Only a fleet in hover (parked, no active mission) above one of your planets can be targeted. It must have been motionless for a minimum time: a fleet that is merely passing through is never a valid target. It must also be within range. Strike range is a fraction of the planet's radar range: better sensors give a longer range. A fleet that is detected but too far away shows as out of range.
The "Lockable" badge
On the radar (Control page or the map's left panel), a red "Lockable" badge with a target icon appears next to a fleet as soon as it meets every strike condition. It must have been hovering long enough, be within range, and at least one Orbital Charge must be available. It signals that a lock-on is possible right now.
Launching a strike
- 1
Spot the fleet in the radar
Open the detail sheet of a fleet detected by your planet. If it has been stationary long enough and you have at least one Orbital Charge in stock, the lock button appears.
- 2
Set the charge and ammunition
Choose the charge duration (a few seconds to a few minutes) and how much ammunition to spend, up to the stock available on the planet.
- 3
Confirm the lock
The lock starts charging: nothing is taken yet. The strike fires automatically once the charge is complete, and ammunition is only actually consumed at that moment, based on whatever stock the planet still has then.
What determines the power
Power comes above all from what you chose to spend — ammunition and charge duration — not from any strength ratio with the target. The Station's level only adds a secondary bonus, never the main factor.
Charge duration
The longer the charge, the closer it gets to full potential, with diminishing returns: the first seconds already count for a lot, the last minutes add little.
Ammunition count
Every Orbital Charge spent adds to the volley. The combat report shows exactly how many rounds were fired, just like any ship or defense.
Station level (secondary bonus)
A higher level speeds up the charge curve (the same charge ratio is reached faster) and adds a small damage multiplier. This bonus is modest: it does not replace investing in ammunition.
A warning, but never a timing
The targeted player gets a discreet alert, in the Orbital Station status widget and on their Radars page: one of their hovering fleets may be locked. No timing is ever revealed, though: no countdown, no resolution time.
Possible outcomes
Strike resolved
The target was still there and still eligible: combat happens, with no way for the targeted fleet to fire back.
Target escaped
The fleet left its position before the deadline. No combat happens, no ammunition is spent, no cooldown.
Target protected
The strength ratio changed between launch and resolution. No combat happens, no ammunition is spent, no cooldown.
Ammunition depleted
The planet's Orbital Charge stock dropped to zero before the deadline (shipped elsewhere in the meantime, for example) — ammunition is never reserved at launch. No combat happens, no cooldown.
Cooldown
Only one strike can be charging per planet at a time. The post-resolution cooldown only applies if combat actually happened — a target that escapes or ends up protected costs you nothing, you can retry immediately.