we know there was an outpost version brian castle in the area. it seems likely that there would be other facilities around. probably a small naval base somewhere nearby.
Huh?
We certainly had other Star League artifacts explicitly mentioned in the book. Panzyr is described as being a stopping off point for the SLDF and the system got blown away during the Succesion wars. The system is littered with debris and wrecked ships- to the point its a navigation hazard! They talk about scavengers trying to clear debris and cash in on SL tech that is found. ComStar was also supposed to have a presence on world, for the HPG but acknowledge in the book to keep a eye on the tech scavengers. The implication was IMO they were tracking and even competing with the prospectors. Smithon was fortified and had armories built by the SLDF's Corp of Engineers though the teeth were pulled when the Capellans abandoned the world. During the game, it seemed to be the technical knowledge center of the Coalition (confirmed in HB Arano) due to the ruling House's efforts- their motto is 'There is No Greater Wealth Than Knowledge.' It is also the House that gets conveniently pruned during the Restoration with the House ruler dying in the fighting (though not as a fighter), the son was killed or incapacitated, the information trove seems to have been lost, and the House basically has a regent. Even the ancestral dwelling, a fortress, was wrecked by an artillery barrage from the fighting . . . a rather convenient way to get rid of any hidden research or databases. When I read that entry I thought it basically
screamed Holy Shroud. You also have Katinka, which had a SLDF facility that made it a prime target during the Periphery Uprising . . . which left it with a huge crater and disrupted weather patterns from a ortillery mass driver hit. They get LosTech prospectors too. The SL set up a large (read expensive) HPG facility on Aea- and ComStar maintains it to this day- and basically the HPG base is all that keeps that planet populated.
Hellespont has a trade route through Artru, a mining planet, that is HQ for the Explorer Corps.
And from there it makes a LOT of sense for ComStar to try to hide the Aurigan's existence . . . Hanse Davion already threw a huge chunk of resources at recovering databases, had a copy of the Helm data core, and was building up the NAIS. IF he ever learned of how much could be on that planet- a place where he would not have to fight a peer power like the Dracs- what would stop him from landing on Decimis to systematically sift the system.
And before someone remarks there are too many Star League era locations . . . consider this . . .
The state of Texas is quite large but has . . . currently . . . three Army bases, two AF bases, and I think a Naval Air Station? Which does not include Guard or Reserve sites.
Now go back and see how many installations they had in WWII, that are abandoned or were turned over to the state, or just shut down. I stayed in a old WWII facility that was temporarily opened as a bivouac site for my convoy driving back from New Orleans after Katrina, and there are a LOT of those around too. It was basically some barracks and warehouses IIRC sitting off what had been a big state highway before the Interstate Highway System. BTW most of those old Army Air Force training strips? They became municipal airports . . . sort of like these marginal worlds having SLDF built spaceports that the remaining population & economic activity cannot justify or maintain. Quick search says there were 65 Army Airfields in WWII most of which would be included in the 142 'major' military installations.
Considering the area being the Capellan border or just past it into the periphery between two of the major belligerents . . . it makes quite a bit of sense the Star League would have built up infrastructure to such a density as described in game & sourcebook. Remember, not every Star League built installation was a Castle Brian . . . in fact, since most would have dated to the Reunification War it was before they started formally building such complicated fortifications. And afterwards, it is still a good place to stage response forces for either the TC or MoC without them being compromised by being in those nations.