The 'Stargate'....
Back in the days before a certain movie and TV show came out, and looong before GT/BtC, one of the most powerful, ubiquitous, and under-the-radar Megacorps IMTU was The Stargate Corporation.
Located throughout the Imperium, the Solomani Sphere, and branching into the Hinterworlds and Vargr Extants, Stargate was the Denny's of the 56th Century. Their goal was to place a facility at every C+ starport in Known Space. There was even a recurring ad campaign: a "Laurel and Hardy"-like pair who always staggered into a Stargate almost at the point of death, and ended up in a jacuzzi with a Mai Tai...
Most often, it was a two-story/level affair. The lower/main level was somewhere between Denny's and a truck stop: there were no tables, just booths and a bar. The booths were all equipped with a robust data terminal with language options in Galanglic, Vilani, Vargr, Bwap, and Aslan (male and female); you could buy race-specific ear jacks at the counter. Food was either what was available locally, or was imported...sometimes, it was even grown on-site in Stargate hydroponic gardens; the menu was pretty extensive.
The data terminals displayed standard AAB-type Library Data, shipping schedules, TAS reports (but only after they were posted on the TAS boards), ads for work, "for sale" ads, SPA regs, local news...the whole nine yards.
On the upper level were two sections: private dining salons/meeting rooms and tiny (but private) business cubicles (with computers, printers and scanners and access to the Stargate Net) for per/hour rent, and a section of small 'crashpad'-type rooms for passengers who were waiting on a ship.
Stargates were often used by intelligence agents who wanted to "hide in plain sight", because no one would be stupid enough to actually meet there. While not as silly as Astroburgers (no Regional [subsector] manager would EVER pull a stunt like Astroburger's dropping an ad team in an Imperial Marine second-wave), Stargate's often did function as rallying points during times of distress. Verrrry occasionally, the corp would hire out troops to smack around a local leader if the Imperium wasn't going to be by soon.
It was a great plot hook/driver.....
"Just Remember - If The System Doesn't Have A Stargate, You Probably Don't Need To Go There!"
