That is one good build-up to a lot of tension and action. The idea with the thrusters on the mine is intriguing, probably cheaper than buying a TL and pushing it backwards and forwards every now and again

So the rule appears to be do not allow anybody to swamp the sectors with their stations as to avoid monopolies, I take it. This would leave quite a few of us very much on the back foot, ey?

Silicon mine and Crystal Fab do sound good but did I not read earlier Creed mentioning that Crystal Fabs have been deployed or are planned by others already? Would that not result in an over-supply? Mind you, he may get permission for more installations later on and make use of his own supply chain.
Looking forward to the next chapter!!
found a typo: the 'to' is in the wrong place
"corridor to through"