AMCO
I'm Sorry Dave
- Intent: Create a versatile civilian station for Qares Logistics and the open market.
- Image Source: Talros [X]
- Canon Link: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Vandiir Consolidated Holdings
- Affiliation: Qares Logistics | Open-Market
- Model: Vera-class Trade Station
- Production: Mass-Produced
- Material: Duranium-reinforced Durasteel Hull, Quadanium Steel Solar Panels, Transparisteel Viewports.
- Classification: Multipurpose Civilian Station
- Length: 604.8 metres
- Width: 229.1 metres
- Height: 491.7 metres
- Armament: None
- Defences: High
Heavy Shielding - Reinforced Hull
[*]Hangar: None
- [2] Primary Hangars
- [6] Docking Bays
- [4] Exterior Docking Zones (Intended for System Patrol Crafts)
- Rear Cargo Processing Section
[*]Manoeuvrability Rating: Very Low
[*]Speed Rating: Very Low
[*]Hyperdrive Class: Average [5]
STANDARD FEATURES
- The Vera-class is outfitted with all the standard features one would expect for a civilian station of its size, with the exact specifications depending on the intended use of any given model. This includes:
Tractor Beam Projectors - Personnel Tractor Beam Projectors
- Extensive Solar Collection Array
ADVANCED SYSTEMS
- Extensive Communications Array
- Versatile: While certain parts of the station, such as its rear cargo processing section and the staff-only sections, are almost always the same, the rest of the station is highly customisable, allowing it to be used as a dedicated cargo terminal or a massive space-bound marketplace, and everything in between. While designated as a trade station, the Vera-class could even be used as a dedicated habitation station, a testament to its impressive modularity.
- Resilient: Designed to operate in everything from a core world's orbit to the outskirts of a fringe system, the Vera-class is outfitted with as powerful defences as VCH's engineers could cram in... without sacrificing too much in the way of usable space and production costs.
- Moderately Automated: While not truly unmanned, the Vera-class features an above-average level of automation, allowing it to run optimally with a noticeably smaller staff than many comparable models.
- Decent Hyperdrive: While not fast in any sense of the word, the station's hyperdrive is still perfectly acceptable, especially since its compact design leaves more room for more commonly used features, such as restaurants or cargo bays.
- Renewable Energy: While unable to be relied upon entirely, especially since these stations are occasionally deployed outside solar systems, the twelve huge solar panels of the Vera-class allow it to save fuel and put less strain on its reactor core than would otherwise be the case.
- Virtually Stationary: While the Vera-class possesses the thrusters needed to maintain an orbit or slowly reposition itself, that is about the extent of its capabilities.
- Civilian: While the station's defences are powerful enough to give it a good chance of receiving reinforcements or jumping to safety, that is about the extent of its combat capabilities, as the station possesses no weaponry whatsoever, not even of the defensive kind.
Initially designed to provide Qares Logistics with a string of supply stations along the trade routes it frequents, the station was dubbed the Vera-class after the Sith word for "spine" or "backbone", a reference to its essential nature in Qares' and by extension VCH's supply network. Ever eager to squeeze as much use as possible out of each design, VCH's engineers quickly realized that it would be possible to modify the design to serve a wide range of roles, with the frame and primary systems being suitable for all of them, broadly speaking.
For this reason, the stations are typically produced with their hull and primary systems first, with the interior being modelled based on individual requests or standard templates, such as the one used by Qares' supply stations or the "frontier beacon", a generalist designed to fit a large marketplace, expansive cargo bays, and permanent civilian habitation all in one package, as it is intended for more remote regions of space. The ease of production stemming from the use of a standardised baseline for such a wide range of purposes has quickly proven to be a highly profitable, with the expenses saved cancelling out the extra expenses associated with unnecessarily powerful shielding for models deployed to safer regions of space.
As a result of its above-average level of automation and use of twelve huge solar panels to complement its power generator, the Vera-class is generally considered to be an excellent investment long-term, especially since its unusually high defences give it a better than average chance of surviving pirate attacks.
