Beauville Orbital Station
From Autonomicon Mk. II
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Contents |
History
Operated by the Arsenal naval de la Republique Francaise, the Beauville orbital station is often touted as the largest shipyard in the Democratic Federation. Whilst this is not true based on numbers of drydocks. Beauville certainly has more Capital Ship berths than any other shipyard. Furthermore, it is likely the largest Orbital human made object operated by the Democratic Federation.
Origin
The original Beauville design was conceived in the mid 22nd century by Admiral Marc De Vaal. With the abandonment of the Sol system and the French yards therein, it became imperative that France aquire new assets if she wished to retain her Naval edge. The original design, prepared by the firm, Deriol, was for a shipyard based around a disk of drydocks placed atop one another. This is now the region of Beauville referred to as the Drydock Floor and Lower City. While the designs themselves were being developed there remained considerable debate over the possible location. A group of senior officials wanted to locate Beauville in a densely populated system like Paris or Rennes, Another favoured a location in Nantes or Lyon. Eventually, a young Commander by the name of Anton de la Seuviai won over the bureocracy, and choose the centraly located, but sparsely populated Caen System.
Post Nantes
Following the destruction of the Cambriei Shipyards at the hands of the Scinfaxi in the battle of Nantes, the French navy found itself drastically short of drydock spaces to rebuild its crippled fleet. The Naval arsenal subsequently chose to expand Beauville Station, rather than build a new facility. By the early twenties the expansions were completed, more than doubling the size of the station. The expanded facility more than doubled the residential space available in the original design and also added thirty-two Capital Ship sized Drydocks, and three more fusion reactors. Beauville quickly gained distinction as one of the largest man-made objects in the Orion Region.
Maglev Accident
In May of 2219 Beauville was struck by a calimitous disaster. In the morning of the 21st, a guidance Magnet in one of the Station's Docking arm magnetic railways became dislodged by a passing train. Due to the strong magnetic fields in the tracks the magnet was propelled at tremendous speed into the train itself, ripping it apart in a fiery storm. Just as the Station crew became aware of the crash another maglev train, traveling in the opposite direction, sped by the crash. The vast amounts of displaced air that the second train created served to feed the raging fire from the crash. The fire grew dramatically and expanded down the tunnel almost instantly, incinerating bystanders at a nearby station and damaging the Station's structure. For the next fifteen minutes emergency crews fought the blaze, but not before it ignited a shipment of Fissile materials, ripping a hangar appart and killing hundreds. Upon investigation, the accident was found to have been caused by a lack of maintenance. The ensuring damage costedt millions and took over three hundred lives. As a result of the accident Beauville's maintenance practices were overhauled. Since then, there gave been no other maglev related accidents.
Incident
In the summer of 2269 a terrorist attack against the French Republic nearly destroyed Beauville Station. Since thenn France has been investing heavily in counterterrorism efforts and internal security, to prevent a repeat occurence. It is unknown where the attack originated from, though it has been speculated that it could have been financed by separatist groups in the French Republic or by foreign Nations such as the Republic of Canaan or Greater German Reich. Hoewever, evidence is nonexistent, and as of yet, no individual or group has been officially accused.
Current Day
Since the attack of 2269, Station security has more than doubled, as has the contingent of the 4th Fleet stationed in the Caen system. Nevertheless, life on Beauville remains much the same, and the yards are still very busy constructing and repairing new Vessels. Other than a small blaze in Beauville park that hospitalized an elderly couple, and a crash involving a planetary shuttle that claimed a life, the station has been accident free. A recent Statement by the Marine Nationale seems to support the rumour that plans are in the works to either expand Beauville, or supplement it with a second facility.
Importance
Beauville is of vital importance to the French Naval forces and by extension, to the Democratic Federation. Since it posesses so many drydocks, In particular those capable of constructing Capital ships, the station is heavily guarded and improvements to its protection are made regularly. Since it is so vital, there has been considerable discussion as to expanding the industrial base of the French Navy by constructing another Shipyard Facility. To the Caen System itself, Beauville is economically the most important industry. Almost all of Caen's domestic economy is geared to keeping Beauville up and running.
Facilities
Upper Weapons and Navigation Center
The three pylons which are collectively referred to as the Upper Weapons and Navigation Center are the top most facilities of the Beauville Station. These pylons are topped with large ion manouvering pods which are used to correct the Station's orbit. Along with these thrusters the pylons are fitted with most of the Station's sensory and communication equiptment. This vital quiptment is protected by a series of Autocannon and Torpedo Emplacements.
Upper City
The Upper City is home to most of Beauville's full time residents, of which it has over ten-thousand. To cater to their everyday needs, The Upper city is filled with a wide variety of ammenities. The Upper City has its own theatres, shops, banks and schools. The central portion of the Upper City is a vast open hall that houses Beauville Park. Above the park, projecting into space are a number of skyscrapers that are used by Administration and the Station's Tourism and Service industries.
Capital Ship Drydocks
Beauville's thirty-two Capital Ship Drydocks make the Station a cornerstone of French Naval Infrastructure. The Drydocks are amongst the largest in the Democratic Federation. Arranged in two levels of sixteen all thirty-six drydocks are completely enclosed and equipped with full artificial gravity if necessary. Each Colossal Hangar has a number of adjacent supply rooms, and minor assembly halls that are kept stocked through the Station's logistical transport rail system. A pair of Giant articulated Cranes are present in every hangar. These Cranes are situated on rails, this allowing each one to cover the entire side of a vessel. Each Dryfock also features a celebration platform and accompanying ballroom for the use in celebratory ship launching functions. Most often the Drdock doors are kept shut and sealed with a number of steel bolts the width of railway carriages. This prevents an accidental opening of the doors, in the event that the crews inside are not wearing full vacuum gear.
Defensive Arms
The Four Defensive Arms are the most heavily fortified locations on the station. The arms are located on the same level as the Capital Ship Drydocks, which they separate into four quadrants. The arms are protected by thick ER armour of the most advanced kind. This armour protects the arm's weaponry. The armaments include a pair of large calibre long distance railguns, as well as a number of torpedo tubes. Most of the Station's resident strike craft are to be found in hangars here, guarded by numerous Autocannons. For Anti-Ship combat, the arms ate equipped with several Dual Heavy Deck Guns.
Lower City
The Lower City is part of the original construction. Unlike its upper counterpart it is primarely residential in Nature and considerably less impressive and spacious. It is residence to many of the Station's workers, and a recent refit in 2278 removed many residences, and constructed a large central plaza fills wit shops and ammenities.
Primary Power Core
The Primary Power core, located in between the largest drydocks is capable of powering the station at near fully operational status. Normally, the reactor is at less than a third power as it is supplemented by the Secondary power cores. The reactor is eabily protected and guarded, recent improvements in security have installed full surveillance, biometric scanners and other security measures. Furthermore, it is shielded by thick composite armour in the event of an attack or reactor breach.
Drydock Floor
The Primary Drydock Floors are the most heavily used on Beauville, they are part of the original construction and used to build any ship cruiser sized or smaller. Most of these drydocks are fully enclosed, though the lower floor is primarely open to outer space.
Docking Arms
The two semi-circular docking arms are used for the east transportation of cargo. Here bulk carriers and freighters dock, either through external pylons, massive docking ports or internal hangars. After the cargo is offloaded it is transferee to large maglev trains that ferry the cargo to the central supply region. Traffic in the docking arms is constant, and all sorts of cargo is offloaded from raw materials to ship engines.
Service Area
The vast central service area is where all the materials from the docking arms are brought to. Here they are sorted and sent to their respective dertination. The warehouses here are used to store surplus material, which can later be sent to the armament factories for assembly, or to the local refineries in the case of raw materials. The maglev trains from the docking arms terminate here, where drydock boundcargo is transported onto massive lifts that carries the necessary materials upwards to other regions of the Station.
Secondary Power Cores
The three secondary power cores, located in the upper, and lower cities as well as the service areas are in constant operation. Runnig at full power these can keep Beauvolle running, fully operational, even if the Primary reactor is disengaged. The cores are heavily guarded and shielded by thick armour plating.
Lower Weapons and Navigation Center
The Lower Weapons and NavigationCentet has a trio of ion engine pods for station manouvers. To protect this vital equiptment the Center is protected by a number of Quad Autocannons and torpedo tubes for anti-ship defense. The Lower center also houses the auxiliary command bridge and is this heavily protected in the event of a hostile boarding action. The access hallways that lead to the center are armed with dfensice emplacements and heavily plated with armour to prevent a breach by attacking infantry.
Defences
Station Defences
Beauville itself is heavily armed with a variety of weapons. Althoug most of its long range armament faces outwardw, leaving the station's roof open to attack, her ion drives are capable of reorienting the station rather quickly. Furthermore her conventional weapons are supplemented by numerous strike craft squadrons and gunships for engaging any enemy fleets. Together, these defences make Beauvile a hardy target. The station is also covered in heavy armour plating, particularly in the Cities and reactors.
Resident Fleet
A sizeable contingent of the French 4th Fleet is always stationed in the Caen system. Its prescence serves as a considerable deterrent against any possible attack upon Beauville. to this day the Station has not been attacked via conventional means.
July 5th Incident ,2269
It was utter chaos, I had just come off my shift in the drydocks and was heading home to the town of Capriceau. I was halfway to the shuttles when the first alarms started sounding. First the general alarms went off, followed shortly after by the fire alarms. People were running back and forth, impossible to get any information out of anyone, no one knew what was going on. Then, perhaps ten minutes after the first alarms went of the Station Commander came on the intercom, he told us to evacuate the station immediately. What was chaos turned worse, everyone started running for the shuttle hangars. A number of people got trampled, and lookin gout the window I noticed the station was listing slightly. In all the confusion I evetually reached a shuttle and left the station. Looking back, hundreds of small craft, as well as larger ships were detaching themselves from the station. The lights across the entire structure were powered off, and one of the engines near the bridge was firing, pushing the station towards Caen's surface. - Stefan Koralceau, shipyard worker at Beauville Orbital Station.
Events
On the 5th of July 2269, at approximately 5:15 Caen Standart Time, A reactor malfunction occured in the Upper City of the Beauville Orbital Station. The malfunction sent a small power surge throughout the upper city, frying circuitry and injuring two of the Station's staff. The shorts in the system activated one of the upper city's ion engines. Normally, the operation of these engines is strictly supervised and used for manouvers only. However, the electrical malfunction caused both the controls and failsafes to fail, sending the entire station hurtling towards Caen's surface. Alarms were sounded, but for over ten minutes no attempt was made by station command to inform the crew as to what was going on. Subsequently, chaos broke out as emergency crews were unable to assertain the nature of the emergency, and general staff made every attempt to leave the station. In the ten minutes of panic it is estimated that fifteen people perished and at least another hundred were injured. Eventually, at about 5:27, the Station commander came on the loudspeakers and ordered a full evacuation, which was achieved promptly and efficiently with few subsequent casualties. Unable to disengage the malfunctioning Ion engine, the french Cruiser Acheron was called in to help. The Acheron along with a pair of french destroyers and a civilian transport were attached to Beauville using towing cables. The group of makeshift rescue vessels attempted to pull the station into a higher orbit, but were unable to fully stop Beauville's descent. Eventually the Acheron opened fire with her guns and destroyed the malfunctioning engine, therefore making it possible for the station to be retowed into orbit.
Investigation
Within ten hours after Beauville's descent had been halted, the French Central Directorate of Interior Intelligence (DCRI) began its official inquiry. The investigation was led by Jean-Thierry Pages. Upon examination of the malfunctioning power core, It was found that one of the service panels had been tampered with, and removed. The particular panel in question gave access to the reactor's primary cooling conduits, most of which had been severed. The resulting spike in reactor temperature (as the backup conduits could only slow a rise not prevent one) went unnoticed because the technician had left his console to tend to an urgent family phonecall from Caen. Eventuallly the reactor passed normal operational levels and sent a small power surge throughout the Upper City. The power surge tripped the reactor failsafes which shut it off. However, the surge fried the engine controls, and the Primary reactor kicked in to supply power to the Upper City. Pages, a highly skilled investigator was able to sift throught the mountains of surveillance data at Beauville to identify the perpetrator, a caucasian in his mid twenties, possibly of Polish origin. The saboteur was seen leaving the Station in the general evacuation, travelling to Caen's surface and taking a scheduled passenger ship to Paris, where he spent three hours before boarding another flight to the Icaron system. At Free Port Andes, the Saboteur boarded a vessel to New Canaan at which point his trace was lost in the Republic of Canaan. Pages was able to reach the conclusion of his invastigation in an incredibly short timeframe of seven months.
Result
Following Pages' investigation the saboteur has become a wanted suspect in The entire Democratic Federation,Federal Nordic Cooperative, Brazilian Unitary,Empire of Thailand and the State of Judea. The saboteur is actively being hunted by Interpol, but also by a number of private entities. However, no trace has been found. As a result of the investigation, Beauville's surveillance and internal security, particularly in the reacotrs has been greatly heightened.
