Charu Wheels

Template:Station-CharuWheels The Charu Wheels were two massive, identical and circular shipyard facilities which were located in the Charu system. Between 2389 and 3997 they functioned as the primary production facilities of Olanji/Charubah as the shipyards were capable of producing entire fleets at once.

During the Dark Age and Hapan civil war, the shipyard operated at near maximum capacity continuously between 3946 and 3991. House Olanji lost their hold on the Charu system in 3991 and destroyed the Charu Wheels in 3997 at the end of the third battle of Charu in order to cripple the Phoenix Movement's industrial capacity.

History

Construction Phase

Construction of the Charu Wheels began at the start of 2304 and was a joined effort primarily between the House Olanji owned corporations Olanji/Charubah and Charubah Industries who had also designed the stations with assistance from the Varno. However, Zion Tech contributed with funds from 2337 and onward. Olanji Mining Guild was the primary source of raw materials for the project, which depleted most of Jyll's natural resources.

Both of the shipyards were built at the same time, with the B-wheel progressing somewhat faster than the A-wheel. The Varno race from Varn contributed with their engineering expertise to make the construction phase progress significantly faster.

The B-wheel was completed in late 2388 while the A-wheel was finished in early 2389. Both stations went operational at the same time and were hailed as one of the wonders of the Hapes Consortium. The completion of the stations also marked Olanji/Charubah take-over as the premier ship producers of the Hapes Cluster, leaving the Hapan Consortium in their wake.

Operational Phase

The two stations employed a total of 750,000 individuals more or less full time. They had their own space lanes for traffic throughout the Charu system as to not disrupt the regular traffic. Most of the people who worked on the wheels also lived there in residential modules. Some groups were known to shuttle back and forth from their homes in the system though as there was not always crew quarters available onboard the stations.

The stations were essentially interconnected modules of different sizes, each devoted to a specific purpose. Some modules were designed to hold the hull of major capital vessels, either for construction or repair work. Other modules produced internal components, starfighters and the like. The stations rarely, if at any time, operated at maximum capacity with all the production related modules in activity. The Hapan Consortium viewed the yards as the squandering of resources and raw materials for that very reason.

House Olanji viewed the wheels as their most important assets and assigned major parts of their Noble Navy fleet to guard them. In addition to this, each of the station had a large complement of starfighters and patrol vessels that were launched in the event of a pirate raid on the stations.

Due to the size of the stations there were thousands of turbolifts inside the superstructures and also traffic conduits where the residents would use minor craft such as swoops to get from module to module.

The wheels underwent a series of upgrades over the years in order to bring the weapon systems up to date and to make sure that the ageing superstructure was not falling apart. The factories were often renovated to make sure they could produce the newest types of vessels and equipment constantly needed renewing with new technological breakthroughs.

Inactive Phase

Lady Eledri Olanji ordered the evacuation of the stations as the family was driven out of the Charu system in 3991. A majority of the stations' crew complied and fled to Alsace, but some remained and continued to administrate and run the shipyards under the Phoenix Movement's governance of the system.

However, lacking the Olanji family's security codes and a major part of the crew, the Phoenix Movement was unable to get the shipyards up and running. Derrek Florda stations as a low priority as they lacked the means to organise any major construction either way. Most parts of the station were therefore abandoned and fell in to decay over the following few years.

Destruction

In their exile, Eledri Olanji and Aladri Olanji designed the Nova Battle Cruiser for the Draconian Union. However, the unusual design of the ships and lack of major production facilities in the remaining Draconian territory hindered large scale production. Princess Da'tanah therefore halted the plans until the Charu system and Charu Wheels could be reclaimed.

House Olanji led a large scale attack on the Charu system in 3997, but failed to destroy the Phoenix Movement's forces and launch dropships on to Olanji and Charubah. As they retreated, the House Olanji fleet targeted the Charu Wheels and their derelict un-shielded sections, causing a chain reaction which destroyed both of the wheels.

Facilities & Modules

Olanji/Charubah

Olanji/Charubah controlled and operated most of the production facilities on the stations.

Each of the wheels had the following major modules used by Olanji/Charubah:

• 5 Administration-type modules used by representatives of House Olanji and overseers from House Tenar.
• 2 Heavy Cruiser production yards, capable of constructing vessels up to 2000 meters long.
• 25 Battle Cruiser production yards, capable of constructing vessels up to 1000 meters long.
• 30 Light Cruiser production yards, capable of constructing vessels up to 600 meters long.
• 30 Frigate production yards, capable of constructing vessels up to 350 meters long.

Zion Tech

Zion Tech was a smaller ship producing company owned by House Par'wandi of the Rebo system. The company had contributed to the construction of the wheels and had several production facilities in each wheel. They specialised in the production of smaller vessels and therefore did not require the same amount of space as Olanji/Charubah.

Each of the wheels had the following major modules used by Zion Tech:

• 2 Administration-type modules used by the representatives of House Par'wandi.
• 5 Corvette production yards, capable of constructing vessels up to 175 meters long.
• 35 Starfighter production facilities.
• 15 Freighter production facilities.

Charubah Industries

Charubah Industries, a sister-company of Olanji/Charubah, was another important corporation with modules onboard the wheels. They specialised in various heavy weaponry and assisted the Royal Armaments Guild of Charubah with production of starship weaponry, while also producing assault vehicles and other things that would eventually be stationed on capital ships.

Most of their modules onboard the stations were devoted to the construction of vehicles, but also research and development of starship components. They experimented with new types of armour to make Olanji/Charubah's ships more durable.

Royal Armaments Guild of Charubah

The Royal Armaments Guild of Charubah maintained a few factory modules onboard each of the wheels where they produced various weapons-related components for the ships; actual weapons, targeting computers, gun towers and various circuitry. This was done to save costs related to transportation and also be able to perform tests on new components onboard ships under construction.

Minor Modules

The stations also had numerous modules not related to production, which sustained the operations on the wheels. Each wheel had the following modules:

• 2 command modules used to run the stations.
• 4 major transport conduits where swoops and transport vehicles would move around the stations.
• 250 residential modules, containing sleeping quarters, mess halls and recreation areas.
• 165 docking bays and related facilities.
• 40 hangar bays for deployment of vehicles.
• 250 docking tubes to connect to larger craft and raw material transports.
• 450 cargoholds for the storage of raw materials and large components.
• 20 refineries for the processing of certain materials.

See Also

• Olanji/Charubah
• Zion Tech
• Charubah Industries
• Royal Armaments Guild of Charubah
• Charu System
• House Olanji