Donovan’s
Jump
System
: Beta Lunaris
Sector:
Niflheim-Lumilar Independent
Economic Zone
As far as planet’s go, Donovan’s Jump is fairly
unremarkable except for a large quantity of heavy metals, most of which are common
and can be found elsewhere. However, it has huge deposits of Helium-3 embedded
in the upper layers of dirt and rock by the solar wind over billions of years.
This, and its position between the growing Terran Protectorate and the
fragmenting Empire of Many Suns, made it an ideal location for a fuel transfer
station for shipping between the two galactic powers. But it is the massive
space station in orbit above it that is perhaps the most important location in
the Gap.
The resulting Sigma-4 Transfer Station was originally
started as a Mogg’Theran project, but halfway through completion the
Mogg’Theran home world was destroyed and the mix of Mogg’Theran, Terran and
Lumilari crew and operators declared independence when the project was
officially dropped by the Mogg’Theran.
The Sigma-4 Transfer Station at Donovan's Jump lies
directly between territory claimed by the Terran Protectorate and the numerous
breakaway systems of the former Empire of Many Suns. The station sits in the
middle of a 90-light year gap between the closest habitable worlds between the
two territories, and virtually all shipping between the former Empire and human
controlled space puts in at this massive space station for resupply, repair and
recreation. In many cases, ships simply rendezvous at the station and exchange
their goods with domestic shipping companies, turning one long trip into two
shorter ones, and allowing trade to move more rapidly.
The station houses 100,000 workers and visitors, hundreds
of venues, and can dock 120 medium and light transports in internal bays and 24
large transports and warships in the externally slips.
It is said that the annual gross domestic product of a
major planet passes through Donovan's Jump once every standard week. That and
its neutral territory classification make it a hotbed of corporate intrigue,
political maneuvering and smuggling and organized crime.
Now that the Arkhon have declared war on the Terran
Protectorate, no one is sure if they will honor the neutrality of the station,
and bringing in a Terran fleet to defend it may give the Arkhon the excuse to
attack it. This has raised tensions in the station to an all-time high, for if
the station is destroyed or seized, it would give the Arkhon a chokehold on the
burgeoning interstellar economy.
Even knowing this, none of the major powers in the Empire
of Many Suns will send ships to defend the station, because they don't want to
accidentally become embroiled in what's expected to be a brutal conflict
between the Terran Protectorate and the Arkhon.
Donovan’s Jump is an ideal location for independent spacers
to find work. It is a Freelancer’s haven. Ships come and go from this station
not only from the Terran Protectorate and the Empire of Many Suns, but from
Niflheim, Lumilar, the Free Colonies and the Arkhon Freehold as well.
Population: 135,000 (100,000 on Sigma-4, and the rest working as miners on the
planet)
Controlling
Species: Council of Human, Mogg’Theran and
Lumilari administrators.
Diameter:
4,300 miles (6,920 km).
Atmosphere: Very thin with a high amount of particulate matter. Pressure is okay
and gravity is light, but rebreathers are needed by most species to get enough
oxygen. There is also no water; it must all be shipped in.
Gravity:
0.7G
Calendar:
102 hour day, 211 days in a year.
Satellites: The Sigma-4 Transfer Station (see below).
Defense Assets: The station maintains two wings of fighters, four patrol
corvettes and has numerous weapon mounts. It also has an internal security
force of 5,000 personnel. There are also a couple hundred private security
workers on the planet employed at various mining operations.
Sigma-4 Transfer Station
Crew:
28,000
Visitors
and Vendors: 75,000-90,000
Auxiliary
Vehicles:
60 R-80 Starchaser fighters
12 Starblade fighters
6 L-750 Enforcer Light Patrol Ships
6 G-9 Atlas Container Ships
10 CI-6 Model M Tankers
130 Hopper shuttles
4 Ranger Defense Corvettes
Height:
4,354.5 ft (1,327 m)
Length:
7,560.5 ft (2,304.5 m)
Width:
7,560.5 ft (2,304.5 m)
External
Starship Berths: 24
Internal
Hangar Bays: 64 (16 per docking bay, each capable of holding one medium or two
light freighters)
Shuttle/star
fighter bays: 8
Defenses:
8 Heavy
Quad Ion Cannons: 2D6x100 M.D., 2,000 mile range, 4 blasts per melee round
each.
8
Intersystem Missile Launchers: 3D4x1,000 for each
thermonuclear missile, range: 2 million miles, can be fired individually or in
volleys of 2-20. Smart Missiles with +5 to strike, +3 to
dodge and 4 attacks per melee (all used to dodge until the missile arrives at
the target). Payload: 800 missiles total.
48
Point Defense Missile Launchers: 2D4x10 M.D. for each HEAT missile, 15 mile
range, can be fired individually or in volleys of 2 or 4. Payload: 20 missiles
for each launcher, plus a very large amount of reloads in storage, enough to
reload each launcher 5 times.
Sensors:
Gravity and EMF sensors blanket the entire star system, with relay satellites
preventing planets or the sun from creating blind spots.
Amenities
include a shipwright, starship modification services, restaurants, nightclubs,
living accommodations, ambassadorial suites for all major races, shops,
employment and recruiting offices, corporate offices for several major
corporations, a quantum communication hub, casino, and two five-star hotels.