Commissioned by multiple shipping agencies as a joint venture to “build the Terminus on the other end of the Hydian Way”, Horizon has functioned as a waystation, minor shipyard, repair facility, and refugee center for centuries. While it was originally owned by those shipping agencies, it has long since become an independent space station with no loyalties to any governing body or corporation, though it has sections dedicated to whichever military currently controls the Botajef system.
Description
Built along a center spine that holds the turbolift shaft and control center, Horizon is roughly oval-shaped with bulbs at either end, and broken rings circling it. The bulbs are the stations primary control centers: the dorsal bulb were originally meant to house the offices and temporary quarters of the corporate executives, but has long since been converted into high-scale, luxury hotel rooms and apartments. The ventral bulb, housing the stations’ work areas, contains the engineering decks, shield generators, and similarly-dedicated posts. The ‘broken rings’ that circle the station serve as shipyards, dockyards, and access corridors for those who don’t need to enter the station proper for flight connections.
History
Nearly 300 years before the Battle of Yavin, the executives of five large shipping companies came together to discuss the possibility of establishing a mutually agreed-upon transit hub on the ‘northern’ end of the Hydian Way, as a reflection of the Terminus system at its ‘southernmost’ point. There were rumors that these executives were also attempting to create a new “Corporate Sector” outside of that region, but no one could ever agree on if it was done by Corporate Sector businesses or by competitors trying to set up their own independent transit hub, closer to the Core than the Corporate Sector.
Unable to agree on a particular world, the executives decided to finance the construction of a space station that would suit their purposes. With Botajef well-situated at a three-way hyperspace crossroads, and bolstering an impressive shipyard of its own, it was the prime candidate for such an undertaking.
Construction of such a station was considered ambitious for these corporations, and it was rife with problems, delays, and complications. Before it was three-quarters completed, multiple criminal syndicates had shown a vested interest in the station, and smugglers were already planning new routes for their illicit goods to use the stations’ corporate storehouses. The Old Republic had attempted to establish a foothold on the station, but the executives lobbied to have it declared an independent station, citing the Corporate Sector establishment edicts as precedence. The corporate executives did have to agree on providing sections for the Old Republic Military, as well as a dedicated shipyard for repairs.
Fifty years after construction was considered complete, private companies, legal and illegal, began petitioning to add on new construction to the station. The stations’ original two rings became four, then six, until it was halted at nine separate, broken rings rotating around the transit hub. Several of these new rings were built with special transponder signals, so only those ships with a corresponding signal would be able to use them. Otherwise, they resembled with unfinished or abandoned construction.
By the time of the Clone Wars, the original five shipping companies had ether been bought out of their holdings on the station or had been absorbed by other entities such as the Trade Federation, who did not wish to have a controlling interest in the station. It became a haven for smaller companies, turning the station from a transit hub to an independent commercial enterprise in its own right. When the Galactic Empire came to power, Palpatine moved swiftly to install an Imperial military presence on the station, threatening the use of force if the ‘governing bodies’ did not fall in line.
Statistics
Craft: Horizon Station; Class: Space Station; Cost: Not available for sale;Estimated construction cost: 628,560,000; Size: Colossal (Huge space station, 7,000 m long); Initiative: -6 (-8 size, +2 crew); Crew: 15,809 (Normal +2); Passengers: 14,000 (3,500 tenants, 8,000 visitors, 2,500 refugees); Cargo Capacity: 7,850,000 metric tons; Consumables: 6 years; Hyperdrive: None; Maximum Speed: Stationary; Maneuver: -10 (-8 size, +2 crew, -4 engine quality); Defense: 14 (-8 size, +12 armor); Shield Points: 850; Hull Points: 1,400; DR: 35;
Weapon: Turbolasers (160); Fire Arc: Turret; Attack Bonus: +0 (-8 size, +4 crew, +4 fire control); Damage: 7d10X5; Range Modifiers: PB -6, S -4, M -2, L +0.
Weapon: Concussion Missile Launcher (50); Fire Arc: Turret; Attack Bonus: +8 (+0 size, +4 crew, +4 fire control); Damage: 9d10X2; Range Modifiers: PB +0.
Weapon: Tractor Beam Generators (20); Fire Arc: Turret; Attack Bonus: +0 (-8 size, +4 crew, +4 fire control); Damage: Special; Range Modifiers: PB -6, S -4.
Swift's Corner 