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Owner |
Courata Imperium |
| Class |
Capital Base |
| Availability |
Unlimited Deployment |
| In Service |
1634 |
| Out of Service |
1730 |
| Source |
Silhouettes in the Shadows |
| Author |
Tyrel Lohr |
| Last Updated |
February 20, 2005 |
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| Description: |
Following the proliferation of Kherr Heavy Laser Satellites throughout the navies of the Courata houses, it became apparent to some military leaders that their more important orbital installations required even greater protection than mere automated satellites could provide. Using reverse engineered (or stolen) plans for the Kherr as a baseline, design work was started on a larger, more heavily armed war station. This station would retain heavy firepower like that demonstrated on the Kherr but would also be equipped with crew facilities.
Courata engineers working on the project made the decision to tether the superstructure of four Kherr Heavy Laser Satellites together around a central crew station, similar to the station core of the civilian Rethul Siphoning Station. The crew would live and work in the central station core, though with service access to the four weapon pods.
This new station, commissioned as the Haf Sefraa Gunfort, was fairly popular during the first thirty years after its conception. Each Haf Sefraa station possessed enough firepower to be a real threat to even the largest enemy heavy cruiser or dreadnought. Hundreds of gunforts were erected throughout the Kourat system, most of them in orbit of remote colonies or near clusters of siphoning stations. Here, the gunforts acted as an active deterrent to enemy incursions, protecting through intimidation. In truth, the Haf Sefraa Gunforts were not particularly effective in combat. History tells us that, in most confrontations, enemy dreadnoughts could neutralize Haf Sefraas before they could swing its additional HET lasers into arc to return fire.
The development of more advanced dreadnoughts, such as the Tharnatha class, rendered the Haf Sefraa and other bases of its type obsolete. The Courata clung to the false security of the gunforts into the 18th Century, but by 1730 all Haf Sefraas had been retired from the ranks of the major house navies. Most were detonated via suicide charges, decommissioning them through a final act of fury. Others were sold off to private concerns. In particular, those Haf Sefraa Gunforts originally built to provide defense for siphoning stations were snatched up by the owners of the siphoning bases and retained as private defense and customs facilities.
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| Related Entries: |
| No Related Entries |
| Design Notes: |
| No Design Notes Available |
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Questions, comments, or suggestions? Please contact
Tyrel Lohr at contact@tyrellohr.com.
All original content © 2024, Tyrel Lohr.
All other materials are owned by their respective authors.
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