Tanquilla Beach

TANQUllA BEACH

Tanquilla Beach is a major shadowport in the Kathol sector,located just within a small nebulae located in one comer of the sector. Beyond Tanquilla Beach,there is no need for a smuggler's secret base - the wilds beyond Kathol sector are so unsettled the smugglers can go about their business in the open.

Tanquilla Beach isn't much of a beach, actually. Its name grew out of a joke about the huge amount of sunlight the shadowport gets -though it is far from any star, the bright light of the nebulae illuminates it from all sides.

The shadowport was once the site of a major mining operation in a major system near Gandle Ott. A large processing base was established on the asteroid to mine both Tanquilla Beach and nearby asteroids, and when the miners exhausted the local resources, they moved on, leaving the gutted rock to an outlaw-tech group. This group somehow got it transported out to its present location about a century ago.

Tanquilla Beach, set up to service the technical needs of pirates and smugglers, quickly became one of the main smuggler roosts in the sector, one specializing in high technology. Over the years, the tech group built up the existing structures, and filled the huge caverns and mining shafts within with buildings and living complexes to support the growing businesses and personnel needed to serve a growing clientele. It's difficult to see much of the asteroid today. The external surfaces are plated in metal and plastics, and have grown out beyond the original surface by as much as 10 meters in spots.

TanquilIa Beach

Craft: Unique
Source: DarkStryder Campaign (pages 64-68)
Type: Space station
Scale: Capital
Length: 900 meters tall
Crew: 1,200, gunners: 85, skeleton: 400/+10
Crew Skill: Capital ship gunnery 4D, capital ship shields 4D, sensors 4D+1
Passengers: 7,000
Cargo Capacity: 800,000 metric tons
Consumables: 1 year
Hull: 4D
Shields: 7D

Sensors:

• Passive: 75/1D
• Scan: 150/2D
• Search: 300/3D+2
• Focus: 9/5D

Weapons:

• 80 Turbolaser Batteries

Fire Arc: 20 front, 20 back, 20 right, 20 left
Crew: 1
Skill: Capital ship gunnery
Fire Control: 1D
Space Range: 3-15/35/75
Damage: 7D

• 20 Ion Cannons

Fire Arc: 5 front, 5 back, 5 right, 5 left
Crew: 1
Skill: Capital ship gunnery
Fire Control: 4D
Space Range: 1-10/25/50
Damage: 4D

• 10 Tractor Beam Protectors

Fire Arc: 3 front, 3 back, 2 right, 2 left
Crew: 1
Skill: Capital ship gunnery
Fire Control: 4D
Space Range: 1-5/15/40
Damage: 9D

Capsule:

Tanquilla Beach packs quite a punch for a mere spacer station. Boasting a generous number of turbolaser batteries procured from Imperial shipyards, it can fight off any single ship smaller than a Star Destroyer, and hold off entire fleets made up of lesser craft. The Beach also maintains a defense force of five X-wing fighters, and eight Skipray blastboats

History

Tanquilla Beach was a shadowport located in the Kathol sector during the early years of the New Republic. It was situated within a nebulae on the edge of the sector, and was one day's travel from Shintel. It gained its name because of the vast amount of light the station received from all directions from the nebulae.

Tanquilla Beach began life as an asteroid mining station located in a major system near Gandle Ott. When the asteroid field was played out, the station was abandoned. Somehow, outlaw techs managed to move the station to the nebulae around 92 BBY. Over the years, the techs set Tanquilla Beach up as the perfect place for smugglers and pirates. Specializing in high technology, the techs filled the empty caverns with buildings and living quarters to support the businesses and personnel that made the Beach a viable community. The face of the asteroid was covered in metal and plastic, in some places reaching as far as ten meters above the original surface of the asteroid.

After the FarStar was damaged by Moff Kentor Sarne's computer virus at Shintel, it managed to limp to the Beach for repairs. Enlisting Fia from Spang's Repair Shop, the engines were repaired in two weeks. However, while the FarStar was at the station, Sarne sent one of his Carrack-class light cruisers to engage it in a hit and fade assault. Unfortunately for Sarne, he didn't know the extent of the Beach's armaments. Between the station and the FarStar, the light cruiser was destroyed.

Layout

Commerce

Tanquilla Beach had fifteen levels of trading space. Bazaars and stores sold a multitude of goods, ranging from droids, illegal ship parts and weapons, food, clothing, and other items. Bars and gambling halls were in good supply, and slicers, technicians and cyberdocs sold their services. Level Twelve was the Slaver's Market (aka the "meat market"), and many spacers avoided it. Although the majority of slaves were aliens, Humans were occasionally bought and sold.

Docking and customs

Dozens of docking bays lined the length of the Beach, ranging in size from small berths for private yachts, up to large hangars to handle multiple smuggling craft. The Beach had no hangar large enough for ships the size of a CR90 corvette, so larger craft were required to anchor off the station and personnel were shuttled aboard in smaller craft. Security and customs at the Beach were tight and rigidly enforced. In general, they didn't care what a spacer brought onto the station, as long as they knew about it. Personal weapons were allowed on the station, but heavier weapons like grenades and repeating blasters were prohibited. Docking fees ranged from one hundred to one thousand credits depending upon the size of the vessel.

The Lock

The Lock was a section of the Beach located at the bottom of the station used to store anything that could potentially be lethal to the station. Sealed off from the rest of the station, the Lock could only be accessed via exterior airlocks.

Defenses

Defensively, Tanquilla Beach packed quite a punch. Eighty turbolasers and twenty ion cannons dotted the surface of the station, most of them procured from Imperial shipyards. Five X-wing starfighters and eight GAT-12 Skipray Blastboats assisted in the defense of the station, and Tanquilla Beach could engage and defeat any ship smaller than a Star Destroyer.