Hephaestus Station
Sarna News
| Hephaestus Station | |
|---|---|
| Vessel Profile | |
| Type | Space Station |
| Class | unique |
| Previous classes | (heavily modified/customized Hughes, see text) |
| In service until | 3 January 3028 (destroyed) |
Hephaestus Station, often referred to as simply Hephaestus, was a customized modular space station of unspecified type owned and operated by the Clans and Wolf's Dragoons.
Design and capabilities
Combining features of the Olympus and Alliance classes of space stations, Hephaestus Station was unlike any contemporary or recorded Star League era design[1] though as of ca. 3150 it was proposed that Hephaestus Stations were probably highly modified Hughes-class yard stations.[2] The Dragoons themselves described them as "mostly" a Star League design, with a few custom additions.[3]
The stations were mobile in the sense that they could be disassembled into modules which had K-F Booms and could be moved via JumpShip like regular DropShips with Docking Collars, to be reassembled at the destination site.[4][1]
The stations contained an assembly and repair facility that was capable of rebuilding 'Mechs that others would have considered scrap[1] and thus allowed the Dragoons to produce their trademark ARC-2W Archer variant, but were incapable of heavy manufacturing or the construction of fusion engines. The production line were apparently more of an assembly plant, reliant on prefabricated parts. Still the Dragoon station was (somewhat inaccurately) notorious as their "mobile factory"[3].
The Dragoons' Hephaestus could also service all of their DropShips[5], aerospace fighters, 'Mechs and support vehicles and possessed sophisticated surveillance and communication equipment.
History
The Dragoons brought a station with them from Clan space when they first appeared in the Inner Sphere, and subsequently installed it over their respective HQ worlds during their service for various Successor States as an orbital repair base and command post. It saw combat action at least once, when it was attacked by aerospace fighters at New Delos during the Marik Civil War, but they were easily fought off by the orbital/aerospace operations group with support of the station's upgraded weaponry.[6]
During the Dragoons' employment with the Draconis Combine since 3022, Hephaestus Station was stationed in orbit over the Dragoons' HQ world of An Ting. As of 3024 it was under the command of Kenneth Quo.
After the Dragoons' relationship with the Draconis Combine soured, "Kurita patriots", believed to have been smuggled aboard as part of a batch of local technicians to bolster the strained repair force, seized control of the station and took the entire staff hostage on 2 January 3028. Station master Major James Quo was pressured into sending a propaganda message to the Dragoons on An Ting. He used this opportunity to inform Colonel Jaime Wolf that the Seventh Kommando was "on the hull", but was shot before he could complete the message.
On the following day, the occupation forces destroyed the station during an ill-fated recapture operation by Seventh Kommando forces, killing all aboard.
Another Hephaestus-class station was mentioned to be in the Scorpion Empire in 3151.[7]