Directorate Officer
Intent: To make a military base to protect Kintan
Image Credit: here
Canon: here
Links: Kintan, Silver Jedi, 6th Kintan Infantry Regiment, Lucerne Labs, Castameer Tactical Display, living modules, Modular bedding, Diet Fizzyglug,Pizza Hutt, Soul Brothers and Sisters, 9954/I sensor array, subspace radio, HoloNet transceiver, NR-1100 slicer droids, Bulwark Planetary Shield Generator, "Flight Swatter" Light AA guns, AMT-7s, EMP-X1 Field Arrays, Legionairre Battle Droids, Kintan Striders , Bit Interceptors, TIE/st Stalker Droid Fighter, LRAD-ORs, Howlrunner Repulsor Tanks, BARC Speeder Bikes
Military Base Name: Fortress Kh'aris
Classification: Desert Fortress
Location: Kintan
Affiliation: Kintan, Silver Jedi, ISAF
Population: Heavy
Demographics: As a local defense force base, the demographics largely match that of Nikto itself, though there are slightly more alien species in the Fortress because of offworld ISAF advisors: 97% Nikto, 3% other.
Accessibility: Fortress Kh'aris is a well-known cultural site and easily located because of its prominent position over the local wastelands where it can control the crossroads of several ancient trading routes. While these routes continue to see use, few have reason to actually stop into the fortress itself except for official business or emergencies. The local Nikto commanders are a suspicious bunch, especially of Force-users, and those they let into the fortress are kept under close watch during their stay.
Description: Fortress Kh'aris is an ancient desert stronghold that seem hundreds of 'owners' through the years, many of whom had upgraded or altered the fortress to meet their current needs. Its current owners, the Kintan government, are no different, having hired several Silver Jedi companies and local contractors to modernize the installation into a formidable if somewhat small redoubt. While many outside observers believe the planetary shield generator is the base's greatest strategic asset, ISAF itself believes the listening post is even more important, as it acts an advance warning system to any significant incursions into Silver Jedi space. On an immediate tactical level, the base itself has solid passive defenses and spirited defenders in the form of the 6th Kintan Infantry Regiment, a legion of battle droids, native Kintan Striders, and a small menagerie of combat vehicles. Fortress Kh'aris seems likely to be a significant breakwater to any future attack on the world.
The Bastion: The original keep of Fortress Kh'aris has been expanded to encompass entirely what was a walled compound. Made out of ferrocarbon structural framework that is encased in thick ferrocrete walls, this massive domed structure is a highly durable, being designed to withstand several direct artillery strikes before crumbling. Access from the outside is controlled by a pair of massive Turadium blast doors manned by a squad of sentries from the 6th Kintan Infantry Regiment. The Bastion itself holds all of the base's basic functions including the barracks for the 6th Infantry Regiment, a large mess hall, cafeteria, armory, gym area, and brig. The Bastion's subfloor allows access to variety of subterranean passages, notably Fenn's cavern.
Command Tower: Directly behind the Bastion is Fortress Kh'aris's highest tower, which acts as a command post for base and its occupying units. Aside from holding com-scans and communication equipment needed to coordinate all of these forces through a Castameer Tactical Display, the command tower also holds living suites for the local command staff.
Silver Jedi Guest Tower: The latest expansion of Fortress Kh'aris, the Silver Jedi Guest Tower houses guests from the Silver Jedi Order and the ISAF, and notably is built to offworld standards rather than Nikto standards. It largely uses Preaestigiae Shop products in order to provide a more familiar and comfortable environment for travelers, notably using that company's living modules and beds. It also has a lounge with beanbag chairs, a soda fountain (with Diet Fizzyglug), holo-arcade, and a food court next door which includes a Pizza Hutt and Soul Brothers and Sisters.
Shield Generator Turret: The squat but wide tower located behind the Bastion and Command tower houses a single Bulwark Planetary Shield Generator which is normally covered by a retractable dome to better protect it from the world's harsh environment. When activated, this shield generator cannot only protect the base, but much of the world itself from orbital attacks.
The Twin Watchtowers: A pair of small watchtowers flank either side of the main path into the fortress. However, these can only be accessed by subterranean passages from the Bastion itself. In old times, each one was manned by a sentry to keep watch on the skies or the trade routes. With the base's recent modernization, the towers technically do not need to be manned, but they often are by recruits of the 6th Infantry Regiment as part of their introduction to military life. The right tower holds a 9954/I sensor array linked to several observation satellites that tracks movements in the geo-orbital space around Kintan, while the left tower acts as a sector listening post. This left tower contains a subspace radio and HoloNet transceiver manned by a team of hardwired NR-1100 slicer droids which sift through and try to break into transmissions picked up the watchtower.
Fenn's Cavern: Located just underneath the Bastion and the visible elements of Fortress Kh'aris is an underground area known as Fenn's Caverns, supposedly the original lair of Kh'aris Fenn. This area holds many of the base's long-term supplies, a water cistern, as well as the geothermal power shaft that provides most of the base's power. It also acts as a junction point to the rest of the fortress's underground caverns.
Tsyr's Cavern: Almost certainly apocryphally used by the Morgukai Tsyr, this cavern branches off of Fenn's Cavern. It serves as a storage and maintenance point for hundreds of deactivated battle droids, most of which are Legionairre Battle Droids supplied by Lucerne Labs. These droids can march through Fenn Cavern to reinforce the base itself, or deploy through concealed exit tunnels onto the surrounding plains.
Bok's Cavern: Named after one of the original Morgukai inhabitants, this area serves as a holding area for the local Kintan Strider training program. While trained as guard beasts, the ISAF considers them to be unreliable despite the confidence demonstrated in them by the local Nikto. Because of this, most of this area is automated and only serviced by droids or the beast's trainers. A pair of tunnels allows the beasts to be remotely released around the base of the arch.
Hangar: Just to the side of Fenn's cavern is a hollowed out hangar bay that holds the base's starships and vehicles. Because of the harsh weather and radiation flare-ups on Kintan, the hangar is usually secured by a massive, 2 meter thick turadium blast door.
SECURITY
High
Installation Defenses
- 1 Bulwark Planetary Shield Generator
- 10 "Flight Swatter" Light AA guns
- 12 (removable) window-mounted AMT-7s
- Fortifed Keep made out of Ferrocrete reinforced with Ferrocarbon with thick, Turadium blast doors
- Underground network of concealed escape/entry tunnels
- EMP-X1 Field Arrays buried underneath sand around base's perimeter
Combat Forces
- 6th Kintan Infantry Regiment (~2500-3500 troops at time)
- Legionairre Battle Droids (~2000 units)
- Kintan Striders (~100 Striders)
- 16 Bit Interceptors
- 20 TIE/st Stalker Droid Fighters
- 8 LRAD-ORs
- 20 Howlrunner Repulsor Tanks
- 60 BARC Speeder Bikes
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Fortress Kh'aris was first constructed by Kh'aris Fenn with Count Dooku's help around the time of the Clone Wars. But the original builder did not stay there long. Fenn and his Morgukai henchmen eventually abandoned the fortress after it had been successfully infiltrated by a pair of Jedi. From there on out, the fortress came to be occupied by a number of successive and intermittent squatters, from local scavengers and nomads to pirates and international criminals on the run. During the Gulag plague, the fortress finally came under the consistent rule of a Kajain'sa'Nikto clan chieftain, who started many of the expansion of the original bastion and its underground passages. When Kintan entered into alignment with the Silver Jedi after the defeat of the cultists, the fortress became property of the new world government, which then modernized the base into its current form with help from the ISAF and Lucerne Labs. Since then, Fortress Kh'aris has become home of the 6th Kintan Infantry Regiment and frequent stop for ISAF forces and Silver Jedi in the area.
