Tractor Ship/Super Tug |
| Very recently Oremin was unfortunate enough to suffer the loss of one of its solitary research stations. An experiment went out of control and caused a loss of power for the whole station, causing it to succumb to the powerful gravity of the planet Oremin. The combined power of three Star Destroyers was only able to slow the fall of the massive station and the closer the stricken station got to the planet, the more strain was put onto the Star Destroyers� tractor beams. Thanks to the quick thinking and response time of Oremin personnel, there were very few casualties and most of the research was saved. The station itself was destroyed upon impact with the planet. The failure to save such a critical installation caused Kasr to give the order to create the tractor ship, or �super tug� as it has been dubbed. The design calls for a ship that would have been capable of saving that research station without the same kind of strain that had been put on the Star Destroyers. Aside from the obvious industrial benefits the super tug could represent, its military applications cannot be ignored either. A ship like that could easily tow in large, capital ship-sized (or larger), chunks of rock and force them to collide with enemy ships, overwhelming their shields and perhaps destroying them. More to the point, if conditions are right, the super tug could also force enemy ships to collide into each other. In times of distress, the super tug could also be capable of �pushing� away enemy ships, thereby giving a retreating fleet a chance to escape. Two methods have so far been considered into trying to accomplish this. One has been research into the tractor beams that were installed on the Death Stars. They were rumored to be powerful enough to hold a Star Destroyer in place without any problem. The other is using several tractor beams in conjunction with each other to create one powerful combined force. In any event, the biggest weakness with the super tug would be analogous to that of the Interdictor; neither are dedicated warships. Installing heavy weapons or powerful shields onto the super tug might not be possible without making the overall ship too enormous to be feasible. Until the bugs are hammered out and some hard decisions made, the super tug will remain on the drawing board. |