Vaduz Central, 'Klarheit'
"Klarheit is the newest capical of the Orbital Collective, and in many ways it represented a paradigm-shift brought upon by the advancing tech in Vaduz. While not the first habitat-colony of its type (albeit certainly the largest), it was a great deal different from most colonies before it in that it had things in its cubic-kilometers of living-space that didn't serve some vital purpose to the colony's wellbeing: A town-square with an open plaza, gardens with plants that weren't hyperoptimized for o2-co2 cycling, and a multitude of residences that had rooms entirely for recreation. These are common on Falias or in Co-Op Leviathans but were a new sight to Vaduzians, who had spent generations living no-margin-for-error lives in cramped stations where utilitarianism took precedence over ostentatiousness. They nearly rioted when a public-fountain was considered for the town-square."
"Funny thing about Vaduz, they like their decentralisation so much that the very capital city and its government can change within minutes. 'Vaduz Central' used to be an uplink-station in geosync, but when they finished building their first proper O'-Neil colony, it took all of a half-hour to transfer leadership privileges to the new station's central offices. Say what you will about their style of government, it's flexible."
Defences
As the seat of Vaduz's power, Central is far and away its most heavily defended station. A multitude of anti-ship longrails and CIWS-turrets line the outer structure of the station, and at any point the station itself can close up its solar-arrays to encase the inner-cylinder in further layers of armor-plating. The station also maintains a dedicated garrison of VSDC cohorts, and is never without the accompaniment of a detachment of the VSDC's naval fleet.
Infrastructure
Central has been designed to maximize its independance from as many external supply-routes as possible, featuring (but not limited to): Comprehensive high-density farming systems (and in-vitro protein growth vats) alongside traditional livestock-pens; kilometers of hyper-efficient solar energy arrays and a fully functioning factory/shipyard. Only raw minerals and water-ice need to be imported into the station.
Architecture
Vaduz Central is an O'Neill class orbital colony, a structure that is aproximately thirty-one kilometers long, eight kilometers in diameter, and rotates around its long axis at a speed sufficient for centrifugal force to create the sensation of gravity for the inhabitans that live on its inner-wall. Both ends of the structure, which remain in zero-g, act as spaceports and entry-points into the cylinder, and three outer-parts of the cylinder can open or close on demand, exposing the inside of the station (and its inner solar-cells) to sunlight.
Founding Date
4931
Alternative Name(s)
Central Processing, The Tower
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Capital
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