Zirtran's Anchor/Legends

"If you're tired of making the same old planet-fall, as well as sorting out the kilometers of tariffs and regulations of most starports, check Zirtran's Anchor. Oh yeah, I know about the "mysterious vanishing" part, but that's the way the sabacc cheater trips up the cards. No one ever becomes a free-trader to lead a boring life."

- Platt Okeefe

One of the most curious sights in recent galactic history, Zirtran's Anchor was a space station located in the Phosphura Belt Nebula, consisting of several freighters, barges and other starships joined together by accessways and pressure tunnels into one giant oddly shaped space station. Its shape would change frequently as new space ships arrived and joined with it.

Services
By the time of the Galactic Civil War, Zirtran's Anchor was owned by the Geelan. The space station was in many ways a free-trader's paradise as it was not within the scope of Imperial interest. Thus is offered a quite safe place for free-traders to engage in various business negotiations - legal or otherwise.

In addition Zirtran's Anchor offered services that were useful, if not vital, to many a spacer, such as food, lodging, repair, resupply, spacer documents, goods transferal, independent transport hiring and medical services. In addition to ordinary docking bays, the Geelan owners also offered more private docking facilities, charging 50 credits per day.

History
The history of the station was from the very beginning full of bizarre events counting a failed financial adventure, a mysterious disappearance from its original location in the Besberra system, and equally mysterious reappearance in the Phosphura Belt Nebula, and random mysterious and strange happenings taking place from time to time at the station.

The Zirtran brothers
The history of the space station begins with two entrepreneurs haunted by bad luck. The Zirtran brothers had purchased an enormous prototype space barge identified as KV-29233-44B. On its virgin trip, the ship's hyperdrives failed during the initial hyperspace jump.

While the Zirtran brothers were on this catastrophic trip the builder of the space barge went out of business and left the Zirtran brothers stick in the middle of nowhere with a stranded malfunctioning and useless space vessel.

Indebted from the purchase of the ship, and with no help from its builder, the Zirtran brothers decided to sell it to a group of Geelans who offered to take the stranded barge of their hands. The brothers retired from business and had not been heard of since.

The Geelan
"The Geelan way of doing business can be really annoying sometimes. It means "no-holds-barred" free enterprise. Some traders I know don't mind all the haggling and counter-haggling. Personally, I prefer the nice, cautious way of exchanging goods and credits. Too many times have I seen some nerf-herder get a little too excited and pull a thermal detonator just to make a point. That kind of behavior is tolerated on Zirtran's Anchor..."

- Platt Okeefe

In KV-29233-44B, the Geelan saw the opportunity for establishing a trade station, which welcomed all free-traders, regardless of affiliation and species. The trade station quickly became a huge success and gained popularity, with time, more and more merchants decided to settle at the space station and began to attach their own vessels to KV-29233-44B, creating an ever growing collection of interconnected starships.

This myriad of joined spaceships became known as "Zirtran's Anchor" as an homage to the unfortunate Zirtran brothers. Zirtran's Anchor became a trade hub in the Besberra system. In addition to wealthy merchants and fortune hunters, several crimelords and criminal syndicates took interest in the station and attached their ships to it. Although rivals and enemies were side by side in the station, they generally refrained from warring each other. Instead, traders adopted the unwritten rules of Geelan trade, which meant that anything was possible as long as it would not harm the station.

Imperial occupation
Soon the news of the successful enterprise reached the Empire. The Empire started exerting increasing pressure on the denizens of the space station to abide by the Imperial laws of trade. This amounted in the Empire taking complete control over the station, placing Admiral Vence Tabok in command of Zirtran's Anchor.

The Imperials immediately declared martial law and arrested numerous suspected Rebel sympathizers and suspected criminals. The Geelan, worried with the acts of the Empire, sent a delegate to confer with the admiral. The delegate, a Geelan called Whisk the Elder, warned the admiral that great tragedy would hit the station if the Imperials did not leave immediately. The Geelan was literally laughed out of the admiral's office.

The mysterious disappearance
"A fairy tale for scaring small ones during their bedtime - that's what I think about the story of the station's disappearance."

- Platt Okeefe

A number of days after the conversation, a Corellian trade fleet appeared at the location of Zirtran's Anchor to sell some goods, only to find the entire conglomeration of starships to be gone. Some time later, the station reappeared in the Phosphura Belt Nebula, several light years away from the Besberra system. The station itself was intact, but all of its inhabitants were gone.

Upon its reappearance, a new group of Geelan claimed the station in an attempt to reestablish it as a trade station. Eventually, the station regained some of its popularity as new merchants settled there and opened up new businesses. After its mysterious disappearance, the Empire lost interest in the station, and only a small customs force was stationed there, whose presence was hardly felt.

The mystery of the disappearance and reappearance was never solved, but a number of rumors circulated the space lanes of the galaxy involving theories of sabotage, Rebel surprise attacks, pirates, and Imperial secret weapons. Some of the more common theories were:


 * The bad luck of the Zirtran brothers rubbed off on the space station
 * The faulty hyperdrive of KV-29233-44B accidentally snapped on, sending the station across the galaxy
 * The Geelan had stolen something from a powerful entity residing beyond Wild Space, and the entity caused the station to disappear in an attempt to collect the stolen item
 * Tabok had been sent to search for the inventor of a miniature cloaking device as well as some missing components, but all of this vanished along with the station
 * The Emperor had sent an Inquisitioner to kill a Jedi who had taken refuge at the station, but the Inquisitor was killed by a Rebel agent before the disappearance
 * Whisk the Elder was in fact Great Geel himself

Smuggler Platt Okeefe who frequented the station, thought that the most likely theory was the one with the faulty hyperdrive. She also claimed to have some theories about the disappearance of all life-forms aboard the station but did not reveal these - "don't take my word for it" was all she had to say about that.

Layout
At the center of the station was the original barge, and from there, the station expanded outwards with the additional starships attached to it. The station was divided up into four main sectors.

Sector Alpha
Sector Alpha was the central part of the station. Point of interest were The Hub - the original Zirtran barge -, Chabak's, and Pandor's Hydrospanner. The Geelan mostly resided in this sector which was also the principal center of activities of the station.

Sector Beta
Sector Beta was a group of battleships attached to Zirtran's Anchor and it served as the headquarters of Defensus Solar, who were in charge of the security aboard the station. There was also as small barge in this sector serving as the base of operations of an undermanned an inefficient Imperial Customs force.

Sector Delta
Sector Delta housed a varied number of businesses and services. Points of interest were the Death Mark, Reenogga Personal Services3, the Rusted Cutlass II, and the Laughing Sullustan.

Sector Epsilon
The newest sector, Sector Epsilon was reserved for newcomers wanting to become part of the space station. It was populated by a variety of species, but most mysterious are the Kalai who arrived in their spaceship, the Destiny.

Notable residents

 * Ace of Staves
 * Adri Reenogga
 * Chabak (prior to disappearance)
 * Kara Reenogga
 * Leo Bellsfar
 * Mendel Cutter (prior to disappearance)
 * Padda
 * Quink
 * Quentin Bartog
 * ST0-48
 * Vence Tabok (prior to disappearance)
 * Vella Reenogga
 * Vygar
 * Whisk the Elder (prior to disappearance)

Known species residing in the station

 * Geelans
 * Humans
 * Kalai
 * Lethagoes
 * Twi'leks

Known factions

 * Bartog Syndicate
 * Defensus Solar
 * Dread Pirates
 * Galactic Empire
 * Geelan nests
 * Pandor's Hydrospanner
 * Phosphura Belt Pirates
 * Rebel Alliance (suspected)
 * Reenogga Personal Services3