Aurodium Nova

"I admit that it's a money pit, but I still consider it an excellent investment."

- Dorval Trinivii Jian

The Aurodium Nova is the flagship of Dorval Trinivii Jian's criminal empire. Dorval named it after two of the most recognized commodities in the galaxy: Aurodium and Nova Crystals. He was able to acquire it after the Empire began decommissioning the Gladiator-class Star Destroyer in favor of Escort Carriers. A healthy bribe to a Moff ensured that one of these supposedly decommissioned ships ended up in his hands still fully operational.

Although the Nova is far larger than most Hutt flagships, and subsequently costs much more to staff and maintain, Dorval took inspiration from Great Bogga the Hutt's Enforcer One and the way such a large ship gave Bogga an edge over his enemies and rivals. Dorval uses the Nova in much the same way; intimidating those that would stand against him and keeping it around as a prominent example of his wealth and power.

The Nova has been modified from the base configuration of the Gladiator-class. One of the first things Dorval did was remove the warhead launchers to help cut costs. Missiles are a lot more expensive than lasers and by removing them, Dorval not only saved money, but also had more room to work in other modifications since he no longer had to worry about storing all those missiles. In fact, the money he made from selling the launchers and their missiles helped to finance some of the Nova's other modifications.

The next big modification was the improvement of the ship's main reactor. The increased power flow allowed Dorval to install more and improved weapons. He upgraded the turbolasers and added six more on the ventral side of the ship for increased coverage. In addition he added several more point-defense laser cannons for protection. The improved reactor also helped to boost the power of the shields.

Even with all these modifications, the Nova is still woefully underarmed for a warship of its size (a characteristic of the Gladiator-class), meaning that it is best suited for engaging craft smaller and less well-armed than itself. Two full squadrons of Scyk Fighters help to supplement this deficiency somewhat, but not enough to make it a serious threat to most comparable warships. This is not seen as a problem by Dorval as the most common targets for the Aurodium Nova tend to be freighters and transports.