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#1
Homeworld was released. The greatest game of all time according to many.
This is a tribute thread. Make an art, image, sound file or video or (short) fanfic and post it here. I'll post mine to get things started, you've probably noticed that it's my avatar...
So I know it's based on the HW2 prerelease logo, but it's probably my favourite of all the logos. Word.
In case you're wondering, I'm in New Zealand and it's 1:27pm on the 28th here as I post.
Great idea.
I was going to go for a "Never Forget" type of pic in style of those 11. Sept memorial pics - having something like Kharak burnin and stuff like that - but it would be too much of plagiarism.
Will edit this post if I do manage to make something smart.
soooooo
*reserved for edit*
Plus I am not sure if I could do that traditionally.
BF Bad Company 2 - Name: Groovechamp
Homeworld Fanfiction in progress:
Tales of the Vjel-Amaj - feat. a unique Kiith
Act I; Act II; Act III
Discussion Thread/ Forum Blog
earth, but with the south pole omoted and flipped upside down?
still very good!
#4
This will be the third time posting this on the boards, but I made this specifically for Homeworld's ten year anniversary. Made a little change in removing the quotes and turning up the transparency on the logo and label.
Spoiler
It started off as a beauty shot of the Mothership from Mission 02, but I decided to do something more of it and turned it into a vision I had of the mothership, complete with lighting. As I said in the art thread, I wanted to make this a poster of some kind, but I don't know where to go or if I should get Relic's permission. My working size was about 71x56 inches, so it can be scaled to any size within those dimensions.
The game tokens visible in the Art thread were also for the prototype of a Homeworld tactical game I cooked up for the anniversary, but technical problems with the rules (for one, making fighters able to defeat lone ion cannon frigates) prevent an immediate release, and the 'deadline' is tomorrow.
I also have some fanfiction, but I hesitate to post it because it's unfinished and I don't want to leave anyone with misplaced expectations.
Native Taiidani
Author: Children of Kadesh, Children of Kadesh (book 2), The Taiidan Civil War, The Fire ,Tradition, Outcry (oneshot), Chronicles of the Nadiim-Basad,
and maker of the Map of the Homeworld universe, and the Homeworld 2 Grand Strategy Game. Responsible for Cataclysm 2nd. Also has a running short story collection.
All Glory to the Homeworld!
For those who might want a slightly different version of the Angel Moon emblem.
short fanfic
Hyperion-IV BB-115A Red Dawn
Red Dawn - Temeraire Battlegroup
1841 hours, Elinaar time
14/10/105 - 9615
In Orbit, Hiigara
The Vaygr Devourer-class battleship Iosh-Vel was leaking drive plasma from half a dozen holes in its rear section. It was a wonder the ship’s reactor hadn’t already gone critical, let alone the fact that it could still power its missile batteries and spinal railguns. Iosh-Vel had been part of a group of three that had split off from Clan Corei’tham’s fleet in the Shining Hinterlands to strike at the Homeworld, thinking it an easy target. Of the other two, one had been split right down the middle, fore-to-aft, by Red Dawn’s ion cannons. The other ship’s reactor had detonated, and little more than a cloud of debris was left. They had obviously been unaware of the fate of the last group that had attempted an attack on the Homeworld.
It’s the fourth time this week. Damn, I hadn’t realised our defenses had slipped that much. What happens if Makaan takes his whole damned fleet here? We can’t stand against all that! First Captain Edral Irakel Soban suppressed the thought. It was useless to agonize over things that couldn’t be changed. If Makaan did attack in force, Red Dawn and her sister ship, Temeraire, would take as many down with them as possible.
A jolt brought Irakel back to the present, and Red Dawn’s Conn. Iosh-Vel was still a threat.
“Helm, change bearing to 1-6-0 and maintain vertical alignment. Get us out of that railgun’s line of fire.” He pushed a button on the intercom panel. “Fire Control, Conn. I want that reactor destroyed!”
Irakel observed the damaged ship through one of Red Dawn’s many external cameras, which were meant to provided detailed targeting information to fire control. They were also routed to the Conn. to give captains a clear picture of the surroundings in addition to the 3d Sensor display in the CIC.
Iosh-Vel’s engines flared, and the ship accelerated suddenly. That would place quite a bit of strain on the damaged hull. What was the Vaygr captain trying to do? There was no way he could enter Hyperspace damaged as he was. Then he noticed the Devourer was turning. It took him a moment to realise that its course would take it right under Red Dawn.
“All ahead full!” It was too late.
Devourer-class battleships carried few weapons, but those they had were potent. The spinal mounted railguns were deadly, but not very versatile, simply because the ships weren’t maneuverable. To compensate, they carried a dorsal missile battery that could fire eight 120-kiloton nuclear missiles at once. Iosh-Vel couldn’t win, and its captain knew that, so he was going out fighting. Irakel could have admired it if his ship wasn’t the target. All he could do was watch as the Devourer passed under Red Dawn and brought that missile battery to bear.
“Brace for hits!”
Iosh-Vel released all eight of its missiles right into the Hiigaran battleship's ventral hull.
Irakel didn’t remember falling, but at some point he had. He grabbed a railing and pulled himself up. His head felt like it had been hit with a hammer. There was a fire being suppressed near the port wall, and half the lights were out. He keyed the intercom.
“All stations make damage report to Control.” His voice echoed throughout the ship.
“Fire Control: Ventral ion cannons destroyed.”
“Propulsion: Engine 2 destroyed. 1 and 4 are offline.”
“Damage Control: Multiple hull breaches on decks 25 and 24. Emergency bulkheads closed. Damage control parties already on it. We’ll need a DRF.”
Irakel rubbed his forehead in irritation. When he pulled his hand away, there was blood on it. He dismissed it. He had a ship to run. When he turned to face the external camera displays, he saw that most of the ventral ones were offline. At least a few were still active.
Temeraire had turned around, and was now a dozen or so kilometers starboard of Iosh-Vel, gun turrets trained on the Vaygr ship.
Temeraire’s ion cannons fired, bright blue pillars of energy stabbing the Vaygr battleship’s hull. In pristine condition, that armor was proof against 1000cm rounds and below. But this ship had been hit repeatedly for nearly three hours, and most of the armor had been burned away. The remaining hull could have been paper for all the resistance it offered. The beams not only destroyed the Vaygr ship’s reactor, they blew clean through the other side. The Devourer’s lights flickered once and went out for good.
The speaker on Irakel’s command interface came to life.
“Temeraire calling Red Dawn” That voice was unmistakably that of Marius Aures, Temeraire’s captain.
“Red Dawn. Go ahead.” Irakel answered.
“Are you guys okay? Looks like you took a beating.”
“We’re well enough” Irakel told him precisely what damage the ship had sustained. “We’ll need a DRF.”
Aures exhaled audibly. “As you say, Edral. The Ereius Riif-sa Station should have a dock open.”
Irakel nodded, as if Aures could see him. “Alright. We’ll head there. Red Dawn can jump, but I’d rather not. The ventral hull is pretty battered, and I won’t risk another breach by Hyperspacing. We’re going sublight.”
“Acknowledged. We’ll follow.” Aures closed the channel.
Irakel sat down in his chair. “Helm, lay in a course for the Ereius Riif-sa Station, as fast as our drives will take us.”
“Aye sir. ETA is 2 hours 20 minutes, sir.”
“Very well.”
The Ereius Riif-sa Station was one of Hiigara’s two orbital shipyards. In terms of size, it didn’t compare to those at Caelia or Sarum, but it still dwarfed the two battlecruisers. Still, after seeing it day after day, the large station had grown mundane. What had Irakel stunned on arriving was the sheer amount of other damaged ships currently docked, and many were so damaged that he wondered how they hadn’t broken apart on the way back here. One heavy cruiser had only a few structural beams holding its two halves together. A carrier was missing its front sensor systems, and its hull no longer seemed straight, like it had been bent. The list went on.
“Conn. SHC. We’re being hailed by FLEETCOM.”
“Open a channel.” Irakel ordered.
Admiral Davius Isam Soban spoke in a voice accustomed to command, as befitted the second in command of the Hiigaran Fleet. Despite the fact that he wasn’t in the room, he had a presence most people found difficult to ignore.
“Captain Irakel. Good to see that battlegroup of yours is still in one piece. A lot of other ships didn’t fare so well. Get your ship docked and report to FLEETCOM at 1000 hours tomorrow morning.”
“Sir, pardon me, but what in Sajuuk’s name happened here?”
“The Devourers you engaged were a diversion, intended to draw you away from their main attack on the other side of Hiigara. We stopped them. Barely. The Fleet Admiral wants all senior JKF officers to report to FLEETCOM tomorrow. It’s time we strike back, and the Admiral has a plan to do just that.”
Part of a bigger piece, if you're wondering.
Norse, post your story. The power of Homeworld commands you.
Awesome poster, of bar-none the awesomest Homeworld ship! I wish I had something to share to commemorate this momentous occasion, but alas. Still, it's great to see the work you guys have done!
#7
An excerpt from the HW2 script rewrite thread a long while back.
HW2 Rewrite: Mission 4
MISSION 3-4 CINEMATICS:
[Scene of Republican Taiidan frigates trying to fend off a Vaygr swarm, but to no avail. A few Vaygr Bomber hits shatters one of the smouldering frigates completely.]
TAIIDAN CARRIER NOVA:
Pride of Hiigara, thank you for answering our distress call. We are being overwhelmed on all fronts!
FLEET COMMAND:
We are heading for your position at best speed. Please try your best to hold on before we get there!
[Switch scene to Galactic map, zoomed to Eastern Outer Rim. Region is coloured in blue (representing Allied space) but the red Vaygr areas to the east have started encroaching in, overlapping portions of the blue. At the same time, blue arrows are moving in from five directions, converging on the besieged regions.]
FLEET INTELLIGENCE:
Makaan has made his first move – the Vaygr have launched a direct attack on the Eastern Outer Rim. The Galactic Council has dispatched fleets to halt the Vaygr advance, and we can expect additional reinforcements within the next few hours.
[Zoom further to one of the besieged areas, which has a small blue arrow that is reaching the besieged position of Nova and its fleet, which pops up as a small overlay.]
FLEET INTELLIGENCE:
Because of our Far Jumper, we will reach the Republican Taiidan before the Council does. Our task will be to assist the Taiidan and keep the Vaygr at bay until Council reinforcements can arrive. Stand by to disengage hyperspace.
[End cinematic]
***
MISSION 4: EASTERN OUTER RIM – FRONTIER SPACE
<Map set in deep space, with the Galactic Core in the distance, similar to the background in the Diamond Shoals mission of HW1.>
<Mothership jumps into the centre of the southern quadrant of the map. To the right of the jump in point is a patch of 5 asteroids. (Total 7500 RUs) 7 other similar pockets can be found elsewhere. (2 in the western quadrant, 3 in the northern quadrant, 2 in the centre)>
<Republican Taiidan Carrier Nova is in the centre of the map, accompanied by escorts. Taiidan carrier design is such that it can have a maximum of 2 production subsystems, and 3 module subsystems.>
<Allied forces: (Under AI control)
• 1 Taiidan Carrier Nova (Fighter, Frigate facilities, Hyperspace Module, Platform Control Module, Fire Control Tower)(Carrier variant with 2 production slots and 3 module slots)
• 2 Taiidan Battlecruisers (Hyperspace Module, Fire Control Tower)(Upgraded chassis of Qwaar Jet class, using 2 dual ion turrets, 1 quad heavy missile launcher, 4 heavy dual kinetic turrets)(Un-upgraded)
• 3 Taiidan Destroyers (2 at 70% HP, the third at 30% HP)(Un-upgraded)
• 2 Taiidan Heavy Missile Destroyers (One at 80% HP, the other at 50% HP)(Un-upgraded)
• 15 Taiidan Ion Frigates (30% less firepower than a Hiigaran Ion Frigate, but twice the range and 1 second less recharge time)(Un-upgraded)
• 5 Taiidan Assault Frigates (Similar to original HW1 Assault Frigate design, minus forward plasma launchers, 4 turrets now fire plasma bombs instead)(Un-upgraded)
• 8 Taiidan Interceptor squadrons (Advanced Triikor design, 6 fighters per squad)(Speed 1 upgrade)
• 7 Taiidan Assault Corvette squadrons (HW2 version of original Diirvaas multigun, 3 corvettes per squad)(Speed 1 upgrade)
• 4 Taiidan Resource Collectors (Similar design to old large collector)(Un-upgraded)>
<Allied forces will engage Vaygr until all Vaygr forces are destroyed.>
<Nova will produce ships according to tactical needs and depending on resource availability.>
<Enemy forces:
• 4 Vaygr Carriers (2 with Fighter facilities, 2 with Frigate facilities, all equipped with Hyperspace Module)(Un-upgraded)
• 3 Vaygr Battlecruisers (Hyperspace Module)(Un-upgraded)
• 2 Vaygr Destroyers (Both at 50% HP)(Un-upgraded)
• 11 Vaygr Heavy Missile Frigates (Un-upgraded)
• 16 Vaygr Assault Craft squadrons (Speed 1 upgrade)
• 7 Vaygr Bomber squadrons (Speed 1 upgrade)
• 7 Vaygr Lance Fighter squadrons (Speed 1 upgrade)
• 6 Vaygr Missile Corvette squadrons (Un-upgraded)
• 4 Vaygr Laser Corvette squadrons (Un-upgraded)
• 20 Vaygr Resource Collectors (Un-upgraded)
• 3 Vaygr Mobile Refineries (Un-upgraded)(Positioned at the 3 North Quadrant resource pockets)>
<Enemy forces will engage allied forces until all allied forces are destroyed. Engagement by player will cause enemy to split forces between attacking allies and the player.>
<Enemy carriers will produce ships according to tactical needs and depending on resource availability.>
FLEET COMMAND:
Hyperspace disengaged. We have arrived at the Eastern Outer Rim.
<Zoom to Taiidan Carrier Nova>
TAIIDAN CARRIER NOVA:
Pride of Hiigara, thank Sajuuk you’re here! We are being overwhelmed by Vaygr strike craft!
FLEET COMMAND:
We will send help immediately. Please hold on until we can get there!
<Sensor up>
FLEET INTELLIGENCE:
The Taiidan have the advantage in capital ships, but without fighter support they will be defeated in time. Send ships immediately to provide cover for the Taiidan.
<Sensor down>
***
MISSION OBJECTIVE (PRIMARY):
Assist the Taiidan fleet.
MISSION OBJECTIVE (PRIMARY):
Destroy all Vaygr forces.
<If all Taiidan ships are destroyed,>
FLEET INTELLIGENCE:
The Taiidan fleet has been destroyed. We cannot hope to stand against the Vaygr assault.
<Mission Failed>
<When player’s ships engage the Vaygr, Assist Taiidan objective successful>
<When player’s strike craft engage the Vaygr,>
FLEET INTELLIGENCE:
Combat data indicates there is a performance disparity between our strike craft and the enemy’s. Science teams also report that they are ready to begin work on first level upgrades for our strike craft. We advise commencing research immediately.
<Enable Speed 1 research for Interceptor, Bomber, Gunship and Pulsar Gunship>
<Enable Armour 1 research for Gunship and Pulsar Gunship>
***
<3 minutes after player has engaged Vaygr,>
<Sensor up>
FLEET INTELLIGENCE:
Be advised, Vaygr reinforcements have arrived in the east side of the sector.
<Sensor down>
<Enemy forces: (Approximately 10 km east of the Mothership)
• 5 Vaygr Heavy Missile Frigates (Un-upgraded)
• 5 Vaygr Assault Frigates (Un-upgraded)>
<After Vaygr reinforcements are destroyed,>
FLEET INTELLIGENCE:
Multiple hostile hyperspace signatures have been detected converging on this sector. Prepare for additional hostiles.
<Start timer, 2 minutes>
***
<When timer reaches 0 seconds,>
<Sensor up>
FLEET INTELLIGENCE:
Priority alert, sensors indicate Vaygr capital ships emerging from hyperspace around the Taiidan fleet.
FLEET COMMAND:
Attention Nova, additional Vaygr contacts are moving to intercept your fleet. Please pull out at once, there is no way for your forces to stand up to that assault!
TAIIDAN CARRIER NOVA:
Roger that, we’ll pull back our forces to your position.
FLEET INTELLIGENCE:
Allocate combat vessels to cover the Taiidan’s retreat.
<Sensor down>
<Enemy forces: (20 km to the north, east, and west of the Taiidan fleet)
• 3 Vaygr Destroyers (Un-upgraded)(1 on each side)
• 12 Vaygr Heavy Missile Frigates (Un-upgraded)(4 on each side)
• 6 Vaygr Assault Frigates (Un-upgraded)(2 on each side)>
***
MISSION OBJECTIVE (PRIMARY):
Defend the Taiidan fleet.
<When Taiidan forces reach the Mothership’s position successfully, Defend Taiidan objective successful>
<Sensor up>
FLEET INTELLIGENCE:
Priority alert, sensors detect additional Vaygr ships emerging from hyperspace. They have surrounded us. This does not look good.
<Sensor down>
<Enemy forces: (20 km to the north, east, and west of Mothership’s position)
• 15 Vaygr Heavy Missile Frigates (Un-upgraded)(5 on each side)>
***
<After 3 minutes,>
<Sensor up>
FLEET INTELLIGENCE:
Emergency alert, Vaygr super capital ships are emerging from hyperspace. We cannot continue fighting a battle on three fronts!
<Sensor down>
<Enemy forces: (20 km to the north, east, and west of Mothership’s position)
• 3 Vaygr Battlecruisers (Hyperspace Module)(Un-upgraded)(1 on each side)
• 9 Vaygr Assault Frigates (Un-upgraded)(3 on each side)
• 9 Vaygr Heavy Missile Frigates (Un-upgraded)(3 on each side)>
<When at least 1 Vaygr Battlecruiser has closed to 15 km from the Mothership,>
FLEET COMMAND:
I am picking up multiple contacts emerging from hyperspace. Help has arrived.
<Allied forces: (Jumps in around the Mothership)
• 2 Bentusi Tradeships (Equipped with triple ion cannons, each cannon deals damage equal to each Hiigaran ion frigate ion beam, no recharge, tracks all targets)
• 20 Bentusi Super Acolytes (Equipped with dual ion cannons, each cannon deals damage equal to that of Hiigaran ion platform beam, no recharge, tracks targets frigate-sized and above, HP equal to that of a fully upgraded corvette)
• 1 Hiigaran Carrier Starlight (Fighter, Frigate facilities, Hyperspace Module)(Speed 1, Armor 1 upgrade)
• Remaining Starlight forces from previous mission
• 1 Hiigaran Destroyer (Speed 1, Armor 1 upgrade)
• 6 Hiigaran Torpedo Frigates (Un-upgraded)
• 2 Taiidan Battlecruisers>
HIIGARAN CARRIER STARLIGHT:
Sorry for the delay, Fleet Command. We’ve brought friends.
BENTUSI:
Other Council fleets are en route as we speak. This invasion shall be halted.
<After 1 or all of the Vaygr Battlecruisers has been destroyed, or after half the Vaygr frigate force has been destroyed (Based on numbers present when Allied reinforcements arrive)>
FLEET COMMAND:
Something’s wrong, a minor disturbance has been detected in the Hyperspace Core. Something is coming.
FLEET INTELLIGENCE:
Mothership class signature detected. Full combat alert, stand by for contact.
<Enemy forces: (Jumps into the centre of the North Quadrant of the map)
• 1 Vaygr Flagship (Fighter, Corvette, Frigate, Capital Ship facilities, Research Module, Platform Control Module)(Un-upgraded)
• 3 Vaygr Carriers (Fighter, Corvette, Frigate facilities)(Un-upgraded)
• 2 Progenitor Dreadnaughts
• 4 Vaygr Battlecruisers (Fire Control Tower)(Un-upgraded)
• 6 Vaygr Destroyers (Un-upgraded)
• 16 Vaygr Heavy Missile Frigates (Speed 1, Armor 1 upgrades)
• 8 Vaygr Assault Frigates (Speed 1, Armor 1 upgrades)
• 6 Vaygr Infiltrator Frigates (Speed 1, Armor 1 upgrades)
• 8 Vaygr Missile Corvette squadrons (Speed 1, Armor 1 upgrades)
• 12 Vaygr Laser Corvette squadrons (Speed 1, Armor 1 upgrades)
• 14 Vaygr Assault Craft squadrons (Speed 1 upgrade)
• 8 Vaygr Bomber squadrons (Speed 1 upgrade)
• 8 Vaygr Lance Fighter squadrons (Speed 1 upgrade)>
MAKAAN:
I see that the wielder of the Second Core is here. This is most convenient indeed. I am Makaan, leader of the Vaygr. Surrender your Core and bow before me, and perhaps I will spare your flicker-lives.
FLEET COMMAND:
I am Karan Sjet of Hiigara, and I am afraid we cannot comply. We will not allow you to pass the Outer Rim.
MAKAAN:
You dare to stand in the way of the Sajuuk-Khar? Very well, you will face the consequences.
<Makaan’s fleet will now move to attack the allied forces defending the Mothership, starting with the Bentusi.>
<Sensor up>
FLEET INTELLIGENCE:
Makaan’s forces are moving into attack formation. Defend the Mothership. Sensors have also detected two super capital ships of unknown design among the Vaygr. Approach with caution.
<Sensor down>
***
MISSION OBJECTIVE (PRIMARY):
Defend the Mothership.
<When a Dreadnaught approaches a Bentusi Tradeship,>
BENTUSI:
To think that such power should be found in the hands of the Vaygr. This battle is lost. Sjet, you must flee while you can.
FLEET COMMAND:
Flee? What do you mean? Surely that ship can’t be that…
<Dreadnaught charges and fires its Phased Cannon Array on the Tradeship, dealing severe damage to it.>
BENTUSI:
*Cries of anguish*
FLEET COMMAND:
By Sajuuk, what terrible weapon is that?
FLEET INTELLIGENCE:
Unknown, but analysis indicates that its power output is off the scale. To engage it head-on now would be suicide. Recommend we escape to hyperspace immediately.
<Damaged Bentusi Tradeship drifts for a while, then explodes when the Dreadnaught fires off a salvo from its plasma turret. Remaining Tradeship begins escaping to hyperspace.>
BENTUSI:
This battle is lost. You must all retreat or be destroyed.
<Tradeship enters hyperspace>
FLEET COMMAND:
Emergency docking procedures initiated, shunting all power to the Hyperspace Core.
<All ships begin emergency docking>
MAKAAN:
So the Hiigarans flee like insects when their allies fail. This is pitiful indeed.
<When all ships craft have docked successfully, or when player selects “Emergency Jump” and leaves ships behind,>
FLEET COMMAND:
Hyperspace Core fully charged, initiating emergency hyperspace jump.
<Player’s fleet and all allies enter hyperspace>
<Mission 4 - END>
Sadly the thread died prematurely when everyone else just stopped posting. I'm not quite sure where it is now, though I reckon a search should bring it up from the depths. Quite a number of interesting interpretations there. Alas, if only Relic had had the time to finish the product...
I can't believe its been a decade since. Time really does fly.
EDIT: Come to think of it, this may be a little off-topic since this thread is supposed to be HW1-centric. I'll throw in something more relevant in due course.
EDIT2: Inspiration well's dry at the moment. So maybe a riddle instead:
Tubes give cover
The trick is to manoeuvre
Venture outside and you'll bake in the summer
Last edited by atmawpn; 27th Sep 09 at 10:39 PM.
I have no strong feelings one way or the other.
Epilogue, Truth Seeker, Divinity - Book 1: Wrath of the Gods , Interstellar Odyssey
Atmawpn...don't riddle me about the Supernova Station mission in Homeworld 1... I still have nightmares about it...
10 years... well here's the hoping the press corps of Relic are currently sleeping and will make an announcement later on today.
Here's an excerpt from one of my (unfinished) Homeworld alternate histories. The tone of the story isn't too different from what we all feel today, on the 10th birthday of the most ass-kickingest game ever.
Spoiler
----
Survival on the Rim: A history of the Interrupted Exodus of our ancestors
By Sharat Manaan, High Scholar of the University of Ferin Sha
The story of the Kushan people is laced with tragedy and hope. Exiled to the barren world of Kharak by a vicious Taiidan Empire for some three millennia, the people were reduced to a harsh tribal society on a harsher planet. Only the discovery of the Guidestone in the wreck of an ancient starship let them overcome the mirth of their prison planet as they united to return to and colonise their Homeworld – Hiigara.
The labour of some eighty years went into building their Mothership which would carry them across the galaxy to their home. The projected journey time for the Mothership, its crew, and its six hundred thousand colonists was a maximum of a year. It would take far longer than that.
The Kushan began their trek with the express purpose of being capable of handling anything. By their fourth hyperspace jump, however, their fleet was undeniably militant, having encountered three alien races, two of which were highly hostile. Having suffered almost complete destruction of their home planet by a fleet of Taiidan, the Kushan set out to avenge the deaths of some three hundred million people and protect the tiny fragment of their civilization that remained. So fuelled with anger were the Kushan that they were able to completely obliterate the fleet that burned their surrogate home. But then things went terribly wrong for the Exiles.
Attempting to bypass a ring of Taiidan defences, the Kushan people attempted to hyperspace into the Diamond Shoals, and then the Kadesh Nebula. However, they were intercepted by a massive Taiidan fleet, one which had been assigned by the Emperor to hunt down and destroy the Mothership. Caught in a gravity well created by the fleet just outside the Shoals, the Mothership and her escorts were pummelled by the overbearing firepower of the enemy fleet. In a short battle the Mothership was reduced to wreckage, as was much of the fleet. Confident that they had achieved victory, the Taiidan withdrew to their empire.
The Kushan had been all but destroyed. Their fleet now lay slowly orbiting the still-vaguely recognisable shape of the Mothership. In an act of great luck, the Kushan had decided to save Fleet Command, Fleet Intelligence, and as many colonists as possible through hyperspacing them out, into deep space. In doing this some six hundred thousand lives were saved, though the act of hyperspacing destroyed much of the Mothership’s interior and killed thousands. The last survivors of the battle waited with almost no oxygen left to board all the ships that remained with whatever of practical use they could take, and left to rendezvous with those they had hyperspaced to safety.
After a two week journey in agonising conditions, the convoy of survivors – numbering just a few thousand out of a crew of twenty five thousand – finally reached the Cryo Trays, Fleet Intelligence and Karan S’jet. The latter two had been placed in cryo-stasis, part of an emergency plan set up on Kharak. Nearby was a large, barren planetoid, which was just capable of supporting Kushan life. With nowhere else to go, the survivors set down on what they called New Kharak, to repair and rebuild. After contentious debate it was finally decided to awaken the Sleepers in the Cryo Trays, even though they would be at a loss on this new planet and could be more than what the planet’s feeble ecosystem could handle.
Fortunately, the planet could cope with the sudden influx, and the Kushan set to begin their civilization again. No one was happy that they hadn’t reached Hiigara, but they all knew that they would someday – perhaps not in their lifetimes, or that of their children, but eventually they would return to Hiigara.
But the hardships of the rocky and hostile New Kharak delayed that, and the fleet-based hierarchy of the Exodus was forced to adapt. The former Fleet Intelligence now became the government, whilst Karan S’jet returned to her sciences. The populace began to spread their crops and grow them in the valleys of granite around the equator, where conditions were optimal for the people (as opposed to Kharak’s optimal conditions being at the poles). Situated on the outer edges of its system, New Kharak was exceptionally cold, especially for its desert-knowing populace. Poorly equipped for the low temperatures, many died, even though they had been specifically picked for the ranks of the Sleepers due to their mental and physical strength.
A hundred years passed on the planet. Of the original colonists, only Karan S’jet survived as an after-effect of becoming Unbound. In the Inner Rim, the Taiidan were capable of crushing the brief rebellion, and began to tighten their grip on their worlds. It appeared that the Taiidan Empire would continue unchallenged. On New Kharak, the first spaceflights began again, powered by the surprisingly bountiful resources of the planet (the only good thing about the planet, as its population thought). Over the next hundred years the populace yearned for space travel, which they got – it wasn’t long before the skies of New Kharak were teeming with artificial satellites, and already they were exploring further.
But when hyperdrive technology was returned, suddenly things went wrong. Despite predictions it would bring the Kushan populace back together, preparing to resume their journey to Hiigara, the populace balkanized. Of the population of some two million, nearly all opted to join with their Kiith and explore space. The legacy of the Mothership was dying, along with Karan S’jet (who had fallen ill 178 years after landing on New Kharak). In the course of just a few years, the two million-strong population of New Kharak fell to just thirty thousand. The rest had scattered into space.
It wasn’t long before the Kushan began to fight amongst themselves. Ancient Kiith rivalries flared into ongoing feuds between the space-faring clans. New Kharak was a bastion of peace and neutrality, the only one in the increasingly hostile areas of the Great Wastelands, of which the Kushan were now lords. Only a few things united the Kiith – the perpetual war with the Turanic Raiders, the neutrality towards the Bentusi, and the increasingly vague memories of their quest for the Homeworld. Otherwise, there was little in common, as ship design and function grew increasingly scattered from various influences. Many had chosen to join the Kadeshi, and their technological influence gradually disseminated amongst the Kushan. So too were influences of Taiidan, Turanic Raider, Bentusi and countless other races incorporated into starship design.
In NKY (New Kharak Year) 382, the first set of events occurred that would reunite the Kushan and cause them to resume their voyage. After a crushing defeat with the Turanic Raiders, a relatively small Kiith, the Somtaaw, withdrew into a large asteroid field to repair their fleet. However, a mis-jump caused their fleet to reach a large debris field. Intrigued, the Somtaaw began to explore the field, scavenging various resources. Just hours after arrival, fate drove one scavenging team to chance upon the vast wreck of the Mothership, still recognisable despite pummelling by debris and stray asteroids over almost four centuries.
The Somtaaw fleet wasted no time in returning to New Kharak with the news. Within just weeks the news had spread across the Kiithid kingdoms, and the Wastelands were abuzz with talk of the Mothership. Oral histories were recited en masse as interest in Kushan history as a whole was reborn.
In NKY 393 a peaceful expedition by the most powerful Kiithid was dispatched to the Mothership wreck. The most eminent scientists, historians and archaeologists from S’jet, Naabal and Paktu were sent to explore the vast ruins, protected by a fleet of Sobani warships. For the six months that they had, the crew explored almost every part of the Mothership accessible to them, recording enough data to fill an entire library. The vast foundries, containing half-finished ships built just too late. The hangar bay, torn apart by ships trying to escape too fast. The cavernous gulfs that dotted the ship’s interior, marks of where vital components had been hastily hyperspaced out. All this was catalogued for the future, along with all the useful technology that could be salvaged. The research team were even lucky enough to download the entirety of the Mothership’s computer systems after briefly restoring power to a ship that for centuries had known darkness.
Upon returning to New Kharak the data was vehemently analysed over and over again by hordes of waiting scientists. Combat records were pored over, as the intelligentsia of a hundred Kiith kingdoms tried to decode their past. Nevertheless, there was so much data it would take two full years to completely download and disseminate the data amongst the million or so scientists of the Kushan.
The information gathered soon became common knowledge amongst the Kiithid; tales of the Exodus which had been warped through nearly four centuries of oral recounting were corrected with modern information. Long forgotten facts were re-established – the most important of which was the infamous Burning of Kharak. When the recording of the Taiidan burning their old surrogate home spread throughout the Kushan, a new sense of unity and anger began to rise amongst the Kiith. Union began to return as they embraced common memories – and enemies.
Following their four-century old victory, the Taiidan had been more or less invulnerable to any foreign onslaughts. Only a war with the Frerrn Aggregate and a brief encounter with a biomechanical virus named the Beast blemished the first two hundred years of relative peace in their Empire. But in NKY 216, the Taiidan Empire found itself in a vicious conflict with the barbaric race known as the Vaygr. Led by the Warrior Lord Makaan II (whose father had located a Hyperspace Core, uniting the Vaygr Crusades) the immense force launched a huge thrust into Taiidan space. In a war that lasted almost eighty years the Vaygr were eventually repulsed, though not before billions of lives had been lost on both sides, and bringing about the deaths of both Makaan II and the Taiidan Emperor Riesstiu IV. A brief period of anarchy followed for the Taiidan as the Emperor’s successor – his clone – fought for power. After a year-long power vacuum, the Emperor re-established the Taiidani frontiers, driving the now in-fighting Vaygr back and gaining a far stronger grip on his subjects.
The new Riesstiu IV (the Third), though just as powerful and an even better strategist and warrior as his predecessor, was also just as mad. Upon hearing the ancient prophecy – ‘He who unites the Three Cores shall awaken Sajuuk’ – he became obsessed with fulfilling it. He knew that the Vaygr had the Third Core, and on the pretext of ‘restoring order’ to them launched a bloody campaign to retrieve the it, in the process gaining almost complete control over the Vaygr reaches and enslaving almost all of those he didn’t kill. Access to the Third Core was, however, denied to him, as in an act almost totally unbefitting of the Vaygr they entrusted the Core to the Bentusi, who already possessed the First Core. In doing this Riesstiu was enraged, ordering complete and all-out warfare on the Bentusi. From NKY 275 onwards any Bentusi found in Taiidan space were either destroyed or crippled.
This persecution was one of the main excuses for Riesstiu’s draconian security measures over the next two centuries. Meanwhile Riesstiu held no reservations over the exploitation of the Vaygr, incorporating their technologies and using them as cheap slave labour to power his Empire. So mad and savage was he that simple peace protests and Vaygr-rights movements were punished through massive orbital bombardments, killing thousands at a go. Needless to say, these protests didn’t last long. Distracted by establishing a totalitarian state and recovering the First and Third Cores, as well as a small rebellious core of Taiidan and Vaygr, Riesstiu overlooked the Kiithid kingdoms and the hints that they had the Second Core – until, that is, the New Kharak Year of 407.
The various Kushan kingdoms had established many alliances throughout their time in space, and a common friend was that of the Turanic Raiders, their attacks on the Mothership and Khar-Selim were long forgotten. However, once this data was retrieved from the Mothership wreck, Kiith turned en masse against their former allies. The Raiders were greatly angered by the attacks, and as such decided to betray them to their ancient associates – the Taiidan. Bringing with them information on the Kushan’s history and their possession of hyperspace, the Turanic Raider ambassadors were allowed to address the Emperor himself. The opportunistic Emperor leapt at the opportunity of acquiring the Second Hyperspace Core, dispatching an entire Legion of Fleets (equivalent to some eighty carriers) to conquer and subjugate the Kushan.
The Legion arrived and wasted no time in attacking the first Kiith kingdom they came across – that of Naabal. In a plea for help, the Naabal-Sa implored of every Kiithid to come to their aid in defence against their ancient enemy. The call was heeded by all but a few kingdoms, and in days a force more than three times that of the Legion had arrived. In a series of decidedly one-sided battles the Legion was pummelled by an anger-driven, overpowering force of Kushan. Culminating in the battle of Larith’s Void, the remnants of the Legion were obliterated by the mobile and destructive Kushan vessels. Even the Legion Flagship, a design based on the personal ship of Riesstiu IV the Second’s reign, would have been completely obliterated, if it weren’t for a call by the S’jet to instead capture it to gain its technologies and interrogate its crew.
This request was obliged, and the few thousand survivors were taken to the vast asteroid-prison of Gaar-Layam. Held for two years as their Flagship was analysed and cross-analysed by the same scientists who had studied the Mothership, many died in captivity or through forceful interrogation. The Kushan learned the story of what had happened to their ancient foes, and how they had subjugated the entire galactic core. Infused with anger and hatred over the atrocities the Taiidan had committed in the past, and also a desire to liberate the oppressed systems of the core, the Kiith kingdoms laid down their ancient hostilities for the last time to once again seek out and capture their homeworld.
In orbit around New Kharak, the chassis of a new Mothership was built. Technological secrets held back for generations were suddenly selflessly shared to the other Kiithid and used in designing the Mothership, the Sword of Freedom. Over the next eighty years the Kiithid laboured to construct a the vessel, nearly twice the size of it’s predecessor, incorporating every last scrap of technological and engineering data they had acquired in their grossly extended Exodus. The Sword of Freedom would function similar to its predecessor in that it would carry a vast number of colonists in cryogenic suspension to its destination (albeit ten times that of the original Mothership – six million people would be taken from the total Kushan population of around half a billion billion). However, it would also be a warship, one fully capable of fighting off the threats of the Taiidan unlike her predecessor, whose weak armour was a commonly blamed factor for her destruction. Instead of a puny number of mass drivers, the Sword of Freedom would be equipped with ion cannon turrets, plasma bomb launchers, drone systems, missile batteries, a high-tech defence network reverse engineered from captured Taiidani vessels, and a layer of almost impenetrable armour, based on samples from Bentusi ruins. It would have room to support a fleet of thousands of vessels, from tiny strike craft right up to the immense Dreadnought Cruisers. And once it had established a Hiigaran colony its services wouldn’t end – it would be used as a vast orbital fortress until the rest of the Kushan could establish a safe corridor for access, and then reactivate to hunt down the last remnants of the Taiidan, lifting their oppressive power from the galaxy forever.
The Sword of Freedom was completed in NKY 499, though launch would be delayed by another year as Riesstiu launched another assault. (So distracted was he with his war on the Bentusi he had completely forgotten about his taskforce – for ninety years. The only contact the Taiidan had with the Kushan was occasional border skirmishes and Turanic Raider attacks.) The assault came in the form of three entire Legions. Unlike previously the Legions lay low, exploring the nearby areas and gaining information on the Kushan territory. Upon discovering the Mothership they made the foolish mistake of hyperspacing straight towards it instead of contacting home – a mistake that, if rectified, would have spelt doom for the Kushan.
Nonetheless, their attack was still devastating – with two hundred and forty carriers and three vast Mothership-class vessels, along with hundreds of capital-class ships and countless smaller vessels emerging throughout the New Kharak system brought shock for the Kushan. The attack was devastating, crippling a significant portion of the Kushan defence fleet and the Sword of Freedom’s scaffold. However, the arrival of the majority of the Kushan fleet saved the labour of eighty years from destruction, and only hours after the arrival of the Legions they were already facing overwhelming odds from an angry and battle-ready pan-Kiithid fleet. Facing catastrophic casualties the decimated Legions attempted to retreat back to Taiidan space, but in the process were further devastated by the border fleets of the Kushan, forcing them to take a far longer route to bypass the defence network.
The battle resulted in tens of thousands of deaths for the Kushan and millions for the Taiidan, the destruction of many of New Kharak’s key orbital facilities, and an attempted Kharakian Genocide-style bombardment of many planets. The New Kharak Defence Fleet was mostly destroyed, suffering an estimated 72% casualty rate and the loss of the vast majority of its capital ships and frigates, and the fleet being built for travelling with the Sword of Freedom suffered heavy attrition too. However, the attack demonstrated the overwhelming firepower and effectiveness of the Sword of Freedom’s defence system and allowed the Kushan to refine their anti-Taiidan tactics and retune their ship capabilities and designs for maximum effectiveness. The Taiidani who survived the battle were interned to the Gaar-Layam orbital prison, whilst their ships were taken to an isolated Naabal research post.
Over the next two years, the Mothership was completed whilst New Kharak’s orbital facilities were repaired. The main effort of constructing the Sword of Freedom was drawing to a close; the focus now was on the administrative side. It was still unknown who would become the new Fleet Command, who would be wired into the Sword as its living control matrix.
Many of the more powerful Kiithid nominated one of their own number, typically the wisest, or most combat-experienced or otherwise most prestigious member of their clan for integration as Fleet Command. However, the vast majority throughout the entirety of the Kushan supported the cause of Kehri S’jet, the last linear descendant of Karan S’jet, the original Fleet Command. Although many opposed her selection on the grounds it was ritualistic and an S’jet-based aristocracy, Kehri’s passion for the cause and clear selflessness led her to become the most popular candidate for position as Fleet Command. Upon analysis by the Daiamid Kehri S’jet was indeed selected, and was wired into the Sword of Freedom.
In NKY 500, everything was ready. The Sword of Freedom waited proudly in the arms of the Scaffold in orbit around New Kharak, with the Hyperspace Core fully secure within. All the systems on the Mothership were functioning perfectly. The six million destined for travel to Hiigara were in cryogenic suspension. The vast fleet built to accompany the Mothership on her travels had been rebuilt and was now complete. Fleet Command and Fleet Intelligence were online. As close to the moment of the old Mothership’s destruction five hundred years prior as possible, the Sword of Freedom was released from the Scaffold. After a five century hiatus, the journey to the Homeworld resumed.
----
Come on, Relic and/or Sierra - give us the word that you remember this brilliant game!
On the tenth birthday, we wish Homeworld another years of living, fanatical community... and maybe great Homeworld 3?
I might post some stuff from Homeworld: Pilot.
some stuff I wrote
She screamed and banged her feat limply against the door. She was acutely aware of the stiffing air in her tiny enclosure, hot and rapidly becoming stale and smelly. Her head swam, making her wonder how much longer the air could sustain her without the fans running. Kicking and screaming did her no good on that front, but made her feel like she was doing something. After the interminable, uncountable time that had passed, she needed that.
There was the creaking sound again. And again. Much louder now. She sighed and leaned forward, grabbing the straw again. At least it still worked. She took a long pull from it, wishing it had something stronger in it, and tried to relax.
Now the creaking was replaced with bangs and thumps. She entertained visions of repair crews making their way to her, and actually succeeded in relaxing. A little, anyway. The sounds came closer. She tried to wait patiently. At last the sounds reached the hall behind her. The sound of wrenching metal and shouting confused her. Before she could sort it out her pod door buckled, then was forced open with a loud sound of protest. Light flooded in, harsh and bright, and she was temporarily blinded. A man's voice was shouting in a strange accent. "-being taken into custody. You will not be harmed if you do not resist. Please cooperate, there is no need for further violence-"
Even as her mind reeled hands were grabbing her, hauling her out of her control harness, and pushing her upright. Their hands. They were on the ship.
Unacceptable.
She blinked hard, desperate for working eyesight. Through watering eyes she saw hall was full of large, stocky men in dull gray armor, brandishing unfamiliar weapons. A team of them had heavy equipment they were using to force open the pods. Across from her there stood Kroi, a pilot she knew well, teetering on unsteady legs and being supported by one of Them. She was suddenly sharply aware of the still-present hands holding her shoulders.
She shared a glance with Kroi. There was no way Protectors could accept this kind of treatment. Their ship was full of the enemy. She saw it on his face, he knew it as well as she. He nodded. She counted down, mouthing the words. Three, two, one, zero. She didn't wait to see what he did. She lurched sideways out of the grasp of her captor, at the nearest thing that looked like a weapon. Her legs gave out beneath her, the floor rushed up to meet her. She tried to catch herself, but her arms were sluggish. Her vision danced as the metal deck met her cheek.
There was more shouting. She couldn't follow the words. By force of will her hands found there way under herself and she began to lever her way up. Still more shouting. Shouting and movement. She registered two sharp points pricking her skin for the briefest instant before fire coursed through her entire body. Every muscle tensed violently, and consciousness was dashed.
Co-founder of Homeworld:@
Open to new members
Yeah my photoshop skills suck, but i'll try get something else aswell. (Small Adagio of Strings cover on guitar
It also resizes easily to 140x140.
10 years ago, my interest in video games began to rise like hell because of one special game.
if I have any free time besides modeling, keeping a gaming clan up and drawing I will be contributing.
Shraa, I absolutely love that story - moar plz!
So, yeah, umm, maybe I might contribute, erm, something, if I get round to it.
Let's sail in this sea of charms
Let's drown underneath the stars
Ok you have to bare with me, the guitar is harder to be as smooth as a choir and violins etc. I tried as hard as possible to keep the mood and feel of the piece, hope you like this 1min snippit of Adagio For Strings.
Oh my... ;[ That is so... moving, touching ;[
HONORARY SALUTE!
2 years of playing HW1, 3 years of HW:C and 5 years of Homeworld 2...
Great stories :} Nice, MadCatChicken
Ok, now rly: Let's go drink something.
Felix24
Last edited by Felix24; 28th Sep 09 at 12:24 PM.
"Remember, remember the fifth of November.
Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.
I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot."
nice one madcatchicken!
<Kalimac>Schakal - he's the hero #art deserves... but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him, set the dogs on him, because he can take it.<***>god was sitting on the swiss alps and making germans. and the ones he didn't get right, he just tossed over his shoulder...
#18
#19
Woo Kadesh!
Wowza Riess... your long-awaited sequel to that awesome Burning of Kharak episode finally emerges!
Madcatchicken... your guitar piece is cool. Sounds vaguely akin to my theremin!
Thanks for comment, OJN! There will be (and is) more where that came from.
Nice Riess now we wait Chrome to come and colour it hehe.
Well in the end I just decided to copypaste a review I posted in response to someone's "greatest games of all time" hub on HubPages.
----------------
Homeworld is 10 years old now - indeed, I think the tenth anniversary was only yesterday. Amidst the multiplayer celebrations of the RN forums, thoughts regarding the game came to me.
THE GAMEPLAY
Homeworld is a rather revolutionary title - it is, to my knowledge, the first ever fully 3D RTS game, and boy does it take advantage of it. In nearly every level - in both the campaigns and skirmishes - the enemy is on a different gradient to you, as are the resources and crates (little bonus boxes). This opens up interesting possibilities - as an example, in skirmish games the CPU will often send a group of ships at your Mothership from above, then, while you're fending them off, another group will come at you from below. This is because there are substantial bonuses to attacking from the Z axis - all ships have lighter armour on the top, bottom, and rear, and the CPU will eagerly exploit this.
Which brings me to my next point - the CPU. Compared to most RTS games, the CPU is incredibly smart - many new players, including myself, have been flummoxed by the level of skill thrown at you even at average difficulty setting. (Incidentally, there is only a fixed difficulty setting in Skirmish - for the campaign, the difficulty scales up smoothly with the size of your fleet.)
When you assign groups to your units, fleet command will actually acknowledge this, saying something like "Group 2, assigned". When this group goes into battle, Fleet Command will provide updates, like "Group 2, under attack" or "Group 2 reports victory". It's something that should be included in every RTS game - having played Homeworld, it's conspicuously absent in other strategy games, like Age of Empires or even Dawn of War (which is made by the same company, no less -what has become of my relic?)
GRAPHICS & SOUND
The graphics on Homeworld are old; there's no point in denying it. There are actually some occasions where you can count the pixels if you're bored. Yet somehow, even today, Homeworld still looks absolutely beautiful. The backgrounds are wondrous, the ships beautifully rendered, (http://shipyards.relicnews.com/kadesh/images/mothe is an example of both) and the Ion Cannon shots send shivers up your spine. On the sound front, the Ion Cannons do pretty much the same thing (send shivers up your spine) and the music is simply fantastic (http://homeworld.wikia.com/wiki/Relic_Community_Ho ). The voice-acting of Fleet Command and Fleet Intelligence is a bit emotionless, but intentionally so - on level 3, when they are giving you the low-down on the burning of their home planet, you can just make out the emotional trembles in their voices, and when you think how emotionless they normally sound, this makes it all the more shocking. Then there are all the little things that make it seem all the more real - your ships will frequently trade comms messages, like "it looks even, let's do it", or "this isn't looking good fleet", corresponding to the nature of the situation at hand.
STORY
Homeworld's story is, in my opinion, a very good piece of work. In places, you will be close to tears, in others, you will be burning for revenge - Homeworld's storyline has it all. Of course, the backgrounds strewn throughout the 16 levels make it even more awesome - but that, I've already described, so let's not dwell on it. I can't explain too much for fear of spoilers - suffice to say, it is brilliant, and exceeds most others I know of. It is also ridiculously challenging, until you get the hang of it - I had the game for literally years before I managed to complete it ONCE.
MULTIPLAYER
Sadly, WON abandoned Homeworld some years ago, so only LAN is left on the disk as default. However, not only is there a Hamachi server open for Homeworld, there is Gameranger (the one I use), a brilliant multiplayer scheme that makes sure Homeworld multiplayer is still active.
OVERALL
This is actually the only game I've ever played that I would rate a 10 - superb everything, in my opinion, make it a must-have. Also, there is a myth that Homeworld doesn't run on Vista; it does, just slowly (this is Vista, for goodness sake, what did you expect?). It even works on the Windows 7 release candidate.
Well, I've gotta go now. So I'll sum up by saying: Happy birthday, Homeworld. You cemented me into sci-fi, and I owe you a great debt. Let's hope we have as great a community in another five or ten years.
And please, let there be a Homeworld 3!
Ok, here we go...
So here's a little something that ran into my for the whole day i couldn't help but doing it ^^
I would have better fit a video clip but my talents as artist are already poor, so a video is not an option
By advance, i totally assume that i've taken some little things from HW2 ^^ So don't argue at me for these
Now, enjoy
Page 1
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Page 6
EDIT: Shraa, my mind precisely
I'll always remember how i met with HW ^^
And let's pray for HW3
All of this has happened before...
All of this will happen again...
Time is but an eternal cycle.
Chrome's "Homeworld: Legacies" Fan/Reader
There were a few spelling mistakes, but other than that, whoa...
#26
This is from about a year/year and a half ago. An attempt to link some of the Homeworld: Empire concepts with the ending of HW2. This was originally going to be an Epic™ Fanfic but I lost motivation to actually write it beyond the outlining parts. Some of the language is rough/placeholder, this was just an idea dump. This was sparked in part by this post and the parent thread.
"Homeworld 3" backstory
The discovery of the Eye of Aarran and the activation of the Great Hyperspace Network (which colloquially shares its name) marked the beginning of the Age of Sjet, and great turmoil in the galaxy. Although the Aarran network granted them unparalleled hyperspace capabilities, it still took the Hiigarans several years to defeat the Vaygr and reclaim their former territories. The blitzkrieg launched by Makaan brought the fledgling Hiigaran empire to its knees. Nearly a dozen star systems were completely overrun, and the Hiigaran navy took enormous losses against the Vaygr horde. Hiigaran policy after the Activation became one of solidifying the home front first before turning their eyes outward. Due to this, the Hiigarans were forced to suspend many of their treaty and alliance obligations while they rebuilt their core worlds and worked to destroy the most hostile Vaygr crusades. While the death of Makaan led to civil war within the Vaygr ranks, there remained several major Vaygr fleets that threatened Hiigaran space. Surgical strikes using the Eye gates allowed the depleted Hiigaran fleets to take out the most dangerous concentrations of Vaygr, but their offensive capabilities were hampered by the need to protect the Homeworld and the focus of industrial production on civilian reconstruction.
The crumbling Vaygr empire further intensified the chaos of the Dust Wars. Where once some had been able to put aside their differences faced with a much larger threat, when that threat evaporated not only did they resume their wars but entire new ones began, prompted by the transplantation of dozens of Vaygr tribes into new territories. Deprived of their Hiigaran alliance, many of the former Council races took a hard beating during the Dust Wars. The Taiidan Republic was forced to abandon its capital and sought refuge inside Frerrn space.
It wasn’t until 9629 that the reclusive Hiigarans emerged from their space and shocked the galaxy with the revelation of the hyperspace network. Like firefighters dousing a forest fire, Hiigaran fleets streamed out of heretofore hidden or deactivated gates and smashed the fleets before them. The sight of the reborn Hiigarans and a great weariness after decades of war quickly led to multiple cease-fires being called across all fronts, as the Inner Rim came together to form the Arbitration Tribunals. The various issues and injustices committed to and by each faction were brought before an assembly of judges, to be solved through diplomacy and compromise rather than war and death. Those who refused to come before the Tribunals faced the wrath of the Hiigarans and their de facto allies, and their capitulation was swift. On [May 22], 9630, the final cease-fire was signed and the final group of delegates checked into Assam Kiith’sid for the Tribunals. The Dust Wars were over.
Looking back later, many would blame the Tribunals for setting the stage for what was to come. Although the Tribunals were chaired by multiple figures from an assortment of races, many accused the affairs of being biased towards a Hiigaran point of view, not the least of which because of the Hiigaran’s control of Aarran and Sajuuk. Cooperative races and allies of the Hiigarans saw themselves with greatly increased access to the gates, while resistance was met with limited to no hyperspace access. Subconsciously or not, the Hiigarans emerged out of the Tribunals at a definite advantage.
Hiigaran control over Aarran would soon end however. One of the secondary purposes of the Tribunals, besides the cessation of hostilities in the Inner Rim, was to set the stage for a new Galactic Council, to prevent the mass bloodshed of the Dust Wars. Karan Sjet especially pushed hard for a new Council, and was an integral part of the negotiations to establish it. Fully realized in 9634, one of the first acts passed through the New Council was a comprehensive set of regulations for use and ownership of the Eye of Aarran. The Eye would form the core of the new galactic trade routes, replacing the ancient Bentusian system. Council members would be charged with protecting the gates in their sectors from pirates, but they would officially be ownerless. The gates themselves were almost completely impervious to weapons fire, but raiders and brigands could assault ships coming through them.
The other major act the New Council did was a massive Reconstruction effort across the galaxy. Especially with the power and speed of Aarran, vast amounts of materiel were easily transported over very large distances. The Hiigarans spearheaded the effort, applying many of the same techniques they had used locally on a much larger scale. Hiigaran service companies became the dominant galactic enterprises, managing the rebuilding efforts of thousands of worlds. It’s obvious now, but these were the first steps on the way to the Pax Hiigara. Karan Sjet worked tirelessly to ensure that power rested with the New Council, that the Hiigarans acted only as the most willing and selfless helpers. Even with the best of intentions however, the Hiigarans came to be seen as guardians and providers throughout most of the galaxy, and the aura of godhood surrounding Sjet spread beyond the bounds of Hiigaran society. For a dozen years the galaxy saw peace, consumed with the enormity of Reconstruction.
Soon enough however, the petty squabbles and issues arose again. The damage was done, metaphorically speaking. Although the New Galactic Council handled all the issues and was the official rule of the Core, the galactic mindset was that Hiigarans were the true powers of the galaxy. More prevalent in the small, more primitive species that has been hardest hit by the Dust Wars, (and therefore given the most aid by Hiigara) the idea of the Hiigarans as being the ultimate saviors and benefactors spread throughout all the galaxy, slowly but surely, for the next three centuries.
(Karan Sjet dies – 9743. People naturally look to another Sjet to assume the leadership role – begins tradition of Sjet leadership.)
Editor's Note: The Alt text from below would roughly start here. I like it better, as this version is a little too heavy-handed in its parallelism, (
This was a position that the Hiigarans came to resent. Popular sentiment became that the Council was inefficient and slow, and that Hiigara was being pulled into the affairs of too many other nations, and forced to act stupidly and inefficiently at the behest of the Council. Outwardly, the sentiment was much the same, that the Council had become a puppet for Hiigaran politics.
The final straw was the Mayako Massacre, which occurred in 9965. This sparked a brief but furious war between various allied groups against the Hiigarans. The Allied fleets were stopped at Khyber by the Hiigaran armada, which included the Gatekeeper. Furious at the attack, Sjet-sa Endika denounced the Council and announced Hiigara’s withdrawal. Part of this withdrawal involved retaking control of the Eye of Aarran. This was initially met with resistance, but Endika used the formidable Hiigaran Armada to crush it, and solidified Hiigaran control of the galaxy by declaring the Pax Hiigara, and himself as the first Emperor Sjet. No more would the galaxy suffer under the pettiness of nations and inadequacies of the Galactic Council – the Kushan, who had given and lost so much, would not be beholden to anyone, and would ensure peace and prosperity as benevolent custodians of the stars.
And for the most part, the Pax has been peaceful and prosperous.
Alt:
Even though both the Council and the Hiigarans had tried to fight it, the ascendance of the Hiigarans as the dominant galactic power was inevitable after the Dust Wars. Many peoples would naturally seek their help first before going to the Council, and the Council was seen as weak and ineffective unless spearheaded by Hiigarans. From as early as 9824, there had been rumblings that the Hiigarans should just replace the Council and that the galaxy should embrace the first galactic government.
The issue came to a head in 9965, when an official act was put in front of the beleaguered and by this point, almost powerless Council, to officially disband it and instead adopt the Hiigarans as the leaders in a new pan-galactic alliance. Sa of Sa’s Endika Sjet accepted the proposal, and the modestly pretentious title of first Galactic Steward. To celebrate the new galactic order, he declared the beginning of the great Pax Hiigara and a massive series of celebrations and festivals. Sjet-Sa was warmly and enthusiastically accepted by the majority of the galactic populace, and his reign is still regarded with a certain nostalgia.
[Next ruler rules as a Steward for a couple decades, but eventually adopts the Emperor title, both de facto and de jure. Over the centuries the fuzzy warm “alliance” becomes more and more a hierarchal system with the Hiigarans firmly at the top and depending on the goodwill of the Sjet family, which becomes a distinct entity from the rest of Kiith Sjet. The sweeping reforms that begin to make this Pax tyrannical and oppressive begin in the 550’s)
Sjet Emperors
(Steward) Endika r. 0-79
…
Corbulo r.1012-1019 (Abidan takes the throne in the Great Compromise)
Names
Torech (carrier/Taiidan)
Tel-Heruse (Paktu destroyer, Capt. Rykobi)
Emp. Corbulo
Mayako
Khyber
Masada
Kruje
Pavan Khind
Culloden
Shiroma
Prince Abidan (My father is judge)
Pallu
Endika
Abiam
Ships
Torech – Taiidan fleet carrier, flagship of Admiral X. Torech becomes one of the central ships in the Pak/Dan fleet, coordinating strikes against Royalist targets. Torech is also one of the few fleet carriers to survive the Sjetti reprisals, and ends up becoming one of the most important Taiidan units.
Abbreviations/Slang (Adjective)
Sjet – Jet (Jetti)
Paktu – Pak (Pakten)
Manaan – Man (
Naabal – Bal (Naablian)
Taiidan – Dan (Danian)
Royalists – Royals, Roys
Abbasid – old, ancient race that peacefully aquisqued to Hiigaran control. Sagely advising the Royal Throne, they projected the appearance of peaceful compliance and weren’t therefore subject to many of the restrictions placed on other species. This allowed them to build and maintain a fairly large and well-equipped fleet. When the Pax shatters, the Abbasid reveal their true nature – a deep hatred for the Hiigarans and the long centuries of the Pax. The Abbasid are determined to become the new dominant power of the galaxy and to destroy their Hiigaran oppressors.
Pax 1013 = 1013 years after the allied defeat at the Battle of Khyber and the subsequent crowning of Steward Endika Sjet and the declaration of the Pax Hiigara.
Current Emperor: Corbulo Sjet. Recently ascended after the death of the last emperor in Pax 1010. One of his children is Abidan Sjet.
Griitidim has been readopted as a derogatory term. Originally used in the Heresy Wars by Kiith Siidim, in its current context the word refers to the pro-kiith faction, whose blood is still corrupted by the sands of Kharak.
“Look at what Hiigara has become. It’s a curse, inspiring fear, contempt, hatred. The word used to mean hope. When Karan led us home, the Beast Wars, through the Dust Wars, through Reconstruction. We were the shining beacon of the galaxy."
“How quickly we forget. We’ve come full circle. Our ancestors were exiled from Hiigara for delusions of grandeur, then the Taiidan, and here we are again. We should just blow the damn planet up and be done with it.” (←This does eventually happen.)
The story would have begun with some political event regarding the kiithid's use of the Eye network and/or a movement to formally merge the kiithid together. Kiith Sjet would be the primary antagonists, and Kiith Paktu the primary protagonists. Sjet starts getting greedy and begins bossing around the other kiithid. Through all the excesses and crimes of the centuries, internally Kushan civilization had always maintained a certain equalness. While Sjet were the Royal Family, it was seen as Hiigarans > All, not Sjet > All. When Sjet starts to encroach on this, Kiith Paktu and others become increasingly alarmed, until finally a civil war breaks out between the Royalists (those allied to Sjet and in favor of unification) and the old Kiith. The end (or one end - possibly an agreement between Sjet and Paktu) would be the Great Compromise, wherein Abidan Sjet would compromise in some fashion with the old kiith (who don't have a snazzy adjective like the Royalists do - Loyalists sounds too imperial and like they're loyal to the crown.)
#27
Colors of Riess' comic!
Well, decided to make something after all (click for a larger version)
whoa... (Jaw drops off joints)
#30
In homage to the developer concept of battles as a spaghetti ball....
"I hate it when our trails get knotted up like this!"
Hilarious Chrome!
@Overmind: Thak you for the appreciation man
Fact is it's pretty different from what i intended first, but i realised that what i thought first for some text part were either too succinct or woefully inadapted ^^
Anyway, thanks
@Fuel: I already told ya what i think about this one =)
Epic awesomeness, like HW <3
Okay, this comes a day late, but the inspiration didn't come until today, and I thought because of the exchanges in this story it would fit best here. I blame Norsehound for the following article, and he blames Chrome for the inspiration for that article of his that inspired this article. If that makes any sense.
That said, people who've watched Stargate will get more out of this than those who haven't, but unfortunately drawing on that series was the only way I could form an appropriate setting for this story:
Lame Story intertwining all three Homeworlds
"I'm dead," stated the stupefied interceptor pilot. The cockpit of his high-speed fighter craft had, in a brief, brilliant flash, been replaced inexplicably by the homey interior of some building he was unfamiliar with. He looked down at his hands to see that the control levers he had clenched tighter than the jaws of a Skaal Tel only a moment ago had been instantly substituted by strange eating utensils. As the hypertension throughout his muscles began to relax from their final, defiant contraction, he noticed he was seated quite comfortably in a chair. He glanced to his left and right; all around the table before him were strangely friendly faces, none of which he recognized, but all seeming to have some connection to him that he could not quantify.
"You're in good company," said some lady from across the table, in apparent delayed response to his quip about being dead.
The interceptor pilot held his utensils closer to his face, still trying to connect the dots. "I got a whole round of kinetics through my aft section, just now. The reactor was hit-- my engines were going to overload..."
"Heard that one a few times," said one of the people on his right; a lax-looking fellow well-slouched into his seat, as he brandished a mug.
"Where am I?" the pilot finally asked. "Or rather, where are we?"
"You're caught somewhere between Ascension and the lower plains of existence," explained a random passer-by, who just happened to be wearing glasses.
"Hey, haven't I seen you around here a few times?" asked the lax figure.
"Yeah, I'm sort of a frequenter," agreed the man with spectacles before he continued on his way.
"The toast with apricot spread keeps me around!" shouted the lax man after him. Sensing the confusion of the other, newer arrivals, he explained, "I've been here a while."
The pilot was still too dumbfounded to pay much attention. "So," he began, "we're all dead then?"
"Basically," someone admitted.
"Why are we here?" the pilot continued.
"Who knows."
An awkward silence ensued.
One spoke up, "So, you were a pilot I take it?"
"Um, yeah," said the pilot. "I was a wingman in an interceptor squadron. We were part of a policing task force; we happened across a rogue Vaygr carrier group; I was shot down by a squad of assault craft."
As soon as he said that, two people seated across the table did a high-five. "Score!" they said in unison.
"Yeah, they're Vaygr," explained the lady from earlier.
Without thinking, the pilot went on to ask, "How many here are Hiigaran?"
Somewhere over half the people at the table raised their hand. One sitting next to the lax dude nudged him. "Raise your hand; you're Hiigaran!"
"I refuse to be counted as anything other than Manaani," he explained before taking a big swig from his steaming mug.
"You deal your kiith an embarrassment by being counted among them," said someone else at the table.
The interceptor pilot became curious. "Why?" he asked.
The lax Manaani sat up in his chair. "They're insulting my reputation purely out of jealousy. You sir, are looking at the proud first casualty of the Homeworld War."
The lady across the table chimed in, "That's his way of saying he got stuck inside a Target Drone and got blown up with it when it was deployed during the scout combat trials."
"Alright, not my proudest moment, I'll admit," said the Manaani, slouching back down a bit in his chair.
"Actually, we were just swapping death-stories before you showed up," said one of the Vaygr to the interceptor pilot.
"Yeah, and we've been trying to get one out of that guy sitting next to you for the last five minutes."
Reluctantly, the man sitting next to the pilot leaned forward. "Well, as many Hiigarans as there are here, I didn't want to tell my story. I didn't know what you would do if you all found out I was, well, Taiidan."
"No worries; you're among friends!" said one Hiigaran, slapping a nearby Vaygr on the back jovially.
"Yeah, no hard feelings," said another.
"Glad you feel that way," he said, suddenly seeming more exuberant. "Because as it happened, I died from a blow to the head I received when I tripped on the bridge of a carrier. Evidently I let my enthusiasm get the best of me after I brazenly pressed the button that fired the ADP missiles at Kharak; I tripped while skipping around for joy and landed head-first on a computer console."
Everyone stared at the Taiidan in complete shock.
"Psych!!!" shouted the Taiidan. "I was, however, on one of the MANY ships that got owned by that Bentusi Tradeship the Emperor somehow expected us to blow up."
"If you'd waited another hundred years, we could've spared you the trouble by blowing ourselves up," said a Bentusi the pilot had somehow not noticed.
"Were you on the Harbor Ship when it blew?" asked the pilot, having forgotten his confusion under the layers of intrigue in the ensuing conversation.
"Yup," the Bentusi stated flatly.
"It was so selfless of you to sacrifice yourselves like that," said some person.
"Yeah, sure it was," said the Bentusi, his words oozing with sarcasm. "The whole 'blow our selves up' idea was just one of thirteen options we were collectively mulling-over while the Keepers were attacking. We considered using time-travel, sneaking away into an alternate universe, distracting the Keepers using various tactics such as saying 'hey, look over there, it's Quentin Tarantino!', or igniting our trans-ambiphase-quantum-neutrino hypermatter coils with thermionic tachyon cascade pulses routed through the subspace polarizing antiproton field generators to create a galvanized-superfluous-polaronic-darkmatter micro-singularity. But ultimately blowing ourselves up got 2% more of the votes than any other option. All-in-all, 11% voted for self-destruction, but we had to go with it, thanks to our stupid system of hive-mind checks and balances."
After that, the conversation died down a bit. Somewhere in the relative silence, the pilot became aware of a distressing sound in the distance. Very faint, almost unable to be registered; an overlapping of 'NOOO!' from a hundred grizzly voices. It didn't seem to stop. He resolved to ask about it.
"What's that '~no~' sound coming from?"
A stout fellow pointed across the room. "Look out the window," he said.
The pilot looked on and in the distance, floating over the town outside, was an enormous ship, a bright white, blighted by red patches.
"Is-- is that the Naggarok? What's that doing here?" the pilot inquired further.
The same fellow answered. "Well, even given the enlightened nature of the people here, they apparently weren't able to figure out exactly where the ship ended and the being began, so they just half-ascended the whole thing. It's been NOOOing since it got here, about a hundred years ago."
"Huh," was all the pilot could say.
"I served aboard a Ramming Frigate if you were wondering," continued that guy. "One day I just nodded too exuberantly and died of whiplash."
"I died during that same war," said another person, apparently a Turanic Raider. "I was holographically disguised as an Acolyte and somehow those Somtaaw seemed to know there shouldn't be any of their own ships listlessly flying by one of our Outposts."
"My ship survived being taken over by the Ghost Ship," stated another Hiigaran, "only to be whisked off later by that stupid Junkyard Dog."
"I died when I ran out of fuel-- for the fifth time in one battle!!!" exclaimed a Kadeshi.
"Yeah, I was there for that!" said another. "I died when my captain decided to use my part of the ship as a battering ram."
"I died when after forty Movers crammed out of a small chunk of debris, I assumed there couldn't possibly be any more in there."
"I died because apparently there was less than 2 pieces of dust per square klom between my fighter and a supernova."
"I died trying to salvage the left side of a Taiidan Heavy Cruiser while approaching from the right. You do the math."
"I died serving on a Torpedo Frigate. 'Nuf said."
"I died when my Battlecruiser blew up right after Sajuuk hyperspaced in."
One Hiigaran perked up. "Sajuuk!? Hyperspaced!!?!! You mean to tell me I spent my whole life praying to a stupid SHIP?!!!?!!!"
"Hey, at least you didn't get blown up by the ship that you spent a lifetime praying to," said a Vaygr. "Talk about a slap in the face."
"Cool, you got blown up by a Phased Cannon Array!?!" said an excited Hiigaran. "What was that like?"
"That's the worst part of it," the Vaygr explained. "It was those pint-sized surface cannons that blew me up. I imagine those could've ripped us to pieces three or four times before 'god' could even have lined up a Phased Cannon shot!!!"
"What about you?" asked one of the group to someone who hadn't spoken up yet.
"I think I'm at the wrong table," they said, and then they left.
"Huh, he must've died of natural causes or something."
Silence befell the group again, and many went back to enjoying their breakfasts. The interceptor pilot ordered a stack of pancakes with a side of sausage links. Suddenly, a new figure approached the table. He was large and imposing, clearly very well built and self-assured. His bald head was adorned with wire ports. He was wearing a sharp tuxedo and had a foam finger on one hand, and a towel draped over one arm.
"Does anyone mind if I sit here?" he asked.
"Hey, you seem familiar," said one of the Vaygr. The bald man rolled his eyes.
Last edited by doci7; 29th Sep 09 at 4:24 PM.
#33
That was quite good, doci. Well done.
#34
That was hilarious, doci. Nice! It's good to see more humorous shots at HW fanfiction as well as the serious.
#35
Sister and I were drafting something tributary, and this was the result. Maybe this will be text on an image.And in the darkness shone a great light.
That light was the fires upon our planet, and it splashed across our faces in a hellish glow.
There will be more hell to come.
But by the gods, we will not stop until we have returned home.
Home, to Hiigara.
@ doci. I loved the way they were all trying to one-up one another with death stories. Turned out very funny.
I... er... whats the foam finger for?
That's pretty much an inside joke, so much so I might be the only one on the inside. After Norsehound's story about Makaan's epic quest for a towel, I had commented after that Karan could not only give him a towel, but also various other items, among which was a foam finger she got at a Mits game when she was 8 years old. So I guess the finger is just to represent Makaan's and Karan's shared enthusiasm for the Mits. The tux comes from the same sort of absurd musing.
#39
Here's Relic's contribution... Dave Cheong's re-imagining of the Kushan Interceptor/HW 2 Interceptor...
art from dave
Neat! That'd make a great 'tweener between the HW1 and HW2 versions.
*looks to the horizon* A storm is coming....and it's in full 3D... *vanishes before he can be asked what he meant*
#42
Nice, Doci
Thanks Norse; my real aspiration is to write Vast Epics like you and Chrome, but this proved a bit more manageable.
And DARN IT ALL! Turns out "the Mits" are actually "the Mets". I guess that's what I get for attempting to make a sports reference.
#44
Well, a foam finger can be a kind of mit
Now I wonder if any other former Relic-ites will step forward to give their game accolades? (RobC, are you out there?)
The Mothership's crew were weary from their recent encounter with the Turanic Raiders. Many Blade pilots like Kalim had lost friends and were looking forward to spend at least another day with their families on Kharak.
“Standby for Hyperspace exit to Kharak.” the carefully modulated voice of Fleet Intelligence reported.
The vibrant blue of the Mothership's hyperspace window opened in the space above Kharak. Static washed over Kalim as the massive ship returned to normal space.
Kalim walked past another viewport, the same one he had watched Kharak from when the Mothership was still cradled within the Scaffold. His heart sank immediately, tears welled at the corners of his eyes as he saw what would haunt him for the rest of his life. Kalim sank to his knees, punching the deck as warm droplets flowed from his eyes and splattered on the cold metal floor.
“No one's left...” Fleet Command reported, her voice almost breaking “Everything's gone... Kharak is burning!”
- - -
Fleet Intelligence-otherwise known as Aqil-choked as he saw what had become of Kharak in their absence. A single tear slid down his cheek as he moved a shaking hand to deliver the report.
Karan beat him to the punch.
“No one's left...” she said, sobbing inside her tank “Everything's gone... Kharak is burning!”
Aqil tapped the icon that activated the comm system. Taking a moment to compose himself, he delivered the report.
“Kharak is being consumed by a firestorm. The Scaffold has been destroyed. All orbital facilities destroyed. Significant debris ring in low Kharak orbit.”
He sobbed, remembering the family he left behind.
“Recieving no communications from anywhere in the system... Not even beacons.”
----
I know this came late, but I had to post it!
[ED]Damn stupid typos.
Last edited by Bien1500; 1st Oct 09 at 7:54 AM.
Hey, that interceptor makes a great evolutionnary intermediate between the 'Blade' and what i would call the 'Spearhead' interceptors(Yeah, i prefer calling it that way instead of Blade Mk XX for example, 'cause it doesn't share any ressemblance to the Blade Mk V to me
Qwaardamnit Bien, you succeeded to make me re-live the emotion of that particular mission :x
EDIT: On a sidenote, 'Spearhead' is a name that is pretty fitting for the modern Hiigaran interceptor since it really looks like some kind of spearhead ^^
As a response to Dave's awesome artwork, anyone interested in expanding their HW2 badge collection is welcome to download the following:
Dave's Fleet 15
#48
Funny how everyone is observing so astutely that Daves design would make a good crossover between the Homeworld 1 and 2 designs, almost as though Dave didn't deliberately design it that way... (which seems completely obvious to me).
Anyways, love your story Doci, much fun
#49
Yeah, I'm more of the mind that he just wanted to create an awesome HW ship, and settled for a cross between HW1 and HW2 just to have fun with the artistic element. Nothing suspicious there.
I think he did really well from that perspective - all the way to the badassified Angel Moon logo, which I just love.
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