Kiith Somtaaw
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In the fictional universe of the Homeworld series of computer games, Kiith Somtaaw is one of many kiithid or extended family-clans that belong to the Kushan race. Originally a major religious kiith, the Somtaaw made their living mining metal.
After the events of Homeworld however the Somtaaw were left with a substantially smaller portion of their kiith, most having been destroyed in the Kharak Genocide. After fighting against their own government to achieve rights to use the Motherships facilities for a limited period of time, they built three ships, two of command ship class and one science vessel.
They continued to use mining as their trade (though now it was asteroid resources they mined for, not iron), preferring the honest work of mining rather than the blood and violence of war.
After the latest incursion by Imperial Taiidani forces, they were dispatched to rescue a Kiith Manaan destroyer that was stranded outside the Hiigaran System. In the process, they discovered an artifact. Analysis yielded that the device was built by no known Galactic races and as such probably held great, unknown technology. The ruling Somtaaw council decreed that this would give them great leverage in the new Hiigaran government, and ordered that the Kuun-Lan keep this a secret within Somtaaw. The Kuun-Lan then met up with the Clee-San, and they opened the device up for analysis. However, the artifact contained part of the organism known as the Beast. The infection rapidly spread, forcing the ship to jettison its entire lower section.
In Homeworld: Cataclysm, Kiith Somtaaw played the role of the protagonist fighting the Beast threat.
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Ships and technology
The Somtaaw are a resourceful people, and to this end their technology is based on designs created using any sources they can find, be it purchased from the Bentusi, adapted from old designs collecting dust in their engineering libraries, reverse-engineered from salvaged derelicts or even all three in conjunction.
To this end they possess technology that even the far-more advanced Kiith do not have, such as automatic self-repair capability for their ships, force-field generators, the unique electromagnetically-based Repulsor defensive system, microships and splitter-technology for ion cannons. It should be noted that this is 15 years after the events of the original Homeworld and 85 years prior to Homeworld 2.
Light
Ships in this category are small, with crews no bigger than a maximum of two, and usually just one. Microships, vessels that are extraordinarily small even compared to fighter craft, are also under this category. Their tonnage is also minuscule in comparison to their larger brethren; while the lightest mass-produced medium-class vessel is easily several thousand tons, the heaviest light-craft is only 190 tons (The Acolyte Composite Vessel). With the exception of the Repair Drones, all light-vessels use Bentusi-designed fusion rocket fighter drives that are so efficient they render traditional Kiith-derived designs as badly outdated.
Repair drones
Repair drones are the smallest machines that operate in the vacuum of space, and are unmanned. Rather, they rely on an expert artificial intelligence system that interfaces directly with the parent ship's sensor grid to seek out and repair external damage. They are seen as tiny particles hovering about the external surface of a ship at speeds of up to 180 km/h, welding and repairing damaged sections.
Leech
The only unmanned microship that can operate a significant distance away from any vessels in the fleet, the 26-ton Leech communicates by shunting part of the signal through hyperspace in such a way as to prevent detection by standard sensor suites. Leeches present too small a profile to be identified by standard sensory apparatus, and as such are capable of going well within an enemy fleet if it avoids the ships that are equipped to detect it.
Because of their minuscule size, the onboard drive is capable of a top speed of 4500 km/h, making the Leech the fastest ship in the fleet. Leeches are equipped with a small resource pod, grappling locks, advanced AI computer and a complement of high-strength acid. When a suitable vessel is found, the Leech lands on top of a plasma conduit line, and uses the acid to burn open a sizeable hole to allow the plasma to damage its own ship. The Leech helps this process by shunting burnt material out into space though alternatively, the Leech may opt to shunt the material into the resource pod instead, for processing back at home fleet. Meanwhile, the onboard AI interfaces with the vessel's native computer network and disables warning and repair routines. Only when the onboard personnel manually note that something is wrong can the Leech's presence usually be discovered. Yup
Sentinel
The Sentinel is a small, one-man vessel that incorporates a compact version of the normal fighter drive, a force-field generator, a small single weapon, and an advanced sensor suite with a maximum scanning range of 16km. At a mere 21 tons, it is the lightest manned vessel in the Somtaaw, and possibly entire Hiigaran, fleet. Due to the design, only pilots of small build can operate one. In addition, because of the awkward amount of mass the compact drive has to handle, the Sentinel has a relatively low top speed of 900 km/h.
Acolyte/Avenger
A heavy fighter craft weighing in at 90 tons and able to reach speeds of up to 2970 km/h in its default configuration. A mainstay of the Somtaaw fleet, it is unique in the sense that the design is Bentusi. Also thanks to its Bentusi origins, it is capable of merging with another Acolyte vessel to form a ship which classes as a corvette. This linking technology is only shared by the Mimic vessel.
The Composite Vehicle form (Avenger) of this vessel reduces speed and maneuverability somewhat, but enables it to engineer a deliberate, repeatable EMP. Top speed is reduced to 2160 km/h in this state.
Swarmer
These little AI-drive microships are deployed in groups of six by Hive frigates, and replaced as necessary. Their name comes from their behaviour; "swarming" a target so as to hopefully overwhelm defences. They are able to hit top speeds of 3960 km/h thanks to their incredibly-small mass, but will never stray far away from their parent ship. These ships were designed after the Swarmer fighters used by the Kadeshi.
Seeker
The 41-ton Seeker is similar to the Sentinel in that both are designs incorporating only the bare necessities. The bulk of the craft is an advanced heavy neutrino scanning array, with a small fixed-mount gun, fighter drive and cockpit. Able to locate any ship at ranges of up to 16km, the Seeker serves as the reconnaissance vessel of the fleet, easily zipping through obstacles at speeds of up to 3780 km/h.
Mimic/Martyr
The 55-ton Mimic is yet another vessel utilizing exotic technology not possessed by the other Kiith. It incorporates an advanced hologram projector and stealth system that is competent enough to fool standard sensor suites, reverse-engineered from technology taken from Turanic Raider derelicts. Mimics serve as deep-insertion scouts and suicide craft, their pilots always those who have lost all their loved ones during the events of the first Homeworld game. Instead of weapons, Mimics carry an impact-triggered high explosive bomb. They move at a respectable top speed of 2700 km/h, which drops to 1980 km/h in the Martyr state.
The Composite Vehicle form (Martyr) of this vessel reduces speed and maneuverability as well, but the two ships can interface directly into each other's projector grids and work coherently to produce holograms that can allow itself to pass off as larger frigate-class vessels.
Medium
Frigate-class or sized vessels are under this category. With the exception of the Worker and Clee-San, all vessels in here use an adapted Minion ship drive. Crew sizes are still relatively small, in the region of five personnel on average for the mass-produced ships. Medium is the largest class that vessels of the Carrier designation can construct and field.
Worker
The 5200-ton Worker is the workhouse of the Somtaaw fleet. While the larger fleets have opted to require several ships performing a singular function each, Somtaaw engineers have incorporated all those features into one vessel. The Worker is capable of harvesting, with repair and salvage capabilities installable through upgrades. It can move at speeds of up to 1530 km/h.
Minion
An exceptionally-old design that was original used to push large sections of scaffolding around in space, it has since been updated for use in the modern age. In its official capacity, the Minion is a mining tug, designed to push large asteroids closer to the processing facility to streamline mining efforts. If the asteroid is far too large, the Minion is equipped with a fusion torch to cut through the material. In recent times however, the Minion has been used in combat as a means to ram heavier ships, disrupting enemy formations.
Propulsion comprises of a normal frigate drive with a complementary afterburner system that activates two additional high-thrust rockets and pushes the main drive to work at maximum capacity. The three drives working in tandem generate enough force to allow the Minion to push even heavy-class vessels with impunity. However, the system quickly becomes unstable if operated for more than 30 seconds, as such the Minion must disengage after that period. Concordantly however, it does not take long for the system to cool down, and is able to allow ramming to resume after 10 seconds of normal operation.
The bow of the vessel is a heavily-reinforced "hammerhead shark" design that is equipped to grapple onto targets and sustain heavy strain without damage. It also seems to be cushioned by a large shock-absorbing system, as the bow seems to extend during its ramming operation. While rare, light-class vessels that are unlucky enough to be a Minion's target, or are simply in the way, are smashed into oblivion against its bow as the 12'900-ton ship rapidly accelerates to ramming speed.
Under normal conditions, the ship travels at a slow 1432.8 km/h, but rapidly accelerates well past this when the secondary system is engaged.
Hive
The 9900-ton Hive advanced drone frigate is an evolution of the original Kiith Puppeteer design, opting to use six AI-driven microships that can be replaced on-the-fly inside the Hive as its primary means of engagement, though the frigate itself is equipped with a pair of guns. The Hive houses all the necessary devices to rebuild and control the six drones, along with bays for holding them in storage. It is capable of speeds up to 1404 km/h.
Dervish
The 10'500-ton Dervish multi-beam frigate uses a new ion generation system in conjunction with a splitter device to allow a single ion-beam generator to simultaneously feed five beams at once, though at the cost of weaker strength due to the splitting. A revolutionary electromagnetic control system at each nozzle is capable of diverting the beam within a large range-of-motion, granting the Dervish the effective ability to cover several flanks at once with ion beams. It can move at speeds of up to 1332 km/h.
The Somtaaw multi-beam frigate, despite it's name, is in no way related to the Kadeshi version of the multi-beam frigate, which is purely an anti-capital frigate.
Clee San
The Clee San is a one-of-a-kind research frigate that has no armaments whatsoever, but carries state-of-the-art equipment to conduct research of virtually any sort while out in the field. Built by the original Mothership itself, the Clee San's crew comprises of the some of the brightest minds Somtaaw has to offer. Its measly weight of 400 tons can be attributed to the fact that it has absolutely no weapons and merely a modicum of armour. It can move at up to 1008 km/h.
Heavy
Vessels in this class are of massive size and can only be produced by Mothership-designation spacecraft. Somtaaw heavy ships use drives derived from their old and reliable Chieftain design. They field large crews, often of a few dozen people, and are also often able to house smaller ships within themselves. This is also the smallest designation available that can house a working hyperspace core, given the incredible power requirements of having such an item onboard.
Chieftain
The 89'000-ton Mk. III model is the current one in use. The existing design is a heavily-armored lumbering behemoth that houses four high-speed ore transfer bays, a complete ore processing and storage system, four gun turrets and four automated repair pods, two on each side of the craft. The original design, Mk. I, had no weapons and no repair pods. The Mk. II design carried weapons but no repair pods. The Mk. III design obviously includes them. The Chieftain is the only ship known that has never seen a combat officer onboard, and due to its incredible mass can only move at a top speed of 900 km/h.
Deacon
The 28'000-ton destroyer of the fleet, the Deacon is a rapidly thrown-together design, with the original intent of it being a heavy transport vessel. It was expeditiously retrofitted for war by using the original designated empty storage space to house the necessary machinery for the onboard weapons and missile system, thus the blocky look of the design. The heavy design of the ship also lends it a poor top speed of 1170 km/h.
Shaman
The 129'000-ton carrier of the Somtaaw fleet. The Shaman is equipped with four bays, two open ones for light-class ships and two blast-door shielded ones meant for medium-class vessels. The Shaman is equipped with the necessary equipment to house, maintain, repair and if necessary, build vessels up to medium-class. Two topside and two underside gun turrets form the ship's sole defensive capability, which is more than adequate to handle the occasional fighter swarm or lone frigate. The prodigious design grants it a top speed of 954 km/h at default.
Archangel
The dreadnought of the Somtaaw fleet. The Archangel is engineered from deep scans of Bentusi Tradeship hulls, but with compromises to allow for stability with the relatively low-tech available to Somtaaw. The ship houses four heavy-class gun turrets, two high-strength ion-cannon turrets, twin large-capacity missile banks, and the Taiidani-designed Repulsor system. The ship houses the means necessary to rapidly replenish the missile bays, and in conjunction with its other weapons, the Archangel can hold its ground against most things thrown at it.
Indeed, at an incredible 152'000-tons, the Archangel outweighs even the Heavy Cruiser of the Hiigaran Navy, the 131'000-ton Avatar. At a top speed of 864 km/h, the Archangel will not get anywhere fast. But it more than makes up for this through sheer brutal firepower. A single Archangel can feasibly annihilate the common medium-strength fleet.
Super-heavy
Also Mothership-class, or Command Ship class, for all intents and purposes. These vessels are of such immense size that only large dedicated shipyards or the original Mothership itself are capable of building them. The two in possession by Somtaaw were built by the Mothership. Both have a default mass of 613'000 tons, maximum scanning range of 12km and a top speed of 504 km/h. The six heavy gun turrets have a maximum reach of 6km each, but the actual effective range is significantly shorter. Both vessels are known by the Explorer name. Designed by the best Somtaaw engineers to be able to last a Hiigaran year or more on its own plying the mining routes in search of raw materials, and holding a crew in excess of several thousand people, the ships pushed the automated construction facilities of the Mothership to its limits.
Fal-Corum
The first Somtaaw vessel to leave the Mothership, the Fal-Corum would serve as the testbed for the technologies that would make the Kuun-Lan the superior of the two. Regardless, it is still a competent vessel.
Kuun-Lan
The Kuun-Lan, over the course of Cataclysm, turns from a huge mining vessel to an immense fully-fledged warship. Removing much of its original structure, the Kuun-Lan used the new space to house research facilities and the innumerable banks of storage and processor systems needed to keep a warfaring fleet in operation. In addition, the vessel boasts a feature no other Mothership-class spacecraft in the entire Hiigaran Navy can claim; a massive Siege Cannon that has a theoretical maximum reach of 900km. The target must however be significantly closer than 900km in order to maintain the effectiveness of the weapon.