This is a fantastic mass effect story. Too many writers streotype the turians in first contact. You showed ones with competence, daring, and dedication to those under their command. Similarly, you showed massive screw ups on both sides. It makes your story more compelling than most ME fanfiction these days.
That you choose to crossover with homeworld just made it better. I eagerly look forward to reading more about this universe you're creating.
Sentinel force fields are not mass effect-based kinetic barriers - for the purposes of this fic, Somtaaw engineers developed the technology based on what the races of the Whirlpool galaxy were already using for artificial gravity generation and came up with novel applications for it. The technology was originally intended for use against hazardous stellar phenomenae if I'm remembering correctly, and turned out to have excellent military applications.
I will acknowledge that kinetic barriers and Sentinel force fields are similarly effective against mass drivers. In fact, kinetic barriers are superior in that regard - less energy intensive overall and can be mounted on literally anything. Somtaaw Force fields on the other hand are difficult to use outside of Sentinels (but they're working in that). On the other hand, those force fields can tank a heavy ion cannon.
So are kinetic barriers subject to the same size limitations as the FTL core? Cause if not I can easily see the somtaaw mounting them on their ships given the couple of days necessary to reverse engineer them.
Sentinel force fields are not mass effect-based kinetic barriers - for the purposes of this fic, Somtaaw engineers developed the technology based on what the races of the Whirlpool galaxy were already using for artificial gravity generation and came up with novel applications for it. The technology was originally intended for use against hazardous stellar phenomenae if I'm remembering correctly, and turned out to have excellent military applications.
I will acknowledge that kinetic barriers and Sentinel force fields are similarly effective against mass drivers. In fact, kinetic barriers are superior in that regard - less energy intensive overall and can be mounted on literally anything. Somtaaw Force fields on the other hand are difficult to use outside of Sentinels (but they're working in that). On the other hand, those force fields can tank a heavy ion cannon.
okay it was just that you answered my question about why the somtaaws bigger ships didn't have sentinel type shields with "Hiigarans know what element zero is - they've encountered deposits of it in dark space while traversing galaxies. Short version: they're convinced that you have to be insane to use the stuff the way the Citadel races do, and exactly why will come up eventually."
so I think there were a misunderstanding because what I wanted to know was why they didn't mount sentinel shields on other types of vessel and whether they had weaponized the sentinel shield technology
So are kinetic barriers subject to the same size limitations as the FTL core? Cause if not I can easily see the somtaaw mounting them on their ships given the couple of days necessary to reverse engineer them.
If the Hiigarans were willing to use element zero in that fashion then yeah, they could easily upgrade all of their ships to have kinetic barriers. But they're not.
so I think there were a misunderstanding because what I wanted to know was why they didn't mount sentinel shields on other types of vessel and whether they had weaponized the sentinel shield technology
Not surprising. If Turian biotics have such massive potential for accidental mayhem, her trainers probably would have discouraged her from pushing her limits once she reached the rough power level of an average Citadel biotic. Y'know, I would not be surprised if Cloelia's biotic amp is, in fact, a limiter.
Hiigarans know what element zero is - they've encountered deposits of it in dark space while traversing galaxies. Short version: they're convinced that you have to be insane to use the stuff the way the Citadel races do, and exactly why will come up eventually.
Hmm. Does eezo react badly with hyperdrives? If so, that would explain why they haven't experimented with it much past discovering how dangerous it can be.
Not surprising. If Turian biotics have such massive potential for accidental mayhem, her trainers probably would have discouraged her from pushing her limits once she reached the rough power level of an average Citadel biotic. Y'know, I would not be surprised if Cloelia's biotic amp is, in fact, a limiter.
Hmm. Does eezo react badly with hyperdrives? If so, that would explain why they haven't experimented with it much past discovering how dangerous it can be.
Hmm. Does eezo react badly with hyperdrives? If so, that would explain why they haven't experimented with it much past discovering how dangerous it can be.
Or perhaps they don't want to tie themselves to an exotic material that (until they reached this galaxy) was very rare.
Remember that currently the Hiigarans are only limited in the quality/quantity of vessels and equipment they can produce by resources and manpower. Adding eezo to the mix would create a bottle-neck in thier production since they can't simply tear apart asteroid fields/planets etc to get the needed materials.
Would be hilarious if Eezo generates a natural hyperspace inhibitor field.
That would really stop my favourite hiigaran tactic of hyperspacing two battle ships in knife fighting range behind the enemy fleet fully loaded with strike craft if the citadel fleets are basically all stopping close range hyperspace.
To be fair, there aren't a huge number of possible reasons. Even if it was an exotic matter limitation, that still wouldn't explain why the motherships and other non-expendable craft didn't have their own KBs.
Technological incompatibility can cause serious issues even at a simple level. When it comes to interstellar travel, those issues can be quite profound...
To be fair, there aren't a huge number of possible reasons. Even if it was an exotic matter limitation, that still wouldn't explain why the motherships and other non-expendable craft didn't have their own KBs.
Probably because most anti-capital ship weapons in Whirlpool are directed energy weapons. Why waste time and effort developing a shield system that doesn't protect you from the most likely weapon systems to be targeting you?
Technological incompatibility can cause serious issues even at a simple level. When it comes to interstellar travel, those issues can be quite profound...
Also a Humanx crossover, which is really rare for some reason.
That said, it's clearly not as...excessive a problem as it is in that story or everyone on both sides in this star system probably wouldn't exist anymore.
Hmm. Does eezo react badly with hyperdrives? If so, that would explain why they haven't experimented with it much past discovering how dangerous it can be.
Consider for a moment that Grav-Well Generators can impede even the mothership from going into hyperspace. Now consider that Eezo is primarily used as a method of altering mass and generating gravity. I could see any biotic on a hyperspace jump very quickly being converted into chunky salsa.
On the other hand, Eezo may also just be particularly difficult/dangerous to work with a PDA given it's energized properties.
There was a joke mod that allowed you to add more mothership slices to your mothership side to side in a circle. Eventually forming a ring with the rears fused into a small hollow in the center like a giant peeled orange. A Terry's Chocolate Orange. It was hilarious and overpowered as hell the hollow became a spinal mount on one end and a capital ship drydock at the opposite end that spat out dreadnoughts and carriers at 18x the speed once all 18 slices were built.
When I played the game and threw Salvettes at everything, my head canon was that, as well as killing the Combatants, any people that surrendered or were Civilians like Families etc, ended up pseudo adopted/drafted while under supervision/probation etc.
So the Kushan Fleet by the time they reached Hiigara, was very multicultural.
Eg:
Kadeshi Needleships and Multibeam Frigates came with a population of sorts.
Same for bigger Ships of the Turanic Raiders, Taiidan etc.
Also after all the wars on Kharak, the Kushan have a very effective cultural assimilation/indoctrination suite of tools like the Media, Peer Pressure and other Social Engineering methods to avoid fracturing even more than the Kiith already are.
So I imagine that when the Hiigaran people/culture had their renaming from Kushan to Hiigaran, after returning home, that it happening may have caused a whole new set of Schisms that destabilised the former status quo as a result.
Such as.....
1. Those identifying as Hiigaran.
2. Those identifying as Kushan.
3. Those identifying as Kiith only.
4. Those reverting back to their origins such as Turanic, Kadeshi, Taiidan etc.
6. Those identifying as a new faction focused upon being the Legacy of the Progenitors.
So I have to ask, does your version of the Exodites have such a cultural melding followed by a splintering?
The Somtaaw are covetous of the Tech they developed or were gifted.
Do other Kiith have their own unique Techs that they hoard and or specialise with?
Were any of the Gaalsien spared to take on the Mothership? Either to widen the genetic pool or to retain/gain Gaalsien high technologies? As the Gaalsien did have the most developed knowledge/expertise and applied usage of Gravity Tech among other things.
I can see the Kaaneph being obliterated though, cannibals are a lot harder to pressgang/rehabilitate than those with a history of war and religious schisms.
Consider for a moment that Grav-Well Generators can impede even the mothership from going into hyperspace. Now consider that Eezo is primarily used as a method of altering mass and generating gravity. I could see any biotic on a hyperspace jump very quickly being converted into chunky salsa.
On the other hand, Eezo may also just be particularly difficult/dangerous to work with a PDA given it's energized properties.
On the Third Flange, perhaps exposure to Element Zero causes a drastic loss of intelligence, which is basically a literary coping mechanicsm for some of the dumber plot points in the ME series.
@TheOmnimercurial Regrettably, the Homeworld 1 Manual disagrees with your use of Salvage Corvettes, which basically dump all the EWAR suites into an enemy ship to scramble its automatic systems, including life support. Functionally, a Salvette bringing a capture to the Mothership is to paint it in new colours and crew it with Kharakid crew.
Your idea has merit, but with some caveats; namely, Turanic Raiders would not be given a chance to surrender (and as they breathe liquid methane, they wouldn't have a comfortable life anyhow), and a significant chunk of the Taidaan would still be deemed 'shoot on sight', even with the death of the Emperor at the end of HW1. (Ten Attempts to exterminate Hiigara in 15 years between the end of HW1 and HW:C says a lot about making grudges stick)
The Kadeshi are explicitly Hiigaran descendants; in a cutscene as you leave their nebula, the fleet comes across the wreckage of a ship almost-identical to the Khar-Toba.
And as per the HW1 Manual, the Gaalsien were, to a man, left on Kharak, as all of them who were interviewed about even considering going into space responded with violence and attempts to destroy vital infrastructure via bombing campaigns.
On the Third Flange, perhaps exposure to Element Zero causes a drastic loss of intelligence, which is basically a literary coping mechanicsm for some of the dumber plot points in the ME series.
@TheOmnimercurial Regrettably, the Homeworld 1 Manual disagrees with your use of Salvage Corvettes, which basically dump all the EWAR suites into an enemy ship to scramble its automatic systems, including life support. Functionally, a Salvette bringing a capture to the Mothership is to paint it in new colours and crew it with Kharakid crew.
Your idea has merit, but with some caveats; namely, Turanic Raiders would not be given a chance to surrender (and as they breathe liquid methane, they wouldn't have a comfortable life anyhow), and a significant chunk of the Taidaan would still be deemed 'shoot on sight', even with the death of the Emperor at the end of HW1. (Ten Attempts to exterminate Hiigara in 15 years between the end of HW1 and HW:C says a lot about making grudges stick)
The Kadeshi are explicitly Hiigaran descendants; in a cutscene as you leave their nebula, the fleet comes across the wreckage of a ship almost-identical to the Khar-Toba.
And as per the HW1 Manual, the Gaalsien were, to a man, left on Kharak, as all of them who were interviewed about even considering going into space responded with violence and attempts to destroy vital infrastructure via bombing campaigns.
The bigger ships that would have long term crews and families etc, would likely harden areas for kids/dependants etc with better shielding, computers and life support, but even knocking outmain power would leave a few isolated survivors among crew, especially if they are suited up while on duty.
The Turanic I was unsure of due to Canon flip flopping about Aliens Vs Human Descendants etc, so I tried not to think on that part too much.
Some Taiidan worked alongside the Kushan such as the Rebels and later the Republicans, so I think some leeway re mercy/surrender would not be totally impossible, though I concur that tensions would be rather high.
The Kadeshi.... Yes I recall their origins and even that the Kushan were not happy about being forced to violence against them, but a Captured Needleships or three would at least offer some hope I would like to think.
Re the Gaalsien.... The kids could be spared, some adults may choose life even if only for their kids or out of spite, just to say "I told you so".... They were right after all, in a very tragic way.
I always kind of hoped that some bunkers might have existed on Kharak that survived the Atmospheric Deprivation Weapons.... Sure the World/Biosphere is dead, but survivors in Bunkers that can then leave the Planet is another fan theory of mine.
That or a Gaalsien escape ship as an Ark that they held in readiness just in case, that launched just before, during or after the Taiidan attack etc.
Hiigarans know what element zero is - they've encountered deposits of it in dark space while traversing galaxies. Short version: they're convinced that you have to be insane to use the stuff the way the Citadel races do, and exactly why will come up eventually.
A material that alters gravity fields based on the polarity and amount of charge flowing through it would be an utter nightmare when hit in the right way by Ion cannons (the most common heavy weapon in the Whirlpool galaxy)
An ion cannon firing a positive charge and one firing a negative charge impacting the hull of the same ship would cause all the Eezo between them to activate randomly as the two different charges attempt to even out across the ship.
You'd get either an imploding or exploding pop can.
And the more powerful you made the KBs to protect against plasma or kinetic weapons, the more damage that would be done to your ship
@TheOmnimercurial Regrettably, the Homeworld 1 Manual disagrees with your use of Salvage Corvettes, which basically dump all the EWAR suites into an enemy ship to scramble its automatic systems, including life support. Functionally, a Salvette bringing a capture to the Mothership is to paint it in new colours and crew it with Kharakid crew.
One thing I would point out is that even if life support is cut off, reasonably that would not be an immediate death sentence for the crew. It's not typically portrayed in science fiction outside of some like The Expanse that put more effort into these things and for the same reason that the movies don't like helmets, but reasonably any crew going into a battle would put on sealed and maybe even lightly armored suits so that they can continue to work even through a hull breach. Bonus points if you are smart and store your atmosphere somewhere rather than risk explosive decompression.
So even if life support is shut off on capture, the crew should be fine for at least a little while.
Even if they don't do all that, just shutting off life support on an otherwise intact ship would not kill the crew immediately. They'd have several hours or even days depending on how much breathable air is already available and how many people need to breathe it.
Of course, I don't know that Homeworld canonically does this, but there's so little granular detail given to the player that a writer could do pretty much whatever they want.
One thing I would point out is that even if life support is cut off, reasonably that would not be an immediate death sentence for the crew. It's not typically portrayed in science fiction outside of some like The Expanse that put more effort into these things and for the same reason that the movies don't like helmets, but reasonably any crew going into a battle would put on sealed and maybe even lightly armored suits so that they can continue to work even through a hull breach. Bonus points if you are smart and store your atmosphere somewhere rather than risk explosive decompression.
So even if life support is shut off on capture, the crew should be fine for at least a little while.
Even if they don't do all that, just shutting off life support on an otherwise intact ship would not kill the crew immediately. They'd have several hours or even days depending on how much breathable air is already available and how many people need to breathe it.
Of course, I don't know that Homeworld canonically does this, but there's so little granular detail given to the player that a writer could do pretty much whatever they want.
There is also the fact that later games required Boarding Pods/Assault Corvettes.
So I think in the first game, they disable the Ship, drag it back to the Mom Boat, only then do they have Troops and Medics etc board the ship to clear hostiles and capture intel sources, accept surrenders etc.
The Kushan had a massive shortage of personnel, but lots of them on the Mom Boat, so centralising/concentrating the finalisation of capturing ships in HW1 makes more sense than later games boarding parties on assault ships.
Were any of the Gaalsien spared to take on the Mothership? Either to widen the genetic pool or to retain/gain Gaalsien high technologies? As Gaalsien had the most developed knowledge/expertise and applied usage of Gravity Tech.
And as per the HW1 Manual, the Gaalsien were, to a man, left on Kharak, as all of them who were interviewed about even considering going into space responded with violence and attempts to destroy vital infrastructure via bombing campaigns.
Since then, Kiith Gaalsien has wandered the great central deserts, surviving by the skills and rituals they held so dear. Occasionally they will make themselves known by raiding scientific communities or stations in the wastes and leaving massive theological documents proclaiming how close we are to the end. Military expeditions to track them down once and for all have always failed, and a certain mythology has grown up around them -- as if there is a nagging suspicion in the minds of modern Khiraki that the only way Kiith Gaalsien could have survived is if they really did have the grace of Sajuuk. Some say that they have even found His lost city under the sands, and Saju-ka once again echoes with mumbled prayers, and offerings made in the darkness. Certain acts of sabotage during the construction of the Mothership seemed to be Gaalsien-inspired, and it's likely that even today there are families secretly aligned with the ancient religious kiith.
@TheOmnimercurial Regrettably, the Homeworld 1 Manual disagrees with your use of Salvage Corvettes, which basically dump all the EWAR suites into an enemy ship to scramble its automatic systems, including life support. Functionally, a Salvette bringing a capture to the Mothership is to paint it in new colours and crew it with Kharakid crew.
One thing I would point out is that even if life support is cut off, reasonably that would not be an immediate death sentence for the crew. It's not typically portrayed in science fiction outside of some like The Expanse that put more effort into these things and for the same reason that the movies don't like helmets, but reasonably any crew going into a battle would put on sealed and maybe even lightly armored suits so that they can continue to work even through a hull breach. Bonus points if you are smart and store your atmosphere somewhere rather than risk explosive decompression.
The game itself actually subverts this in the third or fourth mission if I recall correctly. After Kharak is burned, a mission requirement to get your first capital ship design is to capture a Taiidan assault frigate. In the cutscene following that mission, it is explicitly stated that at least one crewmember on board that ship was interrogated as to why Kharak was burned. It was also stated that 'he did not survive the interrogation.'
So ultimately, whether or not the atmosphere of a captured ship gets vented into space, dooming the crew to a horrific death via asphyxiation as their blood literally boils in their veins while their ship is dragged by salvage corvettes into a yawning hangar bay, is entirely open to whatever is most situationally (or narratively) convenient.
Since then, Kiith Gaalsien has wandered the great central deserts, surviving by the skills and rituals they held so dear. Occasionally they will make themselves known by raiding scientific communities or stations in the wastes and leaving massive theological documents proclaiming how close we are to the end. Military expeditions to track them down once and for all have always failed, and a certain mythology has grown up around them -- as if there is a nagging suspicion in the minds of modern Khiraki that the only way Kiith Gaalsien could have survived is if they really did have the grace of Sajuuk. Some say that they have even found His lost Ship or Geofront/Vault/Bunker/Habitat/Arcology under the sands, and Saju-ka once again echoes with mumbled prayers, and offerings made in the darkness. Certain acts of sabotage during the construction of the Mothership seemed to be Gaalsien-inspired, and it's likely that even today there are families secretly aligned with the ancient religious kiith.
I personally prefer the idea of Aliens alongside the Kushan.
Bentusi, T-Mat or Turanic Raiders etc
But if they are not Alien Races, then it is still an interesting thought to have Bentusi and other Cultures/Civilisations around in the Milky Way with the Kushan.
I really really want the Kadeshi to still be around though! ^_^
