| Tech Levels 6
- 11 |
| Tech Levels
12 - 14 |
| Tech Levels
15 - 17 |
| Tech Level 18 |
| Description Humanoid in shape and standing 2 meters tall, the Humarsh have a musculature usually associated with heavy-gravity races. The feet and hands each end in three digits. As for the head, it has three eyes arranged in a triangular pattern with the mouth in the middle. Hairless, the Humarsh use clothing and headgear for most occasions. Skin coloring ranges from light brown to purplish-black. After achieving a world state composed of democratically-lead nations the Humarsh set upon making space the next frontier. With a multitude of colonies established on asteroids and moons the United World League (UWL) then went about creating a navy to protect them. Like most democracies, the peacetime fleet was rather small. In order to justify even this level of existence the navy focused on anti-piracy patrols. The growing wealth of the colonies had created an underworld for stolen goods and rare minerals. Thus, small squadrons of navy ships plied the shipping lanes. With no knowledge of warp points, the arrival of a Terpla'n Republic survey squadron came as a complete surprise. This particular squadron was composed of six Calan class frigates. The warp point where the squadron entered the Humarsh home system was located in an active shipping lane. In fact, the Calans were within tactical scanner range of a Humarsh freighter. Communication attempts were made, but the freighter captain was certain he was facing a group of pirates and called for help. That help wasn't far away. Two cruisers and a destroyer of the United World Military (UWM) approached. Directing their communications attempts to the newcomers, the Terpla'ns were concerned that there was no reply to their messages. The senior commander of the three UWM ships, having confronted pirates and their unusual ploys before, decided to attack. Never mind that all Humarshan pirate attacks had, up to that point, utilized assault shuttles based from small freighters. Never mind that the shield and drive frequencies were totally unlike those of Humarsh ships. Never mind that the commander on the spot hated pirates with a passion. With a word the commander had his trio of ships charge the Calans. The slow survey frigates turned and ran towards their entry warp point, firing their first set of courier drones just in case. One frigate was worked on with long-range missile fire, though the crew escaped on their pinnace. That frigate was destroyed by a nuclear scuttling charge. The other five escaped through the warp point. Confronted with the existence of warp points one would suspect that the commander would stop right there and rethink the situation. Not this commander. Thus, the first warp point entry in Humarsh history was performed like it was a hot pursuit across a county line. Still pouring on the speed, the three UWM ships systematically picked off the frigates. The crews knew the eventual outcome and evacuated in their pinnaces, setting their ship's scuttling charges like the first frigate crew did. One Calan, gutted by energy beam fire, failed to denote its charge and was later boarded. It was then that the commander realized that the frigates were indeed alien in origin. The commander would later be court-martialed and assigned to a warp point defense base. As for the six survey pinnaces, they rendezvous with their supply ship. In relays to recharge their life support systems, the pinnaces and the ship reached a Terpla'n hostile environment colony two transits from the Humarsh system. Based on the information they had, the Republican Navy and their Tuphon and Hazen allies were mobilized. Faced with the prospect of an alien invasion the UWL congress, practically overnight, approved a massive military appropriation bill. First priority was the construction of OWPs and minefields to guard the warp point, followed by demothballing the reserve ships, new warship construction and expansion of the orbital shipyard complex. Surveying for additional warp points lead to the discovery of a second one. Now proceeding with utmost caution, the UWM explored the new system and found that it was inhabited by a race called the Tzel. First contact was established, and two months later a trade treaty was completed. The Tzel resisted all attempts by the UWL to form a military alliance. Not wanting to add to their troubles the UWL stopped their diplomatic campaign and settled on having good neighbor relations with the Tzel. In an aggressive but practical move the UWM entered the system they've chased the Terpla'n survey squadron into and claimed it. The system's other warp point was encircled with minefields and laser buoys, forming a forward defense line. In the following four months, those mines, buoys, and practically all of the UWM fleet held off three separate Republic probing assaults. On the sixth month that all changed. Now with solid core of minesweepers, battlecruisers, battleships, and the first Terpla class dreadnoughts in commission the Republic Navy broke into the system. Due to the determination of the UWM crews all 21 cruisers (representing the bulk the of UWM fleet) were destroyed, but the losses in combat tonnage on both sides were nearly equal. Back in the home system, the UWM waited behind the mines, buoys, and OWPs surrounding the entry warp point. The wait was only one month in length. With the ingenious use of assault shuttles to clear the area around the warp point of laser buoys, the RSF took a huge bite out of the UWM defenses. Adding the use of overload dampeners by the RSF, the energy beam armament of the cruisers and beam OWPs wasn't as decisive as it should've been. After clearing out the twelve UWM cruisers and the inner shell of OWPs the battle was practically over. Eighty-eight ESX vessels and fifteen minesweepers blasted a lane through the mines. The eighteen small missile OWPs had no real hope against units equipped with datalink point defense and were destroyed or crippled in short order. The World Congress and the president agreed to a cease fire. Negotiations lead to non-aggression pact, which lasted for two years. In that time the UWL tried to get the Tzel to enter a military defense treaty, but failed again. Knowing that it had no real means to expand its territory under the current circumstances the UWL agreed to a trade and military pact with the Republic, but only after being motivated by a Tzelan operation that resulted in contact with the Republic. After the first year of the Axis War the UWL became full partners and then amalgamated with the Republic's successor, the Commonwealth of Planetary States. One clear advantage enjoyed by the UWL is their ship construction acumen. All shipyard and mobile shipyard modules operated by Humarsh crews have a 10% increase (round up) in capacity in regards to construction, disassembly and reassembly. This bonus is applicable only to ships, bases, and other units larger than seven hull spaces. |