Kushan (Homeworld)

Revision as of 12:20, 22 September 2019

The Kushan are a species that feature in Homeworld.

Biography

The Kushan were a people descended from the Hiigarans that originated from the Inner Rim world of Hiigara. Long ago, they once ruled the Hiigaran empire that was divided into a number of extended families that commanded a great deal of territory until a war with the Taiidan. The conflict led to the Hiigaran's defeat and they were exiled from their homeworld and forced to wander to a new world.

Some of the Hiigarans came to hide within the Great Nebula that became known as the Garden of Kadesh where they became the Kadeshi who saw their new home as sacred and preyed on any intruders to ensure that the Taiidan never learnt of their existence. Another group of Exiles continued their journey were they came to find a desert world that came to be known as Kharak. These ships settled the barren world where in time they forgot their origins and developed a new culture and belief system as the survivors became the Kushan. Their origins in space were lost to memory and they had forgotten the age old edict that stated that they were never to develop space travel again as per the terms with the Taiidan empire. For the next 3,000 years, the Exiles continued to live on Kharak with their history being myth and legend that was forgotten by their people.

Kushan early history on Kharak was filled with inter-clan conflicts that were fought over territory and religious beliefs. For a long time, the Kushan debated over their origins during the span of their 1300 recorded history with this only being fuelled by the harsh conditions of Kharak. This culminated in a large scale war in 520 between two of the largest clans in the north namely the Siidim and the Gaalsien over the issue of their place on Kharak. The Siidim believed that they were once a great race that lived in paradise until they were punished by the gods for their hubris who cast them down to Kharak. Meanwhile, the Gaalsien believed the Kushan people were made to suffer from the beginning and that Kharak was the only existence for their people and thus saw the Sidiim's beliefs to be heretical. Eventually, the Heresy Wars erupted that spread to the southern into the southern zone with this lasting a period of 300 years and created clan feuds that kept erupting into further conflicts. The three century long conflict left the Kushan on the brink of extinction as precious infrastructure was destroyed with resources being lost as a result. In 810, the internal anarchy had left the different factions exhausted and it was then that a small obscure northern clan called the Naabel from the settlement of Tiir emerged that developed chemical explosives which made them unmatched in warfare. This group preached a view of science and logic where they offered their protection to anyone who shared these view. None of the theological clans managed to defeat the Naabel who within the span of 20 years made Tiir a new capital as they sparked a new era known as the Age of Reason. This sparked a time of debate and development in sciences where advances in biological and chemical sciences revealed a lack of commonality between the Kushan biochemical makeup and those of the lifeforms native to their world. When the Daiamid Movement was formed, it sparked an era of scientific breakthroughs and philosophical discussion that led to the XenoGenesis Theory where their race came to conclude that they were not native to Kharak. This alone did not end conflict but sparked an interest in space exploration in an effort for the Kushan to discover their origins.

The idea of space exploration was not greeted favourably by the people as some believed efforts should have been made at staving off the encroaching desert and developing means of supporting the Kushan population. It was an obscure theologian named Per Doine who helped pave the way for unifying the factions opposed to space launch. He referenced the old myth that tragedy would befall the people of Kharak if they went into space and that they would be punished for their arrogance. This reignited fervour amongst the religious groups who had experienced a revival among the polar territories. In turn, this brought about the formation of a frenzied mob that were looking to tear down the first orbital flight of the Silumiin launch vehicle. The event was known as the Mission Silumiin Riots that occurred in circa 1024 as the mob looked to stop the lift-off with disaster only being averted by the High Technocrats who prevented firing of the defensive turrets and preached reason for the 14 hour period of the launch. In that time, Per Doine managed to slip through the protective cordons and prayed beneath the rocket engines where he was incinerated by the launch and labelled a martyr for his cause. The era of piloted orbital exploration came to show further signs that the Kushan people were not indigenous to Kharak with advanced debris found in space but this did not confirm their origins.

Overview

In appearance, the Kushan and their Hiigaran ancestors bipedal beings that resembled humans.

Dating back from their Hiigaran roots, the Kushan were divided into a number of extended families known as a Kiith. Among the various Kiithid were:

• Kiith S'jet :
• Kiith Soban :
• Kiith Naabal :
• Kiith Manaan :
• Kiith Somtaaw :
• Kiith Hraal/LiirHra :
• Kiith Gaalsien :
• Kiith Siidim :
• Kiith Paktu :
• Kiith Kaalel :
• Kiith Magann :
• Kiith Sagald :
• Kiith Jaraci :
• Kiith Tambuur :

The ruling family of a Kiith held the position of Kiith-Sa. Certain Kiith developed their own companies that produced equipment and technology such as S'jet Aerospace. On Kharak, the Kiith of the north formed an allied government that looked to re-establish their space presence as the planet was dying with these becoming the Coalition of the Northern Kiithid. A legislative body that unified the Kiith was the Great Daiamid that dated from the time of the Hiigaran empire.

From the Gaalsien came a group that were called the Khaaneph (Translation: Godless) that were a group that inhabited the deep deserts. They were said to believe in nothing and were not a Kiith but rather scavengers who took anything from corpses to equipment for raw material.

A common belief among the races of the galaxy that included the ancient Hiigarans and the Kushan was that surrounding a deity known as Sajuuk who was known as the "Great Maker" or as "He Whose Hand Shapes What Is". Unknown to anyone, Sajuuk was one of the ancient Progenitors who crafted the Three Hyperspace Cores.

Vehicles developed by the Kushan on Kharak included:

• NBR-12A Science Team Baserunner :
• STS-32 Foreman-class Salvager :
• Ifriit-class Heavy Carrier :
• SJCC-14 Sakala-class Command Carrier :
• SJF-14 Hammer-class Strike Fighter :
• SJB-18 Anvil-class Tactical Bomber :

Among the spacecraft they developed in time were:

• Explorer-class Deep Space Mining Vessel :
• Kushan Mothership :

Members

• Karan S'jet :
• Iifrit Naabal-sa :
• Majiir Paktu :
• Soban the Red :
• Teigor Somtaaw :
• Arban Hraal :
• Miirpat Gaalsien-sa :
• Per Doine :

Notes

• The Kushan featured in the setting of Homeworld.

Appearances

• Homeworld:
• Homeworld: Cataclysm:
• Homeworld 2:
• Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak:

External Links

• Homeworld Wiki Entry

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