House Chaf and Yashuvhu - Star Wars RP: A Galaxy At War Forum

House Chaf and Yashuvhu

greenblade

Date: Thursday, 18 Mar 2010, 5:18 PM | Message # 1

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Yashuvhu
House Chaf

I have provided those two links to provide some background to this request. While Tes'dra's profile lists his birthworld as Naboo, I have decided that the world he was raised on is Yashuvhu, and given the back story of that planet, and the earlier requests I've put in for Tes'dra, the world fits.

So the story becomes this;

Tes'dra is born on Naboo to Emily Navlon, who is then killed by his father, Pan'dra, and he is taken to Yushuvhu to be raised according to his birthright and the charge laid upon on the Nintra family since the days of their progenitor. The progenitor himself was a legendary Jedi (whose name has been lost to time), that crash landed on the planet many thousands of years ago. The crash landing, in keeping with the story being built for Tes'dra, would have been related to the inital contact with the Far Outsiders (the Vong). The location of the world in relation to the Chiss Ascendancy is what connects to the next part of the request.

The Chiss House Chaf
In its history, the Chaf House is one of the minor, lesser known ruling Chiss families that was at times found to by vying for more control and power within the Ascendancy than they had. My request is simple enough, I want to establish that Tes'dra was(is)betrothed to a minor noble woman of the house, Chaf'vadne'cil, or Vadne, by her Core name.

This is done by Pan'dra, Tes'dras father, and Chaf'orm'bintrano (Formbi) - who canonically, is the visible head of the Chaf family when they start appearing in literature circa 22 ABY, because while this Chiss are an extremely xenophobic society, the demonstrated skill and powers of the Nintra line and those around them, coupled with the desire of the Chaf family to gain more power and control over the Ascendancy, thought that aligning themselves with the Nintra heir would benefit them by improving their bloodline, and throwing a wrench into the usual Chiss politics and providing them with a significant new asset should war erupt. (A force wielding, lightsaber swinging force of nature, to be exact, now loyal to them via marriage.) Pan'dra came up with, and agreed to the arrangement for his son because with the charge the Nintra line has, its an easy way to start amassing forces and connections already located in the Unknown Regions, preparing for the coming apocalypse Force killing invasion they have been preparing against.

As of the current date in the storyline, the pair, Vadne and Tes'dra, are betrothed but not yet actually married. This hasn't occurred yet for two reasons, upon reaching the age of majority, Tes'dra was sent into the known galaxy to begin working towards creating something akin to unity in the galaxy, to bring back to the unknown regions and prepare for the coming doom. The other reason is that Vadne has not yet reached the age of majority for Chiss, 21. She is only 19.

The pair has not been romantic, considering that the last time they saw each other in person Tes'dra was 18 and she was 13, the relationship is very much an arranged affair by their parents. They are friendly to each other, and Vadne is not opposed to the marriage, despite her own natural xenophobia, she, like other members of her family, see Tes'dra as a tool to be used to better their own house.

Concrete elements of the arranged marriage
The details of the marriage contract were that the Nintra line would promise to train in the Force any member of House Chaf that was from that date onward, found to be Force sensitive, and that in times of war, the Nintra line would serve as commanding officers in the forces commanded by the Chaf House.

The Chaf House meanwhile, swore to make available to the Nintra line, upon request, a task force to be used at the Nintra's discretion, to include a small force of infantry styled troops and also to make the whole of their resources available to the Nintra's should an invader from outside the galaxy appear.

The Chaf House Task Force
6 Nssiss Clawcraft - canonically, not all of the ascendancy was using this style of clawcraft by 20 ABY, but since my request is that House Chaf be a bit on the down low with and acting outside of the usual Chiss manner, there were some Nssiss class clawcraft being used by Chiss factions.

2 'Springhawk' cruisers
Clawsnap
Bitemouth

Given the small amount of crewmen required to actually pilot Chiss craft, I'm requesting that each ship function with a crew of 30 ratings, 6 officers and a platoon's worth of infantry styled troops aboard each. (That being about 40 troops per ship)

So in total,
60 crewmen
80 infantry
12 officers
6 pilots (for the clawcraft)

I plan on playing Vadne as a player character here in a bit, when I've gotten a profile together for her as well.

Tes'dra Nintra

"A coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero dies but once."
"Courage is the mastery of fear."

Message edited by greenblade - Thursday, 18 Mar 2010, 10:46 PM

Jace_Varitek

Date: Monday, 22 Mar 2010, 11:57 PM | Message # 2

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Sorry, again, that we've taken some time in responding to this. I can't account for the other managers, but for my part I wanted to make sure this was thoroughly researched and, as some may have noticed, I've been rather sick this last week and haven't made many posts anywhere. But moving on to the request, I want to state up front some assumptions that I'm making in my response;

◊ There is a significant amount of tension inside the Chiss Ascendency at this point in time, and a significant amount of animosity or distrust targeted, specifically, at House Chaf. I make this assumption because it's stated that a civil war (or "internal conflict," or whatever one calls it) occurs c. 22 ABY, which results in House Chaf being marginalized.

◊ Some of the tension, at this time, has to do with House Chaf's use of its fleet and its forces, which appear to be largely autonomous. The Chiss ruling families, generally, don't seem to maintain fleets of their own; the Chiss forces appear to be remarkably centralized under the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet, commanded by House Nuruodo (which has jurisdiction over "military and foreign policy"). It is mentioned that House Chaf is peculiar in that it seems to operate its own fleet, autonomously, in apparent defiance of House Nuruodo's jurisdiction (House Chaf's jurisdiction appears to be diplomacy). All of this is consistent with your mention that Chaf are "acting outside of the usual Chiss manner."

◊ As of now, in 20 ABY, House Chaf is on thin ice with the Council of Families which, according to Wookieepedia, "insured that each Family remained on equal footing." The government, thus, is wary of House Chaf's largely autonomous forces and is scrutinizing how it uses them. House Chaf's domestic, diplomatic, and social dealings are likely also under similar scrutiny.

◊ The Chiss Ascendency is remarkably and deliberately isolationist, and significant intercourse with the galaxy proper is considered taboo as of now, in 20 ABY. My task as a manager, thus, is twofold; 1.) to make sure the Chiss are not represented in the RP at this time any more than is plausible, and similarly, 2.) to make sure the Chiss Ascendency is represented as acting firmly to uphold its isolationist policy.

With all of that said, I'm broadly in support of the request in principle. I'm concerned, however, on just a few of its particulars which, I think, can be easily adjusted without significantly altering the background that Tes'dra has clearly worked very hard on. I'll mention the concerns first, then how I suggest to resolve them.

The foremost reluctance I have is to involve Chiss ships in the RP, considering that the Chiss are fiercely isolationist and, as of 20 ABY, are virtually unknown to the galaxy proper. I appreciate that the use of the particular ships being requested would be rather clandestine (and, as you mentioned in Messenger, more of a last resort anyway), but if at all possible I'd prefer to avoid this. Further complicating this is the fact that the Springhawk cruisers have a weapon, known as a "shock net," which I don't think management can in good conscience approve (reasonable though your statistics indeed are).

How to remedy this.

I would suggest that House Chaf is very cynical and concerned more with gaining power through Tes'dra than it is concerned with keeping its agreements with him. In particular, I suggest that House Chaf's leaders consider Tes'dra to be delusional, and their promise to put all of their ships at Tes'dra's disposal in the event of an extra-galactic invasion is, in fact, a blatant lie that they have no intent to follow through on (recall that "extra-galactic invasions" are, debatably, a fairly common occurrence. The Nagai and Tof are the two most notorious examples).

However, I propose that they do make available to Tes'dra the infantry, the crew, and the Clawcraft that you've described. In terms of capital ships, however, I'd prefer to say that House Chaf instead provides Tes'dra with the mineral wealth that he needs to purchase ships of his own from the broader galaxy (for which, as I suggested, they could still provide some or all of the crew). This would allow House Chaf to support Tes'dra while escaping the intervention of the Council of Families and, for both IC and OOC purposes, keeps the Chiss Ascendency satisfactorily isolationist.

The only other thing worth noting is that, under all of these circumstances, it would be untenable for House Chaf to allow the Nintra line to "serve as commanding officers in the forces commanded by the Chaf House" in times of war. If this is one of the promises they do indeed make, I would suggest that this, also, is an empty one.

I think that covers everything, and bear in mind I'm not absolutely insisting on any of this. Since we know so little about the Chiss, this is all very open to discussion as far as I'm concerned. I think the middle way I've proposed, though, is desirable in that it keeps your storyline effectively intact with only small changes. Anyway, let me know what you think. Also, I know it's a lot of information but I hope, nonetheless, that other managers will be heard on this so that it's not just me.

Jace Varitek
Manager/Administrator from January 2003 to Present
My recent posts here, pre-2009 archives here

"When my information changes, I change my opinion. What do you do, sir?"
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Furthermore, a dancing Wookiee:

Jace_Varitek

Date: Tuesday, 23 Mar 2010, 0:04 AM | Message # 3

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Also, this is a small detail, probably not important to your request, but I'm assuming that Tes'dra's association with the Chiss would make him persona non grata on Yashuvhu.

greenblade

Date: Friday, 26 Mar 2010, 9:49 PM | Message # 4

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I think regarding Yashuvhu I might move the arrangement with the Chaf to a more discrete one, that wouldn't result in Tes'dra becoming persona non grata.

I'm going to tinker with this for a bit tonight and resubmit it sometime tomorrow or the next day most likely.

Added (23 Mar 2010, 3:05 Am)
---------------------------------------------
Gladiator Class Star Destroyer

Not sure if this is what I want yet, but I'll canvass my question anyways. What if the Chaf provided the resources for this, and assisted in retrofitting it so that it could operate with a much smaller crew (ie the way Chiss ships do).

I'm thinking in terms of modifying the ship so that it can function halfway in between pocket battleship/carrier and operations platform.

Added (26 Mar 2010, 10:49 PM)
---------------------------------------------
I'm going to request this as the final version of Star Destroyer than Tes'dra will end up with, when acquiring it gets all role played out, because depending on how the SL goes here in a little bit, there are different ways that he may come into owning this vessel.

Gladiator Class Star Destroyer (basic - not what I'm requesting, just for your comparing use)

Manufacturer : Rendili StarDrive/Kuat Drive Yards
Product Line : Star Destroyer
Model : Gladiator Class Star Destroyer
Class : Star Destroyer

Length : 500 m
Hyperdrive : Class 1 (backup class 8)
" system : Equipped

Armament

Light Turbolaser Batteries (5)
Point Defense Laser Cannon Batteries (2)
Torpedo or Medium Concussion Missile Launchers (2)
Medium Concussion Missiles (300)
Tractor Beam Batteries (3)

Complement : 24 Starfighters
Crew : 1,255
Passengers : 1,200
Cargo : 6,000 tons
Consumables: 2 years

The basic premise of the modifications to the Star Destroyer is that it has been retrofit with Chiss technology, in lieu of Tes'dra being provided with Chiss forces. The most basic change is in the level of automation added to the running of the ship. From the Chiss entry on Wookiepedia,

Quote

many Chiss ships were highly automated—a cruiser more than two hundred meters long had an operational crew of less than thirty

So if we say 30 crew per 200 m of ship, 30/x = 200/500, which puts x at 75 crew needed to run the ship at any one time. So lets say the crew is divided into 3 duty sections, putting the total crew on board at 225 beings.

So first modification

Crew : was 1,255 - now 225(with an extra 36 pilots on top of that) (needing only 75 on at a time to operate at full capacity), per Chiss automation technology (making a total of 261 on board)

Second modifcation

Considering that berthing and other needed spaces for 1,030 crew members has been removed (galleys, restroom facilities, etc) I would like to convert that space into additional hangar space for star fighters. I want to add 12 starfighters to the current complement of 24.

Complement : was 24 - now 36

Third modification

I want to downsize passenger capacity down to 50, from 1,200. This includes removing berthing, galleys, restroom facilities, etc. I want to replace this with additional batteries and an an additional warhead launcher.

Armament - was 5 light turbolaser batteries, now 8 light batteries (see next modification)
- was 2 warhead launchers, now 3.

Fourth modifcation

This one will specify the firing arcs of the batteries and launchers, along with the incorporation of Masers.

I want 3 of the 8 light batteries to be Maser batteries. They will be mounted with 2 in front/dorsal, a one aft on the dorsal side of the ship. The other 5 will consist of conventional turbolaser batteries and will be with 2 front and ventral, one ventral and aft, and 2 dorsal and halfway between bow and aft. Anything paired will be assumed to be split evenly between port and starboard, (ie, one on each side), and anything placed by itself will be in keeping with the midline.

Two of the launchers will be located on the bow of the ship, and the other will be aft.

The three tractor beams will be located as such, two bow and 1 aft.

The firing arcs would then look like this (please double check me if I've managed to confuse myself)
Front - 2 warhead launchers, 2 light maser batteries, 2 light turbolaser batteries, 2 tractor beams
Starboard/Port - 2 warhead launchers (one in front, one in back), 2 light masers (1 in front, 1 in back), 3 laser batteries (1 front, 1 mid, 1 back), 2 tractor beams (1 front, 1 back)
Back - 1 warhead launcher, 1 light maser battery, 1 light turbolaser battery, 1 tractor beam
Dorsal - 3 warhead launchers, 3 light maser batteries, 2 light turbolaser batteries, 3 tractor beams
Ventral - 3 warhead launchers, 3 light turbo laser batteries, 3 tractor beams

Point Defense Laser Batteries - 1 ventral and one dorsal, I didn't include them in the firing arcs because they are point defense weapons.

I want to change the warhead payload to be 200 proton torpedos and 100 medium concussion missiles rather than 300 m. concussion missiles.

Thats it for the armament of the ship.

Fifth Modification

It doesn't specify the shielding for this vessel on Wiki, so I looked at a Victory I's shield rating which was 3200 SBD and while I'm not entirely sure what that means, I imagine it would be in keeping with what would have been present on the Gladiator Class. Suffice it to say, I'm not requesting anything special in terms of its shielding, just that it HAS shields.

Sixth Modification (just one more after this, I promise)

The consumables is listed at 2 years worth, I imagine this to mean food, water, waste disposal, fuel, etc for the unmodified Gladiator class with the original crew capacity. Now since I've already requested to replace the unused crew (and removed passenger) spaces for other things, I want to remove some of the listed general cargo carrying capacity. Lets make that 2k tons rather than six, and replace that with consumables for the 6 years instead of 2. (meaning, 6 years of food, water, waste disposal, fuel, etc)>

Seventh Modification (last one)

I want the ship to be able to make tactical hyperspace microjumps in combat. I imagine utilizing this ability would require powering down systems, etc (I remember always having to power stuff up in the X Wing games whenever you came out of hyperspace).

So the new loadout would be (in summary)

Manufacturer : Rendili StarDrive/Kuat Drive Yards
Product Line : Star Destroyer
Model : Gladiator Class Star Destroyer
Class : Star Destroyer

Length : 500 m
Hyperdrive : Class 1 (backup class 8) with capability to make tactical microjumps
" system : Equipped

Armament

Light Turbolaser Batteries (5)
3 Light Maser Batteries
Point Defense Laser Cannon Batteries (2)
Torpedo or Medium Concussion Missile Launchers (3)
Medium Concussion Missiles (200)
Proton Torpedoes (100)
Tractor Beam Batteries (3)
Standard Shielding

Complement : 36 Starfighters
Crew : 261 (operates with 75)(36 are pilots)
Passengers : 50
Cargo : 2,000 tons
Consumables: 6 years

Before I move on to the rest of the request, I think that for a ship of its size its a lot more potent than other 500 m warships out there, but thats my intent. I don't want something big and crazy and ostentatious (ie, a much larger, current with the time Star Destroyer, etc), what I want is a pocket battleship/carrier. I want this ship and its complement to be a match for smaller, outer rim styled fleets, ie pirate fleets, planetary defenses (on smaller worlds), etc. Its intended as a significant plot device, which I feel justifies the loadout I'm requesting. But note that it has 'light turbo laser' batters and 'light maser batteries', it isn't going to be taking down much larger capital ships (unless of course I get REALLY canny at space battles, who knows)

Now, onto the starfighter compliment for the ship, in keeping with Tes'dra's outer rim roots, I'm am going to stay away from strictly Imperial and Republic aligned fighters, and request fringe ships in the following roster

I couldn't find anything specific on the ML Headhunters other than that it had more hard points for warheads, so I would imagine it as a regular Z-95 with 4 missile launchers rather than 2, with the capability of launching proton torpedoes, carrying enough to fire 4 times from each launcher. (16 total). I intend for them to be the 'bombers' of the starfighter complement, with the T Wings as escort fighters and the '22s as space superiority fighters.

I am requesting that 40 of the 50 passenger slots be considered 'infantry', carrying Maser Carbines and reasonable infantry gear and wearing basic body armor. Nothing elite or amazing, just run of the mill soldiers that will follow orders and fight reasonably well. The other 10 slots will be used for miscellaneous passengers (such as when Tes'dra is aboard, etc)

Regarding the Chiss and House Chaf

Change the military agreement with House Chaf to this.

They have agreed to provide the resources for Tes'dra to obtain a warship chassis for them to retrofit in keeping with Chiss technology. (ie, the gladiator class SD and its complement - which they is not Chiss fitted) and have agreed to a 'military alliance' with him and his adopted homeworld of Yushuvhu, which is mostly an agreement of non aggression against Yushuvhu. (and considering they had already been repulsed once by the population, its largely a pointless concession on the Chiss's part, but it looks good to Tes'dra and the Yushuvhu population)

This agreement/alliance keeps Tes'dra from becoming persona non grata on Yushuvhu, because while they don't like the Chiss and vice versa, they don't want to have to fight them off again and this agreement (in principle) guarantees their safety so they can swallow it enough to not ostracize Tes'dra should he return to Yushuvhu.

This also allows for Tes'dra to recruit his 225 crew, 36 pilots and 40 infantry from the Yushuvhu youth that don't as freshly remember the Chiss incursion on their world, and so are more able to swallow cooperation with House Chaf. Now considering they are from a backwards, out of the way unknown regions world, they will need to be trained to be able to operate the technology inherently involved in becoming a ship's crew and this is where the next part of the request comes in, in regards to Chaf'vadne'cil and the betrothal to Tes'dra.

Vadne has been groomed to be military commander and as part of the marriage contract, was to assist in training whatever crew Tes'dra came up with to operate the Chiss technology that would be transplanted onto the ship, along with a small staff of other Chaf House phalanx officers to assist with training the crew/pilots/infantry, and her most important function is to train Tes'dra in the theory of commanding a capital ship.

To keep the Chiss from becoming more apparent in the roleplay than they were in canon, none of the training officers, Vadne included, will leave the unknown regions with the SD or its crew, training them in the basics, and then it will be up to Tes'dra and his crew to further educate themselves in the advanced notions of it all, and considering that the Yushuvhu were on some Republic record somewhere once upon a time, and are all humans anyways, I don't feel like they would be a significant break from canon versimilitude.

The relationship between Tes'dra and Vadne will remain the same as it was in the initial request, largely just a backdrop for me to further develop the character into a more rounded individual.

Tes'dra Nintra

"A coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero dies but once."
"Courage is the mastery of fear."

OrionKarath

Date: Sunday, 28 Mar 2010, 8:41 PM | Message # 5

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Everything is in order to me, as Jace has addressed all of my concerns already. Approve.

Orion Karath
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Jace_Varitek

Date: Friday, 02 Apr 2010, 9:58 PM | Message # 6

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It's been a few days, I know. It's taken me a few to be sure that I understand all of this, and now I almost do. Please bear with me for another day or so, however; I'll need to break this down for my reference into a few, concise points on which I will comment specifically.

greenblade

Date: Friday, 30 Apr 2010, 5:27 AM | Message # 7

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Bump!

Tes'dra Nintra

"A coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero dies but once."
"Courage is the mastery of fear."

Jace_Varitek

Date: Sunday, 02 May 2010, 12:45 PM | Message # 8

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Hey man, sorry about the delay. I haven't forgotten the request, I've just been kind of afraid of it. But I promise I'll sit down tonight and draft a reply to it.

Jace_Varitek

Date: Tuesday, 01 Jun 2010, 8:49 PM | Message # 9

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Okay, so my understanding of the request is as follows:

Armaments
(8) Light Turbomaser Batteries
(2) Point Defense Laser Cannon Batteries
(3) Missile Launchers (200 Concussion Missiles, 100 Proton Torpedoes)
(3) Tractor Beams
Standard Shielding

Modifications
1. Smaller crew requirement
2. Renovations for 12 more starfighters
3. Smaller passenger capacity, more guns
4. The various firing arcs you mention
5. Shields comparable to a Victory-class
6. Six years worth of consumables
7. Tactical microjumps

Complement
(12) T-Wing Interceptors
(12) Z-95ML Headhunters
(12) Belbullab-22 Starfighters

Other
Crew recruited from Yushuvhu, trained by Chiss

If I have that right, I vote to APPROVE the armaments provided that the missiles are paired down to, let's say, 100 concussion missiles and 20 proton torpedoes. Note, also, that I've combined the turbolasers and masers into the somewhat ambiguous term "turbomaser." This is because the sources I've read about masers suggest, to me, that they're more or less the same as lasers, possibly with an uncommon, blue color. If there's any difference, it appears to be in the means, not the end. So in the interest of simplicity, I'm treating them as the same in this thread.

3 tractor beams also seems a bit heavy to me for a 500 meter long ship, and while I'd prefer there be fewer, it's not something I'll really tug on.

I vote to APPROVE the modifications, except for the 5th of them. Sorry, no shields allowed.

Just kidding.

I vote to APPROVE the complement also, providing the Z-95 ML's are changed to the standard and admittedly unexciting Z-95's. I'm thinking, particularly with the large number of missiles that the Gladiator has, that it's not really in need of additional missile coverage. The reason I'm apprehensive about missiles is that surprisingly few capital ships seem to have them in great numbers, and when they do it tends to end battles rather quickly and decisively.

And the crew being from Yushuvhu and trained by the Chiss is all right by me, if the effect is to keep the Chiss themselves out of the RP in any conspicuous way. So, I think that about covers it. Let me know if I've gotten anything wrong.

OrionKarath

Date: Tuesday, 01 Jun 2010, 10:01 PM | Message # 10

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After the longest vetting, internal debate, and approval process we have ever had to undertake...
APPROVED

Orion Karath
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