"The Nebula is not only our greatest tool to isolate ourselves from the other races. The mass of swirling gas which surrounds us is our first and best defence against those beyond it's borders. Our fleet is powerful, their crews are capable, and the enemy will be blind as a [bat]." -Admiral Voshasho 






 
This section of my webpage details the first and best defence against the other races that the Tol'Rawn possess. The Nebula Fleet. The Nebula is large, and the Tol'Rawn have expanded their space colonies well into it's depths. Early fleets which were built for general use proved to be inneffective in nebula combat. The Tol'Rawn after an colonist craze decided to concentrate on designing sensors which would work within the nebula. [Insert number] years ago, they were successful and created Enhanced Imagining Sensors. These sensors however used a rare and very expensive material to accomplish this goal. It also required fairly high maitenance, which may not always be possible on a travelling ship. And so the sensors were built into limited structures such as Weapons Platforms for defence and the bases themselves. The Tol'Rawn tried to develop an offspring technology which would be both cheaper and easier to maintain. Several years later they achieved Depth Perception Sensors (see below). These sensors however required a large ship to work from in order to get accurate data. They were equipped on several modified vessels, but it was found that the ships still lacked combat prowess. Finally, [Insert numer] years ago the Tol'Rawn decided to create a series of ships designed specifically for nebula combat, and thus the 'Kast' fleet was born.







03/21/99 - Started to create the nebula page with this index. I've created 3 SCSes so far, with one more ship, a fighter and a weapons platform to go.
07/4/99 - I've completed the 'Kast' fleet; all that remains is the fighter. (which may be done by the time I put this on the webpage) 




New Sensor Rules:
Depth Perception sensors is perhaps the greatest weapon fielded by the fleet. Rather than use standard sensing abilities, DP sensors uses very powerful cameras with advanced imaging equipment to help distinguish objects within the nebula. Through triangulation, the sensors can relay firing data to the position where the ship is, or where it will be. The net result, is the equivelant of a lock. The weapons do not actually fire at the ship, instead they fire at a location in space where the ship will be. Because the sensors use triangulation, they are limited to being mounted on Capital Ships only. DP sensors do not work like standard sensors, rather the number within the icon is the total number of locks the sensors may perform. The total number of locks in any one arc (ie, fore, aft, port. . .) is equal to half of the current sensor rating, rounded down. When you gain a lock, there is no benefit other than the negation of the double range penalty for firing without a lock. It does not provide a +1 for your target number. DP Sensors use both the sensor criticals and rules for CCEW. If there are more locks in one arc than availble, the attacking ship can decide which lock is lost. For example, a Motashi'Kast Dreadnought has 6 DP 'EW'. It is currently under attack by the Centauri Costguard, in the form of six Haven Patrol Craft. The captain puts one point of DP EW onto each ship. At the end of movement, four Havens have ended up in the port arc, and two in the aft arc. The Motashi is allowed (6 DP EW/2) 3 locks per arc. Since there are four locks in the port arc, the captain must decide which lock will be dropped in order to maintain the other three. There is no problem in lock the two Havens to the aft. 



('Kast' translation: "of the nebula")


One problem about Depth Perception sensors is that they need to be mounted on a large hull in order to get accurate triangulation data. Rather than design several totally different ships, the Tol'Rawn decided to take a single hull shape and add onto it to. At the time the design process started, there were still several mothballed Tolkana Battlecruiser hulls waiting to be scrapped. The designers decided to take several of the hulls and make it the basis for the new design. The 'kast' ships all have one thing in common. A massive forward section, with three fingerlike projections at the front. It's heavily armored and often holds the main armament of the ship, whether it be weapons or Fighter craft. The primary section, unlike most ships is quite weak. Sometimes nearly having only 30 percent of the fore section's mass. This makes the kast design very susceptible to piercing attacks. However, because sensors are ineffective within the nebula, piercing attacks are of no concern. The overall design is both streamlined and curved, and very square in some places, as the design had been the joint effort of both the Tolkid and Rawnjok peoples. The greatest advantage the fleet has over enemy intruders is the Depth Perception Sensors. Allowing them to 'lock' on. The ships also carry weak standard sensors for emergency uses outside of the nebula. The fleet numbers about 200 capital ships total. There are about 20 patrol forces, consisting of approximately 5 Va'Bao'Kast, 1 Motashi'Kast, 2 Ova'Kast and 2 Ky'Shao'Kast. Numbers sometime vary, depending on the situation. Task forces are often broken up for short periods of time to patrol a greater amount of area. 