Spawnships are the center of life for a drone nation, acting as mothership, breeding ground, and mobile factory. When the Overminds first began the Spawnship program, they decided to build thriteen- a prime number. However shortly after their constuction, combat at the Resduk Gulf reduced this number to eleven, which proceeded to found seperate colonies and lose contact with eachother for a numer of years. The rulers of the various Spawnships followed different doctrines, and did not want close contact, as they had been unabel to reconcile their differences and were almost constantly at war.

History

Construction

The Spawnships were constructed simultaneously in orbit over Rith Essa, the drone homeworld. Though their keels were laid down at the same time and each had its own dedicated shipyards, they were not completed together because of internal politics among the clans living on Rith Essa. The most politically stable, the Yrrgath Coastal People, were able to rally together and build theirs, assimilating several smaller clans along the way, in a mere three years. Most of the other clans took five to six, as various sub-famillies and minor clans rose to dominance in the alliances that were funding the construction of that particular Spawnship. The last clan to complete their spawnship were the Chisrit Cliff Dwellers, who lost their supporting vassals in inter-clan warfare during the construction period, tqaking almost seven years. However, they did not waste this time, and had put a great deal of effort into building a small squadren of scout craft. These were extremely valuable, and gave the Chisrit a bargaining token in the post-construction years, when the Spawnships were being made ready for the Exodus.

Each of the thirteen Spawnships was designed along the same basic lines, about eleven and a half kilometers long (this actually translates to 130 of their standard measures), with a bulbous armored nose and powerful rear engine section. What was most important was the middle section, which contained the main life support areas. These would be able to provide comforatble living quaters for over 11 million drones, as well as the necessary spawning pits for more drones to gestate. They would hae to be able to carry vast amounts of liquid water, as well as nutrients for both larva and adults. On top of this, they must have the armor and weapons to stand up to combat on an enormous scale, possibly engaging entire hostile fleets unaided. What made the construction of these vessels possible was the willingness of the Overminds to sacrifice as many drones as necessary to get the job done. The laying of all the 11,000 meter long backbones was said to have stripped all the metal resources from a large moon and cost the lives of nearly a million overwoked drones. But these super strong, hyperforged composite beams wer able to support the torsion of combat maneuvers, as well as the impact stress of SupraDrives. Practically all the resources in the Rith Essa system were spent on building these thirteen monsters, with ribs and armor plate of the same super-strong material out massing the keels by orders of magnitude. When it came time to design weapon systems, the drone clans found themselves with no experience, so they built on what they knew- installing mass drivers and laser systems. But they knew enough to make these loadouts temporary, since there were promising developments on the horizon in advanced energy weapons. Sure enough, less than a year after the Chisrit was finished, a decision had to be made by each clan whether to undergo an extensive refit to put in new weapon systems or save costs and press on to completion. In the end, only five went for the refit, the others reasoning that they would get better technology later and could refit after their exodus. All thirteen did decide to add sheild generators, as they would considerably ease the stresses of FTL travel. This did no slow the loading process, and within another three years, all storage tanks were filled with consumables and the mighty Spawnships were prepared to push into interstellar space.

Exodus

The Exodus perios in the history of the Spawnships began when the Rthulat made its unannounced exit from the system. It jumped fifty lightyears to nearby Fressa, claiming it as colony despite it having already been claimed by the Yrrgath. The Yrrgath followed two months later and razed the fledgling colony, forcing the Rthulat to flee deeper into space. Yrrgath then set about building its own colonies on Fressa, which proceeded smoothly. Rthulat then proceeded to jump to its assigned location, only to find Chisrit's Spawnship and scout squadren waiting for it. The Overmind Council was made to leave the Rthulat and go back to Rith Essa for judgement by the other clans. Meanwhile the drones on the Rthulat languished under the harsher rule of inexperienced younger Overminds. The colony nearly failed and by the time the Council returned, it needed another Spawnship to deliver emergency supplies.

The council was made to pay by turning over a tithe of its annual mineral resources back to Rith Essa to help restor its economy. However, the other Spawnships knew it would never be able to pay this witout going deep into debt and looked to profit from this. Two other Spawnships, the Tirgard and the Pesstal went to their colony locations without a hitch. However, at this point trouble began to brew. It was to be over two years before the next Spawnship was going to be able to leave and establish its colony, and those at the end of the list began to feel that they were being cheated. The Chisrit were scheduled to go next, but because of their actions against the Rthulat, they were not ready and the others wanted their time slot so that the four existing colonies would not get a head start. The Gesta made an unannounced jump to its location and began colonizing immediately. When nothing was done to stop this, three more jumped. But the Chisrit again put their now-heavily-armed scouts to work and managed to check any further attempts to jump. They did, however, agree to leave before they were ready, since their colony supposedly had plenty of fresh water. The last four then began bickering again, and it was only the return of the Pesstal and the Yrrgath that prevented an open conflict from arising.

Finally the last of the Spawnships jumped out of Rith Essa to establish a colony of drones in deep space. But the protracted wait had taxed the system's resources too far, and the clans still on Rith Essa begged for food supplies as well as minerals from the colonies. The Rthulat could not bear this further injustice and they jumped back to Rith Essa with their newly-modified Spawnship, optimized for combat. They knocked the thirteen shipyard out of orbit, causing them to crash onto the surface of the planet, they proclaimed that they had paid back the colony's mineral debt to the homeworld and jumped out- leaving the carnage and destruction behind. While the other ships were reeling from this unprecedented action, the Yrrgath and the Rthulat held a secret meeting, and decided that the homeworld was an unnecessary liability. It was vulnerable to attack, weak economically, and was an emotional anchor for the Spawnships. Without it, they would be much better suited to meeting with and fighting alien species. They decided to return to Rith Essa one last time, and in a coordinated attack the two Spawnships burn the planet to a smoking crust. This sparked the First War of Torches.

First War of Torches

The First War of Torches was notable for the lack of any effective planetary sheilding on the colonies. This meant that a Spawnshi could jump into system and burn a colony planet without having to engage in any lengthy conflict. This happened five times befroe an effective solution was found. First, Rith Essa had been destroyed. Then the Gesta almost immediately jumped to attack Rhulat, but was met and delayed by Yrrgath. However, the Jommor and the Pesstal sliped around and burned the now-undefended first colony while Yrrgath was distracted. Yrrgath fled back to save as much as it could, and Gesta completed its attack on Rthulat. Both then took their revenge on Gesta, completely crushing the colony and causing heavy damage to the Spawnship. All the other Spawnships then took a step back and reveiewed their position. The Rthulat was the most combat-ready Spawnship, and the Yrrgath had proven wild and unpredicatble. Most of the remaining colonies did not want to get involved, and looked for somebody else to end the carnage. The Chisrit managed to catch the Yrrgath off-guard and initiate a boarding action with its elite special forces. They captured the Overminds and took the ship back to their colony as a war-prize. It would later be said that Chisrit the drones deposing the leaders of Yrrgath would lead to the eventual overthrow of their own Overminds.

This led to the Battle of Resdek Gulf, where the Rthulat was engaged by all the other combatants. The Jommor and Pesstal managed to lure it into a trap, and were joined after several minutes of feirce fighting by the hastily-repaired Gesta. However, the Rthulat held its own and repelled eight attempts to board it, despite increasing damage. Finally, in desparation, it used its burner cannon to blast appart the Jommor, splitting the Spawnship's keel in two. This was too much for the Pesstal and Gesta to bear, and so they poured fire onto the Rthulat until it was completely battered and close to destruction. Meanwhile, FTL communications from the slowly-dying Jommor had reached the other colonies, and they demanded an eye for an eye. The Rthulat was then destroyed as it made one final desperate breakout attempt, but enemy fire and over-strained reactors led to internal explosions and its destruction.

After this fight, the War of Torches was generally considered to be over. Most of the Spawnships were wary of further conflict and retreated further into seclusion. After fiftee years, young Overminds were installed into the leadership of the Yrrgath, and it was allowed to return to its colonization efforts.

Second War of Torches

The Second War began when the Hestanti made a deep space jump across the galaxy and encountered another advanced species. They promptly tried to enslave the furry Orchons, and were shocked when they met resistance. Unused to the idea of individuals not submitting to the larger power of the Overmind, it was decided that this subversive idea should be stamped out. The Hestanti began burning the planet, but was interrupted by a suprise attack from a mercenary fleet. Though it won the battle, it was badly shaken and fled to take council with the other Spawnships. Again the tribes split amongst themselves, but this time there were no alliances. The use of hired mercenaries to draw out and trap Spawnships allowed every one of the original colony worlds to be burned, along with three quarters of the second-generation colonies. However, the mercenary admirals realized they were being played for fools, as they were taking enormous losses every time they came near a Spawnship and would often be betrayed by their employers at the end of the battle. After the long and furious conflict, it was no longer possible for the Spawnships to hire anybody to help them. The mercenaries banded together, perhaps for the first time in history, and decided to fight the treacherous Overminds.

This led to a second burning of planets, with many second, third, and fourth-generation worlds being rendered uninhabitable. However, the Spawnships banded together and swore a compact to always fight gainst outside aggressors. The Mercenaries also developed the dreaded Torchship, which was designed only to burn planets, these became so hated by the Spawnships that they extended the length of the war considerably to hunt down and destroy all of them. It also became understood that no Spawnship would be allowed to be destroyed. This led to an interesting campaign of fast strikes and reinforcement, but eventually the overwhelming might of the Spawnships led to the burning of all the known alien homeworlds and the destruction of the mercenary fleets. With the galaxy cleared for repopulation by drones, the Spawnships settled down to colonizing efforts for the next three thousand years, during which period humanity reached the stars.

The Shattering War

After the Spawnships had been relatively dormant for three thousand years, it came as a shock to them when one of their colonies was inexplicably wiped out. When the Yrrgath arrived to investigate, it found a suprisingly successful human colony in its place. Recognizig a new threat, it left to take council with the other Spawnships. They were not sure what to do, and decided that humanity posed little threat to their race if they did not begin any aggression. This would soon change.

After another year, they noticed increased fighting near their colonies. They found humans fighting more newly-advanced aliens, and that they were good at it. This was a time to settle old grudges. A small group of human mercenaries, who were known to be more volatile and dangerous, were contacted by the Gesta. They were paid an unknown amount of mineral and food resources to burn as many Chisrit worlds as possible. However, the other Spawnships had all independantly developed planetary sheilds. When the human burning fleet founf its burners ineffective, they instead tired to attack the Spawnship that arrived to protect its colony. All the other spawnships then jumped in and crushed the fleet. After a cursory investigation, blame was leveled at the Hestanti, and it was outcast to another galaxy.

The Gesta, confident about itself for coming out of the conflict clean, and now with planetary sheild technology, then began setting up for itself a small empire. They conquered and tried to enslave three other alien races, but failed once again to convince in them the dominance of the Overminds. Humans were called to fight against the drones once again, and they led a campaign against the only known drone world, that belonging to the Chisrit. Getting tired of this, the Chisrit defeated the relatively minor fleet by itself and contacted the human leaders. It provided them with the location of the Gesta coreworld, and gave them a promise not to interfere. When the humans began opening broadisdes into the Gesta, all the Spawnships except the Hestanti and the Chisrit came to its aid. The Chistir was then banished and its colonies divided among the other Spawnships. The Gesta was also punished mildly and the Hestanti was allowed to return under condition.By this point, no other spawnship trusted the others not to betray it, and so they all began abandoning their early colonies and developing secret defensive stations and new core colonies. Trust had been shattered, and the Spawnships would very rarely consult with each other ever again. Humanity especially was disliked, and every effort was made to avoid them, though all alien species were only a hair away from war at any moment.

Revolution and Terror

During its exile, the Chisrit began to run into problems. It did not have many resources, and it was reduced to using its FTL scouts, now hoplessly out of date, as raiders against freighters and small colonies. With all the mercenaries dead and the other Spawnships in hiding, the Chisrit's drones were the only contacts with the outside galaxy. Lacking the room to store lower-quality drones, the Chisrit began to focus on producing only high end Class A and B drones. These began to grow independant while on missions, and even started to plan for themselves. After five yearrs of exile, the Overminds on the Chisrit were killed and the drones declared themselves a Republic. This was to be short lived, as they were not experienced at piloting FTL jumps. They contacted a mercenary, who they beleived they could trust, and had him meet them at the battlesite at Resduk Gulf.

This site had been known as a forrunner artifact by others for some years now, and it had been generally declared off-limits by most governments except for research teams. This made it an ideal location for a Spawnship to hide, and when the relatively miniscule mercenary commandship found itself in the presence of a functional Spawnship, its meglomaniac admiral knew what to do. He had grudges of his own to settle, and needed a supply of soldiers to fight his vicious war. In a coup he suprised the drone senate that had formed, and installed himself as Admiral of the Spawnship, and set about having his fleet refit and upgrade it. He also took the shocking step of stripping the ruins of many of their facilites and building new mini-spawnships to operate his more minor campaigns. He then decided to begin repaying his long list of grudges. Within a few months he had contacted the other Spawnships, and managed to convince the Ulogont and the Rechtick to join his campaign. Since planetary sheilds meant that civilizations could not be burned away, it became necessary for the drones to be feilded in gigantic forces to clear out the surface. This was especially true in the few instanecs in which the hapless defenders were able to send out distress beacons, when all care was made to leave no survivors.

Capabilities & Design

All the Spawnships were originally designed along the same basic scheme, though over the many years they have evolved and become far more powerful than original. Each Spawnship is armed with at least one Burner, a short-range weapon of indescribable power, mostly used for destroying atmospheres and crushing planetary populations. It operates by tapping directly into the power generation units, and a Spawnship can use it to completely depopulate an earth-like planet in less than a day. The Spawnships were of course meant primarily as colony ships and mobile command facilities. Each one had at construction 18 Spawn Pits, which could each support all the major developmental stages at once. Over the years, many of these were removed to make room for additional factories, weapons, or equipment. However, even with only its main Pit operational, a Spawnship can produce anywhere from one to fifteen million drones every month, starting after the initial six-month gestation period. This is allowed by the advanced genetics labs that produce eggs in the tens of millions weekly and the automatic developmental nutrient equipment to spur growth and increase survival rates.

Since they are designed not as warships, but as colony ships, they have little in the way of long-range weaponry. They rely on boarding techniques, especially for Spawnship v Spawnship engagements, and can use teleporters to shift hundreds of thousands of drones at a single time, admittedly with poor accuracy and low survival rates. Range for these is generally limited to less than 15km, and though they are suprisingly effective at going through sheilds (due mainly to the mass teleportation, which ensures at least some survivors) Onboard shipyards can produce support craft, fighters, shuttles, and landing craft up to 250m in length by 75m square. Factories and armories can produce and store millions of armored vehicles, complex weaponry with advanced designs, and can under ideal conditions equip drones with guns as fast as the drones emerge from the Pits.

• Dimensions:
  • Length: ~11.5km
  • Width: ~2.8km
  • Heigth: ~1.25km