The Khar-Selim was a Kushan support vessel sent to the outskirts of the Kharak System in order to provide assistance and resupply to the Kushan Mothership. It was destroyed before it was able to contact the Mothership and perform scheduled hyperdrive tests; all that remained was its damaged fore, which still contained its black box, and a large field of debris.
Overview[]
The Khar-Selim was primarily a support vessel and was designed with this purpose solely in mind. It has no combat capabilities and presumably weak armor as it was destroyed quickly by the Turanic Raiders. It must have, however, had highly sensitive sensors (to monitor the hyperspace test) and a highly trained technical complement to be on such a prestigious mission. The ship itself actually appeared to have been slightly larger than the Mothership itself.
History[]
The Khar-Selim was ordered to travel at sub-light speeds to the very edge of the Kharak system in preparation for the Mothership's hyperspace test. The vessel was then to monitor the Mothership's hyperspace test, and to dock and make adjustments to the hyperspace core and sublight drives afterwards. Before the Mothership made its jump, the Khar-Selim was attacked and destroyed by the Turanic Raiders, at the behest of the Taiidan Empire. A recovered flight recorder indicated that the enemy ships attacked without warning. The Khar-Selim did not last long after being engaged, not being designed for any sort of offense. Shortly before its destruction, the Khar-Selim radioed a message to the Mothership ordering it to "abort the hyperdrive test", but this message was never received. After the Khar-Selim was destroyed its emergency distress beacon was activated and the Mothership picked it up after entering the system.
The remains of the Khar-Selim now rest in the far reaches of the Great Wastelands, a tomb to the first Kushan members to die in the bloody Homeworld War.
A major consequence of the Khar-Selim's destruction was that the Mothership was unable to use its conventional drives. As their flaws were never corrected, the Mothership was left immobile in its jump sites, which nearly meant disaster in the outskirts of the Hiigara System, as the ship's inability to move made it an easy target for the Taiidan to use Headshot Asteroid against it.
Importance[]
The Khar-Selim was generally unimportant from a military point of view, however it was the first loss in the war that would soon thereafter take the Kushan home. It is also important to note that the Khar-Selim's destruction put the Kushan at a de facto state of war with the Turanic Raiders, in, for what the Kushan knew, their first contact with offworld people.
The final recording on the blackbox of the Khar-Selim recovered by the early Kushan fleet:
"What do you mean you detect a Hyperspace entry? The mothership isn't due for..."
"Sir, I have multiple contacts on closing vectors. Unknown profiles... No recognition codes... Uhh, they're not ours."
"Well if they're not ours, who the hell are they?"
"Sir, they're coming in fast... Check... Incoming fire! We are under attack! They're getting through! Breaches across all decks! Hull integrity failing!"
"Khar-Selim to Mothership! If you are receiving, abort hyperdrive test. Repeat: abort hyperdrive test! [static]"
Trivia[]
- The Khar-Selim makes a cameo appearance in Homeworld: Cataclysm. During the Mission 14 cutscene, there are some debris fields of ships that have been destroyed by the Beast infection: players should have no trouble noticing that one of the wrecks is the Khar-Selim viewed from the rear end.
- Rob Cunningham provides the voice of the Khar-Selim's captain.