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"A dark cloud gathers above Hiigara. The Warriors of the Fringe will never be defeated."
The Vaygr were tribes of nomadic warriors from the Vaygr Reaches on the galactic fringe. Periodically united under a Sajuuk-Khar Warrior-Lord, they cut a wide swathe across the galaxy towards the inner rim worlds, conquering and consuming all in their path.
Overview[]
Bent on cosmic domination, this formidable warrior race from the galaxy's eastern fringes threatens the Hiigarans' very existence in the name of Sajuuk. The Vaygr roam the galaxy subjugating the races they encounter and cannibalizing their technology. This nomadic way of life is reflected in their military organization. A fast, mobile, and overwhelmingly offensive force, the Vaygr, rather than obeying the orders of a high commander, are assembled into smaller, less cohesive fleets of ships.
History[]
Vaygr and the Crusades[]
In the beginning, Vaygr was a name for the tribes traveling throughout the Vaygr Reaches of the Galaxy, conquering worlds that they encountered. Traveling only on sublight drives in fleets called Crusades, they still managed to conquer and enslave many worlds, eventually becoming a notable force within the Galaxy.
Makaan and the Vaygr War[]
The Uniting[]
Throughout the history of the Vaygr many warlords found various Progenitor relics, commonly proclaiming themselves Sajuuk-Khar. However, only one named Makaan succeeded in finding one of the most important artifacts - the Third Hyperspace Core in the Hethlim Ice Fields. Once Makaan found the Third Core, many other warlords joined forces with him, creating overwhelming fleets and beginning to move towards the Inner Rim worlds. Makaan also managed to convince the Taiidan Imperialists to join forces with him, as they still had a strong desire to retake Hiigara. Thus the Vaygr began a Holy Crusade, conquering many worlds in a path stretching from the Vaygr Reaches, through the Eastern Fringes, and up to the Inner Rim worlds. Each planet the Vaygr conquered was stripped of all available resources that could be used to feed the Crusade then left barren.
The combined strength of the Vaygr crusades is difficult to estimate. The Homeworld 2 manual describes the forces assembled by Makaan as 'a fleet larger than any since the time of exile'. Presumably this means the Vaygr have even greater forces available to them than the Taiidan Empire at its height. In game, the Mothership fleet fights its way through upwards of two thousand fighters, six hundred corvettes, three hundred frigates, about sixty destroyers, twenty-seven carriers, thirty cruisers and eleven shipyards. Added to this are Makaan's own flagship, two Outposts and a great number of support vessels (note that in Homeworld levels are more difficult if the player's fleet is closer to full strength, as was the case for the most part when collating these figures). Given the scale of the Vaygr War it seems this total is but a fraction of the entire Vaygr armada, which would have fought for a number of years across many thousands of light years of space conquering hundreds of worlds.
Sajuuk-Khar[]
- "Children of Hiigara... you are beaten." — Makaan
After a few years the whole of the Inner Rim was at war with the Makaan-led Vaygr (known to some as the 'Makaan Elite Guard'), and soon they managed to reach Hiigara. The Vaygr forces laid siege to the homeworld soon after destroying Tanis Station, however their primary target was the Second Core onboard the Pride of Hiigara, the Hiigaran mothership under the command of Karan S'jet, also known as Fleet Command. The Vaygr Fleets chased the Pride while simultaneously conquering worlds and searching for relics. Throughout this chase, the Pride's fleet encountered many Progenitor sites and relics, most horrifying of which were the Keepers. In the middle of the conflict, both the Pride's fleet and the Vaygr managed to salvage a Progenitor Dreadnaught, with the Vaygr presenting it to Makaan. It turns out that these Dreadnaughts are keys to Balcora (connected with the gate outside), where the great Sajuuk lies. Entering the gate, both sides discovered that Sajuuk (or at least this one) was neither a god or a supernatural being: it was a ship. Makaan and the Hiigarans struggled for control over the titanic craft. During the battle, Makaan was killed aboard his flagship, and the Hiigarans united the Three Hyperspace Cores inside Sajuuk in exchange for the Pride, which was abandoned in haste to relieve the homeworld siege. The Hiigarans' fleet returned to Hiigara and drove away the Vaygr forces, even defeating their siege weapons thanks to Sajuuk's mighty energy weaponry.
In the Nimbus Galaxy[]
At some point, a Vaygr Crusade under the command of Makaan's son, Jochik Kaan, arrived in the Nimbus Galaxy. This was known at the time to the Tanoch. As a result they are considered as allies of the Tanoch people and now are refuges in the Tecuban territory.
Jochik Kaan and the Vaygr Commander joined forces with Tecuban to defeat the Chicuat people and go after a Progenitor Artifact.
Technology[]
Given their inclination toward the subsuming of cultures and technologies through nomadic conquest, the Vaygr have a bolted-together collection of technology, some of it ancient but functional through constant repair, some of it from their conquests, most recently acquired from their invasion of the Inner Rim. Left in a technological standstill for centuries, the addition of new technology and tactics represent the first leap they have made in millennia. Due to their close proximity to a number of artifacts and relics, they appear to have an extensive knowledge of Progenitor culture and technology, surpassing all younger races besides the Hiigarans. An example of this is the Trinity Cannon mounted to their battlecruiser, a powerful weapon reverse-engineered from Progenitor artifacts, although their understanding of the technology is incomplete.
Starship Technology Design[]
Unlike Hiigaran ships, Vaygr ship designs are extremely focused. They are each, for the most part, designed to counter a single ship class or type. Against that target ship type they more often than not perform better than the Hiigaran counterpart intended for the same role, but they perform quite badly against almost anything else they are not intended to fight. For example, a Vaygr Destroyer can more effectively engage capital ships, including its Hiigaran counterpart, while the latter will struggle to deal with it in return. However, the Hiigaran destroyer is far more efficient at dealing with smaller, agile enemies than the Vaygr Destroyer; as most fleets are largely comprised of frigate-sized or smaller ships, a Hiigaran destroyer is considered more versatile. This is also apparent in their Carrier design, with each being able to build only one ship type and thus multiple Carriers are needed for a broad range of construction options.
Their strike craft squadrons feature larger formations of individually weaker craft.
Weapons[]
The Vaygr heavily prefer guided ballistic missile armaments over virtually anything else: these weapons are slower compared to energy weapons, but they have an advantage in that missiles can fire on a target no matter its position relative to the launcher, whereas a turreted weapon has limited traverse angle and rotational speed. Missiles are also less demanding on their ship's power supply. The Vaygr's primary counterpart to the Ion Cannons of the Hiigarans is the Fusion Missile. Their secondary weaponry are high-velocity kinetic weapons such as their Flechette cannons. While they do have energy/beam weaponry, it comes in far more limited use, such as the Plasma Lance, a piece of weaponized mining technology.
List of Vaygr ships[]
Trivia[]
Concept art of the Vaygr
- While in the finished game Makaan appears to be human-like, concept art of Homeworld 2 released later hint at another appearance of the race during earlier stages of production. The Vaygr depicted therein are thin-limbed, four-fingered toad-like humanoids shown in skintight black suits and face/breathing masks. It is possible that Makaan is actually from a different race while the Vaygr he commanded are the real Vaygr.