Providence Station
Kentauran Central DataBase
Record Created 02 October 2146
Record Last Accessed 02 October 2146
See Attached Record: Nephryl's Personal Log, 02 October 2146
Where the Na'Tari first came from, we do not know. From what we have gleamed from our Al'Tari allies in the last wars 600 years ago, as well as from our new Terran allies, we have formed a working theory of the Na'Tari origin.
The Na'Tari are, we know, linked to the Al'Tari in a way that neither of the two races can deny. The word Al'Tari translates roughly to "Creator," whereas the word Na'Tari translates to "Destroyer." We know that the two races are at similar points in their evolution, and that their genetics blueprints are close enough to have once been cast from the same mold. What we had not known until our first contact with Terra in 2127, was that humans had built that mold a mere 55 years ago!
Though the scenario is an improbable one, it is by no means impossible. Our own legends speak of TimeWalkers, who travelled through time and space by means similar to the Terran Trans-Dimensional technology, albeit without the need for technological augmentation. If we ever possessed the ability, certainly the Na'Tari could as well.
Thus far, all Na'Tari that we have encountered can be categorized into three separate forms. Two Na'Tari in the same category will have few, if any, differences between them, in contrast to the wide variety between individuals in the Al'Tari Collective. The subspecies of Na'Tari encountered to date are their capital ships, their starfighters, and their warriors. Some have theorized the existence of a Na'Tari "queen"--a fourth subtype of Na'Tari that would oversee the actions of the Na'Tari on a local or interstellar level--but we have yet to find any hard evidence in favor of this.
Na'Tari Warbird: A Na'Tari warbird is a vessel-sized organism with energy-absorptive armor--armor so efficient in its task that its outer temperature is only 2 Kelvins. The ship's internal organs are a warmer 210 Kelvins. The organism is of an irregular form and is covered with spikes that prevent its main body from taking damage. The armor itself can learn over time how to adapt to an opponent's attacks, though some attack forms are more difficult than others for the armor to deal with.
The low temperature, combined with the maneuverability of a creature born to space, makes the Na'Tari warships difficult targets even despite their sizes of up to 600 meters. In addition, the ships have been seen moving at speeds up to 0.6c. Current Terran targeting systems could track them only with great difficulty, due to their armor's energy-absorptive properties and their maneuverability and speed.
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A Na'Tari Warbird on the Attack
Despite these strengths, the Na'Tari warbirds are not without weaknesses. One of these is an arrogance which leads to clumsy tactics when the warbirds are engaged in battle. Weaknesses of a more physical nature include vulnerabilities to solid impacts, particle beam weapons, and gravitic weapons. Focused laser energy should also be effective against their armor if it is intense enough: Providence Station's primary array should prove powerful enough to have a pronounced effect on the warbird. An overwhelming starfighter assault is as effective against Na'Tari warbirds as against any capital ship.
Na'Tari warbirds are, despite their arrogance, intelligent and tenacious opponents. A confrontation with one of these warbirds proves short and deadly for the protagonist who makes any mistakes.
Technical Specifications:
| Volume: | Varies; average warbird volume is 1.3 million m³. | |
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| Speed: | At sublight speeds, at least 0.6c. At faster-than-light speeds, their top speed is unknown but believed to be several hundred times faster than the fastest Terran starships, and twenty to fifty times faster than the fastest Kentauran starships. | |
| Maneuverability: | Unmatched. Na'Tari warbirds seem to completely defy the physical laws of inertia. | |
| Armor Rating: | Na'Tari armor can absorb over 80 gigaWatts of power per square meter without failing. | |
| Armament: | The gravitic weapons Na'Tari warbirds carry is not altogether powerful, rating somewhere around 250GW. However, this energy can focus onto an area as small as 2500cm², for an effective rating of 1 teraWatt per square meter. | |
| Crew: | None. The Na'Tari warbird is a living organism unto itself. |
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A Na'Tari Starfighter silhouettes itself against a dark nebula.
Image Copyright ©1997 Evilio Perez-Albuerne, All Rights Reserved.
Na'Tari Starfighters: The Na'Tari Starfighter is a smaller, more streamlined cousin to the larger Warbird, and the Warbird's first line of defense versus starfighter attack. The craft's fore sprouts from its main body, and its spines angle toward the aft. The foreward part of the craft serves to direct its attacks at its targets; the rear spines' keep the fighters stable in atmosphere. They have the same energy-absorptive armor as their larger cousins, as well as an impressive maneuverability that outranks any starfighters in the Terran or Ceti fleets.
| Volume: | Varies; average fighter volume is 450 m³. | |
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| Speed: | At sublight speed, 0.7c. Na'Tari Starfighters are incapable of FTL travel. | |
| Maneuverability: | Surpasses even that of the Na'Tari Warbird. | |
| Armor Rating: | The armor on a Na'Tari Starfighter is somewhat lighter than that on a Warbird; in addition, there is less surface area over which the Starfighter's armor can dissipate weapons fire. As a result, the Starfighter's armor rating is about 25 GW/m². | |
| Armament: | The Starfighter uses a lower-powered version of the Warbird's gravitic weapons; estimated effective rating is 200 MW/m² | |
| Crew: | None. The Starfighter is an organism unto itself. |
Na'Tari Warriors: The Na'Tari Warrior is a fearsome close-combat fighter. It stands three meters in height and five meters from front to back. Eight legs support their arachnid frames; each leg ends in a single claw capable of piercing even a Kentauran's skin. An arachnid-shaped head rests upon a torso that appears almost human. The arms, too, are more reminiscent of humanoids than of arachnids; these arms exhibit incredible dexterity and strength.
The Na'Tari Warrior's armor is no doubt effective against ground-based sonic weaponry; however, the armor has a resonance frequency around 350 MHz, and sonic attacks at this frequency should shatter it. The Na'Tari Warriors have also proven vulnerable in the past to Kentauran weapons, most notably Kentauran spirit-blades and Arkh-stones.
End of Record