G) story e( the Nara Rogie 2 ‘Weanon System Descriptions a anettatnintsnantctnimniennmen DVa'Korac D'Va'Maric ate KSo'loth. KSoTal___.. Narn infantry AirSupportAssets__. Orbital Assets._.__. Transport CapabilitiesPe SS o— ie oo 7 = aj Ce b oe = heart re o al i Ss 7) — a ANice Day for Mlars Destroyers It was 2 nice warm morning, surprisingly so since the star for this system was redder than many other ones he hed seen. Most red-sun planets he had been on tended to be cool. War Hunter K’Lar was about to wonder out loud what the name of the star was, but stopped himself. It didn’t matter. The Centauri had officially designated it “Quadrant 1,’and that was all that mattered to the greedy House Lord ruling over the planet. Nevertheless, it was going to be a beautiful day, and K’lar decided to make the most of it. All he needed was a report from Bin'Vir, Bin’Vir was his scout. He was young but seemed to have a nose for finding hair standing straight up. K’Lar had traded his sniper Var'Tiv and 5 cases of Prox Mines for Bin’Vir and couldn’t be happier. The Prox Mines were excess and Var'Tiv was better at hitting rocks than Centauri. Var'Tiv had become known as "The Tree Hunter” among the Destroyers. Good riddance! Bin'Vir would find that Centauri armor company so K’Lar and his Destroyers could earn a promotion. That would be even better than the weather. The lasercom receiver picked up Bin'Vir's report, complete with some pictures. K’Lar couldn't believe his eyes. There was the Centauri armor company, encamped in the center of a small box ‘canyon! There were plenty of small hills and stands of trees to cover the Destroyers’approach, K’Lar decided to have the first platoon approach from the northwest while the second platoon ‘would approach from the northeast. Hopefully, his company would be able to approach without alert- ing the Centaur, then cut them down in a crossfire. k’Lar plotted the rough course that each platoon would take and downloaded the plans to the war commanders. The Destroyers advanced just as they practiced during training, traveling in double column until they got to the initial rally point. From there they split into their sections and advanced upon the” Centauri, with each section supporting the other. Each platoon had one section of D'Va'Tren and one section of D’Va‘Quen. While the D'Va'Quan would be hard pressed to destroy the Hexus tanks, K’Lar knew thelr crews had a good chance of damaging them. k’Lar figured he would have the D'Va’Quans. start the festivities, serving light refreshments of Gauss cannons and AB Prox Mines while the D'Va‘Trens charged up to finish off any survivors with their heavy gauss guns. With the anticipated surprise factor, this should be a massacre. "Who cares, they're Centauri!” he thought gleefully. The two platoons got into their starting positions and were waiting for K’Lar’s command car ‘and his accompanying D’Va’Tren to get into position. k’Lar went to the right side of the group of trees. while his D’Va"Tren went to the left. Everything was going according to plan...except for the solitary Hexus bringing its barrel toward K’Lar’s vehicle! "Oh nol" he sputtered. The Centauri command sec- tion was pulling watch and had just noticed k’Lar’s command car. ‘That Hexus was going to smash K’Lar before he could get back behind some cover! Before K’Lar could radio for help, the Hexus jumped and exploded, K’Lar’s attending D’Va'Tren had decided to go for the long shot and hit. Just as the Hexus’ coil gun capacitors were starting to explode, Bin’Vir broke radio silence. “DarGoroth! The Centauri are running for their tanks!” “So much for surprise,” muttered K’Lar, He grabbed the radio, “Commence attack immediately! Hit the crews while they are in the open!” Within seconds proximity mines were detonating among the tanks, their ion charges scorching everything. Hextis tanks rocked as gauss cannon shells slammed into them. The Narn fire was heavy, but not everything hit. Within a minute, two of the Hexus were up and running, tracks clanking and turrets swiveling. They passed the other member of their platoon, its burning hulk blackening with fire. They both lurched within seconds of each other as they fired upon the left side O’Va‘Quan section. One of theB’Ve'Quans exploded when the Centauri slug hit the Prox Mine magazine, turning the Narn tank into a blast mark on the ground. ‘Three D’Va’Trens responded from the Centaur’s right, K’Lar watched in fascination as the bback end of one Hexus exploded with the detonation of its reactor. With any luck one of the Centauri crewmen got cooked alive sitting too clase to the blast wall. The rest of the crew clambered out of the hulk and ran for the woods. They were too far away for an RFP to cut them down. ‘The rest of the battle was anti-climactic. While complete surprise was spoiled, the Nams were still able to attack without taking too much return fire. The loss of the two D'Va‘Quan and one D’Va"Tren would hurt, but not nearly as bad as what it could have been. K.Lar climbed out of his D’Van'Quonth and surveyed the battlefield. The air was acrid with the ‘smell of burning plastic and ozone. He could taste it on his tongue. Lazy shadows played across the ‘ground from the clouds of smoke rising from a nearby Hexus, Some of the Destroyers were walking around, surveying their handiwork and shaking off the excitement. Bin'Vir returned to report that a pair of Centauri self propelled artillery were running towards the south. K’lar knew that Kars De- ‘stroyers would need to move out before the artillery could get away. Te was still a nice day for K’Lar. History Forged in the struggle to throw off the yoke of Centauri slavery, the Narn Regime boasts one of the largest and most professional armies in known space. ‘The Nams were invaded and conquered by the Centaur in 2113, The attendant subjugation of the Narns was both brutal arid efficient. The Centauri used Narn slaves to help strip the planet of natural resources. Mining camps and open-air prisons dotted Homeworld, scarring the planet in the same way the Narn psyche was being scarred. Out of this repression was born scattered resistance that was always put down with a heavy hand. For over forty years the Narns were ground under the boot heel of the Centauri. In time the garrison forces of the Republic grew lazy as the Republic declined. The resistance Cells grew in size and sophistication, with obsolete Narn weapons replaced by stolen Centauri weap- ‘ons, Leaders of this resistance were known as the Kha‘Ri. Resources and off-world aid were distributed to less well-equipped freedom fighters. Groups ‘of rabble were organized into cohesive fighting forces. Intelligence was collected and shared among the different groups. Sophisticated weapons and equipment were smuggled in from off-world sympa- thizers. The time for rebellion had come. The Kha'Ri launched a full-scale revolt in 2195. The Centauri response was the slaughter of dvilians and decimation of communities inan effort to breakthe will of the people to fight. Tt had the opposite effect, in- steed enraging the population. The ranks of the resistance groups arew with each cycle of violence. After 14 bloody years the Centauri abandoned the Narn Homeworld, with the Kha’RI stepping into the power vacuum left behind, Revenge has long played a prominent role in Narn culture, and all ‘of the Kha’Ri felt that the Centauri should be pursued and punished. Most Nams had lost family during the Centauri oc- cupation, so it was natural for all to be- lieve that they were responsible for the protection of the new Regime. This PCatHistory.of the Narn Regime manifested itself in a requirement for total national service for those physi- cally able. Since there were very real limits on how many Narns could serve with the fleet, the excess joined the Army. This large force was regarded as an asset as the Regime recognized that it might have to invade more than one three-billion-population Centauri world at once. Equipping this army did present problems, however. Here is where Narn ingenuity helped the most. Instead of creating a huge number of different chassis, the army planners decided to make a limited number of different de- Signs, Wheeled vehicles were to be used aS much as possible due to the ease with which they could be transported. Since most of the Narn manufacturing base was remnants of that the Centauri had left behind, Gauss style and particle weapons were to be dominant. One of the Nern “lessons” incorporated in their weapons was a high damage yield. In order to achieve higher damage yields, it was decided to sacrifice range instead of investing in larger, more expensive power plants. As the Narn saying goes: “You only want to knock on a Centaur’s door once.” Editor's Note: Many military observers have theorized that the genesis of the Kha’Ri—resis- tance fighting— played an enormous role in the formation of Narn equipment and combat doctrine. ‘The preference for shorter-ranged, harder-hitting weapons is typical of ambushes. The heavy use of dual element style of organization might be traceable to “buddy system” tactics employed during the fevolt, where one person or group would advance upon an objective while the other would Keep ‘Watch or fire upon enemy troops. ‘The D’Va chassis was created to be the basis of most Narn combat designs, with its adaptabi- ity to different weapons configurations its greatest asset. The D’Van chassis was designed as a faster, cheaper alternative for command and scout duties. The Kha‘Ri were forced to invest significant re- Sources into the D’Ka tracked chassis, as it was apparent that there was a need for a turreted heavy MBT and self-propelled artillery piece. Another Narn money pit opened up when engineering attempts to put the planned gunship and heavy transport aircraft on the same k’So air~ frame failed, With the necessity of the Dika chassis, the dual K'So airframes, and the drain on resources due to the Emergency Naval Deployment (END) project, the army planners found that they could not reach their equipment goals. This shortfall in funds prompted the unusual step of fielding the D'Vas motorcycle for scouting and picketing duties, Asa direct consequence of the eed to expand rapidly, many of the first Warships to be built would be assault Ships so that nearby inhabited worlds Could be “liberated” from the Centauri, The first T’Loth Assault Cruisers car-