Weapons:
PROJECTILE, Medium (6): 20 damage ea.
HEALTH: 40,000

Mass: 613,000 tons
Firepower: 5400
Armor: 98,000
Coverage: 70%
Maneuverability: very low
Max. Velocity: 110 m/s
Special Action: Siege Cannon

The epic voyage of the Mothership proved that in order to survive the threats posed by a hostile Galaxy, you had to have a vessel that was prepared to handle anything. Once it became obvious that politics on Hiigara would favor the most powerful families, lesser Kiith like Somtaaw realized that their only hope to achieve some sort of political and social autonomy lay in the stars. Already experienced in deep-space-mining techniques from their work in the Kharak system, Somtaaw engineers began to design the kind of vessel they knew would be able to spend a year or more on the circuit, harvesting, refining and trading while supporting a crew of nearly a thousand engineers, miners and flight crew.

A ship of this size and power exceeded even the construction capabilities of the Imperator-class Carrier, and so Somtaaw petitioned for access to the shipyard facilities of the orbiting Mothership herself. Through many political trials (see History of Kiith Somtaaw), the New Daiamiid finally granted Somtaaw access to the Mothership for a mere 45 days. The Explorer-class design was finished within days when Somtaaw Engineers gained control of the Mothership's PDA, and construction began immediately; all parties involved knew full well that this was probably the only time Somtaaw would have access to the massive construction facility. Accordingly, no expense was spared!

The first Explorer was dubbed the Faal-Corum and launched on day 20, to the rousing cheers of thousands of Somtaaw watching from monitors planetside. Even before the Faal-Corum cleared the docks, engineers were modifying the design of the second Mining ship to incorporate the lessons learned in constructing the first. The Kuun-Lan launched on day 35 with more powerful engines, an extra layer of armor, and a 30% greater module capacity.

It is these modules that are the core of the Explorer-class design philosophy. Knowing that this was the only chance they had to create a near-Mothership-class vessel, Somtaaw engineers designed the Explorer to adapt to almost any situation through the use of modules that could be constructed by the Explorer herself while still in deep space. The hard lessons of the Homeworld War were also not forgotten. Though intended for exploration and mining, the Explorer carries a full complement of heavy and medium turrets for self-protection, and is capable of constructing both the Seeker-class Reconnaissance Fighter and the Acolyte Heavy Fighter. Pirate corvettes expecting an easy prize often realize their error too late as an Explorer's heavy rail guns come on-line; Worker-class Resourcers will always retreat to the protection of the Command ship's guns at the first sign of trouble.

Both the Faal-Corum and the Kuun-Lan require a crew of 1150, and during long missions they carry an additional 2000 crew members in cold sleep, to help man the ship in three-month shifts. Currently the Faal-Corum is on a deep-space survey mission, while the Kuun-Lan is on the second leg of a nine-month mission to mine the star systems surrounding Hiigara.