"I'm sure they'll forget to thank us later" - Somtaaw fleet commander in the second cutscene. Years later the events of the Homeworld: Cataclysm are declared non-canon and even the name erased. He's got that right way too much.

The line "At least the Beast doesn't pretend to be righteous!" is fantastically delivered. The anger, desperation and disgust in his voice is perfect. I hope the voice actor is enjoying a great career, he certainly has the talent.

Cataclysm had some of the best voice-acting in the entire series. You can actually hear Somtaaw Fleet Commmand's rage towards the Bentusi as he practically *hisses* at them. He KNOWS that the Bentusi could wipe the floor with the Kuun-Lan and her fleet, but he's not having ANY of it today.

"We see our own madness reflected in yours." That's some top-notch writing here.

"We...Are...Not...Monsters." That still hasn't stop me from crying a little. The sheer emotion in that voice, like what control he had suddenly broke down. That's the "I need a hug, badly" voice.

"At least the Beast doesn't pretend to be righteous!" Oh my!!!! this was the best part! I was just speechless when he said that and I was like this --> O_O

We need a fan name for the Captain of The Kuun-Laan. Seriously this guy is like PEAK protagonist material. A simple mining Captain with superiors who don’t appreciate him. At the will of his superiors he takes aboard a disease and it nearly threatens the whole galaxy. He and his fleet literally risk everything to save the galaxy and transform from a simple mining Kiith to a full on warship fleet. Give this Captain and his Tactical Officer a name. Also Recon 214. No I did not forget about Recon 214 OH AND DID I FORGET TO MENTION HE PLAYS CHICKEN WITH OMNISCIENT SPACE GODS AND WINS

Compared to the other games, I think Cataclysm has so much more personality. Each ship has its own unique dialogue (which I wish HW 1/2 had) and the voice acting is ace.

“Stop MURDERING us and help us kill the beast!!!” Instant chills. It’s then you know that victory by combat isn’t how this is gonna play out. Which is good cause we were set to be annihilated.

what really got me, was how perfectly that MOMENT summed up the Kun-Lann Crew's characterisation, and character arc. They'd been on the run for weeks. maybe even MONTHS, desperately trying to survive against the Cosmic Horror they, a crew of hapless Miners,too poor to pay the licencing on the vast majority of first-line Military tech, who threw EVERYTHING they had at purchasing precious time,a mere MONTH, on the Mothership PDA construction suite to Build THREE SMALL SHIPS,one a relatively crude prototype, the other a Tiny Research Vessel, had accidentally awoken. despite everything, they repeatedly risked their Lives in defence of others, Wither Fellow Higarrans, or a Defenceless Convoy of Taiidan republican colony ships, desperately Searching for someone, ANYONE, with the power and technology to fight the Beast on an even playing field. they Finally tracked down the Collected Fleet of the Bentusi, the MIGHTIEST surviving race in the galaxy, who once laid the Higarran's ancestors low when their Fevor and arrogance turned them into ruthless conquerors, with a SINGLE ship effortlessly Tipping the Balance between the two Warring fleets, to find what? Cowards, one and all, Turning tail to FLEE from a malignant cancer set on consuming the galaxy, concerned ONLY for their own survival, not even deigning to ANSWER hails, not even to OFFER the "lesser" races access to their exo-galactic gate, until the Somtaw were FORCED into attacking the Hypergate in order to make them willing to even SPEAK. you're DAMNED RIGHT Fleet Command was right to Call them on this, as he finally SNAPPED after weeks/months of Constant combat, FIGHTING back despite being a Civilian, or at best Rear-echelon material at time of embankment, with Minimal military training and rightfully scared out of his own Equatorial hell-cursed mind! However you look at it, the Bentusi BROKE AND RAN like snivelling cowards almost immediately after first engagement with the enemy, after a SINGLE CASUALTY IN DEEP SPACE COMBAT. not one SHIP, one INDIVIDUAL.How many Somtaw Died fighting the beast Before? their Ancestors would be disgusted.

That's Scott Swanson as captain of the Kuun-Lan and Campbell Lane as the Bentusi (RIP). In this little $20 expansion, you can honestly find one of the best stories and best voice acting out there. I remember I got this on a fluke renting it from the library (back when you could DO that!) because they didn't have whatever Star Trek game I wanted and was floored! ALMOST as good as FreeSpace and FreeSpace 2.

This game now available from GOG Games...now called Homeworld: Emergence

The ironic thing that I finally realised about this scene is, that is how the Naggarok encountered The Beast to begin with. Those Bentusi that actually got into the gate thinking it was their salvation, might have just doomed themselves to the very fate they were trying to escape.

I feel bad for the captain for enduring all that hell thrown at him, only to see the ones who could help them are abandoning them but I also feel bad for the old dudes considering the Ill fated fate awaits them if they ever so touch the beast. The genuine terror in their voice made me want to protect them even though they are a hella lot stronger

*All ships stop firing* ... *Silence* ... ..("Keep it up, you're getting through to them...")

“One ancient monster is as good as another.” If you know the story of Homeworld 2, this line hits even harder. The Bentusi were the ones that helped the nascent Taiidani overthrow the Hiigaran Empire; it was they who helped send the Hiigarans to Kharak, and rumor has it that the Taiidan super-weapon that set Kharak’s atmosphere ablaze was derived from Bentusi technology. They are monsters; not peaceful Bedouins.

"Unless you people get off your encounter-suited butts and do something, I've got nothing to lose!" - Sheridan, Babylon 5

To me, this game captured the mood and ambience of Homeworld better than any game since, including Homeworld 2. The desperate fight against Taidaani remnants and the Beast, the horror of watching others fall to it and being helpless to stop it...it was as moving as the Burning of Kharak and the plight of the Exiles. Watching the Kuun-Lan, a MINING ship, for crying out loud, forced to become a naval flagship and pushed into a fight it was ill-prepared for....Just an incredible story.

“Keep it up....” Funny enough that the VA of that whispering fleet intelligence is actually the same of Karan S'jet.

"We're not here to harm you.." "Ready guns!"

I also love that Bentusi using rare words: translocation, slipgate, diseased Galaxy, the Devourer...one who wrote this is genius!

This situation reminds me a song. "One lion's roar" by Rome. "Oh, you go out there And bow to none And cause a stir As if it were the last one Curse them into hiding These thieves won't believe The way we're riding So go and kneel and wait And join the herd You know a million sheep Will be dispersed By one lion's roar By one lion's roar" And Kuun-Lan's captain is the Lion.

"We fear... for the first time in countless orbits, we fear..." "Join the Kiith!" God I love those lines. The stones of this Somtaaw; staring death in the face, he confronts it with its own hypocrisy and wins. The fear the Bentusi are experiencing? That's what the rest of the Galaxy experiences any time they contemplate their own mortality. That's an immortal discovering what it's like to stare death in the eye, and a mortal showing them what it's like to do so, *and not blink.*

I swear, it feels like Scott Swanson took some lessons from Bruce Boxleitner in this scene; it has a very similar feel to John Sheridan's speech in the Babylon 5 episode "Into the Fire". Both of them equally pissed, both of them staring down ancient aliens with immensely powerful ships, both of them willing to lay their lives on the line in the hopes of knocking a little sense into their opponents.

definitely the most powerful scene in cataclysm but I do have to say it's right up their with the return to kharak scene in Homeworld 1. Which is one of the best in video game history, in my opinion.

The only Homeworld game with dialogue that give its raw emotion into it

Cataclysm may have fell by the wayside in the storyline of Homeworld, but honestly it was a heroic journey with characters that only appeared as radio chatter. Starting as a humble mining Kith to staring down some of the most powerful ships in the galaxy in a desperate, suicidal gambit. The voice actors sold this, and I always come back to this moment in particular from time to time.

The Kiith Somataaw go through hell in Cataclysm, the Commander's anger is believable, and the Bentusi's fear is palpable.

This is right up there with "GET THE HELL OUT OF OUR GALAXY!"

Boss level : Sometaaw Fleet Command.

It's such a shame Cataclysm wasn't in the remastered version. I really hope they can find or remake the source code and release Cata as a DLC. I would love to see this mission with better graphics. And the Kuun-Lan is just such a cool ship

defeated the unbound by yelling

8:30 Top 10 Savage Moments in Anime

Damn I love this mission, great voice actor with an amazing script still remember it word for word and I haven't played this in so many years. This game is better than HW1 and 2 IMO Now I need to find the a video of the speech he does to the beast, another good one I have fond memories of just not sure where to start looking. so wish this was in HW:remastered

Goosebumps. Every time. The emotion in that delivery.

So it is said that the Kuun Lann moves so slowly because not only the weight of the ship, but it must also carry the massive balls of "The Foreman". Jokes aside, this is beautiful acting.

8:35 *goosebumps*

Quite ironic. They run in order to not be bound but in doing so, they are binding themselves to fear.

It has been confirmed that the studio behind Homeworld 3 considers cataclysm fully canon. To make things better, the lead writer of Homeworld 3 is the one who wrote cataclysm. We just might see the Somtaaw and Kuun-Lan in Homeworld 3!

@Thesixthgoon Agreed. I find the Bentusi later reply to sum what's in that line perfectly. "We see our own madness reflected in yours." The voice of a man who has no hope, no future, and NOTHING to lose.

That scream at 3:38 ... Surviving the destruction of Karak, made it all the way through the Homeworld campaign, only to be killed by the very people who helped them... if HW1 actually had screams / cries of terror when ships exploded, I'd feel a lot worse about losing so many frigates and corvettes. Still can't bring myself to try the HW2 campaign due to the meh campaign I keep hearing about...

Karan S'jet: Being helped by the Bentusi Kuun-Lan Captain: Talk down the Bentusi to help them

@SkarmoryThePG Humanize it? Perhaps we have different definitions of the word because Homeworld has always seem very "human" to me. The single scene that made the series by emotionally drawing players into the plot was the first moments of Return to Kharak. It was the subtle tremors in the voice actor's dialogue that conveyed the "human" side of Homeworld and which made the series the monument it is today. That said, a 2001: Space Odyssey approach may be the best approach, more space less talk.

This entire mission has more quality writing and voice acting than the entirety of Homeworld 3

Hot take: The Kun-Lann looks way cooler than the mothership

I wonder how ashamed the jumped bentusi might have felt later on. They are intelligent and wise. I think they would realize their mistake after a while

The dramatic playthrough is a LOT better than ones that just play to get the highest score/ least ships destroyed. Your video really amped up the tension. great job!

Yeah, Return to Kharak is just... the voice. The silence. The music. Dear god, the Music...

This is one of the best scenes in video games in history.

This brings back sweet memories...

Thanks for posting this. This has some of the best dialogue in all of Homeworld.

Hey SkarmoryThePG! If you want to beat this mission "without losing a single non-fighter/corvette class ship" then when the three new Bentusi stations port in, send a carrier to the two (or three) that are close together to absorb fire and send the Command Ship to the other and have it absorb some more fire, as it can take much more. When the carrier dies, the talking will start. You can re-build the carrier and not lose a single unit you can't re-build!

I like how the radio is still talking when the main story conversations are going on :D

I love this game so much. First, it was a game I watched my much older cousin play when he visited for Christmas and seeing how riveted I was just watching him play, he got me a copy to play myself. What a gift that was.

I loved this game. This mission is so epic. Thanks for the upload.

Kadeshi have extremely limited numbers and tactics. They couldn't even take down the fledgeling Mothership's fleet. The Beast would devour their Garden and their technology.

God imagine a Homeworld tv series where season one is the story of Deserts of Kharak, season two is Homeworld, season three is Cataclysm, and season four is Homeworld 2. It'd be so fucking lit!

It makes the Bentusi look worse when they tried to exterminate the Somtaw fleet after they only got in their way. They only brought 3 extra trade stations right after their gate was destroyed.

The Bentusi was apparently in decline according to lore at the time.

Played this mission for the first time hours ago, definitely a high point in the series and gaming itself.

Unfortunately, no. You fight the entirety of the Kadeshi, and they fight to the last man with fanatical zeal.

This is still some of the best dialog in any game. I had the tremendous honor of being one of Scott Swanson's students several years back. Brilliant man, brilliant voice actor.

Holy shit..best Voice acting i have ever heard ..i mean wow i actually felt like i was there..i almost cried xD but shit man this game has some good dramatic voice acting at some of points. Just wow

The single most epic roast in the multiverse

I wanted to say that I prefer the german dub at first, but then Fleet Command delivered its "You're killing us! ..." speech. Sent shivers down my spine. Still, for the rest of the game, the german voices sound perfectly out of place, just like the whole concept of a miner race going all Qwaar-Jet on the effin' Empire and Beast. Also, +1 for Adam West.

Watching this now after finishing homeworld 3.....i miss good writing.

Impressive playthrough with a minimal fleet! I should one day upload my own video, it's actually *possible* to kill all but 2-3 invulnerable Bentusi stations with a legit fleet, without even losing a *single* major ship to trigger the dialogue. One of the ultimate campaign achievements in the HWC as I consider. THAT is what I call "shaming the unbound" xD

Wow, I agree with Thesixthgoon that line had an impressive amount of emotion, can't think of any VA with that much rage expressed in it.

I played this game three times, and every time I got to this mission, my fleet would get wiped out and the Kun-Laan severely damaged. I never could figure out what the trigger was to get the Bentusi to stop attacking me after I destroyed the gate... -_-;

they are one, they are always, they are forever, they are not bound to their bodies, they are unbound

Are we witnessing a part of the Eye Of Aran?

That was awesome.

@Lonewanderer6666 Very doable. It's impossible to complete the mission without ANY losses, because as far as I know, the actual shaming only happens after you lose a capship past a certain point. Lucky me, I had those salvaged destroyers I wanted to get rid of anyway.

@Swordinator99 I know, actually. On my actual playthrough, I managed to lose pretty much nothing, by sending my carriers as far away (a station chased them), while sending my captured destroyers (which I didn't want any more as I had Destroyers/Dreadnaughts of my own) off to die. No losses.

You could argue that it was only a tiny portion of the Kadeshi fleet, as you only see a relatively small amount.

Those Super Acolytes cut through everything like knife through butter.

@SkarmoryThePG Thanks, I'll try that next time. So, just make sure a frigate is attacked first before any other ship, and they'll stop there? BTW, I LOVE Swarm Frigates, because those drones are so versatile if you can keep them from docking after destroying a ship. Death by a thousand cuts, bitches! I also liked ACVs and Destroyers. I wish repair beams weren't so slow though! Many tactics I used from HW1 just didn't work here.

I lost a FOUR STAR SHIP in this mission. The most experienced crew and pilots in my fleet to the damn cowardice of the Bentusi. I was so fucking pissed at them, moreso when they showed their biase towards S'jet for being unbound. That just made me so much angrier.

Gods damnit, this game. This game...this is not really a game, is it? It's a message.

I can hear more than a little of John Sheridan in the captain's speech, I swear they sound so similar! Am I just imagining this? Scott Swanson and Bruce Boxleitner are both from Illinois, after all!

@Petersaberros Yes. I'm especially fond of the stunned whisper at "They stopped firing..."

That's some good voice acting in this scene

@jaspertheking4life Entirely understandable. On the upside, I absolutely love the Beast's voice. "Give data or we take data from your parts!"

Yeah, it's one of the best I've heard.

The commander guy is so kickass

@Auriel1 Heh, thank you. I'll admit, I should have done a better job (less omniscience, more desperation, less accidents) but I'm glad to hear it worked.

@Pondsisini Yes, my mistake. Thank you :)

WE WILL NOT BE BOUND

@Punktperson Of course. Cataclysm... just might be my favorite Homeworld installment, actually.

Haha. This dialogue is 100% emotionally exactly like the Babylon 5 episode where Sheridan tries to reason with Kosh (being almost killed by him), trying to make one Ancient race fight the other - threatening the whole galaxy. It seems pretty much it has been the authors inspiration for this mission. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hJNlZ8ebscW8j5c.html

@TheRealDemonicIdiot Yes. And you get to play him!

Best Ship ever: Multibeamfrigate!!!

this was epic

Verbaly bitch slapping the Bentusi like a boss.

that would be a kind of interesting approach to a movie. showing just the expanse of space and structures built in it kind of like homeworld was played. but i don't think that would translate too well. a space odyssey tried to do that. but to me the best scenes were the ones where you could see the actors and heard their dialog.

Actually the guy who does the voice for the narrator and the Bentusi had a gig in Battlestar Galactica Razor as the First Hybrid.

The captain reminds me of John Sheridan from Babylon 5.

man I loved this part. WAIT WHAT IS THIS LANCE FIGHTERS OH GOD

Because they are dead. All dead. Explicitly all dead. They threw their entire fleet at the Mothership and her escorts, they asked for no mercy and accepted none, and they fought to the last.

YES YES, We will not be bound, whatever that means......