===== Nomad Fleet Faction =====

To really understand what the Nomad Fleet is, we have to travel all the way back in time to the late 21st century. The Interplanetary Transport Syndicate (ITS) was a lobby group for space transport pilots. At first they only tried to protect the interests of their members. Over time, the ITS kept growing in power until it was the go-to organization for anybody that needed goods delivered to another planet.

Their true rise to power came during the interstellar wars of the 22nd century. Not only did the ITS manage to stay neutral during all these conflicts, they actually managed to play the factions, delivering goods and supplies to all of them. This allowed the organization to become truly independent from any government or galactic faction.

They enacted their own laws and developed their own culture. When the great wars came to an end, the ITS still existed by name (as it still does today) but it became a lot more than that - the Nomad Fleet was born.  

{{:nomads.png?600|}}

Not much about the inner workings of the Nomad Fleet is known to outsiders. They seem to be made up of several clans, each with its own fleet and traditions. They are all united under one banner, though, and every new leader abandons his clan and speaks for all Nomads when he rises to power. All Nomads are forbidden to fight or even kill another Nomad, so to outsiders they appear to be one large collective.

Over the centuries, they developed their own technology and learned to adapt to a life in space. Their ship's interior looks foreign, almost alien to outsiders with changes and modifications to almost all parts and modules of their ships.

Many Nomads spent their whole life in space and their bodies have changed accordingly. Almost all their members are slender, with long and thin limbs, deformed from decades spent on spaceships.

While the rest of humanity doesn't know too much about the Nomad Fleet, the Nomads themselves thrive to learn as much as possible. Every young Nomad is expected to spend some time away from his fleet and only return once he has acquired something of value. Often times this is technological knowledge, secret information or simply a rare item. Sometimes, Nomads return with only money, but these are the ones considered to be the least successful.

Members of the Nomad Fleet are unrivaled in their knowledge of spaceships and interstellar travel. This makes them a welcome addition to any crew. The Nomad Navigator was given away as part of a [[https://hive.blog/hive/@elindos/exode-proposes-a-space-gift-you-can-pick-yours-on-discord|March promo]].  He is also available as an in-game reward so that any captain can get one, eventually.

|{{:exode_alpha_character_pack_nomad.png}}|{{http://exode.io/resources/cards/exode_card_152_crewNomadNavigator.png}}|

Thanks to its Versatile trait, the Nomad Navigator can be used with any Origin. Since Nomads outside of the fleet are almost always the younger members of the Fleet, they don't act as officers but are mere members of the crew. The Nomad Navigator is the only crew character that has the Inspires trait and having him onboard will help the whole crew to gain a better understanding of their ship.

The Taurus Class Transport is a perfect example of Nomad Fleet ingenuity. It has the unique Stabilized warp trait. On other ships, your chance to successfully make the hyperdrive jump is reduced by 1% per cargo you load. The Nomads developed their own hyperdrive technology, so their chance to make the jump is not impacted by loaded cargo at all.

{{http://exode.io/resources/cards/exode_card_107_shipCargoTaurus.png}}

Only a member of the Nomad Fleet will be truly able to operate the Taurus at full efficiency. With its +2 Synergy to Nomad Fleet, any Nomad Navigator serving onboard the ship will have an almost legendary quality level.

The Nomad Fleet is one of the most powerful factions in 2325 and no colony can hope to really thrive without their support. The Nomad Navigator and the Taurus are the only Nomad Fleet cards in the Alpha Edition, but expect to see a lot more from them later on in the game!

//**This entry is slightly modified from the article originally published by exodenews on the Hive blog [[https://hive.blog/hive-155862/@exodenews/what-s-next-with-exode-travel-with-the-nomad-fleet|here]]**//