Name: Zeno Class Carrier
Operators: Magnetic Assembly, American Union
Manufacturer:

Length: Meters

Crew: 55

Propulsion: x2 Stellar Encapsulated Fusion Water Jet Systems
Max speed: 42 kph
Range: ~1 month before requiring resupply

Sensors:

Armament:

Support Craft:

• MAS Peace of Mind - Lost during an expedition to the northern islands in 2324

The Zeno is an older carrier design that was originally wanted by the Hawking Gendarmerie for protection of the coastline near New Cambridge and of other Human outposts on Hawking. The original requirement was at best overly ambitious, and included features like a full stealth shaping for the hull, a top speed in the hundreds of KPH, the ability to launch and recover aircraft in dangerous sea states, and long range railguns to provide fire support to ground troops. Internally, the ship was supposed to be able to support air operations and create new drones from local materials if needed.

To the New Cambridge government, it wasn't entirely clear that boats were even needed. The few that New Cambridge possesed were smaller, fast, craft intended to quickly transit the waters to avoid the Grawla. The massive distances between New Cambridge and any of the tiny Human-outposts on Hawking also meant there was no way for a military ship to provide security to other boats unless one was built for each of the boats that traveled the surface.

To further complicate these matters, New Cambridge and the Magnetic Assembly's production facilities on Rotislav didn't have much experience building watercraft on a large scale for an Earthlike environment. In order to build a largescale craft, exterior expertise would be needed. Stellar Ironworks, the watercraft building division of the Stellar Megacorp, was contracted to provide assistance with creation of the ship at first. They would also suggest bringing in Atlantica Electromotive which is still one of the most experienced shipbuilders in the Human Sphere.

In order to proceed, the requirements for the ship were relaxed. The end goal was to have a stealh carrier that can double as a roll on/roll off transport to supply outposts if needed. The SWATH type hull was chosen so that the exterior could easily be angled for radar-stealth, and other systems were integrated around this assumption. Midway through the development the stealth requirement was dropped and rather than re-design the entire ship, the SWATH layout was kept, and the stealth paneling on the sides was removed, leaving just the skeletal supports of the ship.

The final design would have few of the originally requested capabilities, but was generally fast enough to avoid the Grawla with help from its drones to improve situational awareness. A small number of the craft would be built on Hawking, and a few more would also be produced on Atlantica. While their usage would be fairly mundane, the usefulness of the craft was shown during the River City incident where Grawla used burred nuclear weapons to re-direct a river into New Cambridge. The Zeno's air transport wing and ample extra space let the ships serve as temporary shelters for people trapped by the river.