Senator-class Frigate

Promptly after the introduction of the H'cane carriers, work began on the ideal fleet defense vessel. Most immediate threats to the Caspian fleets were categorized as scale or smaller, usually coming from a multitude of vectors. Relying solely on the VOWL –equipped cruisers wasn’t prudent. Building a copy of the Lancer, with its bristling quadlasers was appealing, but prone to powerplant instability. For this reason, several engineers from Byurnadin-Covra Tachtronics were consulted. During the initial phases of the project, though, it became apparent that more than just consultation was needed, and the team labored to produce several new innovations that strengthened the resulting frigate.

The Senators have an incredibly unique construction methodology. The ship's form is based off two rigid, reinforced spines, and all essential components are anchored directly to them. There are very few superfluous crewing spaces, and most of the interior taken up by ship systems is kept in a vacuum. The external hull plating is just solid enough to stand up to fighter scale weaponry -- its primary opponent. While this makes repair exceptionally difficult, there is an adequate level of redundancy aboard to allow a Senator to go weeks without needing to repair a damaged component, provided the component has a working backup.

Several first-of-their-kind mechanical innovations were installed on these frigates as well. A pair of Dyzcai (Spinning Blade) rotating munitions launchers have the ability to hurl a cloud of either unguided or SCREAM -tipped rockets against attacking fighters. A new shield projector called a Vortex is able to, through computer guidance, amplify and reinforce a shield segment by keeping a resource of shield energy stored in a battery, and rapidly distributing it to the threatened zone. While the overall shield strength is not anything spectacular, Vortex allows for the shields to rapidly readjust and re-project to counter multi-vector attack, relevant to starfighters.