Ship Designation: Stellaris-class

Ship Class: Carrier

Model Number: Mark 3

Full Designation: Stellaris 3-class Carrier

Armament: Six dual 90mm Machine Gun turrets (Point Defense Variant), Four dual Beam Spray Gun Turrets (Point Defense Variant), Five Linked Hangars

Description: Carriers are, without a doubt, a necessity when engaging in large-scale combat. While not armed with any true anti-ship weapons on its own, a decent carrier is instead designed to field smaller aerospace assets, such as fighters, bombers and, in the case of the AGC, Mobile Suit Golems and Mobile Armor Golems. While the Stellaris 3-class of Carrier is by far the largest and most powerful of its kind, it, like any good carrier, focuses not on brawling up close but on sending waves of strike craft to pester foes and, when lucky, destroy them outright.

While the 10 point defense turrets give the ship a decent anti-fighter/bomber and missile defense, it relies on those as a last resort. Ideally, such smaller craft and projectiles are struck down before they can get within range by fighters, bombers, MSGs and, in a pinch MAGs. Although the Stellaris 3-class does carry them, if they are ever needed then the ship would have either been a lost cause or hit by a surprise attack. Then again, it’s basically the same thing.

Like the Solaris 3 Battleship, the Stellaris 3 can slave other naval assets to its own hyperdrive and pull them along with it to a combat zone. This feature was designed to counteract the critical flaw in hyperdrive design that resulted in any ship entering or exiting hyperspace needing to turn off most, if not all non-life support systems in order to power the gluttonously power hunger devices. This means that while the capital ship will exit hyperspace naked and exposed, its escorts will not and will instead be ready to start the fight immediately upon arrival.

It is a state secret as to how many strike craft the Stellaris 3 can carry with it, but it is known to be able to actively carry at least 2 Big Zams into active combat along with at least 20 smaller fighter/bombers. It is unknown if the ship can carry more than that, but it is likely that it can act as an entrance and exit for MSGs and MAGs in the ‘Hangar’, which makes it all the more powerful. The Stellaris 3’s hangar actually has five openings from which it can deploy its compliment of strike craft. Two of these openings are on each side of the ship, while the fifth is normally concealed by a blast door on the top of the ship. While this top opening might be seen as a weakness, it is really the only way that a Mobile Armor Golem can be deployed due to how large they are.

The Stellaris 3 Carrier has a respectable speed, its top speed being nearly identical to that of a Solaris 3 Battleship, but just slightly slower. However, that is not a bad thing, as the ship was never designed to be the fastest. All that matters is that it gets into position and unleashes a deluge of strike craft to deal with the enemy. While the ship has a decently thick hull and a shield several layers thick, it only has these as a safety measure. Its captains would rather not have to rely on these defenses, as if they are forced to rely on them it means they were either caught unawares or that the mission has become a total failure.