These ships are an unpleasant necessity of war with the Shiplords, as support ships for the capital classes of the FSN. Passive Practiced systems have been integrated into several parts of the new designs that were developed shortly before the Second Battle of Sol, specifically their shields and propulsion. Point defence is enhanced by reverse-engineered Shiplord systems that are slowly being phased out as a new generation of human platforms are developed. They incorporate the best parts of human technology, even limited self-repair for as long as their mass bunkers hold. Unfortunately, that was of little use against the gravitational shear weapons employed by Collector class ships, and even the larger auxiliaries of the Tribute Fleet.
Not all Auxiliaries are knife-fight chaff, however. This classification also applies to Fighter Command’s carriers, as well as the numerous repair and other support ships that fill out the FSN’s fleet table. Already on their second design run at this point, the next generation of these classes are hoped to considerably improve their survivability and speed. If tests of the Fifth Secret disruptors go well, the larger one ships should also be able to support grav-shear weapons of their own.
Fighter craft are also included under this bracket, and here the promise of the Fifth Secret is greatly felt. The ability to construct fighters without the need for Potentials would take a great deal of stress of the Maker groups. Although the losses among the fighter squadrons were the highest out of all sections of the navy in percentage terms, the mathematics of war proved that the decision to develop them was well made. Their contribution relative to personnel losses was the highest of all FSN assets after the Ulfberhts. And there’s no lack of volunteers for Fighter Command.