Overview
An armored Human surface carrier for sustained fleet aviation, maintenance and recovery at sea. Two longitudinal hangar vaults form broad fluted shoulders around a recessed service spine. Two forward terraces and a wider aft recovery terrace remain separate operating areas above a continuous buoyant hull.
Vessel Profile
Dimensions & Scale
Nominal surface-class design dimensions: Length 332 M × Width 60.2 M × Height 59.5 M. The supplied design gives 47.5 M from the design waterline to the highest point and a 12 M draft; their sum is the complete physical height. Draft describes immersion below the design waterline, not an underwater operating capability.
Proposed loaded displacement: approximately 160,000 ton (metric tons), estimated from the nominal length, beam and draft with an assumed immersed-hull coefficient. Cargo, aviation stores, machinery, protective structure and usable reserve share that finite allowance.
This surface-class vessel is distinct from the larger transmedium carrier recorded separately as Fluted Skyline
Weapons & Armament
Two compact 30 mm rotary gun-defense mounts occupy the forward outer shoulders. Two low short-range missile-defense housings occupy the aft outer shoulders. Their positions preserve the vertical approach volumes above the landing terraces. The four mounts defend the carrier's nearby working space; there is no large external main gun.
An internally stored vertical-takeoff aviation group supports the carrier mission. Aircraft numbers, individual aircraft armament, sortie rate, missile capacity and engagement ranges have not been supplied, so no additional offensive inventory is assigned.
External Anatomy
Two convex armored hangar vaults dominate the upper hull, with broad longitudinal fluting and narrow metal edge bands. A recessed central service spine separates them. Two short polygonal terraces sit forward and a broader recovery terrace sits aft; none forms a continuous runway.
A low command citadel rises between the protected upper volumes. The shallow wedge bow, rounded lower hull, connected keel, stepped stern and submerged propulsion fittings form one continuous ocean-going vessel. Naval-blue armor, cool metal and bronze-colored borders distinguish the shoulders from the red lower hull.
Functional Architecture
Aviation handling — Closed hangar portals and adjacent transfer platforms connect the separated terraces to internal maintenance galleries. Open approach volumes must remain clear of weapons, temporary cargo and servicing equipment.
Marine operation — A continuous displacement hull, connected propulsion and steering fittings support ocean passage. Exact speed, machinery output and sea-state limits are unassigned.
Recovery and support — The authored operating doctrine reserves a usable return space before committing additional departures. Technicians, replacement assemblies and flight handling capacity remain shared resources rather than independent unlimited queues.
Technical Specifications
Offensive rating: 32/100 — The vessel's supplied external armament concentrates on nearby defense; the embarked group's offensive inventory is unassigned
Defensive rating: 67/100 — Armored hangar shoulders, a protected command region and four close-defense housings shelter a large service platform
Mobility rating: 37/100 — Ocean passage and deliberate station selection support aviation work, with no independent flight or space role
Tactical cognition rating: 78/100 — Approach assessment, deck coordination and allocation of shared maintenance capacity shape the carrier's mission
Endurance rating: 72/100 — Protected stores and galleries sustain operations while finite spares, weather exposure and crew recovery constrain duration
Fleet support rating: 91/100 — Aviation maintenance, recovery and organized maritime support define the vessel's strongest contribution
Fleet Role
Provide a protected maritime base for an embarked vertical-takeoff group. The carrier receives returning craft, maintains them within armored hangar volumes and coordinates departures from separated terraces. Its working capacity can also support an authored coastal supply mission, provided that handling loads do not consume the space reserved for aviation recovery.
Maritime Operations
The assigned operating domain is sea surface. The vessel remains an ocean-going displacement carrier with marine propulsion and steering. Embarked aircraft operate above the ship; their ability to fly does not give the carrier an atmospheric domain.
Independent atmospheric ascent, orbital deployment, phase travel and submarine operation are not established for this surface-class record. Its aviation terraces require weather, approach and recovery assessments appropriate to a moving sea platform.
Defense Architecture
Broad armored shoulders protect the hangar volumes, while the low command citadel reduces the amount of exposed superstructure. Two forward gun-defense mounts and two aft missile-defense housings provide local coverage around the aviation working areas.
Hangar portals, terrace edges, transfer mechanisms and lower propulsion fittings remain vulnerable interfaces. Maintaining a clear recovery area and coordinating with accompanying escorts complement the ship's armor; neither removes the need to disengage from an unsuitable station.
Operational Limits
Separate terraces still depend on shared technicians, transfer galleries, stores and internal routes. A maintenance fault can therefore reduce more than one outwardly clear operating space. Salt intrusion, weather and damaged handling equipment can delay departures or make a particular recovery approach unusable.
The carrier has limited external defensive weapons and does not replace an escort's broader engagement role. Aircraft capacity, operating ranges and sea-state limits remain unassigned. Repairs and emergency recoveries consume resources already promised to later work.
Strategic Strengths
Protected internal aviation volume, three distinct terraces and restrained defensive mount positions preserve usable approach space. The single displacement hull carries the service arrangement as a coherent maritime platform. Its value lies in keeping an aviation group recoverable and maintainable over repeated working intervals.
Capability Assessment
Authored relative doctrine ratings emphasize fleet support and coordination over direct attack. Protection and endurance support the sustained maritime mission, while modest mobility reflects the need to choose safe operating stations. The numbers are editorial comparisons within the fictional fleet, not measured performance or guaranteed outcomes.
B · 62.8
Fleet-wide concept rating, 0–100; not simulated performance. Specialized strengths do not imply an equally high overall grade. Tactical Cognition describes sensing, coordination and command. Grade is the equal-weight mean: S ≥ 90, A ≥ 75, B ≥ 60, C ≥ 45, D < 45.
Technology Level
T0 — advanced planetary marine propulsion, protected aviation handling and local fleet coordination. The embarked group's vertical-takeoff role does not establish independent carrier flight, orbital operation or phase travel.
Weapon Class
W0 — supplied point-defense gun and short-range missile housings protect nearby operating space. The classification covers the carrier's established external mounts; an unspecified embarked aviation inventory is not treated as a proven heavy strike capability.
T0 planetary · T1 system flight · T2 phase travel · T3 limited world engineering. W0 point defense · W1 ship combat · W2 heavy fleet combat · W3 strategic theater systems. Technology and weapon classes are independent of the profile grade.
History & Lineage
Universe lore · authored service history
Origin
Commissioned at Velmara Inlet for a surface aviation assignment following Meridian's evacuation and resettlement work. Its early service centered on repairing the relationship between a carrier's published schedule and the return capacity it could actually preserve.
Lineage & Branch
Human Fluted Skyline surface-carrier branch. The paired armored hangars and separate terraces share a design vocabulary with the larger Fluted Skyline, while this individual remains a distinct ocean-going carrier with its own crew, dimensions and service record.
Fleet or Unit
Human — Velmara Surface Aviation Detachment, assigned to the Meridian coastal resettlement supply corridor
Individual History
The surface carrier entered service at Velmara Inlet under Captain Avren Keln, with deck chief Roven Dair still refusing to call its three landing terraces interchangeable. A forward pad could receive a light returning craft while the aft terrace handled a more difficult recovery, but the same technicians and transfer galleries served both. Avren had expected the first exercises to establish a launch rate. Roven made them establish a stopping rule. Their argument became the vessel's first useful tradition: a clear terrace meant an approach could be assessed, not that another departure had already been promised.
The first operational request came from a Meridian resettlement shore whose families had made different decisions after the earlier evacuation. Its supply coordinator, Lethra Vonn, was liaison Eshra Quel's oldest working friend. Eshra trusted her signed lists: equipment for those remaining, passage for those leaving. Nessa Tor supplied inspection notes from work with the older transmedium Fluted Skyline, while recovery chief Omra Vell sent guidance about preserving return capacity. Neither adviser joined the new ship or transferred the larger carrier's history to it. Eshra assured Lethra that both lists would be honored, before discovering who had been unable to reach her desk.
An unlisted voice asked whether a family beyond the damaged shore relay's coverage had missed its last chance to leave. A returning flight brought handwritten requests from several outer households whose ruined roofs had also prevented their attendance at the settlement meetings. Lethra asked Eshra to preserve the agreed queue: reopening it could let the strongest radio displace people who had waited. Eshra understood because she had helped design that system. She nevertheless requested a listening visit. Lethra heard a public declaration that her office could not speak for its own settlement. A salt fault then closed the carrier's starboard transfer gallery, making room for any additional visit harder to find.
The reduced capacity became immediate with an overdue medical flight requesting the aft terrace. A craft carrying the workshop power unit was waiting for departure, and Eshra's proposed listening visit required another clear interval. Roven argued for the people already airborne, whose options were shrinking. Avren reserved their recovery space and postponed both departures. The medical craft landed safely; the power unit stayed aboard, and the outer households received another promise of a later answer. Lethra accused Eshra of reopening the queue without making room for the people she had encouraged to speak. Eshra could no longer answer by pointing to a signed manifest.
That night, Eshra spoke with Lethra and the outer households over a relay repaired with smaller components from the carrier's stores. Some wanted transport, one wanted building materials and two wanted time to decide. Eshra recorded those answers separately and withdrew her promise that every request could be completed in the first interval. Avren accepted a longer station commitment, costing a later maintenance allocation. Roven repaired the isolated circuit with a shore technician observing the work. During a hostile probe, the carrier's close-defense stations protected its working space while escorts managed the wider threat. The restored recovery terrace remained available instead of becoming a pursuit launch point.
The revised operation delivered the workshop power unit, carried the volunteers requesting passage and left the undecided households on the supply manifest. Nobody was entered on a departure list merely because their shelter needed work. A roofing load still arrived late, after another wet night, and Lethra recorded that failure beside the reopened treatment room. She signed the completed delivery record but returned Eshra's personal invitation unanswered. Eshra had corrected an exclusion without repairing the friendship that had helped conceal it. Roven gave the shore technician their joint inspection sheet rather than presenting the successful repair as knowledge passing in only one direction.
Avren now holds an invitation to return for a maintenance exchange and a complaint from households whose roofing arrived last. Neither cancels the other. Lethra has requested a second listening point beyond her office's coverage, but has not asked Eshra to help staff it. One undecided family has sent the carrier a new passenger request; its place must be found without quietly removing another household's supplies. Eshra has begun an answer that states the remaining limits first. The ship's next coastal voyage may settle that request while leaving a harder question ashore: who is trusted to hear an answer after the timetable has changed.