Type: Amazon Class Corvette 
In Service: 2542 
Number in Service: 100 

Mass: 190,000 tons 
KF Integrity: 5 
Sail Integrity: 3 
Thrust: 4/6 
Fuel: 3000 tons 
SI: 40 
Armor: 150 tons standard armor (All sides: 15 + 4) 
Heatsinks: 1200 

Docking Collars: 0 
Fighters: 0 
Small Craft: 0 
Crew: 125 
Lifeboats: 0 
Escape Pods: 15 
Grav Deck: 0 
Cargo: 31,935 tons 

Bays: 
Bay 1: Cargo 3 doors 

Weapons: 
Forward: 
4 Light Naval PPC 
4 PPC 

Fore Left/Right: 
1 NAC/20 
1 NL/35 
4 PPC 

Aft Left/Right: 
1 NL/35 
3 PPC 

Aft: 
2 PPC 

Overview: 
The Amazon Class Corvette was the first ship designed by the Magistracy of Canopus. In the late 2530's the Magistracy of Canopus decided it needed a small navy to protect it's developing worlds from Pirates. The developing pleasure industry on many of the Magistracy's world made them very tempting targets. The nascent Canopus Navy decided to develop and build a small corvette that could patrol the Canopian systems and fight of any pirate attacks. Rather then purchasing an existing design, the Magistracy chose to build their own ships. 

[Editor's Note: The main reason for deciding to build their own ships was that the other states were unwilling or unable to sell ships to the Magistracy. The Free Worlds League and Terran Hegemony both saw the Magistracy as little better then pirates and refused to deal with the new state. The Capellan Confederation was still recovering from the Andurien War and needed the limited Warship production capability they had to rebuild their own fleet. Likewise, the Lyran Commonwealth, Draconis Combine and Federated Suns Shipyards were busy building new ships for their nations.] 

The Magistracy at the time was not heavily industrialized and the construction of warships appeared to be out of the reach of the small nation. To this day, it is not completely certain how the Magistracy acquired the capability to build a warship. 

[Editor's Note: By going through various records, shipping logs and other data the following has been determined about the Magistracy's Naval program. The Drive engines were acquired from Bolson Shipyards in the Lyran Commonwealth. It is believed the first dozen were built in the Commonwealth and the remainder were license produced in the Magistracy at a factory setup by engineers from Bolson Shipyards. The KF Drive is believed to be a FWL design. There is some evidence that indicates a senior VP at Selasys had gone to the Magistracy to partake in some of the pleasures that it offered. It appears that the Magistracy had some evidence from his trip that they used to blackmail him into providing the specifications and plans for the KF drive. It is known that in 2550 the VP fled to the Magistracy after an investigation was conducted by SAFE into the VP's activities. The Naval Lasers and Naval PPCs were acquired in a similar manner from an design engineer at Delhi Warships in the Capellan Confederation. The design of the Naval Autocannons is believed to have come from Gal Tech Weapons in the Terran Hegemony, a company with a history of violating Hegemony export laws. Lastly the armor appears to have been provided by New Earth Trading Company. NETC records show that they provided the Magistracy with a large quantity of High-Boron Alloy for use as construction material. It was never proven, but Hegemony Intelligence believes that NETC actually sold the Magistracy Crystal Steel Armor plating for use on Warships.] 

Regardless of how the Magistracy acquired the ability to produce a warship, the first Amazon Class Corvette was launched in 2542. Eventually 100 of these ships would be produced before the start of the Reunification War. 

Capabilities: 
The Amazon class was designed to serve as a fast patrol vessel capable of fighting off pirate raiders and smugglers. As a result the designer chose to emphasize acceleration over weapons and armor. The Amazons could reach an acceleration of 3G's, which allowed it to easily catch any pirate or smuggler vessels. 

Due to the large amount of space dedicated to the engines, the ships mounted limited weaponry. The main guns were 2 class 20 Naval Autocannons which provided fire to the front arcs. These were backed up by 4 Light Naval PPCs and 4 Light Naval Lasers. Anti-fighter protection was provided by 20 PPCs. The Amazons mounted most of their weapons to the forward or fore side arcs. There were only 2 naval lasers covering the rear of the ship, creating a large weak spot that was exploited by the SLDF forces in the Reunification War. In addition the limited anti-fighter weaponry was another deficiency of the ship, as the Amazons proved to be relatively ineffective against the fighters commonly used by Pirate bands. This was compounded by the lack of fighter bays on the ship. 

The ships were very lightly armored, even for their time. While the armor was generally adequate when dealing with pirates and smugglers , it proved woefully inadequate when the Magistracy fought the SLDF in the Reunification War. 

The other major problem with the Amazon was it's small size. The Amazons were very cramped ships. The bridge and engineering spaces were very tight, making the combat operations and repairs difficult. The crew areas were no better. The mess area could only seat half the crew at a time and most of the crew had to "Hot Bunk" their sleeping quarters. Only the Captain and XO had private quarters and those were little larger then closets. The complaints of the crews had an impact on the design of other Magistracy ships, although no changes were ever made to the Amazon class. As a result, the Magistracy did not deploy the Amazon class ships for more than 2 months at a time, until the start of the Reunification War, when wartime conditions required longer deployments. 

Deployment: 
The Amazon class was deployed in 10 squadron each composed of 5 ships. There were 5 squadrons deployed with each of the Magistracy's Fleets. In 2555 the Magistracy began adding a transport jumpship to each squadron which would carry several fighter carrier dropships. This was done to provide the squadrons with a better defense against pirate aerospace fighters. 

Before the Reunification War, the ships were used to patrol the Magistracy's systems. During that time they engaged numerous pirate forces and intercepted many smugglers. When the Reunification War broke out, the ships were used as scouts for the Magistracy Fleets. There small size and small jump signature made them ideal for that role, allowing to arrive into systems undetected, monitor the SLDF operations and escape. 

The most famous Amazon class ship was the MCS Xena. Under the command of Captain Megan Thompkins, the ship was part of the 3rd Squadron, 1st Fleet. In June 2577, the Xena was based at Gouderak, along with rest of the 3rd Squadron. When the SLDF jumped in at the Zenith Jump Point, the Xena was patrolling the Nadir Jump Point of the system. The SLDF naval units quickly destroyed the corvette at the Zenith Jump point and headed towards the planet, where they engaged the other 3 ships of the squadron. Unable to free themselves, the 3 Corvettes (the MCS Gabriella, MCS Hera and MCS Joan D'Arc) attempted to scatter in face of the superior SLDF forces. The Hera and Joan D'Arc were able to escape, but the Gabriella was unable to escape the SLS Hercules, a Lola I Destroyer. Captain Thompkins raced the Xena to the rescue of the Gabriella. The Xena was able to catch the Hercules unaware, as her Captain and crew were focused on chasing down the Gabriella. The Xena scored several hits against the Hercules, disabling the ship's main drives and fusion plant. This allowed the Xena and Gabriella to escape the system and rejoin the other Canopian ships. The Xena would go on to serve with distinction at the battle of Vakarel, as well as at the raids on Meadowvale and Thurrock. The Xena was one of the few Canopian ships to survive the raid on Thurrock. During the battle, the Xena managed to scatter several Oriente class frigates, that were chasing the Canopian fleet, which allowed the Xena and several other ships to escape the system. [Editor's Note: There are rumors that the Xena used of crude nuclear mines deployed from the cargo hold of the ship to force the frigates to break off their pursuit.] 

The majority of the Amazon corvettes were destroyed in the Reunification War. Only 4 ships were known to survive, including the Xena. After the end of the Reunification war, the Xena was turned into a war memorial for those killed on both sides. The weapons, maneuvering drives and KF drive were all removed and the ship was placed in orbit over Canopus IV, where it remains to this day. [Editor's Note: The Free World League and SLDF Veterans of the war against the Magistracy were very opposed to turning the Xena into a War Museum due to the rumors that the Xena used nuclear weapons. Captain General Marik ignored the protests in an effort to improve relations with the people of the Magistracy of Canopus.] The other 3 Amazon class ships were scrapped.