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[font=Book Antiqua]The construction of any capital class ship is never something taken lightly, though when the ship in question is a legendary Zoner Juggernaut, the occasion is doubly portentous.

The ship that would become known as the ZS-Herculaneum is the latest of such vessels to be constructed at Livadia Shipyards. These mammoth Zoner facilities being one of the few bases in all of Sirius capable of building such a colossal vessel.


[font=Book Antiqua]The commissioning of such a ship, indeed the sheer scale of the resources required tells us something of a shift in attitudes amongst the Zoner colonists. Whilst they have always been engaged in extensive research activities, and defended their interests when necessary, the launching of a new Juggernaut, a vessel of such massive power and endurance, may signal a new proactive and vigorous stance towards the protection of Zoner colonists, ships and facilities.

A Juggernaut also contains research facilities that are unheard of on such a mobile platform, and if the launch of the ZS-Herculaneum is only the first of more to come, then it is likely that the Zoners intend to expand their studies and research programmes into areas once thought off-limits to their previously conservative and insular outlook on the colonies. Of course, it is no secret among the inhabitants of the Border Worlds, and even further afield, that the Juggernaut is also one of the most powerful capital ships ever conceived.


The Zoners have found themselves living in a time when they are faced with numerous and unparalleled threats to their way of life, and even their lives. Predatory pirate groups, jealous Houses and their agents, and as ever the Nomad presence casts its shadow over the more far-flung Zoner facilities.

In recent years the Zoners as a people have learned the hard way that peace and freedom from oppression are not self-maintaining, and while they may have chosen life among the free stars over an existence under House law, they have come to know that Houses and other entities eye their territories and technology enviously. In such times, the Zoners know that the status quo cannot defend itself.

And so, the ZS-Herculaneum joins her older sister ships as a symbol of that spirit which carried the earliest Zoners beyond the borders of House space to make a life for themselves, free of any bonds of servitude or hostile intent.