Geary class Destroyer (68mm)

After the invasion, Earth's surviving nations turned to any plan they could come up with to quickly rebuild their spacegoing navies in order to defend the planet. While some preferred larger, modular ships like the Aldebaran, others preferred cheaper, smaller vessels that could be mass produced. Extensive use of automation was made to reduce crew size and allow the ships to cram in the maximum firepower possible.

The Geary-class destroyer (named for Admiral Jane Geary, commander of Canada's last battleship - her entire squadron was lost in the final battle, but they took four times their number of enemies with them) is one of these. Two twin-barrel particle-beam turrets are her primary armament, supplemented by four lighter turrets mounted around the rear hull and four pulse-laser point-defense nodes on the superstructure. The nose mounts a heavy particle cannon, along with four torpedo tubes. A full dozen heavy missiles are also carried on external ordinance racks, stored in single-shot armored cannisters. Hundreds of these vessels have been built - an average of thirty more leave the building slips each year - and with their small crews (under a hundred officers and men each) and powerful weapons, they are the workhorses of a formidable defense fleet.