This has been sitting around in my scrap folder for some time now, I have finally polished it up.

Vessels of the Protectorate United Navies, part 1: The Defiant/Protector and Courageous Class Light Cruisers

Defiant/Protector Class Light/Escort Cruiser - The very first proper warship entirely indigenously constructed by the Cainite Protectorate was the Torch-Bearer, a Defiant class light cruiser with only some minor modifications. As a proven design, the ship class was judged to be the best option to test the steadily built-up capabilities of the Protectorate's orbital shipyards while delivering a vessel in line with Protectorate naval doctrine. Only armed with a pair of light lance turrets as its anti-ship weaponry, the Defiant class is an escort carrier in its purest form, relying almost entirely on the fighting strength of its strike craft while itself remaining outside of engagement range.

In this role it fits perfectly into the carrier-strike doctrine of the Protectorate United Navies, as the Cain-Wing lets any Protectorate Defiant punch far above its weight. Any enemy commander familiar with Defiants sailing under the Imperial flag is liable to gravely underestimate the force projection capabilities that a Protectorate Defiant carries in its hangar bays, with deadly consequences. As a purpose built warship, these launch bays can service a greater number of Cain-wings a lot more efficiently than any converted merchant ship.

Through several redesigns and upgrades, the Defiant has slowly evolved into the Protector class. Deeply integrated into the core of the redesign, automation has reduced the crew requirement to a fraction of the original. The sensor equipment has been greatly enhanced and the point-defense weaponry was increased over several iterations. The Protector also was the first class of PUN warships equipped with the gravity engine assisted thrusters developed by the Borgs, allowing the light cruiser to outperform destroyer-size vessels in terms of speed and maneuverability.

With the Courageous class light cruisers entering the Protectorate battle fleets en masse, the humble Protector is now being somewhat moved away from direct frontline service. Construction of new Protectors will continue, as by the decree of the Liberator, local system defense fleets and Protectorate trade convoys will see their remaining refitted freighters and patched-up destroyers be replaced by steadfast Protectors.

Courageous Class Light/Vanguard Cruiser - Using the Dauntless class as its base, the Courageous is a Borg-designed ship through and through, with many lessons learned from the Protector incorporated into it. As with the Protector, the Courageous class is heavily automated and equipped with upgraded sensors, point-defense and gravity engine assisted thrusters. In terms of direct defensive improvements, the X-35 phased void shield emitter array stands out as a significant step forward in void shield technology, capable of absorbing roughly 20% more damage and recharging while under constant fire.

The offensive capabilities of the Courageous are built around a pair of launch bays, which have replaced the broadside macro batteries. Yet as by the Liberator's wisdom, the Courageous could not be allowed to lose its own capabilities in a stand up fight against an opponent of equal size. The Borgs took upon themselves this challenge and solved it in a truly innovative way. The Courageous' own armament thus consists of a pair of triple barreled macro turrets and a heavy prow-mounted lance artillery. Gunnery trials have shown that the six macro cannons offer a 50% firepower advantage to an average Imperial broadside macro battery while benefiting from the greatly improved firing arcs. In this configuration they also require less internal space and allow for a more optimal magazine layout for better protection against magazine detonations.

Work has already begun on a loadout modification, which is planned to mount a pair of triple barreled long range lance turrets and a set of prow torpedo launchers firing the new No.9 homing torpedoes.
A direct upgrade to the current Mk1 loadout is also in the concept phase. This would include the addition of the prow torpedo launchers while retaining the macro turrets and replacing the heavy lance artillery with a twin barreled lance turret. The lance turret would either be mounted behind the macro turrets in a superfiring configuration or - even more radically divergent from all Imperial designs - in a ventral turret on the ship's underside.

While still only a concept, the Courageous Mk3 is projected to achieve a higher damage output than a Lunar class cruiser against single targets. This has prompted its redesignation as the PUN's very first class of vanguard cruisers, due to its combination of cruiser level firepower and escort level mobility.

=][= Inquisitorial Addendum =][=
"Further verification required, claims of the Cainite Heretics not fielding any escort-sized vessels seem doubtful, though reports of various fleet compositions would support it."
"If true it only serves as further proof of their heretical delusions and wasteful, overly cautious attitudes."
"Yet how could such a small chaos tainted realm possibly afford to field nothing smaller than a light cruiser, even for system defense or convoy duty?"
"It is simply impossible. Recall a random selection of embedded agents for interrogation! Undoubtedly they have been subverted by the taint of chaos!"
"These claims that the Cainite tech-heretics managed to create a viable turreted main armament is... disturbing."
"Proof of their cowardice is what it is! Eschewing the trading of cannon volleys up close with the enemy, unwilling to enter the fray! Always ready to run at the first doubt of victory!"

-

So, with that first pair of ship classes out of the way - what would the Cainite Protectorate's interstellar navy look like? The PUN that I think of is a logical extension of the fleet action we have already witnessed, embodying Cain's distaste for conventional Imperial space warfare doctrine. Ramming, close range broadsides and such are scary, so the goal is to stay at range using superior mobility and precise long range weapons/strike craft while avoiding any resemblance of a fair fight.

Any sort of classic chaos ship class is 1) not available to the Protectorate, cut off from all other chaos worshippers as they are and 2) you can not possibly get Cain to field a 'properly' chaos corrupted vessel, what with all the risks that brings.
Instead the most obvious way is to take Imperial schematics and tell the Borgs to go at it with their tech-heresy brilliant ideas. Lots of soft factor improvements as described above, with the biggest upgrade being the mobility improvements made using the Borg anti-grav technology and scaling it up massively. You can also probably shed a lot of weight by not building ships that need to look like space borne cathedrals.
So forget your broadside gun lines and ram spurs. Launch bays, turrets and homing torpedoes are the way!

All this of course leads to a fleet that can run circles around the enemies of the Liberation. Cain tried to slow down the production/introduction of the new light cruisers into the fleet by ordering every destroyer/escort vessel to be replaced by them first, which obviously backfires by making the Protectorate's self defense fleets and convoy escorts strong enough to fight off a small armada.
Then the Courageous designs land in his lap and he tries to make the Borgs build him a handful of expensive, over engineered Wunderwaffen. Instead the Borgs manage to square the circle and you get a pocket battle cruiser instead.

Part 2 will be the Liberty Freighter, the Argus-Vigil Fleet Defense Cruiser and the Emancipator Battle Cruiser.