And here they are!
Smaller one (Cruiser) is the Hyena-class Light Cruiser, larger one (Capship) is the Kepler-class Explorer
Whereas the Rhino was a destroyer that had a number of cruiser attributes, the Hyena is a cruiser that has a number of destroyer attributes. In fact, one of its potential roles could be considered closer to that of early naval destroyers: the pursuit and destruction of smaller craft in the role of an escort for a larger, slower cruiser or capship. The Hyena however is too large, and has too powerful of a reactor to be classed with the rest of the destroyers, requiring a larger crew, carrying more cargo and fuel, and such. It relies almost entirely on speed to survive; its got decent shields, but it has the worst armor of all the cruisers, falling more in line with the destroyers in that regard. Although it can take longer to accelerate than most destroyers or frigates, the hyena can top a number of the slower small ships, and with some EMP weapons, can take on the faster ones too, cutting out their engines before moving in for the kill. In fact, its speed was seen to be important enough to the ship's survival in the design process that the flanges shielding the engines were added specifically to help cut down on the angles which an EMP weapon could be fired at the engines. Also, while venting flux (which takes a long time, due to its large flux reservoirs compared to its flux dissipation rate), it is extremely vulnerable to enemy fire due to its thin armor, and thus again relies on its un-boosted speed to move to a safe range.
While it would seem to be a ship designed for killing smaller craft exclusively, like the faster destroyers, as well as frigates, their speed allows them to easily kite a larger capship, and working in groups, optimally with each ship dedicated to a particular function, they can take it down with relative ease. Their individually limited firepower however makes them less than optimal capship killers by themselves; not very many weapons could be added to the design without drawing power away from the engines, hence the relatively low slot count, similar to the Falcon from which the hyena was derived.
The hyena finds itself a favorite of mercenaries due to its survivability and capacity to hunt down nimble pirate frigates and the like, though difficult to obtain simply out of rarity of blueprints. The Green Sun pirates have also been known to field these ships in their operations against the tri-tachyon corporation (which they frequently do, as they are tech pirates, more interested in technology than generic goods, though they do launch raids against large convoys on occasion, they generally don't bother with independent traders who simply don't have anything of sufficient interest to them; supplies and the like are traded with other pirate clans in exchange for fancy weapons, ships, and other such trinkets which Green Sun monopolizes)
The Kepler-class Explorer could be considered the spiritual predecessor to the Odyssey and the Manta: an exploratory capital ship capable of traveling a long distance on relatively little resources, with ample cargo space, able to hold its own against pirates and whatever else may be lurking in the unknown, but without carrying an absurdly expensive price-tag (though the Manta does edge towards a higher price). The three ships however had entirely independent designs.
The Kepler sports the usual relatively high speed, falling squarely between the slightly slower Odyssey and the slightly faster Manta. It has significantly lower support abilities due to a lack of flight decks as well as offensive abilities due to its limited number of slots in comparison to the later Odyssey and Manta, making up for these shortcomings in its versatility, sporting a pair of universal large turrets, and a pair of universal medium hardpoints. Its armor is nothing to write home about, but its certainly passable, but is still outclassed by the Manta, and only matching the Odyssey. The shield emitter is of the same lineage as the one used on the conquest, providing omni coverage, but only over 90 degrees, though its a slightly cheaper model, translating to lowered efficiency. It has impressive flux reserves, rivaling the Odyssey and leaving the Manta in the dust in this regard, giving it an extra edge in defense. Venting is slow however, and thus if those flux reserves are going to be put to use for flux-heavy weapons, they should preferably be long-ranged ones.
It earned a bit of a reputation for its relatively minimal fuel consumption, allowing it to out-range just about any other contemporary capital ship. Even now, the Odyssey and Manta are hard pressed to keep up, as they went the direction of providing more weapons and carrier support capabilities, sacrificing a bit of range and efficiency in doing so. This ship has become popular among well-to-do tech prospectors as a result and has also been adopted by some mercenaries, though they generally prefer the Odyssey for its additional large turret and carrier bay, without sacrificing any armor. Because of its lesser direct combat capabilities, few military and pirate fleets in the sector employ the ship.
