In the year 2367, Starfleet engaged a lone Borg cube in Sector Wolf 359, in what was one of the bloodiest and costliest engagements in the Federation's history. Of the 40 starships engaging the Borg, only one escaped destruction. There were 11,000 casualties. According to some critics in and out of Starfleet, the Federation had grown complacent. This complacency had led to underestimating the need for a powerful military force. Instead, most, if not all the attention was being turned to the exploration of the galaxy, culminating in the design and construction of the Galaxy-class starship. This class has the capacity to hold over 1000 people, a large number of which are dependents of the Starfleet personnel serving on ships of this class. During the service of the Galaxy-class, many of these vessels have been destroyed, taking all onboard with them. These critics pointed to this, stating that it was not a sound idea to have so many civilians on board a vessel that was to be considered the frontline vessel in case of a conflict.
After the Battle at Wolf 359, these critics decided that something had to be done. No amount of pleading to the Federation Council or Starfleet Command helped. Only a small number of projects were started. Finally, a secret pact was made. Starfleet Intelligence, who in the past had perpetrated many illegal activities against strict Starfleet/Federation policy, most notably, the design and testing of a cloaking device, would secretly build from the ground up, a completeley new branch, whose sole purpose would be to safeguard the security of the Federation. As no permission was forthcoming, this was done in secret, as so many other operations conducted by Starfleet Intelligence. And so, Starfleet Combat Command was born.
As this map shows, the Federation is bordered by several possibly hostile empires. On one side, the Romulan Star Empire with whom there have been many wars followed by periods of relative inactivity. We both share borders with the Klingon Empire, once upon a time our most feared opponents and now a powerful ally. However, recently, their most celebrated commander, General Martok, had been kidnapped by the Dominion and was replaced by a Changeling. Due to his manipulation, the Klingon Empire attacked the Cardassian Empire. This in turn led to the latest war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire . Only a deep cover operation, by Captain Benjamin Sisko , commander of Deep Space 9, prevented the war from escalating even further. The Romulan Empire, has agreed to work with the Federation to stop the Dominion from invading the Alpha Quadrant. More out of necessity than anything else, since it seems that the Dominion has gained a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant since Cardassia
has made a pact with the Founders. This race of shapeshifters holds sway over a large part of the Gamma Quadrant with their powerful genetically engineered soldiers, the Jem'Hadar. These soldiers grow in a matter of days from infancy to adulthood and are possibly even more ferocious than Klingon Warriors.
Many Founders have infiltrated the ranks of the respective Alpha Quadrant political and military bodies. Their greatest feat was the utter destruction of the combined Cardassian Obsidian Order's and Romulan's Tal Shiar Strike Fleet sent in to destroy their homeworld. The leader of the Tal Shiar Fleet had been replaced years earlier by a changeling and worked towards this, the first step to the invasion of the Alpha Quadrant. It is imperative that we find out more about their capabilities, since we are already outnumbered.
While a long protracted war will take a heavy toll on our resources, not so on those of the Founders. Since the Jem'Hadar are genetically engineered, the Founders just have to "pop open" a few canisters and within days they have even more battle ready troops.
Because of the need for secrecy, Starfleet Intelligence started development of two new classes of starships, based on existing designs at a top secret research facility situated in the Beta Quadrant. This facility is also being converted to a full-fledged training- and command center.
As part of Project Damocles, the design of the Defiant Class of Escort ships has been used as the basis for a completely new and larger vessel. The most telling difference is the size of the 2 classes. The D-2 class is about twice the size of the original Defiant.
Statistics:
2 forward/ 2 rearward and port- and starboard firing Type U Pulse phasers Standard, Quantum- and chroniton-torpedoes
Pegasus Cloaking Device: SI developed interphase cloak with the ability to phase-shift a starship so it can pass through solid matter, making it practically invulnerable while still having the same abilities as a normal cloaking device. Its integrity can be disrupted if hit by a phaserblast at a frequency of 1.85 Ghz.
As with the Defiant-class, the design of the Intrepid-class has been extensively reworked and this design is currently known as the Viper-class. This design, however maintains it's basic lay-out with science labs, holodecks and other amenities. This is because the Viper-class will be used as a long-range reconnaisence- and special operations craft.
Statistics:
Like the Defiant-2 and Viper-classes of starships, the Nebula-class seen here has been extensively modified. Particular attention has been given to propulsion, computer-, weaponry- and shielding-systems. The Nebula-class vessels of Starfleet Intelligence all feature a double warp-core design. This design allows these vessels to use one for shields and weapons, the other for all other systems. If necessary, they can be used simultanuosly for the propulsion, giving the Nebula-class a maximum emergency warp capability of 9.998 for a maximum of 3 hours. The mission-pod on the back of the saucer section, can house a variety of payloads, including weapons, sensor-equipment and other mission-specific equipment. The typical payload for SI Nebula's is a combined weapons-/sensorsystem that carries 4 Type Xll phaser arrays and 5 multiple payload torpedo-launchers.
Statistics:
The Manta-class as seen above has been designed for the express purpose of fighting the Jem'Hadar. Many Galaxy-class starships have been destroyed by their powerful combatvessels. It is extremely maneuverable, fast and heavily armored. Four large weapon stations have been placed around the rim of the saucer section. Each contains 1 quantum torpedo launcher and 1 phaser cannon. Each station can rotate at a full 360 degree angle. The ship no longer needs to be in a frontal or rear position in relation to an enemy vessel to fire weapons. Thanks to new shielding technology, an increase of 44% was achieved in shield strength. Multi-layered shields have never been used on a ship this size. However, they have been implemented succesfully. Manta class starships are capable of separation. The Main Bridge separates with the Engineering section. The Engineering section has a concealed Quantum torpedo launcher only usable after separation. The Main Bridge serves as Battle Bridge but after separation, a secondary command centre is used to pilot the saucer section. This class also has 4 main shuttle/runabout bays. Bays 1 and 3 are the largest, capable of holding up to 30 shuttles or 10 standard runabouts. For special operation missions, 2 Defiant-class starships can be facilitated. Bays 2 and 4 hold up to 12 Everest-class light fighter craft. Installed is a Federation Cloaking device for use in the Gamma Quadrant. Unknown to the Romulans, Interphasic technology has been incorporated into the design. A newly developed Type-MXa starship mounted anyone emitter is being tested to counteract the cloak as it is believed the Romulans have also successfully integrated Interphase technology in Warbirds. Much of the technology used in the Sovereign-class, has been incorporated in the design.
Statistics:
Six 7.7 MW Type-Ull pulse cannons located on the port and starboard side of the engineering section; Five Type-Ull pulse cannons on the innerside of both nacelle pylons; nine 7.2 MW Type-Xll phaser banks, Six quantum-torpedo bays (4 on saucer rim, 1 fore, 1 aft).
One Mk 4.0 Federation Cloaking Device; Experimental Interphase cloak.
Type-MXa starship mounted anyon emitter
Standard and metaphasic shields
The Prometheus Project, though a project initiated by the Utopia Planitia Ship Yards, immidiately called the attention of Combat Command due to the possibilies of the project. Starfleet Intelligence therefore, expended no small amount of time, trying to get the project through the Federation Council and Starfleet Command. Even as the first vessel, built by Utopia Planitia was being tested, Combat Command had already begun fieldtesting two Prometheus-class vessels. These retain all the characteristics of the original design, added to which where several new developments by our Fleet Design Bureau. For a closer look as to what advancements Fleet Design has made, please access their database.
Statistics:
All vessels are equipped
with Danube-4 class runabouts, optimized for Special Operations.
In an ongoing project, Starfleet Intelligence's R&D Division
is designing and testing a hyper-space drive that will enable
starships to travel distances that under normal circumstances
would take years in mere days. If testing is successful, these
drives will be installed shortly. It would mean that we would not
have to rely on the Bajoran Wormhole anymore to travel to the
Gamma Quadrant. The element of surprise would be on our side.
Because of the use of cloaking devices on our vessels, it is
obvious why we have decided to keep this a secret. Since the
Federation is still bound by the Treaty of Algeron, it would not
be prudent to come forward and tell the Federation Council about
this development. In time, though, they will appreciate the
things we've done.
Data:
Chroniton torpedoes:
These are capable of matching the modulation of shields, allowing
the torpedo to penetrate the shield to an extent. It is not as
effective as it the ship is hit directly while not having shields
up. The torpedo loses 35% of its initial destructive power before
penetrating the shields.
PICD:
Personnel Interphase-Cloaking Device; this is a small version of
the Pegasus-cloak, currently undergoing testing. If successful,
it will be issued to all SI members. It allows operatives the
same capabilities as its larger, shipborne system.
Technical Terms:
MW: Mega Watt. The power-output of a phaser. Standard for a
Galaxy-class ship is 5.1MW
TYPE-X: These are the standard ship-mounted phaser arrays.
TYPE-XII: Powerful phaser arrays used on Starfleets latest ships,
most notably, the Sovereign-class. Capable of producing a 7.2MW
burst.
TYPE-U: Pulse phasers like those used on the U.S.S Defiant.
With thanks to Jeff Mc Guigan of Fleet Design, for the use of the
Manta-class vessel and the technical information.
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