The Ronin-class vessel was originally conceived at the end of the Dominion War. With the immediate threats of both the Borg and the Dominion dealt with, Starfleet turned to its roots as a society of explorers instead of an army of warriors. This was a transition made difficult with all the efforts put into designing vessels like the Sovereign and Defiant, which were little more than advanced gun ships. Wanting to return to exploration, patrolling Federation space lanes, and showing the galaxy that conquest was not the eventual goal, it became apparent that a new class of vessel, utilizing designs from currently existing craft, be developed.
The Nebula-class had been a venerable scientific workhorse in Starfleet. With its interchangeable pods, it had had both versatility and easy manufacture as winning points, but it was getting long in tooth. Starfleet's latest advance had been the Sovereign class vessel, and the designs had proven robust and well suited to various mission profiles. Taking advantage of a tried and true concept and merging it with the latest technology was an easy decision, and thus the idea for the Ronin-class vessel was born.
The USS Ronin was an incomplete space frame, built in order to allow the Starfleet Core of Engineers to design and test new docking mechanisms and pods to be used with future Ronin-class vessels. A warp core was never installed, the space frame never received an "NCC" designation, and in the end it amounted to a life-size model constructed out of available Sovereign parts. Stemming from the model, there were a number of pods designed, though to date only a few have been built and even fewer are actually functional. The current available designs include a cargo pod, allowing for increased storage and emergency transportation; a science pod, which is the default pod for most missions, notable for it's many labs and testing facilities; a weapons pod that enable a Ronin-class vessel to compliment the Sovereign in the role of a fast attack/destroyer type vessel; and a triage pod designed for medical emergency and relief response missions. A colony pod, containing living quarters for up to 4500 colonists, live stock, plant samples, seeds, and terra-forming equipment has been proposed, but not yet built.
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The USS
Discovery was completed in 238204 as the first Ronin-class vessel to be fully completed and to receive an "NCC" designation,
NCC-81269. Equipped with the latest in M/ARA warp drive technology, she is capable of coming within a scant few decimal places of Warp 10. Her impulse engines have also been adapted from design improvements in recent rears to utilize plasma more efficiently for propulsion and also to vent it more effectively to make it difficult to track the vessel's impulse signature. Her computer systems and networks have been enhanced by the use of second generation bio-neural gel pack technology.
Simulations and some field testing have indicated that the USS
Morningstar is considerably more agile than the Sovereign class vessels, due largely to her reduced size and mass, a useful advantage considering the ship is usually equipped for science missions. She also makes up for a lack of armaments with a wing of FA-150 space-superiority-fighters that can be deployed as an additional defense.
The USS Morningstar was assigned to Captain Draigon after the destruction of the USS Titan. It was felt that his experience with both the Sovereign-class and the Nebula-class made him an ideal candidate for testing this new vessel.
The ship and crew met a mysterious end, however, and
the Morningstar lay adrift in Romulan space for over
a year. On
a mission to rescue Captain McCall from a Romulan
prison, the crew of Starbase 118-Operations
stumbled upon the Morningstar, adrift, but fully
functional. Her crew was missing except for her
Captain. The crew comandeered the Morningstar and
brought her home. Due
to the disappearance of the Morningstar's crew and
the bravery of the Operations officers, the
Morningstar was awarded to newly-promoted Captain
Tyr Waltas and re-christened the USS Discovery-B,
NCC-31929-B. Captain Waltas and his crew will take
the new ship to its rendevous with history. |
