Registration:

NCC-72381

Name:

u.s.s. equinox

Class:

nova class

Plan:

general overview

Sometimes described as the little sister in the new family of Starfleet vessels, the Nova Class Survey Frigate is part of the new breed of starships in service.

Aggressively designed, the small ship and its lack of amenities manage to surpass one’s first impression of its diminutive size. Known for its durability, the Nova Class has swiftly loss its status as a ‘little ship’ and is slowly gaining acclaim for their usefulness in making for more accurate missions to new areas of space, bringing back teraquads of data on individual systems that is disseminated amongst the fleets.

The Nova sports impressive weaponry for its size, and its scientific capabilities more than make up for its reduction in speed when compared to its larger ‘cousins’. Double deflector dishes also provide added security when far from a starbase or suitable repair facility, in that a single malfunctioning or damaged deflector will not prevent the ship from going to warp.

Highly accurate sensors and computer systems makes it the perfect tool to send into scarcely known territory and many discoveries have been made by Nova Classes finding things larger Explorer-type ships such as the Galaxy Class left behind.

Amenities are few and far between on a Nova, but its work is important and crews that work on these small ships know their worth and protect their reputations fiercely. Much like the favored Oberth, the Nova is sure to hold a place in Starfleet lore for a long time to come.

The Starfleet Corps of Engineers with the help of the Advanced Starship Design Bureau can do some amazing things when it comes to the construction of Starships. Many of their designs have outlived their expectations by years, and sometimes, decades.

In that time, the Oberth has proven itself but the SCE and ASDB were sanctioned to replace it after over a century of service in Starfleet.

There would be a new vessel built to gradually phase out the Oberth Classes as the primary ship of the line in Survey and Extended Study missions. This ship would have to be larger, and not display the same limitations in speed and longevity that the Oberth was famous, if not infamous, for. And like all of the new breed of ships, it would be equipped to defend itself, unlike the Oberth.

The engineers at the ASDB facility sat down to design this new Surveyor and rejected design after design that paid homage to the Oberth. Nostalgia was overwhelming, when faced with the concept of replacing a ship that had served for well over a century. More and more designs were proposed and rejected, until finally someone stumbled on a graveyard of other, rejected designs.

The Defiant-Pathfinder had been originally designed as a weapon with nacelles, but had been rejected in favor of a more groundbreaking approach to tactical design. Unbuilt, the ASDB team resurrected the files and preliminary stress sketches and set to work modifying the Defiant-Pathfinder and shrinking it toward a more usable size. Six torpedo launchers were removed from the design, and replaced with a more appropriate sensor package. It lost over fifty meters in length and its proportions were reduced by the same percentage.

Slowly, the ship was coming to shape and final approval was given to begin assembly on a test frame. This new hull was small and smooth, easily designed and came together quickly. Soon she was dubbed NX-72359 and began her internal construction.

It proved to be a reliable ship, with very few design errors. The limitations in speed were hardly noticed when it carried out test survey missions inside Sol System, but the engineering crew were mindful of its lack of facilities for long missions. At best, the ship could operate totally independently for 12 months without visiting a starbase for a major resupply. At worse, excessive use would force it to return much sooner.

Sleek in design, its hull shape was all but completely retained from its original Defiant-Pathfinder incarnation. The tactically sound sunken bridge was left in, losing the ability to be changed out with ease, but gaining added protection that was useful when the ship was faced by just about anything that outgunned it.

Such a thing was difficult, however, as the Nova Class came very well armed due to design considerations that were evident in its original form. No fewer than nine phaser arrays dotted the ship’s hull, and its long, low profile added to security. Its shields were neither the strongest nor its engines the most powerful or maneuverable, but the ship passed in every criterion that mattered and was approved for mass production.

Due to their size, many Nova Class starships could be built, however the need is not there and the Novas are kept at reasonable rate of approximately 20 new ships a year. Production was temporarily halted during the Dominion War, as the Nova Class was unsuitable for warfare. However, production has resumed since the cessation of the War and more new Novas are being constructed.

Though their missions are frequently routine, one Nova Class has already gained some infamous notoriety. The USS Equinox, NCC-72381.

The USS Equinox

The vessel was constructed at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, and was commissioned in 2370. It carried an initial crew compliment of seventy-eight and had a Mark I EMH.

Under the command of Captain Rudolph Ransom, with first officer Max Burke, the Equinox was on a short-range exploratory mission in an unknown system's asteroid belt when it mysteriously disappeared shortly after the vessel's commissioning. It was later discovered that the Equinox was pulled into the Delta Quadrant by the being known as the Caretaker, and its crew experimented on.

After leaving the Caretaker's array, Ransom ordered a course set for the Alpha Quadrant. However, because of the low maximum warp capability of the Equinox, the voyage was estimated to take several hundred years. Shortly after getting underway, the Equinox strayed across the borders of the Krowtonan Guard. In the week that followed, half of the Equinox crew were killed, and severe damage was inflicted on the vessel. Ransom decided to continue on through Krowtonan space, instead of adding a further six years to the ship's journey.

By 2372, the Equinox was in a state of complete disarray. The vessel's warp engines were almost burned out, and essential supplies were at a minimum. It was at this point that the ship made contact with the Ankari, and received their 'blessing', which turned out to be the appearance of a nucleogenic creature. These creatures had a large antimatter content, and, when the Equinox crew attempted to recall another, it was unable to survive in our dimension, and died. After several unsuccessful attempts to keep the creatures alive, Ransom ordered the use of the dead creatures for fuel, and the Equinox was able to increase her warp capability significantly.

Eventually the use of the creatures became more and more commonplace, and the Equinox overtook the USS Voyager - also trapped in the Delta Quadrant, but with a significantly faster warp capability - and was within sight of reaching home.

However, the creatures responded to the Equinox crew's experiments by launching an intensive attack on the vessel, damaging it almost beyond repair. With each attack, Captain Ransom would send out a distress call on a Federation frequency - solely as a comfort to his crew, and not expecting a response. In late 2375, Ransom's distress call was picked up by Voyager, who drove away the alien attack, and recovered the surviving Equinox crew, now numbering no more than a dozen. In order to conceal their unethical work from discovery, Ransom ordered the vessel's research lab flooded with thermionic radiation, by the redirection of three EPS conduits into the area.

When the alien attacks began to overwhelm Voyager's defences as well, Captain Janeway, under Starfleet regulation 191 (Article 14), made the decision to abandon the Equinox. However, Ransom chose to ignore the request, and made preparations to leave Voyager behind. In the meantime, The Doctor had discovered the true nature of Equinox's modifications, and Janeway ordered the arrest of Ransom and his crew, pending a full investigation. The Doctor returned to the Equinox, along with Seven of Nine, to shut down the warp core modifications and retrieve the remaining experimental data.

Ransom escaped and The Equinox then fled from Voyager, stealing a field generator that would disable the aliens in the process, and escaping at maximum warp, leaving the Intrepid-class vessel at the mercy of the nucleogenic assault.

Voyager eventually caught up with the Equinox, and in the ensuing confrontation, Burke seized command of the vessel from Ransom, as Ransom attempted to surrender to Janeway. Ransom was successful in transporting a few of the surviving crew to Voyager as well as Seven of Nine and Voyager's Doctor - but was unable to save Burke or several other crewmembers on the bridge, who were killed when he dropped shields to force Burke and the others to beam to Voyager. The Equinox succumbed to a warp core breach moments later, as a result of heavy damage inflicted by Voyager and the aliens - Ransom remaining on board to steer the vessel away from Voyager and protect that ship from the explosion.

The five surviving Equinox crew were stripped of rank by Captain Janeway, and restricted to minimal privileges aboard Voyager.