had had enough. (need two had's here) had sung It's not really a barrier if there's nothing on the other side of it. state-of-the-art ...which had plagued... replace tentative with contingent Wow, you're prolific!
Eh, not when you consider it's taken just about five years. I couldn't think of a word I liked more than 'limit' so I used it twice. Try this:
into → to At infinite velocity, how would the navigational deflector and sensors work? They would have to be infinitely fast as well. You have an extra space after the parenthesis. unbreakable → unreachable remove the comma fitting-out (or outfitting) was staggering → required a great deal of ingenuity they didn't → none did (because they implies the Starfleet brass, but you mean no problems arose) remove almost. Either it was unprecedented, or it was not. discoveries → technological breakthroughs (or innovations)
Thanks once more, kitsune! Well, like I explained (although perhaps not clearly enough - but that's okay because I can explain it more completely in the technical part) that it's not literal infinite velocity - technically the ship briefly enters another 'transcendent' dimension, which it would then exit at a predesignated location. It's not literally everywhere at once, but in the state it briefly exists, it sort of is. In other words, it was conceived as a jump drive. But technically they wouldn't need the deflector or sensors in the 'infinite' state. (In VGR's 'Threshold' the Shuttlecraft Cochrane's sensors were able to record more information than they had space in the databanks for. If Excelsior had actually managed the same feat, it would have probably happened to them too.) The deflector is only needed for 'conventional' warp travel, which explains what the line in TSFS 'all speeds available through transwarp drive' meant. Once more, with feeling:
Are we putting aside Sulu's running story about him and the Excelsior as depicted in the filmed-but-dropped scene in STII, and followup in the novels? I quite liked the notion of him already being the Captain-in-waiting in II, being proud of saying she had transwarp drive in III, and (in the novels) being denied his official promotion because of the Genesis incident and then accepting a temporary reduction in rank while they ironed out the transwarp problems in IV and V... Or are you considering your prose as part of the Genesis coverup? Mark
I really love where this project is going with the background on the Excelsior but it would also be great to see more artwork depicting the Excelsior NX-2000 vs. the Excelsior NCC-2000.
Don't worry, there will be. I just have too much real world stuff going on at the moment to dedicate myself to the drawing work at the moment, but I promise, stay tuned, they're coming. A good, good question, actually. I was, at one point, considering including it, but thought since it was essentially dropped from the continuity that I would do the same. However, your explanation seems somewhat plausible and I'm willing to reconsider. I see two possibilities: 1) Styles was just a test captain all along, and Sulu was intended to be the first real captain but TSFS/Genesis ruined that 2) Sulu was intended to take command in TWOK but when the Khan/Genesis issue pushed the timetable, they pushed Sulu to the sideline to stick to their timetable, with the assignment then being given to Styles What does everyone else think?
I like the notion that Sulu was promised Excelsior in TWOK. After more than a decade driving Kirk around and effectively being the second officer, the guy deserves it. So yes, how about him being slated to take over Excelsior for her shakedown cruise, but the whole Genesis thing pushing that back. Styles was either the officer in charge of her construction, or more likely the guy they put in charge after Sulu was held up. Then, with the transwarp failures pushing everything back indefinitely, the recently-exonerated Sulu asks to be kept at his rank and position as helmsman so he can stay on the new Enterprise's shakedown. The whole God thing over with and the Excelsior project on the move again with a standard warp drive, Sulu happily slips into the white turtleneck for the job he was made for. Cue credits. Mark
The only trouble is Sulu's line at the end of Voyage Home: "I'm counting on Excelsior!" I imagine his reaction would have been different if he was already designated captain-in-waiting, but Kirk came along and stole his ship. It would have been a toys out of pram reaction of Takei-esque proportions. Great read Praetor. It's a good narrative that fits together lots of bits of Trek lore, but is mercifully free of techno-jargon. I love the Morrow sub-plot, and the idea that he champions Excelsior, only for Kirk and Scotty to finish him off. So is the redressed TNG engine room on the Enterprise-A an example of the new faster warp drive developed from the Excelsior?
Yeah... that's a good point. Perhaps I will leave it unaddressed? Why, thank you. I made a conscious decision to have a history part and a technical part, because there were specific things I wanted to address. The technical part isn't as far along, but is coming. And I'm glad you noticed the Morrow sub-plot. Something about him always made me hate that guy, and it just so happened that making him a jerk helped fit together a few seeming inconsistencies here and there. Correctamundo! In fact, that's part of why the Enterprise-A is specifically named to be a newer kitbash build to test Excelsior-derived tech (as I think most of the other refits in service at the time probably had the TMP-TSFS refit setup). Well, let's commence with the next chapter shall we?
Remove the comma after Starfleet It seems odd to me to have instrumental at the end of a clause. I'm used to seeing the constructions instrumental to XXX or instrumental in XXX. but he was assassinated, illegal -> unauthorized or treaty-violating blamed primarily upon That figure seems very high. I assume the secondary hull fairings added labs and cargo capacity, which may not have been that useful, but the more powerful impulse engines should have been more popular given the Excelsior's disadvantage in maneuverability relative to the Constitution class.
Praetor, this is a great and well thought out backround for the Excelsior Class you are a really good writer. Do you have any plans to try and publish this professionally? You also have insired me to draw up a cover for your project as well as a logo for the NX-2000 and NCC-200, however, for some reason I can't post images here. If you send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll be more than happy to send then out to you. Sorry I just noticied that I don't have a PM you can get me at starfleetemt@yahoo.com
This is really well done. Include me in the "Sulu was supposed to be captain in TWOK" camp. (I understand that this was changed in the newer editions of the TWOK novel?) I always wondered if Vonda McIntyre just got extraordinarily lucky when she wrote TWOK and then just capitalized on it in TSFS.
Thanks once more for the editing. As to the issue of the enhancements, my theory is that impulse engines were upgraded around the time of the launch of the Ambassador, because the research for it developed larger, more powerful impulse engines, rendering the bigger add-on engines relatively redundant. You'll note I have reduced the figure to less than ten percent now too. Publishing wise, I think Trek tech books are relatively dead, otherwise I'd have tried to get Pocket to go for it. Therefore, my current plans are to freely release it as a PDF. I do already have some logo work and cover work coming up, but I wouldn't mind taking a look at what you have and perhaps crediting you as a contributor if you like. Let me get through the text first before we start dealing with images, though. Thanks, Tallguy. I have been wanting to read the TWOK and TSFS novelizations for a while now, myself. I think you might be onto something. Let's try this again:
...from pages 108-109 in the novelization of ST3. "Sulu smiled to himself, refusing to be baited by the conversation. Behind his calm facade he glowed with pride. Excelsior was his ship, the ship he had worked so hard and waited so long to command. He knew its lines by heart. He had had considerable say in its design. He was so proud of the ship that even Mr. Scott's criticisms could not get very far under his skin. ...from page 203. When Captain Styles' call for a tow came through from Excelsior, Uhura intercepted and damped it, feeling considerable satisfaction. Take over Hikaru's ship, will you? she thought. You can just sit there and stew for awhile. Er...was this proper protocol, to quote the book like this without Vonda McIntyre's express permission? (sets phasers to stun and awaits the arrival of a pack of lawyers...)
It's worth pointing out that the first quote comes right after Scotty's "If my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon" line. Anyone have the STIV novelization, and if Sulu's "I'm counting on Excelsior" line had any written connotation? I can't remember. Mark <--- George Takei's Surrogate Son, April 2008