Excelsior Technical Manual - Revived!

[kitsune]

Anyone have the STIV novelization, and if Sulu's "I'm counting on Excelsior" line had any written connotation? I can't remember.

Apparently the crew didn't know which ship they were going to be assigned to until they saw the new Enterprise:

Jim remained silent, but he tightened his hand around the envelope of thick, textured paper that he carried. The envelope held written orders, not a computer memory chip, and by that alone Jim knew that the orders were something very special. But he was forbidden to break the holographic epoxy of the Starfleet seal until he had accepted his new command and taken it beyond the solar system.
He turned the envelope over and over, then pulled his attention back to the conversation.
"--I'm counting on Excelsior," Sulu was saying to McCoy.
"Excelsior!" Scott exclaimed. "Why in God's name would you want that bucket of bolts?"
Before Sulu could retort and the two men could embark on one of their interminable arguments about the merits of Excelsior, Jim cut in.
"Scotty, don't be judgemental. A ship is a ship." At the same time he had to wonder how Sulu would handle being subordinate to James Kirk on a ship that should have been Sulu's own.
It appeared that they were indeed heading for Excelsior. The massive ship filled the wide shuttlecraft windows. Scott watched it apprehensively.
"Whatever you say, sir," he said, resigned. Under his breath he added, "Thy will be done."
To Jim's surprise the shuttlecraft sped past Excelsior.
Jim blinked. In the next slip, a constellation [sic]-class starship echoed the lines of his own Enterprise. And this time the shuttlecraft did not duck around it. On the saucer section of the ship, Jim made out the name and the registration number.
U.S.S. Enterprise. NCC 1701-A.
A suited-up space tech put the finishing touches on the "A," turned, saw the shuttlecraft, waved jauntily, and powered away on travel jets.

 

[Praetor]

Well, I feel like I need to at least mention the fact that Sulu was slated to get the Excelsior, if not go into a lot of detail about it.

Hurm...

 

[Tallguy]

Anyone have the STIV novelization, and if Sulu's "I'm counting on Excelsior" line had any written connotation? I can't remember.

I'll have to dig it up, but there is reference in that scene to how Sulu would feel serving under Kirk on Sulu's own ship. (Right before McIntyre calls the Enterprise a Constellation class.)

She also has some scenes with Kirk and Sulu during the trial where Sulu berates Kirk for trying to take all of the blame. Kirk thinks he's protecting the gang, Sulu thinks he's making them look like idiot minions.

Good book. Not as good as TWOK and not even in the same league as TSFS.

I know I said I wondered if McIntyre just got lucky with Sulu commanding Excelsior in TWOK, but I also wonder if the creative team of TUC take Sulu getting the Ex from her books? (Did that make sense?)

EDIT: See what happens when you type slow?

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

I'm sure she got Sulu's command promotion out of the script from TWOK and simply ran with it. In Takei's biography he noted that the scene was shot so poorly with Shatner barely above cardboard in the takes they did, even after George talked to Bill about how he felt Kirk should be really proud that a protege of his is getting Excelsior.

Since we're doing Sulucelsior quotes, what does TWOK the novel say about that scene in the travel pod as the gang were approaching the Big E?

Mark

 

[Praetor]

Okay, after some further consideration into the Sulu matter, I made a few revisions to the last paragraph of Chapter Six. I tried to keep it relatively ambiguous, but I might be persuaded to make things more overt.

See what you think:

Although the appointment of most of her senior staff was a rather straightforward matter, especially careful thought was put into the selection of Excelsior's new commanding officer. Excelsior was going to be at the forefront of executing Starfleet policy, so her Captain not only needed to be a skilled leader, but also a skilled diplomat. A number of prominent Starfleet Captains and Commanders shied away from the assignment for fear it would break their careers as it had that of Captain Styles. Starfleet soon found their perfect candidate in the form of Commander Hikaru Sulu. A veteran of Starfleet, Sulu had been Starfleet's preferred candidate to take command of Excelsior prior to his involvement in the Genesis incident and the subsequent (and largely political) appointment of Styles. Sulu was currently serving as helmsman aboard the Enterprise-A, and had long followed the Excelsior and Transwarp Development Projects with enthusiasm. When offered command of Excelsior, Sulu eagerly accepted and was granted a promotion to Captain. He also requested Lieutenant Commander Janice Rand, a friend and former Enterprise colleague, be transferred to Excelsior. She joined the bridge crew as communications officer. The Enterprise returned Sulu to Earth in early 2290, also seeing Excelsior off as she departed for her first mission. Time would tell whether Excelsior would ultimately prove worth the work and faith put in her.

 

[kitsune]

Although the appointment of most of her senior staff was a rather quick matter

quick -> straightforward

A number of prominent Starfleet Captains and Commanders shied away from the assignment for fear it would break their careers as it had Styles's.

Styles's -> Styles'

Sulu had been Starfleet's favored candidate

Starfleet's favored -> the preferred (to avoid repeating Starfleet in that sentence)

Sulu was currently in service as helmsman

in service as -> serving as

 

[JNG]

A number of prominent Starfleet Captains and Commanders shied away from the assignment for fear it would break their careers as it had Styles's.

Styles's -> Styles'

Strunk and White beg to differ: http://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk.html#1

 

[Praetor]

I had a similar suspicion, so I edited to avoid it either way.

 

[SicOne]

Looks good.

 

[sojourner]

Didn't the Praxis wave come from the starboard (right) side of the ship and not the port? Been to long since I have seen that movie.

 

[Praetor]

Thinking about it, I think visually it did come from starboard, but Valtane says it's coming from port when he gives a bearing.

 

[sojourner]

We can always retcon that as the negative getting flipped on that FX shot.

 

[Praetor]

That was what I was thinking, sojourner.

Well, here's the next chapter, and here comes some a heavy dose of healthy speculation:

Chapter Eight - Proliferation

Sulu and Excelsior saw the end of the twenty-third century together, and the dawn of the twenty-fourth. Talks between the Federation and the Klingons were making slow progress. It was a time of increasing peace and prosperity for the universe, and optimism was high. The Federation agreed to various concessions as part of their ongoing peace talks with the Klingons. Some were relatively significant, while others were more semantic. In part, Starfleet ageed to decommission all of their existing dreadnoughts and battleships, to disarm and repurpose several destroyers as scouts or light cruisers, and to also limit the number of heavy cruisers it kept in operation as the primary instrument of its exploration and defense programs. Starfleet was left with a decision that proved a relatively easy one. The inability to graft Excelsior-developed technology to the Constitution class refits had proven problematic not only with the Enterprise-A but with all members of the Constitution class, and each Excelsior was ton for ton a bigger and more powerful ship. The Admiralty finally agreed to decommission the Constitution class to replace them with Excelsior class ships. As part of compliance to the Klingons' stipulations, over seventy percent of these ships were scrapped, while almost all the others were placed in reserve fleets at various Federation surplus depots. By 1 January, 2300, there were fourteen more Excelsior class starships in service, and over a dozen more under construction, with fifty more under contract. Starfleet was continuing to expand and explore.

Within the next couple of decades, several variants based on the Excelsior class were pioneered in shipyards across the Federation, from the Mediterranean-class frigates to the Shelley class through-deck cruiser/transports to the Medusa-class experimental deep space cruisers. The Excelsior had pioneered a revolution in Starfleet technology and exploration, and was truly building a legacy to be admired. However, the same period of prosperity that allowed the Excelsior class to thrive would also bring about its successor at the forefront of Starfleet exploration and defense: the Ambassador class.

The Ambassador class had been a gleam in her designers' eyes since before the Excelsior left dry dock in 2284, and was quite simply the most logical decision of the expansion of the role of the heavy cruiser that the Excelsior had begun. A number of officers at the ASDB long saw the niche for a massive multi-mission vessel capable of an unprecedented, and indeed fantastic, level of independent long-range missions and extended deployment that they termed an Explorer type starship. Since the ship was technically of a new type, it was exempt from limitations imposed by the Klingon treaties. The ship that became the Ambassador class was long backburnered by Starfleet, given the ship's massive concept and seemingly unachievable technology specifications, particularly in the wake of the Excelsior class's near-failure, but in the era of peace that came about in the early twenty-fourth century, the concept was given more consideration. A number of Starfleet officials were concerned by Starfleet's new 'supership' idea, much as they had been when the Excelsior was under construction, but by 2310 the Ambassador design process was fully underway and making great strides. As outlined by the ASDB, U.S.S. Ambassador would not, as initially feared, replace the Excelsior, but rather augment her in missions of long-range exploration and defense, and ultimately relegate Excelsior to the role of fleet workhorse, much as Excelsior had done to the Constitution and Miranda classes. Ironically, the Great Experiment would thus become the fleet's tried and true ship of the line.

Meanwhile, the Excelsior and the members of her class were enjoying their prosperity. Excelsior served with distinction under the command of Sulu, participating in a number of extensive missions of exploration and scientific research in both the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Her crew became a family, and many of her officers grew reluctant to accept promotions or transfers to other vessels. The Excelsior had become a staple of the Federation fleet, dubbed "Old Reliable" by the officers who served on her. She endured many dangerous missions, sometimes seeming to escape only by luck. In reality, it was a measure of the skill of her crew and her commander. The Excelsior class stayed ahead of modern technology, thanks to the modularity and adaptability of their design. However, by 2325 Excelsior would be due for a major refit to keep her at the forefront of the fleet.

In 2311, the event Federation historians call the Tomed Incident occurred. That year, a prototype Federation starship malfunctioned catastrophically along the Romulan border, destroying the ship and severely damaging a large region of space. The suspicious Romulans, already feeling somewhat cornered by the fledgling peace between the Federation and the Klingons, believed the destruction of the ship to be proof that Starfleet was developing weapons for use against them and began a military deployment that quickly threatened to develop into full-scale war. The Enterprise-B was present at subsequent events that culminated in a new treaty between the Romulans and Federation, a ban on development of any Federation cloaking technology, and was coupled with a renewed period of Romulan isolation that would last for over fifty years.

By 2315, the design for the Ambassador was finalized, and construction well underway. In 2322 U.S.S. Ambassador, NX-10521 was launched and began her space worthiness testing and shakedown. Many Starfleet officers were astonished by the mere sight of Ambassador; at 526 meters long and 3,700,000 metric tons in mass, she was the biggest Starfleet ship ever built, as well as the most technologically advanced. Her flight test crew, however, were less impressed. While a marvel, the Ambassador was "nothing special," in the words of her flight test captain, and many felt she was not the design revolution that she promised to be. The design was nonetheless a success, and introduced a number of technological advances, including collimated phaser arrays rather than turret phaser banks, and was one of the first Starfleet ship classes to allow families aboard (although only in limited capacity). In historical perspective, the class was a mere stepping stone in starship design rather than a pioneering benchmark. With over one hundred Excelsior class starships in service, and more under construction, the Ambassador class was in no way endangering Excelsior's status as backbone of the fleet.

At the end of the same year, Hikaru Sulu was offered a promotion. At 78 years old, Sulu began seriously considering whether he wanted to spend the rest of his life on a starship. Sulu reluctanctly accepted promotion and reassignment. Ultimately, Sulu would retire from the Admiralty in 2326 and run for Federation President. Excelsior would continue without him, and Sulu would serve an impressive three terms in office. Sulu was succeeded in command of Excelsior by Captain Leonard James Akaar, who began his Starfleet career on Excelsior as chief of security under Sulu nearly thirty years earlier.

As Excelsior sat in drydock for a major modernization and refit in 2325, the Federation made official first contact with a civilization that would help shape its future for the next fifty years: the Cardassian Union. The Cardassians were a technologically advanced but economically poor species from the Alpha Quadrant who, at the time, sought to secure claims on multiple worlds rich in natural resources they desperately needed. Peace overtures from the Federation were met with suspicion and even contempt. Over the next twenty years, the lack of dialogue between the two governments would lead to a series of bloody, and some believe unnecessary, conflicts. A military buildup was present on both sides. For its part, Starfleet paced up its production of Excelsior and other starships by nearly thirty percent, increasing each production block of Excelsior class ships by twenty ships each.

In 2331, the Enterprise-B was lost in the line of duty though most of the crew survived. As a result, the under-construction Ambassador-class starship U.S.S. Alaska was redesignated U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701-C. The Alaska/Enterprise-C was to be the pioneer of a new sub-type of the Ambassador-class. Launched in early 2336, the Enterprise-C would ultimately play a crucial role in the history of Federation-Klingon relations, sacrificing herself to protect the Klingon colony of Narendra III from Romulan attack in 2344 and opening the door for a new era of communication between the Federation and Klingons that would eventually solidify their previously established uneasy peace into real friendship and cooperation. It is interesting to note that many Federation historians speculate that had the Narendra Incident and ensuing relationship development not occurred, once the Klingon economic recovery had been a success there would have been little incentive to maintain the delicate truce between the Klingon Empire and Federation, and could have led to a period of renewed hostilies and even eventual war.

No matter the historical signifcane of the incident, the loss of the Enterprise-C also cast a questionable light on the success of the Ambassador-class program. The Enterprise was, by all subsequent accounts, far more maneuverable than her Romulan counterparts. Klingon intelligence indicated the Enterprise was outnumbered six to one, but tactical simulation indicated the Enterprise should have been able to survive the assault. Starfleet review boards were unable to concretely assign blame, but this and other factors would later ensure Starfleet's previous determination that the Ambassador-class production run would be brief, and Enterprise-C would be among the last of her class constructed in favor of more reliable, relatively inexpensive ships such as the Excelsior class. By that time, Starfleet had already begun initial design work on the Galaxy class, a bigger and better replacement for the Ambassador class. Starfleet had already realized, however, that while they had been forced to decommission their dreadnoughts and battleships that a multi-role Explorer-type ship such as the Ambassador could easily double as a battleship, while still having something useful to do in peacetime.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Nice touch with the Alaska. Any justification in your mind as to why Starfleet christened an Ambassador class ship as the new Enterprise instead of another Excelsior, even if by then both would be far from brand-new designs? They must have been building new Excelsiors around the 2330s anyway.

There's another point to consider in Excelsior construction that may be noteworthy - we know that they seemed to be built in batches with NCC numbers close together. We know some ships were in the NCC-14xxx range, and a bunch in the NCC-42xxx range with the rest generally scattered below that. It might be worthwhile to point out other ships with distinguished or long-lived service records, for example the other early Excelsior-class ship we know - USS Repulse NCC-2544.

That is if you subscribe to the loosely chronological numbering of ships by NCC, of course.

Mark

 

[Tallguy]

"The Alaska/Enterprise-C was to be the pioneer of a new sub-type of the Ambassador-class." I'll assume that the old sub-type would be Mr. Probert's original design?

A nice history overall. I think the Ambassador / Galaxy history might be a little off-topic (although interesting).

I might also suggest throwing in a ship or two a) not named Enterprise b) not captained by Star Trek stars. Especially when you stress over and over how many of these ships there are and that they are the backbone of the fleet for decades to come.

It takes a lot to get me to read that much fan text. Even more to convince me that this might be "the way it happened." Very nicely done.

 

[Plecostomus]

"The Alaska/Enterprise-C was to be the pioneer of a new sub-type of the Ambassador-class." I'll assume that the old sub-type would be Mr. Probert's original design?

A nice history overall. I think the Ambassador / Galaxy history might be a little off-topic (although interesting).

I might also suggest throwing in a ship or two a) not named Enterprise b) not captained by Star Trek stars. Especially when you stress over and over how many of these ships there are and that they are the backbone of the fleet for decades to come.

It takes a lot to get me to read that much fan text. Even more to convince me that this might be "the way it happened." Very nicely done.

I second that, maybe a couple capsules on some of the more famous examples... We've seen at least two on TNG captained by "somewhat" famous captains... Figure those two and two more totally made up ones.

Give the green-light and I'll start the Conbabulator churning.

 

[Tomalak]

Interesting bit on the Ambassador. I like that you hint the name itself was intended to downplay the military aspects in the hopes that the Klingons wouldn't see the reality - that Starfleet was building a new line of massive battleships.

You say Enterprise-C was a "sub-type", presumably explaining the physical differences between the 'Yesterday's Enterprise' model and the revamped 'Data's Day' version. Everyone else seems to go with Enterprise-C being the original type, and the later model being the refitted ships. Unless I'm misreading that bit.

On the "other ships" plea, how about some vessels not named after American/British naval ships, something of which Trek writers have always been guilty. I know why they do it, but Starfleet has always been too dominated by Earth, and particularly north Atlantic culture to be a realistic multi-world force. Even the all-Vulcan ship was called USS Intrepid!

Ed - though I've just remembered the Vucan ship in DS9's baseball episode with a suitably Vulcan name. Full marks there.

A suited-up space tech put the finishing touches on the "A," turned, saw the shuttlecraft, waved jauntily, and powered away on travel jets.

That's awesome on so many levels.

Firstly, "space tech" needs to be used more often with regards to Star Trek engineers - how about it, Praetor?

Secondly, I don't think I've ever seen anything Trek-related being described as "jaunty".

Thirdly, "travel jets". Like "space tech", it's straight out of the fifties. I think I've got this book in a box somewhere, along with the frankly mind-bogglingly strange TMP novelisation, and on this evidence, it's worth fishing it out.

 

[Birdog]

This is some excellent work.

 

[Praetor]

Nice touch with the Alaska. Any justification in your mind as to why Starfleet christened an Ambassador class ship as the new Enterprise instead of another Excelsior, even if by then both would be far from brand-new designs? They must have been building new Excelsiors around the 2330s anyway.

Well, mostly because it's the 'biggest and best' by this point, even if it's not literally replacing the heavy cruiser per se. It might also be a way of trying to rally conservative elements in Starfleet who are fans of the legacy around the new design.

There's another point to consider in Excelsior construction that may be noteworthy - we know that they seemed to be built in batches with NCC numbers close together. We know some ships were in the NCC-14xxx range, and a bunch in the NCC-42xxx range with the rest generally scattered below that. It might be worthwhile to point out other ships with distinguished or long-lived service records, for example the other early Excelsior-class ship we know - USS Repulse NCC-2544.

A good suggestion...

That is if you subscribe to the loosely chronological numbering of ships by NCC, of course.

For the most part, yes.

"The Alaska/Enterprise-C was to be the pioneer of a new sub-type of the Ambassador-class." I'll assume that the old sub-type would be Mr. Probert's original design?

Aye, sir. I was thinking when writing it that perhaps the Ambassador and one or two others would have actually been built and looked like that.

A nice history overall. I think the Ambassador / Galaxy history might be a little off-topic (although interesting).

You'r probably right. At first, I very much downplayed their mention, but their introduction seemed to affect the mission roles that the Excelsior class was later sent on - stealing away some of the more prime exploratory and diplomatic missions. So I felt it was worth a mention.

I might also suggest throwing in a ship or two a) not named Enterprise b) not captained by Star Trek stars. Especially when you stress over and over how many of these ships there are and that they are the backbone of the fleet for decades to come.

A very good idea, which gels nicely with Mark's suggestion of mentioning the Repulse.

It takes a lot to get me to read that much fan text. Even more to convince me that this might be "the way it happened." Very nicely done.

Thank you very much! I feel honored indeed.

I second that, maybe a couple capsules on some of the more famous examples... We've seen at least two on TNG captained by "somewhat" famous captains... Figure those two and two more totally made up ones.

Give the green-light and I'll start the Conbabulator churning.

Make it so, Number One.

Interesting bit on the Ambassador. I like that you hint the name itself was intended to downplay the military aspects in the hopes that the Klingons wouldn't see the reality - that Starfleet was building a new line of massive battleships.

I'm glad you noticed that bit.

You say Enterprise-C was a "sub-type", presumably explaining the physical differences between the 'Yesterday's Enterprise' model and the revamped 'Data's Day' version. Everyone else seems to go with Enterprise-C being the original type, and the later model being the refitted ships. Unless I'm misreading that bit.

Well, like I said, it was partly as a reference to Mr. Probert's original design, and partly to suggest that the revamped version from Data's day wasn't necessarily a refit, perhaps just another sub-type.

On the "other ships" plea, how about some vessels not named after American/British naval ships, something of which Trek writers have always been guilty. I know why they do it, but Starfleet has always been too dominated by Earth, and particularly north Atlantic culture to be a realistic multi-world force. Even the all-Vulcan ship was called USS Intrepid!

Ed - though I've just remembered the Vucan ship in DS9's baseball episode with a suitably Vulcan name. Full marks there.

Indeed. Perhaps I will reference the Repulse and perhaps a ship of Andorian name? U.S.S. Shran? U.S.S. Thelev? (There was also a U.S.S. Sarek and a U.S.S. Sitak, both named after Vulcans, on DS9 FWIW.) This thing does seem to need a big more scope than it has.

A suited-up space tech put the finishing touches on the "A," turned, saw the shuttlecraft, waved jauntily, and powered away on travel jets.

That's awesome on so many levels.

Firstly, "space tech" needs to be used more often with regards to Star Trek engineers - how about it, Praetor?

Secondly, I don't think I've ever seen anything Trek-related being described as "jaunty".

Thirdly, "travel jets". Like "space tech", it's straight out of the fifties. I think I've got this book in a box somewhere, along with the frankly mind-bogglingly strange TMP novelisation, and on this evidence, it's worth fishing it out.

Hm, I'm sure I can work in 'space tech.' Nostalgia is definitely a big part of this for me. Have I mentioned that this all started after I read a book about the history of the Essex class aircraft carrier? It was where I got the approach from, although it was far more detailed, being based on a real-world craft and all. I suppose I could get super-duper detailed if I really wanted to start writing fictional stuff. I need to find the name of that book. It's a must read for those interested.

 

[Tallguy]

You'r probably right. At first, I very much downplayed their mention, but their introduction seemed to affect the mission roles that the Excelsior class was later sent on - stealing away some of the more prime exploratory and diplomatic missions. So I felt it was worth a mention.

Don't get me wrong, I very much agree with documenting how the Ambassador affected the Excelsior class. I'm just not sure I'd go much more into the Ambassador history past that. Certainly not how the Galaxy affected the Ambassador. (Gotta save something for the next book!) But did the Galaxy affect the Excelsior class? - they are contemporaries. Heck, the Exies share space with the Sovereigns! But I notice you're not done yet either.