Shadowstrike

[BrotherBenny]

In the early days of the Dominion War, Starfleet Tactical were given permission to build what would be a mobile weapons platform. The USS Shadowstrike, NX-77000, was to be the largest starship ever built with 50 decks; four shuttlebays, each housing five runabouts and ten type-11 shuttlecraft; three independent warp cores and six warp nacelles. It was supposed to have an operational life of 25 years without ever needing to return to starbase for repair or resupply.

Unfortunately, as the war progressed, and shortages become apparent, the Shadowstrike was mothballed at 70% completion. Over the next three years repeated attempts were made to complete the vessel in accordance with the new exploration-first mantra of the Federation. Some of the armaments were removed and the weapons-storage rooms were converted to crew quarters and science labs. The Shadowstrike was redesignated a long-range, long-term-mission science vessel though it was not renamed.

Before the Shadowstrike could be launched on a shakedown cruise the Borg invaded from the Azure Nebula, leaving the Federation with more important matters on its mind. However, in the wake of the Borg invasion, Starfleet petitioned the Federation Council for adequate civilian and Starfleet personnel to man the vessel on a long-term search for new habitable planets. The starship would spend as much time as necessary making a detailed scan and search of the planet(s) in question, determining their suitability for colonisation.

The Federation Council agreed and the ship was filled to near capacity with colonists, civilian and Starfleet scientists in all fields and a full Starfleet crew. Rechristened the USS Pioneer, the starship was launched just six months after the Borg invasion toward the Megara Expanse, a barely-explored region of space explored more than a century earlier.


Thoughts?

 

[mirandafave]

Oh, intriguing. I presume this continues on from the Destiny novels. I haven't read them but know of what happens. An interesting premise and the turning of a militaristic invention into a more scientific bent. And seemingly a worthy cause to boot.

So lots of different groups and species undergoing this quest for a new home or a specific colony/planet/species?
What other vessels will go woth it?
What kind of crew or command staff will it have? Highest CO - are they a captain or Admiral? Does a scientific department or diplomatic team/entourage hold more sway?
Any ideas who your characters are going to be?

I guess, a number of questions I'd like answered and like to read about in the story - never mind whatever twists you plan for the ride. Hee hee

 

[BrotherBenny]

Oh, intriguing. I presume this continues on from the Destiny novels. I haven't read them but know of what happens. An interesting premise and the turning of a militaristic invention into a more scientific bent. And seemingly a worthy cause to boot.

Thanks, I've been working a kind of plan for this for a long time.

So lots of different groups and species undergoing this quest for a new home or a specific colony/planet/species?
What other vessels will go with it?

This is a search for a home for a multitude of species. These colonists are from many worlds who need a new home and do not want to live too close to the core worlds while still maintaining their status as Federation citizens.

There will not be any other ships of the line going with the Pioneer. None can be spared, and the Pioneer is designed to be on its own for quarter of a century. However, there will be eight colony transports each holding approximately 6,000 colonists. The colony ships will be disassembled to make the initial colony and the Pioneer will help set up an infrastructure before moving on to the next planet in the system or the next system.

What kind of crew or command staff will it have? Highest CO - are they a captain or Admiral? Does a scientific department or diplomatic team/entourage hold more sway?

I don't think Starfleet can spare any admirals so it will be a Captain on the verge of retirement in command in command of the Pioneer. However, there will be a full ambassadorial/diplomatic detachment on board. Not only to deal with alien species they'll probably come across, but also to deal with colonial councils once they have been set up on various planets. Think of the Pioneer as a one-stop-shop for all a sector's needs for 25 years, but still in regular contact with Starfleet Command.

Any ideas who your characters are going to be?

I guess, a number of questions I'd like answered and like to read about in the story - never mind whatever twists you plan for the ride. Hee hee

I've no idea who the characters are yet, but they will be as great an alien mix of characters as I can put together. The tension of living in close quarters for months before they reach the Megaran Expanse will be enough drama for perhaps half a story and then finding the first planet on which to begin their search which throws up unexpected events.

This will be an occasional posting since I still need to develop everything and at least have an idea of what the ship looks like. Then I need to work out the basics of the plot and get writing. But since my novel and the UT series comes first, it will probably be some time before I post anything.

Keep your thoughts and questions coming.

 

[mirandafave]

This is a search for a home for a multitude of species. These colonists are from many worlds who need a new home and do not want to live too close to the core worlds while still maintaining their status as Federation citizens.

Ah so there might be tension as to who gets what planet and resources - racial tensions and possible world status pre-Borg invasion parallel to class rivalries. For example a rich resource planet pre-Borg invasion might previously have had more clout - now fighting to maintain its perceived status. Previous border world, lowly planets see everyone as in the same boat and no one gets to push their agenda ahead of anyone. Obviously causing antagonism.

Also there might be a move then to break away from Federation control - break out on their own, especially if in the search for a new home meant abandoning possible colony choices because it might break Federation policies - for example the Prime Directive.

I've no idea who the characters are yet, but they will be as great an alien mix of characters as I can put together. The tension of living in close quarters for months before they reach the Megaran Expanse will be enough drama for perhaps half a story and then finding the first planet on which to begin their search which throws up unexpected events.

Not to mention the desire to abandon everything the Federation stands for seeing it as possibly letting them down in light of the Borg threat. So living in close quarters could cause tensions with colonists and Starfleet personnel.

This might even serve out the first part of a story as the journey itself could throw up quite a few issues to contend with.

There will not be any other ships of the line going with the Pioneer. None can be spared, and the Pioneer is designed to be on its own for quarter of a century. However, there will be eight colony transports each holding approximately 6,000 colonists.

I think the size of the Shadowstrike might actually be a feature to explore in that other than going the living in close quarters and in each other's pockets, the massive size could mean you go the vast and lonesome angle. It's a point I've heard raised about the new Stargate series that the large ship could explore the concept of being aboard a massive ship with possible secrets to hold of its own never mind the mission.

Opportunity for stowaways of some sort of undesirable kind or contentious to have stowed away too. Might cause some problems.

The colony ships will be disassembled to make the initial colony and the Pioneer will help set up an infrastructure before moving on to the next planet in the system or the next system.

Sounds like a cool concept. I'd love that idea to be fleshed out in the story - an actual process of colony building and taking time before moving on - it can't be like a starship drop off ala Enterprise D in TNG.

This in itself could give an opportunity to explore the fights and dramas to create a planetary government and make use of your diplomacy team/council. And there might be a conflict between the captain and them and the colony and the colonists not yet settled.

I don't think Starfleet can spare any admirals so it will be a Captain on the verge of retirement in command in command of the Pioneer. However, there will be a full ambassadorial/diplomatic detachment on board. Not only to deal with alien species they'll probably come across, but also to deal with colonial councils once they have been set up on various planets. Think of the Pioneer as a one-stop-shop for all a sector's needs for 25 years, but still in regular contact with Starfleet Command.

Makes sense and good points. Do please continue to flesh out the idea. I think it is very promising with a lot of scope for many various explorations of a Trek and human nature.

 

[BrotherBenny]

The 50,000 colonists are all from worlds which are no longer habitable.

I'm changing the location since the Megara Expanse is too close to Tholian space. Instead the Pioneer will be going to the Pleiades Cluster, near the Taurus Dark Cloud, an area almost completely unexplored.

The tension in the first story (which I intend to be novel length, approx 100k words) will come from getting used to the ship which still has some bugs to work out, issues with the colony ships as to who gets the planets first, whether the strict guidelines the Federation Council and Starfleet Command set in place could be bent if necessary, alien races who might not want the Federation in their backyard after bringing the Borg so close to them, and the Starfleet crew on whether they really want to be out there for 25 years. There will also be plot-lines from the points of view of various colonists on different ships.

The Pioneer has an authorised Starfleet training academy annex on board for 500 cadets in addition to the 6000-strong crew. The Pioneer is basically a giant aircraft carrier/city in space with gardens, gymnasia, sports facilities, holodecks, etc. And of course stuff still goes wrong.

I envision the ship to look a little like the Prometheus-class, but with a four-hull design. A large 50-deck approximately-pyramid-shaped primary hull is connected to three rounded 15-deck engineering hulls, each of which has a new horizontal warp core design and two nacelles, (in horizontal formation). The upper engineering hull has the nacelles above it, the middle one has the nacelles at its equator and the lower hull has the nacelles below it.

The primary hull has two large deflector dishes, one dorsal and one ventral. The ship has a total of ten torpedo launchers. Six aft (two on each hull) and four on the primary hull (two dorsal and two ventral). There are phaser strips across the entire ship, giving it a full 360 degree firing solution.

There are four shuttlebays on the ship, one on the upper engineering hull and one on the lower, and two on the primary hull, one dorsal and one ventral. Each shuttlebay holds five Danube-class runabouts, ten type-11 shuttlecraft and one type-12 (Delta Flyer) shuttlecraft.

The bridge is located on deck twenty-three, well within the ship and therefore not a target in battle. There are three battle bridges, each located in one of the engineering hulls, which can detach from the main ship. [This is for emergency use only. The hull will not be able to reattach afterwards except in spacedock. The primary hull has a deactivated warp core and four retractable nacelles for maximum redundancy if the ship is catastrophically damaged and all three engineering hulls must detach].

 

[BrotherBenny]

The eight colony ships accompanying the Pioneer were named for the stars of the Pleiades Cluster: Sterope, Merope, Electra, Maia, Taygete, Celaeno, Atlas and Pleione.

The twenty runabouts are named for Earth rivers: Nile, Amazon, Mississippi, Missouri, Yenisei, Angara, Selenga, Irtysh, Congo, Chambeshi, Amur, Argun, Lena, Niger, Purus, Madeira, Indus, Syr Darya, Naryn and Salween. (If any are destroyed, the Pioneer has the capability to manufacture more if necessary).

The forty type-11 shuttlecraft are named for African countries: Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Cameroon, Gabon, São Tomé, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone

The four type-12 (Delta Flyer) shuttlecraft are named for dome-shaped mountains on Mars: Apollinaris, Ceraunius, Mariotis and Hecates.

 

[mirandafave]

Well you certainly seem to have a vision of what the ship looks like and the deployment of vessels. All of which should help to steer this towards some good story grounds.

And with the cadet cadre along too there's even more room for character developments and fun antics.

 

[KobayashiMaru13]

well, mirandafave pretty much summed up anything i would have said, so instead of repeating what has been said before, i'll instead say this: good luck, and i cant wait to read it!