Guide:2360-2370 - Coming Of Age
2360-2370 - Coming Of Age
The years following the Cardassian war were crucial in the history of the Federation. The core worlds had survived the border conflicts unscathed, and the prosperity of Earth radiated to the nearby homeworlds more brightly than ever. The exploration drive had brought many deep-Alpha cultures to contact with the UFP, and trade and cultural exchange benefited both sides. But one group of people was unimpressed by the achievements of the Federation and its Starfleet. The colonists of the final frontier felt betrayed by Starfleet, abandoned by Earth, and sold out by the negotiators of the Cardassian cease-fire which showed no signs of solidifying into a lasting peace. Perhaps just was their estimate that their efforts were grossly undervalued, and that there was a deep rift about 150-200 ly from Earth, dividing the UFP into the wealthy core and the pariahs of the border.
Starfleet’s efforts at the time were twofold: to further develop the apparently successful doctrine of mobile defenses, so as to be able to handle the numerous low-intensity conflicts that resulted from the UFP clashing with expansionist local powers like the Talarians and the Tzenkethi and, due to the ever-increasing size of the UFP, involved extreme interstellar distances and major logistic problems; and to establish an infrastructure of trade and co-operation between the core worlds and the new partnership worlds in deep Alpha. Borders to the Klingon and Romulan empires were peaceful, even though Starfleet had withdrawn major forces from these areas to support the Cardassian war efforts. Thus, the shipbuilding programs concentrated on building frigates and light cruisers for local law enforcement, transports for trade and colony support, and surveyors and scouts for exploration. Also, the huge Nebula class explorer vessels were followed by an even larger design called the Galaxy class.
With the evaluation, invitation and sometime admission of numerous new cultures to the UFP, the area of space Starfleet had to patrol to be able to trigger the mobile defenses was rapidly increasing. The existing frigate and scout fleets provided barely enough vessels for this purpose, and there was discussion of stepping up the scout program considerably. Resources for this did exist, despite the expensive large explorer programs, since replicator economy was now in full swing and scarcity of material a thing of the past. Thus, the 2360s mainly saw Starfleet concentrating on greatly extended production of the successful yet numerically weak 2350s designs, with surprisingly few new lineages introduced.
The network of starbases was extended by the establishing of ten major fleet facilities of the new superheavy Class VI design (essentially an enlarged version of the historic Earth Spacedock), and as many as two hundred small stations of the proven towable Class II and III designs. Cardassian border areas were sown with Class IV bases to support frigate operations and intelligence gathering.
The colonists would have more appreciated battleships or heavy cruisers for protection against Cardassian harassing - and against the occasional attacks by new and threatening space-pirate adversaries only known by the name Ferengi. No human had survived to tell of an actual close contact with these raiders, although secondhand information was available: Yridian informants told the Ferengi would eat their opponents alive if negotiations were attempted, and a report by a Klingon privateer, supported by a trophy ring of huge ears, seemed to confirm the enormous size and physical strength of the new adversaries. But Starfleet refused military build-up at the Cardassian frontier, citing both operational and political constraints. In fact, the Union was at one point asked to assist in controlling the Ferengi and Breen threats, highlighting the complexity of the political scene. Nobody seriously thought this alliance between the former enemies would reach even the solidity of the uneasy UFP-Klingon partnership, however.
In addition to the brewing of political trouble, the groundwork for several major technological innovations was laid in this period. Subspace phasing phenomena were studied, eventually leading to advances in cloaking technology and shielding. Holographic entertainment technology produced a viable multipurpose tool for research and training as well. Replicators were perfected to the degree that neural tissue could be synthesized - theoretically, instant replication could now replace time-consuming biological cloning processes, although major ethical problems were foreseen. And the ever-elusive transwarp development continued.
2360-2370 - The Ships
- Sequoia class medium transports (2360- )
- California class light support cruiser (2361- )
- Andromeda class heavy scouts (2362- )
- El Dorado class strike carrier (2364- )
- Sovereign class heavy cruisers (2367- )
- Aegian class frigates (2369- )
- Intrepid class light cruisers (2369- )
- Updated to April/May 2016 version