Guide:Odyssey

Background: Continuing Mission

Written by "Jester" David Gibson for Continuing Mission fan site.

Overview: By the end of the 24th Century, Star Fleet’s exploratory and diplomatic ships had begun to show their age: the Galaxy-class was nearing its fiftieth year of service, while the Sovereign-class was thirty years old. With the start of a new century, the Star Fleet Corp of Engineers set to work designing the next generation of starships, fully incorporating new technologies such as quantum slipstream drive, intraship transporter networks, and ship-wide holo-emmiters. The Odyssey-class was the largest ship ever constructed by Star Fleet; designed as an explorer and a dreadnought, these massive vessels were built to function for years in deep space and engage in prolonged exploratory missions in distant reaches of the galaxy. Launched into service in 2381, the class immediately proved its combat prowess when tensions briefly flared up between the Dominion and Federation. Chief among Odyssey-class starships was the newly launched flagship of the Federation: the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-F).

Note: This clearly needs to be rewritten from a late 24th century perspective, which will make the mentioned classes less aged.

Capabilities: At 1,062 meters long, the massive Odyssey-class was almost 400 meters longer than the Sovereign, 125 meters wider, and 60 meters taller. Its cavernous bridge resembled the operations center of a space station, with numerous mission specific and scientific stations. At the rear of the bridge was a transporter pad, which was tied into the ship’s transporter network and possessed an independent power supply; Odyssey ships retained a turbo lift system, but as the ship was over a kilometer long, travel times between sections could be problematic in emergencies.

As a long-range exploration vessel, the internal systems of the class were designed to be modular and easily adapted for a wide variety of missions; ample space was provided for recreation, with numerous holodecks, multiple lounges, and several fitness centers. Continuing the trend set by the Prometheus-class, Odyssey ships came equipped with holo-emiters on all decks. While limitations of computer memory restricted the number of interactive virtually intelligent holograms that could be generated at once, the crew could freely generate holograms of landscapes and scenery. Photonic crew members could be generated as needed, with emergency security and engineering holograms supporting biological crew and minimizing loss of life. In order to prevent accidental sentience, these photonic crew had deliberate memory blocks to limit growth.

The Odyssey-class retained the classical design of Star Fleet cruisers, with an ovoid primary hull and second engineering subsection attached to the warp nacelles by slender pylons. The primary hull of the Odyssey was connected to the secondary hull with two curved necks that arced along the secondary hull. Like the Galaxy and Sovereign classes, the “chevron” hull of the Odyssey was able to separate from the secondary star drive hull, with a triangular section remaining behind, housing the battle bridge.

Odyssey ships also possessed a secondary patrol craft docked to the aft section of the engineering hull, an Aquarius-class light escort, which was often a large captain’s yacht, but could be equipped to serve as a destroyer or landing craft.

With 45 decks, the ship spaciously held its 2,500 crew, however its high levels of automation enable to ship to be mission-ready with a third that number, or even fewer if holograms are employed.