Guide:Taholsin

Taholsin
Class Overview
Category	Destroyer
Operational	2148 - 2172
Constructed	103
Dimensions
Length	131.2 m
Beam	76.0 m
Height	22.0 m
Mass	85,200 tons
Performance
Cruise Speed	w 3
Max Speed	w 5.4
Endurance	6 months
Complement
Officers	3
Enlisted	22
Tactical Systems
Beam Weapons	2x phased particle beam emitters (2.0 GW) (wingtip mounts)
Shields	1-layer graviton/subspace globular forcefield Navigational deflector (ventral midhull) Auxiliary navigational deflector (ventral bow)
Auxiliary Craft	2x work pods
Historical
Ships of Note	USS xxxx (AGC-8-44)
Canonicity
Design	own
Name	FASA
History	FASA

The final element in the propulsive modernization of the Andorian Imperial Guard fleet was a fighting vessel for attrition purposes, a destroyer about twice the size of the Tanathooef frigates. Reliant on the same warp engine that propelled the Kumari battle cruiser, even if carrying shortened sets of coils and a much humbler powerplant, and featuring shared hull components and armaments, the Taholsin was built only partially out of a perceived strategic need; mostly, it was built because it could.

The apparently inevitable large scale war between Vulcania and Andoria was already well catered for in terms of cruisers and their escorts, and the AIG could press civilian freighters to service in sufficient numbers to support the conquest of Vulcan colonial planets and satellites, perhaps even an invasion of the hated Vulcan homeworld itself. Yet the war would need its heroic casualties, and those should not include the expensive battle cruisers. The Empire was gambling big time, constructing a masterpiece of a war plan before even knowing the true dimensions of the playing board or the pawns of the opponent: the very hardware being built for the plan was a game strategy unto itself. The Kumari was designed with modularity in mind, so that once the dockyards had produced the required number of battle cruisers, they could smoothly shift to producing destroyers out of much the same components.

A formation of Taholsin destroyers maneuvers near Indarax, home to ultraconservative Andorian colonists and, not coincidentally, the celebrated martial arts training hub of all Andoria. After the formal withdrawal of Andoria from the Romulan conflict in early 2156, Earth attempted direct talks with Indarax; this image is in fact from the mission of USS Fomalhaut to carry Admiral Palmieri to such discussions. While little came of the talks, the UFP Starfleet currently maintains a liaison and training center on the planet.

The battle cruisers had featured impulse-powered sub-hulls for planetary assault – potentially quite useful in attacks against Vulcan colonial holdings where speed and surprise would be key to victory, and the total volume of troops a secondary concern, never mind sustainable logistics. Each 94 m hull would now form the main body of a destroyer, with a warp coil nacelle grafted above and below the aft end and a new m/am reactor installed forward of the original fusion system. Lateral wings would support the heavy phase gun armament.

The Taholsin destroyers had a typically minimal crew of 25, and omitted all extraneous gear such as multipurpose auxiliary craft, transporters or drone deployment systems. This left room for up-to-date shield generators and fuel and consumables reserves that helped boost the endurance of the vessels. A strictly defensive role in protection of the thirteen Andorian colonies was intended, though, not a deep space one – even though few on Andor believed Vulcans capable of an offensive as audacious as the one planned against Vulcanian outer holdings. Old Zheusal battle cruisers would also remain in reserve at the colonies, just in case.

The monomaniacal focus of the Andorians on their plan of aggression might have placed them at a strategic disadvantage. There was nary a thought spared for protecting shipping lanes, and the gathering of intelligence was at the whim of Guard units monopolizing deep space combat vessels. In retrospect, though, the fleet constructed by the Empire represented the perfect balance for the needs of the late 2150s and early 2160s: high speed cruisers were Andor’s fitting contribution to the final year of the Romulan War and to the UFP Starfleet, while a wholly separate rear guard could be dedicated to the local needs of the Andorian realm in both situations.

Starfleet nevertheless obtained a wing of Taholsins for defending the Romulan Neutral Zone. These vessels were retired in 2172 when Andor committed to new warp propulsion technology; no replacement was ever deployed, as Starfleet interest in the quiet border quickly waned. On the other hand, the Taholsins remained in production for eighteen years, and supported the self-defenses of the AIG through years of transition to the use of more or less commonalized hardware.

Note

• While this destroyer was referenced in the FASA Star Trek Role Playing Game game canon, it's design is kitbashed from parts of the Kumarin class battle cruiser by Timo and (independently) myself.

• I removed a part of the sentence in the final paragraph, about the use of the Taholsins as being non-typical ("...a rare non-Guard Andorian contribution to the interstellar defense effort."), as it doesn't properly reflect the role of the Andorians in creating the Defense Command.

Gallery

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  Taholsin (dorsal)

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• Appendix A: Of Ship Statistics
• Appendix B: Glossary
• Appendix C: Starfleet Organization - General Outline
• Appendix D: Abbreviations From Outside