[X] Plan Multi-Role Diplomatic Flagship
-[X] Enhanced Medical Facilities. More empty beds, drug synthesis, isolation rooms. Everything an enterprising medical officer needs to put down the latest terrifying plague from the Deep Black.
-[X] Secondary Computer Core. When the laboratories need more computer time, sometimes the answer is to give them a whole new computer.
-[X] Conference Areas. Having a dedicated section for diplomatic affairs will allow the ship to host major conferences and accommodate large groups. Quarters included.
-[X] Science Section. Laboratories, sample storage, and experimental areas for the curious mind. Astrometrics, biosciences, geology, stellar cartography, archeology-the list goes on.
-[X] Cultural Exchange Center: a large area for demonstrating the Federation's diversity and hosting cultural events. (Diplomatic/Comfort)
*Soon after the weapon catches were opened only to find that security replaced them with wiffle bats. This did not stop the brawl from spilling out and reaching star fleet academy. In the aftermath it was discovered The Klingon ambassador played the impromptu bookie for the various forgin diplomatic staff who witnessed the event and decided to gambel on it over their drinks of choice. The Battle of the wiffle bats would go down in starfleet history... much to the ire of the Admiralty. *
The petition to merge the Starfleet Design Bureau with the Klingon Design Bureau was, unfortunately, rejected despite the growing similarities between the two organisations.
[x] Plan: Diplomatic Comfort and Scientific Prowess
-[X] Enhanced Medical Facilities. More empty beds, drug synthesis, isolation rooms. Everything an enterprising medical officer needs to put down the latest terrifying plague from the Deep Black.
-[X] Recreational Areas. They aren't just places to socialise and have a drink - pick up painting, clay sculpting, put on a violin concert or a poetry recital. Enrich yourself.
-[X] Conference Areas. Having a dedicated section for diplomatic affairs will allow the ship to host major conferences and accommodate large groups. Quarters included.
-[X] Science Section. Laboratories, sample storage, and experimental areas for the curious mind. Astrometrics, biosciences, geology, stellar cartography, archeology-the list goes on.
-[X] Cetacean Ops: The aquatic members of the Federation should be able to freely contribute their skills. For science!
There is a great deal of hemming and hawing over what to install as standard, but eventually some compromise is reached. With the well-being of the crew in mind on long voyages you make a point to install the latest medical equipment and facilities to ensure their health, as well as a number of extra recreational spaces for the off-shifts. You then shift to non-crew accommodations and make sure to add a suite of officer-level quarters with attached private areas for meetings by small groups, then add conference areas to allow for varied presentations and discussion spaces. Last but not least are the scientific spaces, which cover a variety of fields and hopefully give the Ambassador everything it needs to tackle problems or just investigate what it finds out there in deep space.
The addition of a dedicated space for Cetaceans and wholy aquatic Federation members is somewhat controversial, but Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations shouldn't be held back by different living conditions. It's new ideas and a new melding of cultures that allows the Federation to thrive, after all, and the Ambassador already has its share of new ideas going into its very construction. As the ship nears completion the time rapidly approaches to put all the prototype systems to their paces, and first among these is the highly experimental deflector system.
Breaths are held as the main deflector powers up and the warp transfer conduit kicks into full gear. The glow intensifies behind the protective casing over the dish, the white external paint of its recessed nook cast with a blue tinge. The power holds and nothing explodes, the status board reading all systems optimal. With a great sigh of relief, representatives turn to each other and shake hands with varying degrees of effusiveness. You yourself are just relieved that it functions as promised.
The Deflector Dish functions acceptably in standard mode and is also capable of handling direct warp power transfer. The Ambassador can successfully hit Warp 9.
You wish the same could be said for the nacelles. This is strike two from Yoyodyne on untested promises, though you remind yourself not to hold it against them. They are after all dealing with the most temperamental and complicated components of the ship. Nonetheless a testing failure in the nacelles has quenched the warp coils and ruined them on the spot, though fortunately it didn't threaten to blow the entire ship like it did on the Renaissance. You spend the next couple of months going over the incident with a fine-tooth comb and eventually pin the problem on an internal design defect which necessitates a full rebuild of the coil assembly.
The nacelles set back production due to testing failures. Updated guidelines and system tolerances resolve the problem but require priority monitoring during operation and regular maintenance during standard use.
Fortunately the impulse engines prove more amenable to behaving properly. Somewhat. There is a persistent performance shortfall from predicted levels that causes more than a few retests and engine tweaks; it is eventually determined that the reduced output is inherent to the design. Fortunately the extra impulse engine makes up for the reduction and then some, although as a result of having to compensate for the main thruster you don't quite get the agility you had hoped for.
The Avidyne Type-7 functions but at a lower power level than anticipated. The Type-5 secondary thruster has compensated for the impulse reduction.
The next test is the tactical systems. The phasers are easy enough - cycling power through the entire system in sequence shows no difficulties with emitter load. You make note of the slower firing speed but by pure mathematics the longer strips come out on top. Apparently Tactical is hoping that the Type-10, which is currently still in the theoretical stages, will be able to rapid-fire phasers from multiple points on the same array. The rapid-fire torpedoes on the other hand seem to have trouble hitting the target, with the problem soon traced back to the Ambassador's higher-capacity power system causing increased launch velocities. With a minor correction to the guidance software the dummy casings are crossing the distance to the range targets substantially faster than anticipated. An unpleasant surprise for anyone on the receiving end, to be sure.
The phasers operate nominally with no deviation from projected results. The rapid-fire torpedoes perform above expectations.
With all the prototype testing resolved, it comes to the final assessment. The new nacelles put a bit of a crimp in things, but not beyond the point of being reasonable. Some ship classes are a little temperamental, and the Ambassador is no exception. As for the production requirements, the deadpan "really?" you got from the planetside division of Utopia Planitia tells a tale all its own. It might be a good idea to avoid publicly praising the Ambassador Project in any public spaces on Martian soil, let's put it that way. But for Starfleet Command and the Federation Council, you hope the results will speak for themselves.
The only thing remaining is for the supervisor to sign off on the design and issue a recommendation to the brass.
Project Ambassador Mission Certification
The Ambassador design specification requires it be capable of long-range exploration and independent scientific investigation. It must be able to provide diplomatic amenities and appropriate quarters for dignitaries. It will ideally be capable of engaging on equal terms the Klingon Vor'cha class.
It is the judgement of this report that the Ambassador meets these requirements. Details follow.
The Ambassador has a long operational range at a cruise of Warp 7 with a maximum speed of Warp 9. As such the Ambassador is certified to operate two years from the nearest refuelling depot at standard cruise. Crew lodgings are noted to be comfortable and recreational spaces allocated. Standard complement of 900 crew.
The Ambassador is equipped with a Type-6 shield matrix, five Type-9 phaser strips, and a rapid-fire torpedo launcher fore and aft. Its weapon systems are cutting-edge and engage favourably with simulations of the Klingon Vor'cha. In friendly combat tests the Ambassador is highly effective at mission-killing starships in the light cruiser range and below with its photon launchers.
The Ambassador is equipped with an Avidyne Type-7 impulse thruster and a secondary Type-5, both mounted on the midline for propulsion. She demonstrates slightly improved manoeuvrability for her mass.
The Ambassador is equipped with a standard navigational array and experimental deflector system. Her isolinear computer system is capable of rapid computation and data storage, supported by a number of scientific laboratories with equipment suited to the analysis of anomalies and samples across multiple fields. Facilities for advanced navigational crew and aquatic research are available.
The Ambassador is equipped with an aft shuttlebay, managing a total of six Type-5 shuttlecraft. This increased capability makes this ship well-suited to engaging with situations where transporters are unreliable. The design has two large cargo bays, split between the central saucer and engineering section that are equipped with a cargo transporter and facilities for storage of oversize and hazardous containers. The Ambassador is therefore certified to carry out medium to high-capacity bulk cargo deliveries.
The Ambassador has advanced medical facilities aboard and can be used as a hospital ship in times of emergency. It is certified to analyse and treat level-2 biohazards on board. Six transporter rooms are capable of transporting 72 persons per minute in optimal conditions.
The Ambassador is equipped with diplomatic facilities purpose-designed for housing and interacting with representatives of foreign governments. Included are three conference rooms, a holoprojector-equipped auditorium, and a social lounge in the aft saucer.
In concordance with the findings of this review and in consultation with Starfleet Command, Supervisor Utopia Planitia authorises one (1) production run of six vessels, further orders to be reviewed after a performance analysis in five years.
PS: Harriman, she's going to be a nightmare to produce but every Admiral and Commodore is going to want to put their flag on her given the opportunity. You might want to pull some of those strings now if you want to be one of them.
The verdict is in: not perfect, but definitely a success. The last thing she needs is a name. Or she would, but you are specifically being asked to name the class rather than the first ship.
[ ] Ambassador-class. She'll show the virtues of the Federation to species nobody has met before.
[ ] Emissary-class. She might be armed to the teeth, but her mission is one of peace.
[ ] Majestic-class. She's the finest ship to ever leave the yards, a record-setter in size and capability.
Project Ambassador Results Ease of Maintenance: C
Ease of Manufacture: D+
Tactical Score: S
Scientific Score: A
Comfort Score: A-
Warp 7/9
In the midst of the confusion, Commander F.C. Donalds almost managed to get into the yard machine shop with a replicator pattern of his own design, cryptically labelled 'Nuemann Exocomp Mk.0'1. He is now under house arrest while his handlers contemplate disciplinary action.
1Though given that he was ranting about 'breaking BueShip's monopoly and granting yard time to the masses' as they were hauling him in, maybe not all that cryptic.
[X] Ambassador-class. She'll show the virtues of the Federation to species nobody has met before.
Majestic sounds like we're getting a bit too proud of ourselves. Best remember we can always do better. That said this ship is likely going to be both a Fleet commander and cutting-edge explorer. Her range isn't too huge, but you can go pretty far in a year on Warp seven. This means she's going to be the first thing many races see of us, and they're seeing the best we have.
[X] Emissary-class. She might be armed to the teeth, but her mission is one of peace.
I see Starfleet is living up to the usual 'It's not a Battlecruiser! It's an Explorer, its designed for science and diplomacy! Just because it can blow up everyone's else battleships doesn't make it a military vessel!"
[X] Ambassador-class. She'll show the virtues of the Federation to species nobody has met before.
Majestic sounds like we're getting a bit too proud of ourselves. Best remember we can always do better. That said this ship is likely going to be both a Fleet commander and cutting-edge explorer. Her range isn't too huge, but you can go pretty far in a year on Warp seven. This means she's going to be the first thing many races see of us, and they're seeing the best we have.
The nacelles set back production due to testing failures. Updated guidelines and system tolerances resolve the problem but require priority monitoring during operation and regular maintenance during standard use.
Acceptable, given that the finest engineers in Starfleet will be crawling all over those big beautiful nacelles with fine-toothed combs and electron microscopes 😍
[x] Emissary-class. She might be armed to the teeth, but her mission is one of peace.
Let's confuse some Bajorans in the future
Anyways, looks like the main negative of all the prototypes was the ease of use/maintenance, and we barely scraped by in terms of comfort... but we got the job done nonetheless. Hopefully the production kinks can be ironed out, or a less finicky design can be adopted for a sub-class perhaps.
Hmm should we go for a heavy cruiser? We have the torpedoes and phasers worked out and hopefully they can figure out nacelles by then. Impulse engines hopefully can get the kinks worked out as well
[X] Ambassador-class. She'll show the virtues of the Federation to species nobody has met before.
Majestic sounds too much like naming it "awesome" for my tastes. Between Ambassador and Emissary both are reasonable, but Ambassadors are more generalists whereas Emissaries are more specialized, so for a capital ship I'm going for Ambassador.
