Mission Infrastructure
SPACE STATION HUBBLE
The hull of the USS Hubble, an Oberth-Class surveyor, will be reengineered to become Space Station Hubble. Named for the famous earth astronomer who first deduced that the Andromeda nebula was actually a galaxy, it will provide support for the civilian colony as well as the remaining ships in the joint effort.
Run by Starfleet, it will temporarily house the Office of the Executive Admiral, recently promoted Commodore Westlake, one of the masterminds of the Andromeda colonization and exploration effort. From Space Station Hubble, the operations of the two Miranda-class, two Deneva-class and the Ambassador class starships will be administered, as well as all Starfleet personnel.
The Space Station Hubble will also feature the colony’s main communications relay and orbital sensor arrays. Other facilities will include a small trading center, assembly hall and a few conference chambers, as well as an enlarged shuttlebay with 2 Danube-class runabouts.
The Hubble will be positioned in geosynchronous orbit above the established colony and within transporter range of the surface. This will allow science, security and medical teams to also provide instantaneous support as needed.
Much of the starship’s structure and facilities will be altered before it has crossed the wormhole into the Andromeda Galaxy. The warp core, nacelles and impulse engines have been removed. Only maneuvering thrusters remain of the navigation system. The space cleared by the impulse engines will feature the expanded shuttlebay, while the nacelle pylons have been altered to act as docking ports. Many unnecessary living quarters and unused areas have been replaced with offices, laboratories and cargo bays.
Sensor platforms, fusion power reactors and a communications relay have already been placed in the gutted out secondary hull. An advanced sickbay, an upgraded computer core and computer relay system featuring bioneural gelpacks have also been included.
The original weapons and deflector systems of the ship will remain in place for station and colony defense. Modifications to the deflector system to shield the station’s new physical configurations will have to be made after the ship is reconfigured into a station. Phaser banks were upgraded to Type VIII.
Finally, deck one and the bridge will remain pretty much the same, except for an expanded ready room, conference lounge and the noticeable replacement of the bridge helm and navigation stations with an Operations Table.
SPACE STATION HUBBLE AUXILIARY SPACECRAFT
8 WORK BEE CONSTRUCTION SLEDS
USS CUYAHOGA AND USS RHINE DANUBE-CLASS RUNABOUTS
INCLUDES FULL COMPLEMENT OF PASSENGER, MEDICAL, SCIENCE LAB AND EVACUATION MODULAR UNITS
USS STINGER, USS CLAW AND USS PINCER TALON-CLASS SCOUTS
Talon-class scout ships dock on the exterior underside of the primary hullSTARSHIPS
DENEVA-CLASS TRANSPORTS
The two transport ships dedicated to the Andromeda Colonization mission, the USS Wainwright and the USS Erdu will each be carrying a full six modules each in their aft section. They will carry two Colony Habitat Landers each, which will provide starship-quality living for the colonists on the planet’s surface once deployed and will serve to transport the colonists to their final destination.
The remaining four modules on each vessel will be standard cargo modules filled to capacity with diverse supplies. Each vessel will have one module dedicated to building materials to construct the Community Center, two stacking fusion reactors which will provide colony power, a mass replicator for converting raw material into usable construction material and the basic components required to assemble the colony’s Hydroponics Biodome.
The Erdu will carry a cargo module holding the plants which will fill this Biodome as well as seeds and genetic materials from hundreds of worlds. The Wainwright will carry a cargo module holding the colony’s orbital satellites - a surveyor, a weather observation satellite, two auxiliary communications satellites to work in concert with Space Station Hubble, and two orbital phaser batteries for defense.
The remaining four cargo modules for the two ships will feature diverse mission supplies for both the civilians and Starfleet. The Starfleet supplies will include such items as antimatter pods, torpedo casings, dilithium crystals, isolinear rods and spare bioneural gelpacks.
COLONY HABITAT LANDERS
These specialized colonization modules were originally designed to facilitate rapid relocation efforts enforced by treaty with the Cardassians for displaced Federation citizens in the Demilitarized Zone. They were built to minimize the amount of discomfort and inconvenience colonists usually experience. Ironically, these modules are now in use to help some of those very displaced citizens make a home of their own choosing.
The Colony Habitat Landers conform to the shape of Deneva-class transport cargo modules in transport. A control deck, thrusters, inertial dampeners and heat shields facilitate independent safe planetary landing for each habitat. The habitats feature recreation, mess and living facilities similar to what is found on larger Federation starships. They each have a standard capacity of approximately 500 colonists.
Upon landing, the modular thrusters, heat shield generators and other large equipment which facilitates landing are removed, and the hull expands to create a five story/deck living facility for the colonists. While the CHL designers understood that most colonists would eventually build their own homes and buildings, the Landers have an extremely long service lifespan and are quite comfortable, if a little bland and confining for the average planetary dweller.
HYPOTHETICAL COLONY BASE WITH COLONY HABITAT LANDERS
MIRANDA-CLASS CRUISERS
The two Miranda-class cruisers dedicated to the defense of the Andromeda Colonization mission and the exploration of the Andromeda Galaxy surrounding the colony are the USS Valiant and the USS Fearless. Both ships were nearing the end of their duty cycles and slated to be decommissioned. They received hasty refits once the green light was given to the Andromeda mission. The two ships were selected based on two criteria - ability to carry out the mission and lack of value to Federation defense.
Improvements over the original design of the Miranda-class include an upgrade to Type VIII phaser banks, upgraded sensor systems and an upgraded computer core and optical data network. Bridge modules were completely replaced and now appear to be inspired by the bridges of the Defiant-class. The added space this arrangement provides for deck one allows for facilities uncommon on the old Miranda-class, such as a ready room and conference lounge.
Modern technology also allowed for a smaller, more efficient sickbay. Improvements in technology such as this have made space for more recreation facilities and new mission facilities such as a Stellar Cartography lab.
AMBASSADOR-CLASS STARSHIP
The USS Horizon was also near the end of it’s first duty cycle and was also included in the mission to handle tasks not feasible for the Miranda-class ships. Originally not part of the mission profile, Starfleet added it to the complement of ships because it could add a measure of defense and support to the mission.
This starship class was chosen specifically because the mass of the USS Horizon, the last ship in the mission profile to enter the wormhole, would be able to pass through the unstable portal with minimal risk, although the added mass of the ship would cause the wormhole to shrink to a minuscule size due to its passing.
A hasty refit on the Horizon was unnecessary, as it had just undergone a service refit five years prior. Previous refits had replaced most of the innards of the ship over its 49 year lifespan, and added technology improvements as diverse as a pair of holodecks, bioneural gelpacks, updated computer cores and electroplasma relay systems.
Game Statistics
Space Station Hubble
Type: Service
Commissioning Date: USS Hubble - 2298; Space Station Hubble - 2376
Hull Characteristics
Size: 3 (Primary Hull - 8 decks, 120 meters across)
Resistance: 3
Structural Points: 80
Docking: Two docking pylons
Operational Characteristics
Crew/Capacity: 40/260
[4 pwr/round]
Computers: 3
[4 pwr/round]
Transporters: 2 personnel, 2 cargo, 2 evacuation
[3 pwr/round]
Tractor Beams: 6 (all arcs - 4 Primary Hull, 2 Secondary)
[2/rating used]
Power: 160
Sensor Systems
Long-range Sensors: +2/17 Light-years
[6 pwr/round]
Lateral Sensors: +3/2 Light-years
[4 pwr/round]
Sensor Skill: 5
Internal Security: 5
Weapons and Defensive Systems
Type VIII Phaser Banks
Range: 10/30,000/100,000/300,000
Arc: All (720 degrees)
Accuracy: 5/6/8/11
Damage: 16
Power: [16]
Weapons Skill: 5
Starfleet Deflector Shield
Protection: 48/70
Power: [48]
Danube-class
Runabout
Class and type: Talon-class Scout Ship Commissioning Date: 2374 Hull Characteristics Size 2 (24 meters long, 16 meters across, 1 deck) Resistance 2 Structural Points 40 Operations Characteristics Crew/Passengers 4/10 Computers 1 [1 pwr/round] Transporters 1 [1 pwr/round] Tractor Beams 2 fore and aft [2/rating used] Propulsion and Power Characteristics Warp System 1.5/3.0/5.0 (24 Hours) [2/warp factor] Impulse System .7c/.90c Power: 120 Sensor Systems Long-range Sensors +2/17 Light-years [6 pwr/round] Lateral Sensors +3/2 Light-years [4 pwr/round] Navigational Sensors +2 [5 pwr/round] Sensors Skill 4 Weapons Systems Type V Phaser Range 10/30,000/100,000/300,000 Arc All (720 degrees) Accuracy 4/5/7/10 Damage 10 Power [10] Weapons Skill 3 Type IV Microtorpedo Number 50 Launchers 2 forward Spread 1 Arc Forward, but self-guided Range 15/250,000/800,000/2,500,000 Accuracy 5/6/8/11 Damage 5 Power [2] Defensive Systems Starfleet Deflector Shield Protection 40/50 Power [40]