[Galaxy] 2161, December 8, "A series of lectures" Pt3

[Mark Berry]

OOC: This takes part prior to the founding of the Federation like the other
2 parts so far. Also, please read the OOC note at the very, very bottom.

[Starfleet Command, San Francisco]

After having flicked the screen to the new seal, Commodore Markus Kravchik,
director of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, took the opportunity to take
a sip of water before stepping away from the podium. It was a perfectly
good spot to give a presentation from for sure, but it was off to the side
and not centered.

"Project Daedalus. Mankind's bid at Warp 7. If operational security has
held out, then I'm hoping the first our allies know anything about this
project will be when their ships in William Pickering and Copernicus Yards
in Lunar orbit detect our test vehicle departing the Sol system at Warp 7."

As the slide flicked over, two ships came up on the screen. Both had the
same general lines, same general dimensions and clearly emerged from the
same design history. But while one was somewhat sleek and shared
commonalities with every Starfleet ship in history, the other looked
primitive and backward.

Departing from the mono-hull designs that Starfleet had thus far used, the
Daedalus class consisted of a sphere at the front connected to a secondary
hull via a neck between the two. The rear of both ships housed a shuttlepod
bay, the rotating images of both ships depicting it open and with enough
room for four pods.

"This ladies and gentleman is the Daedalus class vessel," Markus said, the
much nicer and sleeker ship being highlighted briefly, "and this is it's
forbearer, the Icarian Test Vehicle, or ITV for short," he said, the
primitive looking vessel being highlighted before it came to occupy the
entire screen, the other ship disappearing for now.

"The ITV is essentially a brute force approach to breaking the Warp 7
barrier. It is this vehicle and numerous test flights which have helped us
to understand certain engineering principles that have allowed us to bring
the NX class up to Warp 6."

"In order to save costs and keep supply lines hidden during construction,
ITV1 and ITV2 where both built using spare parts in inventory, civilian
grade components and pre-fab structures wherever we could get away it. This
essentially allowed the SCE to build two test vehicles during a war for the
combined price of a Sol and Neptune class vessel."

"Tragically ITV1 is no longer with us. Fortuitously and due to the quick
thinking of her commander at the time, the crew aboard ship was able to
abandon the ship before her core gave out. For those in Operations, that
would explain the antimatter explosion beyond Neptune eight months ago that
the SCE at the time called a weapons test. That particular flaw has been
addressed, corrected and is no longer a concern. A full report will be made
available to Operations within the week."

"ITV2, now simply the ITV, I am proud to say, broke her engines in two
months ago with a sustained flight of Warp 6 for seventeen days. Those
doing the math in your heads, that's a continuous round trip from the Sol
system to Alpha Centauri and back. Something the original Archer engine
would have taken nearly an entire month to do at Warp 5. I am confident all
assembled can see the advantages of this. Yes?"

"No later then the end of this month, the ITV will depart the Sol system
with the intent of breaking the Warp 7 barrier. I ask that no one here
speak of this till it happens. There are at least two Vulcan ship captains
whose reactions I want to see." A very small handful of SCE staffers made a
bit of noise at that comment, general mutterings of agreement that clearly
indicated some sort of bad run in.

"If the ITV can reach and maintain Warp 7 for any extended period of time,
it will be a success. While I would like the vehicle to make a round trip
to Alpha Centauri to test the engine, ten and a half days at Warp 7 is
perhaps pushing it."

Yes, Markus was making a effort to mention specific flight times, all for a
reason. He wanted to point out and make sure everyone here understood what
all of this meant. No longer was some place close like Alpha Centauri a two
week one way trip at Warp 5. With Daedalus it was just a little over 5 days
away. 8 days on an improved NX.

"However, while the ITV is important, like the NX test vehicles, it is not
the darling of this particular presentation. Daedalus herself is. Without
further delay, I give you the Daedalus class vessel itself."

At that the slide morphed from the primative looking ship to the much nicer
looking alternative. Her nacelles conformed to the sleek designs of the
rest of the Fleet, versus the ITVs closed and basic cylinders. Her nacelle
pylons where slightly swept forward. Lines flowed better, her hull was
dotted with sensor pallets, windows, a series of docking hatches and gun
ports. In truth, compared to the ITV, this looked more like a true starship.

Markus then launched straight into the highlights of the ship, exactly like
an excited tech presentation, which this basically was. "140 meters of the
best technology Humanity has to offer, with contributions from our allies
of course. Featuring a Warp 7 engine, capable of cruising at speeds of Warp
6 and hopefully above, for vastly extended periods of time. The power plant
responsible for that can also power an array of eight phase cannons, the
same ones going into the NX class right now, as well as powering the first
truly integrated and purpose-built shield array system for a human designed
and built vessel."

"The only downside to the Daedalus compared to the NX is that the initial
plans where drawn up in a state of war. As such, the initial two ships are
less capable in the sciences then the NX class ships. I know there might be
some desire to redesign, but I would urge caution. The Sol's and Neptune's
are ageing designs nearing operational limits. Starfleet is going to, in
short order, require some sort of modern force projection if we are going
to maintain our mandate as Earth's protectors."

Taking a moment, Markus brought up a simple slide with the highlights of
Project Daedalus in the center, the seal of the project on the left and an
image captured from below and in front of Daedalus as she sat in dock.

"The ITVs were, as I said, not entirely cheap, costing as much as a Sol and
Neptune put together. Daedalus, with her second generation Warp 7 drive,
despite the first not even having been fully tested, has overrun her
initial budget as well. However, cost projections indicate that if the
fleet accepts Daedalus and undertakes some steps I have in mind, unit
costings will drop considerably such that within a few years these vessels
will be somewhere between a Sol and Neptune and hence vastly cheaper then
an NX class."

Another pause and then Markus spoke up once more. "I now open the floor to
any questions from the Admiralty and their assembled staff."



TO BE CONTINUED...


--------------------

Commodore Markus Kravchik
Starfleet Corps of Engineers
"Duct tape, the only tool one needs."




OOC: For those who are interested as to what these ships look like, please
refer to the following links.

ITV : The original images of the Daedalus class that has been seen on tv.
We decided it was a bit primitive looking for TFE but still wanted to
incorporate it somewhere.

Daedalus :
http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/articles/daedalus/daedalus-aethernaut.jpg
This image is used with permission. If you wish to reuse it anywhere on a
sim's website, please make sure to appropriately attribute it. This image
is a re-imaging of the Daedalus class and one the EngCorp has come to some
agreement is more in style with the rest of the technological look from
Enterprise and hence TFE.
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