AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie

Name:	Mk III Valkyrie-class
Model:	AC-409
Starship Type:	Federation Warp Fighter
Production Status:	Prototype Testing Stage
Role:	Space Superiority Craft Planetary Defense Carrier Based Attack Patrol Reconnaissance
Constructed:	Antares Shipyards
Commissioned:	October 9th, 2378 Same as the USS Theurgy
Dimensions:	Length: 20,5 m Height: 3,5 m Width: 13,9 m
Mass (w. Standard Armament):	25 700 kg
Technical Specifications	Advantages Wide variety of secondary weapons options Excellent hull armour and shielding Impressive sensors Can dish out as much of a pounding as it takes Disadvantages Low maximum/standard warp speed Unwieldy tetryon pulse canon when extended
Standard Crew Complement:	Tactical CONN Pilot (x1)
Warp & Impulse Speeds:	Standard Speed: Warp 5.8 Maximum Speed: Warp 7.6 Maximum Cruise: 0.80 C Combat Speed: 970 Km/s
Tactical Specs:	(x2) Type XII Pulse Fire Phaser Cannons (forward-facing) (x4) Type VI Phaser Arrays (2 forward & 2 aft) (x1) Type I Tetryon Pulse Phase Cannon (retracts underneath the hull) (x2) Mk 27 Micro Torpedo Launchers (24-round 50cm Microtorpedoes each)
Defensive Specs:	Gamma 5/D Class 390 Isoton/s Shields Type XIII Deflector 11.1cm Type II Ablative Hull Armor (11.5cm OCP) Class 3 Structural Integrity Field
Engine Specs:	Twin-tadem Quantite Reactor Core Wave Drive Propulsion System Twin-Tandem ITD-900 Series Class V Impulse Drive Pulsed Trentis Mk. IV RCS Thruster Assembly
Other Systems	Type B Bio-Neural Geldisk FTL Computer Core High Data Transfer Speed Nano Sub-processor Auxiliary Core (x1) Long Range Subspace Antennae (x2) Short Range Subspace Antennae (x1) Micro Transporter Cluster (x1) Short-Range Tractor Beam Emitter Standard Environmental System
Sensors	Advanced Tactical Sensor Suite High Resolution Sensor Range: 18,400,000 Km Low Resolution Sensor Range: 36,800,000 Km Standard Navigational Sensor Suite High Resolution Sensor Range: 5.2 Ly Low Resolution Sensor Range: 26.2 Ly
Other Standard-issue Equipment (stored in cockpit)	Type III Phaser Assault Rifle Rations (14 days) Power cells (for the pilot's exosuit's hand phaser as well as the rifle stored in the cockpit)

These are the prototype warp fighters that were commissioned to the USS Theurgy at the end of the 24^th century. There were originally 16 warp fighters on the Theurgy, and they were flown by the Lone-Wolves squadron.

As the war against the parasites that usurped political power in the Federation raged, many of the Lone-Wolves were KIA, and with the destruction of their fighters, the availability of the Mk III was diminished. This, until the Theurgy obtained a few more at the Black Opal Weapons Facility at the end of March in 2381.

Production History

At the success of the Mk II and the fleet-wide deployment of the Valkyries in the fleet, Starfleet Command began looking into the Valkyrie with more interest. Initially, they had considered Tactical CONN another spear in Starfleet's arsenal. So when the project was given new funding, R&D went back to the drawing board to see what could be improved on an already formidable weapon.

The first step was to increase the command, control and reconnaissance capabilities of the design. Originally, the Valkyrie (both Mk I and Mk II) employed an isolinear twin-core design computer system, with 372 isolinear banks and 106 command pre-processors and data analysis units. This design was quite successful for the use of standard comm traffic control and tactical targeting, but newer sensor package upgrades intended for the Valkyrie were hampered by a core that was already at its limit for processing power. So, with the eagerness of little boys with a new toy to take apart, R&D - under the direct involvement of Director Rennan Cooper - began to work on the third iteration of the Valkyrie warp fighter.

By the time, Hyperjet Quantite Mk IV reactor cores were being successfully implemented in the experimental Knight-class Mk I Interceptor. These core types could be sized variably (depending on the design requirements) while still maintaining a very high energy output. A twin-core design was drafted for the new Mk III, and projected numbers suggested the Mk III would see a 25 % increase to power output than the Mk I & II series. With this increase in power output, a larger computer core system was designed. Utilizing bio-neural processors and relays, the original frame space needed for the computer systems was reduced, and spread out through the center-line of the craft. Computational capacity and storage was increased by another 30 %, and a new tactical link-up library software system was implemented. The system provided a clearer and more accurate battlefield image the pilot, and the integration was so effective that the RIOs were not needed any more - only one pilot required in the cockpit.

With this new freedom of space within the spacecraft hull, R&D decided a more streamlined hull would benefit the pilot. Their new, sportier look reduced sensor cross-section and improved warp field stability for the twin quantite reactor cores. With the hull redesign came minor changes to weapons load-out: the arrangement of the standard Type-XII pulse phaser cannons and microtorpedo launchers in the Mk II changed only slightly to fit into the new spaceframe. The hard-point system was simplified, and the pulse phaser cell-magazine rack was switched from a vertical feed system to a horizontal feed system – this to combat original design flaws and jams during gravity-inducing combat manoeuvres.

Lastly, one more weapon was added: a tetryon pulse phase cannon was installed on the underside of the cockpit within its own hull compartment. This cannon was installed for ground suppression roles, and to give the Valkyrie an added punch in the Space Superiority role. The drawback to the tetryon pulse phase cannon was its limited ammunition and craft manoeuvrability when utilizing the weapon. Though the weapon itself could effectively neutralize enemy engine and weapons systems as well as due considerable kinetic energy damage, the weapon itself failed at a remarkable rate when engaged in combat manoeuvres. A straight-line course was required for the weapon to work effectively, limiting it to the dangerous Head-to-Head combat manoeuvre, and strafing of ground or orbital targets. With these weapon enhancements and increase in power, a slightly larger pair of shield generators were installed, increasing shield sustainable load to 390 isotons/second. The ablative armour was also thickened from 10.7 cm to 11.1 cm.

The top speed and warp capabilities of the Mk III remained virtually unchanged, but the increased power output from the new quantite cores benefited the improved avionics, sensor, weapons and shield systems more than her speed. Despite of this, the Valkyrie Mk III could easily go toe-to-toe with the fastest Interceptors currently in service. What she lacked in speed, she made up for in raw firepower.

As of 2381, the Mk III Valkyrie remained a prototype test model, but with the recent development in intergalactic politics and the potential Romulan threat, the project was pushed towards immediate deployment by Aerospace Command. So, since the new Theurgy-class starship - the USS Theurgy - was not only being fitted with an A.I. interphase, but with a fully operational (if small) fighter assault bay, the decision was made. The Theurgy was given a complement of sixteen Mk III fighters with their own Squadron Commanding Officer and a crew of thirty technicians hailing from Starfleet Operations or Engineering Corps.

The sixteen pilots were named the Lone-Wolves, and though decimated to only twelve pilots after their escape from Earth, the survivors kept fighting to preserve the truth of the corrupted Starfleet Command.

External Hard-point Options

The Mk III Valkyrie can hold up to four wing-mounted hard-points during missions, listed below.

ECM Pod/ECCM Emitter

Counter measures. ECM (Electric Counter Measure) is essentially is a micro torpedo full of shrapnel and debris with the given craft's transponder signature and sensor reading. It confuses the enemy ordinance and causes it to think the cloud of debris is the target. ECCM (Electric Chemical Counter Measure) creates a wake similar to a warp, impulse or thruster engine's wake, fooling such a guided missile into a false lock.

Additional Torpedo Launchers

Additional, wing-mounted torpedo launcher that can hold either 5 Mk XXVII photon torpedoes or 15 micro torpedoes. Recommended to mount two of these in order to balance the fighter properly. This means that the hard-point option of additional torpedo launchers either hold 10 additional photon torpedoes in total when the Valkyrie is deployed into battle, or 30 additional mirco-torpedoes to complement those that the Valkyrie itself already has as standard internal armament.

Mk XXVII Photon Torpedo

Standard photon torpedo ordinance. Explosion is a matter-antimatter reaction producing large amounts of gamma waves as its primary means of destruction. While smaller in size, and harder to target mid-flight, each torpedo has the approximate yield of 70 % compared to the Mk IV (the kind that Federation starships launch from their torpedo bays). This torpedo is deployed in the wing-mounted additional torpedo launchers (see above).

Mk Q-IV Quantum Torpedo

An improvement of the Mk XXVII photon torpedo with a higher yield, comparable to that of photon torpedo mounted on Federation Starships. This was a tactical quantum weapon, that utilised a plasma warhead and casings similar in shape to photon torpedoes. The explosion leaves an antimatter residue and although they were powerful weapons, even a direct hit from a quantum torpedo might not destroy neutronium alloyed targets.

Mk I Hellbore Torpedo

Photon torpedo type weapon that results in a nuclear fission reaction, named for its use of standard nuclear radioactive bomb materials (Uranium, Plutonium etc.) The nuclear bomb detonates and this compresses hydrogen into helium creating a fusion reaction. Within the hydrogen core is a core of neutronium which the fusion reaction detonates. This detonation is equivalent 3 photon torpedo that detonate only a few moments after it contacts its target rather than detonating near the target, this because of the penetrate-and-detonate-package in its casing. This weapon is highly ineffective against targets with fully powered shields. Against heavily armoured targets without any shielding left, this may be the only viable option that will punch through the heavy armour. The pilot can disable the penetrative package from the fighter to make one behave like a standard Tri-Nuclear Torpedo.

EMP Torpedo

Creates the electromagnetic pulse similar to what is created from the high atmosphere detonation of a nuclear warhead. A well shielded craft will withstand this easily but the weapon detonates in a burst of broadband, high-intensity electromagnetic energy, capable of disrupting magnetic fields and producing current or voltage surges in conductive materials via magnetic induction.

Indirect damage to enemy hardware might prove substantial, and while it has a greater chance of disabling a small craft, the plasma surges may wound or kill soft targets if they are directly exposed.

Hellhound Cluster Bomb

Similar to the nature of a photon torpedo. Essentially, this is a photon torpedo filled with several micro torpedoes. Once the torpedo comes in contact with an enemy or a surface, it detonates and fragments into smaller torpedoes, which spread from the point of impact, also exploding on impact, resulting in a large pattern of torpedo detonations. Deployed right, this hard-point may cause severe damage when scattered upon enemy shield impact. The torpedo snap open by spring-force, and both the arming and the fuze is pilot-controlled by either manual or automatic settings. It can be armed prior to discharge or scattered by manual command.

Twin Mount Turrets

Twin Dual Cannon guns utilising an ammunition replicator to create 30 mm Osmiridum shells. These shells are suspended in a small warp field bubble to render them nearly weightless before being electromagnetically propelled at a speed near mach 15 with a rate of up to 1000 rounds per minute assuming all 4 cannons are being fired. Devastating against soft targets as well as being effective against armours of nearly all types. However it is ineffective against shields, and its projectiles can be easily reflected via standard deflector arrays. The weapon can be placed in a fixed forward position or can be set to automatically track subsonic targets for fire, though it proves to be ineffective at automatically tracking fast moving small targets. It can hit large targets moving at high speeds but not with the same precision as expected with slow or fixed targets. Designed for aerial and suborbital assault on non-shielded Terrestrial targets, deep space strikes against bases, and aerial support of ground operations (see below for more information).

Type I Tetryon Pulse Phase Cannon

This is an advanced weapon system with two forms of fire. First is a form of a pulse phaser cannon that fires small concentrated tetryon pulse to mark a target. Once marked the cannon then fires a concentrated phaser shot to cause damage similar to a Starship’s pulse phasers. Its second form of fire is a large concentrated tetryon pulse. This pulse is capable of weakening shields or disabling computerised systems allowing for the ability to capture vessels without causing major structural damage.

Primary Firing Mode

Once fired, a thin, constant beam of tetryon particles is fired at the target. This stream paints the target for fire, making it easy for further targeting. After painting the target the canon makes minor adjustments to its aim and fires its primary weapon, a charged pulse phaser blast. This pulse phaser blast is stronger than the typical phase bursts from the wing-mounted pulse phasers and is more comparable to the pulse phaser cannons on a Defiant-class Starship.

A useful benefit to this weapon is how the telemetry data from the tetryon can be linked to other ships in the squadron or with other Starfleet vessels engaged in a battle. This effectively paints the target for all allied ships in an operation. With that ability, precision targeting by all forces becomes possible.

Using a squadron of fighters equipped with tetryon canons linked to a heavy weapons emplacement has been shown to be an effective defense against cloaked warships. This is because all it takes is for one fighter to spot the cloaked vessel by bouncing a tetryon pulse off of it. Once that is done the signal can be sent to all other fighters and weapons emplacements to fire on the location of the cloaked ship.

Secondary Firing Mode

In this mode the tetryon cannon fires a concentrated tetryon pulse. The ability of tetryon pulses to cause equipment malfunctions has been proven time and again, so it made perfect sense to weaponize this trait. When the concentrated tetryon pulse impacts against a ship’s shields the tetryon particles tend to weaken the shield bubble creating a temporary weak point in the shields systems. This can allow for another ship in formation to fire a more conventional weapon at this weak point allowing for greater shield penetration than otherwise possible. Often in order to use this “one-two punch” method of attack the element leader will be the one using the Tetryon pulse cannon while his wingman follows up with a conventional attack.

While the tetryon Pulse is effective as a means of weakening shields, its greatest asset is revealed when used against a target rendered without shielding. When the particles impact with a surface they tend to penetrate through metal surfaces and pass through most armors, affecting whatever computerised systems in the area near the impact of the pulse. The tetryon particles wreak havoc on most computer systems effectively disabling the systems in the affected area.

M-142 RF Mass Driver Twin Mount Turrets

The M-142 RF Mass Driver Twin Mount is a set of two dual-mass driver semi-automated turrets. These lethal devices are hard-point mounted on the undersides of the impulse drives, and in their default position they face forward. Aimed similarly to the micro-torpedo launchers and pulse phaser cannons on the Valkyrie, the targeting sensors used for its arc of fire can track and follow targets in an almost hemispherical firing arc. While the tracking systems are unable to effectively track and hit small agile targets like Shuttles Fighters and small auxiliary craft, it is effective at striking large targets like starships and can strike with pinpoint accuracy on Stationary or slow moving targets such as Starbases, ground installations, or subsonic moving targets such as ground transports.

The nature of the weapon is less a conventional gun and in fact holds far more in common with the tubes used to fire torpedoes on a starship, combined with the warp field bubble projectors used on the Valkyrie itself. By interfacing through the ship's power regulation systems the stardrive of the Valkyrie sends the necessary power to create a warp field bubble within the barrels of the weapon. This short lasting warp field forms around a 30 mm Osmiridium shell created via the weapon systems onboard replicator. Now virtually weightless, even near high G environments like outer atmospheres of Gas giants, the shell is pushed through a magnetic field coil, reaching speeds of Mach 15. Capable of a rate of fire of 250 Rounds per minute per barrel (a little over 4 rounds per second), with all barrels firing this allows for a total of 1000 rounds per minute.

Its primary role in combat is not for space superiority (Fighter to fighter) warfare but as a means of aerial or orbital support for ground combatants. It is also quite suitable for pinpoint strikes on starbases or capital ships after their shields have been dealt with. With the correct sensor configurations this weapon can also target via remote detection of tetryon reflection. This allows a ground operative with a tetryon targeting based weapon to be used as a remote targeting system. These pulses can then be interpreted as a target by the turrets systems allowing for ground units to effectively paint targets via tetryon pulse for a precision aerial strike. This adds a 4th function to the Accipiter as its tetryon pulse systems can be used as a targeting system for the Twin mounts or any of the Valkyries other weapons systems.

Advantages

• Excellent at providing air support for ground operations.
• High rate of fire.
• Effective against conventional, energy reflecting, or ablative armours.
• Devastatingly effective against soft targets.
• Large targeting arc (360 degree rotational arc covering Forward, Aft, Port and Starboard) with 15 to 66 degree ventral targeting arc.
• It can be set to fixed forward position.
• Cannons can be set to staggered bursts (4 barrels each fire in a sequence one at a time in a burst of fire) or in a 4 cannon Blast (all 4 fire at once in a single blast)
• When in forward position it can be potentially devastating against other fighters if their shields have been taken down, providing the pilot can get a solid lock against their target. At close ranges or in atmosphere it can also be an effective close range dog-fighting weapons system similar to the use of guns on a real life jet fighter.

Disadvantages

• Manoeuvrability is slightly reduced
• These weapons are horribly ineffective against shielded targets.
• The Twin Mounts are rendered completely ineffective if fired in the arc of a ship's deflector array. Attacking the forward of a Starship with them is absolutely useless unless the deflector dish is inoperative.
• If damaged, their can be power loss from the engine systems.
• If severely damaged there can be small scale localized warp core breach-like effects. Potentially sufficient to cause catastrophic failure of Impulse and stardrive systems up to and including a full scale warp core breech.
• The auto targeting systems are unable to effectively track agile small targets effectively.
• Twin Mounts have absolutely no ability to target above the fighter's "Horizon,” meaning there is no dorsal arc of fire.
• To be of use in a dog fighting scenario the pilot has to be able to fly very well and be able to get a manual target lock without any aiming corrections like with phasers or torpedoes.

Note

In the future that brought the Calamity-project to life, this system has been improved on so heavily that the replicator, power supply, warp bubble generator, and rail gun firing system are able to be scaled down into a large rifle. The culmination of this research and progress is the RG-M1506 PT-10 Accipiter. The Accipiter uses a rail gun operation while the Twin Mount's propulsion is a gauss gun based system.

Ejection Systems

Escape Pod

All Valkyries are equipped with ejection modules or "pods". These allow for rapid emergency egress from the vehicle in case of danger. Linked to dedicated high speed processors, automatic sensors can detect certain types of danger and initiate an eject sequence automatically. This is especially useful if the pilot has been rendered unconscious through a blackout or other injury and the vehicle is in danger of crashing.

Modules have self-righting mechanisms in their base to assure a correct orientation during landing. Landing is accomplished by a single use anti-grav module. Free falling until they are 3 meters from the ground, the ejection seat/pod activates the AG module, which burns out as it lands the unit (relatively) gently. The pod remains pressurized with approximately 20 minutes of air, allowing a pilot time to completely seal his suit and activate his personal survival equipment. Once ready, the pilot has the option of discarding the pod by activating a manual release.

ETS (Emergency Transport System)

By the late 24th century, emergency transport was further improved through Starfleet's development of a single-person, single-use, one-way emergency transport unit. The device was small enough to be hand-held and could transport to specified coordinates with a single touch. Because of its extreme limitations, this device was not widely deployed and was still considered a prototype in 2379. [see Star Trek: Nemesis]

The Valkyries have built-in Emergency Transport Systems (ETS) in the cockpit - not the small prototype version - designated to the pilot and worn gear alone, with a one-way pre-set location for the USS Theurgy. The Emergency transporter can be reprogrammed to send the pilot to a new - by the pilot chosen - location because of the possibility of long-range missions, but this system is best utilised in the event of defending the Theurgy - being within Transporter range.