USS Theurgy: Difference between revisions
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==== Computer & A.I. ==== | ==== Computer & A.I. ==== | ||
Revision as of 22:20, 8 May 2016
The Theurgy-class is meant to be the pinnacle of Federation starship design and will carry the Federation into a new generation of exploration in the next century. It is one of the largest starships ever created by Starfleet, surpassing even the Odyssey-class in size. The USS Theurgy is the only one built, and exists as an advanced prototype of its class until it is taken into production. Officially, both the Odyssey and the Theurgy-classes were rushed into production because of the Romulan Civil War. Unbeknownst to the public of the Federation and Starfleet as a whole, it was the corrupted Starfleet Command that pushed the production ahead of schedule for sake of their own clandestine agenda.
The Theurgy is a Multivector Dreadnought, designed for long-range exploration, diplomacy, and deterrence. It's expanded science laboratories allows it to take on extended missions that will take it far from a starbase or other Starfleet facilities. The Theurgy-class has ample room for cargo or passengers, and will easily be tapped for rescue missions or civilian evacuations in war zones when it is taken to mass-production. A Theurgy-class vessel also has regenerative shielding, ablative armour and multivector assault mode (MVAM) - in which the ship is able to attack enemies from three different directions simultaneously (Note: This feature was seen in detail in the Star Trek Voyager series - Episode 14, "Message in a Bottle", Season 4 - where a Prometheus-class starship was able to use this feature).
Technical Specifications
Theurgy-class (Dorsal View)
Theurgy-class (Dorsal MVAM View)
- THEURGY-CLASS-MVAM-STARBOARD.png
Theurgy-class (Starboard MVAM View)
Theurgy-class (Ventral View)
Theurgy-class (StarboardView)
Theurgy-class (Forward View)
Theurgy-class (Aft View)
General Information
| Vessel Name: | USS Theurgy |
| Registry: | NX-79854 |
| Starship Class: | Theurgy-class |
| Starship Type: | Multivector Dreadnought |
| Production Status: | Advanced Prototype |
| Purpose: | Exploration, Diplomacy & Deterrence |
| Constructed: | Antares Fleet Yards & Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards |
| Commissioned: | October 9th, 2378 |
| Dedication: | "Courage is fear, when it has said its prayers." |
| Decks: | 30 |
| Standard Crew Complement: |
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| Dimensions: |
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| Mass: |
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Computer & A.I.
| Computer Cores: | 3 AC-16 Bio-Neural Computer Cores (Slaves) |
| Specifications: |
|
| Positronic A.I. Brain Core: | Sentient Soong-Legacy Protoype (Master) |
| Autonomous A.I. Projection: | Federation Isomorph Prototype Ver. 7.5 |
| Specifications: |
|
Propulsion Systems
| Thruster Systems: | Magneto-Hydrodynamic RCS Thruster Assemblies |
| Outlets/Vector: |
|
| Output: | 4.5 million newtons per outlet |
| Impulse System: | 6 Sovereign-class IPS Engines |
| Power Output: | 85 gigawatts per engine |
| Standard Impulse Velocity: | 0.30c speed of light |
| Full Impulse Velocity: | 0.983c speed of light |
| Warp Drive System: | 3 Class 9 Warp Cores |
| Power Output: | 250 petawatts + 145 petawatts |
| Standard Cruising Speed: | Warp Factor 7,5 |
| Maximum Cruising Speed: | Warp Factor 9.2 |
| Emergency Speed: | Warp Factor 9.995 for an 25 h duration |
Tactical Systems
| Shields: | Class 5 Regenerative Subspace Graviton Field |
| Power Output | 11.700 gigawatts |
| Standard Shield Range: | 20 m from hull |
| Defences: |
|
| Phaser Systems: | Type XII Pulse Phaser Arrays |
| Strength and Power Output: | 85 gigawatts, with both beam and bolt firing options |
| Effective Range: | 1,500,000 km |
| Bolts per Minute: | 240 bolts per array |
| Arrays per Vector: |
|
| Torpedo Systems: | Pulse-Fire Launchers |
| Number of Forward Launchers: | 8 during SOM (10 during MVAM) |
| Number of Aft Launchers: | 2 during SOM (4 during MVAM) |
| Salvo per Launcher: | 5 torpedoes |
| Range: | 4.000.000 km |
| Full Complement: | 400 torpedoes |
| Torpedo Types: | 125 Quantum & 275 Photon |
| Integrated Torpedo Pod Systems: | 2 Broadside Pod Launcher Arrays |
| Torpedo Type: | Type V Micro Photon Torpedoes |
| Torpedo Yield: | 30-50 % of standard photon torpedoes depending on impact |
| Number of Launcher Arrays: | 2 (1 on each side of the ship) |
| Pod Launchers per Array: | 18 during SOM (21 during MVAM) |
| Max Pod Complement: | 3 per launcher (54 pods per array during SOM, 108 in total) |
| Pod Ordinance: | 15 torpedoes per pod (270 torps per full broadside salvo during SOM) |
| Maximum Launching Rate: | 15 seconds between pods |
| Pod Reload: | 2 minutes once a pod reaches the launcher via tractor beam or auxiliary craft |
| Max Reserve Torpedo Complement: | Additional 90 micro-torpedoes per launcher
(total of 1890 ship-wide for the pods - exclusive of fighter stores) |
| Pod Control Capabilities: | Max 36 deployed pods simultaneously (18+18 pods per array)
Up to 18 additional pods per module with PSM Pod Control Modules installed |
| Palletized System Modules (PSMs): | Integrated Module Capability |
| Number of Dual Modules: | 16 (ventral side of the ship during SOM) |
| Number of Triple Modules: | 26 (dorsal side of the ship during SOM) |
| Installed Pallets: |
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Auxillary Systems
| Sensor Systems: | Multi-Modal Type |
| Range: | 22 light-years |
| Tactical Sensors: | Multi-Modal Type |
| Range: | 22 light-years |
| Transporter System: | Personnel & Cargo |
| Range: | 40.000 km |
| Navigational Deflector Dish: | Molybdenum & Duranium Mesh |
| Power: | 6 Graviton Polarity Generators |
| Output: | 400 gigawatts |
| Field Strength: | 650 millicochranes |
| Tractor Systems: | 3-15 Gigawatt Multi-phase Graviton Polarity Source |
| Field Strength: | 480 millicochranes |
| Minimum Range: | 230 million tons at 2 km |
| Maximum Range: | 1 ton at 30.000 km |
Support Craft
| Shuttle Bays: |
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| Craft Manifest: |
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| Fighter Assault Bays: | 1 with 16 fighters operational capacity |
| Craft Manifest: |
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| Captain's Yacht: | USS Allegiant |
| Registry: | NX-80978 |
| Class: | Manta-class Prototype |
| Role: | Advanced Scout |
MVAM - Multivector Assault Mode
The Theurgy spends the vast majority of its life in Standard Operating Mode (SOM). Multivector Assault Mode - where the ship is divided into three parts - is typically reserved for battle situations. All hulls - or "Vectors" - are Warp capable, and thus MVAM can be engaged during warp. This was an original design that had been scraped, since due to the separation of the vessel, each section was only one-third the power of the whole ship.
To solve this, the warp core arrangement was unique. The efficiency of a warp core is in part dependant on its height - the longer a core is, the more accurately the matter and antimatter streams could be controlled. To overcome this, the main warp core has no less than three reaction chambers along its height. During normal operation, matter is fed in at the top of the core and antimatter at the bottom, as in any normal warp core. The fuel streams pass directly through the upper and lower reaction chambers and continue down to their meeting point in the middle chamber. The core thus operates in a manner similar to any standard model, achieving high efficiency through the long core design. The central reaction chamber lies just above the separation plane between Vector 02 and 03, and once the ship splits, it is shut down. The remaining reaction chambers are fed antimatter and deuterium respectively through auxiliary channels. A Battle Bridge and computer cores on each hull of the vessel allowed the section to perform more adequately, plus the addition of multiple Sickbays to treat the wounded.
If the ship encountered a battle situation, the Commanding Officer may choose to activate Multivector Assault Mode. Then, the ship splits into three independent sections, all of which have warp capability and a powerful weapons load-out. Additionally, the ship's Main Bridge is on Deck 01 in the Saucer section (Vector 01). Vector 02 and 03 have Battle Bridges that can be fully crewed during MVAM if the Commanding Officer does not chose computer control from Vector 01. One additional item of interest: nearly a third of the ship's weaponry is hidden during SOM and only becomes available during MVAM.
Torpedo Pod Launcher Arrays
Since the Dominion War, Starfleet has been seeking options for engagement in the traditional torpedo gunnery blind spots along a ship's sides, as well as ways to provide a heavy enough long-range punch at a rate that could effectively saturate a target's defences, which would need to be a faster rate of launch than could be accomplished with individual torpedo tubes. As such, torpedo pods and their associated launchers were developed.
As a result of this requirement, Starfleet Tactical R&D developed reusable pods carrying a number of torpedoes and an on-board power supply, launching mechanism, computer and control system, which are fed their targeting information from the launching ship or as the capability becomes available, from Pod Control Modules (part of Starfleet's Palletized Systems Module, or PSM, program). However, despite the wish of some within Starfleet Tactical R&D, it was determined that using all-up main-tube torpedoes, or even the Mk XXVII Intermediate Torpedo, in the pods would be impractical. Indeed, the mass and volume of the larger warheads would prove unmanageable within the pods themselves as it would be impossible to mount linear accelerators large enough to reach meaningful launch velocities; another deciding factor has to do with the limited magazine space within starships as there simply is not enough available internal volume to carry sufficient numbers of loose torpedoes to refill the pods with. As such, the pods are designed to house and launch 15 of the same Type V micro-torpedoes as carried internally in the Valkyrie-class fighter and the sheer volume of fire in each pod was deemed an acceptable tradeoff for the much smaller individual warheads.
But what makes pods most attractive is that they do not necessarily have to be activated and fired as soon as they are launched. A ship could lay a pattern of pods and fire several of them at once (up to its maximum control capacity) into a massive salvo. And given pods' extremely stealthy nature in their low-powered standby mode and their lack of immediately apparent signature when being deployed, a vessel could even lay several patterns and either launch a number of massive salvos or maintain a steady stream of fire for an extended duration in "ripple fire", reallocating fire control and telemetry links to a fresh pod after one has been fired.
However, only a pod-laying ship has the on-board facilities to quickly reload and recondition a pod for launch after recovery. On others, once a pod has been recovered each tube must be individually reloaded and its covers replaced before the computer can be flashed and its battery replaced.
However, pods are unarmoured and unshielded and as such are extremely vulnerable to enemy fire and collateral damage, and when actively engaged, an officer commanding a pod-equipped ship has to decide whether he would rather risk laying a larger pattern with a heavier salvo at the risk of his pods being damaged or destroyed before he can fire them, or launching individual pods and flushing them immediately, sacrificing weight of fire for any given salvo for the knowledge that he will not lose any full pod to enemy fire or proximity damage.
At this point in time, only a handful of ships in Starfleet are considered to be true pod-layers, with the Theurgy being the only one to have been intended from the keel-up with that particular capability. A few have been refitted to that status, and all of them have been attached to Admiral Sankolov for the time being.
However, any starship can make use of them, keeping them internally in their shuttle bays or any external cargo hold with a large enough door to fit them. Or even having them attached to their outer hull using magnetic grapples, although such would change its hull profile, which in turn would affect the efficiency of its warp field and lower its maximum speed. Another disadvantage has to do with a pod's inherent fragility and should a hit come through and strike the pod, there is a chance the weapons my explode, with catastrophic implication for the ship to which the pod is in contact with. Also, ships that have not been designed or refitted as pod-layers lack the telemetry capability to lay and control more than small patterns, the size of which is dependent on the ship's individual capabilities.
That problem will eventually be alleviated with the issue of of Pod Control Modules, which were designed to give ships that are not designed or refitted to serve as purpose-intended pod launching platforms, yet expected to carry or control pods for a specific mission, the capability to control salvos of meaningful weight. Each PCM can control up to 18 pods at a time. However, such modules were unavailable when the intended test bed platform, the USS Theurgy, was commissioned and the alternate test bed, the Archeron, was deployed before they could be sent. However, there are 4 such pallets forward-deployed to a classified location near the Romulan Neutral Zone.
Sequence of engagement with pods:
- Mother ship drops her pods (individual launch or laying patterns) OR
- Targets are acquired and telemetry links are established to pods
- Torpedoes are launched from pods
- If applicable, control links are shifted to unused pods
- Repeat as required
- Spent and/or unused pods are recovered for reconditioning and re-loading
Alternatively, a dedicated pod-launching vessel may fire the pods directly from its launchers and the empty pod will be flushed into space for later recovery. The trade-off to the higher rate of fire so achieved is a lesser salvo weight. Another alternative, depending on the tactical situation, is for the crew that man the broadside launcher arrays to keep the pods in place, close the array, and restock the pods inside the ship, but would entail 2 minutes of reloading for each pod.
Palletized System Modules (PSM)
Even after the number of recent conflicts, Starfleet's use of combat-centric vessels such as the Defiant and Prometheus classes remains a controversial issue. And even after the Prometheus-class project proved to be a viable option, purpose-designed warships remain unpopular and Starfleet has been looking for ways to keep ships intended for battle in service without diluting their tactical potential by stripping away capabilities. And, at the same time, Starfleet Tactical was seeking out ways to improve any vessel's combat potential without the need to build new hulls.
And when both requirements collided, the Palletized System Modules (PSM) program was born. The concept is rather simple, and quite similar to the plug-and-play capability enabled by USB ports in the early 21st century. A ship with PSM capability would have, under removable hull panels, universal connectors that would provide power and control linkages to to an standard-sized module which would provide additional capability to its host vessel. The installation process for any module is rather simple: the external hull panel is removed and then stowed into a cargo bay or other facility, and either with the use of an auxiliary craft or an EVA the module is brought to its location and it is secured in place using maglocks and physical clamps.
As it stands, only the Theurgy-class prototype has been designed from the keel up for this capability, but several ships including the USS Archeron and a handful of vessels in her task force have been refitted for it. While building a new class that is intended to receive this capability is fairly easy, the refit process requires Starfleet engineers to readjust a ship's power budget, often involving changing its power plants altogether, in order to ensure every system can run properly. This is one reason that when she was first designed, critics referred to the Theurgy-class as being over-powered and over-engineered, despite the fact that her hull can accommodate up to X additional pallets between her three vectors.
However, the PSM is intended to be a staple of future ship design, and theories surrounding the building of entirely modular starships are being explored at this time.
Types of pallets available at this time
- Sensor (broad-spectrum or specialized)
- Communications, Command and Control (for ships that are not inherently flagships but could serve in that role)
- Pod Control Modules (Only four have been produced so far and have been forward-deployed to a classified location near the RMZ)
- Palletized Point Defence Modules
- External Machinery Points
- External Gantry Systems (ie: for repair ships)
- Additional Shield Emitters
- Additional Tractor Beams
- Etc.
Thea A.I. Overview
After the USS Voyager returned to the Alpha Quadrant in the year 2378, and the EMH Mk.1 became renowned for its development from a mere emergency hologram to an individual considered sentient (even earning the publishing right to its own holonovel series), another - classified - old project of Starfleet earned a lot of new interest.
Twenty six years earlier, huge amounts of funding had begun in the development of a rudimentary idea involving a Ship AI, and as a side-project to this was also the outline of a holographic interface for this A.I. The term 'artificial intelligence' (or computer intelligence) had always described prototype computer hardware and software sophisticated enough to reason independently, to form new conclusions and alter its own responses. By the time, the technology was no longer impossible. The idea was that while the A.I. would be limited in its accessibility to ship systems, it would still serve as well as any crew member - possessing first-hand knowledge about the vessel it was installed into.
As time passed, the project caught the eye of non-scientists, became a political debate, and while it was the Daystrom Institute's hope that the Ship A.I. would inspire an entirely new generation of artificial intelligences capable of far more than anyone could have previously imagined, many began to concern themselves with the independent nature of living artificial intelligences installed and adapting themselves aboard torpedo-carrying starships. While the developers thought that the benefits of making a starship an essential part of its crew far outweighed the possible negative scenarios, Starfleet as a whole could not reach consensus. The solution was a set-back for the A.I. development for sake of preserving the comfortable safety of the common standard computer integrity.
Besides the software programming, an extensive amount of hard-wiring had to be done to a Starship in order to keep the software from being able to access certain key systems. Long and heated debates coursed over the matter of what an AI was supposed to be able to affect or not, and what manner of prerequisites were needed to alter the interphase projection's accessibility and actions. Moreover, the projection itself needed "physical"accessibility to the whole ship, and therefore required a huge amount of holo-emitters on all decks.
Subroutines would often account for the sentient qualities of A.I. and this debated Ship A.I. project was no exception. Subroutine C-47 was and still is a section of the software in each Starship's computer responsible for non-critical systems such as replicator selections and recreational programming, and all that had to function without hampering the sentience of the interactive projection. An activation subroutine was also needed to be ironed out; a standard set of procedures that were required to be followed prior to the summoning of the projection. Furthermore, a modesty subroutine was added in response to the evident fact that the hologram would not feel it was necessary to wear clothing because it would neither suffer for the elements nor leave its own "body/ship" so to speak. Sufficed to say, the magnitude of the project escalated every day. The subroutines piled up, and added with the millions of other functions of the Starship itself, it seemed it would become too much data to handle.
Though with the advancement in Android sciences at the Daystrom Institute, based on an advanced neural-net design of Noonien Soong and the technology of a pasitronic brain, the vague idea of a solution took form. This however, was the point where the Dominion War broke out, and the enterprise was no more a priority.
Yet with the aforementioned return of the USS Voyager, the project received its due attention once again, and the concept of incorporating a pasitronic brain into the main computer core of a starship was given its proper chance of implementation. This, with the evolving Prometheus project that was about to be finalised. Moreover, the Emergency Command Hologram (ECH), was an extension of the USS Voyager's EHM and proves essential in the development process. The program was implemented by Captain Kathryn Janeway on Voyager and would serve as a , 'backup captain', in the event of the current command crew being incapacitated. The ECH possessed information from all major Starfleet strategic and tactical databases and could incorporate them into its plans for controlling the ship. Equally so, would the Ship A.I. Interphase Projection possess such a command subroutines.
All the pieces of the puzzle had been uncovered, and with the blessing of Starfleet Command, results came fast. The USS Theurgy was one of the first ships to be commissioned, and it was picked for the Ship A.I. implementation.
The Daystrom Institute installed the A.I:s primary matrix in the pasitronic brain within the computer core of the USS Thuergy itself. Without propulsion or tactical systems yet installed, the embryo that was the A.I:s program could branch out and connect to every corner of the Theurgy's mainframe. In the beginning, there were of course huge amounts of cascade failure - occurring when a "learning" program was corrupted either by repeated application to a task it is ill suited to perform or by external influence such as inferior hardware used to implement it. In a neural net system, in particular a positronic brain, in which most or all sub-programs interacted, this led to corruption of surrounding algorithms and routines as they attempted to use data generated by the faulty application to perform a task of their own.
Yet in the end the Daystrom Institute and hundreds of civilian programmers on the Federation's payroll managed it all with version 7.5. Their continued efforts with the stabilized version gained great results, increasing overall efficiency, but also helping the A.I. to become more of a... person. The result was Thea, as she began to call herself instead of Theurgy NX-79854, a woman who had the benefit of the complete attention of the fleet's finest Counsellors in order for her to come to terms with her existence. Throughout the year 2378 and 2379, she evolved from a simple yet highly dynamic ship's artificial intelligence into what came to be seen as the Theurgy's personality and guardian spirit.
In terms of functionality, she was flawless - tested and re-tested in all kinds of battle and non-battle situations. The Federation would never launch a prototype Starship with an AI installed unless it had been thoroughly tested, after all.
Early in the year 2381, Holographic Specialist Lin Kae developed a mobile emitter for Thea, with superior sensory mapping and giving her the ability to leave "herself" and go on away-missions.
Flag Bridge & Main Computer Core
A flag bridge is a dedicated facility to command a formation of ships, independent of the ship it's on. If the Theurgy had not been an outlaw ship, this is where admirals would work from at the front lines. The admirals would have their own "flag bridge crew" to manage to overall situation, from ships' statuses and the overall space around them. They would be independent of Theurgy's crew proper and not involved at all in her operation between sending directions from the admiral and receiving reports.
