U.S.S. Mariner
| USS Mariner | |
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Class: Registry: Owner: Operator: Status: Successor: |
Intrepid Class NCC-74671 United Federation of Planets Starfleet Destroyed (2423) U.S.S. Mariner (NCC-74671-A) |
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The U.S.S. Mariner (NCC-74671) was a Federation Intrepid-class starship operated by Starfleet. Originally commissioned as a long-range scout vessel, Mariner was a part of the original production run of Intrepid-class ships, a sister ship to the U.S.S. Voyager. Over its 52 year service history, the ship underwent several systems retrofits for a variety of mission profiles, proving to be a dependable, versatile workhorse.
History
During construction, Mariner and her sister ships were designed to be part of an exploratory task force leading Starfleet’s efforts to chart the distant Gamma Quadrant. However, the emergence of the Dominion as a threat to the Federation and the subsequent destruction of the U.S.S. Odyssey resulted in the early Intrepid-class ships being repurposed for low-risk scouting missions near the Cardassian Demilitarized Zone.
The Dominion War
After the breakout of the Dominion War, Mariner was assigned to the Eighth Fleet under Admiral Okonkwo, where it served with distinction. The crew’s familiarity with Cardassian territory allowed the ship to gather intelligence from Dominion space quickly and quietly, proving a valuable asset in the war effort.
A scouting mission near the Betreka Nebula unearthed a near-complete staging for an assault on Aldebaran. Mariner’s warning signal proved crucial to maintaining control of the Aldebaran sector, which led to the ship being nicknamed “The Siren” among the Eighth Fleet. The ship soon found itself assigned to sensitive intelligence gathering missions, investigating unverified reports of enemy ship movements. This ultimately led to the discovery of a major ketracel-white production facility that was destroyed by a Jem’Hadar attack ship commanded by the crew of the U.S.S. Defiant.
The ship didn’t see involvement in any major engagements until the Eighth Fleet was conscripted to participate in Operation: Return, where Mariner fought Dominion forces to retake Deep Space Nine.
Romulan Diplomacy and the Refugee Crisis
Following the Dominion War, the Federation took to using the Intrepid-class ships as transports for high-risk political and diplomatic parties, as they were dependable in battle and fast enough to outrun most threats. Mariner was escorted by the U.S.S. Titan to ferry the first Federation diplomatic envoy to Romulus after the death of Praetor Shinzon in 2379.
By the mid-2380s, Mariner was one of the first ships outfitted with a quantum slipstream drive. This distinct tactical advantage led to its assignment as a rapid response patrol ship guarding refugee convoys against Orion and Nausicaan pirates as they evacuated the Romulan star system.
Systems Failure and Decommissioning
Having served through three galactic conflicts by the end of the Iconian War, Mariner was finally afforded the ability to fulfill its original vision: exploration. The ship saw an extensive overhaul at the Antares Fleet Shipyards in 2413, receiving a complete systems retrofit that brought it up to spec with the latest Pathfinder-class explorers.
Unfortunately, over time, the ship’s battle-tested, well-worn power grid wasn’t able to keep up with the demands of its new systems. During a close-range survey of the emission zone of a neutron star, a primary plasma conduit overheated from long-term thermal stress and caused a power failure in the aft shields and engines. The gravity well of the neutron star pulled the Mariner into the exclusion zone, causing massive jets of radiation to bombard the aft section, superheating and partially fusing the nacelle articulation system and compromising the warp coils and underlying spaceframe with neutron fatigue.
The damage was deemed too extensive to repair, and the ship was brought to Deep Space 13 for decommission and salvage.
Resurrection and Assignment to 38th Fleet
By 2420, Serris Zital, who worked on Mariner during its overhaul at Antares, had been reassigned to Deep Space 13 at the time the ship was due to be decommissioned. Having extensive familiarity with the ship and its systems, he requested permission to try an experimental molecular reconditioning on the aft hull. Intrigued by the implications for future repair operations, Captain Lauren Varley and Lieutenant Commander H’ajah approved the procedure. By using a cross-linked pattern buffer made from cargo transporters and industrial replicators, Zital suspended the ship in the transporter buffer section by section and resequenced its molecules to perfect condition.
After a month of 24/7 transporter operation, and substantial energy and computer memory investment, Mariner had undergone a total engine reassembly and ODN and power transmission grid replacements in less than a quarter of the time it would have taken to source the parts and construct new nacelles.
Left without a crew after its decommissioning, the ship was reactivated as a hazardous search and rescue specialist vessel, with several officers from Argo assigned to fill out its crew complement.
Serving the 38th Fleet
In its time serving the 38th Fleet, Mariner has proven itself to be an invaluable asset, singlehandedly saving Outpost J-61 from being consumed by a large cosmozoan lifeform, and rescuing the crew of a deep sea civilian research outpost after catastrophic environmental failure. The ship and crew proved to be exceptionally capable in rapid response, high intensity search and rescue operations, for which they were often deployed.
During the Klingon Civil War, Mariner was utilized to deploy planetary defenses in the Ceron system, while in an active combat zone against hostile Elachi forces. Weeks later, the ship and crew saved escape pods carrying the crew of the U.S.S. Antietam from the ergosphere of a type-IV black hole while taking fire from hostile House Mo’Kai vessels.
Cardassian Unrest
Mariner has been extensively involved in Starfleet’s response to the emerging House Arterius crisis in Cardassian space. When the U.S.S. Prometheus went missing during a patrol of the Betreka Nebula. Its mission was to investigate harassment of civilian shipping lanes in the area by unknown forces. Mariner was dispatched to investigate the disappearance, located the Prometheus, and stumbled upon a hidden, unmarked Cardassian military outpost.
The discovery of illegal Cardassian military assets so close to Federation space immediately escalated into a diplomatic incident, summoning Cardassian Union delegates to Deep Space 13 for the first time in decades. It was then revealed that a political dissident movement with isolationist aims threatened to upend Cardassian society, growing in popularity after the C’qer probe’s attack on Earth.
Mariner took part in several joint missions with the Cardassian Union, the Romulan Republic, and several other ships in the 38th Fleet, with the goal of uncovering the extent of the rogue military presence. During their advance into hostile territory, the Cardassian warship Seskal nearly suffered a crippling blow before Mariner intervened by striking its assailants with a tractor-guided asteroid.
It was soon discovered that the Cardassian ships belonged to House Arterius a noble Cardassian family with a long history of military service. These vessels utilized boronite-enhanced spiral wave disruptors capable of wreaking havoc on the subspace field coils of Federation starships, which could eventually result in a loss of power, or even a warp core breach. Mariner, by design, proved resistant to these effects due to its dynamic engine assembly.
Unable to explain the origin of this technology, Starfleet and Cardassian Intelligence theorized that the only logical explanation was outside interference. The former Confederacy of Azed boasted impressive technology, and bordered Federation and Cardassian space, making it the most likely point of origin. To cover the widest region of space in the shortest amount of time, Mariner and the U.S.S. Dragon were dispatched on a reconnaissance mission into the Crossroads Nebula. It was there that Mariner found a promising lead, encountering two vessels from a previously unknown species whose ships were constructed with boronite-silicate alloy. Unfortunately, before they could make contact, the ships cloaked and retreated into the nebula.
Soon after, Starfleet Command approved the deployment of a second expeditionary group into Azedi space led by Mariner, with escort from the Dragon, the Galaxy-class U.S.S. Dauntless, and the Republic Warbird Tebok. The three vessels were loaded with emergency aid supplies before departing Deep Space 13, and routed to the Vesuvi system, where colonists were experiencing radiation poisoning after the passing of a mysterious comet two days prior.
Upon arriving in Vesuvi, the Dragon and the Tebok attended to Haven and the Geki mining colony, while Mariner pursued the Dauntless deeper into the system, which was becoming harder to navigate due to high levels of ionizing radiation. It was discovered that the Dauntless had been attacked and disabled by strange spiral wave positron-based weaponry. Meanwhile, the readings from the Vesuvi star seemed to indicate imminent destabilization.
Unable to evacuate over eight million colonists in such a short period of time, Mariner and the rest of the task force repositioned themselves close to the sun, within the orbital planes of Haven and Geki, where they were able to establish a shield wall that deflected the energy of the supernova safely around the colonies. All ships suffered major internal damage and casualties, however, Mariner was particularly hard hit, being at the front of the formation. The ship was declared a total loss.
Technical Data
| Specifications | |
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Length: Beam: Draft: Mass: |
344.5 m 132.1 m 64.4 m 700,000 mt |
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Decks: Crew: Capacity: |
15 168 2,500 |
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Avg. Cruise: Max Cruise: Maximum Speed: |
Warp 6 Warp 9.9 Warp 9.975 (for 12 hours) |
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Armaments: |
13x Type-XII Phaser Arrays 4x Transphasic Torpedo Tubes |
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Defenses: |
Deflector Shields |
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Auxiliary Craft: |
1x Aeroshuttle Captain's Yacht 2x Type 11 Shuttlecraft 1x Delta Class Runabout 4x CMU Workbees |
Intrepid Class Master Systems Display
Physical Arrangement & Crew Support
Intrepid Class Bridge Layout
The hull configuration of the Intrepid-class adopts the saucer-type shape of previous starship classes, which of primary hull, secondary hull, and nacelles driven by the physics of warp generation and control. One of the Intrepid-class’ most notable characteristics are its articulated variable geometry warp nacelles, which angle when going to warp, a quality which has since been adopted by modern contemporary designs. The Intrepid-class uses a duranium hull structure, a plasma-based power distribution system, and tricyclic life support systems.
Following the Starfleet standard, deck 1 is reserved for the main bridge, with the briefing room and captain’s ready room located to port and starboard sides of the bridge. Located in the front section of deck 2 is the crew’s mess hall and the galley, served by three windows that offered a spectacular view of space in front of the vessel. One deck below, located in the front section of deck 3, are the quarters of the starship’s commanding officer, served by five windows.
Further aft, the main navigational deflector dish is found at the fore side of the Intrepid-class’ secondary hull. Located right above the deflector are the forward photon torpedo launchers. On the underside of the secondary hull are three sets of plates that support the warp propulsion system. The forward plate covers the reserve intermix chamber; the middle plate contains the antimatter loading port, a large magnetic valve that kept the antimatter from coming in contact with matter during the transfer to the storage pods; and the aft cover plate contains the operational intermix chamber hatch, for ejecting the warp core in case of emergency.
One of the few Starfleet starship classes capable of atmospheric entry and planetary landing, the Intrepid-class starship is equipped with anti-gravity generators, as well as impulse and lifters strategically placed at the mass and stress points on the bottom portion of the secondary hull.
These anti-gravity generators make the structural integrity fields of the Intrepid-class and other long range science vessels uniquely suited to housing lifeforms native to higher gravity than Federation standard. The starboard side of deck 3, section 2 was sectioned off as a variable gravity area to accommodate Lieutenant Commander Serris Zital, whose species is native to 5.6G. This area of the ship possessed reinforced bulkheads and doors, similar to a cargo bay.
Command & Control Systems
Mariner was one of the only starships left in service sporting first generation bio-neural gel packs for legacy system compatibility. Bio-neural gel packs are hybrid organic-electronic computing devices containing neural fibers surrounded in a blue gel with metallic interfaces on the top and bottom. They are designed to cache and facilitate information and data transmission throughout the ship, and store more information and operate at faster speeds than isolinear circuitry.
Personnel
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Gallery
Mariner in dry dock, pictured 2419
Mariner navigating a class-9 ion storm, pictured 2420