Archon class

## SPACECRAFT CLASS

The ***Archon*-class** was a type of spacecraft developed by Starfleet in the early 25th century. It was in the lineage of the *Sovereign*-class and, due to its specialized nature, only three vessels of the class were constructed.

## History

### Design

During the Last Federation-Klingon War, Starfleet engineers began to explore drastically new updates to the fleet. Although the *Regent*-class was a relatively recent design, it had been rushed to completion. A team at the San Francisco Fleet Yards was given the task to create another *Sovereign*-class derivative design, but was not given a timeframe on when it should be completed.

The team, headed by Lieutenant Commander Gazoi, began to draft what would become the *Archon*-class in late 2406. Due to various high-priority projects and the ongoing war, progress was slow. More determined progress began when the Borg Collective began new incursions into the Beta Quadrant.

When the Solanae Dyson Sphere was discovered in 2409, the *Archon* development project was temporarily shelved as Starfleet began focusing on analyzing the sphere and its technology. However, when the Iconians reappeared and annihilated the Klingon High Council, Gazoi was told to drop all other projects and focus on the *Archon* design.

Some of the renewed pressure came from Starfleet Intelligence. The organization had found success with its highly classified intel starships and sought another design that could serve a more multi-purpose role while also fulfilling some of the mission profile of designs like the *Eclipse*-class. Intelligence gathering systems were integrated in the the *Archon*-class, as well as advanced cloaking systems.

The *Archon*-class design was finally completed in late 2409, when the galaxy was steeped in the Iconian War. Though resources were spread thin due to the war, Starfleet Command saw the potential of the vessel and its incremental phase cloak in battling the Iconians. As such, the prototype USS *Archon* was ordered for construction.

### Construction

Due to the classified nature of many elements of the design and the Federation's losses during the war, construction of the *Archon* began at the Beta Antares Ship Yards. Since it was a smaller yard, it was easier to limit access to the project and it was hoped that the facility would not be a target for the Iconians.

Construction went relatively quickly, with the basic hull frame laid down by late 2410 when the Iconian War came to a close.

## Technical specifications

Receiving heavy input from Starfleet Intelligence, the *Archon*-class adapted some of the technologies developed under Project Deep Shadow. Vessels were equipped with advanced sensors and active sensor arrays to assist in information-gathering operations. These both fed into a dedicated intelligence operations center.

The class was also equipped with an advanced cloaking device with a highly classified incremental phasing cloaking aspect. This technology was based upon the design originally tested by the USS *Pegasus* in the mid-24th century. Starfleet Intelligence had secretly continued research on phase cloaking, gathering data from Klingon and Romulan attempts. With the dire situation the Federation found itself in during the Iconian War, Admiral Chakotay felt the time had come to deploy the technology.

In early 2411, the Corps of Engineers began to refit some *Archon*-class vessels with the Skywalker Division 1138 Cyclical Quantum Slipstream Field Projector used on the *Gagarin*-class. This gave greater range to the vessels as they could then travel at Warp 23 for up to 90 seconds, a vast improvement over their original standard slipstream drives.

### Deck plan

The following was the standard layout of *Archon*-class vessels.

### Tactical systems

The *Archon* carried three Aegis Mk. XIV Resilient Unified Field Emitter Deflector Shield Arrays and had ablative hull armor.

## Appendices

### Connections

**Project groups:** **Union Station** (*Geneva* • *Concorde* • *Presidio*) • **Century Cruiser** (*Springfield* • *New Orleans* • *Challenger* • *Niagara* • *Freedom II* • *Galaxy* • *Nebula* • *Cheyenne*) • **Multi-Mission explorers** (*Brigid* • *Esquiline* • *Palatine*) • **Deep Shadow** (*Eclipse* • *Phantom* • *Scryer*) • **Miracle Worker** (*Scott* • *Daystrom* • *Tucker* • *Gagarin*) • **Aeronaut** (*Mercury* • *Ajax* • *Icarus* • *Shran*)

**Other named classes:** *Aegian* • *Aerie* • *Akula* • *Atlas* • *California* • *Centaur* • *Challenger* • *Cheyenne* • *Constellation* • *Constitution III* • *Crossfield* • *Curry* • *Daedalus* • *Dauntless* • *Excelsior II* • *Freedom II* • *Gemini* • *Glenn* • *Guardian* • *Inquiry* • *Iwo Jima* • *Jupiter* • *Lexington* • *Niagara* • *Obena* • *Okinawa* • *Parliament* • *Perseus* • *Pioneer* • *Ranger* • *Sagan* • *Solanae* • *Springfield* • *Turing* • *Ulysses*

**Auxiliary craft:** *Aero* • Class C • Class F • *Danube* • *Flyer* • *Gondola* • *Kodai* • *Mollard* • *Peregrine* • *Selenic* • Type 4 • Type 5 • Type 6 (Type 6A • Type 6S) • Type 7 • Type 8 • Type 9 (Type 9A) • Type 10 • Type 11 • Type 14 • Type 17 • Type 19 • *Valkyrie* • *Venture* • *Waverider* • *Yellowstone*

**Leadership:** Commander-in-chief • Joint Chiefs • Chief of Starfleet External Affairs • Chief of Starfleet Operations • Chief of Starfleet Research and Exploration • Chief of Starfleet Tactical

**Agencies:** Operations (Engineering • Judicial • Materiel Supply • Mission Operations • Personnel Management • Records Service • Shipyards Operations • Starbase Operations) • Research & Exploration (Science • Medical) • External Affairs • Tactical (Intelligence • Security • MACO)

**Notable units:** Ktarn Fleet • Task Force 77

**Facilities:** Deep Space K-7 • Deep Space K-13 • Deep Space 9 • Masamichi Array • Starbase 45-Keepsake • Starbase 82-Maat • Starbase 234-Beskerm • Starbase 247-Vershina

**Agencies:** Starfleet • Diplomatic Corps • Department of Temporal Investigations • Federation Security Agency

**Facilities:** 40 Eridani A Starfleet Construction Yards • Antares Ship Yards • Beta Antares Ship Yards • Copernicus Ship Yards • Laikan Starfleet Shipyards • McKinley Station • Memory Project • New Aberdeen Shipyards • Proxima Maintenance Yards • Salazaar Shipyards • San Francisco Fleet Yards • TL-9139 Starfleet Maintenance Yards • Tranquility Base • Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards

### Sources consulted

* Archon Intel Assault Cruiser article at the *Star Trek Online Wiki*.
* Archon class article at *Memory Beta*.
* Archon-class starship article at the 26th Fleet Wiki.

### Footnotes

1. ↑ Derived from MSD created by Koppenflak.