U.S.S. Congress

The **USS Congress (NCC-26528)** is an *Ambassador*-class starship currently in service with Starfleet. Since her launch from the San Francisco Fleet Yards in the Sol system in 2335, the USS *Congress* has typically performed the traditional duties of Starfleet exploration vessels - first contact missions, diplomatic visits, and - when the situation calls for it - defending Federation interests. Beyond her exploratory and humanitarian efforts, she has seen numerous battles in her many decades of service. After spending nearly 30 years as a museum ship following the end of the Dominion War, the USS *Congress* was recommissioned in response to increasing hostilities at the turn of the 25th century. As of today, she remains one of increasingly few *Ambassador*-class starships still in active service.

The USS *Congress* is perhaps best known for her service during the Dominion War. Assigned to the 7th Fleet at the start of the war, she was one of few survivors of the disastrous Battle of Tyra, a failed counterattack attempting to stop the Dominion push towards Betazed. After a brief series of repairs at Starbase 375, *Congress* would go on to conduct a desperate attack against a Cardassian shipyard in the Hanolan system, destroying the shipyard and capturing the *Galor*-class destroyer CDV *Khessem* as a prize. This marked the beginning of their campaign against the Cardassian Gul Marek, an ex-Obsidian Order commander whom the crew of the *Congress* would encounter repeatedly over the course of the war upon learning of his intent to repair and actively use an Iconian gateway for the war effort.

The USS *Congress* would later go on to survive the Ambush in the Rollins Nebula and lead the remaining ships of Task Force 7.1 in the campaign against Gul Marek, which included playing a supporting role in the Kalandra campaign, participating in the defense of the San Francisco Fleet Yards during the Breen Attack on Earth, and finally spearheading the final assault on Gul Marek's gateway facility in the Battle of the Amleth Nebula. The combination of moderate battle damage and the loss of several of her command crew in the latter battle, paired with Starfleet's post-war demilitarization, saw *Congress* reassigned to serve as a museum ship - a role she would retain for just under 30 years.

With rising tensions throughout the Alpha and Beta quadrants at the start of the 25th century, particularly involving the Klingon Empire, *Congress* was one of several ships selected for reactivation from the list of mothballed, decommissioned, or otherwise inactive ships left in reserve. Following her reactivation in 2404, *Congress* would go on to see service in the Klingon War of 2409, primarily comprised of patrol duties in the Rigel sector, until her transfer to the 26th Fleet in 2413. *Congress* remained with the 26th Fleet until suffering critical damage in combat with the Voth during Operation Delta Rising. Initially thought destroyed during the battle, her abandoned hull was recovered and transported to Earth for a lengthy series of repairs, after which *Congress* was reassigned and would serve in reserve roles in the Alpha Quadrant up to and throughout the Iconian War. This assignment would remain until 2422, when the *Congress* was transferred back to the 26th Fleet as part of an effort to replenish their numbers following a series of costly engagements with the Terran Empire.

# Design and Construction

Spearheaded by an ambitious Captain Probert shortly after the turn of the 24th century, the Ambassador-class represented the pinnacle of Federation technology at the time of its introduction in the mid-2320s. The basis of the project that would ultimately become the *Ambassador*-class starships can be found in the preceding *Constitution*-class and *Excelsior*-class designs; being a heavy-weight cruiser designed to use the most cutting-edge technology available at the time, the *Ambassador*-class continues the pattern of maintaining a relatively small number of larger, more versatile starships to complement a larger fleet of specialized spaceframes and equipment. However, the *Ambassador*-class also served as a major leap forward in starship design that would have major influences in later designs such as the famed *Galaxy*-class. Major technological advances pioneered on this new frame would ultimately set new standards across the vast majority of the fleet, even into the 25th century.

## Armaments

10x Type IX Mk. XII Phaser Arrays

1x Forward Mk. XII Burst-Fire Torpedo Launcher (Neck)

1x Aft Mk. XII Burst-Fire Torpedo Launcher (Ventral Hull)

Though cutting-edge at the time of her launch in 2335, the original Type-IX phaser arrays installed aboard the USS *Congress* have unfortunately become outdated over her decades of service and have required relatively consistent modification and modernization, incorporating many advancements from the *Galaxy*-class and *Sovereign*-class design programs. These improvements have included new EPS grid lines and reinforcements, new energy buffers to allow for successive fire, and numerous targeting sensor refits as the technologies developed. The relative similarity between the weapons systems of the *Ambassador*-class and successor designs has aided in this process, enabling more efficient use of spaces already present for similar systems, unlike the earlier *Miranda*- and *Excelsior*-class starships.

Similarly, the torpedo launchers aboard the USS *Congress* have seen continuous upgrades over time. Beyond regularly scheduled refits every five years, the first particularly notable instance of these modifications was the 2375 installation of a new forward torpedo launcher and associated fire control systems capable of utilizing then-new Quantum torpedoes, primarily used by *Defiant*-, *Prometheus*-, and *Sovereign*-class starships at the time. This configuration was preserved during the time spent as a museum ship and only changed in mid-2404 as part of the ship's reactivation process. As the original Mk. VIII torpedo launchers were replaced with more modern Mk. XII equivalents, additional induction coil refits were conducted to allow for limited use of non-standard torpedo configurations, including but not limited to chroniton and gravimetric devices.

## Defensive Systems

Mk. XII Covariant Deflector Shields

Standard Duranium-Tritanium alloy hull plating, Trellium-K lining in select areas

20-40mm Ablative armor installed over critical sections including bridge and neck

Being no exception to the signature durability of the *Ambassador*-class, the USS *Congress* originally launched with a next-generation Mk VIII shield grid, capable of resisting a startlingly large amount of weapons fire thanks to the new high-output generators powering the shield grid. When combined with the resilient spaceframe and hull materials, the *Congress* proved its ability to take a punch numerous times across her long career, leading the crew to adopt the phrase "She can do this all day" as a morale booster.

Despite this remarkable durability, the infamous loss of the USS *Enterprise* NCC-1701-C demonstrated the survivability improvements were still quite necessary. Continuous improvements were made to the shield grid, including a large-scale refit in June 2365 incorporating advancements made with the *Galaxy*-class development program. Additional refits were conducted at the outbreak of the Dominion War, incorporating small amounts of ablative armor over critical areas such as the bridge and neck, utilizing lessons learned from the loss of the USS *Odyssey* to the Jem'Hadar. These refits would go on to save the ship at least twice during the events of the Dominion War, with the improved shield grid or newly-installed armor proving to be the only thing preventing the loss of a vital area of the ship such as the bridge or main engineering.

Upon reactivation in July 2404, the original Mk. VIII shield grid components were replaced with modern Mk. XII equivalents, with modifications made to the backup batteries to improve total shield capacity at the cost of immediate power reserves for recharge. Simultaneous computer systems overhauls including the installation of bio-neural gel packs introduced the capability for far more efficient management of defensive subsystems, improving total shield output and frequency handling. Finally, new bulkhead linings derived from Trellium-K alloys also resulted in a noticeable improvement to hull integrity under continuous fire.

## Propulsion and Engineering

1 Yoyodyne 39B Mk. XII Field-Stabilizing Matter/Antimatter Reaction Assembly

2 MKX-B Fifth-Phase warp nacelles

8 TPS-3232-B Intertial-Magnatomic Pulse-Fusion Units in single housing

Cruising speed: Warp 9
Maximum speed: Warp 9.8+

As with her tactical and defensive systems, most of the propulsion systems aboard the USS *Congress* have either been refitted or replaced over her decades of service. Having been commissioned with the improved warp reactor assembly commonly associated with the Zhukov-subclass, *Congress'* engineering systems were largely untouched beyond regularly scheduled refits until the Dominion War, where damage sustained over the course of several battles, combined with compounding supply issues, resulted in the temporary fitting of additional Zhukov-subclass components as a temporary repair until proper replacements could be replicated and transferred to the appropriate shipyards. These components would be replaced after the cessation of hostilities and *Congress’* reassignment as a museum ship, as the appropriate parts were more readily available and the ship's original condition was preferred for its role as a museum ship.

The July 2404 reactivation saw a near-complete overhaul of the ship's propulsion systems, bringing them in line with modern standards. This overhaul included new fusion reactors, EPS grid shunts, and the much more powerful Yoyodyne 39B Field-Stabilizing warp core. System integrations with the new core allow for excess power to be more readily diverted to defensive systems or power reserves, further improving survivability in combat - a major concern given that the ship's reactivation was primarily motivated by imminent conflict with the Klingon Empire. An unintended benefit of the ship's period of inactivity as a museum ship was that the lack of additional modifications to the propulsion systems from time in service allowed for a significantly easier refit process, simultaneously reducing time spent in the shipyard and improving system integration across the board.

# Senior Staff

**Commanding Officer:** Captain Beilong Di

**Executive Officer:** Commander Tildaen Txiv

**Chief Engineer:** Lieutenant Commander Valoret

**Chief Science Officer:** Lieutenant Commander Sotar

**Chief of Operations:** Lieutenant Commander Mohd

**Chief Tactical Officer:** Lieutenant Commander Leffert

**Chief Security Officer:** Commander Juliet Richardson

**Chief Medical Officer:** Lieutenant Commander Pixie

**Helmsman:** Lieutenant Commander Elize van Rensburg

# Command History

Captain Andrea Bruce, April 2335 - October 2347

Captain Robert O'Neill, October 2347 - January 2354

Captain Kimura Takeo, January 2354 - December 2360

Captain Sitak, December 2360 - July 2366

Captain Raul Gutierrez, July 2366 - February 2374

Captain Beilong Di, February 2374 - August 2375

**MUSEUM SHIP - August 2375 - July 2404**

Commander Ishral, July 2404 - May 2410

Commander Johnathan Maxwell, May 2410 - October 2413

Captain Richard Harris, December 2413 - September 2423

Captain Beilong Di, September 2423 - Present

# Major Fitting Dates

Initial outfitting completed April 2335, commissioned later that same month.

First major systems overhaul and modernization completed June 2365.

Temporary fitting of Zhukov-subclass nacelle, deflector, and shuttlebay components in July 2375 due to supply limitations in repairs, later reverted to original configuration upon reassignment as a museum ship.

Second major systems overhaul as part of reactivation process completed July 2404.

# History of the Name

### USS *Congress* NCC-1799

*Constitution*-class

Launched April 27th, 2250

San Francisco Fleet Yards, Sol

The first Federation starship to bear the name, USS *Congress* NCC-1799 was one of the mid-production *Constitution*-class starships to enter service in the early 2250s. The first two years of her service were relatively uneventful as the ship performed thorough surveys of previously charted systems, being one of the few *Constitution*-class ships not assigned to a five-year exploratory mission in deep space.

This pattern would change with the outbreak of the Four Years War in 2252. The once-peaceful cruiser now turned to a war footing alongside its sisters and participated in several of the larger battles of the war to moderate success, including the Battle of Andromeda, the Encounter at Videtu, the Defense of Topax, and finally the Battle of Kolm-an in 2256. With these conflicts at the far reaches of Federation and Klingon space finally coming to a close, it seemed that peace, strained as it may be, might just last.

Of course, nothing lasts forever, and the tenuous peace only held until T'Kuvma's efforts to reunite the Klingon Houses led to the Federation-Klingon War of 2256, which would see *Congress* go head-to-head with far more aggressive Klingon warships throughout Starfleet's desperate defensive campaign. As the war progressed, *Congress* was one of the ships recalled to defensive lines closer to Sol and other core Federation member worlds and would ultimately see the end of the war from the edges of the Sol system.

The cessation of hostilities in 2257 resulted in yet another change of mission for *Congress*, and the next two years were primarily comprised of relief missions for systems affected by the war including shipments of food, medical supplies, power generation systems, and other critical supplies needed along the frontier.

After the relative stabilization of the frontier, *Congress* would finally return to her original duties of exploratory and humanitarian missions, and the latter half of her service life would see the resumption of survey missions, diplomatic duties, several border disputes, and two five-year missions before her peaceful retirement in 2295.