Odyssey Class Starships

The Odyssey Class is the most recent culmination of centuries of Starfleet's research and development, being both the newest class of Federation starship and the most technologically complex. Designed as a long-term exploration cruiser with a secondary role as a defensive vessel, it is the first vessel class to carry a Mark Two Quantum Slipstream Drive as standard equipment, and the first to be able to carry another fully-fledged starship as part of its structure. It is the largest starship built by the Federation Starfleet to date (discounting technically-mobile platforms such as many stations).

## Basic Statistics Overview

Length(bow-stern): 1,061.1 metres

Beam(port-starboard): 371.9 metres

Draught(dorsal-ventral): 147.9 metres

Mass: 6,822,050 tons (6,822,050,000 kilograms)

Cargo capacity: 105,500 m^3 (capacity of dedicated quick-turnaround cargo bays, actual usable storage volume is orders of magnitude higher)

Hull: Micro-fiber reinforced Duranium-Tritanium composite single hull with polyduranide-microstrut reinforced parrafin wax ablative armour.

Decks: 25

Crew Manifest: 2465 (633 officers, 1832 enlisted). Minimum fully operational crew complement 1600, accomodation for 4860 including visiting personnel. Evacuation capacity of 75000.

## Tactical Systems

### Phasers

The Odyssey class has sixteen Type-XV phaser arrays using Mark Fourteen emitters at key locations around the ship's hull, ensuring maximum field of fire for all phaser strips. The Type-XV array is the most powerful phaser to be used by a starship to date. The maximum tactically effective range of these weapons is 42500 kilometres; beyond that, the beam becomes wide enough that it is easily absorbed by the hull of even the weakest threat vessels even without shielding. However, phaser power per unit area quickly drops off even before this, and so to achieve the 100 GW/m^2 beam intensity required to reliably damage threat vessel shields, range must be limited to 2000 kilometers. Each phaser array takes its energy directly from the primary EPS conduits. Individually, each type-XV emitter can only discharge approximately 600 Megawatts. However, several emitters (usually two) fire at once in the array during standard firing procedures, resulting in a standard discharge of approximately 1.2 Gigawatts.

### Torpedoes

There are five torpedo launchers on the Odyssey class, one of which is a swivel-mounted launcher mounted on the primary hull, at the forwardmost tip of the saucer on deck 6, and the other four of which are traditional fixed launchers mounted on the secondary hull, two facing forward and two facing aft. Each forward launcher is capable of holding five torpedos at a time, and so can fire five torpedos before being reloaded, in sequential, salvo or spread fire. The aft launchers are slightly smaller assemblies capable of firing only four torpedos each before reloading.

An Odyssey class starship typically carries 175 Mark Three Quantum Torpedoes and 825 Mark Nine Photon Torpedoes. Due to the complexities involved with manufacture, the deployment of quantum torpedoes is rationed across a relatively small number of fixed and mobile platforms within Starfleet. Should supplies be unavailable for optimum load out, the ship is capable of carrying a maximum of 1000 torpedoes of either type. Shipboard materials in the form of replicated components and antimatter storage allow for the construction of photon torpedo warheads locally, while quantum warheads are only manufactured at secure, undisclosed locations. The rest of a torpedo is easily manufacturable using replicators.

Maximum tactically effective range of photon torpedoes is highly dependent on the manoeuvrability of threat vessels and environmental conditions.

### Shields

One of the most obvious ways in which the Odyssey class is superior to older models is its deflector shielding. First used on the prototype Sovereign-class U.S.S. Sovereign, Mark Three regenerative shielding inspired by Borg technology and enhanced by knowledge learned from the return of the USS Voyager and Project Full Circle has been installed in all Odyssey class vessels.

These regenerative shields comprise two separate shielding systems; only one system can operate at once, but while the shields are up the shield systems alternate, allowing each shield brief periods to recharge and increasing total shield capacity significantly, as well as providing limited protection against shield system damage leading to exposed areas of the ship.

Odyssey class shields are also able to able to alter their frequency and nutation to increase efficiency on a case-by-case basis against energy weapons, by matching weapon frequencies, but with different nutation, to create interference patterns - this is the influence of the Borg, as knowledge from Voyager provided insight into how the Borg are able to adapt to energy weapons.

Odyssey class shields are typically held one metre away from the hull to provide space for buckling and bleedthrough dissipation while maximising shield strength, and while fully operational each grid has maximum total energy absorption capacity of 23 Gigajoules, with peak power absorption of 12 Gigawatts.

## Propulsion Systems

### Warp Core

The Warp Core is a YoyoDyne 47B Matter/Antimatter Reactor, capable of producing a consistent output of 67 petawatts and bursts of 1.03 exawatts; the electro-plasma power distribution conduits provide the limiting factor in starship power.

### Warp Drive

An Odyssey class starship has a standard cruising speed of Warp Factor 8, a potential cruising speed of Warp 8.75 without breaks until fuel exhaustion assuming no damage to ship systems beyond that directly caused by warp travel, and a maximum speed of Warp Factor 9.99 under the Starfleet definition (that being the maximum speed maintainable for twelve hours under optimal conditions).

### Impulse Drive and RCS

There are four main gimballed impulse thrusters on an Odyssey class ship, two on the primary hull and two on the secondary hull, with further smaller thrusters for balancing distributed across the ship's aft. Reaction control thrusters are distributed across the hull and used for docking operations and turning the ship. The ship can, under combat conditions, accelerate at 1245 metres per second per second as standard, and has angular acceleration of 10 degrees per second per second under normal operation, resulting in 6 seconds to turn through 90 degrees.

### Quantum Slipstream Drive

An Odyssey class starship carries a Mark Two Quantum Slipstream Drive, capable of carrying the starship across the galaxy in a mere few weeks as long as the space ahead has been extensively mapped and there are no obstacles.

A Quantum Slipstream Drive is a form of Transwarp Drive which places a ship and its warp field into a second, differently shaped, warp field, known as a warp tunnel, which alters the space that the ship and its main warp field passes through. It does this in two ways.

Firstly, the drive smoothes out the space around the ship and its underlying subspace. It allows ships to essentially bypass the aberrations and distortions of normal space which make warp travel more difficult, slow and inefficient than it would be in a theoretical ideal situation. However, to gain this benefit, these distortions must be mapped beforehand, which severely limits the speed of a slipstream ship passing through anything other than an extensively charted corridor of space, as a ship must travel at much lower than its maximum slipstream velocity to chart space ahead of it as it moves. This is the function of the Mark One Quantum Slipstream Drive used in Project Full Circle, the first attempt by Starfleet to explore the Delta Quadrant; its downsides led to the abandonment of the project.

The other function of the Quantum Slipstream Drive, introduced with the Mark Two, is much more useful, but much more complicated; the field can be made to stress local subspace in order to lower effective warp factor peak transitional thresholds (the amount of energy needed to reach each successive warp factor, which is much higher than the amount of energy then needed to hold that factor). By allowing a vessel to largely bypass the peak transitional thresholds, a ship can quickly reach its maximum speed without having to push through the thresholds; in the past ship maximum speeds have always been placed at one of these thresholds, which is why ship maximum speeds have always been at whole-ish numbers. Ships using warp drive are generally capable of maintaining speeds decently higher than their maximum speed, but are incapable of attaining such speeds due to the thresholds in the way.

Theoretically the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 could have held that era's Warp Factor 22 with the same amount of power that was required for the briefest of moments to pass the threshold from Warp 7 to Warp 8, if only it had been able to pass the transitional thresholds below that factor, which it could not do because they were much higher than that ship's warp core's maximum output. Similarly, while the auxiliary entangled slipstream driver coils placed in the nacelles to enable Slipstream are damaged over time by use of the Drive and must be replaced after only about 61,400,000 cohchrane light years (which gives a set of coils just enough lifespan to cross the galaxy in a few weeks before needing replacement, or to do so in a couple of months and then return), with the same energy required to cross the Warp 8 threshold a ship could travel at about warp 9.99, fast enough to cross a light year in an hour and a sector in a day, and an Odyssey class starship in perfect condition can maintain Warp 9.99998725 for eighteen days under maximum threshold suppression and travelling through known warp highways, though this will require full replacement of slipstream driver coils. With the increasing number of decimal digits required to accurately represent such high velocities combined with the suppression of warp transitional thresholds, Starfleet is considering establishing a Transwarp scale for representation of high velocity. This scale would use the equation v = F^4, where v is the starship's speed in multiples of c and F is the Transwarp factor.

Put simply:

In the new Transwarp Scale, an Odyssey class starship's maximum semi-sustainable Warp 9.99998725 is Transwarp 34.71 using the Slipstream drive, which can be maintained through charted corridors by a skilled pilot and skilled engineers for long enough to travel about 80,000 light years before the coils give out. This takes almost exactly 20 days.

## Utilities

### Sensor Systems

The primary scientific, tactical and navigational sensors are located behind the main deflector dish, to avoid sensor "ghosts", beam refraction and other detrimental effects that would be caused by the distortion of spacetime in deflector operation. Secondary sensor pallets are located across the entire hull, providing full coverage; of these, the lateral sensor pallets on the engineering hull are the most powerful after the primary array.

The sensors are configured to be most efficient at the following tasks, though they can be reconfigured to do almost anything to some degree of accuracy and efficiency:

- Tracking of astronomical phenomena that might pose a threat to the ship or be an opportunity for scientific discovery

- Long range planetary scanning and analysis

- Remote life-form analysis - evaluations of population and species

- Scanning with all forms of electromagnetic radiation(light), passive and active

- Passive neutrino scanning(neutrinos are produced by fusion reactors and cannot easily be prevented from escaping a ship, so neutrino scanners can be used to detect ships cloaked and uncloaked, though any nuclear fusion or fission reaction produces them)

- Parametric subspace field stress analysis(can sometimes be used to detect cloaked objects by finding the distortion of subspace they create)

- Thermal variance scanning

- Stellar material analysis(these are the longest range sensors, and are used to chart space ahead of the ship, to aid in navigation)

- Vessel tactical analysis (used in tracking, weapons locking, determining interior and exterior layout of threat vessels for system targeting etc.)

In the navigational deflector is another type of sensor, which cannot be recalibrated: the Warp Current Sensor. This sensor detects spatial distortion, and so can be used to track vessels at warp by following the "eddies" left behind by their warp field. The main computer can then extrapolate the probable size and class of the ship being pursued by comparing warp field output and shape to known types of vessel.

### Navigational Deflector

Vessels of the Odyssey class make use of a single large navigational deflector located at the forward-most part of the engineering hull, with four subspace field distortion amplifiers located at its corners. Composed of molybdenum/duranium mesh panels over a duranium framework, the dish can be mechanically moved 8.5° in any direction off the ship's primary axis. The deflector dish's subspace field and sensor power comes from six high-generating graviton polarity generators located on Decks 16 and 17, each drawing two hundred megawatts which feed into the four 650 millicochrane subspace field distortion amplifiers.

A backup deflector is located on the ventral side of the primary hull, and in addition to its role as a backup, the secondary deflector serves to reinforce the ship's warp field at speeds exceeding Warp 8.5, as well as serving as the Saucer's deflector when in Separated Flight Mode.

### Tractor Beam

Six tractor beam emitters are located at key positions on the ship's exterior hull, permitting objects to be manipulated from almost any direction. Key among these are the two main tractor beam emitters, located fore and aft along the keel of the Engineering Hull, as well as a third main emitter located on the forward surface of the ship's neck. Additional emitters are located near each shuttlebay for use in shuttle landing manoeuvres. Mooring tractor beam emitters, used when the ship is in dock, are located next to each primary reaction control thruster, though they are not suitable for any purpose other than holding the ship in place while docked.

The tractor beams can be widened to about 1265 metres before losing effectiveness, and have a minimum range of 2 kilometres and maximum range of 30,000 kilometres. At close range the tractor beams can move up to 230 megatons, and at maximum range only one ton. Objects half the mass of the maximum load at the current range can typically be accelerated at 1,500 m/s^2, though with smaller masses this acceleration is greater and with larger masses it is lesser.

Advances in tractor beam and warp field technology allow objects in a tractor beam to share an Odyssey-class vessel's warp field at high warp, though any acceleration of the object not caused by the tractor beam will be likely to destabilise the warp field, which is not a good thing.

Object Size Range :: Up to 920 Meters

### Transporter Systems

Extravehicular teleportation to and from the ship is accomplished by a number of transporter systems, which allow personnel or equipment to be transported at ranges up to 40,000 kilometres. Transport for crew and guests is provided by personnel transporters located throughout the ship.

Cargo transport is provided by low-resolution transporters located in each cargo bay. These units are primarily designed for operation at molecular (nonlifeform) resolution for cargo use, but they can be set for quantum (lifeform) resolution transport if desired, although such usage would entail a significant reduction in payload mass capacity. The Cargo Transporters are controlled from Deck Nineteen.

Emergency evacuation from the ship is provided by three emergency transporters, two of which are located in the Primary Hull, with one additional unit in the Secondary Hull. These transporters are equipped with high-volume scan-only phase transition coils and are capable of transport from the ship only; they cannot be used for beam-up. These emergency transporters are designed to operate at reduced power levels compared to standard units, but have therefore reduced range and Doppler compensation capabilities. Typical range is about 15,000 km, but this changes depending on available power.

The exterior hull has twenty-three transporter emitters, strategically positioned to provide 360 degree coverage even in the event of any seven being damaged.

Although the transport sequence lasts approximately five seconds, pattern buffer cooldown and reset takes an average of eighty-seven seconds, yielding an average duty cycle of just over ninety-two seconds. Since the transport beam conduits permit the matter stream to be routed to any pattern buffer, any given chamber can be reused immediately without waiting for cooldown by switching to another pattern buffer. Since there are only six pattern buffers normally used for personnel transport, six transporter loads can be transported in quick succession before waiting for pattern buffer reset. This translates into an approximate system throughput of about seven hundred persons per hour.

### Computer

Each of the Saucer and Engineering sections carries a Bynar-built Krayne Systems AC-16 Bio-Neural Super-System computer core, built bespoke for this class of ship. The structure of the computer is similar to that of most other supercomputing systems in use by Federation vessels with stack segments extending through the ship forming trillions of trillions of connections through the processing and storage abilities of modern isolinear chips. The core essentially consists of two independent processing systems that work in concert for maximum performance. The core is primarily isolinear-based, with auxiliary bio-neural processors in radiation-shielded compartments for use in "fuzzy logic" operations, such as tactical projections and holodeck simulations.

For most missions, requirements on the computer core rarely exceed 45-50% of a single core's processing and storage capacity. The rest of the core is utilized for various scientific, tactical, or intelligence gathering missions - or to backup data in the event of a damaged core.

### Communications Array

When an Odyssey class starship is communicating with ships, facilities or other entities near to it, it typically uses either low-frequency electromagnetic waves or directional high-frequency EM waves to communicate. When the target of communication is far away or there are interfering factors such that EM communication is impractical, subspace communication systems are used instead. These create metastable warp fields that can travel extremely quickly and for thousands of light years before even beginning to attenuate. Metastable warp fields cannot transport mass; the data transferred is encoded in the shape of the warp field.

Short Range(EM transmission, limited to light speed):

25,900,000,000 kilometres(one light day) maximum range without attenuation

Maximum data transfer rate 18.5 kiloquads per second

Long range(Subspace transmissions, faster than light):

Travel at Warp 9.9997(110,000c)

Maximum near-real time transmission range(for video calls etc) 28 light years

Maximum range before any attenuation 2000 light years.

An Odyssey class vessel has directional subspace communications arrays that limit transmission beam width to 0.01 degrees, and omnidirectional emitters that transmit in all directions, useful for distress signals etc.

## Auxiliary Craft

### Shuttle Bays

The Odyssey class has two shuttlebays. The primary shuttlebay is on Deck Eight, though it takes up space at the aft of Deck Seven and Deck Six above, and contains a large bay for storage and loading of auxiliary craft, and another bay connected to it used for repair of said craft. The secondary shuttlebay on Deck Twenty-Three is much smaller, but has the same facilities. The shuttlebays also each have a small armoury, which holds weapons and other away mission equipment, including torches, tricorders, field rations and any other equipment potentially required for missions, along with equipment replicators.

### Type 18C Shuttlepod

Number Carried: 6

Type: Medium short-range sublight shuttle

Accommodation: Two; pilot and system manager.

Power: 1 Megawatt Fusion reactor

Propulsion: Type-18 Impulse Drive, secondary RCS thrusters

Dimensions: 4.5m length, 3.1m beam, 1.8m draft

Mass: 2,240 kg

Performance: Maximum maintained sublight 0.1c(maintains 0.25c against ambient resistance for 6 hours), no superluminal capability

Armament: Three Type-V phaser emitters

Notes: Originally developed in the mid-2360s and most recently uprated in 2201, the Type 18C Shuttlepod is something of a departure from the traditional layout for ships of its size. In response to the growing threat of conflicts with various galactic powers bordering or near to the Federation, this shuttlepod was designed to handle more vigorous assignments that still fell into the short-range roles of a shuttlepod. Even with its parent vessel under attack, the Type 18 is designed to function in battle situations and can even be used effectively as an auxiliary combat vehicle should the need arise. Lacking a warp core, the pod is a poor choice for travel outside of a system.

### Type 8D Personnel Shuttlecraft

Number Carried: 6

Type: Light long-range warp shuttle

Accommodation: Two flight crew, six passengers

Power: Class-2 M/ARA, backup fusion reactor

Propulsion: 125 cochrane warp engine, type-3 impulse drive.

Dimensions: 6.2m length, 4.5m beam, 2.8m draft

Mass: 3,470 kg

Performance: 0.15c sublight, warp 4 cruise, warp 4.4 for 12 hours

Armament: Two Type-V phaser emitters

Notes: Designed based on the frame of its Type 6 predecessor in 2379 and uprated to subtype D in 2411, the Type 8D Shuttlecraft is a highly capable auxiliary craft. While maintaining the small frame of a light shuttlecraft, the Type 8D utilises compact components and an efficient design to maximise its internal space; within its 6 metre size it carries a medium range transporter and can bunk 6 passengers. It is optimised for moderate journeys.

### Type 9B Personnel Shuttlecraft

Number Carried: 6

Type: Medium long-range warp shuttle

Accommodation: Two flight crew, two passengers

Power: Class-3 M/ARA, backup fusion reactor

Propulsion: One 225 cochrane warp engine, type-3 impulse drive.

Dimensions: 8.5 m length, 4.6m beam, 2.7m draft

Mass: 2610 kg

Performance: 0.15c sublight, warp 5 cruise, warp 5.5 for 12 hours

Armament: Two Type-VI phaser emitters

Notes: The Type 9B Shuttlecraft is a long-range craft capable of traveling at high warp (for a shuttle) for extended periods of time due to new advances in warp physics. Making its debut just before the launch of the Intrepid-class, this shuttle type is ideal for scouting and recon missions, but is well suited to perform many multi-mission tasks. Equipped with powerful Type-VI phaser emitters, the shuttle is designed to hold its ground against threat vssels for a longer period of time than previous models. Comfortable seating for four and moderate cargo space are achieved without sacrificing speed and maneuverability. As is standard in modern shuttlecraft, the shuttle is equipped with a medium-range transporter. With its ability to travel at relatively high warp speeds, the Type 9 has been equipped with a more powerful deflector dish that houses a compact long-range sensor which further helps it in its role as a scout. The Type-9 is now being deployed throughout the fleet and is especially aiding deep-space exploratory ships with its impressive abilities.

### Type 11 Personnel Shuttlecraft

Number Carried: 3

Type: Heavy long-range warp shuttle

Accommodation: Four flight crew, six passengers

Power: Class-3 M/ARA, backup fusion reactor

Propulsion: 400 cochrane warp engine, type-4 impulse drive

Dimensions: 16m length, 9.8m beam, 4.3m draft

Mass: 28,110 kg

Performance: 0.25c sublight, warp 6 cruise, warp 6.75 for 12 hours

Armament:  Four Type-V phaser emitters, two micro-torpedo launchers (fore and aft)

Notes: With the ultimate goal of creating a useful all-purpose shuttlecraft, the designers of the Type-11 Shuttlecraft set out to create a craft that was equipped with all the systems of a starship within the shell of a relatively small shuttle. Significant allocation of the larger Danube-class runabout to starships in the field initially proved too costly for all but the largest vessels, and with the expressed need by the Sovereign-class development team for a capable shuttle, the Type-11 was born. Its overall frame and components are the result of lessons learned in both the Type-9 and Danube-class vessels, and it also contains elements of the Delta Flyer type shuttlecraft recovered from the U.S.S. Voyager. Impressive shielding and sensors, several phaser emitters, micro-torpedo launchers and a capable warp propulsion system make this shuttle capable of performing a multitude of tasks. Both the ventral and dorsal areas of the shuttle feature a new magnetic clamp docking port that is capable of linking up to other ships without needing another port, for boarding actions, and this also makes docking in the field much easier. A two-person transporter and a large aft compartment add to the shuttle’s versatility. The end hope is that these all-purpose shuttles will replace the more specific-purpose craft already stationed on starships, reducing the amount of space needed for shuttle storage in already-cramped bays.

Since the Type 11 was designed, it has been somewhat supplanted by improvements to Danube class runabout support systems, making carrying such craft more plausible, but the Type 11 still has a niche to fill, so it is still present albeit in lower numbers.

### Type 7 Worker Bee Utility Craft

Number Carried: 8

Type: Utility craft

Accommodation: One operator

Power: One microfusion reactor

Propulsion: Ten RCS thrusters

Dimensions: 3.1m length, 1.9m beam, 1.9m draft

Mass: 1680 kg

Performance: 100 km/s Δv sublight, though the ship is not equipped to travel away from a starship.

Armament: None(except when equipped with cutting tools)

Notes: The Worker Bee is a capable stand-alone craft used for inspection, repairs and assembly of spaceborne hardware. The fully pressurized craft has changed little in design during the past 150 years, although periodic updates to the internal systems are done routinely.  Onboard fuel cells and microfusion generators can keep the craft operational for 76 hours, and the life-support systems can provide breathable air, drinking water and cooling for the pilot for as long as thirty hours. If the pilot is wearing a pressure suit, the craft allows for the operator to exit while conducting operations. Ingress and egress are provided by the forward window, which lifts vertically to open.

Two robotic manipulator arms are folded beneath the main housing, and allow for work to be done through pilot-operated controls. In addition, the Work Bee is capable of handling a cargo attachment that makes it ideal for transferring cargo around large Starbase and spaceborne construction facilities. The cargo attachment features additional microfusion engines for supporting the increased mass.

### Danube (Refit) Class Runabout

Number Carried: 4

Type: Runabout

Accomodation: 15 maximum

Power: Class 4 M/ARA, eight impulse/power fusion reactors

Propulsion: 525 cochrane warp drive, type-5 impulse drive

Dimensions: 23.1 m length, 13.7m beam, 5.4m draught

Mass: 158,700 kilograms

Performance: 0.25c sublight, Warp 6.5 cruise, Warp 7.25 for 12 hours

Armament: 6 Type V phaser arrays + 2 microtorpedo launchers (1 fore, 1 aft)

Notes: The Danube-class grew out of a series of studies by the Advanced Starship Design Bureau which began in 2363 to create a small versatile vessel for use in a wide range of missions. The final design for the Danube-class conducted flight tests which were so successful the class went into immediate production, with the first ships of the class entering service in 2368. These vessels were originally assigned to Starbases as semi-independent craft for light duty, but since they have become assigned to many larger starship classes, where they serve much the same purpose.