U.S.S. Cicero

The **USS Cicero NCC-81357** is an *Intrepid*-class, long range science vessel, which was commanded by Captain Vanessa Chang of the Zenas Expeditionary Force, until it's mysterious disappearance in May 2418. It was transported from Zenas Expanse (Alpha Quadrant) to the Looking Glass Expanse (PTX-1138, The Outback) under unexplained circumstances.
It was found by Task Force Ramillies in late February 2421 and towed back to Starbase 381 for full inspection and refit. With no specific assignment and dedicated commanding officer, USS *Cicero* was recalled back to Earth in the later half of 2421.

# Ship Service History

* 2402 - 2405: Eridan Exploratory Expedition, exploration of Alpha Quadrant beyond Eridan Belt
* 2405: refit at Utopia Planitia Shipyards
* 2406 - 2410: participated in Federation-Klingon War
* 2411 - 2413: assigned to relief efforts in Romulan Republic Zone
* 2414 - 2415: participated in Vaadwaur War and Iconian War
* First half of 2416: part of relief efforts in PTX-1138 (The Outback)
* Mid-2416 - 2418: assigned to Zenas Expeditionary Force, disappearing in September 2418
* February 2421: found adrift in PTX-1138 (The Outback)
* October 2421: recalled back to Sol system for reassignment

At the turn of the century, the shipyard engineers at Utopia Planitia decided to update the successful *Intrepid*-class, and by the end of 2400, *Discovery*-class was born. New design of nacelles and pylon fins, and segmented warp coils with ability to slightly adapt their radial profile have led to more stable and less consuming warp propulsion. Along with upgrades that became a standard issue since USS *Voyager'*s return to Sol system, *"Discovery*-class was hailed as a new class of long range science vessels for a new century. Starfleet Command issued a construction of four new vessels after USS *Discovery*, the prototype, proved her worth in a 6-month mission. The NCC-81537 hull was going to be one such ship.

The life story of this hull took an unexpected turn when the convoy, delivering necessary parts for the main hull frame, was attacked and pillaged by Reman flotilla near Demil star system. Determined to keep up with deadlines regardless of this drawback, NCC-81537 hull was recommissioned as an *Intrepid*-class instead and built from a combination of available materials at Utopia Planitia and spare parts from a few mothballed *Intrepid*s. By mid-2401, the hull was christened as *Cicero*, after Marcus Tullius Cicero, an orator of late Roman Republic period, of planet Earth. There are many speculations to the choice of name, but it is generally accepted that the idea came from then-Minister of Culture and Education of United Earth, Sophia Augustus Alessandrini, who was of Greco-Italian origin.

The ship was launched in 2402, only a month after Earth's March equinox, under the command of Captain Evángelos Mercouri. The ship joined Eridan Exploratory Expedition along with another three ships, one of them being USS *Plutarch*, a *Discovery*-class sibling. Over next 2.5 years, USS *Cicero* and Eridani expedition explored a region of roughly 200 000 cubic light years beyond Eridan Belt, both in Alpha and Beta Quadrants, charting and cataloging 14 star systems, 2 nebulas and one system which had a group of three quantum filaments on a collision course with a pulsar. They also established a First Contact with two warp-capable species, antropomorphic reptilian Aderi and insectoid Xzen'Thiz. Both species soon founded a trade union and initiated several scientific collaborations. By 2405, the Eridan expedition was recalled to Sol system due to the beginning of Klingon-Federation War. *Cicero* was refit for prolonged reconnaissance mission on the front lines. Roughly 40% of scientific facilities and equipment were replaced with military-dedicated technology. The ship, still under the command of Captain Mercouri, participated in dozen skirmishes in Xarantine and Khitomer sectors, but made it through the war largely unscathed.

Upon recognition of the Romulan Republic in 2410, USS *Cicero* was recalled back to Utopia Planitia once again and repurposed to her original mission - that of a science and exploration vessel. Supporting many relief efforts alongside Republic Navy between New Romulus, Haakona and Archer systems, a period 2411-2413 was a quiet one, in spite of Elachi incursions which disrupted Republic's consolidation efforts. The *Cicero* crew especially befriended the of Romulan warbird RRW *V'Rela* during that time. When Jenolan Dyson Sphere was discovered, both crews participated in Operation Delta Rising and Vaadwaur War. When Iconian War began in 2415, USS *Cicero* was assigned to patrol the core worlds. It sustained major damage in Midnight Battle of Sol.

With the end of Iconian War, Captain Mercouri retired to Earth, after 13 years in command. Vast majority of original crew dispersed to their own new assignments during the ship's repair and refit. Command was then given to Tolgar bav Farggov, from Tellar Prime. In first half of 2416, *Cicero* spent two months in rebuild and reconsolidation efforts Alliance's presence in dwarf galaxy PTX-1138, The Outback. Afterwards, it was reassigned to Zenas Expeditionary Force. In 2417, Farggov relieved himself of duty due to the increasing health issues coupled with his old age. His second in command, Commander Vanessa Chang, was promoted to Captain.

In May 2418, *Cicero* departed from Starbase 515 to conduct a survey of Heddie Belt, but also investigate the conditions which led to disappearance of USS *Minerva* almost four years earlier. On Stardate 96339, Cicero encountered an EM anomaly, unlike anything Starfleet has encountered to this very day. The anomaly caused a collapse and partial destruction of EPS grid, killing 62 of 150 crew members (mostly engineers), shutting down phaser array and transporting *Cicero* from Zenas Expanse in the Milky Way to the Looking Glass Expanse in the Outback, somewhere in Sector O6. For reasons yet unknown, crew was forced to eject the warp core, very likely due to the damage from the anomaly. The they also used every spare source of power, shuttle power cells included, in order to keep the ship systems alive. Crew was evacuated of the ship to a planet in Sector O6 some time around December 24th, 2418, the day that Captain Chang recorded her last entry into Captain's Log.

USS *Cicero* was found by Task Group Ramillies three years later, in February 2421, in Stock's Cloud Region. Thereafter, it was towed back to 26th Fleet Shipyards, where it went a six month repair and refit, with many major systems rebuilt from scratch. (AAR: Investigation of USS Cicero)

# Decks

## Saucer Section

**Deck 1:** Main Bridge, Captain’s Ready Room, Officer’s Briefing Room, Multi-use offices, Escape Pod Access, Aft Bridge Airlock, and Upper Sensor Platform

**Deck 2:** Officer's Mess, Senior Officers and VIP Quarters, Executive Officer’s Office Labs and Storage, Upper Sensor Platform Subsystems, Escape Pod Access

**Deck 3:** Captain's Quarters, Officers' Quarters, and VIP Quarters, Equipment Storage, Torpedo Loading Maintenance, Testing Isolation Chamber, and Turbolift Maintenance.

**Deck 4:** Crew quarters, Transporters Rooms (2 – 1P/S), Aft Photon Torpedo Launchers, Phaser Maintenance, Forward Sensor Pallet Subsystems, and Escape Pod Access

**Deck 5:** Sickbay, Primary Sickbay Support Systems (ICU, Biohazard Support, Radiation Treatment Wards, Surgical Ward, Critical Care, Null-Gravity Treatment, Isolation Suites, etc.), Chief Medical Officer's Office, Counsellor’s Office, Crew Quarters, Library, Transporter Pattern Buffers (2 - 1 P/S), Holodecks (2 – 1P/S), Sensor Gear, Escape Pod Access.

**Deck 6:** Crew Quarters, Non-Specific Science Laboratories (8 – 5P/3S) Aux Deflector Control, Aux Computer Core, Escape Pod Access

**Deck 7:** Aux. Computer Core, Upper Cargo Bays 1 & 2, Labs, Escape Pod Access, RCS Thruster Access

**Deck 8:** Astrometrics, Chief Science Officer’s Office, Deuterium Processing, Port/Starboard/Forward Docking Ports, ODN/EPS Main Trunks, Lower Cargo Bays 1 & 2

**Deck 9:** Cargo Loading Doors, Aerowing Shuttle Dock, and Labs

## Engineering Section

**Deck 6:** Deuterium (Matter) Processing, Consumables Resupply Connectors

**Deck 7:** Deuterium Tankage, Warp Engine Core Injector Access

**Deck 8:** Deuterium Tankage, Upper Premix Chamber, And Aft Work Pod Storage

**Deck 9:** Cargo Loading Doors, Upper Aerowing Shuttle Dock, and Labs

**Deck 10:** Main Shuttlebay, Shuttlebay Storage (SB2), Flight Control Centre, Aft EV Access Airlock, Main Computer Core, Forward Photon Torpedo Launchers, Reserve Warp Engine Core, And Main Navigational Deflector

**Deck 11:** Main Engineering, Engineer's Office, Aft Lounge, Warp Core, Auxiliary Warp Engine, Main Computer Core, Main Navigational Deflector

**Deck 12:** Environmental Control, Antimatter Tankage, Main Deflector Control Systems

**Deck 13:** Warp Engine Core, Labs, Escape Pod Access, And Secondary ODN/EPS Trunks

**Deck 14:** Antimatter Processing, Aft Tractor Beam Emitter, Tractor Beam Subsystems, Escape Pod Access, and Ground Hover Footpad Systems

**Deck 15:** Antimatter Loading Port, Forward Tractor Beam Emitter, Tractor Beam Subsystems, Plasma Relay Control Rooms, and Ground Hover Footpads

## Flight Deck

* 4 x Type-8 shuttlecraft: *Thucydides*, *Pericles*, *Hypatia*, *Artemisia*
* 1 x VAR-8/B Aeroshuttle: *Herodotus*
* 1 x Delta-class Shuttle: *Demosthenes*

## Refits and Upgrades done in 26th Fleet Shipyards

The ship comes with a completely new warp core. Two initial suggestions were considered, both of which were in line with traditional motto of *Intrepid*-class ships as being "fast and smart":

1. Hyper-Injection warp core - which would provide additional boost the impulse engines.
2. Plasma-Integrated warp core - which improved the power transfer between various systems. This warp core was selected in the end, in order to provide greater versatility to the vessel, depending on the task at hand.

The duranium/tritanium hull frame was fully repaired and reinforce in the critical areas (e.g. bridge, main engineering) with ablative armor. Neutronium, due to its higher density, was abandond as it would hinder ship maneuverability at sub-FTL speeds. The shielding system was expanded with Metaphasic/Dark Energy shielding, including the necessary generators. Main navigational deflector is a modified graviton deflector, while auxiliary deflector is tachyon-based.

Computer system uses dual bio-neural gel packs, with redundancies to isolinear counterparts for high priority systems and functions (on the bridge, in main engineering, etc). This dual system was installed in order to prevent an override by programmable biological viruses (as it happened to U.S.S. Dawn Treader).