U.S.S. Destiny-A

**USS *Destiny* (NCC-73829-A)** is an *Archon*-class starship of the United Federation of Planets Starfleet built by the San Francisco Fleet Yards in 2416. One of the original ships ordered for the Archon Project during the Iconian War, she acquired her name and current registry in honor of the previous *Destiny*, the flagship of Task Force Avalon at the time, which was crippled beyond economical repair near the end of the same war. The new *Destiny* serves in the same role as her predecessor as the flagship of Vice Admiral T'Molina under the command of Captain Shrish sh'Tal'ek.

Aside from her duties as flagship of Task Force Avalon, *Destiny* is best known for carrying out Operation Nazaire, a classified raid on a Scourge Ark Ship during the End War. The operation's success forced Hive Fleet Horus to retreat, saving the Rikelian Republic from being scoured. Upon her return from the operation, *Destiny* was credited wit
h a confirmed and unassisted kill of a Scourge Ark Ship, the only starship in history to be credited with such a feat under wartime conditions of any known civilization.

# Construction

With the end of the Iconian War, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers immediately set to several projects to rebuild the fleet. The Archon Program, previously delayed by the start of the war, was among the first wave of new construction, and new assault cruisers began filling drydock slips at the San Francisco Fleet Yards almost as soon as they could be repaired following damage sustained during the Battle At Midnight. *Destiny* herself, then only known as NCC-97412, was laid down on Stardate 93517 (29 November 2415), almost four weeks after the *Archon* herself.

M.A.C.O. became involved with the project after completing an in-depth war review in early 2416, leading to shipyard delays while Starfleet Command deliberated over probable revision. Construction continued at an uneven pace, focused on aspects of design which were not in dispute. With work threatening to be suspended within days if a final verdict was not reached, the Federation Council stepped in and forced a compromise which would satisfy the needs of both the fleet and surface forces on Stardate 94091 (26 June 2416). The Archon Project would continue with certain modifications to accommodate a special forces role for M.A.C.O. while a portion of the resources for the project would be redirected to a new retrofit of some of the surviving *Sovereign*-class hulls in an initiative reminding of the *Constitution*-class refit program of 2270. With the decision made, her construction could continue in earnest.

    *Destiny'*s construction would proceed unabated until the launch of the USS *Archon* on Stardate 94422.1 (25 October 2416). The launch was reportedly a near disaster, prompting a delay on the launch of her sister ships while the Starfleet Corps of Engineers assessed the results. The moratorium was short-lived after a classified report to Starfleet Command, with rumors suggesting the issue was with the very large nacelles of the class as originally designed. There were considerations to use *Regent*-class nacelles, but *Destiny* was already effectively completed. After a few minor modifications, the Corps of Engineers did not deem the remaining concerns sufficient to warrant such drastic action, and lifted the hold on Block I *Archon*s with a note to look into the nacelles again for future blocks after data from service life had accumulated.

## Naming

The previous *Destiny* was known best for rallying the Alliance fleet at the Battle of New Romulus in the opening hours of the Iconian War, and for leading Task Force Avalon in the Outback theater of the same war. She was crippled beyond economical repair in the final days of the war during Operation Hallowed Sabre. In the aftermath of the war, Starfleet quickly pushed the Archon Project as soon as the San Francisco Fleet Yards could be repaired, due to be the next generation of Starfleet Assault Cruisers.

Knowing this, newly minted Rear Admiral Amalei Neraea petitioned successfully to have one of these new starships named after *Destiny*, ensuring hull NCC-97412 was earmarked for the name as soon as her keel had been laid down. The name, however, remained out of official paperwork due to the operational secrecy around the new assault cruiser and the controversial debate around them which reached as high up as the Federation Council. After that debate was over, Starfleet Command made plans to announce the name immediately after the conclusion of the original *Destiny'*s SINKEX.

The Department of Temporal Investigations becoming interested in the original *Destiny* created an uneasy state of confusion regarding the hull's name. Rear Admiral Neraea moved to postpone *Destiny'*s SINKEX indefinitely. Indeed, by exercise of flag powers, Rear Admiral Neraea ultimately recommissioned *Destiny* under her old registry, NCC-73829. A day later, *Destiny* found an unlikely end and unusually high, if unspecified, praise from Temporal Investigations. The story of the event, much of which remains classified, prompted Starfleet Command to leave *Destiny*, under her original registry, on the books and instead issue a revised construction order to have NCC-97412 redesignated as NCC-73829-A.

# Service History

    *Destiny* launched uneventfully on Stardate 94500.1 (23 November 2416) under the command of Rear Admiral T'Molina and was immediately put into active commission by Rear Admiral Neraea. During her maiden voyage, *Destiny* discovered a dark matter anomaly less than a light year from Earth and marked it as a navigation hazard of unknown origin. Due to report to the Outback as soon as possible, *Destiny* did not linger to investigate, leaving the task to the newly launched USS *Sutherland*. Arriving at Starbase 381 by Transwarp Gate two days later, the crew of the *Destiny* offered tours of the ship for the fleet Heritage Ball alongside the Excelsior-class USS *Marvel*.

By the following Tuesday, *Destiny* was fully equipped and the rest of her bridge crew had finally arrived. *Destiny'*s shakedown would be brief. After assisting in the relocation of a people, she came to a "good enough" shakedown conclusion on Stardate 94528 with a run to OL-272 by Quantum Slipstream. There she performed a sensor scan and collection of Metreon Gas to load her canisters and test fired a Metreon Gas Warhead to impressive effect. Deemed ready for active duty, she returned to Starbase 381 where she would become involved with the Union Conflicts.

### First Mission: Blockade

*Destiny* would participate in a blockade between The Royals and the Futara Union, who were at war, for the next several days. Under T'Molina's command she would respond to a Futara Union flanking maneuver and attack on the Royals controlled system OB-652, entering Royals space under cloak and against Admiral Neraea's orders. Upon arrival, *Destiny* found the Union ships in a holding pattern with no sign of surface attack, only the destruction of military assets. After a several hours of waiting, news of a ceasefire reached them, and the Union fleet departed. *Destiny* subsequently returned to Starbase 381 for debriefing, where Admiral T'Molina's actions were quietly dropped.

## 2417

In January of 2417, *Destiny* responded to two incidents regarding Federation vessels. The first, on 3 January, was a skirmish between the USS *Sanctuary* and a Klingon vessel after the latter had fired on a defenseless, neutral colony. *Destiny* arrived the next day and tended to *Sanctuary*, providing defense and repair parties to restore warp power until both ships were ordered clear by erei'Enriov Ineania t'Latta. *Destiny* would assume a patrol of the Klingon border for the next week.

### Contact with The Kingdom

In the second incident near OB-191 on 9 January, known as the Broadwing Incident, a Romulan Republic warbird destroyed the ship of an unknown civilization during a first contact situation on the orders of a Starfleet Captain, though it was intended to be a disabling shot. After participating in a training exercise on 16 January with *Mockingbird*, *Shavokh*, *Champion*, *Albrighton*, and *Charybdis*, *Destiny* began searching for the unknown vessel's origin. *Destiny* and RRW *Okhala s'Spock* subsequently discovered the Kingdom isolated in the system of OB-191 on 23 January, where Admiral T'Molina negotiated to make a proper first contact and organize diplomatic discussion to take place 30 January.

    In the interim, T'Molina chose to have *Destiny* support the USS *Elysium* with the recovery of a lost Asheran colony ship on 24 January, helping to identify a subspace anomaly, conduct rescue, and make peaceful contact. *Destiny'*s engineering teams would assist the colony ship in making repairs from their near disastrous warp flight attempt.

Kingdom interest in OB-511 led *Destiny* to lead a secret surveillance mission into the system throughout the month of February, accompanied by a Republic warbird, the RRW *Okhala s'Spock*. She returned successfully and was immediately put into drydock for maintenance concerning unusual radioactivity. The decontamination made slow progress due to a major accident which had occurred at Starbase 381 during *Destiny'*s absence, causing resources to be diverted elsewhere. She departed from spacedock the next week in time to participate in a fleet performance review of maneuverability. The review was cut short when the USS *Carthage* suffered a major warp drive breakdown while at warp resulting in what would become a fatality. The task group was recalled pending an investigation, and completed trials the following week.

### Investigation of OB-5892

On Stardate 94816, *Destiny* led a task group in response to a distress call from a Futara Union merchant fleet traversing the OB-712 trade corridor. The arrival of the task group immediately drove the attackers away without a shot being fired, though by then much of the merchant fleet had been destroyed or disabled, with considerable loss of life. The task group investigated and provided medical relief and protection until Union forces could arrive. As the task group starts its return to Alliance space, Intelligence concluded from evidence gathered that OB-5892 was the most likely origin of the attacking vessel, suspecting Undine influence. Admiral T'Molina diverted *Destiny'*s task group to OB-5892 to investigate directly.

Promptly hailed on arrival on Stardate 94817, communication revealed that an Undine presence did exist, having been stranded there by Alliance forces during the conflict with the Undine three years previously. The Undine were found to be cooperative, and an agreement was reached by which the Undine would cease their interventions in the native OB-5892 species in exchange for the Undine being returned to fluidic space, their true objective in uplifting the native species in technology. Having received and granted a request for time to gather the remaining Undine from the planet and facilitate a peaceful transfer of government, *Destiny* would return in three days to oversee the extraction of Undine from the planet and first contact with the native people of OB-5892. There, Admiral T'Molina convinced the new government to consider peaceful talks with the Futara Union, with whom OB-5892 was on the verge of war with.

### The Looking Glass Expanse

After conducting a brief tactical exercise at the end of March, *Destiny* joined a task group led by Admiral Ineania t'Latta to search for the VSAS *T'Pol's Foresight* in the Looking Glass Expanse. Again teaming up with the RRW *Okhala s'Spock*, *Destiny* searched her assigned area but found no lead. On 94846.9, while still searching, *Destiny* received a distress call from the USS *York*, under attack by unknown pirates in an uncharted system. The pirates were routed, though *Destiny* arrived too late to join the battle or to intercept the fleeing ships. *Destiny* found the pirate base in an asteroid field with several aging installations, all recently abandoned as a result of the battle with the *York* and other assets of the joint fleet. The VSAS *T'Pol's Foresight* herself was found there abandoned, but with no sign of the crew.

On 9 May, Stardate 94958, during a performance test of *Destiny'*s maximum warp capability, *Destiny* began accelerating uncontrollably as a result of some unknown outside force influencing her subspace field. Having exceeded any reasonable speed, the USS *Rama*, USS *Roosevelt*, USS *Jonas Salk*, and USS *Morigu* utilized a series of Quantum Slipstream Drive uses to put themselves ahead of *Destiny* to assess the situation. The *Jonas Salk* averted a warp core breach by using an inverse graviton pulse to clear the obstruction in the warp field, allowing *Destiny* to perform an emergency stop.

The path *Destiny* took during this excessive warp field caused major damage to subspace, and the fracture left, 47 kilometers in diameter and 1.8 lightyears long, remains a navigational hazard, albeit a simple one to avoid. *Destiny* limped back to Starbase 381 on her own power with replacement dilithium crystals provided by the USS *Rama* at a leisurely pace of Warp Three. Where *Destiny* had gone in just three hours took four days on the return. Repairs were completed a week later.

### Strike Mission at OB-511

On 7 June, Stardate 95038, Admiral T'Molina ordered *Destiny* to lead a task group to return to OB-511 with intent to seize a Kingdom warship. Assisted by the USS *Axalon* and the RRW *Jhu'kholh'elh*, *Destiny* launched a preemptive strike on two Kingdom cruisers operating in low power mode. Upon decloaking, *Destiny* company of MACOs, with RIO specialists, were beamed aboard before the Kingdom vessels could raise their shields while the second ship was disabled by weapons fire from *Axalon* and the *Jhu'kholh'elh* assault section.

The *Jhu'kholh'elh* guardian element, explicitly modified for the purpose, docked with the boarded cruiser to secure it as a prize shortly before the Kingdom cruiser successfully completed a jump. *Destiny* moved to intercept while the *Jhu'kholh'elh'*s assault section, separated, destroyed two Kingdom destroyers. *Destiny* continued monitoring and supporting ground forces during a prolonged boarding action until the ship was seized and exfiltrated with some casualties, mostly on the Kingdom warship. Although heavily involved in the action, *Destiny* still did not find the opportunity to fire her own weapons during the action. Lt. Commander Mogedu, aboard *Destiny* temporarily as a specialist, was commended for his efforts in operating the ship's sensors during the operation.

### Princeton and House J'Rel

    After the strike mission, *Destiny* returned to the Beta Quadrant for earned shore leave in late June, delivering numerous officers from Starbase 381 to Risa. *Destiny* rotated personnel out on shore leave while diagnostics and resupply were performed on ship systems. She later moved to Sol to deliver officers for the launch of the USS *Princeton* on 18 July. The same day, Admiral T'Molina challenged the captain of the *Princeton* to a simulated duel at Jupiter, which *Destiny* ultimately lost after simulated battle damage forced her to withdraw from the battlefield at warp. T'Molina disapproved of the results and subsequently ordered *Destiny* put through a rigorous set of tactical drills to improve performance. It was also during this time that *Destiny* underwent a minor refit of her warp engines to install new warp field regulators to try to correct the warp field imbalance issues.

The tactical drills would prove useful only a month later. On Stardate 95250.8, the USS *Hakaishin* was destroyed by a sudden attack by a renegade Klingon House, J'Rel. *Destiny* moved to secure the Caspian Wormhole immediately, setting up an intricate Tachyon Grid in cooperation with a secondary task force. The next day, she received a distress call from OB-02, where the USS *Kennedy*, USS *Hellas*, and elements of the Klingon Defense Force 52nd Legion were engaged a House J'Rel battlegroup and in need of assistance. *Destiny* arrived near the end of the combat, quickly disabling a Vor'cha attack cruiser and destroying a bird of prey, an act assisted by the two Klingon vessels' collision due to the surprise of *Destiny'*s sudden attack from cloak. This incident marked the first time *Destiny* fired her weapons in anger, though only her phaser arrays saw use.

After chasing them to the next system, *Destiny* ferried Admiral T'Molina to a meeting with General Annese Lymis, and then a debriefing with the crew of a runabout assigned to investigate the aftermath of the battle. *Destiny* returned to the Caspian Wormhole to maintain security.

### Conflict with the Kingdom of Cevant

On 95263.1, the Kingdom initiated a diplomatic contact unannounced and were hosted impromptu at Starbase 381. The Kingdom warship remained in orbit during discussion, but it was only an excuse to place an infiltrator aboard Starbase 381. When the ploy was revealed, *Destiny* stood ready, along with other Alliance vessels, to defend Starbase 381 should the Kingdom attack. The Kingdom was forced to reveal their ability to jump through shields, believing it was the only way to get their councilor back, then made their escape before Starfleet could mount an effective response. *Destiny* remained on alert until the formation of Task Group Roosevelt, a unit intended to be specialized in providing security and defense, their first orders being to make ready for possible conflict with the Kingdom of Cevant.

*Destiny* largely remained on station regardless while Admiral T'Molina went from one meeting to the next regarding current crises, only leaving Alliance space once to investigate a hypothesized House J'Rel listening post. The reconnaissance turned up empty handed.

Shortly after, *Destiny* was sent to the Discens research outpost in preparation for a science expedition to OB-73829, in addition to remaining on call for any subsequent activity. On Stardate 95298.1, not long after the incident at Asher, a Kingdom of Cevant task force appeared at Discens and Sigma X-5 simultaneously. Already at Discens, *Destiny* activated her cloaking device, monitored, and attempted to hail the Kingdom ships only to be ignored. After the Kingdom ships positioned in a wide formation surrounding the station, they attacked first, utilizing hit and run tactics with large antimatter bombs detonated in close proximity to the allied warship *Acheron*. The Kingdom of Cevant had begun the battle.

Moving at full impulse, *Destiny* maneuvered to an optimal firing position on one of the Kingdom cruisers, noting the aiming direction of their heavy plasma cannons in order to maximize their time to target. While maneuvering, she observed other engaged Kingdom vessels utilizing their tactical jump capability, called 'flit' jumping by some, to evade attack. Having already prepared for this eventuality, *Destiny* began by deploying a subspace inhibitor, then decloaking and engaging with her main phaser arrays and quantum torpedoes. The scheme seemed effective, the Kingdom vessel did not initiate a tactical jump to evade. Under the relentless barrage, the cruiser's shields soon began to collapse, and a quantum torpedo found its way to the hull, breaching the reactor and destroying the ship. *Destiny* collected the subspace anchor and cloaked again while the warp drive was re-initialized.

The deployment of subspace anchors proved decisive in the battle. Ships committed to a hit and run found themselves off-target and unable to escape, and were quickly overwhelmed by a superior defense force. Other vessels were unable to evade counterattack. Their tactics defeated, the Kingdom task force was destroyed in short order. While *Destiny* was re-initializing her warp drive for pursuit, it would ultimately prove unnecessary.

    Lingering around Starbase 381 for a time for added protection, unusual activity in the Dark Expanse proved a distraction for *Destiny* due to her crew's past experience with the region. The expedition to OB-73829 resulted in the accidental discovery of an unknown pocket universe only a few lightyears wide, traversed through an event horizon. While there, the use of her warp drive drew the attention of an unknown, unmanned vessel which transmitted a generated message demanding the confiscation of an "illegal" warp drive. When Admiral T'Molina refused these demands, the vessel opened fire. *Destiny'*s retaliation destroyed the smaller vessel. When additional ships were detected moving to her position, *Destiny* cloaked to avoid them. Some days later, from her perspective, allied ships arrived and avoided detection themselves before offering assistance in returning to the Outback. *Destiny* promptly returned to Discens for evaluation.

Three patrols to the region in the vicinity of Discens Station were conducted in October into early November, however these went without any incident or encounter. Set at ease that there was no immediate threat to Discens Station apparent, *Destiny* returned to the Cevant theater of operations. She would patrol the area into the early parts of 2418, when she was called away on a new mission by Starfleet Intelligence.

## 2418

In January of 2418, the Battle of Bajor occurred and marked the return of the Hur'q. The damage caused shocked the Alliance and created grave concerns across the whole of civilized space. In an address to the Federation Council, President Okeg urged a reasoned and careful approach, and cautioned against knee-jerk reactions which could escalate into atrocities like what the Tzenkethi have resorted to. Utilizing the Federation's resources in Starfleet and newly gained knowledge from a Tzenkethi defector, a hundred ships were ordered to conduct long-range surveys for signs of Hur'q ships or their apparent caretakers, the Drantzuli.

### Search for Signs of Hur'q Presence

Of unique concern was the Outback and whether or not the Hur'q had any presence whatsoever in the region. *Destiny* was one of the ships assigned to the Outback survey, putting her on a deep space expedition expected to take three months beginning in March. After a period of preparation, *Destiny* set out, traveling a total of nearly a thousand lightyears on the edge of known Outback space searching for signs. She returned in July, reporting no positive leads on Hur'q presence. On her return, she engaged in a brief skirmish with the renegade Romulan vessel *Bloodwing* which resulted in minor damage to both vessels before they simultaneously disengaged.

    At the end of July, *Destiny* moved into position to respond to intelligence gathered by the USS *Roosevelt* that House J'Rel would be attacking Discens Station soon with mercenaries and all that was left of their forces. Expecting boarding parties, *Destiny* was placed in reserve with her M.A.C.O. detachment ready to retaliate and, if possible, seizure operations of the House J'Rel flagship. Ironically, this would leave *Destiny* out of the main part of the battle, only participating after the enemy force had largely been pacified. Ultimately, however, she would seize House J'Rel's flagship by boarding action and complete her mission. With the securing of the flagship and all surviving personnel, *Destiny* would assist in securing surviving enemy vessels and clearing out any remaining pockets of resistance. She further would launch her shuttlecraft to assist in damage control efforts and search and rescue in the battle's aftermath.

### Flagship, Task Force Avalon

After the battle, *Destiny* put in to spacedock for a month of repair and refit after having been at space for nearly six months. Damaged hull plating was replaced and minor maintenance was conducted on her entire EPS grid before returning to light duty in September, primarily running patrols and training new officers in the Outback environment. In October, an emergency situation had Admiral T'Molina assume the role of Commander, Task Force Avalon earlier than planned but was quickly made permanent. Admiral T'Molina subsequently nominated *Destiny* as the task force's official flagship. With her own flag remaining with *Destiny*, a refit was performed to better equip *Destiny* for her new role, enhancing her defensive and tactical systems with the expectation that she would be staying closer to Starbase 381.

During an unexpected leave of absence of the Admiral, Commander Jackson MacAuliffe assumed command of *Destiny* until December continuing her assigned duties. Upon the Admiral's return, Destiny completed her refit and promotions were announced to her senior staff, many of whom had served with T'Molina since the previous *Destiny*, and new assignments to take place with the new year. Their final mission together would be to see the beginning of a research project aimed at researching the Outback's Dark Matter as a megastructure with the aid of a civilian scientist from the Lukari Concordium. *Destiny* participated in the rescue of the USS *Atlas'*s crew after the latter had been caught in the Dark Expanse, though the ship herself could not be salvaged.

## 2419

As planned, Commander MacAuliffe's promotion to Captain took effect with the first of year, Stardate 96606.7, as did his transfer to take command of the USS *Dawn Treader*. Shrish sh'Tal'ek was promoted to Commander and filled the gap left behind by his departure, assuming the role of first officer. Lieutenant Commander Riuirze meanwhile assumed the role of Chief Engineer. In January, *Destiny* would again find the *Bloodwing* and with the help of vessels like the *Axalon* this time emerge victorious, destroying the *Bloodwing* after Borg technology was found throughout the ship by a boarding MACO team.

### Return of the Scourge

    On Stardate 96730.4, *Destiny* responded to a distress call transmitted by the USS *Dawn Treader* with an escort consisting of the USS *Iwo Jima*, USS *Fulcrum*, and USS *Lightning*. By the time the task group arrived, the situation was under control as *Roosevelt* and *Dawn Treader* had destroyed a medium-sized Scourge vessel. This added to a rapidly growing list of new Scourge sightings. Almost immediately, another distress call was detected from OB-511, a native colony world. *Dawn Treader* was sent to investigate, with *Destiny* leaving her escorts and a squad of her own MACOs to assist as she disappeared off on a different, classified mission. The MACO squad assisted in engaging Scourge attackers on the ground in defense of evacuating civilians. Unfortunately, during this action, two of *Destiny'*s own MACOs were killed in action.

After this event, *Destiny* would continue monitoring the situation, and in April entered drydock for a minor refit to ensure she was up to full battle readiness. After events surrounding the USS *Dawn Treader* and her Artificial Intelligence, a war with the Scourge now seemed inevitable.

### The End War

On Stardate 97192, *Destiny*, leading Task Force Avalon, responded to a distress call from the Korlan Remnant, where Starfleet's 13th Fleet was engaged by a Scourge Hive Fleet. By the time Task Force Avalon arrived, the Korlan homeworld, Reesha Balck was already being scoured by the Scourge Ark Ship in orbit. Outnumbered and outgunned, Admiral T'Molina directed the fleet to run rescue and evacuation to save as many Korlans as possible. *Destiny* likewise participated, organizing evacuation at G-793 and guarding the escape path of civilian ships against Scourge scouts. During this time, *Destiny* made an intelligence gathering pass of Reesha Balck and observed the aftermath of a Scourge scouring.

*Destiny* continued to arrange evacuations against the Scourge while the Alliance worked on possible solutions to the Scourge threat, fighting even on the frontlines. On Stardate 97268, *Destiny* worked to cover operations at the Polaran Homeworld, screening against the Scourge while the homeworld was transitioned to subspace to avoid detection by the Scourge Hive Fleet. Despite her efforts, some Scourge vessels reached Polara, though were dealt with by the local fleet. Shortly after, *Destiny* would oversee the transition of Polara back to normal space before damage to the planet's ecosystem became irreversable. As the war progressed, Admiral T'Molina continued to base her intelligence and command operations from *Destiny*.

### Operation Nazaire

With the fall of Shaki to a newly emerged Scourge Hive Fleet, Admiral T'Molina grew increasingly bold in her strategic decisions. The destruction of an entire Hive Fleet at OB-666 by the Royals with assistance from the Alliance showed a potential weakness of the Scourge design: the very oversized singularity cores which powered their massive ark ships. As the death count continued to climb, T'Molina, against all the warnings by her Intelligence liason, Captain Raeder, proposed and gained approval to launch a boarding action against a Scourge Ark Ship in order to scuttle it and destroy the entire Hive Fleet as collateral, as had been observed at OB-666. For classified reasons, the proposal stated that only a single ship in the entire theater was immediately capable of performing such a raid: *Destiny*.

    Weeks of planning and preparation culminated into Operation Nazaire, a virtual suicide mission which pitted a single starship against an entire Hive Fleet. *Destiny* was to deliver an elite, volunteer special forces team to the Ark Ship to board and conduct a scuttling. The selected target was Hive Fleet Horus, which was rapidly approaching the Rikelian Republic and would attack their homeworld within days. The population of the Rikelian Homeworld measured in the billions. Among the preparations was the acquisition of a volunteer team, as well as orders from Admiral Hawkins that T'Molina was not to accompany *Destiny*, despite being her commanding officer. In response, T'Molina summarily promoted her executive officer, Shrish sh'Tal'ek, to the rank of Captain and appointed her as the ship's new commanding officer to carry out the mission.

On Stardate 93320.51, at the border of Rikelian Space, *Destiny* approached the hive fleet under cloak with the USS *Parche* present to witness. Meanwhile, the rest of Task Force Avalon were in the area conducting evacuations and skirmishes in a fashion similar to past engagements, a separate operation designed to distract for *Destiny'*s benefit. Among the Scourge assets were ex-*Nautilus*, a *Jupiter*-class carrier that had been captured by the Scourge at Shaki.

*Destiny* survived the action without battle damage. As she withdrew from the targeted Ark Ship, so did the rest of the Scourge Hive Fleet. The Ark Ship's singularity core collapsed as *Destiny* escaped, destroying the fifty-kilometer ship and reducing it to a lingering black hole. Unfortunately, the desired collateral was not achieved due to the vast majority of the Hive Fleet reaching minimum safe distance in time. Although the bulk of the Scourge fleet remained intact, the loss of the Ark Ship led them to retreat and abandon their attack on Rikelian space. The remnants of Hive Fleet Horus seemed to form around ex-*Nautilus* before withdrawing to regroup with Hive Fleet Anansi.

With a confirmation provided by the *Parche*, *Destiny* was credited with the destruction of a Scourge Ark Ship under battle conditions on Stardate 93320.8, the only Ark Ship to be destroyed under these conditions and unassisted. Remarkably, the allied operation had only two fatal casualties - Captain Tadashi Shirada of M.A.C.O. Team 31 and Master Chief Petty Officer Leto Grissom of Hazard Team Command. Admiral T'Molina raised her flag aboard *Destiny* once again almost coinciding with the official conclusion of Operation Nazaire, but did not reclaim the status of her commanding officer. The Admiral cited that Shrish sh'Tal'ek's appointment was not temporary and further clarified: "A starship should go into battle with her commanding officer on the bridge. Regardless of the reason why, if there are to be situations where by protocol I am not allowed to do this, then I should not be her captain."

*Destiny* and her embarked M.A.C.O. Detachment from Team 32, were issued the Presidential Unit Citation for the actions of Operation: Nazaire.

*"It takes special courage to stand against a Lion to protect others, even more to willingly put one's head in the Lion's mouth to do so, yet this was done by the USS* Destiny *during Operation: Nazaire knowing that it would bring the Lion's doom. This honor extends to the ship and crew of the USS* Destiny*, and her assigned M.A.C.O. Detachment, who stood vigil on the ship for counter-boarding during Operation: Nazaire."*

*- Aennik Okeg, President of the United Federation of Planets*

### Gardner's Project

Hastily embarking with Admiral T'Molina on board, the flagship of Task Force Avalon lingered only long enough to confirm that Hive Fleet Horus' withdrawal before she engaged her Quantum Slipstream Drive for Discens Station. Despite Operation Nazaire's success, the intelligence analysis supported that it was unlikely to work again due to observable tactical adjustments by the Scourge over the course of the operation, believed to be the result of a Scourge Alpha documented as encountered during the battle. As a result, Admiral T'Molina now pursued a final option: a project by Captain Connor Gardner to use Sleeper Particles to control the Scourge.

*Destiny* arrived at Discens ahead of a live test of the theory and transported Admiral T'Molina on board with an honor guard comprised of her own M.A.C.O. Detachment. During a containment breach aboard Discens, *Destiny* was unable to reach the station with communications, nor was she readily able to penetrate the shields without some risk. Without clear signs of what was going on aboard the station, Captain Shrish sh'Tal'ek elected to stand by and watch while Starfleet Intelligence worked on figuring out access.

Shortly after lockdown began, *Destiny* observed a large scale, burst, coded transmission broadcast from Discens' primary subspace antennae and aimed in the vicinity of the nearest Scourge Hive Fleet. The station's powerful antennae, overpowered in design to make clear transmissions through ion storms and dark matter interference, proved too great for *Destiny* to jam. Moments after, the Discens lockdown was lifted, and *Destiny* learned that due to the containment breach, the Scourge had been informed of the project. Immediately, listening outposts began reporting that Hive Fleet Anansi had changed course and was now heading directly for Discens Station, with other Hive Fleets following. The Scourge appeared to take the threat of Gardner's project very seriously, and committed substantial forces to ensure it was terminated.

### Battle at Discens

*Destiny* spent the next week preparing for the Scourge's eventual arrival at Discens Station, assisting with the installation of multiple phaser banks, photon torpedo launchers, and a subspace inhibitor. Her crew also facilitated interlinking the various allied fleets present at Discens Station for unified fleet command. Once again, T'Molina was urged to transfer her flag to the much-heavier combatant and better equipped command ship, *Mikasa*, and did so in the hours prior to the Scourge's arrival. Under the command of Captain Shrish sh'Tal'ek, *Destiny* awaited the battle to be joined.

After an opening long-range shot by the Scourge vessel ex-*Nautilus* crippled the *Dawn Treader*, *Destiny* and the joint allied fleet returned fire. At the advice of Admiral T'Molina from the *Mikasa*, *Destiny* took an evasive pattern to avoid the Dark Matter Lance of ex-*Nautilus*, though it soon became apparent that the Scourge were targeting primary command assets. Once ex-*Nautilus* had identified *Reprisal* as one such vessel, she became her next target. Erei'Enriov Ineania t'Latta, next in command, took over from her cloaked warbird. Though the battle became confused as the allied fleet was being overrun, *Destiny* responded to t'Latta's call for cloak capable assets to form up under cloak. An alpha strike was called for, then cancelled when *Axalon* rushed ahead and sacrificed herself to disable ex-*Nautilus'* Dark Matter Lance. *Destiny* was then recalled to Discens Station with the remaining warbirds for a final defense.

Finding that Discens Station had been boarded by Scourge platforms, *Destiny* immediately committed her M.A.C.O. detachment to counter-boarding operations on the station. While there, the detachment by happenstance linked up with the former executive officer of the USS *Destiny* and now-Captain of the *Dawn Treader*, Captain Jack MacAuliffe. *Destiny* herself was then committed to defending the station against any new attackers, decloaking to engage nearby Scourge platforms in space. As more and more Scourge went to make runs to board the station. In response to a general request from erei'Enriov t'Latta, sh'Tal'ek ordered *Destiny'*s strategic capabilities to be utilized for area denial. For the first time, *Destiny* launched her Metreon Gas Warheads in anger. Briefly filling the primary swarm's path with metreon gas, the plasma explosion which followed claimed a wave of fighters, buying a few extra critical moments for the main action on Discens.

Minutes later, the battle ended with the entire Scourge armada self-destructing. *Destiny*, with abused shields and phaser arrays but only scratches to her hull, bore witness to the end of the Scourge threat before turning her attention to search and rescue.

### After the End War

By order of erei'Enriov Ineania t'Latta in her capacity as acting Commanding Officer of the 26th Fleet, *Destiny* and other cloak capable ships immediately began reconnaissance to verify that the Scourge threat was over. *Destiny* surveyed one Hive Fleet site and the edge of the Dark Expanse under cloak over the course of three weeks and found no sign of any remaining Scourge platforms, only broken singularities, and in some cases ships that had entirely disappeared the moment the self-destruct order was issued. At the acceptance of the Admiralty, and having spent six months in space, *Destiny* returned to Starbase 381 for minor refit and much-needed rest and relaxation.

    During the aftermath, a moderate reshuffling of 26th Fleet assets led to Special Operations Group 5 being decommissioned and presence reduced to strictly M.A.C.O. Group 9. *Destiny'*s role as a mobile field headquarters for Special Operations Group 5 was shifted to more directly support Task Force Avalon and Admiral T'Molina's role as the Task Force's Commanding Officer. *Destiny* retained her M.A.C.O. Detachment and role as Task Force Avalon's flagship, but her attachment to Special Operations Group 5 was discontinued without reassignment.

On Stardate 97479.8, *Destiny* participated in a fleet review of the 26th Fleet, flying in parade formation for commemorative holoimaging.

# Technology

*Destiny* is a Block I/A *Archon*-class starship, one of the first of Starfleet's sixth-generation of assault cruisers. Though effectively stock, she has been built for a versatile option list of assault cruiser technologies. As the flagship of an Admiral, many of these options are presently equipped.

## Metreon Gas Canisters

*Destiny* uses the same model of armored stasis canisters used aboard *Regent*-class vessels, adapted to test the *Archon*-class's compatibility with other Starfleet Assault Cruiser Technology. Located within her warp nacelles, these canisters can be filled rapidly with the aid of her massive bussard ramscoops. They possess a broad range of uses, such as environmental cleanup, cataloguing gaseous anomalies, and advertised for tactical use via the so-called "Riker Maneuver", although the latter is considered by all but the most bold as impractical.

## Metreon Gas Warhead Launcher

    Metreon charges have traditionally been used to carry out the charting of dark matter nebulae, however these have been weaponized into an experimental thermobaric weapon. *Destiny'*s forward torpedo launchers have been modified to provide the additional capability of firing these weaponized charges. On impact, the gas expands rapidly via antigravity to envelop entire formations of hostiles. Almost immediately the Metreon Gas begins to wreak havoc with impulse manifolds, forcing many to shut down and leave the ship unable to escape the much more devastating primary detonation sparked by micro-triggers released from the warhead on impact.

Originally, these warheads were passed for inclusion on the *Archon*-class, however their successful inclusion aboard the *Vizier*-class prompted them to be equipped aboard *Destiny* to validate Assault Cruiser Versatility. Rear Admiral T'Molina volunteered for the equipment due to the dual capability it offered in the unique environment of the Outback in mapping Dark Matter phenomena. It would serve scientific use in an ongoing project to chart the Dark Expanse, the largest dark matter nebula on record. The warhead magazine size on *Destiny* is limited, but can be replenished in the field using the industrial replicators to produce the warheads, which can then be armed with Metreon Gas from her onboard canisters.

## Cloak Capability

Starfleet has acknowledged that *Destiny* is fully capable of using a cloaking device, but per Starfleet policy, it is publicly neither confirmed nor denied by Starfleet Command that *Destiny* is actually equipped with one. If equipped, *Destiny'*s power plant and auxiliary systems would appear to grant her full Battle Cloak capability unheard of for Starfleet vessels of her size, enabling her to activate her cloaking device even while rigged for tactical combat. Despite the ambiguity policy, third party analysts believe that *Destiny* is equipped with one at all times. Her status as the flagship of an Admiral strongly associated with M.A.C.O., along with numerous report omissions, classified operations, and irregular sightings, suggest it almost a certainty. This handling has drawn some criticism, owing in part to Federation policy as well as the Treaty of Algeron.

## Cyclical Quantum Slipstream Drive

In 2420, *Destiny* put into drydock for upgrades to her Quantum Slipstream Drive per request by her captain. In January of that year, specifications were released by the Starfleet Corps of Engineers for a Cyclical Quantum Slipstream Drive compatible with the *Archon*-class assault cruiser, owing to the class's large nacelles supporting the massive spinnakers required. The case was made for *Destiny* to become an early adopter, owing to the tumultuous nature of the Outback and the need for Admiral T'Molina to operate in the field as well as report to Starbase 381 on a regular basis in response to crises. The Cyclical Quantum Slipstream Drive would give *Destiny* nearly unprecedented strategic mobility in the Outback. Although true that *Destiny* was not the mightiest ship in direct combat, her ability to be nearly anywhere at any time gave her impressive flexibility. In March of 2420, *Destiny* completed shakedowns and became the first operational *Archon*-class starship equipped with a Cyclical Quantum Slipstream Drive.

# References

* Ship Customization Request: USS Destiny - Non-Standard and Experimental Technologies