U.S.S. Mikasa

**USS *Mikasa* (NCC-97709)** is a *Presidio*-class Command Battlecruiser of the United Federation of Planets Starfleet. For the majority of her service to 26th Fleet, *Mikasa* has provided fleet support, focusing on defense. The "Old Warhorse" of Task Force Avalon, she typically operates in the defense of Starbase 381 and Alliance space in the Outback, only sallying out in the darkest hours when the Commander, Task Force Avalon calls for her to serve in battle. She was named for the early 20th century Japanese battleship *Mikasa* of Earth, in turn named after Mount Mikasa in Nara, Japan.

Her pedigree and nickname notwithstanding, *Mikasa* is a very modern vessel built to specifications befitting her role as a command and control vessel for task forces and fleets. Very heavily armed and armoured, she is not deployed for general duties owing to her ill-suited posture for exploration and diplomacy. The vessel is maintained on the roster of the 26th Fleet for the unique capabilities she offers in this regard, and she is the flagship of choice for Admirals who are required to maintain command and control of Task Force Avalon during very large operations involving multiple formations of starships.

*Mikasa* was one of three command battlecruisers initially assigned to the Outback in 2415, along with the *Meyrin* and *Midway*. All three ships served extensively in the Iconian war. Both *Meyrin* and *Midway*, which are *Geneva* and *Concorde* class starships respectively, were both returned to the Beta Quadrant in a fleet assets review conducted in 2417. *Midway* is now the only Command Battlecruiser serving in the Outback.

Captain Erika Hayasaki assumed command of the USS *Mikasa* in 2418 at the orders of then-Rear Admiral Amalei Neraea, Commander of Task Force Avalon.

# Legacy

The original pre-dreadnought battleship was at the time of her construction the most formidable battleship on Earth, and famously served as the flagship of Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō throughout the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. On 27 May 1905, the Z flag was raised on her mast to begin the Battle of Tsushima, where the fledgling Imperial Japanese Navy would be tested against the proven Russian Navy in one of the most important naval battles in Earth history. *Mikasa's* victory at Tsushima made her a legend in Japanese culture and in Earth naval history.

She became a museum ship after being decommissioned. Having earned the respect and admiration of the nations of the world, she was excluded from the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 so long as she remained a museum ship, saving her from being scrapped. Left to deteriorate after the Japanese Surrender in World War Two, she was restored as a public museum at the behest of the world and with the help of United States Navy Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz in 1961; by then the oldest steel battleship in the world.

USS *Mikasa* was named for this ship. Her dedication quote was taken from the Z flag raised on her deck to signal the Japanese fleet at the Battle of Tsushima which, on that day and by pre-arrangement, meant "The Empire's fate depends on the result of this battle, let each man do his utmost."

# Construction

*Mikasa* was the fourth *Presidio*-class starship built at the San Francisco Fleet Yards, with her space frame commencing assembly in November 2413 at San Francisco's Dry Dock Three. She was launched at the beginning of 2415 and was rushed into fitting and commission when the Herald Sphere appeared near Iconia. Her commissioning ceremony and pre-deployment workup was short, owing to the brewing war which began only four days after.

# Service History

Upon commissioning, she immediately began service as the flagship of Rear Admiral Upper Half Telaura M'ratha. Her first mission was defense of the Vulcan sector in the event war broke out. Only days later, the Iconian War began. After the ability to hijack Iconian gateway portals was discovered and implemented, *Mikasa* participated in three raids, buying the allies valuable time through disabling the Herald gateway hubs. In July of 2415, Rear Admiral M'ratha was killed in action while defending a Federation homeworld when a Solar Gateway struck *Mikasa* 's command decks and penetrated her shields. After hasty repairs at Andor, *Mikasa* was assigned to the 26th Fleet to replace the USS *Northeaster* as escort ship to the Task Force Avalon flagship USS *Destiny* when the *Northeaster* was destroyed during the Fall of OB-200. *Mikasa* served in this capacity and helped to facilitate coordination for the fleet through to Operation Hallowed Sabre, where she remained at *Destiny's* side until the last possible moment.

With the war's end, *Mikasa* has turned her attentions toward the administration of the day to day affairs of the defense of Starbase 381 *"Praetorian"* space, arranging and monitoring combat patrols and keeping watchful vigil for the next major threat. During an encounter with the Elachi over Starfleet officers held as prisoners of war, she was briefly under the command of Captain T'Molina in the event hostilities broke out, though none occurred.

From Stardate 94045.2 until 94157.2, at the orders of Rear Admiral Amalei Neraea of Task Force Avalon, *Mikasa* underwent a relatively brief seven-week refit at Starbase 381 where she was modified from her original *Presidio*-class specifications to accommodate expanded command and control facilities and alterations to her secondary hull.

High-capacity subspace communications antennae were installed behind the command decks, which themselves were refurbished with additional command and control facilities including a Combat Information Centre, a flag officers’ briefing room, and a Strategic Operations Centre.

The wide, low-swung nacelle pylons common to the *Presidio*-class were removed and replaced in order to reposition the warp nacelles and alter her warp geometry to improve field efficiency and better protect the bussard collectors from pockets of dark matter that litter virtually every sector of the Outback.

Similar modifications were examined for near-sisterships, USS *Meyrin* and USS *Midway*.

Shortly after being re-launched from the Starbase 381 shipyards, USS *Mikasa* was reassigned from Task Force Britain to Task Force Avalon. Rear Admiral Neraea then transferred her flag from the USS *Rodney* to the *Mikasa* on Stardate 94199.97. *Mikasa* remained Admiral Neraea's flagship for the duration of her command of the Task Force, and acted as the fleet's command ship during the First Battle of Discens station in July of 2418. The ship accounted for two rogue Klingon Battlecruisers and an Imperial Romulan Warbird during the engagement.

Admiral Hawkins named Admiral T'Molina the new commander of Task Force Avalon in October 2418.

*Mikasa* is still considered one of the flagships of Task Force Avalon, being deployed as necessary by Admiral T'Molina depending on the immediate situation. Admiral T'Molina spends most of her time aboard the smaller USS *Destiny*, though *Mikasa* again served as Flagship of Task Force Avalon during the Second Battle of Discens that marked the end of the Scourge End War in October 2419.

# Armaments and Defence Systems

The Command Battlecruiser design program was a joint project conducted between the starship engineering bureaus of the United Federation of Planets Starfleet, the Klingon Defence Force, and the Romulan Republic Navy. (The later powers having produced vessels with similar characteristics.)

Because of this, perhaps unsurprisingly, the design of the *Presidio*-class is influenced heavily by Klingon and Romulan weapons engineering concepts.

Boasting 20 Mk XIV, type-XII heavy phaser arrays in forward-biased transorbital arrangements along with two, fixed-angle dual-heavy siege cannons mounted on the leading edge of the saucer section, the *Mikasa* massively emphasizes first-strike overmatch principles that are designed to overwhelm and neutralize any capital-class opponent in frontal assaults.

As is standard on Federation starships these weapons systems are powered primarily by the impulse fusion reactors with additional, redundant tie-ins to auxiliary battery backups and – additionally - the warp core itself through a complex but robust system of EPS flow regulator interchanges first introduced as prototypes aboard the USS *Charybdis*. Power normally directed to the warp nacelles can instead be diverted to the weapons array as required.

This formidable armament of energy weapons systems is further bolstered by four burst-fire multipurpose torpedo launchers located on the ship’s neck and fantail. The launchers support multiple Starfleet-issue munitions, including photon, quantum, gravimetric, transphasic and tricobalt armaments – all of which are carried aboard in multiple magazines that are equipped with site-to-site transporters for rapid payload redistribution.

Each of the *Mikasa’s* primary phaser arrays is paired with two phaser point-defence turrets located at even intervals around the primary and secondary hull. The point-defence system is controlled through the ship’s VI network and CIC.

## Weaponry

### Type-XII Phaser Arrays

**Phaser Type:** Mark XIV Phaser Beam Array

**Number:** 20 Arrays

**Effective Range:** 300,000 kilometers

**Primary Function:** Main Armament – Space Dominance

*Presidio*-class battlecruisers mount the Type-XII phaser array. This makes them the largest vessel in Starfleet to mount super-capital-class phaser arrays, along with the *Concorde*- and *Geneva*-classes. Of the three classes, the *Presidio* is the most heavily-armed, with twenty individual banks of phaser arrays.

Type-XII phasers, the largest currently in use in Starfleet service, were first deployed on starbases in the mid to late 24th century. Type-XIIs were first deployed on capital starships beginning with the *Sovereign*-class in 2371.

The current Mark XIV iteration of the Type-XII is the most technologically advanced weapon system in Starfleet, and utilizes quantum-phase inducers in each array’s nadion emitter assembly to create an entangled feedback loop that siphons a target’s shield energy back into the weapons array of the *Presidio*. This captured energy is recycled throughout the EPS grid to reduce power draw on the ship’s fusion reactors.

Each array is rated to a maximum sustained energy output of 18 megawatts per second, achieved through doubled-pairings of emitter nodes in quad-cells running the length of the array. Each cell is capable of being independently focused and directed within a broad, 170-degree cone from the zero-plane against the ship’s hull.

The *Mikasa’s* five Yoyodyne-Fujikawa fusion reactors supply a maximum of 900 megawatts of energy to the ship every second. The total power draw of the *Mikasa’s* 20 phaser arrays in combat does not exceed 360 megawatts.

### Heavy Phaser Cannons

**Phaser Type:** Mark XIV Heavy Pulse Phaser Cannons

**Number:** 2  emplacements

**Emitters:** 3 per emplacement

**Effective Range:** 150,000 kilometers

**Primary Function:** Secondary Armament – Heavy Fire Support

Like all *Presidio*-class ships, *Mikasa* is outfitted with a pair of Mark XIV heavy phaser cannons derived from weapons first developed for the *Tempest*-class patrol escort. The Mark XIV-B is an enlarged variant of this cannon with higher yield and considerably larger power management systems.

The cannon banks are comprised of three emitters each, firing in a linked sequence for up to four seconds. With locked firing arcs only marginally able to be turned through their turret emplacements to an angle of just 20 degrees off-axis, these weapons are primarily designed to pummel heavy capital-class targets, orbital installations or planetary surface emplacements. As with all pulsed phasers, these cannons are efficient at destabilizing and penetrating shield grids.

The maximum energy output of each cannon remains classified, however some estimates based on observation of combat performance are as high as 90 megawatts. Based on power requirements, more conservative estimates put the output range closer to 60.

### Torpedo Batteries

**Type:** Mark XIV Variable Payload Burst-Fire Torpedo Tubes

**Payloads:** Photon, Quantum munitions as standard. Additional capabilities include Transphasic, Tricobalt armaments.

**Magazines:** 600 Mark XIV Photon Torpedoes, 400 Q-VI Mk XIV Quantum Torpedoes

**Burst Capacity per Launcher:** 6

**Maximum Range:** 4,050,000 kilometers

**Primary Purpose:** Strategic Ordnance

The *Presidio*-class’s torpedo armaments provide average supporting firepower but are nonetheless versatile in their ability to fire multiple munitions types. Each of the ship’s torpedo magazines is equipped with rapid site-to-site transporter systems to move munitions between launchers as required.

The two forward launchers are located on either side of the neck in positions similar to the much older *Excelsior*-class. The two aft launchers are located on the dorsal fantail.

Each torpedo launcher is capable of firing as many as six rounds in repeating burst salvos at a reload time of 6 seconds, as a spread of six rounds at a reload time of 10 seconds, or single volleys every one point five seconds.

Tied with the ship’s CIC VI, the *Mikasa* is additionally capable of allocating fully-automated, independent target profiles to each individual round against as many as two hundred targets registered by the ship’s fire control systems.

### Phaser Point Defence System

**Phaser Type:** Mark XIV Rapid Pulse Phaser Bank

**Number:** 44  emitter banks

**Range:** 15,000 kilometers

**Primary Purpose:** Close-in Point Defence - Anti-Ordnance, Anti-Fighter

*Presidio*-class starships are equipped with a vast array of Close-In Point Defense phaser emitters. Arranged as a series of small pulse phaser emitter banks on the hull of the vessel mounted coaxially to the main phaser arrays, the point defence system is tied directly to the main targeting sensors and is controlled by the ship’s VI.

The system is designed to counter projectile weapons, small strike craft, boarding shuttles, and – if necessary – navigational hazards including foreign object debris.

The point defence emitters are tied to the same power distribution system as the main arrays, but do not contribute significantly to power consumption due to their comparatively low yield.

Each emitter is capable of a sustained rate of fire of 1,200 bursts per minute and can rapidly slew between target vectors at a full engagement arc of 180 degrees azimuth and zenith.

Target acquisition is achieved at a maximum possible range of 300,000 kilometers, with firing solutions continuously subject to recalculations before the system engages and opens fire at 15,000 kilometers. There is no minimum engagement range, although cease-fire protocols can be initiated on command if required.

## Defence Systems

### Mark XIV Adaptive Resilient Shielding System

**Generators:** 48

**Shielding Type:** Multi-Layered Symmetrical Subspace Graviton Field Array

**Flight Geometry:** Elliptical - 500 meters forward, 100 meters lateral, 50 meters vertical, 50 meters aft

**Combat Geometry:** Elliptical – Overlapping fields focused 50, 60 and 80 meters from hull.

**Primary Purpose:** Defense from enemy threats, navigational hazards, micro-meteoroid particles.

**Secondary Purpose:** Ramming threat vessels.

The primary defense of a *Presidio*-class vessel is its shield system. In the case of the *Mikasa*, these shields are a triple-redundant, overlapped series of defence fields tuned to adaptive harmonic resonance frequencies in three distinct barrier perimeters. In practice, these shields have a lower energy rating than high-capacity covariant systems, but are better attuned to absorb a much greater range of the E/M spectrum. In theory, they have a lower recovery rate than regenerative shield arrays which is addressed in part by both redundant hot-standby field generators, and the array’s innate adaptive modulation systems which automatically re-attune the shields to counter specific E/M bands and energy types.

Each of the ship’s 48 graviton polarity field generators have a rating of 600 MW for a total shield system strength of 28,800 MW. Of those 48 generators however, only 32 are in use at any one time, with generators paired to produce the overlapping fields. An additional 16 provide hot-standby redundancy so that overwhelmed generators can be cycled off. In practice, this means the *Mikasa* has an effective shield strength of 19,200 MW with each of its overlapped field barriers rated at 9,600 MW.

Adaptive technology gained from the Borg Collective research conducted by Starfleet and allied forces enable the shield systems to adjust modulation, frequency, and spectrum to optimize their effects against the specific energy type currently being used against them, even in the midst of combat. They cannot adapt to environmental hazards in the same manner.

These systems in conjunction with advancements in shield theory mean the *Presidio’s* shields protect against approximately 43 percent of the total E/M spectrum – almost double that of the original *Galaxy*-class at the time of its launch in the 2360s. Refit and service life extension programs for the *Galaxy* and *Sovereign* classes have ensured that older vessels have kept pace with this technology, and possess similar capabilities as of 2416.

### Armour System

**Plates:** Neutronium Alloy, Ablative Alloy

**Hull Coverage:** 90 percent

**Distribution:** Neutronium composites used to protect command, control, propulsion, and deflector systems in 'all or nothing' layout. Remainder of hull and systems covered 'over-all' by standard ablative armour.

**Armour Thickness:** Ablative armour averages 100 millimetres. Neutronium armour limited to a maximum of 90 millimetres.

Since the *Sovereign*-class was launched in the 2370s, Federation capital ships have enjoyed comprehensive armour systems that cover almost the entirety of the outer hull, and materials technology advancements have led to several key developments that make current, sixth-generation capital ships the most well protected vessels that Starfleet has ever produced. The *Presidio* class is no exception.

The *Presidio*-class’s duranium double hull is protected by an ‘overall’ armour scheme that evenly covers all of the ship’s extremities with between 50 and 110 millimetres of interlocked ablative armour plates. This is an alternative to an ‘all or nothing’ armour scheme that would instead protect only critical areas with thicker armour plates.

Critical areas of the ship are protected by between 45 and 90 millimetres of neutronium alloy. A relatively new development in armour technology perfected as a consequence of continued research into Borg countermeasures in the early 2400s, neutronium is the heaviest material ever developed for starship protection and is almost impervious to energy weapons fire. Comprehensively protecting against all wavelengths of the E/M spectrum and able to absorb extremely high-energy impacts from projectile weapons, neutronium alloy armour covers the most important areas of the *Presidio*-class battlecruiser’s hull, including command and control decks, engine spaces, weapons systems, hangar decks, and the primary navigational deflector.

Given its incredible density Neutronium is difficult to manufacture and even more difficult to process and machine into alloy armour plates. How it is manufactured is highly classified, and replacing damaged armour is a time-consuming and expensive process, with only a handful of shipyards in the Federation able to fabricate it. More often than not, it is not the neutronium plate itself that fails to weapons fire – but rather the duranium/tritanium hull beneath it, which is still subject to stresses around armour seams and joins.

Due to the heavy weight of the plates, the *Mikasa's* armour systems are a component of the external inertial dampening systems, which assist in artificially reducing their mass as a factor in impulse flight dynamics.

# Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence (C3I) Systems

Conceived as command ships for task forces and fleets, the *Presidio*-class boasts some of the most impressive dedicated command and control facilities deployed outside of major starbase facilities, in many ways exceeding the command capabilities of even the *Odyssey*-class flagships.

With heavily integrated bio-neural gel and optical data networks, and massive computer cores as the foundation of its systems architecture, the *Mikasa* sports state-of-the-art command facilities that include a flag bridge, fleet strategic operations centre, combat information centre, phased subspace communications arrays, a virtual intelligence network and a JYNZ Systems Tactical Computer Core.

A flagship in every respect, the *Presidio*-class's impressive suites of C3I facilities deliver timely and detailed information to task force commanders who may be operating well forward of established Starfleet command facilities.

## Command Capabilities

### Main Bridge

**Location:** Deck 1

The nerve centre of a starship’s operations, the bridge module of the Presidio-class is – like many starships before it - designed to be tailor-fitted to mission-specifications. Mikasa has had two bridges in her short life. The ‘Origin’ module originally fitted to the ship in her launch configuration in 2415 had to be replaced when the ship’s command decks were seriously damaged by a solar gateway during the Iconian War, killing most of the ship’s senior staff.

Currently fitted with a modified ‘Aurora’ bridge module, Deck 1 of the Mikasa is well appointed with offices for the ship’s captain and embarked Admiral on the starboard side. A flag briefing room is located on the port side.

The bridge itself is arranged to standard specifications, with dedicated stations for operations, tactical, science, flight control, engineering, the first officer, and captain.

The high-bandwidth communications masts are located directly behind the bridge, and maintenance access to these systems is available through decks one and two.
While still sitting at the top of the saucer section, the bridge of the Presidio-class sits considerably lower than is standard on other vessels. Dropped to a position two meters below the pressure hull, the upper bulkhead is protected by a net of duranium-nanomesh spalling armour that is in turn attached to the ship’s duranium inner hull. The outer hull of deck one is protected by 90 millimetres of composite neutronium alloy. The armour and spaced bulkheads are rated to withstand a direct hit from a 30-isoton warhead.

When shields are raised, the entire section sits under the overlapping shield grids of four paired generators with two redundant backups. In the event that one pair of generators and their backup fail, the bridge is situated so that it will still be fully shielded by a second set of field generators with one further backup. Finally, these four generators and their backups are capable of being isolated from the main EPS grid and can be powered independently from fusion reactors III and IV.

### Mk I-A JYNZ Systems Tactical Computer Core

**Location:** Decks 4-12

The Presidio, Geneva and Concorde class command battlecruisers feature the largest and most advanced computer core ever deployed on a Federation starship. The Mk I-A Tactical Computer Core developed by JYNZ Systems is designed to efficiently facilitate fleet and squadron coordination in real-time in large-scale operating theatres, and is also deployed aboard Odyssey Block-II/T (Endeavour-class) flagship star cruisers.

The large primary core is eight storeys tall and runs from deck four all the way to deck twelve.

Built as part of the Mikasa’s primary ODN conduit, the computer core is uniquely and intimately integrated into the ship’s data network and bio-neural gel systems. Coupled to the ship’s primary sensor arrays through a secondary core located on decks ten through fourteen, and capable of networking with other vessels through the ship’s passive phased subspace communications array, the core uses a VI to intuitively prioritise and process trillions of discreet functions per second across almost every aspect of the ship’s operations.

Over time, the bio-neural gel packs located throughout the ship’s optical data network develop artificially intelligent behavioural instincts and predictive algorithms that assist the computer core’s VI in further optimizing and regulating data processing at near-FTL speeds.

As is typical of most starship-based data systems, the primary ODN conduit runs through the full height of the primary hull, directly below the bridge. The simple design layout ensures that there are very few potential points of system failure between primary command and control deck and the ODN distribution network below. The Presidio-class’s primary mission as a command and control vessel means that significant safeguards and redundancies have been put in place to ensure that the computer core – the heart of the ship’s operations – remains operational even in extreme damage control scenarios. In theory, due to the core’s location three decks beneath the primary hull’s main neutronium armour belts, only a catastrophic loss of command and control through the destruction of the ship’s bridge would seriously inhibit the computer core’s primary functions.

# Artifacts

*Mikasa* carries two replica flags on board, one of the Imperial Japanese Navy and one Z flag. Both flags were once flown from the masts of the original battleship *Mikasa*. A ceremonial *nihontō* was also presented to her first captain at her commissioning ceremony.