USS Fairfax
More actions
- "Men may die, but the fabrics of our free institutions remain unshaken."
- —Chester A. Arthur - 1881
USS Fairfax NCC-28461 is a Niagara-class Federation starship currently assigned to Fourth Fleet's Task Force 93. Officially her primary role is a Fast Response Humanitarian Cruiser, making her a first response vessel to disaster and crisis within range of her patrol route.
While this is her primary role, she is prided on her adaptability to fit a range of mission profiles and is generally called upon where her speed provide a meaningful advantage to the given task.
History
Laid down in 2343, Fairfax was the second of the Niagara-class to enter construction. She is the first of the production line of her lineage with USS Niagara NCC-28460 being the pathfinder and namesake of her class.
Construction of her hull commenced a full 2 years before USS Niagara was completed, as was typical of mid-24th century starship construction due to the length of time required for human work crews to complete the task. This is in contrast to more modern construction techniques being introduced in the following decades.
Primary construction was completed in late 2345 and her space frame was officially designated Fairfax as Starfleet ordered a total of 40 Niagara-class vessels to enter full production.
Like other ships of her line, Fairfax is named after a notable North American waterfall: Fairfax Falls, and, as was true with many vessels of that era, her name inspired several aspects of her identity such as:
- A quote from Chester A Arthur - 21st President of the United States of America, was chosen for her dedication plaque. Arthur was born Fairfield, Vermont in 1829
- Auxiliary Craft assigned to Fairfax are christened after the 14 counties of Vermont.
- Two Danube Class runabouts later assigned to Fairfax would be named Lamoille and St Lawrence after the rivers connected with Fairfax Falls
- The crew lounge was named the Montpelier lounge after the state capital of Vermont.
In April 2347 USS Fairfax launched on her maiden voyage from Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, orbiting Mars, Sol System. She was modestly outfitted for boarder patrol along the Romulan neutral zone, serving as a shakedown cruise while several of her sister ships neared the end of their construction.
Major Refits
Perhaps the most notable upgrade she received was the upgrade to her nacelle's and warp drive systems.
It is seldom remembered that Niagara-class vessels entered service towards the tail-end of the production of Ambassador-class starships, though the design philosophy is clearly shared between the two classes. Therefore originally Fairfax shared a similar powerplant and nacelle geometry with the Ambassador.
Following the design and production of the Galaxy-class, starfleet corps of engineers sought to upgrade compatible space frames to the more modern design that had been successfully implemented on the Galaxy. Niagara class vessels were amongst the few chosen for this upgrade, and by the mid 2360's most of the upgrade work had been completed.
Fairfax received her upgrade in 2363, significantly boosting her warp drive performance and breathing new life into her design. With the improvement in her performance, Fairfax joined her sister ships as a new sub-role of vessel; the Fast cruiser.
This significantly altered the Fairfax's mission profile, from unremarkable boarder patrol vessel, to a Fast response and humanitarian vessel.
Further alterations and refits were made to her design over the coming decades, including upgrades to her weapon and sensor systems to keep pace with current technology, and the galactic climate.
Wolf 359
In 2367, as the federation prepared to defend earth from the approaching Borg juggernaut, Fairfax was called upon to intercept the Borg cube, along with the majority of the federation fleet at Wolf 359.
19 light years from rendezvous with the fleet, Fairfax was crippled when a faulty injector assembly caused an imbalance in her matter/antimatter intermix ratio. A subsequent investigation found the cause to be a manufacturing defect which had gone 4 years without discovery. General wear and tear on her engines had weakened the assembly over several years since refit but had gone un-noticed. When Fairfax pushed her engines to maximum power to make the rendezvous, the increased load stress combined with the assembly's weakened state necessitated an emergency shutdown of her warp drive leaving her stranded in deep space for several weeks until a vessel could be dispatched to tow her back to port.
Had Fairfax made her rendezvous with the fleet, she would have participated in the battle at Wolf 359 and would more than likely have been destroyed along with the rest of the fleet.
Hindsight to this event earned her a reputation amongst crew that served on her as 'Lucky'.
Dominion War
Following the outbreak of the war with the Dominion in 2373, Starfleet began to realise the true usefulness of the Niagara design in search and rescue roles following the major engagements of the campaign. Fairfax was regularly assigned to make rapid deployments and retrieve lifeboats and survivors before they could be captured or destroyed by Jem'Hadar forces. This often required her to operate close to if not beyond the front lines, using her speed to avoid interdiction and deliver aid. Two dozen of her sister ships were lost during the campaign, and following the Treaty of Bajor signalling an end to the war, Fairfax found herself part of an endangered species of starship with only 15 of her class remaining in active service. Along with the loss of so many of the Niagara-class spaceframes, there became a significant shortage of personnel who were familiar with her design and warp geometry, foreshadowing a steady decline in her relevancy in the modern Starfleet.
While her performance as a Fast Cruiser was certainly unmatched, Starfleet began exploring options for her eventual retirement with advancements made in newer starship designs.
Destruction of Utopia Planitia and Evacuation of Romulus
By 2381 Fairfax and her sister ships were all but irrelevant and knowledge of her design had faded into obscurity, particularly amongst the younger generation of Starfleet recruits who had seldom even seen a ship of her design, much less served on one. Fairfax was once again assigned to patrol duties and long range probe retrieval tasks as plans were drawn up for her eventual retirement. As one of the oldest ships in her class, it was no secret that Starfleet would seek to withdraw her from service sooner rather than later, in an effort to preserve the operation of her younger sisters.
plans were again delayed however, with the impending destruction of the Romulan home world again plunging the quadrant into crisis. Fairfax, being primarily assigned to the Romulan Neutral zone, was one of the first federation vessels to render aid. Her unmatched sustained warp speed provided a swift response to the evacuation of the Romulan people and, she found herself uniquely suited to serving as a forward co-ordination vessel at the start of the evacuation efforts in 2385, arriving on scene days in advance of the first wave of the federation response. Her timely arrival greatly aided in co-ordination and planning of the evacuation, significantly reducing the initial workload of the humanitarian fleet in the opening days of the evacuation. She again found relevance completing no less than 150 round trips, delivering refugees to the collapsing neutral zone.
When Utopia Planitia was destroyed in April 2385, Fairfax was withdrawn from the relief efforts. Many of her spare components, and engineers with suitable knowledge to service her were lost during the attack, and Starfleet could not risk her becoming stranded and requiring rescue herself, thereby adding complexity to an already logistically demanding evacuation.
In the following months, kneeling to political pressure, Starfleet eventually withdrew from the relief efforts altogether and Fairfax's future seemed uncertain.
Resigned to short range resupply missions, Fairfax's usefulness in the modern fleet was now all but extinct. Her service life was clearly coming to a close.
Decommissioning
By 2387, Fairfax had given 40 years active service. With the galactic climate changing, spare parts and skills to maintain her in short supply, Starfleet finally began withdrawing the Niagara design from service in 2388, with Fairfax being amongst the first report for decommissioning. Over a period of 18 months, Fairfax received a final servicing and had most of her armaments removed as she was scheduled to spend the remainder of her years as a hospital ship for the fleet auxiliary. By 2400 her design was officially retired with any remaining serviceable space frames joining her in auxiliary service.
Re-commissioning (2401)
Starfleet suffered heavy losses to its fleet during the Frontier day disaster and with starship construction capacity still severely diminished without Utopia Planita Fleet yards, the admiralty turned to recently mothballed designs to be returned to active service and backfill the fleet deficit.
Fairfax, along with her sister ships were prime candidates for re-commissioning, her armaments could be easily re-installed and the decommissioning process had not markedly altered her internal compartments beyond upgrades and expansion to her medical facilities.
The order was made and Fairfax was recalled to San-Francisco orbital yards, where she was put back into active service once again. planned upgrades to her armaments proved incompatible without significant refit and she was returned to active duty with her original weapons suite consisting for Type-X phasers and Type-VI Single fire Torpedo launchers.
Upgrades to her computers and sensor suite brought her in-line with modern vessels and she was immediately deployed to the 4th fleet, Taskforce 93.
Azurak Crisis (August- September 2402) - "Patient Zero"
Following an eventful shakedown cruise, U.S.S. Fairfax returned to Devron Fleet yards in need of repair. Ordinarily Fairfax would have been afforded more time to cut her teeth, however Starfleet Command was desperate to put ships back into service. The decision was made to deploy Fairfax on a low-priority low-impact mission, namely deep space probe retrieval and servicing.
In an effort to help the Fairfax crew adjust to some of the unconventional configuration, Starfleet invited former chief engineer Commander Jorel Trask (Retired) to sail on her maiden voyage and assist the crew with getting to know her frankly outdated design.
The initial leg of the voyage proceeded without incident and with the assistance of Commander Trask, Fairfax was beginning to run smoothly. Although there was some friction emerging between Commander Trask and the incumbent Chief Engineer; Lieutenant Commander T'lira zh’Shaleth Fairfax was brought back to full readiness in no time.
On Stardate 79628.7 the Fairfax received a distress call from an Azurak freighter reporting to be disabled. Captain Dubois diverted the Fairfax to intercept and dispatched an away team upon arrival led by Commander Wallace Jones. Piloting a shuttle craft due to transporter interference, Commander Jones successfully docked with the Azurak vessel and led his team to the Engine room, where they located two severely injured crewmembers.
Meanwhile the Fairfax identified a Nausicaan ship on an intercept course and issued an emergency recall of the Away team. Before being extracted the Azurak crew blamed the Nausicaan's for the attack.
The situation was tense, but conversing with the Nausicaan captain, Dubois was able to force them to withdraw by calling them out on their bluff.
Over the next few hours Fairfax took the Azurak ship in tow and set a course for the nearest starbase. Before departure a second away team dispatched to the vessel were able to download the ships database and also recover a mysterious ornament that the Azurak referred to as the Hej'ogt. It was later discovered that this object is an item of great cultural significance to the Azurak people.
While En-route back to starbase, several crew began showing symptoms of a deadly illness, similar in many ways to some form of haemorrhagic fever. The disease however could not be detected by any normal means, and it wasn't until the ships Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Conrad Harper and Chief Science officer Lieutenant Commander Sovek applied a phase discriminator to a contaminated blood sample, that they discovered a Virus that existed with a 0.004 Phase variance.
Upon discovery of the pathogen, Captain Dubois ordered ship-wide quarantine procedures and initiated a lockdown of Deck 6 where the hospital facilities were located.
After two weeks, the crew were no closer to finding a cure, 18 crew had already perished with around a dozen more in isolation having shown symptoms.
Captain Dubois was forced to take extreme measures to contain the infection, implementing social distancing protocols and multiple checkpoints around the ship to test crew for infection.
Morale suffered greatly, and with reduced efficiency due to the checkpoints and lack of staff - maintenance began to suffer.
Without warning on the 14th day of infection, a Nausicaan ship identified Fairfax as an easy target and opened fire. Due to lack of maintenance, Captain Dubois was unable to raise the ship's shields and the ship began to take significant damage in the attack.
A distress call was dispatched with the hope of summoning a flotilla of Taskforce 93 vessels that were standing off just a lightyear or two away.
The Nausicaan's put Fairfax through an onslaught of fire, demanding only that she heave-to and submit to boarding. Unwilling to comply Captain Dubois took charge of the helm and did his best to evade the pursuing Nausicaans, but eventually Fairfax was captured in a Tractor beam and boarded.
The Nausicaan boarding party killed two security officers and wounded a third while en-route to science lab two where the Hej'ogt was being stored behind a forcefield. Disabling the forcefield triggered a detectable level of Triolic waves. Although Fairfax had temporarily managed to restore shields, the Nausicaan vessel quickly disabled them once more allowing their away team to beam back with the Hej'ogt
Around this time Lieutenant K'vagh noted that Triolic waves were being detected not only aboard Fairfax but also the Nausicaan ship.
When little hope of recovery remained, a Klingon B'rel class Bird of Prey: IKS Ki'tang De-cloaked and began defending the Fairfax in response to her earlier distress call.
The ship's commanding officer HoD' Korgh formed an alliance with the USS Fairfax and together they were able to route the enemy ship and force them to withdraw.
Almost immediately after the Nausicaans jumped to warp, all traces of the Virus that was plaguing Fairfax reportedly vanished, leading Captain Dubois to conclude that there must have been a connection between the illness and the stolen Hej'ogt.
With the assistance of the U.S.S. Cunningham, Fairfax Intercepted the Nausicaan vessel the next day after making critical repairs. Using a synchronised tachyon pulse from Cunningham and Fairfax's main deflectors, the Nausicaan ship was interdicted and braught to sublight speeds. Both ships then engaged in a brief skirmish before Captain Dubois and Lt K'vagh inserted onto the Nausicaan vessel with the aid of the Ki'tang.
A Joint team consisting of Dubois, K'vagh and four Klingon crew proceeded to locate the Hej'ogt aboard the vessel, intending to neutralise it. Their intrusion was discovered by the Nausicaan crew and during a tense verbal exchange with the Nausicaan captain, it was revealed that the Hej'ogt was actually an ancient technology capable of bridging the gap between realities. In a display of power, the device was activated aboard the Nausicaan ship causing the room to saturate with Triolic waves and ghostly apparitions of creatures resembling the Devidians became visible surrounding the Hej'ogt. Another Klingon team lead by HoD' Korgh then subdued the Nausicaan crew and killed their captain, effectively coming to Dubois and K'vagh's rescue. The Hej'ogt was destroyed by causing an overload in the power source feeding it, sealing the gateway.
Upon reflection post mission, Captain Dubois reviewed the Starfleet database and realised the resemblance between the Devidians and the creatures he had observed during his away mission
New Frontiers: Vraekton IV (October 2402 - Present) - "Apex"
Stardate 79815.2, Fairfax was assigned to the Shackleton Expanse during Starfleet's initial exploration campaign. The U.S.S. Neptune was assigned to assist Fairfax with a preliminary survey of the Vraketon System where Starfleet has been in possession of intelligence eluding to a Romulan Free State outpost somewhere in the system. Some time around September 2402, this facility apparently went dark. All transmissions and chatter about the outpost ceased and when approached about the system, the Romulans disavowed all knowledge.
Starfleet elected to deploy two vessels to investigate under the guise of a scientific survey, having suspicions the Romulans were intentionally hiding something.
Upon arriving in the Vraketon system, Neptune began an initial charting of the system, discovering it to have 7 total planets in the following configuration:
| Body | Clasification | Characteristics | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vraketon I | Class G | Volcanic/Molten | Extreemophile / Microbial Life - Superheated Core |
| Vraketon II | Class D | Rocky/Metalic | Mineral deposits, High temperatures, Tidally locked |
| Vraketon III | Class Y | 'Demon class' | High temperatures, Sulphuric storms, Thermionic radiation |
| Vraketon IV | Class M | Warm Terrestrial | Verdent world on the inner edge of eco-sphere. Eliptical orbit.
Warm temperatures, high humidity. |
| Vraketon V | Class I | Gas Supergiant | |
| Vraketon VI | Class Q | Dwarf Planet | Caught in tidal currents between planets V & VII. Geologically unstable, exposed core |
| Vraketon VII | Cass T | Gas Ultragiant |
The crews initially elected to uphold the appearance of a survey mission with Fairfax and Neptune taking different courses through the system all while surreptitiously searching for evidence of a Romulan presence.
While in orbit of Vraketon IV, Fairfax encountered difficulty penetrating the planet's atmosphere with conventional scans. This was found to be due to significant atmospheric instability caused by excess water vapour, electrostatic discharges and Ionised particles in the upper atmosphere.
Configuration
Medical
The decommissioning process prior to her re-instatement required minimal changes to her internal configuration as Fairfax was already outfitted to deliver humanitarian aid from the outbreak of the Dominion war.
In short, Fairfax mainly received an expansion to her medical facilities to include Level 1 trauma facilities, operating rooms, an intensive care unit, as well as facilities to handle biological contagion. These facilities take up an entire deck of her saucer structure, which is typical of most hospital ships, but unusual for vessels in active service with the fleet.
It made little sense to remove these facilities once they were installed, leaving Fairfax with exquisite medical care capabilities, but necessitating a significant medical staff to operate to its full potential. For this reason, during routine operations, Medical staff is maintained at a standard compliment, with several of the installed facilities being left unmanned or dormant for missions that do not require them. These facilities can be re-activated and staffed for basic operations as and when required.
For missions where a greater capacity for medical care is foreseen to be required, Fairfax will take on additional medical personnel at a Starbase before launch to ensure her facilities are properly staffed to handle any medical emergency.
Deck 6 houses these medical facilities and is often referred to simply as "Hospital deck"
The expansion of her medical facilities is balanced with a slight reduction in living space for the crew, as many of the junior cabins had to be removed to allow space for her expanded facilities. With this in mind, living quarters for junior officers were adapted from several of the state-rooms for diplomatic missions and follow a more dormitory layout.
Warp Drive Systems
The Niagara class design was commissioned in an era of rapid research and development. The initial design was based largely of the Ambassador class spaceframe however with advancements in technology soon after the design entered service, Niagara class vessels were soon upgraded with a similar powerplant to that which would eventually see service on Galaxy class cruisers.
The upgrade in design necessitated some structural redesigns of her engineering hull. Primarily the Warp Core ejection systems, which had become a critical piece of safety technology had to be redesigned.
The primary Problem the corps of engineers faced was with Niagara class vessels receiving the new 'Brahms' style engine and Nacelles identical to those fitted to the Galaxy class. The new nacelles were significantly longer in overall length which meant that the Ventral Nacelle would now obstruct the path of the warp core in the event of an emergency ejection.
To overcome this challenge, engineers considered a range of options including one solution which would call for the simultaneous ejection of the ventral nacelle immediately prior to core-ejection. Each design came with a number of other challenges, until engineers finally arrived at a far simpler solution.
Atypical of other designs, Starfleet corps of engineers designed the Niagara Warp core to eject through the dorsal hull of the engineering section, the exact opposite to most other designs. This design provided sufficient clearance for the core to drift free of the vessel, so long as forward momentum was maintained.
As the ejection port is located aft of the main impulse engine, Impulse power must be momentarily shut down until the core clears the hull, to ensure it is not damaged by sheering forces produced by the Impulse engine thrust.
In addition to the core being ejected dorsally, a redesign of the Antimatter storage pods was required for their own ejection systems, as these too might have impacted the ventral nacelle.
Ejection of the antimatter pods is completed laterally with explosive bolts allowing for hull plating to be cleared away and revealing the ejection ports.
While this makes it possible to eject the reaction chamber and antimatter storage in an emergency, the redesigns to these critical safety systems added an additional layer of complexity which precludes the ejection of any of the Matter/Antimatter reaction systems except in cases of extreme emergency, where evacuation of the ship is either impossible or where not ejecting the core might pose a more significant threat to other vessels or installations.
Warp Field
One of the unique traits of the Niagara class is her Tri-Nacelle design. Similar designs have previously been experimented with by Starfleet but very few examples of a successful design exist. Niagara class is particularly unique in that the tertiary nacelle is mounted ventrally.
In effect, the ventral Nacelle serves as a warp field stabiliser/governor and allows the ship to maintain higher warp factors for longer periods of time without risking warp field collapse.
In theory, it would be possible for the Niagara class to engage and sustain lower warp factors if the ventral nacelle were inoperative or became detached from the ship, as primary warp field generation is performed by the port and starboard nacelles, as with most other vessels. However such scenarios attract a number of variables which could have unpredictable consequences for the safety of the ship and as such this practice has never been attempted and is ill-advised.
Cargo Bays
In preparation for her use in a Humanitarian role, Fairfax is equipped with a number of Auxiliary cargo bays which were intended for the storage of medical and relief supplies for humanitarian efforts. Many of these bays were converted from existing spaces on the vessel, by removing some of her auxiliary amenities when she was in the process of being converted for the fleet auxiliary.
As such a number of these bays have no external loading access and are housed within the superstructure of the ship. The storage of cargo in these spaces requires the use of transporters or manual labour to load cargo.
A a number of cargo transporters are installed across the ship allowing for multiple simultaneous transports to these spaces. In emergencies many of these spaces are large enough to house small craft and lifeboats, should the situation require.
VIP facilities
While some Niagara class vessels were assigned to diplomatic roles, Fairfax has always primarily been engaged in humanitarian operations, as such her facilities for VIP's is somewhat lacklustre.
A several staterooms exist on Deck 4 along with minor guest quarters and a separate dining room on Deck 2 with viewports offering an impressive view over the bow of the ship.
For larger functions, the Montpelier lounge may be converted for service as a banquet hall.
Deck Layout
| SAUCER SECTION | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Deck 1 | Main Bridge, Captains' Ready Room, Observation Lounge, Observation Lounge waiting room | ||
| Deck 2 | Lifeboat access, XO office, Security offices, Dining room & Galley, Airlocks, Dorsal sensor maintenance*, IPS Fuel fill/drain port* | ||
| Deck 3 | XO Quarters, Senior Officers' Quarters, Officers' quarters, Officers' mess, Montpelier lounge, Lifeboat access, Transporter Emmitter Maintenance* | ||
| Deck 4 | Staterooms, Guest Quarters, Officers' Quarters, Enlisted Quarters, Transporter Room 1, Captain's Quarters, Officers' Gymnasium. Lifeboat access | ||
| Deck 5 | Holodeck 1, Holodeck 2, Arboretum, Botany lab, Science labs, Stellar Cartography, Officers' Quarters, Enlisted Quarters, Cargo Bays, Lateral sensor maintenance*, Dorsal Phaser array maintenance*, RCS maintenance*, Primary Computer Core, Lifeboat Access | ||
| Deck 6 | Sickbay/Infirmary, CMO office, Intensive care unit, Operating rooms, Medical Laboratories, Morgue, Transporter room 2, CBRN Isolation, Cargo Bays, Ventral Phaser array maintenance*, Primary Computer core, Lifeboat Access | ||
| Deck 7 | Enlisted Quarters, Mess hall, Cargo bays, Armoury, Enlisted Gymnasium, Lifeboat Access | ||
| Deck 8 | Brig, Laboratories, Security offices, Dormitories, Equipment Storage, Lifeboat access | ||
| Deck 9 | Environmental Support, Impulse Reactor Control, Primary IPS Fuel Tanks, Equipment storage, Lifeboat access | ||
| Deck 10 | Ventral Sensor dome maintenance*, Impulse Reactors*, Impulse driver coil assembly*, Impulse accelerator/generator Junior Dormitories, Lifeboat Access. | ||
| ENGINEERING SECTION | |||
| Deck 11 | Forward Torpedo Magazine, Forward Torpedo Launchers, Armoury. Torpedo Maintenance bay, Deuterium Fill/drain port*, Engineering workshops, Lifeboat Access | ||
| Deck 12 | Deuterium Storage Tanks*, Living quarters, Probe storage Lifeboat Access | ||
| Deck 13 | Matter Reactant Injector Assembly*, workshops, Science Labs, Living quarters | ||
| Deck 14 | M/ARA Magnetic constrictors*, Upper MCS cap*, | ||
| Deck 15 | M/ARA Magnetic constrictors*, Shuttlebay flight control, Holodeck 3, Holodeck 4, Cargo Bays, Living Quarters, Lifeboat Access | ||
| Deck 16 | M/ARA Magnetic constrictors*, Shuttlebay flightdeck, Auxiliary Craft Parking, Cargo bays. Deflector control, Transporter room 3, Port & Starboard Nacelle access, Port & Starboard docking ports. | ||
| Deck 17 | Main Engineering, Aft Torpedo Launcher, Aft Torpedo Magazines, Aft Phaser Array maintenance*, Navigational deflector & long range sensor array*, Auxiliary Craft maintenance hangar, Auxiliary craft parking, Engineering labs & workshops, Lifeboat Access | ||
| Deck 18 | M/ARA Magnetic constrictors*, Secondary computer core, Cargo bays, Computer Labs, Science Labs, Ventral Nacelle access, | ||
| Deck 19 | M/ARA Magnetic constrictors*, Secondary computer core, Lifeboat Access, Living quarters, | ||
| Deck 20 | M/ARA Magnetic constrictors*, Lower MCS cap*, Waste management, Brig, Security Offices, Engineering Workshops, Living quarters, | ||
| Deck 21 | Antimatter Reactant Injector Assembly* | ||
| Deck 22 | Antimatter Storage Pods*, Environmental controls, | ||
| Deck 23 | Antimatter Fill/Drain ports* |