The first place we started when crafting this game was the player ship. What would it be like? Did we want a hulking, nearly invincible Galaxy Class? Did we want them to have a science vessel? A combat ship? We settled instead on a ship with history. I love this idea for a few reasons: 1) It connects the characters to the 23rd century, thereby tying the TOS setting with the TNG setting. 2) There's something about the crew inheriting a legacy. It will be a new crew, almost fresh out of the academy, and without veteran crewmembers, the ship itself will almost act as the mentor to the crew, teaching them about the ways of Starfleet and the universe. The ship itself will have extensive logs and histories of its own adventures with its previous crews which will help inform the characters on their journeys. 3) Even though it's going to be a "tough little ship" it's still going to feel threatened by much larger vessels. I keep describing it as an old boxer that's being tasked as a retail clerk. It's capable of fighting, and knows how to do it, but probably doesn't stand a chance in an all out fight with a new heavyweight champion. I feel like if I give a crew a brand new Galaxy class from the get go that one, they won't have earned that ship, and two, that you just don't feel as threatened in a galaxy class with 1500 crew on board as you would with a almost 100 year old miranda class with 40+ on board. So anyways, what follows is the USS Challenger, as for far written.
USS Challenger (NCC-2032)
The Miranda class light cruiser was designed in the 23rd century to be a hedge against the threat imposed by the Klingon D-7 cruiser. These ships utilized the new tech set aside for the Constitution-class refit, but did not require the massive power supply of the much larger ships. That being said, the same power plant was used to power a vast array of weapons on a much larger scale than even the Constitution-class. However, with the onset of the Treaty of Organia, Starfleet no longer needed a powerful warship, and Starfleet designers were tasked with turning the ship into a more traditional Starfleet vessel. The Challenger, however, was the third ship laid down, and as such was too far along to be totally redesigned. This allowed the Challenger to retain it’s massive power plant and weapons systems. The ship, however, was designated as a testbed for new technologies and was set aside until 2279, when it was selected to test the four nacelle design being considered for a new class of ship. The excess power being generated by the Challenger was deemed sufficient for such a design. It was christened in 2280, under the registry NX-2032 (it was planned after the NX-2000 Excelsior model).
For three years the Challenger was used to fine tune the four nacelle system that was eventually used in the Constellation class ships. The Challenger trials, however, did not include the use of the dual impulse systems found in the Constellations. It was this added design that resulted in these new ships being delayed from service.
By 2290, the Challenger was refit and retasked as a scouting and reconnaissance ship near the Klingon Neutral Zone. It was deemed that the increased speed and firepower of the ship gave it an edge over Klingon vessels in the area should it be considered a threat by the Empire. The ship was given more advanced sensor capabilities to match it’s new role.
In 2293, the Challenger was on the short list of vessels considered for a rescue mission of James T. Kirk and Dr. Leonard McCoy after their trial by the Klingon Empire. The rescue was called off, but data gathered by the Challenger was used to plan the mission.
The Challenger continued to serve in this capacity until the 2330s. It was in this decade that the Federation began pushing further into the Alpha quadrant and determined the hostile, militaristic nature of the Cardassians to be a problem. The Challenger was refit as a tactical strike ship. It's fast warp drives and extended range made it perfectly suited for the task. Even though this was The Challenger’s first pure combat role, it is what it was designed for. The Challenger was always a warrior at heart.
During the Federation-Cardassian War (2347-2360), the Challenger saw extensive combat as a support vessel for the Rutledge. In the Battle of Minas Korva in 2349, the Challenger was severely damaged and had to be dragged back to base. It was deemed too costly to repair and moved to scrap.
After the Battle of Wolf 359, starfleet scoured the salvage yards for old ships that could be quickly repaired and refit to replace the ships lost at the battle. The Challenger was one of these ships.
