by Ben Robinson
The largest transporter pads on the B’rel-class are on Deck 4 just forward of the main cargo bay, in a pair of compartments off the central transfer aisle. Each pad can accommodate six warriors or a mixed grouping of warriors and cargo containers or weapons lockers. Directly below on Deck 5 is a smaller transporter room with a pad sized to take two warriors. The final two pads, each sized for a single warrior, are forward on Deck 5, accessible from the main corridor just behind the bridge. Each cargo pad is connected to its own major plasma power conduit, toroidal pattern buffer, and optional biofilter, all submerged into the decking. Built into the decking above are the combined energizing and phase transition coils, and molecular imaging scanner. The hardware at both ends of Deck 5 is set up in a similar manner, and all transporter operations are controlled by segments of the central computer. Fifteen transport emitter arrays, which send and receive the actual matter streams, are embedded in the hull plating just below the outermost kar’dasnoth armor layer. Target scanning by the ship’s sensors determines which emitters will hold the best lock for beaming.
Once the relative motions of the ship and target are known, the computer will decide if the system is ready and operating properly. The molecular imaging scanner builds a real time, though temporary, record of the pattern of the warrior or cargo being dematerialized for transport. The phase transition coils, working like millions of tiny quantum manipulators, perform the matter disassembly on the subatomic scale and send an unbroken stream to the pattern buffer. The magnetically shielded buffer torus is able to hold the contents of a pad without pattern degradation for up to four minutes, regardless of transport direction. Various options exist for sending a pattern on to its destination, or aborting and rematerializing. After four minutes the spiral field winding around the matter stream will begin to uncouple and the pattern could be lost.
Klingon transporters utilize a clustered set of seven confinement beams to keep the matter stream intact, one central beam surrounding the stream and six ‘empty’ beams protecting the center, all traversing space and low density matter with a cross section of 3.2 centimeters. Once the stream begins to exit the emitter, there is no recalling it, and all hardware must be operating at peak performance levels. Streams that are recovered in a true transporter chamber have a better chance of rematerialization than those happening elsewhere on a ship or on a planetary surface, but the technology is reliable enough today that most cultures are not concerned with possible accidents. In combat, however, transporters can be damaged, patterns can be dispersed by weapons fire, and warriors can be lost. As with the escape pods, strict protocols are in place governing the use of transporters to leave a ship in battle. After all other options are exhausted, a working transporter can be used to save warriors to fight again and to protect vital wartime intelligence.
ENERGY DISTRIBUTION
The network of charged conduits running through the Bird-of-Prey consists of three branching systems, all fed by the ship’s three energy sources. The primary—and most energetic—system begins with the twin warp cores in Main Engineering. By itself, the warp plasma produced from matter and antimatter could power all the ship’s other systems combined for at least ten years, and for general ground-based power generation this scheme has been used quite efficiently. Driving the ship at high warp, however, consumes some 95 per cent of the reactor output. The remaining 5 per cent is enough to power the other systems required during warp flight.
The impulse fusion reactors, the next tier down, can also power all of the ship’s basic systems without factoring in propulsion. The third level, stored energy power cells, are mostly used in last-resort emergencies to operate life support and communications.
Depending on the situation, all power systems can be linked for maximum interoperability and have been deliberately designed for battle conditions where one or more sources will be running in a degraded condition.
Even in normal operating modes, the energy distribution system still features a high level of built-in redundancy. The six major taps from the large transverse warp core conduit connect to twelve high-power step-down nodes. These nodes reduce the volume, pressure, and temperature of the plasma to levels useable by the photon torpedo launcher, shields, navigational deflector, cloak generator, and transporters.
The plasma conduits branching off from the step-down nodes are generally 25–35cm in size, either round or rectangular in cross section and are routed through the decking. The conduits are typically constructed of duranium with a 0.5cm baakten lining and a woven carbonitrium outer layer for insulation.
Magnetic gate valves control both the input and output of the nodes, and are constantly monitored and balanced by the central computer core.
Four of the nodes are located in Main Engineering, two near each core. One node is installed near the center of Deck 6 in the aft hull, four at the interface with the ship’s neck, two at the back of Deck 5 behind the bridge, and one off-center on Deck 6 near the torpedo launcher.
Thirty medium taps off the transverse conduit connect to an equal number of medium-power step-down nodes. This provides conduit branches that are around 11cm in diameter. At this scale, the EM charge carried in the pressurized gas is still ‘hot’ enough to power the electromechanical wing actuators, active sensors, life support, central computer, and subspace communications. Each medium step-down node contains three connectors, making a possible total of 90 branches, though only 60 are normally active. The remaining 30 connectors are used for emergency rerouting via flex conduits.
Five of the 11cm conduits connect to the smallest step-down nodes, which are designed for shipboard devices and services. These systems include weapon and communicator recharge stations, lighting, intra-ship communications, pressure doors, and cargo lifts. Some 650 power cables—hollow conduits that are 1–3cm across—fan out to various compartments from bundles and junctions within the decking.
Emergency power cells are grouped throughout the ship, each containing a computer subnode able to maintain a data network on energy allocation if the warp and impulse reactors fail. The total emergency power system includes a pair of deuterium microfusion reactors, similar to the thrust units on a photon torpedo but self contained and measuring 49cm in diameter. The total runtime on one of these small units is 13 days based on a single insulated fuel canister.
SENSORS
The sensor systems on the B’rel-class prioritize short-range operation and are optimized for combat. The long-range sensors, which are principally used in plotting a course, are far less developed. To the Klingon mind, the sensor systems and data subprocessors used in distant warp travel are only considered helpful in two instances: getting to a battle and going home victorious. Everything in between is made possible by dedicated instruments mounted on and in the hull plating, plus multiple bands of protected sensors peering out into space.
The long-range sensors involve basic instruments for navigation and space hazard avoidance at both warp and impulse speeds, but also include a small number of devices tuned to search out spacecraft structural materials and engine emissions. Most commanders need only a general indication that a target is out in the far distance, matches a vessel in the computer database, and is maneuvering in a particular way. Closer inspection with the short-range sensors usually confirms a commander’s suspicions. The long-range sensor group includes:
Galactic EM Doppler Detector
Stellar Position Comparator
Subatomic Spectral Analyzer
Ion Trail Detector
Subspace Waveform Imager
1 Sensor Conduit Cover
2 Plasma Power Conduit
3 Sensor Data Channels
4 Short Range Sensor Protective Cover
5 Sensor Structural Mount
6 Impulse Emission Discriminator
7 Energy Beam Charging Detector
8 Neutrino Masking Detector
9 Passive Cloak Detector
10 Identification Placard
11 High Reso
lution Multispectral Scanner
12 EM Countermeasures Detector
13 Projectile Approach Scanner
The navigation and targeting routines in the central computer use the readings from these sensors, plus any incoming EM radiation data from the forward deflector, to synthesize a view of the surrounding space to a radius of two light-years with medium resolution, and out to three light-years with slightly lower resolution. If Klingon or allied vessels are within these spheres, cleaner data may be exchanged by subspace and integrated into the overall view. Tactical programs in the computer constantly analyze incoming long-range data, reporting on conditions related to the current mission, or prioritizing targets of opportunity.
The short-range sensors ring the outside of the vessel in two major bands. The largest set covers the aft hull, surrounding Deck 5 with upper and lower rows, extending all the way to the space between the two impulse engine groups. The smaller set encompasses the central computer, and a special set of conformal EM instruments cover the computer’s lower hull cap.
The majority of the instruments are designed for combat applications, with some devoted more to planetary and star system data collection. The computer sensor ring possesses some of the shortest data waveguides on the ship, delivering real-time data at a speed where nanoseconds could mean the difference between hitting a target and becoming one.
The ventral cap sensors are tuned to see the wingtip disruptors, especially with the wings in the dropped attack position, and can track their intended targets. They also see the photon torpedo firing trajectories, processing relative target velocities and positions 460 times per second for up to 200 individual moving vessels.
The aft hull sensor bands add to the complete battle-environment picture, and are helpful in identifying pursuing attackers. All short-range sensors are equipped with fast vessel identification circuits, necessary in battles involving criss-crossing combatants in order to prevent accidental friendly hits.
Tactical software reading the incoming data focus on target ranges, attitudes, and flight vectors, bringing sophisticated predictive motion routines into play. This renders any unconventional enemy maneuvering nearly useless at sublight speeds. The typical short-range sensor group includes:
High Resolution Multispectral Scanner
Impulse Emission Discriminator
Hull Deformation Scanner
Passive Cloak Detector
Low-level Thermal Imager
Neutrino Masking Detector
Projectile Approach Scanner
Energy Beam Charging Detector
EM Countermeasures Detector
The ship mounted sensors can be supplemented by data collected by instrument probes, which are useful in both intelligence-gathering missions and planetary resource searches. The probes are equipped with sensors derived from those on the hull and fitted to modified photon-torpedo casings. As with the antimatter mines, intelligence probes can loiter for many months in passive mode and then perform their mission.
MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE
MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE
SYSTEM
COMPONENT
REPLACE EVERY
DISRUPTOR CANNONS
PRIMARY CANNON EMITTER
SECONDARY CANNONS
SECOND-STAGE ACCELERATOR
18,000 SHOTS
16,000 SHOTS
4,500 SHOTS
TORPEDO LAUNCHER
LAUNCH TUBE
PLASMA POWER CONNECTOR
3,750 SHOTS
2,800 SHOTS
CLOAKING GENERATOR
WARP CORE PLASMA TAP
TELEPORT WAVEFORM ACCELERATOR
CLOAKING FIELD EMITTER
1390 CYCLES
560 CYCLES
2700 CYCLES
DEFENSIVE SHIELDS
SHIELD WAVEGUIDE LAYER
SHIELD GENERATOR
FIELD AMPLIFIERS
AS NECESSARY*
3 YEARS
4.7 YEARS
DILITHIUM
DILITHIUM CRYSTALS
CONTROLLER HOUSING
3900 HOURS
9.3 YEARS
WARP WING
WARP SYSTEM PRESSURE VESSEL
PLASMA MANIFOLD
WARP PLASMA INJECTORS
PLASMA VENTING COOLANT
PROPULSION SYSTEMS CAPACITORS
22 YEARS
9.8 YEARS
5.2 YEARS
2.6 YEARS
5.8 YEARS
IMPULSE SYSTEM
VECTORED EXHAUST DIRECTOR
FUSION REACTOR
SPACE-TIME DRIVER COILS
WARP PLASMA CONDUIT
6.7YEARS
9.2 YEARS
12.3 YEARS
9.8YEARS
RCS THRUSTERS
ENTIRE THRUSTER ASSEMBLY
6.5 YEARS
NAVIGATIONAL DEFLECTOR
DEFLECTOR FIELD GENERATORS
22.3 YEARS
LANDING GEAR
TRANSVERSE ROTATIONAL JOINTS
MAIN FOOTPAD HINGE
STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY FIELD UNIT
650 LANDINGS
650 LANDINGS
1500 LANDINGS
DOCKING SYSTEM
MOORING BEAM RECEPTORS
ATMOSPHERE FIELD CONTAINMENT
2500 CYCLES
1300 CYCLES
ENERGY DISTRIBUTION
PLASMA POWER CONDUITS
STEP-DOWN NODES
11.1 YEARS
5.2 YEARS
GRAVITY GENERATORS
ENTIRE GENERATOR ASSEMBLY
CONTROLLER HUB
5.4 YEARS
5.4 YEARS
COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
RF RECEIVER NODES
SUBSPACE TRANSCEIVERS
22.3 YEARS
5.7 YEARS
SENSORS
SENSOR COVERS
SENSOR INTERNALS
15.5 YEARS
3.2 YEARS
MAIN COMPUTER
ISOLINEAR CHIP RACKS
SPECIAL-PURPOSE PROCESSORS
OPTICAL FIBER BUNDLES
1.5 YEARS
2.3 YEARS
5.6 YEARS
TRANSPORTER SYSTEMS
PHASE TRANSITION COILS
PATTERN BUFFER TORUS
680 CYCLES
740 CYCLES
LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM
ELECTROSTATIC PROCESSORS
CIRCULATION PUMPS
AMMONIA TEMPERATURE LOOPS
12,600 HOURS
11,400 HOURS
9,600 HOURS
AUTO-DESTRUCT SYSTEM
ENTIRE DESTRUCT PACKAGE
2.2 YEARS
ESCAPE PODS
ENTIRE POD, SYSTEM CHECKOUT
5.4 YEARS
CONTROL CONSOLES
INTERNAL DISPLAY UNIT
COMPUTER SUBNODE
AS NECESSARY
AS NECESSARY
*COMBAT HULL DAMAGE REPAIRS
AUTODESTRUCT
Whenever a situation arises requiring the total deliberate destruction of a Bird-of-Prey, a series of internal explosive packages can be detonated. These are designed to rupture the anitmatter pods and cause a catastrophic explosion.
There are six such packages in the autodestruct system, distributed among the antimatter pod racks in Main Engineering. Klingon ship designers as far back as 2137 have included ordinance powerful enough and fast enough to rupture all standard pods simultaneously, which on the B’rel-class number 20. The resulting instantaneous loss of magnetic containment produces an explosion that not only blows the vessel apart but consumes the expanding cloud of alloys and composites in a blinding matter-antimatter reaction.
The explosive package itself is relatively unsophisticated in its construction and operation, and highly effective within the short range it needs to work. The duranium housing, a flattened diamond shape measuring 1.21m wide, 0.78m high, and 2.43m in length, is sized to fit the rack space between the upper and lower rows of antimatt
er pods. The package contains four hardened conical penetrators backed by a shaped explosive charge. The penetrator is a multilayered projectile built up from forced molecular matrices of tungsten, kratysite, and hafnium.
In contrast to the basic physical specifications, the safety interlocks and detonator programming are far more complex. In order to ensure that all six packages receive the activation pulse at precisely the same time, the electroplasma power conduits and data cables are exactly the same length, and test pulses are measured and adjusted for any power flow discrepancies or data lag. There is no direct radio frequency trigger, though destruct signals from outside the ship can be authenticated through protected nodes of the central computer.
Command authority codes to set the autodestruct in motion normally come from the commander and first officer, or lower-level officers only if no verified life signs can be detected by the computer either on board the ship or in escape pods. Countdown timing can be set in escape scenarios to allow for a survivable blast radius. Tables of hundreds of destruct conditions have been simulated and programmed in the central computer and the package subprocessors. Most deal with preventing enemy forces from taking the ship or extracting classified data in battle.
The ship can be destroyed by detonating a series of charges in the antimatter storage racks. They release the antimatter in the pods causing a massive explosion.
1 Duranium Housing
