USS Defiant (NX-74205) (I)


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The USS Defiant (NX-74205) was a Federation escort (or battleship) in service to Starfleet in the late 24th century. When commissioned in 2370, the Defiant was the prototype for this new class. The class was originally developed to counter the Borg, however the Defiant was assigned to starbase Deep Space 9 in light of the increasing threat of the Dominion. In exchange for intelligence data on the Dominion, the Defiant was equipped with a cloaking device on loan from the Romulan Star Empire. Benjamin Sisko was involved in the development of the Defiant, and served as the ship's commanding officer throughout her service. The Defiant was a participant and flagship throughout the Dominion War, until her destruction by the Breen at the Second Battle of Chin'toka in 2375. Her successor was the USS São Paulo (NCC-75633), which was re-named and registered to the Defiant's name and registration in honor of the fallen vessel. 

Construction History
The Defiant was originally designed in 2366, as the first of a new line of starships. While being officially designated as an escort, the Defiant-class was tasked with being able to fight and defeat the Borg. However, soon after the Defiant was completed, the diminishment of the Borg threat and several design flaws caused Starfleet Command to postpone the project. The shakedown crews noted that the Defiant's propulsion systems were overpowered relative to a ship its size, as the Defiant nearly "tore itself apart" during its shakedown cruise. 

After its construction, the Defiant went on a trial run to the Romulan Neutral Zone where it was being tested under the command of Benjamin Sisko. During this test run, it discovered a derelict warbird in Federation space in 2368. Whilst investigating this find, they encountered a group of warbirds under the command of Valerius of the Tal Shiar who had laid a trap for the rogue Vulcan criminal called T'Uerell. When Commander Sisko challenged the Romulan officer, he began his attack which forced Defiant to flee into a nebula whereupon it left an emergency distress beacon. When the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) came to rescue the ship, they discovered that the prototype vessel had fallen to the Romulan Star Empire who were beginning to study it at a secret starbase. However, the Starfleet task force managed to destroy the starbase and allow the crew of the USS Defiant to escape. 

However, in early 2371, tensions between the Federation and the Dominion continued to escalate following the destruction of the USS Odyssey (NCC-71832) and the New Bajor colony in the Gamma Quadrant. Commander Benjamin Sisko traveled to Earth to stress the threat of the Dominion to Deep Space 9 and the Alpha Quadrant and request additional defenses. In response, Starfleet gave Sisko command of the Defiant and assigned it to DS9.

An agreement (by way of a treaty) signed between Starfleet and the Romulan Star Empire allowed a cloaking device to be installed aboard the Defiant in return for intelligence about the Dominion. , )

2371
Shortly after its arrival at DS9, Sisko took the Defiant into the Gamma Quadrant on a mission to open negotiations with the Founders of the Dominion. With assistance from the Karemma, the Defiant was able to locate a Dominion communications relay near the Omarion Nebula. Shortly after arriving at the station, the Defiant was attacked by several Jem'Hadar attack ships and was boarded. 

The senior officers were taken to the Founders' homeworld in the Omarion Nebula and were placed in a simulation which depicted the Dominion attempting to gain a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant. Once Constable Odo and Major Kira Nerys found them, the Founders allowed them to return home to DS9 aboard the Defiant. 

Following the Defiant 's return to the Alpha Quadrant, Chief Miles O'Brien and Commander Sisko worked on the design flaws to the ship's systems, which led to her being sent to the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on Mars where the repairs were carried out over several weeks. 

The Defiant was absent from Deep Space 9 during the Cardassian incursions into Bajoran space during a crisis on Cardassia when the Goran Tokar was to announce his heir. 

On stardate 48467.3, the Defiant was stolen by Maquis member, Thomas Riker, after he posed as Commander William T. Riker in order to gain access to the vessel, he also had Major Kira aboard as a prisoner. After leaving DS9 he proceeded into Cardassian space where he began attacking Cardassian vessels en route to investigate rumours of a secret military build-up by the Obsidian Order in the Orias system. While the Order threatened to destroy the Defiant, Commander Sisko and Gul Skrain Dukat struck a deal which would return the Defiant to DS9 in exchange for Tom Riker and sensor data from the Orias system. 

A few weeks later, the command staff of DS9 used the Defiant to travel to Earth for an annual symposium in San Francisco. Unfortunately, when Commander Sisko and Lieutenants' Jadzia Dax and Julian Bashir stepped in the transporter, chroniton particles reacted with the Defiant 's ablative armor, which resulted in the three officers being sent to the year 2024. Thankfully, they were later recovered. 

A month later, Commander Sisko took the Defiant into the Gamma Quadrant against orders in order to retrieve Odo and Elim Garak from the combined Tal Shiar-Obsidian Order fleet that were planning to destroy the Founder's homeworld and execute them all. Unfortunately, it was a trap as the Founder's had moved to a new homeworld and a large Jem'Hadar fleet were waiting for them. The Defiant engaged several vessels before rescuing their comrades. 

The Defiant was assigned to investigate the threat of the Magellanic Hive after it destroyed and absorbed the Bajoran colony on Darane IV as part of a Grand Design, which involved dividing the hive into two units: one bound for Bajor, the other for Cardassia Prime. Although the Cardassian Third Fleet was able to destroy the hive headed to Cardassia at the cost of themselves, Bajor was defended by the Defiant and several small fighters.

Realizing they had no chance of defeating the hive, Commander Sisko attempted to negotiate with the leaders of the hive. Thankfully, a civil war broke out aboard the hive regarding the original interpretation of their Grand Design, and instead the hive made Darane III their new home. 

Near the end of the year, the Defiant nearly sparked a war between the Federation and the Tzenkethi when a Changeling posed as Ambassador Krajensky ordered newly promoted Captain Sisko to patrol the border following a supposed coup on Tzenketh. The Changeling managed to gain control of the Defiant 's weapons, but was stopped and killed by Odo. 

The Defiant engaged and attacked the Rugg'l when the Cardassian ship attacked Deep Space 9. 

2372
Prior to the launch of the new USS Saratoga, Sisko commanded the Defiant with several of the USS Saratoga (NCC-31911) survivors to Utopia Planitia. Esteban Lopez plotted a course for the Defiant to take into a wave nexus which damaged the starship. Sisko and the crew were able to restore power before Retizians could capture the crew. 

In order to find the Orion who had sold defective replicators that eventually arrived on Bajor, Sisko took the Defiant to Mephil Trantos to talk to the Orion, Calculanthra. After Quark beat Calculanthra in a game of dabo, the Orion pursued the Defiant in the Orion raider Laslapadil. The Defiant destroyed two of the raiders and disabled two more. 

In early 2372, the Klingon Empire launched an invasion of the Cardassian Union believing that the recent coup and rise of the Detapa Council were the result of Changeling infiltrators. The Federation remained neutral in the conflict, but Gul Dukat pleaded with Captain Sisko to deliver the Detapa Council to safety, and Sisko took the Defiant to rendezvous with the Galor-class warship, CDS.

When the Defiant arrived at the rendezvous point they discovered that the Prakesh was under heavy fire from three Klingon Bird-of-Prey's and a Vor'cha-class attack cruiser. The Defiant was able to quickly dispatch two of the Bird-of-Prey's, but had to drop its shields to beam the Prakesh survivors aboard. Taking heavy attack from the Vor'cha-class cruiser the ablative armor was at risk of failing, but Lieutenant Commander Worf recommended they locked a tractor beam on the Vor'cha to decrease their weapons efficiency. As a result the Defiant was able to escape back to DS9 with the Council. 

On stardate 49195.5, the Defiant was assigned to work with Trill scientist, Dr. Lenara Kahn and her team to test technology that would make it possible to create artificial wormholes. While the tests were provisionally successful, they were not able to create a stable wormhole. 

A few weeks later, the Defiant traveled into the Gamma Quadrant so that Quark could conduct trade negotiations with the Karemma. However, during the meeting the Defiant was forced into a gas giant's atmosphere following a Jem'Hadar where it was severely damaged and many of its crew badly injured. Fortunately, the Defiant was able to destroy the three Jem'Hadar attack ships and rescue the Karemma vessel. 

Shortly after, the Defiant traveled to Earth to aid Sisko in suppressing Admiral James Leyton's plot to seize control of Earth from the President Jaresh-Inyo. As the Defiant approached Earth it was attacked by the Excelsior-class USS Lakota (NCC-42768), commanded by Erika Benteen who had been led to believe that the Defiant 's crew had been replaced by Changelings. Both starships were damaged but both stood down before either could be destroyed. 

Several days alter, Sisko diverted the Defiant to Trill from its journey from Earth to Deep Space 9 after the Trill Symbiosis Commission urgently wanted to meet with Jadzia Dax. (SS DS9)

Sisko, Worf and Dax traveled in the Defiant to Starbase 201 to be briefed on a mission to the Gamma Quadrant that Worf, Odo and Kira would be undertaking. 

2373
In 2373, the Defiant was on routine mission to test a new navigation grid when it received a distress call from the USS Amhurst. The Amhurst later exploded and the Defiant pursued a Gorn believed responsible into Restricted Sector One-Four-Bravo, Metron space. Sisko and Bashir were taken from the bridge of the Defiant to meet with the S'slee and the Metrons on the same planet James T. Kirk had been brought to more than a century before. Agreeing to preserve the Metrons knowledge before they died out, Sisko took the Defiant to Venexar, where the ship launched an information pod that carried this knowledge to the planet's surface. (SS DS9 (Where I Fell Before My Enemy))

When the Borg launched their second invasion of the Federation, Admiral Jeremiah Hayes ordered the Defiant to join the fleet and specifically ordered Captain Sisko to remain on Deep Space 9 and give command to Worf, due to Sisko's previous experience with the Borg. 

The Defiant was one of the first ships to arrive in the Typhon sector to combat the Borg cube that was on course for Earth. Under Worf's command, the Defiant fought a running battle with the Borg, scoring a number of impressive hits on the cube's surface. 

Morgan Korsmo saw the damage the cube was inflicting on the Defiant from the bridge of the USS Excalibur (NCC-26517). Korsmo wanted to help the Defiant, but saw it was holding its own. (SS NF (Making a Difference))

The Defiant was still engaging the Borg on its approach to Earth some time later. Its shields had failed by this time and its weapons had been depleted. Worf had just ordered the Defiant to ram the cube when the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) arrived, blocking an energy beam fired at the Defiant by the cube in the process. The Defiant's life support system began to fail, and its crew was beamed aboard the Enterprise. The Defiant survived the destruction of the cube and Jean-Luc Picard (who knew the grief of losing a ship, such as the USS Stargazer (NCC-2893) and the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)) took great pleasure in telling Worf the Defiant was "adrift, but salvageable". 

The Defiant was taken to McKinley Station where several small repair operations were undertaken. Later, Worf commanded the Defiant back to Deep Space 9, where Chief O'Brien would finish the repairs. 

After a Changeling posing as Julian Bashir attempted to destroy the Bajoran sun with trilithium, protomatter and tekasite, Kira Nerys had Jadzia Dax take the Defiant to warp speed inside the star system to stop the Changeling's runabout. 

While on a reconnaissance mission in the Gamma Quadrant, the crew of the Defiant discovered a planet which was inhabited by their descendants, as they learned the Defiant would be sent back in time and crash on the planet. This timeline was erased from history when the Odo who lived on the planet changed the trajectory of the Defiant, making it avoid the anomaly that would have sent it back in time. 

A week after the discovery on Gaia, the Defiant discovered the wreckage of the Columbia, although the approach of Jem'Hadar starships prevented a salvage operation or a detailed investigation. 

After Starfleet Command ordered the Bajoran wormhole to be mined to prevent more Dominion ships entering the Alpha Quadrant, the Defiant deployed self-replicating mines in a minefield near its entrance. The Dominion launched an attack on Deep Space 9 and the Defiant came under attack while laying the minefield, but was allowed to continue its work after the came to its aid and provided cover fire by engaging the attacking Jem'Hadar fighters. The Defiant later evacuated all of the Starfleet personnel from the station and joined a Starfleet battle fleet. 

2374
Three months after the Dominion War began, the Defiant had been forced to retreat several times from battle. The ship was ordered to Starbase 375, where Sisko was relieved of command of the Defiant. Sisko and some of the crewmembers were assigned on a mission to destroy a ketracel-white facility using the captured Jem'Hadar fighter, . (

Jadzia commanded the Defiant on several missions, including an attack on a sensor array in the Argolis Cluster and "playing possum" to attract Dominion ships and catch them unaware. 

Sisko later returned to command the Defiant when he launched Operation Return and commanded a fleet of starships from Starbase 375. 

The Defiant would lead the Starfleet ships into the Dominion lines, losing aft shields and nearly losing forward shields. The Defiant was able to break through the lines after the Klingons arrived. Racing to Deep Space 9, the Defiant was unable to prevent the minefield from being detonated. As a last resort, Sisko ordered theDefiant into the wormhole to attack the Dominion reinforcements. After the Prophets intervened and caused the reinforcements to disappear, the Defiant returned to the Alpha Quadrant and fired on Terok Nor. After the Dominion forces retreated, the Defiant docked at the station. 

The Defiant later led an invasion fleet into the Chin'toka system as part of an overall invasion of Cardassian space. The Defiant was later able to dismantle the Cardassian orbital weapon platform network by imprinting a Federation warp signature on the power source for the platforms. 

2375
The Defiant had just completed a mission to Bolarus when Admiral Ross ordered it to Starbase 133 in preparation of the liberation of Betazed. During the battle, the Defiant and the Enterprise-E destroyed several Dominion ships. The Defiant later transported Deanna Troi, Elias Vaughn, Beverly Crusher, Data and Hent Tevren aboard from the Jarkana Mountains on Darona. 

Three months after the taking of Chin'toka, the Defiant was assigned to convoy duty. 

The Defiant later brought supplies to the Starfleet forces on AR-558. While Sisko and his away team decided to help the depleted troops, the Defiant was forced to withdraw after coming under attack by the Jem'Hadar. The ship returned following Sisko's teams victory over the Jem'Hadar ground forces. 

Following the destruction of the the Defiant spent several hours searching the Badlands for Worf. Large numbers of Jem'Hadar ships forced them to call of their search. After Ezri Dax took the USS Gander without permission to mount her own search for Worf, Sisko had a copy of the sensor scans the Defiant had taken in its search. When the Dominion and the Breen launched an offensive against the Federation Alliance forces in the Chin'toka system, the Defiant joined an assault fleet to stop them retaking the system. The Breen used an energy dampening weapon against the Defiant, robbing it of shields and weapons. The Breen damaged the Defiant forcing Sisko to order the crew to abandon ship. Several escape pods were able to leave the Defiant before it was destroyed. 

Legacy
Several weeks after the destruction of the Defiant, Starfleet gave Sisko command of the USS São Paulo and allowed him to change its name to Defiant. Sisko remarked that the new Defiant "some pretty big shoes to fill". 

Nog found the new Defiant was not as smooth to pilot as the old Defiant, finding it sluggish. 

Command Crew

 * Commanding officer:
 * Commander/Captain Benjamin Sisko (2371-2373, 2374-2375)
 * Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax (2374)
 * First officer: Lieutenant Commander Worf (2372-2375)
 * Science officer: Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax (2371-2374)
 * Chief engineer: Chief Miles O'Brien (2371-2375)
 * Chief medical officer: Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander Julian Bashir (2371-2375)
 * Conn officer:
 * Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax (2371-2374)
 * Ensign Nog (2375)
 * Security chief/tactical officer:
 * Lieutenant Commander Michael Eddington (2371-2372)
 * Lieutenant Commander Worf (2372-2375)

Other Personnel

 * Kizilbash (helm officer)
 * Ensign Krissten Richter (Nurse)
 * Fabian Stevens (Engineer)
 * Cregger Lor Mowlanish Dor Crixa Tel (Security officer)
 * Tutu (tactical officer)

Auxiliary craft

 * Chaffee
 * Da Vinci