Legendary pilot warship

The legendary pilot warship was a high-profile escort starship type developed by Starfleet in the early 2410s decade. This type of starship was inspired by the deeds of the USS Defiant (prototype) prototypes and other ships of the during conflicts between the Federation and its adversaries in the 24th and 25th centuries. They were conceived of at the end of 2410. Through Excalbian time travel, the classification as a legendary starship was validated at the Battle of Excalbia in early 2411. 

History and specifications
Following a series of wars and crises that saw action for both brand-new starship classes, and refitted "classics" benefitting from a fleet modernisation program, Starfleet provided upgrades to ten existing ship types to bring them up to level with the latest designs. 

The first two lines included the and related tactical escorts. These were upgraded to legendary pilot warships, and enhanced version of pilot escort type introduced in 2410. 

Starfleet's initiative proved prophetic. During a Borg crisis at Excalbia in 2411, Captain Va'Kel Shon of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-F) let a fleet of Enterprises and other "hero ships" from previous centuries into the Battle of Excalbia to assist a Khitomer Alliance vessel in defending the planet from a Borg Queen and her fleet. 

Technical specifications
Visually, legendary pilot warships could be set apart from regular tactical escorts and related types by the nose art adorning the quantum warhead module at the bow of the vessel. Upon launch, one of six nose art designs could be added to the pilot warship, referencing previous conflicts ships of the Defiant line had taken part in.

By default, ships of this class were rated tier 6. When the commanding officer of such a ship held the rank of lieutenant or Khitomer Alliance equivalent, the vessel would start out as tier 1 and upgrade as the CO gained experience and rank.

Within the Khitomer Alliance, Starfleet officers and officers from Federation-aligned powers, like the Romulan Republic Navy and Jem'Hadar Vanguard Fleet, were eligible to command such a ship.

In the initial launch of the legendary pilot warship, all ship classes shared the same default capabilities and equipment.

Armaments
For technical considerations in the Khitomer Alliance, a legendary pilot warship had five fore and three aft weapon slots. Weapons could be swapped out. Default weaponry consisted of phaser beam arrays and phaser cannons. A ship of this type could equip dual cannons and was fitted with quad cannons by default. In addition, one of the ship's default universal console was a quantum warhead module.

Bridge
The default bridge design was "Origin", favored by Starfleet in the early 25th century. Common interiors were based on the Defiant-class and related models. The interior design did not affect the number of bridge officer stations. On the bridge, the commanding officer was joined by a tactical officer with the rank of lieutenant, a combined tactical officer and pilot with the rank of commander, a lieutenant commander of the engineering department, a science officer lieutenant, and another pilot of any department, also ranked lieutenant.

Particular console outfitting could improve upon the ship's default powers. A legendary pilot warship could equip five tactical, four engineering and two science consoles. These numbers would be lower when operated as a ship of tier 5 and lower. Two universal, or department agnostic, consoles, were equipped by default: the aforementioned offensive quantum warhead module, and a cloaking device.

Systems
From a mechanical point of view, ships of legendary pilot warship classes sported a 15 points stronger weapon power and 5 points stronger engine power output compared to a starship design default. Its basic turn rate stood at 15.5, and impulse power received a bonus of 0.19, contrasted with an inertia of 65. The baseline modifiers inherent in the class improved shield strength by .95, and hull integrity by 1.25.

As a type of pilot escort, the pilot maneuvers starship mechanic was inherent, and allowed sudden movement propelled by thrusters.

An experienced commanding officer gradually coaxed improved handling out of their ship. This effect was called "starship mastery". The mastery of this ship classification mimicked that of other warship classes: accuracy improving precie weapon systems, critical severity resulting from enhanced weapon banks, improved chance to land a critical hit from devastating weaponry, and stronger kinetic and energy damage derived from enhanced weapon systems. A trait particular to these ships was known as "withering barrage".

New to the legendary pilot warship was the trait nicknamed "over-powered and over-gunned". A commanding officer who "unlocked" this level of mastery could apply this trait to another starship they commanded. This trait would strengthen the force and damage output when firing at will, beam overloading, cannon rapid firing, and cannon scatter volley.

When deployed for an assignment by an admiral, a ship of this type was rated based on the strengths of its departments. These were classed as 37 points for engineering, 19 for science and 61 tactical. This affected the outcome of missions were particular departments needed to be involved. An admiral could deploy this ship with up to two other vessels of an type and rating. The tactical rating was boosted by 10 points when paired with an engineering-focused ship. 

Livery
In the 25th century, the design of the legendary pilot escort allowed its commanding officer to choose from different designs of livery, which could be modified further at shipyards. The hull components were interchangeable between legendary pilot escort classes and did not affect the ship's capabilities. 

The nose art could be added and removed there as well. 

Furthermore, the installation of deflector shields from specific factions modified the hull appearance, including shields from the Reman Resistance, the Breen Confederacy and the Dominion. 

Subtypes

 * based on Defiant tactical escort

External link

 * Legendary Pilot Warship blog at the Star Trek Online ARC website.