USS Dauntless (NX-01-A)

For other uses, see Dauntless.

USS Dauntless
Class:	Dauntless-class experimental science vessel
Registry:	NX-01-A NX-01A
Affiliation:	Species 116
Commander:	Arturis
Launched:	after stardate 51003.7 (2374)
Status:	assimilated (2374)

The USS Dauntless (NX-01-A and NX-01A) was a 24th century Species 116 starship, a Dauntless-class experimental science vessel and prototype of its class, in private service in the 2370s decade. Arturis created it through particle synthesis and secretly controlled the Dauntless. (VOY episode: "Hope and Fear")

Service history and disposition

Synthesis

In 2373 and 2374, the wayward Federation Intrepid-class starship USS Voyager became involved in the Borg-Species 8472 War between the Delta Quadrant's Borg Collective and Species 8472, originating in fluidic space. Captain Kathryn Janeway determined that Species 8472 presented the greater threat to the galaxy and assisted the Borg in their defeat in turn for free traversal of the Northwest Passage. (VOY episode: "Scorpion")

To replenish after sustaining heavy losses, the Borg targeted the technologically advanced Species 116. Their outer colonies fell within hours, and Borg ships swept Species 116 sentry ships away. Arturis escaped when his home system was surrounded by Borg cubes. Accepting the Borg as a "force of nature", he directed his thirst for revenge against the Voyager crew.

Arturis created the Dauntless using particle synthesis and made it resemble an experimental Federation Starfleet starship. It was equipped with quantum slipstream drive (QSD), a propulsion method hitherto unknown to the Federation.

Encounter with Voyager

The Dauntless appears on Voyager's viewscreen.

Arturis deposited the Dauntless near Voyager's flightpath and arranged for a situation where he would be welcomed aboard the Federation ship as passenger. Seemingly helping Captain Janeway and Seven of Nine, an xB, to compile a message from Starfleet, Arturis inserted falsified Starfleet information that led Voyager to the coordinates of the fake starship in mid-2374.

The quantum slipstream drive allowed the Dauntless to go faster than the standard Starfleet warp scale. Although it was created by alien technology, Arturis had modified the ship to resemble Starfleet ships on both outside and inside. Voyager took detailed scans of the ship, and Commanders Chakotay and Tuvok were trapped aboard for several days when it jumped into slipstream, forcing Voyager to catch up at standard warp.

The crew grasped that the Dauntless was equipped with an experimental quantum slipstream drive, allowing it to travel 60,000 light-years in three months and that the Dauntless was capable of traveling over fifteen light-years in only 30 minutes and 14 seconds, which otherwise took Voyager two days to cover at high warp.

Arturis' plan was to have the entire crew board the Dauntless, then force them to travel back to his star system to be assimilated by the Borg. Janeway and her crew uncovered the ruse. Arturis trapped Janeway and Seven of Nine. The Dauntless set course for Species 116's former home. Chakotay followed with Voyager, which had been modified with its own QSD. While Janeway and Seven were recovered, Arturis remained aboard the Dauntless and allowed himself to be assimilated. When the Dauntless arrived at his home, the ship was immediately surrounded by several Borg cubes. (VOY episode: "Hope and Fear")

Legacy

The USS Dauntless in 2384.

The crew of Voyager reverse-engineered the QSD and collected enough benamite to test the engine in 2375. They were unable to make the drive run savely but cut 20,000 off their journey from the Delta to the Alpha Quadrant. (VOY episode: "Timeless")

Starfleet had commissioned their own Dauntless-class by the 2380s. In the year 2384, Vice Admiral Janeway served as commanding officer of the USS Dauntless (NCC-80816) during the search for the missing USS Protostar, another prototype with an advanced propulsion system, the protostar drive. The new Dauntless resembled the NX-01-A but included changes in shape. (PRD episode: "A Moral Star")

The USS Dauntless in 2410.

In 2410, Starfleet launched the USS Dauntless, with the NX registry numbers NX-01-A and NX-47700. This starship was categorised as a tier 6-rated experimental science vessel. It replicated the outward appearance of the Species 116 namesake. (STO website: Tier 6 Starships - Dauntless)

By then, QSD was standard equipment for Starfleet ships. The experimental science vessels of the Dauntless class could remain in slipstream for longer and remain more maneuverable than other Starfleet and Allied spacecraft. (STO - Delta Rising mission: "Welcome to Earth Spacedock")

The Dauntless-class, now a genuine Starfleet class, remained in Federation service into the 26th century. (ENT episode: "Azati Prime", STO - Future Proof mission: "Ragnarok")

Personnel

• commanding officer:
  • Arturis (2374)

Appendices

Appearances and references

Appearances

• VOY episode: "Hope and Fear" (first appearance)
• ST reference: Encyclopedia, 4th ed.
• TOSC Issue 14: "USS Dauntless"
• Star Trek Shipyards reference: The Borg and Delta Quadrant

External link

• USS Dauntless (NX-01-A) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.