Created by Captain Michael Turlogh Kane on Aug 15, 2016 @ 10:26pm

USS PHOENIX (NX-5199)

The USS PHOENIX, NX-5199, is a Galaxy-Z-class starship and the third Starfleet vessel to bear the name, currently active in Starfleet.

During the Second Dominion War, Starfleet Engineering proposed a project that would both completely revamp the ageing Galaxy-class design and provide a starship class that would be able to go toe-to-toe with Jem'Hadar warships in combat. The result was the design of the most dangerous Starfleet vessel ever constructed, with full multi-vector assault mode capabilities. This project was codenamed Phoenix.

The saucer section was completely reconstructed, and while still having provisions for families including children, the gigantic feel of a standard Galaxy-class made way for a more militaristic combat ready role. Heavy on the ablative armour, it is almost double that of a Galaxy-class and still thicker and more resilient than a Galaxy-X type. The Captain’s Yacht was deleted in favor of a secondary drop down deflector dish, designed to open up Borg transwarp conduits to get the saucer to safety in case of a catastrophic event.

Given research into combat ship design, weak points in the Galaxy’s Engineering hull were identified and modified. Primarily, the nacelle pylons were found to be an easy target. One good shot from a powerful Jem'Hadar warship could sever the nacelle off at the pylon itself. The nacelles were realigned at a new angle, and heavily armoured to take the brunt of even a polaron torpedo. This has not proven to affect starship speed or maneuverability.

As the construction of this new starship was completed, the Federation was rocked by both the Romulan invasion and the declaration of martial law across its member worlds. Secretly knowing that the traitorous Neo-Essentialist movement had managed to take over the Federation government, loyal Starfleet officers managed to hijack the USS PHOENIX while she lay in spacedock.

Following Starfleet's victory over the Neo-Essentialists at the Battle of Earth on stardate 2.161112, the Phoenix was stood down to have her battle damage repaired and to deal with the intergalactic fallout of her launch.

In mid-2432, she was dispatched to Romulus to begin preliminary peace talks between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire. It was the first diplomatic mission between the two powers in half a century of tensions, and came during a tense period of Romulan politics. An aggressive group of Romulan senators sought to provoke a war between the Empire and the Federation, but with the Phoenix's assistance, were defeated.

In 2433, the Phoenix played a major part in exposing the Bramatine Scandal in the newe Federation government. Later that year, she delivered a crop of heirloom triticale to Sherman's Planet, and was present when a Klingon warlord named Is'toQ seized the entire shipment, in order to feed his coming war against the Orion Syndicate. That war finally broke out in 2435 - against its backdrop, the Phoenix rescued the crew of the starship Satet from the war zone.

It was announced in late 2435 that the Phoenix would be downgraded from her status as the quadrant's lone dreadnought. Her ablative armour would be removed, her polaron phasers replaced, and she would be reconfigured into a 'standard' Galaxy X-class battleship. With that in mind, a new HCARS operating system was installed aboard her in the winter of 2435-36.