USS Kwolek
The USS Kwolek is an Edison-class heavy frigate assigned to the Fourth Fleet under the command of Captain Kys Thrann. She primarily operates as a border patrol ship, though is regularly assigned to conduct scientific investigations outside of Federation territory or deeper within the interior. While a versatile and capable ship, she usually conducts initial assessments of developing situations and reports back, allowing Command to determine if a more powerful or specialised ship should be dispatched.
Design and Layout
The Kwolek has the standard layout of 25th century ships: highly functional, no frills, and a focus on communal spaces over comfortable quarters. Metal fixtures and bare decks gleam, with nary a carpet or beige bulkhead in sight. Rather than be given unique names, the main mess hall is simply referred to as ‘the mess hall’; likewise for the officers’ lounge. While she is a newly-constructed vessel, with the crew yet to leave their mark on her, this is also a reflection of the strict nature of Captain Thrann.
Her bridge is a compact design, with only two command chairs for the CO and XO. Ops and Helm are seated at the fore, with the Science console to the captain’s right and Tactical to the left. Auxiliary consoles against the bulkheads offer posts for engineers, communications officers, or mission specialists. The doors to the conference room stand at the bridge’s aft, in the standard design for many 25th-century ships.
Mission Operations
The Kwolek is primarily a patrol ship. One of the more capable designs for such a duty, she is often rotated in her deployment, and is favoured and trusted by Fourth Fleet Command to operate in regions of concern. As such, she is often found in troubled areas, or regions of scientific interest, keeping an eye on local affairs. This means that whenever issues arise, be they tactical concerns or the uncovery of matters of scientific intrigue, the Kwolek is often in a position to spot these and report back to Command. Often, other ships are then assigned to respond more thoroughly, usually relying on the initial intelligence from the Kwolek to define their mission parameters.
Outside of these patrol duties, her extensive scientific facilities have seen her dispatched to survey systems or follow-up on low-priority reports of matters of scientific interest. This includes venturing beyond the Federation border, though never very far, or survey and research missions in the vast stretches of the under-explored Federation interior. While she is not a dedicated survey vessel, she contributes extensively to the categorising and study of the Federation and its environs. Captain Thrann routinely expresses his disapproval with these duties, finding them less engaging than patrols.
Auxiliary Vessels
The Kwolek carries the standard array of smallcraft for an Edison-class, with 6 shuttles and 2 runabouts housed in her single shuttlebay. Captain Thrann often favours the Orion-class runabout [runabout name] and the [whatever the fuck type shuttle and name] for away missions.
History
The Kwolek was commissioned in 2401, newly-built after the ravages of Frontier Day. During the activation of Directive Four, she conducted patrols along the Romulan border and interdicted criminal operations smuggling Borg technology. Upon the opening of Underspace apertures across the galaxy, the Kwolek monitored an aperture inside Federation territory, ensuring it did not present a strategic risk from possible threat.
Crew of the Kwolek
Captain Kys Thrann
Captain Thrann is the commanding officer of the Kwolek. An Andorian, he is a seasoned officer who spent long years as an executive officer before moving up to a captaincy. The Kwolek is his second command after four years in charge of the Reliant-class USS Millwell. He was an operations officer before moving into command, and is an excellent logistician and organiser.
Thrann is a stern man, dour and with little sense of humour. He expects a lot from Starfleet officers, and this isn’t limited to those under his command. Other captains, especially those taking on missions he’s scouted out, can expect to be challenged by him on their intentions and plans. This is particularly true of COs of larger, more powerful vessels, where it is quite obvious he resents not being able to follow up on issues his ship flagged up in the first place. He is considerably softer with young captains, liable to offer genuine guidance based on his long experience in Starfleet. Despite this, he is never rude - just a bit overbearing, and bad at letting go. Captains who work with him should expect Thrann to want to discuss the mission and plans at length, but will also find him a well of useful information, with Thrann often going above and beyond on the levels of reconnaissance conducted by the Kwolek. He is also not shy about admitting when he doesn’t know something, usually because Starfleet don’t give him much time to investigate.
Commander Veronica Monroe
Commander Monroe is the executive officer of the Kwolek. A young and up-and-coming officer, she is expected to move on to her own ship within a few years, but for now is being mentored by Captain Thrann. In her late 20s, she was promoted in the aftermath of Frontier Day to shore up the senior ranks. She is very bright and capable, and was a pilot before she moved to command, with an excellent level of understanding of astrophysics.
Monroe is considerably more personable and empathetic than Captain Thrann, and often acts as the ‘good cop’ to his dour disposition. If officers clash with Thrann, she will usually reach out to smooth things over. She does, however, respect Thrann intensely; she will never speak ill of him, but usually ‘translates’ his difficult nature to ensure cooperation between officers.
Lieutenant Ajik
Lieutenant Ajik is the Chief Science Officer of the Kwolek. A Rigelian, he is rather young, moved up to a senior staff position after Frontier Day. Brilliant and insightful, his enthusiasm sometimes surpasses his experience. He loves his work and delights in any discovery, however big or small, the Kwolek might make. Captain Thrann often invites him to provide information during mission handovers, clearly to give the young lieutenant more seasoning.
Ajik is prone to babbling, going on tangents, and offering more scientific detail than is usually necessary. He treats even tactical missions as a matter of intellectual curiosity. If anyone asks a question, he will often give much more information than anyone asked for. Thrann often keeps him in check, but is clearly very fond of the young officer. His enthusiasm is infectious, and he’s clearly very good at his job - just still learning how to effectively communicate it.
In Play
- The Kwolek is a Fleet Asset, and any writer in Bravo Fleet can feature it in their stories.
- She is excellent at providing the initial ‘hook’ for any mission. Often going on patrols or checking out scientific curiosities, the Kwolek can stumble across or scope out a problem before your ship is assigned to deal with it.
- While it’s fine to have the Kwolek show up and for your crew to interact with these characters to learn the lay of the land before a mission, you can also name-drop the Kwolek as providing the background information.
- The Kwolek can also make a great ship to be dealing with a known problem off-screen, freeing up your ship to focus on the mission at hand.
- If you want a ship to feature more significantly in your story, such as a ship that needs rescuing or could provide escort to your own, consider using one of your Task Force Assets instead.