USS Appalachia

USS Appalachia (NCC-52136) is a Steamrunner-class Federation starship currently assigned to Fourth Fleet's Task Force 86.  Her current captain is Commander Varyn K’lev.  As a light cruiser, Appalachia takes on a variety of missions, depending on need, but she is most often found patrolling along the periphery of Federation space.

History

USS Appalachia was laid down at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on Mars in 2370, with construction completed in late 2371.  She first commissioned in 2372, during the early months of the Federation-Klingon War and the Dominion Cold War.  Shortly after her shakedown, Appalachia participated in a skirmish with two Klingon birds-of-prey that were attempting to raid a Starfleet convoy carrying supplies to the front lines; while she was able to disable one of the birds-of-prey and drive the other one off, Appalachia’s encounter supported other war experience, and the evidence of early skirmishing with Dominion forces, that proved that the armaments of these first-flight Steamrunner-class vessels was inadequate, and so they - including Appalachia - were hurried back into the yards at Utopia Planitia for upgrades.  These upgrades received an unexpectedly early field test when, in 2373, Appalachia and her sister USS Hiroshima deployed from Utopia Planitia to join an ad-hoc fleet under Admiral Hayes to intercept a Borg Cube on its way to Earth; the upgrades significantly improved the sisters’ combat capabilities, contributing to Appalachia’s surviving what became known as the Battle of Sector 001.  After the battle, all other Steamrunner-class starships were ordered to incorporate them at the earliest opportunity.

During the early active hostilities of the Dominion War, after the fall of Deep Space 9, Appalachia was one of a number of vessels - all light cruisers and smaller - employed as raiders behind Dominion lines.  Appalachia specifically often targeted lone Jem’Hadar or Cardassian ships and ketracel-white shipments, and was accorded with four confirmed successful interdictions (and claiming an additional three, though these claims could not be verified), before being recalled to Starbase 375 to join the Federation fleet mustering to retake Deep Space 9.  However, forced into a nebula to hide from a passing patrol formation of four Cardassian ships, she was unable to reach the starbase before the fleet departed, and so did not take part in the battle.

Appalachia was present at the First Battle of Chin’toka, though she suffered significant damage during the battle; this forced her into the yard at Utopia Planitia for some months.  After returning to service, she resumed her prior role as a raider, receiving credit for two more interdictions (and claiming a third, though again the claim could not be verified) before being recalled after the disastrous Second Battle of Chin’toka.  Appalachia was present for the invasion of Cardassia; suffering relatively minimal damage during the battle, she was among the ships that remained in orbit after the Dominion surrender to render aid to Cardassia in the aftermath of the Dominion’s attempted genocide of the planet, before returning to Federation space.

With the war now over, for the next number of years Appalachia reverted to Starfleet’s more exploratory mission, though she usually stayed closer to Federation space than a true deep-space explorer.  During the evacuation of Romulus, Appalachia helped escort refugee convoys to the former Romulan Neutral Zone, until Starfleet abandoned the effort.  On Frontier Day 2401, Appalachia had reported to Earth for ceremonial proceedings; with the revelation of the Changeling-Borg plot, her younger crew were assimilated, taking over the ship.  Prior to the destruction of the Borg ship inside Jupiter, Appalachia was among the ships taken under fire by both Spacedock and USS Enterprise-G (at the time the USS Titan-A), suffering significant damage; with the end of the crisis, she was placed into a repair yard, emerging again months later.

When the Blackout phenomenon of 2402 descended, Appalachia was trapped on frontier patrol.  There she remained throughout the Vaadwaur invasion that followed - the Nightfall crisis - and so monitored her sector as best she could for signs of either Vaadwaur incursion or pirates seeking to take advantage of the situation for their own benefit.  By the time the crisis ended and Blackout was lifted, she had interdicted one pirate vessel, and detected several more but could not reach them before they left her sensor range due to her Blackout-caused inability to form a stable warp field; she did not encounter any Vaadwaur forces during the crisis.  With the resolution of the crisis, Appalachia was ordered to report to Starbase Bravo; from there, she was later reassigned to Starbase 86, awaiting further orders.

Configuration

Main Article: Steamrunner Class

Appalachia is, in many ways, a stereotypical representative of her class.  However, over her thirty-year career to date, she had undergone several refits.

Command Spaces

During her repairs after the First Battle of Chin’toka, Appalachia’s bridge was modified.  The carpets were taken up, not only in the bridge but across the ship, to remove a potential fire hazard, and her deckplates were treated to prevent them from becoming slipping hazards.  Additionally, her unified helm/navigation console was replaced by stand-alone helm and navigation consoles - though each is also capable of serving as a unified console, if necessary - and the old ‘center console’ between the captain’s and first officer’s chairs has been removed; instead, each station now has its own podium-style console on the outboard side of the chair.  All of her consoles have also been recently replaced, to incorporate the latest evolutions in both control interfaces and safety features.

Exploration and Science

Consistent with her class, Appalachia carries four configurable scientific laboratories, in addition to an astrometrics bay.  As it is impossible to predict what sort of scientific curiosities she might encounter on patrol, each laboratory is able to conduct some general inquiries, but also has a unique specialization.  Appalachia’s four laboratories are configured to specialize in: geology; zoology and botany; chemistry; and physics and engineering.

Engineering

Appalachia’s engineering spaces largely remain in a standard configuration.  However, to better support her ability to function for an extended time on patrol, she is carrying an industrial replicator.

Tactical Systems

Appalachia was one of the first members to be fitted with what is, at this point, the standard tactical load-out for her class: five type-X phaser arrays around her hull, and three torpedo launchers, two forward and one aft.  However, her targeting scanners have been enhanced, enabling her to lock on to single targets more quickly and track multiple targets more easily.

Recreational Facilities

Appalachia’s recreational offerings are standard for her class.  However, most of her crew prefer to congregate in The Mountaintop, her large forward recreation and observation lounge.  This lounge is centered by a bar, over which a grand oil painting of a snow-capped mountain range hangs, across the inboard wall that offers both non-alcoholic, syntheholic, and fully-alcoholic libations, as well as both replicators and a small kitchen for food offerings, and plenty of seating.

Notable Crew

Commanding Officers

• 2402 - Present : Commander Varyn K'lev