Alita Class
The Alita-class heavy cruiser is the 25th-century successor to the Akira-class heavy cruiser, combining aspects of a carrier with enhanced tactical systems for a design that forms an important part of Starfleet's defensive mission. The Alita's carrier capabilities are even more impressive than her predecessor, and in peacetime her hangers are ability to deliver squadrons of scouts to the frontier for exploration or large numbers of runabouts for evacuation and humanitarian aid missions.
Exploration and Science
With her large crew and powerful tactical systems, the Alita would be considered an exploratory cruiser rather than a heavy cruiser if it were not for her more limited range. This class is capable of embarking on missions of exploration—and excels in multiplying her own scientific potential with her fleet of small craft—but simply isn't equipped for sustained missions without support. As with all heavy cruisers, she carries a well-equipped science department, but has limited space for mission-specific labs and so must remain a generalist. One area in which the Alita does shine is in launching probes, as her many torpedo launchers can easily launch swarms of probes as well. These vessels are very good counterparts for large explorers in squadrons, however, as they can pool their resources and provide tactical support.
Diplomacy
Diplomatic facilities on the Alita are improved from those aboard the Akira, but the Alita is not a first-choice diplomatic platform. For this role, Starfleet is more apt to send an Excelsior II instead, given that the Alita's heavy armaments might send the wrong message. Sometimes, however, her heavy armaments are the correct message, and the Alita does make a good show of force in contested areas.
Engineering
The Alita retains the same overall form as the Akira, with a large primary hull connecting via catamaran structures to two nacelles. The profile of the class has been stretched lengthwise compared to the original, and the small craft areas have been moved lower into the hull to provide more space in the upper levels for crew quarters and other systems. To further free up space in the primary hull, the warp core was relocated by expanding the original tactical pod into a full-fledged secondary hull. In an emergency, the warp core ejects from the bottom of the pod, while the antimatter pods eject upward through four hatches. Efficiency of the warp propulsion system is enhanced by two small warp field governors in the pod, and a two more in the primary hull. Impulse flight systems are dramatically improved from the Akira, with four large engines providing impressive sublight speeds.
Alita-class ships retain large engineering departments, due to the need to service small craft and because of the complexity of the ship's systems. They are also well-suited to the humanitarian tasks that the Alita is often sent to handle.
Tactical
Like her predecessor, the Alita is very well-armed. Eight forward and six aft torpedo launchers provide her with the capability to deploy a tremendous amount of ordnance in a short amount of time. The hull is also studded with eleven type-XII phaser arrays for wide overall coverage. Forward firepower is enhanced by four standard type-XII phaser cannons and two heavy type-XIV phaser cannons, which biases this ship's weaponry towards the forward arc. Coupled with the one or two wings of starfighters she carries, this makes the Alita one of the most heavily-armed heavy cruisers in Starfleet history. Indeed, she matches many of the abilities of smaller tactical vessels designated heavy escorts, but with greater exploratory and humanitarian capabilities. Alita-class ships are well-shielded, and vital areas of the ship are covered in ablative armor.
Compared to exploratory cruisers or explorers, Alita-class starships have smaller power generators and thus have less endurance during combat. Alone, they need to disable their target quickly or risk exhausting themselves; twelve torpedo launchers make the ship's ordnance deplete quickly. In fleet situations where they are not the main target of a threat, their fire support abilities shine and their fighters are excellent at defending other ships.
Small Craft Capabilities
The hangers aboard an Alita-class starship span the majority of eight decks in the lower portion of the vessel. Shuttle Bay 1 is a massive bay equal in size to the primary bays found aboard Galaxy and Nebula-class ships, which allows for the Alita to handle the largest runabouts and other craft in service. Storage and service bays are found in the decks beneath the hanger, and these connect all the way forward to two smaller bays, one on either side of the main deflector. This massive small craft facility allows for simultaneous launch and recovery activities, as well as for craft launched out of any of the bays to be serviced and refueled for storage in one centralized facility. In combat situations, fighters are launched from the forward two bays and recovered in the aft bay. In pure combat applications, the Alita can embark a group of two fighter wings, for a total of 24 starfighters. For humanitarian missions, it can easily carry 12 large runabouts. For general operations, a balance of craft is carried: 12 fighters, 6 runabouts, and two-dozen shuttles.
These vessels have extensive repair shops and fabrication facilities for small craft, including a vehicle replicator. This allows them to service their own small craft in field conditions without additional support or to build new shuttles for specialized missions. Unlike most starships, they are also capable of manufacturing the large modules used by Danube and New Atlantic-class runabouts.
Eight hatches amidships behind the bridge cover vertical launch shafts and connect to the hanger. They can either be used for the quick launch of fighters, shuttles, or work pods and for deploying drones, experimental munitions, or probes. This system was developed from the one found aboard the Odyssey, which is more limited.
Shipboard Life
Alita-class ships are modern and spacious, built at a crossroads in starship design philosophies between the era of having lots of windows and spacious individual quarters and more modern ideas that favor communal spaces at the expense of smaller crew quarters. This ship has several large lounges in the primary hull, and senior officers have large quarters with windows, but junior officers and enlisted personnel tend to have interior quarters—though they are often individual quarters at least. Advanced holodecks and large medical facilities provide excellent crew support.
As one of the only carrier classes in the fleet, Alita-class ships are popular with flight control officers for their opportunity to live out their fantasies of becoming fighter aces--or at least the ability to fly runabouts on humanitarian missions. Because these ships change their small craft complements for specific missions, it gives pilots the opportunity to learn to fly many different small craft well. Due to their armaments, captains of these vessels tend to have significant tactical experience.
Alita Class History
Upgrades to the Akira-class heavy cruiser were contemplated many times as early as the 2380s, and that class received several minor enhancements in the decades subsequent to their introduction. By the 2390s, it was clear that the class could do with a full refresh. One major complaint about the original design was that the hanger facilities were cramped by their position at the heart of the secondary hull, so Starfleet wanted the Advanced Starship Design Bureau to prioritize solving this problem. The design that was approved in 2393 was clearly the Akira at its heart, but sufficiently a new design for Starfleet to consider it to be a fully separate class. Dubbed the Alita class, the first few units of this new class were converted from Akiras already in production, and the Alita herself launched in 2395.
The advantages over the Akira were immediately clear, but this design program had an unintended side effect: given her capabilities as a carrier, the Alita not only succeeded the Akira in production but led Starfleet to decommission the few remaining Typhon-class carriers. While some Akira-class vessels have been converted to Alita-class vessels, this has only occurred when a substantially damaged Akira returned to the yards. Thus, the two classes are expected to remain in service side-by-side for the foreseeable future.
Alita Class In-Play
- The Alita is a more modern Akira, with commensurate improvements in performance with 30 years of lessons learned. The two ships remain in service together, though, and the Akira has a smaller crew, while the Alita is much better as a carrier. The Alita also displaced the Typhon-class carrier, and it's a sought-after ship for captains who like having access to a lot of small craft.
- Compared among the heavy cruisers, the Excelsior II is more well-rounded and is better at diplomacy, while the Alita is better tactically, but both of these classes are meant to handle all sorts of missions within and near Federation space.
- These ships are still much rarer than the Akira class, as they've only been in production for a few years.