Launch of the Next Generation

Written Bydulac
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The USS Merian has launched!

Once thought impossible, Quantum Slipstream has become a mass produced reality! With the launch of the Vesta Class several years ago, the advent of a new generation of Starfleet Exploration was just on the cusp of reality. With the unfortunate disappearance of the USS Vesta several years ago, the technology was put on hold and many thought the future would continue to rely on Warp Drive. At the insistence of the Vesta program director, Rear Admiral Henry Markstrom, the program was restarted several months ago and the dream was once again alive. The result of Admiral Markstrom’s drive lays beyond the viewport I’m currently standing in front of. The brand new USS Merian is designed with the latest state of the art technology from sensors to weapons and shields, all with the intention of replacing the tried and true Miranda class starship as the backbone of Starfleet’s interior fleets.

Most importantly though, the Merian class is the second ship class to launch from the Utopia Planetia fleetyards with a Quantum Slipstream Drive installed from the very beginning. While Starfleet has been retrofitting several of their older classes with Slipstream drives they are limited in speed and duration versus the Vesta Class starships. What does this mean you ask for the Merian Class and Starfleet?

It’s the launch of the Next Generation of Starfleet ships! Smaller, Faster, Smarter and Stronger, the future of Starfleet is now!

I’m Kalus Ronan with Federation News Service reporting from Utopia Planetia.