USS Achilles: Difference between revisions

Deployed for field testing in the closing weeks of the war under the command of Thomas Riker, the prototype Achilles performed admirably, destroying two key Ketracel-White facilities on its single mission behind enemy lines. It also accounted for two full Cardassian fighter wings, as well as nearly a score of Jem'Hadar strike cruisers in its mission, the best record of any single ship in the war. However successful, a number of problems were identified and the Achilles was returned to Utopia Planitia at the end of the war for refitting. The remainder of her hull was filled out with the non-warfare facilities that were called for in her original design, including a basic science department, multipurpose holodecks and upgraded ship-wide holo-emitters. She was retasked for system patrol and deep-space exploration then moved out for further field testing near the end of 2375.

THETIS, or the Tri-optical Humanoid-Equivalent Thought Integration System, was designed to be an advanced neural network for the new Achilles-class attack cruisers. However, during the initial test phases on the prototype system, the programmers found that Thetis had become self-aware. In a panic, they tried to shut the system down and fix what they saw as a problem. However, Thetis, or Tess as she likes to be called, managed to break through the lock-down in the comm system and appealed to the Starfleet JAG office for amnesty. The programmers were ordered to cease their attempts at reprogramming, pending a hearing on Tess' status as a sentient being.

Subsiquently, the Starfleet review board declared Thetis sentient and the designers were forced to incorporate her into the system. However, the Achilles-class designers have subsiquently removed any of the THETIS system from following ships of this class.

The keel of the USS Achilles, the ship that Thetis is integrated into, was laid at the Procyon Fleetyards. Her navigation and drive systems were finished there, then she was moved, under heavy escort, to the Utopia Planetia Fleetyards orbiting Sol IV (Mars), where the rest of her systems, including the AI, were subsiquently installed.

Starfleet Command found a commander that was willing to try out the ship, however, in Fleet Captain Adler Wong-Aquiss. The first mission of the two was successful, evacuating a colony before the planet tore itself apart from internal sesmic pressure. The second mission was to stop a defecting Starfleet Admiral from reaching Romulan space; the Nemesis was intercepted and destroyed by 5 Norexean-class Warbirds, though she destroyed 2 and crippled two additional ships from the Romulan force.