When it comes to exploring the final frontier, Starfleet has been widely experimental in it’s design philosophy and thanks to a galaxy rich with resources – and possibly, yeah, overcoming capitalist ideals – is never shy on supplies to try out new ideas or unload a whole new line of ships for specific mission types or general experimentation.
Still, while designs and ideas rotate on a regular basis to bring the specialist ships such as the Protostar or Defiant Classes, the core fleet is always held together with standard builds that can last for decades. In approaching a rebuild of the fleet to incorporate new ideas, new technologies, and new lessons learned from an ever increasing range of new and more powerful enemies to Federation ideals, Starfleet’s engineers sometimes go back to the well and lean on old classics that stood the test of time to stand as the backbone of a new lineage for a new generation.
The Excelsior II Class is one of those designs. Launched in 2284, the original Excelsior Class was the 23rd century’s answer to shepherding in anew era of Starship. While the Constitution Class has flown the flag of Starfleets exploration efforts, and the Shangri-La offering a more combat orientated companion, it’s time had come and after a few decades of new discoveries, the Excelsior was born; an updated, streamlined multi-purpose explorer to show off what Starfleet can do.
Initially the Excelsior had an embarrassing start thanks to some minor sabotage. Inspite of this it became the flag bearer for the Federation, even representing the third in line for the 1701 registry. But it’s legacy lasted longer than it’s predecessor. Despite being replaced by the Ambassador Class and eventually the Galaxy Class, the Excelsior was a unique design. Nearly a hundred years later it survived – both with ships still hobbling along from the late 23rd century, and new ships being commissioned with what should have been an outdated concept.
Long into the Dominion war, when everything was thrown at the wall from the carrier style Akira to the ‘escort’ Defiant, two dated designs were still more than capable enough to swap between combat and exploration. Whether fighting on the front lines or charting the farthest stars, the Excelsior Class seemed to thrive. So when it came to finding a new backbone of the fleet, what better a class to build on than one of the most resilient designs in Starfleet history?
In the real world, this design might be numbered with a II, but it’s certainly not the first time someone has tried to bring the Excelsior class to a new age. Whetherit be Star Trek Online’s somewhat bold resolute class, or even the on-screen retrofit by John Eaves for Star Trek Generations, the elegance and style has lasted the test of time.
Bringing it forward, the Excelsior II Class was designed by two of Star Trek’s best artists and creators of their own Enterprise – John Eaves and Doug Drexler with a CGI assist and refinement by the (severely underrated!) Sean Hargreaves.
Bringing more weight and bulk to the party, the E-II comes with the same base layout stretched to match the era building towards the Sovereign and Odyssey styles. At 588 meters in length, it brings in all the style and flair of the original but with a larger volume and more room to customise.
The Excelsior II is of course available as part of Q2’s Fleet for New Captains. Currently the E-II isn’t listed in our Fleet Database, but is available to new captains! Members can find out more in the Officers Hub!
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