This section describes the ships, stations and planets that serve as the settings for Accord Fiction. It also describes the timeframe in which Accord Fiction takes place.
Fictionally, USS Accord NCC 1842 is a Soyuz Class starship of the United Federation of Planets Star Fleet. The Soyuz Class was first seen in the Next Generation episode "Cause and Effect" in the form of USS Bozeman.
Canonically, very little is known about the Soyuz Class, so we made most of it up as we went along. In Accord Fiction, the Soyuz Class is assumed to have originated at the same time as the Surya Class Frigates (whose descendants included USS Avenger and USS Reliant), being a variant design intended for similar missions. Then and now, the Soyuz Class ships leaned a bit more toward the 'gunboat' end of the spectrum, while the Surya leaned more toward the general-purpose starship model.
USS Accord is considered a 'tactical frigate'. More heavily armed and armoured than most Federation ships of similar classes, Accord is designed to survive on her own in dangerous regions of space.
Since this FAQ is primarily about the Accord's fictional universe in the first place, more details appear scattered throughout.
In what passes in some places for real life, USS Accord is a Science Fiction fan club based in Ithaca, New York and affiliated with Starfleet, the International Star Trek Fan Association.
Fictionally, USS Avenger is the lead ship of the Avenger Class heavy frigate line. Originally commissioned in 2252 as a Surya Class frigate, this vessel saw action in the Four Years' War with the Klingons and participated in a number of important battles.
In 2277, Avenger was the first Surya Class ship refitted to the new Star Fleet technological standard (cf. USS Enterprise from Star Trek: The Motion Picture onward), and thus lent its name to the new ship-class. It was refitted again in 2285.
Most of what we know about Avenger has been chronicled since 2285, focusing on the command of now-Admiral Alex Rosenzweig (see below), although several notable missions under previous COs have also been referred to.
Currently, Avenger is operating on a multi-mission profile mixing exploration and tactical/defensive responsibilities. She operates in a number of different locations, but is most often found in the Federation's frontiers, typically closer to Klingon and Romulan space than to Cardassian territory. On occasion, she'll make a foray into Triangle or unclaimed space.
In reality, USS Avenger is the Central New Jersey chapter of Starfleet, the parent chapter of USS Accord and grandparent of Shadowstar Station.
Fictionally, Space Station Salem One, aka Shadowstar Station SFR-721 is the first of the Salem Class stations deployed by the United Federation of Planets Star Fleet, currently commanded by Admiral Nikolai Barstow (a non-player character [q.v. below]). It orbits Beta Miranda V, a Federation colony near the UFP-Klingon Neutral Zone. Beta Miranda is a binary system, and one sun periodically eclipses the other relative to BM-V, thus leading to the name 'Shadowstar'.
The station is less than 5 days' travel time at Old Warp Factor Seven from Star Base 52, and approximately 1 and 3 days' respective travel time from Star Bases 12 (TOS "Space Seed") and 10 (TOS "The Deadly Years").
Salem One's construction was authorized by the Federation Military Staff Committee in 2286, and its original raison d'etre was to serve as the primary customs house for traffic in and out of the Triangle (q.v.) spaces. Since late 2294, it has served as homebase for the Shadowstar Cathedral Flight Team (aka Team Shadowstar), a Star Fleet testing and evaluation unit. Team Shadowstar's charter includes the full-systems testing of new-build starships (up to and including Excelsior Class) and recertification of old ships (such as the USS Daedalus, built over 120 years previously).
The station also has embarked a wing of five fightercraft squadrons; Accord's fighters have participated in wargames exercises against Shadowstar's fighters on at least one occasion.
Salem Class stations are mentioned though not seen in TNG "The Defector" (Station Salem One is the site of a sneak attack a la Pearl Harbor) and an early draft of TNG "Yesterday's Enterprise" (Station Salem Four). The design for Shadowstar Station is taken from an early sketch (turned upside-down) of Deep Space Nine on p. 258 of Gar and Judith Reeves-Stevens's The Making of Star Trek Deep Space Nine.
In reality, Shadowstar Station is an independent Science Fiction correspondence fan club based in Seaside Heights, New Jersey under the command of Fleet Captain Hartriono Sastrowardoyo. It is currently not affiliated with any umbrella/parent organization, though many of its primary and associate members belong to Starfleet.
Star Base 52 aka Last Chance Station is a space station orbiting an anonymous rock in a stable but boring system that's just clear of the Storm Line on Accord's side. The station is the Federation's only permanent non-colonial outpost serving the New Colonies that have sprung up in this volume of space.
From a non-military standpoint, if DS9 resembles a cross between Casablanca and the Mall of America in space, SB52 resembles nothing so much as a great big truck stop in space, complete with excessively large hamburgers. Most of the civilian traffic through SB52 will be commercial long-haul carriers, making either their first or last stop, depending on which direction they're heading. It is from this aspect that SB52 derives its nickname, Last Chance Station; on the base's letterhead, some wit has succeeded in adding the tagline, "Last Chance for Gas in the Federation".
The next civilized outpost after SB52 on the Federation side of the Storm Line is Nexus Station. If SB52 is a truck stop, Nexus is more of a mall; if SB52 represents the provinces, Nexus is a bit more "big-city". While SB52 is mostly a way-point for through traffic, Nexus Station actually houses quite a bit of commerce. Many of the deals that result in goods for the New Colonies get made at Nexus. (40 years in Accord Fiction's future, Nexus Station will also be a major waypoint for refugees from Cardassian expansion.)
Last Chance Station has no direct mapping to the real world, nor even to televised Star Trek, which has yet to show a Star Base 52 (although it has shown other, higher-numbered star bases).
Nexus Station is an Internet-based correspondence chapter, commanded by Fleet Captain Kurt Roithinger. Nexus plays primarily in the early 24th century (around 2335), but its fictional history goes back far enough and it's fictional location is close enough to tie in nicely with our desire to expound on the details of our universe.
Wraith is a privately-owned B'rel Class Bird of Prey, like the HMS Bounty from The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home. The Wraith Trading Company, based out of the Triangle world Taler V, is an independent merchant/mercenary corporation.
Like Last Chance Station, Wraith has no direct mapping to the real world, except that the two player-characters associated with her - Mike Shappe and Rusty Lloyd - have both moved away from Ithaca, but both still consider themselves members of Accord. Wraith will make her first appearance in That Which Does Not Kill Us Makes Us Stronger.
Fictionally, the Akyazi Class represent the closest thing to the K'vort Class Bird of Prey the Federation has - a small, light, fast ship housing perhaps 100 officers and crew, designed entirely as gunships. In 9810, when Accord ends her first five year mission and begins her second one, she will be accompanied by a flight of three of these: USS Morrigan, USS Balor and USS Ogma, thus augmenting Accord's ability to explore, protect and defend.
In reality, the Akyazi Class are the brainchild of Mastercom Data, detailed in Ships of the Star Fleet Volume II, Issue I, available from Barnes and Noble and at conventions.
Star Fleet is a fictional arm of the United Federation of Planets Government, charged with keeping the peace, enforcing the law, securing the borders, and exploring space. In practice, it behaves like a combination of all the United States Government's current armed forces with various academic and private research programs thrown in for good measure. The dominant tradition is Terran Naval, with the exception of the Star Fleet Marine Corps, which, as its name suggests, patterns itself more on the USMC.
Starfleet, the International Star Trek Fan Association, is the umbrella organization to which USS Accord and several hundred other individual fan clubs, as well as 7,000 individuals, belong.
Throughout this document, 'Star Fleet' is used to refer to the fictional organization; 'Starfleet' is used to refer to the real one.
Mostly 'behind' Klingon space relative to the rest of the Federation. Imagine the Federation having an arm sticking out of it wrapping around Klingon space as if trying to scratch the Empire's back, and that gives you a vague idea.
The area near the 'shoulder' of that arm, as well as a good part of the old Fed-Klin Neutral Zone, is covered by a band of ion storms, called the Storm Line, which makes communication with the main body of the Federation difficult. Last Chance Station is just past this line on Accord's side.
Politics and economics. The authorization and appropriation for Accord's refit and her eventual posting assumed a submarine-stealth sort of mission to these same spaces. When Praxis exploded and the Khitomer treaty was signed, Star Fleet Command adjusted the orders, but was required to otherwise stay within the original appropriation. The only added resource they got was a Star Base (Last Chance Station, Star Base 52), which, by 2296 (mid-way through That Which Does Not Kill Us Makes Us Stronger) is terribly overburdened.
The Federation Council has not yet authorised additional ships or an expanded base due to squabbling between those who would like to see the Federation continue to expand and those who would rather spend time and money improving and securing the volumes already 'owned.'
It is currently expected that, by 2298, some additional authorisation will finally have been made.
These fictional decisions were made to map with the club's geographical isolation from most of its Starfleet sisters.
There are only six populated worlds currently established within Accord's patrol range. They are
Let's go back to our arm analogy again. Let's assume the Federation is an adult, standing up, viewed from above. The Klingon Empire is a child (although doubtless they wouldn't like that analogy much) standing in front and to the right of the Federation, while the Romulan Empire is another child standing in front and to the left. The New Colonies region, as already described, is the right arm of the "Federation" in this metaphor, reaching around to scratch the Klingon Empire's back. The Klingon Empire, Romulan Empire, and Federation are all nearly touching. The result is, in the middle of this cluster of the three of them, there's a vaguely triangular gap.
That's the Triangle. A relatively small volume of space completely independent of all three major governments, the Last Bastion of Free Market Capitalism until you get to Ferenginar (which hasn't been contacted yet; see the next question, about when these stories take place). But, unlike the Ferengi, who represent almost all of the dark, ugly aspects of the Free Market, the Triangle represents a more romantic view.
Taler V and its one city, Talersha City State, are the de facto capital of the Triangle, playing home to most of the major commercial houses and to the three Guilds - Engineer, Merchant and Mercenary - which train and represent a large fraction of the talent in the Triangle.
At the latest, three hundred years later than whatever today is (at this writing, the Accord Fictional Date is 11 September, 2297, or 9709.11). Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country is still the recent past. As a result, Accord stories feel more like Trek II and VI (the more 'military' movies) than TNG.
Given the almost alarming number of Starfleet chapters who have chosen to defect or even start out in the Wrong...excuse me... Next Generation, I believe this bears repeating and stressing: Accord is a Late-Movie Era Ship, not a Next Generation ship, and damned proud of it. :-)
This puts certain limitations on the technologies we can use. Many toys seen in The Next Generation are not yet within our reach, and others have only just come into use. Standard uniform for naval personnel is exactly what is seen in most of the Trek feature films. Marine uniform is a stiff, high-collared black affair that, to 20th Century eyes looks suspiciously like those worn by the Empire in Star Wars, but with Star Fleet insignia. Organizational structures are a modification (mostly a simplification) of the ones drawn up by Bob Fletcher during pre-production for The Wrath of Khan.
To cover some specific technological ground: Accord has replicators, but they're relatively crude. Accord has non-solid holographic capability, which is used for displays far more than we see on televised Trek, but no solid 'holodeck' technology. Warp Drive is still calibrated on the older 'cubic' scale.