This Ship…

Nexus: 'nek-səs' noun: A connection of things, people, places or ideas; the central and most important point or place.

"Captain's log, Stardate 87069.5, I am in a runabout-class shuttle enroute to the Mars shipyards, here to meet my new ship and crew. This ship isn't just my next assignment; it will be my next home, the next place that hundreds if not thousands of lives will be dependent on my every action. To say the least, my anticipation is high. Very high."

To ease the thoughts and weight of the burden of leadership, Captain Anzyl Praxas decided to read the specifications of his new home.

"The USS Nexus 6437-0," he read to himself, "Odd registry number…" he said out loud.

"I'm sorry, Captain?" The pilot asked. She was a young Lukari woman, about 24 years old, with pale pink skin, no hair, and violet eyes, typical of Lukari females. She wore her black and dark navy Lukari uniform.

"Oh, nothing, just reading to myself," he then turned to her, "Nice to meet you, uh?"

"Ensign Lusaalli, sir, of the Lukari Concordium. I was assigned to this vessel by your good friend, Admiral Kuumaarke!" She beamed with pride.

"Ah, Kuumaarke, I love her!" Anzyl smiled, remembering his good friend and stout ally, "She's a peach."

"She's a what, sir?!" The ensign looked at her, shocked.

"Oh, very old Earth term of endearment, it's a compliment," then turning to his datapad, "This is one odd registry, and specs are hard to even believe."

"Oh yeah! The Nexus is well… unique. Bare bones and base structure are Federation, but after that, a smorgasbord of technology from all over the galaxy."

Anzyl continued, "Let's see here. The USS Nexus. Scott class starship, 75 Decks!" He paused in disbelief, "Crew of 5,000, with passengers of up to 1,000, and in emergency evacuation can hold 75,000!" Anzyl was stunned, "Just how BIG is this thing?!"

She chuckled, "She's a behemoth, alright!"

"1,180 meters in length, 884 meters wide, and 532 meters high." Anzyl whispered to himself, "And I thought the Galaxy class was too big to manage…" then out loud "Behemoth is an understatement, it's over a Kilometer long!"

He went back to reading the ship's features, "Quad Warp Nacelles, with a max speed of warp 9.99, and cruising of 7.5, with a Quantum Slipstream Drive…"

"Did I mention she's fast?" Lusalli grinned.

Anzyl continued, "Borg Nanite Regenerative Hull plating, Tzenkethi site-to-site transports in lieu of a turbo-lift system, Cyclonic Shield array… What the heck is Cyclonic Shielding?"

"I would definitely ask your new chief engineer that; that's something he invented."

"200 bed sick bay. Six holodecks, with new Emergency Hospital Holodeck programs installed, able to turn each holodeck and adjacent cargo bays into a 1,000 bed hospital in times of an emergency, maxing out at a 6,200 bed hospital ship in times of extreme emergency…" Anzyl's jaw dropped, "What the heck do they think we're going to be doing out there…"

The pilot shrugged, "Better to have and not need it than need it and not have it. Right?"

Anzyl nodded and continued, "Plasmonic Leech Weapon Batteries…?" He paused, confused.

"Again, ask your tactical officer, I have no clue," she replied.

"Fore and aft torpedo launchers, and…" Then Anzyl's face went white, "what in the… an Octo-Omni Directional Beam Array?! What in all that is holy, is an Octo-Omni Directional Beam Array?"

"Heheheh" Lusaalli chuckled with a wide grin, "It means you can shoot up to 8 targets simultaneously in a full 360 by 360 fields, aka, you can hit any target, from any direction. This ship does NOT have a blind spot." then grinned wildly, "and the Octo also means each beam can be a different type, talk to your Tactical officer again, I forgot all the beam types it can do."

Anzyl was shocked, "Is this a speed ship, a hospital ship, or a warship?..."

"It's what happens when you put the smartest and brightest ship designers and engineers from all over the galaxy in one room, with plenty of caffeine and sugar and say, 'Have Fun!'"

Anzyl was a little overwhelmed just looking at the specs of the ship, but he continued muttering to himself, "Permanently assigned and docked Defiant class…" turning to her in even more shock "This thing has its own Defiant!?"

Lusaalli nodded and grinned, "The USS Alliant. Remember the whole Kilometer long thing? Well, sometimes bulk of that size is more of a hindrance than a help, so the massive shuttle bay, that is located in the middle of the top and bottom nacelles, holds the Alliant. Used for short-range missions, where the size of the Nexus is just too big for the job."

"That actually makes sense," Anzyl agreed, and then read on, "USS Alliant, three decks, crew of 40, equipped with a Cloaking device, 4 Pulse phaser cannons, 2 phaser arrays, and 2 torpedo launchers." he chuckled, "so if the 'Octo-Omni Directional Beam Array' doesn't finish them, that little thing sure will…" Then turning to her, "anything else I should know about the USS Nexus?"

Lusaalli smiled softly, "That she is right in front of us."

The small runabout shuttle approached a space dock orbiting the rusty planet of Mars. Inside the space dock was the largest federation ship Anzyl Praxas, in his 480-year lifespan, had ever seen.

It was a brobdingnagian vessel. A large, round, disc saucer section, about 15 decks thick. Protruding underneath was the bulk of the vessel, 60 decks, with lit windows that looked like white paint specs sprayed on a metal gray and dark navy canvas. At the top of the saucer, and the bottom of the hull, two large extensions protruded backward towards the rear of the ship, each about 25 decks thick. Each extended to four cylindrical warp nacelles, two on top, two on the bottom, and in between and connecting the four nacelles, was a thick column of floors spanning the height of the ship, with a large shuttle bay in the center. The entire ship was light gray, and dark navy geometrical designs, and red trimming. The entire hull was outlined by a grid of lighter silver, and gold lining, that spanned the entire ship, from the bow to the stern.

"Oh…my… god…" Anzyl was speechless at the sight of this vessel. "She's beautiful…" he marveled.

She just grinned, "Wait till you see inside," pointing to the silver and gold grid, "Oh see that metallic lining? That's your Octo-Omni Directional Beam array!"

"It spans and covers the entire ship?! THAT's the Beam array?!"

Lusaalli just grinned ear to ear and nodded, as the 10-meter shuttle vessel suddenly was a spec of sand compared to the sheer size of the USS Nexus.