The Long Haul — Jane’s Fighting Ships (2425–2426 Expanded Entry)

(Unacknowledged / Black Cover)

TYPE

Deniable deep-frontier scout/interceptor optimized for low-signature reconnaissance, covert logistics, surgical strike, and personnel extraction under treaty-constrained conditions.

PROGRAMME

Original Stalker hull secured by Cmdr. (sep.) Gareth Morgan Rhys as lawful salvage following the Zeta Hedron blockade (2420). Multiphase refit using Romulan surplus hardware, Federation field-control overlays, and frontier artisan upgrades under Tellarite engineer Grak; ATHANOR (Section 14) oversight due to embedded sentient system (TESSA). Cover registries rotated per mission need. Milestones: 2420 salvage award → 2421 quiet acceptance → 2423 “Bone Orchard” humanitarian corridor → 2424 SIGINT/ECM completion → 2425 cloak harmonics upgrade (phase-bias).

BUILDERS / MODIFIERS

Original yard unknown (Stalker series). Refit via mixed frontier consortium; Romulan cloak core (brokered), Daystrom-licensed Federation overlays; Tellarite shop (Grak) delivered weapons, heat, and power gating.

OPERATORS

Independent (Rhys cell). Deniable tasking from colonial administrations, private consortia, and friendly Starfleet elements where plausible deniability is required.

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISTICS

Item	Data
Dimensions	L 64.8 m • B 15.1 m • H 9.6 m
Refit Mass	~18,000 t (incl. stealth & AI shielding)
Complement	4 organic + AI (surge evac up to 12; 6 bunks)
Endurance	18 months autonomous; cloaked 36–48 h per heat cycle (longer with pulsed cloak)
Power Plant	Class-VII Mod-3 M/ARA with plasma-recycling injectors
Warp Drive	2 × Phantom-series variable-geometry nacelles (low-noise field shaping)
Impulse	“Thread-spool” high-thrust bursts; SIF-caged envelopes to ~12,000 g
Speed	Sustain Warp 8.9 (quiet) • Dash Warp 9.55 ≤ 6 h (thermal-limited)
Data Bus	Quad EPS + dedicated stealth bus; regenerative buffers

PROPULSION & POWER

Mod-3 M/ARA with plasma-recycling injectors enables extended EMCON loiter and rapid re-weaponing. Phantom nacelles reduce warp-trail visibility; thread-spool impulse routes unregulated plasma through reinforced conduits and local SIF “cages” for violent, short-duration acceleration (not for sustained pursuit).

SIGNATURE MANAGEMENT / INFILTRATION

Cloak: Romulan/Federation hybrid phase-coil with two modes—(A) conventional long-duration (no fire), (B) phase-bias transits (no fire; decoherence risk). Known counter: high-order subspace harmonic pings; doctrine employs harmonic drift, pulsed throttle, TESSA-timed repositioning.
Metaphasic “Spectre”: Localized section phasing for cut-throughs and pod insertion; hard abort on decoherence spikes.
Holo-Mask: Full-hull projection + telemetry/transponder mimicry; behavior emulation for civil traffic.

SENSORS / C4ISR

Long-baseline passives, quantum-resolution gravimetric taps, and tightly gated LPI micro-pings feed a fusion layer directed by TESSA (>5M tactical permutations/s) that drives HUD overlays to Rhys’s HMI and crew visors. “Tiamat” suite conducts protocol downgrades, traffic shaping, and supply-chain intrusions; ECM includes adaptive baffles, spectral chaff, narrow-beam bursts, and steganographic telemetry.

ARMAMENT

2 × Type-XII pulse phaser cannons (hull-concealed; capacitor-gated; no fire under cloak)
Ventral multi-role quantum torpedo turret (30-round selectable magazine): quantum; gravimetric; subspace-resonant; “WRAITH” cyberwarfare probes
2 × micro-torpedo tubes (low-yield photon; 16 reloads)
Doctrine: Pulsed-exposure knife-fighting—uncloak → strike ≤ 8 s → re-cloak and displace; prioritize systems-kill over hull-kill.

PROTECTION

Dynamic Regenerative Deflector Grid slaved to TESSA (predictive arc biasing)
Metamaterial ablative hull (regenerable; IR/RF absorption; spall reduction)
Low-signature pulse-phaser lattice; programmable decoy drones (thermal/EM/subspace)

MEDICAL

Automated nanite-enabled surgical cell replacing conventional sickbay footprint; dual-patient throughput via staggered cycles; overseen by Dr. Lorian Vess (Denobulan).

AUXILIARY CRAFT

Wisp-class runabout “AQUILA” — callsign Aquila-One (“Green Raptor”); stealth skin, LPI suite, short-range cloak assist; viridian raptor livery often read as Romulan at range.
4 × “Spectre” personal insertion pods — metaphasic-capable; hard abort on decoherence.
Away-team cloaks — personal emitters (minute-scale; heat-limited).

DOCKING & REPLENISHMENT

External docking cradle for Sovereign-class rendezvous (ventral saucer hardpoint): 4 mag-grapple clamps + 2 lateral stabilisers (1.2 MN shear each), dual EPS/aux power, atmosphere/water, ATHANOR data hardline, deuterium/reactant transfer. Quick-disconnect 30 s (emergency) / 4 min (safe). Clearance envelope 90 × 35 × 25 m. Not a hangar; service/transfer only.

COMPLEMENT (CORE)

4 organic + AI (surge ≤ 12). Core cell includes: Gareth Rhys (operator), Vaela t’Selaan (senior operative/co-commander), Grak (chief engineer), Dr. Lorian Vess (medical & science), Sora Kinkade (conn/ECM), and TESSA (sentient adjunct).

OPERATIONAL HISTORY (SELECT)

2420 — Zeta Hedron blockade; salvage award; refit commences.
2421–2422 — Counter-traffic interdictions (Spinward/Gorn); refugee extractions (Cardassian–Ferengi rim).
2423 — “Bone Orchard” relief convoy: cloaked humanitarian corridor through Tholian lattice; ~18,400 lives preserved.
2424–2425 — Mixed humanitarian/deniable tasking; near-detections mitigated by phase drift and decoy wakes.

LEGAL / TREATY STATUS

Foreign-origin cloak with phase-bias capability is politically sensitive; employment sustained under deniable doctrine, strict EMCON, and no-fire-under-cloak. Holo-mask mimicry risks piracy-fraud charges in several jurisdictions; use limited to ATHANOR-tasked ops. Friendly authorities often issue observe/avoid advisories when mission-positive effects are expected.

MAINTENANCE & RELIABILITY

Cloak harmonics recalibration: every 100 h cloaked; radiator sink purge: 40 h.
Warp/impulse service: core inspection 800 flight h; EMCON impulse nozzle anneal 300 h.
AI audit: annual (Section 14).
Observed availability: ~0.86 (90-day rolling; frontier conditions).

COSTS & SUPPORT

Refit executed off-books via mixed patronage and captured materiel. Spares pipeline maintained through frontier brokers; cloak consumables via Romulan intermediaries; ordnance replenishment selective (mission-tuned).

ASSESSMENT

Escort-adjacent combat power in short bursts; elite survivability via stealth discipline, TESSA’s predictive biasing, and strict exposure control. Greatest vulnerabilities: harmonic-ping detection and thermal accrual during protracted stealth loiter. Capture value: high (TESSA + hybrid cloak). Best used where treaty optics preclude overt Starfleet action.

MODERNISATION POTENTIAL (BLOCK II OPTIONS)

Cloak micro-jitter upgrade (randomised multi-order harmonics)
+10% capacitor banks for Type-XII pulse strings (thermal cost)
Quantum-key comms via paired entanglers (limited bandwidth)
Second Nanite Cell or trauma sled
AQUILA: folded-wing micro-cloak; ECM “gull” decoys

LIVERY & MARKINGS

Base hull: low-gloss slate with metasurface panels; minimal Federation stencils; alias decals for cover registries. AQUILA features viridian raptor motif (Romulan-adjacent), with low-contrast service markings and removable cover branding.

CUTAWAY

Deck-1: low-lux bridge & tactical pit • Deck-2: fwd OPS/SIGINT “Tiamat” & ATHANOR data vault; aft commons/EVA/nanite cell • Deck-3: cabins (6 single, 1 double) with triage fold-outs • Deck-4: engineering (M/ARA, cloak module, radiator sinks) and mission bay with AQUILA cradle + 4 Spectre pods (~24 m³ cargo).

EDITOR’S NOTE

Independent hulls with this degree of AI integration and hybrid cloaking are rare. Long Haul’s survivability is inseparable from Rhys’s proportional-force doctrine (<8 s exposure) and TESSA’s predictive biasing. Misuse—especially firing under cloak or extended phase-bias transits—will rapidly erode advantages.