Hello and welcome to another episode of Truth OR Myth Beta Canon, a Star Trek web series that dives into the history of any given topic using Beta Canon sources and my own imagination to fill in the gaps. In today’s episode we’re looking at the Cygnus Class, a mirror universe variant of the Galaxy Class, first seen in Star Trek: Online, to better understand its place in Star Trek History.
Please note, that there isn’t a lot of information on this class, and the information that does exist from Star Trek: Online, well some directly contradicts information that has already been established in Alpha Canon. Thus, I’ve had to slightly alter the design’s history to properly fit in this new age of Star Trek.
And of course, as always, because this IS a Beta Canon video, all information re-laid should pretty much be taken with a grain of stardust, and only considered a little bit of Star Trek Fun! And so, with all that out of the way, let’s begin.
Once discovered, the Cygnus Class Battlecruiser would go on to strike fear into the hearts and minds of any enemy that would threaten the United Federation of Planets. But what do we know about this destructive powerhouse class?
Since its initial discovery in the late 2250s, the Mirror Universe has always been a source of fascination for Federation Scientists.
Originally classified and named the Mirror Universe due to its close congruence to our own universe, yet seemingly completely opposite to our own in every way, this parallel universe would prove once and for all that the multiverse did in fact exist, and if one was not careful, they could find themselves stuck in one of these variants, with no hope of returning.
There would be many crossovers in this universe. Famously, Captain James T. Kirk of the original Constitution Class Enterprise, along with 3 of his command staff, would travel to this paralleled universe and alter its events, eventually leading to the Terran Empires’ complete collapse.
One could hardly blame Captain Kirk for his actions, seeing a universe so like our own, yet so brutal and cutthroat, that convincing Commander Spock of that universe that change was a necessity seemed the only logical choice.
But the consequences of his actions could not be ignored, when the outcome of this minor event in galactic history for the mirror universe, would have such a great impact, in fact, making things even worse in that universe.
This would eventually lead to the expansion of the Prime Directive, to include the Multiverse. Whereby no Officers finding themselves in an alternate universe could take any actions to alter the natural development of that said universe, no matter what condition that universe was in.
But in the late 24th Century, Starfleet Scientists had begun to experiment with ways of covertly observing the mirror universe.
And various experiments, such as sending cloaked micro probes through portals based on Terran Transporter technology from that Universe, would provide some results, though, fairly limited in their nature.
Unconfirmed reports would even suggest that a rogue Starfleet Organization known as Section 31, had operatives able to cross universes at will, collecting data, and ensuring our own Prime Universe would remain undisturbed.
After James T. Kirk’s voyage to the Mirror the Universe, the Multiverses’ existence was exposed to the public, though the exact details of how to cross universes would be kept a closely guarded secret, much like time travel technology.
It was very gratifying to Starfleet however when crew members from Deep Space 9 would cross back into the mirror universe with their unintentional influence leading to the subjugation of Earth, by the Bajoran, Klingon, and Cardassian alliance, becoming a free planet once again, with the alliance struggling to defend itself again this new Terran rebellion.
What wasn’t known at the time, however, was that once defeated, the old habits of the Terran Empire would re-emerge. And after the Klingon Empire would switch sides and joined the Rebellion, the Organization would once again be reborn, though not as ruthless as its previous incarnation.
Due to several crossover events by members of the Terran Organization, the Empire would collect a lot of data on Starship Construction. And would proceed in constructing various variants on Prime Starfleet’s own designs, but with emphasis on Offensive weaponry.
And the Terran Empire would begin to flourish, with those worlds who had supported them given the chance to join this new empire or suffer the consequences.
And although this might sound harsh, it truly wasn’t. As all these planets gladly joined to defeat the no Bajoran/ Cardassian Alliance, and unlike the Terran Empire of the past, these member worlds were seen and treated as equals, slavery in the Empire would not be reborn.
By the turn of the 25th century, the Terran Empire had a fleet of Starships and was growing quickly.
And it was then, that Terran Scientists began to experiment with their own abilities to travel the multiverse and to do this, they would create an entirely new variant based on the Prime Galaxy Class Design, and the Cygnus Class would be born.
Sitting at a length of approximately 651 meters and 42 decks tall, the Cygnus Class Battlecruiser would be designed to be operated by 2000 Officers and Crew members.
Though similar in look to the Galaxy Class, this starship variant would be quite different from its Prime Counterpart.
Containing an additional Deflector dish in a cutout portion of the Saucer Section, the Cygnus Class would use the 2 deflectors in concert to create a breach into the Prime Universe, and crossover with a mission to observe the Prime universe and collect as much data as possible before returning home.
And the USS Cygnus was in fact able to crossover into our universe, but due to the unknown dangers of this untried technology, the Cygnus’s crew would not survive the journey, and the starship itself would remain adrift for several years.
Then in 2407, the USS Europa, on a deep space patrol and star charting assignment, would discover the wayward starship. And after securing the ship, Starfleet command would begin its own investigation into the class and the Mirror Universe once again.
The Cygnus Class Battlecruiser would have a standard safe cruising speed of warp factor 8, with an emergency maximum speed of Warp Factor 9.99.
Its reinforced Tritanium Neutronium Hull plating would allow this ship to remain at that extreme velocity for 18 hours at a time before the engines had to be shut down for repair of warp components… Unlike Starfleet Starships of the time, the Terran Empire had not yet discovered or begun experimentation with Transwarp Velocities.
Tactically, the Cygnus Class was far beyond anything Starfleet had even imagined. The Terran version of the Phaser Array System was almost twice as powerful as Starfleet’s best and newest system being included in their classes. And its torpedo systems would be almost as equally as advanced.
Even enhanced Tricobalt torpedoes would be included in the design along with their advanced versions of both Photon and Quantum Torpedoes.
Shielding for the Cygnus Class, however, would be far less advanced than what was Standard For Starfleet at the time, using a more basic version of shielding, similar to what had been included in the Galaxy Class itself at its initial launch.
This battleship class would also not contain Bioneural Circuitry, and its scientific Systems, Scanner and Sensors would also be quite primitive compared to those currently included in Starfleet Starships.
Starfleet Command immediately saw the potential in this new Class and began a project to refit the USS Cygnus into a hybrid of Starfleet’s and its own technologies.
The Federation Council, however, was not so eager.
The Alpha and Beta Quadrant had begun a New Era of peace and cooperation with many of its old enemies, and to foster goodwill with its new Federation friends, the Federation Council would only allow for 5 additional starships of the Class to be constructed. And for the entire class and how it came into existence in the first place to be completely classified, with the Cygnus Classes’ own statistics being falsified to match those other Galaxy Class starship variants of the time.
In the Mirror Universe, the technology used to cross the Cygnus into the Prime Universe would be abandoned.
Historical records of the period tend to suggest that an outside force influenced the Terran Empires’ decision on this matter, those these reports can of course, not be confirmed.
The Cygnus Class would go on to quietly make its mark on Federation History, utilized in extreme circumstances where the defence of the United Federation of Planets warranted the Starship Class to act.
Led to the Cygnus Class earning its powerhouse place, In Starfleet history…
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