Air and Space Photos from Alternate Worlds.
- Thread starter Wingman1
- Start date
Probably not exactly what you were thinking but I think you have to agree, its not that weird looking.
Jane's All the Galaxy's Fighting Starships (2399 edition) #5
Name: U.S.S. Chicago (NX-39654)
Type: Experimental Cruiser/Science Cruiser
Class: X - Class (1st of 1)
Nationality: Federation Starfleet (United Federation of Planets)
Service: Uknown (Starfleet Service Date: 2389 - in Service )
Armaments: 30 Phaser Emitters, 2x forward Torpedo launcher, 2x aft Torpedo laucher
Speed: (Type 2 Scale) Warp 9 (Max Cruise), Warp 9.9995 (at extreme risk)
The existence of the Chicago is an example of the strange things that Starfleet has encountered over the years. In December 2387, the Starship T'Vook under Captain Tainer, was conducting survey operations near what was then still formally known as the Romulan Neutral Zone, part of a wider Starfleet effort to map and survey the aftermath of the Hobus Supernova, with special interest being paid the the unusual subspace component that destroyed Romulus. When the T'Vook ran scans of the otherwhise uncharted and utterly unremarkable S-54445842-2U-K system, their sensors showed a brief and short-ranged, but powerful displacement wave not dissimilar in some ways to the one that had transported U.S.S. Voyager to the other side of the galaxy. Tainer ordered investigation and diverted his ship. What they discovered was, effectively, the hulk of a ship, even though damage to the hull confined itself to the top-most layer of armour along the saucer section's forward edge and blowing out one of the bussard collectors. The ship proved to be of a very unusual design, though still clearly of Federation origin.
An initial survey by a hastily summoned fleet support ship revealed that the ship was indeed of Federation design, if likely very old, but also not from this dimension. Whatever had brought the ship here, it had removed every single piece of technology inside the hull with the exception of the SIF systems, meaning that it was a hulk not because of damage but because a shipyard would be needed to make her move even a single milimetre under her own power, as she lacked even an empty warp core.
A desicion was made on what to do with the hull at the highest level of Starfleet Command.* Instead of scrapping a hull twice the size of one of the old Constitution-class ships, the unique opportunity presented by the presumed origins of the hull as well as a sharply rising need for just about any ship that could be had at a time when the geo-political landscape of the Quadrant shifted more and farther than at any point since first Khitomer Accords, led to her being retained as an experimental vessel and eventually be comissioned as U.S.S. Chicago, the NX prefix showing her initial use with the then-new Explorer Corps. After extensive refits that made her viable as a ship, adding large science facilities and replacing what was left of her weapons and warp drive with contemporary equivalents, she was comissioned in 2389.
Her existence was initialy supposed to have been kept secret, but both the scale of her refit as well as Chicago responding to a distress call by a colony at the edge of the Rigel sector during her shakedown cruise made that impossible, marking her as the first extradimensional ship to be revealed to the public and sparking speculation as to what else might be out there.
Chicago's service since then has largely been confined to the inner portions of Federation space, but in 2397, the ship was assigned as flagship to Rear Admiral Hansen's Experimental Task Force**, operating out of Starbase 944.
*OOC: Mostly because San Francisco feared that the ship was from the mirror universe, which is patently isn't. What they found in that system was effectively the bare hull, nothing more.
**OOC: I may have said this before, this timeline is it's own thing, but one the ideas of my old Flux-verse I'm more fond of is what happened to Seven after "Endgame". Since the Fleet knows that the collective has been given a massive kick in the produce section, the Task Force, and yes, the same one Commander Shelby originally was a part of, isn't specifically anti-Borg any more. Seven was comissioned as a Lieutenant (SG) in Starfleet and used the next twenty years to work her self up the ladder, at some point choosing to use her human name.
Name: U.S.S. Chicago (NX-39654)
Type: Experimental Cruiser/Science Cruiser
Class: X - Class (1st of 1)
Nationality: Federation Starfleet (United Federation of Planets)
Service: Uknown (Starfleet Service Date: 2389 - in Service )
Armaments: 30 Phaser Emitters, 2x forward Torpedo launcher, 2x aft Torpedo laucher
Speed: (Type 2 Scale) Warp 9 (Max Cruise), Warp 9.9995 (at extreme risk)
The existence of the Chicago is an example of the strange things that Starfleet has encountered over the years. In December 2387, the Starship T'Vook under Captain Tainer, was conducting survey operations near what was then still formally known as the Romulan Neutral Zone, part of a wider Starfleet effort to map and survey the aftermath of the Hobus Supernova, with special interest being paid the the unusual subspace component that destroyed Romulus. When the T'Vook ran scans of the otherwhise uncharted and utterly unremarkable S-54445842-2U-K system, their sensors showed a brief and short-ranged, but powerful displacement wave not dissimilar in some ways to the one that had transported U.S.S. Voyager to the other side of the galaxy. Tainer ordered investigation and diverted his ship. What they discovered was, effectively, the hulk of a ship, even though damage to the hull confined itself to the top-most layer of armour along the saucer section's forward edge and blowing out one of the bussard collectors. The ship proved to be of a very unusual design, though still clearly of Federation origin.
An initial survey by a hastily summoned fleet support ship revealed that the ship was indeed of Federation design, if likely very old, but also not from this dimension. Whatever had brought the ship here, it had removed every single piece of technology inside the hull with the exception of the SIF systems, meaning that it was a hulk not because of damage but because a shipyard would be needed to make her move even a single milimetre under her own power, as she lacked even an empty warp core.
A desicion was made on what to do with the hull at the highest level of Starfleet Command.* Instead of scrapping a hull twice the size of one of the old Constitution-class ships, the unique opportunity presented by the presumed origins of the hull as well as a sharply rising need for just about any ship that could be had at a time when the geo-political landscape of the Quadrant shifted more and farther than at any point since first Khitomer Accords, led to her being retained as an experimental vessel and eventually be comissioned as U.S.S. Chicago, the NX prefix showing her initial use with the then-new Explorer Corps. After extensive refits that made her viable as a ship, adding large science facilities and replacing what was left of her weapons and warp drive with contemporary equivalents, she was comissioned in 2389.
Her existence was initialy supposed to have been kept secret, but both the scale of her refit as well as Chicago responding to a distress call by a colony at the edge of the Rigel sector during her shakedown cruise made that impossible, marking her as the first extradimensional ship to be revealed to the public and sparking speculation as to what else might be out there.
Chicago's service since then has largely been confined to the inner portions of Federation space, but in 2397, the ship was assigned as flagship to Rear Admiral Hansen's Experimental Task Force**, operating out of Starbase 944.
*OOC: Mostly because San Francisco feared that the ship was from the mirror universe, which is patently isn't. What they found in that system was effectively the bare hull, nothing more.
**OOC: I may have said this before, this timeline is it's own thing, but one the ideas of my old Flux-verse I'm more fond of is what happened to Seven after "Endgame". Since the Fleet knows that the collective has been given a massive kick in the produce section, the Task Force, and yes, the same one Commander Shelby originally was a part of, isn't specifically anti-Borg any more. Seven was comissioned as a Lieutenant (SG) in Starfleet and used the next twenty years to work her self up the ladder, at some point choosing to use her human name.
I would say yeah, this is just the place for something like this.
I don't know if this fits here or not, but the season 2 finale of Westworld briefly featured an really interesting looking seaplane used by the Chinese PLA of the future. I figured it would appreciated here.
https://www.deviantart.com/evov1/art/Jolly-Apache-Longbow-256718114
https://www.deviantart.com/evov1/art/A-10-Thunderbolt-II-199822287
https://www.deviantart.com/evov1/art/The-Jolly-Raptor-160165059
Some ATL Jolly Rogers. I believe that Apaches have occasionally landed on carriers though.
The illustration features a Three Wings aviatrix of the 1st Colonial Aero Corps at a forward archipelago airfield after returning from a successful strike sortie in the Pearl Islands Campaign. Her flight jacket and side cap are of typical tribal style and emblazoned with the hereditary unit patches and flight badges of her ancestral aerospace squadrons. Hereditary rank insignia is often worn in addition to tribal squadron affiliation, though taking a secondary precedence in prominence of display. Aviators of the Three Wings are accustomed to personalizing their flight jackets, flight gear, and headwear, with a great variety in flying goggles, tinted spectacles, neckties, silk scarves, and other accessories in evidence among all Three Wings pilots. Short trousers are the order of the day in both the arid training grounds of the Great Western Salt Flats and the sweltering humidity and heat of colonial campaigning, as long hours are often spent waiting on the flight line while squadron colonels and Kommersant military liaisons confer over pre-flight preparations in the shade of an operations tent or the bridge of a flattop gun-clipper.
The aviatrix carries a heavy ceramsteel survival knife of modern tribal origin in her utility belt and a six-shot Serrograd 7-series percussion revolver of Kommersant manufacture in her pistol holster. The survival knife is considered an essential element of the combat kit worn by Three Wings aviators, and due to its general utility as a convenient flat-bladed cutting tool, it is frequently worn on the ground as well. In comparison, the cap-and-ball Serrograd 7 percussion revolver is of rather limited utility, prized only for its relatively light weight for Three Wings pilots trying to cut every conceivable gram of excess gear from their takeoff weight. While performing adequately as a handy self-defense weapon during shore leaves in lawless colonial ports and frontier settlements, in combat over hostile territory the Serrograd 7 revolver serves as a fatal last resort for downed aviators facing the prospect of immediate capture by enemy ground or naval forces.
The aviatrix stands atop the port wing of her Rapier II, the latest generation model of turboprop fighter-bomber hand-fitted and assembled in the Great Western Salt Flats by General Avionics Reconstituted, the Three Wings consortium that oversees all Kommersant aviation manufacture. The semi swept-wing Rapier II fighter-bomber is scheduled to replace the aging gull-winged Comet-series of airframes in combat service, though currently only those forward-deployed squadrons in the colonial north have been reequipped and converted to the new attack craft. The Rapier II is powered by a high performance Zvesda-C steam turbine powerplant produced in the Kommersant construction yards of the New Vostok & Hyde Engineering Works. Burning a dry fuel-air mix of high-grade nanodust, Zvesda-C enables the Rapier II to reach a maximum altitude of 5000 meters and a maximum straightline cruising speed of 500 kph, though direct injection of pure nanodust fuel into the combustion reactor enables a limited maximum speed of 750 kph at the risk of rapid fuel depletion and engine damage. The duralum-ceramsteel composite alloy airframe of the Rapier II is crafted in separate wing and fuselage sections by the expert Kommersant forgemasters of Ulyanovsk Heavy Industries, and along with the pure duralum skin, are capable of shrugging off standard caliber ball rounds from conventional musketry and ground fire. Nevertheless, the airframe remains highly vulnerable to the standard anti-air incendiary canister shot employed by the better equipped military forces of the Djong-Kok and Red imperial states.
The Rapier II represents the premier fighter-bomber of the Three Wings battle squadrons not only in performance but in armaments as well. Each Rapier II is equipped with no less than sixteen M3 Windstorm .50 caliber revolver cannons. Mechanically actuated and linked to the primary power drive of the airframe's Zvesda-C steam turbine, the M3 Windstorm is the pinnacle of modern Kommersant automatic weapons design. Originally designed as crew-served weapons mounts aboard Kommersant gun-clippers, the M3 was initially thought by Kommersant tacticians to be of limited combat utility, as their requirement for an external power source prevented their forward deployment with kosmodesantniki in the field. However, once coupled to the high performance steam turbines that powered the fighter-bombers of the Three Wings, the M3 Windstorm was transformed from an auxiliary point-defense weapon with a modest automatic capability into a first-rate aerial cannon with a blisteringly high rate of fire. Although typically loaded with a general purpose mix of incendiary, armor piercing, and tracer rounds, the exact ratio of ammunition mix can be tailored by aviators to suit specific combat missions or preferences. Modular payload pylons on the underside of the Rapier II's wings allow for the deployment of several different classes of offensive systems, including a variety of unguided chemical rockets, nanodust fuel-air incendiary bombs, general purpose cluster explosives, and armor piercing bombs, all standard pattern and manufactured under contract by one of the many Kommersant weapons conglomerates.
The color scheme of the depicted Rapier II is typical of an airframe deployed in the northern hemisphere campaigns of the 1st Colonial Aero Corps, with the black-yellow-black stripes on rear fuselage, wingtip, and vertical stabilizer particular to those airframes participating in active combat operations. The blue and white engine cowling embellishment is indicative of a flight leader's airframe. The aviatrix's personal flight emblem is painted ahead of mission markings and aerial victory score. Each bomb case silhouette represents a successful strike mission, while each star marks an aerial victory scored against a tethered gun-kite or observation/signalling balloon. Aerial victories are increasingly uncommon as the Djong-Kok pirate clans and Red war fleets withdraw vulnerable aerial platforms from frontline service, making each star a highly prized trophy for the veteran combat pilots of the Three Wings. Personal and tribal airframe decorations were once ornate and highly florid affairs that decorated every exposed external surface, but in the century since the annexation of the Three Wings to the Kommersant, tribal squadron markings have been discouraged entirely and personal emblems reduced in size in order to improve the visibility of operational unit markings. The roundel painted on the rear fuselage of the airframe is unique to the 1st Colonial Air Corps and derived from the ancient emblem of the Interstellar Commerce Authority's North American Aerospace Force, symbolically acknowledging both the historical ties and modern day loyalty of the Three Wings to the ICA successor state embodied by the Kommersant.
Excerpt from “Another Leap For Mankind”, written by Dean E Fischer, published by TIME magazine in their July 4, 1976 edition (technically published on July 6, to allow for more in-depth coverage of the Ares landing):
Five years ago, former President [Robert F] Kennedy announced that the United States would go to Mars in time for America’s bicentennial. Republicans condemned the Ares Program as a distraction from the fall of Saigon the year before, and many a naysayer refused to believe in NASA’s ability to send humans that far out into space. However, as of this morning, the folly of such doubt has been memorialized by the fruits of the Ares Program’s labor.
Six men aboard the Ares 1 spacecraft have traveled 33.9 million miles from home, to the mysterious Red Planet. Their names are Robert F Overmayer, Brian O’Leary, Story Musgrave and Apollo 11 veterans Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. However, the name on everybody’s lips is one Robert H Lawrence, Jr. Pictured on the cover of this issue, he is the first human being to set foot on Mars, and NASA’s first black astronaut. Sixteen hours ago at the time of writing this, Captain Lawrence greeted Mars’ Tharsis Rise, in the foothills of the tallest mountain in the solar system, the mighty Olympus Mons. A triumphant “touchdown!”, was followed by the manifesto “America comes in peace, on behalf of all mankind”, as the Stars and Stripes were planted in the Martian soil. According to some reports, the astronauts played a 1969 recording of Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of the Star Spangled Banner as the flag was raised, though this has yet to be confirmed.
According to official NASA statements, the Ares 1 expedition will remain on the surface of Mars for one year, and in that time they will explore the Tharsis Rise, conduct various experiments, and establish the foundations of what the [John] Glenn administration is calling “Tesla, USA”, a permanent Mars colony designed by eccentric architecture virtuoso, Buckminster Fuller. After a year, the Ares 1 astronauts will have the option to leave when the much larger Ares 2 craft arrives sometime in the Summer of 1977, with a complement of 20 personnel. These 20 individuals will be the first citizens of Tesla, who have made the bold decision to live on Mars for the rest of their lives. The long term plans for Tesla will see the expansion of the foundation laid down by Ares 1 over the next decade or more, and reportedly, the colony will aim for self-sufficiency from the very beginning, as dioramas on display in Houston last year showed off the almost Romanesque use of local Martian bricks alongside slick white domes and greenhouses made of titanium and lunar glass.
While the world claps, cheers and celebrates the achievements of the Ares 1 crew, however, the Space Race waits for no man. Rumors are already circulating that the success of Ares 1 may embolden the Soviet Union to re-evaluate the cancellation of the Niobe Program last year. The proposed manned expedition to Venus, on paper, will involve launching a spacecraft from their Garmoniya base on Neith, air-braking and inflating massive blimps with room-temperature oxygen as they enter the Venusian atmosphere, thereby buoying the communist lander in the more forgiving upper atmosphere of the Yellow Planet, and sparing the cosmonauts the horrors of the Hellish surface below. First woman in space and first human on Neith, Valentina Tereshkova, has been the most vocal advocate for Niobe. By contrast, many are skeptical of the feasibility of this plan, though these same people also doubted Ares 1.
However, just as 1776 shall forever belong to American history, so too shall 1976. Seven years ago, we went to the moon. Now the conquest of Mars has begun. Twelve years ago, segregation against black Americans was legislated away. Today, a black man has placed his nation’s flag on a planet he is the very first human to set foot on. Five years ago, former President Kennedy invoked the words of his slain brother when he said America would reach Mars by 1976 “not because it is easy, but because it is hard”. And that promise has been fulfilled today. As millions of Americans celebrate the birth of their nation, they and millions more people around the world now celebrate the beginning of a new era of human history, and the first step on a whole new path of human exploration, which the United States of America has now made possible for all of humanity.
[For those wondering, yes, that is a lunar lander in the picture. I stole the image from the 1978 OJ Simpson movie, Capricorn One, which is about a fake Mars landing. I picked it because, ironically, it looked the most realistic and period-accurate, and wasn't CGI. Scientific accuracy was admittedly of secondary concern. The Ares 1 lander would most definitely have been a much bigger craft - probably more in the vein of Mars Direct]
Because I don't want to look through 193 pages of content, does anyone know if this b-52g is a custom art piece? I love the tailfin!
Did the survey also reveal that the ship was designed in a manner that it could be operated by a single person, logic be damned ?
I see what you did in this mysterious backstory, you sly dog, you.
Way to weld the two universes in an interesting way...Rather "80s futurism" look.
It would feel at home in a more grounded version of BattleTech.That, and more aerodynamic.
Nice altenate TIME cover, though ! And yes, I recognise that shot from the film (which I've last seen ages ago).Did the survey also reveal that the ship was designed in a manner that it could be operated by a single person, logic be damned ?
I see what you did in this mysterious backstory, you sly dog, you.
Well no, because as I said, what they found was the bare spaceframe. They had to do the initial survey in space suits because it was literally nothing more than the hull and a few old warp coils.
As for welding the universes: Given that one of the classic episodes of the franchise involves interdimensional travel, I could see there being some sort of crossover. IIRC there even was a comic that crossed Kelvin and classic TLs, though I may mis-remember that.
Oh, I see.
On a sidenote, I have the same antipathy towards the Vengeance as I have towards the Scimitar. Both are overdone, silly, "Mary Sue" ship designs from bad movies. (Nemesis, as bad as it is, even had a few better ship designs than the Scimitar, so doubly damning.)
Well, the Countdown one showed both Prime and Kelvin universes, so maybe that ?