Star Corvette

Developed around 2300, the Star Corvette is Risa's first starship capable of reaching neighboring star systems in a reasonable length of time.

Like all Risan artifacts, the Star Corvette is built with comfort in mind. The three dorsal escape pods - one in the aft engineering section, and two in the forward habitation area - each contain an atmospheric recycler, water reprocessor, and high-capacity food store that keep conditions aboardship far closer to homelike than those of ships built by the Risans' technological peers, and allow missions of several months to be carried out with minimal supply rationing. The crew quarters located throughout the middle and lower parts of the forward hull are a network of bedchambers, recreation rooms, and observation ports that create an atmosphere more akin to a single shared house than a set of cabins. Located above this comfortable labyrinth are the large chemistry, biology, and astrophysics labs, the sickbay, and in the raised forecastle the ship's command center. Above and behind the bridge is a transparent-hulled observation blister, where crew members and guests alike can sit back and watch the stars fly past all around them.

Branching off of the midship laboratories are the four large sensor domes arranged in two vertical strips. Each of these domes packs radiant, thermal, and subspace sensors and communicators into a surprisingly efficient package, with a pair of technicians seated in each to juggle the dizzying array of incoming and outgoing signals. Beneath and below them, sheltered by two small pylons that run along the ship's underside, are the cargo and shuttle bays designed for retrieving objects of interest via the corvette's pair of two-man shuttlecrafts. The cargo bay is accessible via lift directly from the lab and sickbay area, for fast transportation of specimens and injured crewmen from the shuttles.

The posterior third of the corvette is a marvel of engineering to some sensibilities, and a travesty of overcompaction and risky antimatter placement to others. The engineering section extends outward to the part and starboard like a pair of stubby wings, each bearing an outward-facing defensive weapons port and an aft-facing maneuvering thruster. The twin laser guns were positioned to protect the corvette from sudden threats from the flanks, and to discourage pursuit. The corvette's warp array - disproportionately large and inefficient compared to most species' designs, to accommodate an internal Line of Sight network between the many ribbonous field emitters - stretches out behind the engineering decks and rises high above the hull like a raised tail. The deflector dish is built directly into the front of the warp section's base, and the main impulse engine is located at the bottom of the engineering section on the overhang before the warp engines. Because of their compactness, the warp engines, impulse engines, shields, and weapons can all siphon their heated plasma from the warp core through just a few meters of conduit, maximizing the space, safety, and conditions of the entire foreward habitation and ops sections; only the sensors require EPS conduits to extend forward from the engineering section, as all other habitation and lab systems can be powered by mere electrical wiring. The downside, of course, is that damage to the engineering section is likely to rupture multiple densely-packed EPS conduits, some of them dangerously close to the core. It is largely because of this that the third escape pod, positioned directly above this precarious area of the ship, exists, when the anterior pair are already sufficient to accommodate all one hundred crew members.

The star-corvette has undergone a number of changes since the Risans' first contact with intelligent alien life in the form of the Federation. First, the laser cannons positioned on the engineering arms have been replaced by much more energy efficient Starfleet phasers, as the stunned Risans were made to realize that their current weapons wouldn't so much as inconvenience an alien warship. Second, An extra EPS conduit was laid down the middle of the ship to power a small transporter pad jerry-rigged into the cargo bay. Finally, modern SIF projectors and emergency one-use super coolers were added to the engineering section, to somewhat minimize the risks incurred by EPS ruptures. Though somewhat disgruntled by the critique their vessels drew from the greater galaxy, the Risan engineers were also relieved that they could downsize the biology labs and specialized guest quarters; it turns out that most aliens are far less "alien" than the Risans anticipated.

The Heavy Corvette was derived from this design.

A major refit program was implemented beginning in 2320, improving scientific and diplomatic capabilities as well as the Star Corvette's operational range and speed.