D'Kora class

D'Kora class

The D'Kora-class Marauder was a type of advanced starship utilized by the Ferengi Alliance during the 24th century.

This class of vessel was, at times, referred to by several classifications, including both a warship and transport ship by the Federation, and as an attack vessel by the Ferengi themselves. (TNG: "Peak Performance", "Force of Nature")

Technical data

During the early 2360s, Starfleet had no specific data on the design of the vessel, and at the time of first contact possessed the general knowledge that Ferengi technology was estimated to generally be equal, but not identical to Federation technology. Upon first view of this class vessel in 2364, Jean-Luc Picard described it as a "very impressive design." (TNG: "The Last Outpost")

The D'kora-class was "almost as fast" as a Template:ShipClass Federation starship. (TNG: "Ménage à Troi") Overall, the class was shorter in length than a Galaxy-class. (TNG: "The Last Outpost")

Tactical systems

The D'kora-class Marauder was equipped with a variety of directed energy weapons, possessing placements for weapon ports at the "claws", positioned on the port and starboard sides, and a torpedo launcher located at the peak of the ship's primary hull. (TNG: "The Last Outpost", "Peak Performance", "Force of Nature") This class of vessel was also equipped with a forward missile launcher. (TNG: "The Price")

Firing phasers

Praks marauder.jpg

Firing photon torpedoes

Ferengi missile

Firing an electromagnetic pulse

In addition, the D'Kora-class was equipped with a form of energy weapon emitted from the aft of the ship, detectable by a marked power surge prior to discharge. The resulting electromagnetic pulse was capable of weakening the deflector shield power of a Galaxy-class starship, as well as the capability of depleting the fusion generator and batteries by as much as thirty percent in a single discharge. (TNG: "The Last Outpost")

The script described the weapon as a "crackling pulse attack", explaining the effects of this unnamed weapon-type as "an electric-wave arc [that] ripples out and back from the trailing sides. It is something like a spacebourne stingray." Aside from the script, the only other clues describing this weapon include a notation in the Star Trek Encyclopedia, which described it as a "powerful plasma energy burst," and the unpublished VOY Season 1 edition of the Star Trek: Voyager Technical Guide Version 1.0, stated a similar description, describing "a very powerful energy/wave weapon."

With extended "neck", revealing weapon ports.

In cases where a D'Kora's DaiMon was forced to surrender, the ship would extend its "neck", and open the ship's weapon ports, to expose the ship's sensitive areas. This posture was also sometimes be viewed as a preparation to attack. (TNG: "The Last Outpost")

The script described this process of the ship going into this posture as, "the snake head-like prow's pushing out from the ship body," and "the Ferengi ship now extends gun-like arms from either side of the prow." This posture was only shown in "The Last Outpost" during the Ferengi surrender, which according to Probert, "the Marauder's stretching neck was a locked-in script requirement, to reveal their ship's sensitive areas as their way of surrendering." [1][2]

Ships Commissioned

Named

• Krayton
• Kreechta

Unnamed

• Bok's Marauder
• Goss's Marauder
• Nunk's Marauder
• Prak's Marauder
• Tarr's Marauder

Appendices

Appearances

• TNG:
  • "The Last Outpost"
  • "The Battle"
  • "Peak Performance"
  • "The Price"
  • "Ménage à Troi"
  • "Force of Nature"
• VOY:
  • "Drone" (database image)
  • "Inside Man"

Background

Display graphic depicting both designations.

The term "D'Kora-class" was first associated with this Ferengi starship class in "Force of Nature", and again in display graphics appearing in the two above referenced Voyager episodes. With exception to Nog's reference to Template:ShipClass attack cruisers in "Little Green Men", the only reference to this design being referred to as a "Marauder" (outside of the Star Trek Encyclopedia) was in a display graphic appearing in "Inside Man" (shown right).

Model

The studio model for the Ferengi Marauder was originally designed by Andrew Probert and built by Greg Jein. It first appeared in "The Last Outpost", where is it referenced in the script as being "a strange horseshoe crab-like design, a bit smaller than the Enterprise."

Integrated shuttle

As in the cases of the AeroWing or the Calypso, both in concept and practice, an unseen element in the D'kora-class design was an integrated auxiliary craft designed to drop down from the bottom of the ship's neck. The outline for this shuttle, can be seen (shown right) as having a swept-forward wing, was all the further the design was taken. [3]

Apocrypha

The D'kora-class has made appearances in several video games including Star Trek: The Next Generation - Echoes from the Past, Star Trek: The Next Generation - Birth of the Federation, Star Trek: Armada, Star Trek: Armada II and Star Trek: Bridge Commander.

External link

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