 The Solar-class was first introduced in the aftermath of the Four Years War and the Axanar Rebellion. A small and exceptionally nimble vessel, it proved extremely popular with its crews inspite of its cramped crew quarters. Compared to its more modern successor, the Solar compared favourably in performance, being faster at both warp and sublight speeds. Its biggest weakness was its fragility - it didn't take much to take one of these vessels out of a fight. In addition, much of the original equipment rapidly became obsolete during the late 2260's and there was little room for expansion once the later refits are in place. Starfleet began phasing the vessels out of service around 2270, but some later models remained active as civilian rescue vessels until the turn of the century. Red Rover and its sister ship Blue Rover are a pair of late-model surplus Solar class cutters. Crewed by a dozen officers and crewmen, Red Rover (callsign Rover 1) is commanded by retired Andorian Commodore Samna Ch'Dalvi, who retired in protest after the court martial and demotion of James T. Kirk; and Blue Rover (Rover 2) is commanded by former LCdr Daniel Tanna, late of Starfleet Security. Together, they pack a one-two punch, combined with the Q-ship SS Kowalski which acts as a decoy "bait" target.   |
