Mackinaw Departs Drydock.

[xivim]

The U.S.S. Mackinaw was forced to enter Dry Dock at Space Dock Sol today, to repair major damage sustained in recent battles with the Borg. It is currently unknown how long it will take to repair all the affected systems, but it appears that Starfleet has decided to completely refit the mackinaw, almost stripping it down to the Keel-Plate.

The new Mackinaw is expected to be equipped with the Top of the line experimental weapons and defenses, as well as a never before seen Class of hull. It is odd that they are refitting the ship instead of constructing a new one from the Keel up.

Reports state that something to do with the Vanguard Mk II Frame used in the construction of the Mackinaw is too valuable to lose or deconstruct, hence the new Class Design is being built right into existing frame.

Due to the length of time that the Mackinaw will be out of commission, the crew has been transferred to another ship, for which everything, including the Name and Class have been classified. The ship will operate under the call-sign Mackinaw, but the temporary ship will NOT hold that name. No information has been released as to why this ship has been sitting in Dry Dock unused, and to its capabilities and armaments.

Keep a look out for the "Mackinaw" near you, they may be near by without you even knowing it.

[xivim]

Today at 1600 the Mackinaw officially left Dry dock. The second ship to sport the newer, modular hull layout of the Nomad Class, The Mackinaw departs Sol System for Testing and Shakedown cruise. Sporting the most advanced technology, weaponry, and defenses available at this time, Starfleet Research believes the Big Mack should not only be able to take a pounding but dish one out as well.

The most noticeable feature on Big Mack is the addition of heavy layers of Ablative, Parametallic, Tetraburnium, and Neutronium hull armor, giving the ship a much darker and ominous look. One new feature we noticed, located "north" of the Busard collectors, on the secondary hull, Starboard and Port Torpedo launchers. Targeting systems for Lateral Fire Control are currently not operational. Looking at the "Broadside Torpedoes" some may notice a complete lack of Forward Torpedo Launchers. The Broadsides actually fire the torpedoes away from the ship, and which point said torpedo changes direction to move towards the designated target.

Another addition is the inclusion of lateral Impulse Banks and Deflector Banks. Impulse Banks allow for short Omni-directional bursts of acceleration, and while right behind the Warp Pylons, they are able to affect the navigation of the ship in a much more efficient way then Thrusters ever could. The Deflector Banks assist the ship with technologies such as Dampening fields and Omni-directional Deflector Fields.

The Mackinaw marks some of the newest designs to come out of Starfleet Research, and it should prove interesting to see how she handles herself in combat.