I need some opinions, here.

Nope, I'm not dead. Just been busy looking for work, finding work, and then actually working. Woo steady paychecks!

But anyway, I've had a plot bunny for a cross-over fanfiction rolling around in my head, and I've actually decided to start commiting bytes to files on it. It's going to be an STO-timeline Federation starship crossing into some point in the Mass Effect timeline. I'm kinda thinking ME3 or just prior, but I'm not 100% sure. But here's where I'm starting to think a bit.

Originally, I was going to rip my STO main character, Captain Johnathan MacReynolds and his Odyssey-class starship, the U.S.S. Kearsarge, and slap them in. But then, I kind of got to thinking. The Odyssey-class is huge, coming in with 2,500 crew and about a kilometer in length. Size-wise, we're talking about a peer to the Destiny Ascension, the flagship of the entire Citadel fleet and one said to be roughly four times the size of the largest Systems Alliance dreadnaughts. With all that space and crew, there's probably not a lot that they couldn't do, given time, resources, and energy to run industrial replicators.

And... I'm not entirely sure that that's an entirely good thing. A good chunk of the drama in a story like this can come from the fact that the extra-universal ship doesn't have sources of parts, munitions, and materiel from home and needs to adapt. Which would tend to indicate that a smaller, less-capable ship would be better from a story standpoint. But at the same time, I have plans (MUAHAHAHAHA mine is an evil laugh) that could threaten both a ship the size of the Kearsarge and negate the superior technology found on a Starfleet vessel when compared to those of a Citadel race.

So, here's my current thoughts on various classes, and I'd like to hear folks' opinions on the subject. Please leave a comment, and feel free to toss up ideas for a different class of ship if I don't mention it.

• Odyssey-class: I know the ship. It's easily recognized as a Star Trek ship, though perhaps not as easily as others for those that haven't done anything with Star Trek Online. Massive size needs major threats. Citadel races will probably find it easier to swallow as extra-dimensional, as there'd probably be no way the Systems Alliance could build something that size with that much new technology without someone finding out.
• Defiant-class: Complete opposite end of the size scale, and has the dramatic advantages (and disadvantages) of same. If equipped with cloaking device, pretty much Starfleet's version of Normandy, which would be kind of appropriate. Plus the Pimp Hand of the Emissary-class -- I mean, Defiant-class is just a damn awesome little ship. Recognizable from TV/movies.
• Galaxy-class: Little smaller than the Odyssey. That said, they have plenty of space to use for making parts and so on, so there's some of the drama-reducing elements there. Given that this is the class of the Enterprise-D, most folks likely to read the story will know it well.
• Intrepid-class: Same class as Voyager, so recognition will be high as well. Also, given Voyager's history, it'd be a bit easier to swallow that an Intrepid could survive on its own for extended periods. Something of a happy medium between a tiny escort ship like a Defiant and a huge cruiser like a Galaxy or Odyssey.
• Exeter-class: Sexiest original ship designed by Cryptic and put in STO to date, IMHO. (For those that don't play STO, think a Constitution-class general hull geometry given a 25th century makeover. www.startrekbeyond.com/uploads… ) 400 crew, 20-odd decks, and so on. Would be easy to imagine for those that haven't played STO, but I think can be written to give the air of a new starship. Like the Intrepid, a happy medium between the Defiant and a superheavy cruiser.