Battle With The USS Star Empire

The USS Defiant was initially designed by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine art illustrator Jim Martin with contributions from visual effects supervisor Gary Hutzel and modelmaker Tony Meininger. The Defiant's addition to DS9 was intended to solve the problem of cramped runabout sets according to statements by Robert-Hewitt Wolfe. Original designs called for a "beefed-up" runabout-type ship, but this gave way to a full-fledged starship design, initially called Valiant. This name was dropped out of fear that it would conflict with Star Trek: Voyager and its titular starship, also beginning with a "V". For a brief time it was considered to retain Valiant as the name of the class, but dialog in "The Search" and the ship's dedication plaque firmly establish the Defiant as the pathfinder. The USS Lexington NX-85453, under the command of Good Vader, warped to the Altair star system, where she found the USS Star Empire waiting for her. The USS Star Empire had been hijacked by the evil Nani Pelekai and her followers. Good Vader called for a Red Alert, with shields up. The USS Star Empire attacked the USS Lexington. But the Lexington was ready. As the Lexington battled the Star Empire, the Federation Third Fleet arrived. The Federation Third Fleet was comprised of the USS Columbia, the USS Intrepid, the USS Farragut, the USS Triad, the USS Independence, the USS Regulus, the USS Valley Forge, the USS Mount Rainer, the USS Tau Pau, the USS Victory, the USS Ramilles, and the USS Viceroy. The Lexington and the Federation Third Fleet battled the Star Empire. The Lexington fired a special torpedo which knocked out the Star Empire's shields. Then, the Star Empire was destroyed by multiple quantum torpedo hits. Nani Pelekai and her evil followers were all killed. Escorted by the Federation Third Fleet, the USS Lexington then went to Starbase 13 for repairs.