The Akira-class starship is what you call a “fan favorite.” That’s because the ship isn’t really featured all that much throughout Star Trek. An appearance in First Contact, seen a few times in DS9 and Voyager… and that’s about it. It’s never been a hero ship. And yet, the Akira class is remarkably popular.

I chalk that up, mainly, to the fantastic overall design. If memory serves, this starship was designed by Alex Jaeger… the idea was to design a bunch of Federation vessels that could fight the Borg in First Contact but which would not bear *too* much resemblance to the brand new Enterprise-E. Didn’t want to confuse the audience.

And, so, the Akira class perseveres. The idea behind this painting is that the Klingons are invading some Starfleet territory–probably during the Federation-Klingon War of 2372-2373. With little warning, the few Starfleet ships assembled try to stall the Klingons long enough to evacuate the civilian population.