Not sure if this is the best place for this post, but since it deals with Steve L's work, why not... Apologies if it's been noted elsewhere before...
I finally got around to reading The Battle of Betazed, by Charlotte Douglas and Susan Kearney, and I came across a passage describing the Saber-class Light Cruiser, three of which cover the Enterprise-E's flanks during a raid against the Cardassian station orbiting Betazed. The wording seemed familair, so I read through the 'Saber' entries in Spacedock and The Price of Freedom and...bingo!
On page 126 of The Battle of Betazed (emphasis mine to highlight key phrases):
Now, compare the wording from the Price of Freedom writeup of the Saber-class, on page 141 (again, emphasis mine):"The Saber-class vessels usually served as fast perimeter-defense ships in border regions. Presently guarding the Enterprise's flanks, the light cruisers had already proven their worth in extensive action on several fronts. Their captains and crews would take full advantage of their agile vessels' maneuverability, which had repeatedly allowed them to hold their own against much larger opponents in hostile frontier regions.
The compact ships, with their crews of forty, saved weight and space through their internal nacelle configurations. The design feature made the vessels faster but also more vulnerable to full armor penetration and core breaches.."
Also note the authors' mention of a crew of forty for the Sabers, which matches the figure found in PoF and Spacedock, and the designation as a Light Cruiser (which I beleive first appeared in these LUG support products, not in anything canon or 'official'..."The fourth vessel to enter service as a result of the Perimeter Defence Directive, the Saber-class Light Cruiser has already seen extensive action on several frontiers ... the first Saber-class vessels were commissioned in late 2370 as fast perimeter-defense ships.
Initially assigned to hostile frontier regions, these agile vessels quickly proved that they could hold their own against much larger opponents. The internal nacelle configuration, suggested by Cardassian embedded-wapr technology and employed by Starfleet R&D during the Defiant Project, makes the ship a compact target and saves additional wight and space that would otherwise be required for nacelle field conduits and containment structures. Of course, this design also makes these vessels more vulnerable to core breaches when full armor penetration occurs."
So it seems that LUGTrek source material is, to some extwnt, now being adopted by ST authors in their "research". Kind validates all the hard work Steve's done on ST ship design, don't it? If onyl they'd acknowledged the source of said material rather than passing it off on their own words and creation...
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But hey, if they're getting some use out of the books, I'm happy.
