BRAD'S COMMENTS:  A design from 1995 that I originally created for game play with my long-time friend, Kris Long.  The scenario involved a squadron of brand new "prototype" Klingon ships under the command of a renegade general, unhappy with the Khitomer alliance and seeking to establish an independent fiefdom where the "true Klingon spirit" might survive.  This renegade and his fleet were supposed to have been brought to justice by a larger, but older, fleet of Klingon ships still loyal to the Empire.  Kris played the renegades.  I played the loyalists.  Kris wiped me out, if I remember.
     At the time I imagined the L-50 to be a hybrid between the two greatest design motifs of the Kirk Motion Picture era, combining elements from both the TOS-style D-7 and the ubiquitous 'bird of prey' that dominated so much of later Trek film footage.  The results are mixed, I think, at least aesthetically, while the ship itself is every bit as potent against other ships of the same era as the backstory below makes it out to be.  Like the P'vael class, the L-50 was recently salvaged from an inkjet printout, seeing as how I'd lost the earlier bitmap in a hard disk crash somewhere between 1995 and 1998.

FANSHIP DESIGN & STATS: Brad R. Torgersen, 1995
L-50 (Bastard) Class IX Frigate
Known Sphere Of Operation: Empire-wide.
Data Reliability: A; Federation-Klingon technology exchange.
Major Data Source: Grand Alliance Committee of Science and Engineering
Notes: Several years after the famed Camp Khitomer conference, which lead to the truce and subsequent alliance between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of planets, Klingon engineers, in association with Federation scientists, took it upon themselves to try and combine the best attributes of three different -yet equally successful and popular - vessels: The D-7, D-10, and D-32 class cruisers.  Also, it was hoped that the Klingon shipyards would be able to incorporate several safety and safeguarding technologies that had been parlayed from the Federation in return for data on modern Klingon cloaking device techniques.  In the end, the final ship was to be of Frigate size and tote a heavy armament load.  Unlike the three Klingon craft just mentioned, this new ship would be perhaps the first vessel in the inventory not designed to tackle high-tech Starfleet battle cruisers.  Instead, it was seen that the ship's main mission would be to blunt the hostile and cunning jabs of the Romulan Star Navy, which had been harassing the Klingons ever since Camp Khitomer. 
     Initial design of the ship took place under sub-contract to several major companies in the Empire, with cursory input from Starfleet Engineering Corps and the Vulcan Science Academy.  It took less than ten months for the final prints to be drawn, and then another six months to re-tool for the first run of ten ships which would serve as the shakedown guinea pigs. 
     Also different from previous classes was the fact that there would be three distinct models right from the start.  The craft charter called for the first model to be impressively armored and shielded, yet relatively undergunned, seeing as how all A model ships would be billeted to serve the Klingon Empire training schools.  Model B would have the same impressive protection, but would posses full weaponry and serve as the main ship of the line.  Model C would be up-gunned with the addition of longer-range torpedoes and the replacement of the centerline torpedo assembly with the KP-6; the most damaging Klingon torpedo in the fleet. This last model would be assigned to the command of Imperial Heroes, officers of distinguished service, ranking leaders on the high council, and other nobles in the Empire. 
     Shakedown cruises for the first run of ten ships were rough, as usual, punctuated with the mysterious explosion of the 8th ship just after going to warp speed in testing space near the Romulan border.  Klingon and Starfleet intelligence suggests that the ship accidentally collided with a cloaked Romulan ship which was spying on the new Klingon vessel's shakedown cruise, but this remains unconfirmed to this date. 
     Once the class was declared fully space worthy, production got underway at no less than seven different full-scale yards across the Empire, easily filling the Imperial Training Command's order for 64 A model ships by the end of the year.  From there, three more yards tooled up for the L-50, and by the end of the following year, there were more than 90 model B's and 27 Model C's roaming the space lanes.
     The title "Bastard" was given to the ship, not by the engineers, who debated over several names right up to - and past - the date of inception, but by the warriors who served on them and were amused by their peculiar design. Indeed, the L-50's dual-bulged back looked a lot like the "Bird-of-prey" design, while the command pod, neck and wings were of the classic D-7 line. The topper were the forward-pointed wing-tip mounted weapons bays, which lent themselves to the earlier D-10. Jokes began to circulate that the new L-50 was an illegitimate child of the older designs, and soon it began to go by the unofficial title of Cha'to'ka, which is Klingonaese for "Mongrel". 
The title did not become official until two years after the ship's induction into the fleet when, in a surprise maneuver, the Romulans launched several heavily-armed raiding lances into the Klingon Border, penetrating deeply and wreaking havoc on multiple Klingon star systems.  Immediately, Klingon and Starfleet ships began to rally to the defense, but it was the L-50 that truly distinguished itself. 
     Time after time, the "bastard's" surprising load of five torpedo tubes took Romulan commanders off guard, the end result being wrecked Romulan craft and very happy Klingon commanders and crews. In short order, the "Mongrel" of the fleet had become a thoroughbred, driving off the Romulan invasion force and re-establishing the Klingon peace. This remarkable service earned the ship it's official -though unglamorous title. 
     In the years following, several other encounters with Romulan, Gorn and Orion ships have all confirmed the L-50's powerful punch in a fire fight, and the High Council ordered that another ten facilities be either re-tooled or constructed for the purpose of getting yearly production of the L-50's up to 130 per year.
     Starfleet grew nervous of this new frigate as its numbers ballooned; and understandably so. One to one, L-50 could outfight just about any other Federation frigate or cruiser model of the period, save for the Excelsior-class and Constellation-class ships, both of which were of the same generation as the L-50.  However, the Federation Council and Federation President worked hard to calm Starfleet Command's reservations concerning the new ships.  Quoting the late Chancellor Gorkon, "If there is to be a brave new world, our generation is going to have the hardest time living in it", the Council assured Starfleet Command of the Klingon government's good faith and was convinced that L-50's would never be sent into battle against Federation citizens.
     This remained true for the better part of a century, right up until the rash decision by the now-deceased Chancellor Gowron to split with the Federation regarding Gowron's paranoia concerning the Cardassians, and his belief that they were being used as a staging ground for a Dominion takeover of the Alpha and Beta quadrants.  And even though the L-50 D and E models of the 24th century were aged and somewhat diminutive members of the 24th century Klingon fleet, no ship could be spared as Gowron hurled all his Klingon forces against nearly every Klingon border.  L-50's took part in numerous raids on the Federation, proving successful only against older Federation craft of a similar vintage, or against newer Federation designs when massed in strong numbers.
     When the Khitomer Accords were finally re-established, the L-50 kept on fighting, along with many of its older sisters.  By the time the Dominion War with both Alpha and Beta quadrants was over, the L-50's numbers were diminished to the point that all remaining models have been slated for scrapping, or sale to families in the Empire.  Several old warriors who once captained L-50's in an earlier era have expressed interest in obtaining the ship for personal use, while still others seek them for re-fitting to commercial purpose, or even as museum attractions.

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