This section is the Headquarters for TF72, and is an open playground for fiction that is:

• Set in and around the Cardassian-Federation border

• Written by or in consultation with TF staff to advance the Task Force plotline

• Written by members who are junior officers (those holding the ranks of Ensign, Lieutenant Junior Grade, or Lieutenant) about their primary characters’ adventures

Or some combination of the above!

Any member of the Task Force is welcome to start a thread if it falls into one of the above categories. This can be for their personal and exclusive use, or the open or invited participation of other members - if it’s the latter, please make that clear!

The main purpose of this section is to house and support the writing of junior officers about their primary character. This usually takes two broad forms:

• Stories about the history of your primary character, before they have become a ship commander

• Stories about these primary characters assigned to the Task Force HQ in 2399, as officers expected to soon become starship commanders and in the meantime given missions in the region

Once you reach the rank of Lieutenant Commander, you can request your own ship and write those stories in your ship’s thread.

Please make sure your thread follows the forum rules, and bear in mind the following for writing in this section:

• The Cardassian-Federation border has no plot you are required to adhere to. You are encouraged to come up with your own missions and storylines.

• These stories should be fairly self-contained, episodic adventures that do not massively change the canon of the region.

• You are free to write on your own, or collaborate with others. Reach out to members of your TF on Discord if you want a writing buddy!

• Junior officers’ stories can be set on Starbase 72, or about a lone officer deployed somewhere in the region, or with a team dispatched on a specific mission from SB72 by runabout

• You don’t need to worry about length; posts and stories can be as long or short as you want. We encourage good spelling and grammar so your writing can be easily enjoyed, but nobody will be enforcing this!

• If possible, keep your own writing in one thread. But if a story is completely separate, don’t be afraid to start another.

• Make sure to keep a tally of your wordcount and record it in BFMS!

If you have any questions, including how to get started, please ask your Task Force senior staff and they will be happy to help out.

Starbase 72 is the headquarters for Task Force 72. Situated in the Minos Korva system, it is a Spacedock-class starbase near the Cardassian-Federation border in the Alpha Quadrant. Its proximity to the former Cardassian Demilitarized Zone places it as a key launching point for operations supporting the disparate populations on both sides of the border, as the Cardassian Union and the Federation work together to support redevelopment and protection of the region.

Starships of Task Force 72 berth here by default for refit and resupply, or training and administrative duties within the Task Force. The starbase also dispatches numerous operations throughout the region to be conducted by its runabout fleet.

If you’re a junior officer wanting to write in the Task Force 72 Headquarters, this is the place to start. Your primary character is likely assigned to Starbase 72 and an officer trusted to lead whole missions and operations away from the station as befits their status and skill set. They will easily be granted a team, a runabout, an assignment, and be dispatched to the Cardassian-Federation border to maintain TF72’s remit of diplomatic engagement and support.

These missions might be:

• A joint operation with a Cardassian Union military ship, patrolling the border to demonstrate cooperation with Starfleet.

• Pursuing True Way activists who have recently struck against a Cardassian border world.

• Offering support to a Federation border colony that was historically affiliated with the Maquis and is thus suspicious of government help.

• Negotiating the hand-over of Cardassian criminals who fled to Federation space.

• Arbitrating a mining and trade agreement between Cardassian and Federation corporations seeking to share resource development of a system in the former DMZ.