Official Releases: Task Force 72
David
Member
The purpose of this thread is to gather all of the official releases from Task Force 72 staff together in one place, so that members can find them easily. These releases will generally consist of a short piece of fiction, along with several bullet points to help you incorporate this information into your own stories. There's no obligation to use this information in your own story, but you can think about it as a helpful bank of prompts you can draw from, if your goal is to work together towards helping Task Force 72 tell its larger story, or if you just want some inspiration on how to best enact the Task Force's theme.
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Week of 9 May 2021: “Butterfly Effect”
[USS K’Ehleyr - NCC-80715]
[Flag Conference Room]
It had been less than a week since Rear Admiral Belvedere’s triumphant arrival to Starbase 72 before he was forced to head back out into space on the K’Ehleyr, its battle scars from the Archanis Campaign just patched. Diplomacy had been one of the tools that had ended the large-scale fighting in the region. Still, his unit’s work was not yet done, given that the diplomatic repercussions both internal and external to the Federation were still rippling across the quadrant. Threat powers and member worlds alike questioned the stability of the Khitomer Accords--the alliance between the Federation and the Klingons. Colonies in nearly every sector were lobbying Starfleet for more protection as fears of the D’Ghor striking from the shadows permeated every bedtime story and tavern from Sol to the Cygnus Reach.
The flagship itself was at high warp towards the Former Demilitarized Zone on a show-the-flag tour to reassure colonists that the crisis with the D’Ghor in no way foreshadowed the True Way ‘situation’ becoming enflamed. Dozens of other Task Force 72 ships were being dispatched across the galaxy on similar missions to reassure allies, enemies, and protectorates alike that what had happened on the Klingon border was an isolated incident.
The admiral himself would have preferred to stay aboard Starbase 72, but putting himself out in the field was a valuable tool to show the other side of any negotiating table how serious he was. So rather than staying in the cushy digs of his starbase, Belvedere was in the conference room used both for fleet briefings and ambassadorial salons. The task force’s captains had gathered around him via hologram.
“Thank you all for joining me virtually. I’ve read your dossiers, so for now, we’ll have to dispense with introductions and cut straight to the chase with the material I am about to present to you. You all have your own individual assignments, but everyone must understand the larger implications of our current diplomatic situation to avoid pulling at the wrong strings of this tapestry and putting even more holes in it,” Belvedere started. He glanced over at his aid, who brought up a large-scale star map over the table.
The Alpha and Beta quadrants had many flashing blue, red, and yellow points, which indicated negotiations with various constituents, while the Gamma and Delta Quadrant had significantly fewer points. It showed how widespread forecasted fallout from a regional crisis could be for Federation diplomacy due to the butterfly effect of minor trade relationships being impacted by shipping delays, causing defensive agreements to falter, etc.
“The situation in the Alpha and Beta quadrants is the most pressing: there have been real disruptions to trade agreements with minor worlds along the borders of the Archanis sector and its neighboring sectors. Several units have already been dispatched to oversee modifications to those agreements to placate our allies and to ensure that the colonies impacted by the D’Ghor attacks will be appropriately tended to,” Belvedere explained, nodding to several captains who would be taking that on. “We’re also overseeing the repatriation of some Orions who sought asylum during the conflict but are now being provided with a new home in Klingon space.”
“As far as other regions go, our traditional adversaries like the Breen and Romulans must continue to see us as being able to defend our borders, and so some of you will be using your ships as a reminder of that strength. More mercurial regional powers like the Ferengi will be handled in more… mercantile ways,” the admiral continued.
“The situation in the Gamma Quadrant is slightly more complex: it’s far enough away from Archanis that we have not yet experienced specific supply or diplomatic pressures there, but we need to shore up our trade contacts in preparation for any concessions we will need to make to our allies who suffered during the campaign on this side of the wormhole.”
“Captains lucky enough to be assigned to the Delta Quadrant should expect similar mission parameters: the more contacts we have, the better we can weather crises like Archanis, so you will be making sure Starbase 38 stays busy with traders and diplomats flowing through to shore up our supply chains and diplomatic cachet.”
The captains looked at each other, sharing an expression of ‘Are we done?’
“Let’s dig into the specifics, shall we?” Belvedere asked, before pulling up stacks and stacks of pie charts, graphs, and polling data to project next to the map.
Implications
As the holographic commlink closed, Micah Mendoza sat back closing his eyes and resting his head wearily on the headrest of the comfortable desk chair in his ready room. Thoughts racing through his head, circling both around the missions assigned and the dubious circumstances surrounding his appointed role as second-in-command of a task Force. A role he never imagined he might ever gain, given his long career in the incredibly important but not nearly as glamorous ‘second contact’ division of the Starfleet Diplomatic Corps. Not even counting the obvious derision that his general portliness and slothly manner caused him to be held in, which was signaled by his scorned but never completely avoided nick-name of ‘Doze-off’, by faster-rising peers and other diplomatic corps stars.
If that wasn’t enough, Pathfinder was assigned to move out to some outpost even he’d never heard of, to ‘show the flag’, provide needed personnel to local colonies, and challenge any privateering that might have popped up while Starfleet’s back was turned. It was no secret that Micah enjoyed the conveniences provided by staying at the regional starbases or even on-world. Reliable and long hot water showers and being able to avoid the somewhat disconcerting feeling the inertial dampeners had always given him at warp were prized experiences.
It was more than that, though. Pathfinder had recently been refit, receiving its command being the first odd experience of late for Mendoza, but it was firmly a ‘behind the lines’ sort of ship. Now, no admiral worth their salt would send a Nova-class ship into a situation where combat is much more than a remote possibility, but that there was a remote possibility that he’d be waltzing into a precarious situation where words may not be enough with a Nova-class starship… was a very uncomfortable sensation. Not least because most of Micah’s career has passed by running his mouth rather than captaining a starship.
Pulling away from his thoughts, Mendoza stood up and took his PADD with the deployment information and walked onto the bridge.
“Captain on the bridge!” his young yeoman called as soon as Micah passed the short distance from his ready room across the corridor to the bridge.
With a wide grin at the verbal acknowledgment of a childhood fantasy having come to life, Micah replied, “At ease Mr. Price.”
Stepping down into the walkway and towards the command chair, Micah walked with his PADD outstretched as his Vulcan first officer rose and offered an inquiring eyebrow. “Orders from the top. We need to swing by Starbase 72 to pick up a team and some supplies, but then we move on to the edge of Federation space.” Taking his seat at the command chair while the Commander was reading the information provided, he continued, “I have also been appointed Admiral Belvedere’s deputy.” A slight tensing of the skin around the eyes of his first officer akin to an audible shout from an average human officer and perhaps a death threat from an Andorian or Klingon officer was the only reaction Micah received from that last little bit of information.
“How long do we have, Captain?” was the commander’s only spoken response.
“About a week to be resupplied, manned, and formally underway,” finished the Captain, turning to address flight control. “Lay in a course for Starbase 72, warp 5.”
“Aye, sir,” responded the flight control officer.
As the uncomfortable sensation of the inertial dampeners reacting to the ship moving the warp washed over Mendoza, he watched his first officer make his way to the science station to begin preparing all needed staff for their next mission. Sitting back and trying not to be sick, as he always felt during the initial transition into warp, Micah Mendoza watched the stars begin to pass by on the viewing screen as Pathfinder began its journey to Starbase 72.
Implications and Story Ideas
Pathfinder is my personal avatar ship, and its use isn’t to draw it into the main story but to show you how you may use your own avatar ships in the Task Force and Fleet story. I will try to do this often so that it will soon become easy to see yourself acting out the tendrils of the wider Task Force plot.
Just as Pathfinder is going to provide humanitarian assistance in transporting personnel and resources while also providing a buffer to privateering, so can you have action scenes even with a non-traditional starship or runabout. Being realistic and canon-compliant in your mission choice doesn’t mean it can’t be fun or exciting.
Don’t forget member canon versus fleet canon. You can create your own out of the way outpost or small colony to support. Just don’t go creating things that might impact the entire political strategy of the Federation versus a major power without talking to the Lore Office.