After Coppelius

‘Mercifully, General Oh saw sense, or at least that her aspirations were thwarted with the destruction of the Coppelius Beacon, and ordered the withdrawal of Romulan forces.’ Admiral Beckett’s gaze swept across the faces of the other officers gathered at the round briefing table in the heart of Starbase Bravo. The six were the highest authorities of the 4th Fleet, but it was rare for them all to gather at such short notice in one of the most secure meeting rooms in the sector to be briefed by the fleet’s Director of Intelligence personally, with no aides present. Beckett’s taste for theatrics had bowed to the restricted nature of the meeting, the circular briefing room’s lights kept low, illumination blooming from the flow of information on his display screens to stream across concerned, serious faces.

‘The revelation of Oh’s identity has been classified, for now,’ Beckett pressed on. ‘It’s impossible to deny the confrontation between Free State and Federation forces, but news that the Director of Starfleet Security was a Tal Shiar infiltrator should be handled… delicately.’ Despite his infamous arrogance, he sounded faintly relieved this was not his needle to thread.

Admiral Seagraves did not seem to share his apprehension, chin tilting up as she fixed Beckett with a stare. ‘What is the status of Coppelius itself?’

‘Having successfully interceded against Free State hostility, Captain Riker withdrew Starfleet forces,’ Beckett explained. ‘He established a purely diplomatic presence, namely Admiral Picard. It seems to be paying dividends as lines of communication reopen with the synths.’ He cleared his throat, then amended, ‘With the people of Coppelius.’

But any attention on Beckett’s discomfort faded as Fleet Admiral Ramar sat forward, and all eyes fell on him. ‘There was an emergency meeting of the Federation Council on the Tal Shiar involvement in the attack on Mars. I anticipate further inquiries, but in light of this news, the so-called synth ban has been lifted.’

‘I don’t expect immediate changes across the Federation from this,’ Beckett said hastily. ‘Reports suggest the synths of Coppelius retain an isolationist streak -’

‘Understandably.’

‘And the facilities to create such synthetic lifeforms are vastly reduced. This will be a slow process.’ Beckett shrugged.

‘But one with massive implications,’ said Ramar. ‘Not only for synthetic life, but for medical research, technological development, interstellar relations…’

Beckett’s gaze flickered. ‘Yes,’ he said, deliberately neutral. ‘It’s all very promising. And exciting.’ He turned to his display, and thumbed a control to change the image from the vicinity of Coppelius to a starchart of the Federation border with the Romulan Free State. ‘On wider matters, the Free State claims their deployment occurred in ignorance of Coppelius’s request for Federation aid, and they’re asserting they left peacefully once corrected. It’s unclear if they simply want to preserve face, or if the incident is a sign of future readiness to deploy in force. The 2nd Fleet will be assessing border defences, while negotiations have reopened with the Romulan Republic on arrangements to help them better protect themselves from Free State aggression…’

The Story Advances

Having given you all Klingons and supernovas and a whole dang wiki of new Bravo Fleet canon, this latest story development from the Lore Office is humble, but significant: confirmation that, as our timeline marches inexorably through 2399, the full events of Picard Season 1 have passed us by. As per the fiction snippet above, this doesn’t change a lot! Fleets of Starfleet and the Romulan Free State had a confrontation at the distant world of Coppelius that ended without a shot fired, though it is the judgement of the Lore Office that, for now, the news of a Tal Shiar infiltrator in the highest levels of Starfleet is not yet public knowledge. More pressing is the news that, so far as the Federation is concerned, the Attack on Mars of 2385 was orchestrated by the Tal Shiar, and thus the 14-year ban on synthetic life and its research has been lifted.

Expect more story snippets and state-of-the-galaxy updates in the coming weeks and months from the Lore Office, considering we have a looming Fleet Action and, who knows, glimmers of Star Trek canon as we… well, trundle towards Picard Season 2.

But wait! There’s more! I didn’t just call you here for my fanfic. Let’s talk about you!

Avatar Stations

For over a year now, Bravo Fleet has offered every member a chance at having their own starship for use in stories, competitions, or just because you gosh-darn feel like it. That ship represents not just a symbol of your hard work on your dossier, but IC is the starship assigned to your Task Force. After some consideration and planning, the Lore Office is pleased to announce we are now also offering Avatar Stations!

Our updated Canon Policy explains it in full, but here’s the short: from the rank of Commander, members can request to own a starbase instead of a starship. Choices are restricted by rank, with new options opening up at the ranks of Captain and Fleet Captain, including later options for attached starships.

The lore end of this is still a work in progress. All four Commander-level starbase classes have at least introductory articles on the wiki, and you’ll see this expand in the coming weeks. The Lore Office is also hard at work developing wiki articles to accompany the starbases we will be adding to the registry, as every starbase will have its location and basic setting details established in Fleet Canon. Starbase commanders will of course have the freedom to flesh out the details and their own adventures, should they wish to write accompanying fiction, but that is one of the pay-offs for having your own station: Fleet Canon dictates your starting point more than with a starship.

A handful of introductory articles are in place on the wiki. These will be fleshed out and added to soon, but if you’re keenly interested in these – or other potential upcoming starbases – do contact the Lore Office. While we’re keen to turn this work in progress into a range of options and lore for potential starbase commanders, please bear with us as this project develops.