Bravo Fleet
“Lighthouse”
The USS Discovery’s dorsal plane stretched like the wings of a Jerett falcon as it passed into sector Typhon 252. Matter and antimatter steadily annihilated each other in the ship’s reactor core, the intermix chamber increasing the particulate flow diameter by barely a micron as the ship altered course. That same warp engine had bent the very fabric of space for close to a month while the Discovery rounded the trailing edge of Romulan space. Now, having stopped only to investigate the movements of a small party of Fenris Rangers, they had reached their journey’s end.
“Captain Rider,” Mek stepped onto the bridge, calling his colleague’s name before completing the short arc from the turbolift to within view of the command chair, “I hear we’ve nearly reached the station.”
Rider, half of his attention still directed towards the viewer, caught sight of Mek in the corner of one pastel blue eye, “We’re still about an hour out. Not long now,” the human’s rugged face creased into a smile, “we’ve got some odd spectral phase pulse readings coming from around the Typhon Expanse, oh and an intelligence report came through on priority two. Internal discontent on some of the old Romulan core worlds.”
Just what they need,” Mek pursed his lips, “never thought that it was going to become my problem again so quickly. I was just starting to get used to the Klingon way of doing things.”
A quiet laugh escaped Rider, “Ah, station life… The problems come to you.”
New Task Force Staff
Welcome to the Task Force 17 April report! I’m Wooz, and it’s great to be here in this fair corner of the Beta Quadrant. There is a lot to talk about regarding what’s been going on, and what’s coming up. Before we get into the nitty gritty of all that though, a word from Brendan who is also new to the TF17 staff:
Joining Task Force 17 as the new TFXO, I’m Brendan aka Captain Andreus Kohl. I joined Bravo Fleet a little over three months ago in Task Force 72, getting involved in RPGs and writing the adventures of the USS Dvorak. I’m continually amazed by the camaraderie, creativity, and coordination of moving parts in this club, and I feel so lucky to be part of it. As TFXO of the fourth fleet deep space operations, I welcome any questions, philosophical debate, your favourite recipes, and invites to write on Starbase Bravo. Let’s get deep.
Fiction Updates
Some huge changes afoot for the 17! The Task Force has finally found a fixed abode at Deep Space 17, coreward of the Romulan Free State and not too far from spooky goings on in and around the Typhon Frontier. Check out the updates on the Task Force 17 wiki page, too! Gigantic thanks are in order for LadyBlue who has hammered out most of this lore, and to Brendan for helping conceptualise our new home.
It’s been great to see all the activity bubbling up in Task Force 17 over the last few weeks. Here’s a few snippets of what’s been going on:
- Lieutenant Junior Grade Erik Larsen, enroute to rendezvous with the USS Aquarius for reassignment, sits down for dinner in the USS Sheridan’s mess hall. The Bajoran Assistant Chief of Operations soon finds himself face to face with an old flame, Commander Ghant Xerix. As they catch up, Larsen tells of his prior insubordination court martial and his subsequent demotion. Back in Xerix’s quarters, the Betazoid learns of his own reassignment to the Aquarius. While initially disappointed, Xerix quickly sees the opportunity to reconnect with his long lost imzadi.
- The USS Cygnus races at high warp towards a crystalline entity that has stripped all organic matter from the homeworld of The Commonwealth; a species known to the Federation with whom Captain Bane Plase has been ordered to make first contact. Senior staff engage in heated debate over studying the entity versus destroying it. Upon detecting the entity, the Cygnus proceeds on an intercept course at yellow alert.
- The USS Brontes travels to one of Melstoxx V’s moons to provide medical supplies for a mining facility. Two of the facility’s personnel have suffered injuries due to a ruptured gas pocket. On board, Cadet Thyn Th’ezekroq is assigned to shadow Bajoran Security Officer Bepon Shede. Captain Kohlir reveals that one of the injured personnel is known to have been sympathetic to the Cardassian occupation of Bajor over thirty years prior. Thyn is privately asked to “keep an eye” on Bepon, who subsequently flies into a rage, injuring Captain Kohlir. Thyn restrains Bepon, who is promptly detained. Captain Kohlir makes a full recovery in sickbay, and the Brontes arrives at Melstoxx V.
- On Starbase Bravo, Cadet Lyra Parse and Lieutenant (J.G.) Sonja Thompson discuss the nature of working in the security division.
- Captain Taes of the USS Dvorak awakes on the floor of a cavern on Camus II; a planet that has recently been the target of an attack by Cardassian faction, The True Way. She calls out to the rest of the away team, only to find that her consciousness has been swapped with that of Ensign Melchor Dolan. The rest of the team have been similarly affected, and soon the crew must get to work on figuring out how to reactivate a millennia-old life-entity-transfer device that they suspect has caused the situation. The crew are understandably shaken, none more so than Dr. Pimpernellifolia, who is fascinated by her new humanoid appearance. Lieutenant Yuulik, occupying Lieutenant Rayco’s body, is less than cooperative when Commander Jakkelb suggests she might be able to repair the ancient device.
- The USS Discovery reaches Task Force 17’s new home on the coreward edge of Federation space, known to many as the Typhon Frontier.
Competition Results
Earlier in April our man of the hour, Brendan, launched a very unique “Yearbook Superlatives Quiz”, designed to inject some extra pzazz into our writing with some words found far from the beaten path. The winning word sleuths were:
Task Force Recognition
It has been a steady month, and I couldn’t help but notice the same names popping up frequently as ribbons keep piling up. Our TFXO has been all over the Task Force lounge, engaging with members’ stories and keeping everyone encouraged as their writing goes public. Thank you for your efforts, Brendan!
@Prebuiltoast, as he is known on Discord, has also been throwing out stories left right and centre in an awesome display of literary tenaciousness. Since March 25th he has engaged in what can only be described as a speed-climb of the Bravo Fleet rank structure, moving from Cadet Freshman Grade to Lieutenant Junior grade in a mere 27 days. Superlative work!
Medals of Achievement
Promotion to Lieutenant Commander
Promotion to Lieutenant Junior Grade
Promotion to Cadet Senior Grade
Promotion to Cadet Junior Grade
Promotion to Cadet Sophomore Grade
Moving up to the next rank is not only fun, it’s a mark of the time and effort our members have put into making Bravo Fleet go, to use a Pakled turn of phrase. A big thanks to our recent promotees for being that engine!
It’s an exciting time (when isn’t it?) to be in TF17 and Bravo Fleet as a whole. We’ve got big things coming up at the end of May that are sure to rock some socks off. We are very much looking forward to seeing what’s in store, aren’t you?