Back On Track

USS Discovery (NCC-82006)

 

“Commodore on the bridge.” announced Rider from the centre of the bridge as he rose from the centre chair, releasing it to his commanding officer. 

Taking several strides across the bridge from the turbolift, Bennet looked around the Discovery’s bridge to see his entire senior staff at their various positions. It had been two weeks or so since they had dealt with the Hunters of D’Ghor and secured the Haydorian system. The group of Starfleet ships that had remained had ensured the Archanis Array was fully operational and ensured there were no other hunters lurking around. In that time Bennet had been promoted to the rank of commodore. Admiral Beckett had performed the honour over subspace, stating that one of them needs to get out there and do some exploring. With his appointment in commanding the fleet that would establish further contact in the Delta Quadrant, the brass had felt he deserved to hold the rank of commodore. Bennet was now ordered to leave the Archanis sector to the other forces in the region. He would command not only the Discovery but the rest of the expeditionary force back to what they originally had been assembled for. 

Making his way to where his first officer was standing, Bennet looked at his old friend. “Status report Number One.” He requested. 

Rider held out a PADD, knowing that Bennet would ask that the moment he entered the bridge. “All systems report ready for our departure sir.” Rider answered as he followed the commodore, who sat in the centre chair. “The ships in the expeditionary force also report ready to get underway.”

“Excellent.” Bennet said as he pushed his top down at the same time taking his seat and skim reading the PADD that Rider had just handed him. “What about the Odyssey and other ships?”

“The Odyssey has already moved out and is planning to return to Earth. Captain McCallister reports that they need access to the San Francisco Shipyards to finish the upgrades so the ship is ready for its upcoming deep space exploration mission.” Rider said. “I think he is also as keen as we are to depart from the Haydorian system.”

“Governor Thelis sure doesn’t give Starfleet a warm welcome, even after the fact we just saved his home.” Commander Rozan remarked to Bennet’s left. The Betazoid counsellor had been one of many to deal with officials from the Thelis administration during this period of time in her role as the diplomatic officer for the ship. It had not been an easy assignment for any of them, she had complained on having to deal with the Andorian-Aenar politician. “I take it he is still complaining about who is remaining behind?” She assumed aloud. 

Validating the counsellor’s guess with a nod, Bennet explained further what was happening. “Even with the arrival of the relief force from Andoria and the U-S-S Ni’var, the governor still doesn’t think the colony is defended enough from another attack.” 

“I suppose I can get it, after all what has happened here.” Rider stated, with some compassion for the Andorian-Aenar leader. “Nevertheless, it’s not as if we are leaving the system entirely defenceless. More weapon platforms have been placed in orbit and by tomorrow the U-S-S Pavlov arrives with teams from the Corps of Engineers to install further ground weapons and improved planetary shielding.” 

“I suppose from having a fleet of advanced ships in orbit to now a smattering of old Imperial guard ships, an Akira-class and a Nebula-class is not good enough in the eyes of the governor.” Bennet assumed. “However with the Archanis Array online and a bulk of their forces destroyed, I can’t see the Hunters launching a massive assault against the Federation anytime soon. Plus with the Klingon Defence Force being more involved, the governor should be able to rest knowing the area is in a better situation.” 

“Here’s hoping.” Rozan cheered. “If not, we can leave his complaining to the diplomats and politicians.”

“Indeed. Anyway, I believe we have another duty to prepare for?” Bennet inferred to his bridge staff. “Another frontier that requires our attention?”

“At least we get to do some exploring on that one compared to this one.” Rider stated, sounding eager to leave Archanis far behind them.

Smirking and agreeing with his friend’s sentiments, Commodore Bennet couldn’t concur anymore. “Inform the fleet we are moving out then Number One.”

“Gladly sir.” Rider said as he sent a message to the crews on the Nobel,Triton, Tareshkova and Shackleton. “Message from the fleet sir, they’re ready as we are to get going.”  

Looking down at the helm, Bennet ordered his pilot to take them back to where they originally were planning to go before the mess at Archanis had started. “Then let’s not dissapoint anyone any further. I suspect our next assignment is eagerly waiting for us to cross over and begin enjoying the delights of the Delta Quadrant.” Bennet said with a renowned sense of excitement in his tone. “Lieutenant Tarendiz, lay in a course for the Barzan system, warp eight.”

“Course laid in sir.” The Risan woman said with a similar smile to the one plastered on the commodore’s face.

“Engage!” Bennet said and the Discovery lurched into high warp with the rest of the expeditionary force, returning to the heading of where they originally had planned to go before the mess in the Archanis sector had began. 

Their mission to the Delta Quadrant was about to begin.

Task Force 17 Updates

Once again Task Force 17 continues to show many great successes in recent weeks since the end of the Archanis Campaign! A big well done to everyone for being so involved and a big thank you to our fantastic Loremaster in creating such an amazing fleet event! Moving onwards and upwards, here are some examples of those great successes from Task Force 17!

Fiction Updates

Task Force 17’s valiant ships continue with their exploration beyond Federation territories in the deep unknown, the latest include:

USS Atlantis – continuing their exploration of the Delta Quadrant, the crew are encountering new races and are about to meet one that may require saving before being shot down!

USS Odyssey – after repairing the ship and dealing with those annoying Hunters of D’Ghor, Captain McCallister brings the ship home to Earth and while the Odyssey receives some upgrades, family matters are finally being resolved.

Not only have we got the chronicles of our brave crews in deep space, but flashbacks too!

Reflections of the Past – Treylana Hess – get to know more about Treylana’s early days at the Academy!

And make sure no one misses the latest adventures of the Vondem Rose crew in their epic conclusion within the Archanis Campaign storyline!

Promotions & Awards 

The following promotions and awards were handed out:

• Brian was promoted to Ensign and joined Task Force 17.
• Minnow was promoted to Commander, awarded the Star for Distinguished Service and transferred to Task Force 17.
• twd received the Meritorious Service Cross.
• Darth was awarded the Star Cross.
• McGig and MJ were awarded the Jonathan Archer Order of Merit.

Along with this once again it has been great seeing so many Task Force 17 members placing in the top 3 positions in the most recent competitions in Bravo Fleet! Well done to everyone!

Our Aspirational Plans for Task Force 17

So much has been completed in the last few weeks with what we wanted to do – we cannot believe how much progress our task force has made. Some of the big issues we wanted to cover was around membership activity and ensuring we are ‘on top’ of it on a weekly basis at least. Between McGig and I, we now have a tracking system in place to keep on top of everything that everyone records. This helps us a lot when it comes to making sure we know where everyone is and what else needs to happen to help our members into the next promotion. We are also using the great award system created by the Office of the Chief of Staff to make sure we know when everyone is ready for that next award.

Competition creation and involvement – as a Task Force it is clear we love the homegrown Bravo Fleet competitions, so we are pleased to see those from our task force awarded for their submissions and we hope what we as a task force have been creating for our great community has been well received!

Another aspect was developing our involvement in the lore side of Bravo Fleet – I think we can proudly say we have achieved that during the Archanis Campaign. We had so many of our members involved, it was a lot of fun!

So what’s next? The Task Force Senior Staff have been working on developing our ideas further – with our new Task Force storyline being the main driving focus behind everything we do in the upcoming weeks and months. Our hope is that this drives interest and excitement! See below for more details!!!!

Task Force 17 May Competitions – Results

First off my thanks to McGig, twd and Darth for creating and judging our May competitions with me. We had a lot of fun putting them together as we wanted them to be linked to the upcoming Task Force storyline. Did anyone work out where the quotes where from? See below for the answers, but a big thank you to everyone who entered!

Competition 1: The original kadis-kot (Game)

“We could play Kadis-kot.”
“Are there explosions in Kadis-kot?”
“Well, no.”
“Then I’m not interested.”

– Neelix and Q Junior from Q2

• 1st Place: bri.whyte
• 2nd Place: Revarric
• 3rd Place: DarthCrusader

Competition 2: Delta Quadrant Quiz

“These are star charts for the next three systems Voyager will pass through. Familiarise yourself with them.”
“Understood.”
“Sociological data regarding one hundred and seventy three Delta quadrant species. Study it.”
“I will.”
“As Bridge Assistant, you will find this information relevant.”
“Consider it assimilated.”

– Seven of Nine and Naomi Wildman from Infinite Regress

• 1st Place: Capierno
• 2nd Place: Brian
• 3rd Place: JShepard

Competition 3: Return to the Delta Quadrant (Jigsaw Puzzle)

“For I dipt in to the future, far as Human eye could see; Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be…” 

– Dedication plaque quote of the USS Voyager

• 1st Place: Brian
• 2nd Place: DarthCrusader
• 3rd Place: dizzyg1970

Competition 4: To be friendly or not to be friendly…that is the question (Sliding Puzzle)

“We the people of Earth greet you in a spirit of peace and humility. As we venture out of our solar system, we hope to earn the trust and friendship of other worlds.”

– The opening speech from Friendship One

• 1st Place: Brian
• 2nd Place: bri.whyte

We had no other submissions for this competition!

Well done again to everyone who entered! If you hadn’t worked out what our upcoming storyline is based around, the final quote from last week’s announcement was from a certain captain after she deceived the Devore but if that doesn’t help, then this might tease you further…

Task Force 17’s upcoming new storyline

Operation: Delta Expedition

More details will follow at the end of this month…