Task Force 72 Report #1

February 16, 2025

 

Dropping out of warp into 2025, assuming the ‘Big Chair’ and the responsibilities it brings, brought with it a clear focus on the direction Task Force 72 will be adopting as the Fourth Fleet rises to meet the challenge of 2402.

With the estimable Mike Dart (assuming the identity of Lt Cdr Zarroc Thakrass, as he steps up to join the TFSS proper) supporting the Task Force as the new TFXO – our Strategy and Focus in 2025 is centered around:

  •       Proactive Engagement with our TF – members.
  •       Commitment to Advancement for both new & established 72’ers.
  •       Creating Social Cohesion through the TF -Lounge & Competitions.

 TASK FORCE REPORTS

Following our last report, Admiral Liam Dahlgren (David) handed over the reins of  the Task Force to myself, leaving us with a blueprint and gold – standard for the engagement & support of our TF Members. With Lieutenant Commander Michael Dart (@forthehordekt) more that earning his place in the role of Task Force Executive Officer, Mike and I have agreed that our current focus is on providing quality experiences for our members and ensuring that we continually strive to understand their needs to better provide support & opportunities for advancement & growth.

Mike & I would also like to make a special mention and acknowledge the tireless support and encouragement of Captain Callen Varro (@Hurkion) who, as Director of Fourth Fleet Operations, continues to mentor and inspire our team.

The TF Lounge had grown quiet over recent months. With so many changes in TFSS it’s understandable but was slightly disheartening to see the tumbleweeds blowing past the replicators. Through persistent and dedicated action, which has seen Mike take over the weekly T’Poll, as well as my daily – dive into the world of “TREK TRIVIA” (along with our efforts to actively engage with each and every one of our members on a personal level) Mike and I are proud to announce that the TF72 Lounge is, once again, a busy & vibrant place to be!

We gratefully thank our brilliant members for their lively support.

This quarter has seen a massive influx of fresh faces and ‘new blood’, as the Task Force has onboarded a welcome cadre of Cadets, as well as welcoming a few ‘old hands’ back to service from the reserves. The TFXO & I have been working tirelessly to engage with those members and see that their achievements are regularly tracked and their achievements are recognised.

In the last quarter, we have welcomed the following to our lounge:

  • Cadet Ash Atkinson (ID:3028)                   
  • Cadet Jena Stryker (ID:3026)                     
  • Cadet David (ID:3024)                                
  • Cadet Borath (ID:3022)                              
  • Cadet Taren (ID:3021)                                 
  • Cadet JM Curtin (ID:3020)
  • Cadet Darren (ID:3019)                              
  • Cadet Eden Taylor (ID:3018)                     
  • Cadet Sam (ID:3017)                                    
  • Cadet Jerradus H Wayne (ID:3016)                 
  • Lieutenant (Jg) Liz Bordeaux (ID:579)
  • Commander Vausees Vax (ID:2184)                                          

 This quarter has also saw the conclusion of Bravo Fleet’s latest campaign event, The Devil to Pay! So, without further ado, let’s catch up with our Members’ commands and see what our intrepid explorers have been up to before, during, and after the nefarious underworld events of The Devil to Pay!

 FICTION UPDATES

Task Group 101

  • USS Fresno – Having completed The Shakedown of USS Fresno and Her Crew, the resilient & resourceful Captain Mike Dart and the crew of the US Fresno are Shaken, and Stirred as they are drawn into and enmeshed within a wider criminal conspiracy that  they had bargained for when the investigated the sabotage on Pieris IV. Going undercover, the crew of the California – class Utility Cruiser swap engineering for espionage (as well as braving the horrors of Klingon Opera) as they tussle with the criminal underbelly to foil a smuggling ring, whilst a deadly changeling stalks in the periphery. Moving forward from these events, the USS Fresno is dispatched to rendezvous with the USS Valley Forge and take the derelict test article, Hull-3185, under tow, back to Starbase 72 for analysis. What they find (or rather what they don’t find) when they arrive on – station will lead them to wonder what may lie Through a Mirror, Crack’d Darkly?
  • USS Cantabras – No word has been received from the USS Cantabras, since it set out to investigate The Signal. A downed comm array? Some kind of subspace interference? Or has something more worrisome befallen Captain Benson & the intrepid crew of this Raven – class Corvette?
  • USS Cupertino – Commander Ethan Tyler assumes command of the California – Class, USS Cupertino, and prepares to depart Starbase 72.
  • USS Santa Monica – Lt Cdr Lee Carter West assumes command of the California – Class, USS Santa Monica, and prepares to depart Starbase 72.
  • USS Carlsbad – For Captain Kirok Skyrunner, it’s a Fresh Start, as Kirok arrives aboard Starbase 72 to be greeted by his new XO, Commander Amara Hernandez. Friends from the Academy, the pair enjoy a dinner on the Promenade and welcome the opportunity to catch up on where their fortunes have taken them both over the intervening years. Shaking off the effects of a night well spent, with the assistance of his friend and roommate Catersha, Kirok finds its time to step up and put the pleasures of shore leave behind him & begin the serious work of preparing a California – class Utility Cruiser to put out to space.

 Task Group 99

  • Galaxy Explorer Division
  • USS Galaxy – Aboard the USS Galaxy, Captain Clara Myers prepares herself to attend a diplomatic function attended by the fastidious Mackdorians, as ever walking the fine line between galactic politics and sartorial elegance. With Klingon, Romulan & Cardassian delegates present to foil and engage, the ever capable Captain Myers is forced to call on every ounce of guile, charm and steely resolve as she navigates this Wicked World. With her crew’s lives on the line, Clara engages in a deadly duel of wits and intellect with the mercurial Cardassian Gul Nuver. resorting to every trick in the book (including blackmail) to gain the vital codes to the border security sensor net, so she can attempt to rescue her crew, stranded somewhere out past the Cardassian & Tholian borders.
  • USS Resnik – As the CO of a Gagarin – class Heavy Escort, Captain Anna Caldwell is no stranger to conflict and knows that Everything Flows & Nothing Abides, especially when you find yourself under fire from a Ju’Day class Starship in orbit around Herath II. Exercising restraint, Captain Caldwell directs the USS Resnik to keep the Ju’Day occupied, as Lieutenant Commander Isabella Broska prepares to beam down to rescue the Away Team and apprehend the criminal mastermind, Abigail De’Jamon, on her planetside estate.
  • USS Valley Forge – In the aftermath of the extra-legal events of The Devil to Pay, Samantha Hyland is promoted to Captain and assigned command of the Excelsior II – class USS Valley Forge, in an effort by Starfleet Command to sideline her and place her where she can do less harm, patrolling the former DMZ. However, in Sanctus in Machina, Sam’s uncanny knack for being in the right place at the wrong time, see’s the crew of the ‘VF’ encounter a mysterious ‘ghost-ship’, Hull-3185, lost some 25 years ago during a test – flight for the revolutionary “Stutter Warp “drive technology. What they discover aboard sends a chill up the spine and leaves more questions unanswered than mysteries solved. In a frantic final pursuit, Hull-3185 tears open a subspace rift with Lt Cdr Dai & Lt Isono aboard and Sam Hyland is forced to plunge the USS Valley Forge into the unknown, in a desperate attempt to save her people. What she finds beyond the anomaly will be discovered when we rejoin them to peer Through a Mirror, Crack’d Darkly
  • USS Akira – Captain Vausees Vax and her partner, Debbie Fergouson-Vax are called to make A Bold Return, when the couple are (quite literally) called out of retirement on the idyl of Trill and have their commission reactivated and are reassigned to another familiar partner, the USS Akira – as Fourth Fleet cast the net wide in the search for experienced officers to hold the line in the wake of recent multiple disasters that have left Starfleet’s ranks wanting…

 TASK FORCE RECOGNITION 

Awards

Promotions

 CONCLUSION

“It’s been a long road, getting from there to here…”

The road to reconstruction has sometimes seemed a long and daunting one for Task Force 72 but, like the pioneers of NX-01, we are dedicated to realizing our fortunes and ambitions beyond attaining Warp – 5 and have already begun to boldly go towards a future where the “Big Blue” will recapture (at least part) of the former glory of the TF72 of old. Mike and I recognize that the journey will be hard, but we are resolute in our goal and are absolutely committed to our people and know that it is a path worth treading.