Task Force 72 Report#2

With the Blackout over, the Vaadwaur Supremacy defeated & driven back through the Labyrinth to the Delta Quadrant, the dust settles over Task Force 72 as our crews take a moment to reflect on a truly magnificent Fleet Action and to welcome aboard a new influx of Cadets to our vibrant members lounge.

Along with the estimable TFXO, Cdr Zarroc Thakrass, the “Big Blue” continues to excel and continue to assert our commitment to our Strategy and Focus in 2025, 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

As a TFCO there are many memorable moments as you accept the responsibility for leading your members, but none so gratifying and rewarding than that of experiencing and recognizing achievements in relation to a Bravo Fleet – Fleet Action. For the second year running, I am beyond overjoyed to report that Task Force 72 placed a commendable Second Place overall in the Fleet Action – Nightfall. In addition to a respectable 2nd place on the podium, I am proud to note that (again for a 2nd time in a row) that the “Big Blue” also took home the overall Writing Ribbon and Gaming Ribbon race awards.

It would be remiss of me at this juncture not to highlight the contribution and sheer volume of activity of our TFXO, as Mike secured himself the overall personal 3rd Place in the entire Fleet Action and his cheer, encouragement and team – focus were key, not only to the amazing results we enjoyed, but for ensuring that our members were motivated and engaged to enjoy themselves during this record – breaking event!

With 10x of our members contributing, the 72’ers laid down 130,501 words of amazing creative -fiction, that’s 15% of the overall 884,803 words written by our entire community, which is no mean feat by anyone’s estimate!

To all of our TF – members, we are all so very proud of your spirit and drive to participate in the many fiction, RPG, Gaming, Competitions and social activities that the BFSS crafted for us all to enjoy this year – but be warned! Next year we have our eyes on that 1st place spot on the FA – Podium!!!

During this exciting time, we have been sad to see certain members move on to the Reserves, but that sadness is not only tempered by welcoming a whole cast of new faces to our community in the form of eager new Cadets, but also the return of several former members from the Reserves, which we feel stands testament to our popularity as a Task Force of choice. Welcome all !

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

• Cadet Freshman Grade Bigjohn.
• Cadet Freshman Grade Jacob Kenran.
• Cadet Freshman Grade Phill.
• Cadet Freshman Grade Micheal Dawazo.
• Cadet Freshman Grade Derrik Kader.
• Cadet Sophomore Grade James.
• Cadet Sophomore Grade GhettoWookie.
• Cadet Senior Grade Daniel Smith.
• Cadet Senior Grade William T. Davidson.

We also welcomed the following back to the fold:

• Cadet Freshman Grade Upstage.
• Cadet Senior Grade John Ellis Bonnet.
• Midshipman Wyatt McAllister.
• Ensign Zion Ortov.
• Ensign Areinnye s’Rllaillieu.
• Lieutenant Aloran.
• Captain Solaris McLaren.

So, without further ado, make sure that you get comfortable, get a drink or snack to hand and settle back to catch up with exactly what events made this event-of-events so memorable for our members during Nightfall!!

FICTION UPDATES

Task Group 101

•  USS Fresno – In the mission Venom, the USS Fresno gets pulled into an Underspace aperture & emerges into the Pieris system.  The doughty California – class utility cruiser comes under fire, sustaining critical damage from a Vaadwaur Manasa-class escort which pursues them into a nearby asteroid field.

Captain Michael Dart decides discretion is the better part of valour and departs Pieris IV fleeing into Cardassian territory with the Vaadwaur in hot – pursuit, but the XO and her away team are left behind in the chaos. Arriving in Cardassian space, the crew are intercepted by a Galor-class vessel which is also stranded by the Blackout. Together they forge an uneasy alliance & enter Underspace to dispatch the Blackout-platform – negating the blackout effect in the region. Meanwhile, Thalissa and her away – team encounter the research colony’s chief engineer & retake the research colony. Between the combined efforts of both groups, the Pieris system is liberated.

• USS Carlsbad – The USS Carlsbad, on its first mission under Captain Kirok Skyrunner, encounters a mysterious comet that, after conducting routine scans, pulls them into a subspace tunnel transporting them almost 560 light years away and into an unexplored system. Exiting the anomaly, they discovered the wreckage of a missing Federation starship on an unexplored Class M planet and reveal a colony of  former drones – the Kyrennei – separated from the Borg Collective.

An alliance is formed with Karlara, their leader who commits to destroying the local Blackout platform, ending  the local ‘Blackout’ effect in Nightfall. Together they succeed in reactivating a dormant Borg battle group & formulate a two-prong plan to locate and capture a Blackout Outpost. Captain Skyrunner leads an infiltration team aboard a captured Vaadwaur ship, while the California – class utility cruiser leads the liberated Borg forces in battle against the Vaadwaur and ultimately emerge victorious.

• USS Walter Scott – An unconventional vessel with an unconventional crew, the USS Walter Scott is forced to apply equally unconventional tactics when they are called to answer a desperate plea for aid from the colonists in the Setlik system. Coming under unexpected attack by an unknown aggressor, Captain Emmalin Mennari dexterously demonstrates why the Challenger – class light cruiser is justly known for its greyhound-like sprint speed as the crew evade capture & begin the Second Liberation.

Task Group 99

• USS Akira – In USS Akira Chronicles: Shadows of the Vaadwaur,  the crew of the Akira – class Heavy – cruiser arrives in orbit around Archanis IV a few days prior to the commencement of the  “Blackout” Event &  Captain Vausees Vax takes some time away from the crew to pay her respects to Trance, her former lover and friend who is deceased.

Meanwhile deep inside the Underspace two Vaadwaur, Thalos Dorak and Dranik Vesh,are headed to a Blackout Outpost. As the two Vaadwaur approach the central spire discharges a dark wave of energy into the Underspace and into the beta sector. What follows is a desperate battle as the Akira and its valiant Valkyrie – fighter squadron pit themselves against superior Vaadwaur forces in a desperate battle for survival.

• USS Rubidoux – Captain Tiberius Rain is a Captain used to navigating change. Along with the crew of the newly re-christened New Orleans – class frigate, USS Rubidoux, Tiberius is forced to dig deep  and draw upon every reserve of scientific knowledge and technical trickery to level the odds during Operation Midnight Veil, to level the odds against an overwhelming hostile force whilst seeking a way to overcome the subspace limitations imposed by the Blackout phenomena.

If one thing alone typifies this Captain – it’s his obstinacy and refusal to quit. Together with his resourceful crew, the race is on to see if there is one more trick left in the bag that will mean the difference between victory or death?

• USS Sacramento – In Grit or Glory Captain Mike Ayres and the crew of the California – class utility cruiser,  the USS Sacramento, having ferried three of the Followers of Kahless home to the Boreth Monastery, suddenly find themselves cut off by the blackout and the sole Federation asset within a sea of Klingon Defence Force ships. Outgunned and outnumbered, the crew of this venerable medical cruiser are forced to forge new alliances with old enemies and prove the old Klingon adage true that “wa’ Dol nIvDaq matay’DI’ maQap” (We succeed together in a greater whole).

• USS Hikaru Sulu – Cut off from the rest of Starfleet by the Blackout enveloping the territory around the former Demilitarized Zone, Captain Raveen Shavda and her crew find themselves with the ultimate Command & Control asset, with no other ships to coordinate. Facing the prospect of certain defeat by the Vaadwaur Supremacy, the crew of the USS Hikaru Sulu liberate the Cardassian colony of New Providence from planetary assault.

Realizing that they lack the requisite brutality to wage a successful guerrilla-warfare campaign against the Vaadwaur – a desperate plot is hatched to kidnap an important prisoner from a high-security Obsidian Order Black site; none other than the infamous True Way Terrorist-leader, Gul Yomat Ghallir.

Luring the pursuing Vaadwaur forces into the asteroid field, Shavda levels the field of engagement with a devastating ambush. The Hazard Teams board the Blackout Outpost and destroy it, finally allowing the Odyssey – class heavy explorer to rejoin the rest of Task Force 72, finally take the fight to the Vaadwaur and to rage Against the Dying of the Light.

• USS Vallejo – In Shadows over Netharis, Commander Day Renora and the crew of the  USS Vallejo confront a malevolent psionic entity on Nerathis IV, where an ancient structure unleashes chaos, warping their minds. One away team escapes a nightmarish Vaadwaur ship, unwittingly carrying the entity to the surface, while another in the ruins fights a possessed commander. As the Vallejo’s systems falter and the entity strengthens, the crew races to unite and save their teams. The storm ravaged planet hunts them, pushing all to the brink.

Post the Blackout crises, Command of the USS Vallejo is turned over to a new crew under Captain Ari Davidson – Garnier. 

 TASK FORCE RECOGNITION 

Awards

• Captain Trevenan Williams – Legion of Merit.
• Lieutenant Lee Carter West – Medal of Achievement.
• Lieutenant Commander Luna Black – Meritorious Service Cross.
• Commander Zarroc Thakrass – Legion of Merit, Star for Distinguished Service.
•  Captain Solaris McLaren – Silver Palm.
•  Lieutenant Commander  Kirok Skyrunner – Star for Distinguished Service.

Promotions

• Trevenan Williams – Captain.
• Aloran – Cadet Sophomore Grade, Cadet Junior Grade, Cadet Senior Grade, Midshipman, Ensign, Lieutenant Junior Grade, Lieutenant.
• Daniel Smith – Cadet Sophomore Grade, Cadet Junior Grade, Cadet Senior Grade.
• William T. Davidson – Cadet Sophomore Grade, Cadet Junior Grade, Cadet Senior Grade, Midshipman.
•   Zarroc Thakrass  – Commander.
•  Solaris McLaren  – Captain.
•  Kirok Skyrunner – Lieutenant Junior Grade, Lieutenant, Lieutenant Commander.
• Ash Atkinson – Cadet Sophomore Grade, Cadet Junior Grade, Cadet Senior Grade, Midshipman, Ensign.
• James – Cadet Sophomore Grade
• GhettoWookie – Cadet Sophomore Grade

CONCLUSION

“Live now; make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.”

Jean-Luc Picard

In January, the TFSS sat down with the Bravo Fleet Operations Officer & Bravo Fleet Executive Officer and discussed our plans for revitalizing the “Big Blue”, which direction we wanted to take the Task Force in and our strategy for breathing life back into this most venerable of Task Force’s. In the intervening time, with the support of these senior officers (and more recently the Deputy Operations Officer) we are starting to see this faith pay off and it is through the efforts of our members that Task Force 72 has, once again, become a great place to be.

It continues to be my distinct honor and privilege to lead this amazing group of people.