This was the swankiest party he’d ever been to. It was wall to wall dress uniforms and the canapés… He’d definitely died and gone to heaven. 

With a charming smile, Ryke snagged a few more from the tray of a circulating waiter,  his little stash in a napkin as he looked for somewhere to stand.  

He ended up propping up a wall, intent on staying out of the way and devouring his little stash. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been to an event this fancy. But then, this was Frontier Day. He’d never seen the promenade on the base set up so fancy, but he’d also never seen so many senior officers gathered in one place at one time. 

The cynical part of his mind said that if anyone was going to pull anything, this was the time and place to do it. If they hit SBB right now, they could take out a good chunk of the fleet’s senior officers in one fell swoop. 

He ignored the little voice and smiled as a familiar face came into view through the crowd. 

The brow of that familiar face was creased with visible consternation.  Captain Jeffrey Holmgren was disguised in a dress uniform as if he too were a guest of the Frontier Day celebration.  The only clue to suggest otherwise was the PADD in each hand and the yeoman scurrying to keep up with his pace through the crowd.  As Chief Operations Officer of Starbase Bravo, Holmgren’s gaze was constantly scanning the promenade, scanning and assessing.

As he moved closer to Ryke, Holmgren could be heard saying, “–thought we ordered thirty-two ice sculptures?  I’m only counting twenty-three.  The maestro, ch’Regda, carved them each by hand.  If we left even one of them to melt in a runabout, we–“

Three steps behind him –and figuratively one step ahead– Yeoman Aneasa replied, “I inspected the promenade before the guests arrived, sir.  All thirty-five sculptures are being displayed in prominent locations.”

“Thank you,” Holmgren said and then his eyes widened as he happened upon eye contact with Ryke.  “Lieutenant Ashfield!  A pleasure to see you.  I– I didn’t know if you’d be coming.”

Ryke smiled, as much for the reaction as seeing the captain. It was often the same when he saw one of his patients. They were usually low-key horrified to see him, but he’d be the same given he knew things about them they wouldn’t even admit to their partners.

“The pleasure is all mine, sir,” he nodded a greeting to include the yeoman as well. She looked considerably less hassled than Holmgen did. “Most people are busy with Frontier Day celebrations so counseling is very quiet today.” 

Nodding at Ryke’s greeting, Holmgren said, “That’s for the best.”  –He quirked a sheepish smile at how that sounded– “What I mean is: Starfleet never could have achieved half of the discoveries we have without Starfleet counselors by our sides.  You deserve to be celebrated by these crowds.”

“I really didn’t expect so many people here.” Ryke looked around at the packed promenade, then up at the big screens that had been assembled to show the Frontier Day parade ships in their formations in Sol sector. “Quite a turn out, isn’t it?”

When Holmgren smile to reply to Ryke, Aneasa tugged at Holmgren’s sleeve.

“Ah, sir,” Aneasa said in sotto voice, “Your wife is still looking for you.  The ten minutes you requested has expired.  Ten minutes ago.”

Silence fell as Admiral Shelby appeared on screen to give her speech. Ryke looked around the assembled crowds, their faces turned up to the screen. Even with such a jaded soul as his, he felt pride at being part of something bigger than himself. It wasn’t about the big speeches from Admirals, even though Shelby was more than impressive, but the people themselves. 

Holmgren looked up too.  Despite all the other distractions and his bickering with Aneasa, Holmgren’s gaze became fixed on the pronouncements from Admiral Shelby.  He looked over at Ryke and then he looked back at the screen.

“Frontier Day hasn’t… felt the same after Mars,” Holmgren wistfully said.  “I didn’t know the Federation still–”

“Oh look, fleet formation… have you ever seen anything like it?” Someone nearby said. 

Ryke had turned with the movement of the crowd, but the sudden gasps and then screams brought his head snapping around to look up at the screen nearest to them.

The fireworks all went out in Sector 001.  Projected on the holographic screen from the sensor feeds in Earth orbit, the fleet of starships gathered into a constellation of shapes.  When the fireworks began anew, it was only the flares from brilliant red phaser beams launching from every starship in the formation.  The shields around Sol Station flared up as the entire fleet turned their weapons upon it.

“What the…” Ryke breathed, eyes widening in shock. Something was wrong, very wrong. The fleet had gone from what looked like a parade formation to something entirely more menacing. “They’re firing on the Excelsior!”

“Something’s wrong with fleet mode!” Someone shouted. “The fleet is attacking the station!”

“We have to… someone do something!”

“…We’re too far from Earth,” Holmgren mused hopelessly.  “We can’t help them, but we can secure Starbase Bravo.”

Starbase Bravo In-Play for Frontier Day

Write your characters attending to Frontier Day-related duties or enjoying the holiday as guests to the celebrations!

They can now receive reports and communiques about the assimilated fleet formation attacking Sol Station and Earth, as depicted in the Picard Season 3 finale.  At this point, your characters have no way to know or understand the underlying causes of the fleet being assimilated at Earth.

The Borg assimilation transmission does not reach Starbase Bravo due to interference from the Paulson Nebula

Starbase Bravo is not near enough to Sector 001 to offer meaningful support to Sol Station or Earth.  Although there are no assimilated starships in the Mellstoxx system, your orders are to protect Starbase Bravo from any other Starfleet starships that may be behaving in a suspicious manner:

• Deck Officers and Cadets:  Starbase Bravo is at red alert!  All crew to duty stations to monitor for further attacks.
• Flight Control officers: recall all auxiliary craft and the Frontier Day parade of starships (USS Exeter, USS Susan B Anthony, USS Hippocrates) to their docks at Starbase Bravo.  Restrict all non-essential / non-emergency flight through the Mellstoxx System until the threat is better understood.
• Tactical officers: prepare SBB to defend itself against potential rogue Starfleet vessels
• Science / Intelligence / Strategic Operations officers: Coordinate and communicate within your networks to investigate why Starfleet vessels have turned against Sol Station.
• Starfighters: Protect Starbase Bravo!
• Operations / Diplomatic / Security officers: Secure the promenade.  Escort diplomats, visitors and civilians to guest quarters and evacuation centres.  Monitor all subspace frequencies for news of events in Sector 001.
• Engineering / Science officers: Inspect docked starships (USS Exeter, USS Susan B Anthony, USS Hippocrates) to determine if there are security breaches in their fleet formation upgrades.
• Medical officers: Given the breadth of casualties in Sector 001, prepare the hospitals for mass casualties incoming from other Starfleet facilities.

Or maybe the existential dread of watching Starfleet’s newest fleet attack Earth and each other is too great to bear, and you simply watch the tragic events play out on the display screens in helpless horror.