Bravo Fleet
Operational Report, Task Force 93 – August 2019
Briefing Room: Deep Space Six
1315 HRS
Kara sat in the empty conference room, now designated the ‘war room’ awaiting the arrival of her Task Force Executive Officer and the CO of DS-6, Captain Roman Valdez. Ignoring her CMO’s advice and heading straight here to be treated rather than sickbay, the doctor had patched her up as best he could before scurrying out the door.
Commodore Juliet St. Clair was in the conference room moments later. She had heard about what happened, but had only been given tiny bits of information. Having arrived from Atlantis only days earlier, she was barely settled when the incident occurred. Captain Valdez followed just behind her. “Admiral. We just heard the news. First, are you alright?”
Roman wanted to rush straight to Kara’s side, ask if she was ok, hold her tight and not let go but he knew he couldn’t, this was technically the first time he had met Commodore St. Clair and didn’t want to seem unprofessional in the current situation. He strode down the room on the opposite side of Juliet, pulling out the chair to Kara’s right and taking a seat.
“Ive yet to decide, I think part of my hip is still on the South Carolina” Kara answered Juliet, mustering her typical sarcastic tone through the pain. Turning to face Roman she asked about the ship she was travelling on “How is she? If the Decius hadn’t showed up when she did…” after a short pause whilst gazing across the room, she continued “I don’t know what would have happened”. Roman sat forward, almost outreaching for Kara’s hand that was now placed on the tabletop “The Excelsior has towed her into Spacedock now, aside from the obvious visual damage, we won’t know the full extent for another couple of hours but she is intact” he finished his report.
Kara tapped a few commands on the small touchpad on the tabletop and activated a holo image of the small Defiant Class, USS South Carolina surrounded by 4 Klingon Birds of Prey, turning her attention to her Task Force Executive Officer “Do we even know if this was the Sovereignty of Kahless, another rogue faction or the Empire itself?”
“Intelligence reports suggest it was a new House that is using this attack to announce their allegiance to Sovereignty of Kahless,” Juliet answered. “The House of Maang. This House always made gains by absorbing the assets of fallen Houses. We suspect they have been amassing fleet resources by taking control of Ma’rek, Duras, and Mo’kai ships that were confiscated by the Empire.” She took a deep breath. “And now those assets are back under SoK control. Their fleet may have just increased in size by forty percent or more.”
The news of this latest intelligence report had taken Kara back, it wasn’t that long ago the Sovereignty of Kahless were no more than a small collection of Klingon Houses following a desperate leader. “Roman, I want DS6 to task all available assets to on border patrol within the Transit Corridor…. speak with Captain Hawk, I’d like to delay his departure to 38 and have the Excelsior as a show of strength along the border”
Roman nodded in agreement with the Admiral “I think that’s a good call Admiral, the Excelsiors presence may deter them from crossing it again” He tapped a few light commands into his padd and sent a note to Captain Hawk of the Excelsior to meet him in Ops in 1 hours time. “Commodore” Roman turned to put his attention on the Task Force Executive Officer, not wanting to ignore her completely no matter how much concern he had for his partner. “Is there anything to suggest why the SoK crossed the border to attack the South Carolina in the first place?”
“None yet, Captain,” Juliet answered. “Honestly? The House of Maang’s betrayal took Starfleet Intelligence by surprise. This move suggests that the SoK is planning some new action against us and against the Klingon Empire.” She looked back to Admiral Thrace. “We should try to requisition additional resources. Maybe even task some major fleet action. A show of force in the Corridor.”
“Agreed” Kara responded, she had yet to make any formal request for additional resources from Command, knowing it wouldn’t be a quick response and resigning herself to utilise what they already had at their disposal, an idea flashed into Kara’s mind “I will need to discuss with HQ but in the meantime, I have an old friend working in the RTC that we could utilise for some…… under the radar intelligence gathering, we should also consider contacting Lieutenant Tigan on the Ajax to gather as much information as we can”
Juliet nodded. “Aye, sir. I also recommend we make use of exploratory and humanitarian resources that are capable of military action. It balances a show of force with ensuring the local peoples don’t think we’re there to conquer them or a provoke a war. I recommend the Armstrong and the Sirona. They can hold their own in a fight, but aren’t as much of a direct provocation.”
Kara nodded in agreement “Good call, Juliet… Roman, lets get this in motion now. Ive got a favour to call in” At what was seen as the conclusion of the meeting with Kara standing and nodding to both officers, Juliet and Roman tapped a few commands in their respective PADDS and exited the room quickly to carryout their orders
As Commodore St.Clair and Captain Valdez departed the war room with their orders, Kara got up to order a much needed coffee from the replicator. As she stood, she winced in pain from her injuries, silently cursing herself for dismissing the CMO so quickly. “Computer” she began as she retrieved her piping hot latte from the terminal “Open an encrypted subspace channel to the SS Warden and display when ready… priority 1”
News from Task Force 93!
- USS Excelsior: The Excelsior comes to the aid of the ambushed Defiant Class USS South Carolina when it was enroute through the RTC. Fending of some SoK aggressors and towing the ship back to DS6, Captain Hawk is tasked with patrolling the Klingon border but not to engage.
- SS Warden:The members of the Warden, or should we say Captain Walter Jones has lost the bidding for his ship, and now have concocted a plan to get it back and crash an intergalactic trading houses monetary system. Will they get out? Will they get the ship? How many and what kind of enemies are they going to make because of this? Will they make it out? Or will they end up as star dust?
- USS Hypatia: Hypatia’s crew is current attending a Science and Technology convention on Capella. They enjoy a few days off as a new XO comes aboard and new orders are issued for Hypatia.
- USS Devonshire: With the recapture of Canterra, the Gorn conflict will enter a new phase where Starfleet holds the initiative. The battle itself, and the subsequent liberation of the Canterra system sets the stage for and end to the current Gorn conflict. Cestus can be advanced upon once Canterra is secured, depending on Gorn losses in these two systems, an invasion of Gorn space may or may not be necessary. In any case the conflict is one step closer to resolution.
- USS Shanghai: The USS Shanghai comes to the aid of the USS Warspite against a Cadre of Klingon ships. The situation is a dangerous one, as a multiple birds of prey and a Negh’var cruiser have beset the Sovereign – but Shanghai’s joining of the fray even the odds. Unable to live with themselves just watching, the crew agrees to skirt the Temporal Prime directive, beaming the crew of the crippled Warspite aboard the Shanghai, despite knowing the ship was lost with all hands during the battle in Shanghai’s original timeline. During the rescue, Shanghai is boarded, and it is quickly discovered that the Klingons are after something unusual. They’re after information. Given the sensative intelligence aboard the ships, Shanghai’s crew races to board the ship and make sure that none of the information is sent to the Klingons’ allies…
- USS Atlantis: First Contact with the Rall did not go as planned. The Atlantis has been taken over, with most of her crew transferred to Rall prison ships. Our chief engineer is being forced to fix the engines for them, while our XO undermines his efforts. The chief flight control officer has absconded with our shuttlepod, the Magnus, to find help with the USS Findlay.
- USS Ajax: Still patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone the Ajax has been contacted to go on reconnaissance following the attack on the South Carolina.
- USS Sirona: Freshly returned from the Mirror Universe, the crew of the Sirona begin debrief and reflection on the implications of their incursion through the looking glass.
- Hawkeye Island: Our team that has infiltrated the secret science complex as run into danger. The mad scientist has unleashed her horde of creatures. The away team searches for a way out of the maze that is the complex. Back at the command base the second officer has mounted a rescue mission. The 106th Blue Wolves and a runabout with search and rescue specialists soar in the skies overhead. The away team tries to make it out alive.
- USS Armstrong: The USS Armstrong, while out on patrol along the Sovereignty of Kahless sphere of influence, ran aground into what they thought was an uncharted gravimetric distortion. Initial scans have indicated that there were some man-made elements present, including traces of debris. This has led the crew to assume that they had run into something far more sinister. While enroute back to Niveq Station for minor repairs, they received word of a runabout who also ran into a similar problem. The Armstrong will assist and continue back to Niveq to report in for repairs.
Bravo Fleet Updates
- Latest communication from the BFCO can be found here -> https://www.bravofleet.com/group_news/from-the-desk-of-the-bfco-september-2019/
- BF Needs YOU! Could you be our next Internet Officer? -> https://www.bravofleet.com/group_news/applications-bravo-fleet-internet-officer/
Canon for Task Force 93!
More updates on the SoK and their goings on coming in the next couple of weeks along with our finalisation of the Task Force Wide Storyline which will be announced soon and is open for any simm in the TF to join in and contribute. Im excited to get it out to everyone and looking forward to take part in a cross simm story.
Task Force 93 – A taste of nostalgia
Task Force 93 has such a large and varied Area of Operations, it felt strange to have all the simms lumped into one Task Group, until today. I’m having a bit of a BF fanboy moment but Im really excited to announce our re-structure of the Task Force effective… well now:
Operations – This will be the home of the Task Force canon and our primary focus – the Romulans!
TG58 – Named after Task Force 58 – home to simms primarily focused on the Rayean Sector.
TG86 – Named after Task Force 86 – home to simms primarily focused on the Klingon / Gorn area of space
All simms have been allocated based on their current mission / latest reports. Your Task Group does not affect the stories you write or your participation in any events so please don’t feel boxed into an AoO. This will mainly save on any confusion for any newcomers we may have and streamline contribution to the overall TF story.
More announcements and updates on the Task Force coming soon… watch this space
Bravo Fleet & Star Trek: Picard
To all the members of Bravo Fleet, past and present:
In early 2020, we will be receiving the first new official canon in the late twenty-fourth century of the Prime universe in nearly twenty years with the debut of Star Trek: Picard. This is an exciting time for Bravo Fleet, and we intend to take full advantage of it. This is something that Bravo Fleet, and in fact the simming community at large, desperately needs. Bravo Fleet will be going in both feet first! We want to make this announcement now so that everyone can get ahead of the game and be properly and fully prepared!
Within a month of the end of the first season of Picard, we will be changing the default setting of Bravo Fleet’s fiction to 2399 to line up with Picard. Through the run of the series we will be proceeding at a 1:1 time scale, with one year passing in-universe for each that passes outside. This will allow us to keep pace with Picard in time.
This is a necessary step in the long-term security and survival of Bravo Fleet. With the exception of the Hobus storyline, Bravo Fleet has largely languished in its own fanon (“fan canon”), far removed from any source material, since Nemesis premiered in 2002. And while we are all some of the most creative people on the planet, we can only do so much with so little over almost two decades without feeling stale. Another large reason for this change is because we don’t want to have to continually and constantly have to retcon our own ongoing writing as Picard is airing. It’s much more conducive for us to move to 2399 and adjust our “history” according to Picard. Rather than Picard outright changing what we’re doing in its history.
What does this mean for you? It means that our primary canon support will be focused on the new 2399 setting. Most current fleet stories will be wrapped up or see major changes as we prepare for the time skip, and new stories to tell in the new setting will be discussed. Some stories will endure a decade into our timeline’s future. In the end, the specific year doesn’t affect most individual sims, but it does affect fleet storylines which, in turn, trickles down to the sim level. For your sims, we will offer as much time as you need to tie off your current storylines and make ready for the time skip. For those who do not want to move to the 2399 setting, there will be options as well. If the number of sims staying in the 2389 setting is small, they will be moved to a new Task Group in Task Force 99; if it is large, we will open a new Task Force for the “classic” Bravo Fleet setting. Fictions outside Task Forces 99 and 64 will need to advance to the new setting – a part of the point of fictions is to help tell the fleet’s stories, and that means they need to run inside the main setting of the fleet. All non-alternate (TF99) or historical (TF64) sims opened once the time jump is made will be 2399.
This will also serve as a soft reboot of sorts for Bravo Fleet. We have two decades of our own canon, and we do not know how much of that will be contradicted by what happens in the new show. We will, as always, be following screen canon first, so this will be an opportunity to bring our stories and those being told by the creators of Star Trek more closely into line. But it will serve as a fresh start for many people and will allow us to tie nice ribbons on other storylines.
At the same time as the time skip, we will be restructuring our Task Forces! The current structure, while straightforward, has led to situations where areas of operations and breadth of storytelling, especially in 72 and 93, are overwhelming. While each task force is simply divided into the four quadrants, 38 and 9 don’t encompass the entire quadrants they represent. Asking the staff of 72 and 93 to manage the canon and sheer potential number of sims in those task forces is not fair. Additionally, we’re looking for stability in our task forces, and burnout is not the way there. We will be adding multiple Task Forces to Bravo Fleet between now and around the time skip, each with a smaller, more focused area of operations. We’re hoping this will help sims focus on the stories they want to tell a lot better, allow task force staff to have more individualized attention on specific stories and areas of operations, and help build a more cohesive story overall between the sims in a task force.
COs – look for surveys to be hitting your inboxes in the next few days so that we can get a tally count for those wanting to stay in the 2389 era and those going with Bravo Fleet to 2399. We will also be releasing more information on future task forces as we finalize what that will look like.
New Task Force 93 CO!
Earlier last week Leam (Adm Bradley J. Harrison) gave me his resignation as TFCO of Task Force 93. He had some parting words which I think are worth sharing:
I’ve decided to step down as TFCO this morning. I want to spend some time just on my sim and myself. I thought I could stay on with things that are going on but at the moment, I can’t and it would be unfair to stay and do a disservice to the TF. I’m sure Vince will make an announcement soon about an acting TFCO and Andrew is still around as TFXO. I wish all COs in TF93 all the best with whoever is asked and approved to step up to the role. Pretty small shoes to fill.
Leam was an integral part of the transition team in the past few months and has been a huge help and good friend to me, personally. On behalf of the entire BFA, we wish him the best in his mini-retirement and look forward to everything the Excalibur has to bring to Bravo Fleet canon in the future!
Filling his shoes was indeed no small task. The BFA deliberated on nominees for a few days until we finally had someone we felt was experienced enough, familiar enough, and ready to hit the ground running with little oversight to run Task Force 93. Voted in by the BFA and confirmed by the COs of TF93, I’d like to welcome Thrace, who will be playing Vice Admiral Kara Thrace, as the new 93CO. Thrace is a former TFCO of TF93 who has helped create much of the canon that is still in use in the task force. He currently sits as CO of the USS Excelsior in TF38 where he has been helping the COs and staff there formulate canon for the Delta Quadrant going forward. Thrace has a storied history in TF93 as a team builder, someone who drives canon, and is very “customer-friendly” in helping COs get done what they need to make their sims successful. In his move to 93, Thrace will be opening up (well, reopening!) Deep Space 6 as the new (old?) Task Force HQ.
Congratulations, Thrace!
New Task Force Logos!
To all the members of Bravo Fleet:
As part of our fleet rebranding, the task force logos have also been at the top of our list. They have largely gone unchanged since their current inception which has been well over ten years. I will also explain some changelog thoughts with each one!
TASK FORCE 9
This one is pretty self-explanatory. 9 is keeping its iconic cyan-like blue color, but the logo in the center has changed to something more 9-centric: the Bajoran Wormhole!
TASK FORCE 38
Task Force 38 keeps its purple color! The Greek delta logo has changed, though. The lowercase Greek letter was simply too “fat” to fit into the new Bravo Fleet logo correctly. The solution was straight-forward: use the uppercase delta letter!
TASK FORCE 64
This one was probably the logo that saw the most change and was a bit tricky to work with. A few concepts were drawn up that changed the inside logo to laurels and other imagery. However, with a 64 “rebranding” of sorts coming soon (more on that once Domingo returns from STLV!) we wanted some imagery that really conveyed what 64 is all about. The logo color was also changed to red for the simple fact that the gold coloring did not work well with the gold accent of the new logo. It was very much a pain in the ole’ eyeballs.
TASK FORCE 72
Very little change here. 72 has barely changed in 20 years. Continue on with your sexy logo, 72!
TASK FORCE 93
This is the other logo that, along with 64, got quite a bit of change. The first was the color. With 9 and 72 occupying a lot of the blue spectrum, 93s “greyish blue” was hard to accommodate. To set it apart and on its own, it has been given a more emerald green. To mix with 72, you get some very Earthish colors. It’s also a reminder that those sneaky Romulans are right around 93s corner! The sextant that originally occupied the 93 logo was also changed for similar reasons to 38: it was too “fat” to sit in the current logo properly. 93 has instead been given the replacement of a compass, which is the most fitting logo 93 could have.
TASK FORCE 99
Just as with 72, 99s logo remains largely unchanged. Black, infinity, infinite possibilities. Go 99!
Task Force 93 Executive Officer!
In the last two months, there has been an increase in the interest of Task Force 93, we have welcomed four new simulations and have been working very hard behind the scenes to bring back stability to the Task Force. I have been very proud of each Commanding Officer and their simulations, with all the effort they have been putting in and I know that this will keep going on as we move forward through the few remaining months of 2019 and into 2020.
I am proud to announce that after a search, Task Force 93 is proud to appoint its new Task Force Executive Officer!
As you will know, we opened up applications a month or so ago across the fleet and today I am proud to announce that Andrew, who currently commands the USS Atlantis right here in Task Force 93, has accepted my offer to become the new Task Force Executive Officer with immediate effect. Andrew will be starting in the role today with Commodore Juliet St. Clair. I am very excited to be working with Andrew in the leadership of Task Force 93. I know Andrew is raring to go in the role, and I know personally that I look forward to what we can get done together over the coming months and (hopefully) years.
Andrew has already hit the ground running and will be contacting our fine Task Force 93 Commanding Officers soon to get the ball rolling on some amazing ideas that we have for the future here in Task Force 93!
Please join with me in congratulating Andrew on this fine appointment!
