Task Force 64 – Operational Report – July 2019

TASK FORCE 64 – OPERATIONAL REPORT – JULY 2019

Starbase 2 

Admiral Veronica Ferreira saw an incoming message. It looked like it was from the USS Republic – the signal was weak and distorted. The ship was on the Federation-Klingon border. It wasn’t surprising that the ship had been confronted by the Klingons. She pressed a button on her desk to connect the communication. 

A holographic image of Captain Joshua Berkley appeared in her office. “Admiral – this is Berkley. The Republic is under attack by two Klingon Birds of Prey. We are requesting immediate reinforcements. The Klingon’s are using a new technology – they disappear… ” The communication link cut out. She tried to re-establish it but ther was no response. It was probably a Klingon jamming signal. 

Admiral Ferreira had the position of the Republic – she dispatched three starships to their location. It would take them about twenty minutes to arrive but maybe they’d be able to find survivors and salvage what they could. Command had limited intelligence on the Klingon Empire. If they have technology that allows them to disappear, this would change everything for the Federation. 

USS Republic

Aboard the Republic.

“Get the shields up!” Captain Joshua Berkley ordered from the command chair. I’ve been the CO of the Republic for 6 months and now there’s a war? Is this Starfleet? He thought to himself as the floor of the Republic shook. Minutes before, the Republic was quietly patrolling the Federation-Klingon border. They had just received word that war was declared between the two inter-galactic nations. Joshua didn’t expect to be attacked this quickly – but this was the way of the warrior. 

“We have two Birds of Prey that keep appearing and disappearing. This must be new tech. Once they go invisible, we can’t target them.” Lieutenant Timothy Harrison said aloud from the navigator’s station. 

That comment irritated Captain Berkley. He made a mental note to speak with him about that once this was over. “Fire at will Lieutenant.” He watched the viewscreen as his Helmsman, a young 20 year old Ensign whose name escaped him, was sweating. He’d never seen war. Well, now he has. 

“Commander Hatch, send a subspace message to Command asking for reinforcements. Commander V’Lan, see if there is a way to penetrate their cloak.” From the look of the battle, the Republic had scored a few shots against the Klingons but they were far more effective. 

“Shields are down to 45%.” the navigator yelled out. 

In a normal battle, the Republic would easily defeat two Klingon Birds of Prey. But with their new cloaking technology, it had evened the score. There was no way of predicting where they would decloak. 

“YES!” Captain Berkley yelled as he saw one Bird of Prey explode. They’d been hit by a photon torpedo as they were cloaking. That’s when Commander T’Lan said, “It appears that the Klingon’s must lower their shields before they cloak. We must use this to our advantag….” 

As the Commander was saying this, the Navigator yelled, “The shockwave from the explosion has weakened our ventral shields. Combined with the Bird of Prey’s attacks our shields are about to fail.” 

Captain Berkley looked down at his command console – the shields were at 5%. Two phaser banks had been destroyed, and aft launchers were down. This didn’t look good. “Lieutenant – we can’t afford to miss any shots. Continue firing.” 

Captain Berkley heard the sound of phasers being fired and torpedoes being launched. On the screen he saw the phasers hit the Bird of Prey. He looked down at his console and saw that their shields were barely up and it looked like their cloak was down. “We’ve almost got them where we want them. Let’s shift to evasive pattern beta.” 

Starfleet Command

–OFFICIAL REPORT–

REPORT ON SEVERE DAMAGE TO THE USS REPUBLIC

SUMMARY 

The USS Republic engaged two Birds of Prey equipped with their new cloaking device. As the battle progressed, the ship defended itself using their full armament. This was battle was ultimately fought to a minor victory for the USS Republic. 

At the end of the battle, both vessels shields were down. The USS Republic launched a final volley of torpedoes that would destroy the Bird of Prey. However, just before impact, the Klingon’s launched their own volley of torpedoes towards the USS Republic. While two out of the three manually aimed torpedoes missed the Republic, one successfully struck Deck 1 – destroying the bridge and killing all bridge officers. 

With the ship severely damaged, Chief Engineer, Commander Brett Westport was able to transfer control to Engineering and navigated the ship back to Starbase.

Upon return to Starbase, Commander Westport has been promoted to First Officer of the USS Commonwealth. The remaining Bridge Crew is must be replaced. The USS Republic does require major repairs which should be completed. It is the opinion of Starfleet Operations that the USS Republic should not be decommissioned or salvaged for parts. 

[Report continues…}. 

Jarred Vittorino finished reading through the report on the last battle of the USS Republic. Up until yesterday, he had been the Commanding Officer of the USS Paris. This morning, he was summoned to command, offered a promotion to Rear Admiral, and to the Commanding Officer of the USS Republic. 

“This is a great honor, Admiral. I accept.” Jarred heard the words escape his mouth but didn’t believe them. There was a part of him that was waiting to wake up. He didn’t. Instead he gripped Admiral Ress Th’rhaolrarh’s hand and felt a new insignia being placed on his uniform. Which reminded him that he needed to get a new Yellow Command shirt. 

Admiral Ress Th’rhaolrarh then brought up a second PADD. “In addition to the Republic you have assigned to Tactical Group 64. This group will coordinate our frontline operations. All ships will report directly to you. The Federation is trusting you with its security. Don’t let us down. Report to the Republic – assemble the final members of your crew and make your way to the border. Dismissed.” 

Admiral Jarred Vittorino stood, saluted the Admiral, then turned and walked out of his office. The USS Republic would be his newest challenge but so would Tactical Group 64. Like the Admiral said, the Federation would be relying on Tactical Group 64 to ensure its existence. 

NEWS FROM TF64 GAMES

• USS Republic – Admiral Vittorino and the crew of the USS Republic are embarking on their first mission since the Republic was rebuilt from their last engagement with the Klingons. Our first mission will take us to Terra Nova where they’ll pick up a world renowned trauma surgeon and transport him to the front lines. But before they can arrive at the front lines, the crew of the Republic will face tough challenges.
• USS Mercury – Captain Sholorn, Lieutenants Maran and Markson returned to the Mercury to inform the crew of what the GM told them. They all agreed to proceed with helping the boy and ventured forth through the gate that had appeared on the bridge. After passing through, the crew appeared in a mythical realm. There, they were greeted by the people living in the two of Lake Ophidia. Shortly after arriving, a group of people resembling Vulcans, named Aikumesti, arrived and presented the Mercury crew with objects that would aid them on their quest; a quest that was finally revealed to them. Firstly, they were to seek out the Woman of the Seeing Eye before venturing forth into the Underdark of Gre’Thor. Before setting off though, the people of the two treated them to a mighty and spectacular feast.

• USS Minerva – The Minerva has started a mini-mission: “It’s another day on “The Final Frontier” and the starship Minerva has suffered a technical fault that has left it adrift in space. As the crew works to solve that problem, a cargo mishap makes things much more difficult.”

• USS Augusta – The Augusta is studying the Benecia System. As the crew completes their scans, they are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the USS Alexandria. 

• USS Alexandria – The Alexandira has completed their initial scans of the Benecia System and has now moved on to a detailed planetary scans. The USS Alexandria also had their first cold war scenario contact with the Klingon Empire. The Federation was warned to tread lightly in the neutral zone. 

UPDATES FROM BRAVO FLEET AND TASK FORCE 64 

We have a few updates from Bravo Fleet :

• As you can see above, we have a new logo! This new red and gold logo relates directly to our era’s uniforms. Even better, we now have the USS Discovery’s saucer section included in our logo! How awesome is that?!
• Operational Policy – This document governs the Task Forces, Fleet Departments, Simm Transfers, Command Requirements, and most importantly activity standards. Please make sure that you review these standards as they will be implemented for August. 
• Canon Policy – The document covers our fleet’s rules for canon development. As a special Task Force, focusing on the early history of Star Trek, this policy states that TF64 has “ their own canon developed solely by their game masters and members.” 

First and foremost, I would like to welcome MJ to TF64 as the CO of the Challenger NX-03 and the Endeavour NX-06. This represents the reintroduction of Enterprise era games! Welcome to the Task Force!

One of the goals that I outlined in my Initial Status Report was re-organizing Task Groups so that their names are less ambiguous and more focused on the canon for each group. Games will be shifted to their appropriate Task Groups over the next day or so. Here are our new Task Groups: 

NX Division (2151-2199)

Set between 2151 and 2199, the NX Division will house games that explore Humanities first steps into deep space after Zefram Cochrane’s first warp flight, the beginning of Starfleet, the Coalition of Planets and the early history of the United Federation of Planets.

• Canon will be based on the journey of the Starship Enterprise NX-01 and Star Trek: Enterprise.

Tactical Group 64 (2256-2257)

Set during the Federation-Klingon War of Star Trek: Discovery. TG64 will explore the people and events of the war that rebooted Star Trek television.

• Canon will be based on Season 1 of Star Trek: Discovery.

Task Group Discovery (2257-2265)

Set after the return of the USS Discovery from the Mirror Universe. Games within Task Group Discovery explore the Alpha and Beta Quadrants before Captain Kirk’s 5 year mission aboard the USS Enterprise.

• Canon will be based on Seasons 1 & 2 of Star Trek: Discovery.

Task Group Pathfinders (2265-2363)

Set during and after the hard won peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, Games in Task Group Pathfinders will focus on Starfleet’s return to science and exploration. Games are limited to the years leading up to the launch of the USS Enterprise – D under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

• Canon will be based on TOS up through Star Trek VI – The Undiscovered Country as well as any references to this time period from TNG, DS9, VOY, etc.

Task Group Kelvin (23rd Century)

Set in the alternate timeline created by the Hobus Star supernova. Games in Task Group Kelvin will explore the universe of the rebooted crew of the USS Enterprise.

• Canon will be based on the Star Trek reboot movies: Star Trek (2009), Star Trek: Into Darkness, & Star Trek: Beyond.

FINAL THOUGHTS

July was my first month as TFCO of 64. I’m excited to see the addition of two games to our NX Division and I look forward to developing canon across the Task Force. For the remainder of 2019, my focus will be on developing our two Discovery Task Groups and their canon. In the coming months, you will see more shared canon added to BF Infobase for all CO’s to use. Lastly, I am accepting applications for our next TF64 Executive Officer. If you are interested, please apply here.

Thanks for a great July and beginning of August! As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at tf64@bravofleet.com! 

Kyle  

RADM Jarred Vittorino

Commanding Officer, Task Force 64

Commanding Officer, USS Republic