USS Endeavour History (In Character)

Created by Captain Tim Williams on Tue Oct 8th, 2013 @ 1:00pm

The USS Endeavour was a Sovereign-class vessel launched by Starfleet in 2386 under the command of then-Commander Benjamin J. Byrne. She was the third starship to bear the name, and was named for the Earth-built NASA space shuttle of the 20th and 21st Centuries. Upon her launch, the ship was immediately assigned to the Eleventh Fleet, and ordered to report to the fleet's base of operations at Cestus III.

The Endeavour's first mission was to escort Vice Admiral Roman Sanchez to a diplomatic meeting requested by the mysterious race encountered by Kirk's Enterprise known as the Metrons. This was to be the second and to-date last encounter with these species by the Federation, as the Metrons sent the Endeavour to the middle of a conflict in another galaxy in order to test the crew and judge whether they were deemed civilised enough to open diplomatic relations with. Upon the vessel's return to the Milky Way, Admiral Sanchez branded the Metrons uncivilised for the methods used in their test, and ordered the ship to take him immediately back to Cestus III.

After a brief stop at Starbase_332, the ship was assigned to show the flag of the Federation within the Archa Sector, and act as both a deterrent to would-be threats and a reinforcement of the Federation's pledge to protect for the member and protected worlds within the region. During the ship's first two years of this tour, the crew faced threats from enlarged insect-like creatures similar to the macrocosm discovered by the Starship Voyager in the Delta Quadrant, and furthered the Federation's diplomatic relations with the isolationistic Nevearrans.

Towards the end of the two-year tour, the ship's crew discovered an ancient space station left adrift past the borders of both the Federation and the Tholian Assembly. Ordered to occupy the station and learn its secrets, Captain Byrne was forced to negotiate a new treaty with the Tholians for shared study of the station so close to their borders, and to temporarily transfer his command and most of his crew to the station - designated Deep Space 19 - until Starfleet could send a replacement crew to the distant location.

Following relief from command of the station, Byrne and the Endeavour were ordered to make the long journey back to Cestus III for some brief shore leave before embarking on their next tour. Joined by two other vessels with more ready to provide support if needed, the crew was sent into the neutral corridor of space between the Klingon and Gorn Empires to act as a deterrent, and prevent the Cold War between the two races escalating to armed conflict. It was during this time period that the crew discovered that former Romulan spy and lover of Captain Byrne T'Marl was operating in the region with individuals from both sides in an attempt to escalate the conflict for her own ends. Though the crew were able to destroy the facility she was operating out of, T'Marl was able to escape to continue her plans elsewhere.

Continuing its patrol of the region, the Endeavour responded to the distress call of a private research station which had been working on an experimental new power core system for starships. Their prototype vessel had lost contact and they were requesting assistance in locating it. Before the crew could provide assistance, a Borg cube was detected approaching the station, with the prototype vessel partially absorbed into its hull, amongst other patch-work repair jobs from salvaged vessels. Unable to hold off the Borg attack, the Endeavour was forced to evacuate the station and retreat to a safe distance.