Task Force 37

Created by Captain Tim Williams on Fri Oct 6th, 2017 @ 3:49pm

Coming under the umbrella of Starfleet's 11th Fleet and commanded by Captain Evelynn Haught, Task Force 37 is tasked with the peaceful exploration of the Delta Quadrant, with the hope of improving upon some of the relations made and broken by Voyager's iconic journey through the quadrant, and to learn more about the races which inhabit it.

After the return of the USS Voyager, a large number of research projects were started based off of the new technologies Voyager and her crew come across in the Delta Quadrant. Of those Projects was the development of the Graviton Catapult, a technology capable of hurtling starships across hundreds or thousands of lightyears in a matter of hours.

Due to the unique properties and power requirements of the catapult, and limitations in Starfleet's power plant technologies, Federation-built catapults could only operate when in orbit of O-type stars, the rarest at 0.00003% of stars, to provide the immense power output needed to generate the graviton field. A suitable star was found near the Cynget system in the alpha quadrant, and Starbase 11 began construction of the catapult in 2382. By 2385 construction was complete, and extensive testing took part over the following three years, with manned test flights beginning in 2388. With no major loss of life or property, the catapult technology was considered sound and reliable by Starfleet Command, and in 2389 the search for a purpose for the technology was begun in earnest.

Early on Starfleet knew that they did not want to launch ships into unknown areas of space and hope they can make it home. Starfleet wanted to use the catapult to explore safely, which meant they needed a way to communicate with ships over great distances and recall ships if needed. It was decided that the Pathfinder project could be used to communicate and that a return catapult should be built to recall ships.

With Delta Quadrant having the only other known type-O star that was suitable the decision was not difficult. After sending several probes over several months, the area around the type-O star was deemed clear, safe and relatively isolated - an ideal location for the return catapult to be constructed and protected. A safe harbour for starships beginning their explorations of the quadrant.

The first manned ships Starfleet sent were on voluntary assignment only and their task was to set up a staging area for additional ships and construction crews to build the return catapult. The forward teams built a small station that was nicknamed “Exile” to serve as a temporary command facility. Over the following year, Starfleet sent all the components needed to construct the new catapult, and construction moved fast. With the mistakes learnt from construction of the first catapult, and as many components manufactured and assembled in the alpha quadrant, the construction crews in the delta quadrant had to do little more than just assemble the pieces. Within a year the catapult was fully functional.

After finishing the catapult Starfleet began the construction of a ground facility on the largest moon orbiting the gas giant Iota II which would serve as the base for operations in the Delta Quadrant and also the primary point of defence for the catapult. Officially designated Deep Space 37, the facility quickly came to be known by the crews assigned there as the Iota Command Facility.

With the Completion of Deep Space 37, Starfleet had successfully established a beachhead within the Delta Quadrant and now felt comfortable enough to begin bringing in the additional vessels to explore the quadrant. Creating the Task Force 37 from vessels within the 11th Fleet, Starfleet placed Captain Taylor Wood in command of exploring the Quadrant. As time progressed, command of the task force passed to Captain John Thompson until he was recalled to the alpha quadrant for promotion to Admiral, and a position overseeing all of the operational task forces of the 11th Fleet. Captain Evelyn Haught was assigned as his replacement.