This is the introduction to a Star Trek Adventures (STA): Captain's Log solo adventure that I am playing to help flesh out the world for my regular D&D group's on going Star Trek Adventures story set aboard the USS Jacques Cartier. The stories I have been doing for my D&D group are set in 2405, a few years after Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard and also using elements of Star Trek Online's story campaign, with some liberties taken. My solo campaign draws inspiration primarily from the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine television series and also the Star Trek: Vanguard book series, both based on Starfleet outposts.
The premise of this setting is that Starfleet is working towards the next generation of propulsion, the slipstream drive. The engineering division of Starfleet - The Starfleet Corps of Engineers (SCE) - has begun the Pathfinder Project, with the aim of developing working prototypes and finalizing the technology which the USS Voyager brought home from the Delta Quadrant in 2374. To that end, a Starbase was commissioned to serve as the main R&D facility for the SCE to work out the kinks in the technology and field test it before it could be massed produced and installed on the broader fleet.
To that end, Starbase 88 was created. Located in the Arcturus Reach to the galactic south east of the Beta Quadrant, close to the edge of Federation space and between what was once the Romulan Star Empire's territory and the Klingon Empire's boarder. Named the Gauntlet to serve as a reminder that completing this research and development would be challenging, Starbase 88 would serve as Starfleet's primary presence in the Arcturus Reach. The Reach was an excellent region of space to test out new propulsion systems as localized sub-space was very stable and would serve as a sort of Mojave Proving Ground found on Earth.
To aid in the defense of the region, and serve as test beds for the new propulsion system, Starfleet created a task force daubed the Pathfinder Fleet. Three ships were initially assigned, the Ross-class USS April to serve as the fleet's flagship, the Obena-class USS Farsight, and the Reliant-class USS Xiao Huang. Later on the Steamrunner-class USS Jacques Cartier would be added to the Pathfinder Fleet to test out recent developments in the slipstream drive.
Admiral Shilov Th'rovoq (my character), an Andorian, was assigned to command the station and fleet. He was given the orders to ensure the Pathfinder project stayed on track, but also to see to the regions security. Tensions with the Klingon Empire are on the rise, with a risk of a new Federation/Klingon war breaking out. Shilov will have to balance the scientific and research needs to the Pathfinder Project, while also making sure that if a conflict breaks out with the Klingons, that he can keep everyone safe and also safeguard the advanced propulsion research they have at Starbase 88.