Sarek Squadron
Sarek Squadron was a formation centred around the starship Sarek, a Sutherland-class heavy cruiser from 2400 to 2401. It was under the command of Captain Taes of the USS Sarek. In a joint-mission of exploration with the Romulan Free State, this squadron was assigned to explore the area of space known as the Typhon Frontier, beyond the coreward borders of Federation space in the Beta Quadrant. Sarek Squadron was assigned to Task Force 17's deep space operations. Given the limited tactical capacity of Sarek Squadron, their missions outside Federation space are short-term in nature, with periodic returns to Deep Space 17 for re-staffing and re-supply.
Current Composition
In 2400, Sarek Squadron was composed of two starships.
- USS Sarek, Sutherland-class heavy cruiser
- USS Olympic, Olympic-class research cruiser
History
Sarek Squadron was first constituted by Task Force 17 command, in partnership with the Romulan Free State, upon the commissioning of the USS Sarek in 2400. Operating out of Deep Space 17, the squadron was primarily assigned to broaden the Federation's understanding of the anomalous mysteries of the Typhon Expanse and the frontier beyond. As a mobile research platform with near-starbase capabilities in every scientific specialty, the USS Sarek was charged with reaching for the stars by solving imminent scientific mysteries, often amid humanitarian or diplomatic crises. The USS Olympic, by comparison, offered a venue for dialogue and competition between Starfleet and the Romulan Free State, by hosting scientific conferences, publishing the Olympic Journal, and serving as an escort and ferry to Romulan scientists crossing Federation space to explore the Typhon Frontier.
From the initial conception of its commissioning, Sarek Squadron was designed as one of Starfleet's great experiments to improve diplomatic relations with the Romulan Free State. Inspired by the Federation and Bajor's partnership at Deep Space 9, the USS Sarek was launched with a team of seventy-five civilian scientists from the Romulan Free State permanently embedded in the Sarek's science department. The very first Chief Science Officer assigned to the USS Sarek was held by a Romulan Free State science minister, Flavia ir-Llantriant. Aboard the USS Olympic, half of the science department was staffed by Romulan Free State scientists. Although the Sarek Squadron was assigned scientific mysteries of great import, the real mission was for both crews to work as one.
Given the recognition of Captain Taes and Flavia ir-Llantrisant's combined expertise, they were granted joint oversight of Sarek Squadron's mission planning to make full use of the squadron's capacity. The USS Sarek's first mission was to mediate treaty negotiations between colonists on the planet Tenope in the Typhon Expanse and the sentient clay they discovered to be native to the planet. Sarek Squadron's second mission involved a short survey, completed by both the Sarek and Olympic, of the dyson sphere that Starfleet first discovered in 2369.
The USS Sarek went on to explore an abandoned Romulan Star Empire outpost on the planet Ullho in the Typhon Expanse. Early in their planetary survey, the USS Sarek was dispatched to the Delta Quadrant in support of the Blood Dilithium campaign. Upon the USS Sarek's return to the beta quadrant, Captain Taes began an exploration of the Typhon Expanse to understand strange changes in the energy output of the spatial anomalies across that area of space. In that time, the Sarek rescued a lost Starfleet crew from a temporal vortex and protected a pair of gormaganders, whose migratory patterns had been impacted by increases in solar winds.
Meanwhile, the USS Olympic returned to Ullho to to complete the Sarek's abandoned planetary survey; however they were attacked by an unknown assailant. Protected by a Romulan Free State warpbird, the Olympic was escorted back to Federation space.
By early 2401, Starfleet command abruptly changed the commanding officers of both the USS Sarek and the USS Olympic amid the Dominion invasion of the Deneb Sector and the Changeling infiltration of Starfleet. Sarek Squadron was disbanded.