Fourth Fleet

Fourth Fleet
Leadership
Commander	Fleet Admiral Teylas Ramar
Deputy Commander	Admiral Liam Dahlgren
Links
BFMS	Bravo Fleet
Template:Task Force

The Fourth Fleet, colloquially known as Bravo Fleet, is one of the numbered fleets that make up Starfleet. Founded in response to the Borg incursions and rising Dominion threat of the 2360s and 70s, for much of the past two decades, it has been assigned duties following the Federation's non-interventionist policies since the Attack on Mars. Recently, however, the Fourth Fleet has been repurposed for missions beyond the Federation's territory and self-interests. With a highly specialised array of Task Forces, Bravo Fleet is dedicated to frontier defence, humanitarian support across borders, diplomatic engagement, and deep-space exploration.

The Fourth Fleet is led by the senior officers of Fourth Fleet Command.

History

The modern incarnation of the Fourth Fleet came into being after the Borg incursion of 2367, which triggered a period of Starfleet developing its militarised technology and policies, leading to the development of a technologically cutting-edge fighting force preparing for future such encounters. Bravo Fleet was officially formed shortly after the Battle of Sector 001, but early Starfleet losses in the Dominion War saw a need for better strategic and tactical cooperation between their forces and those of the Klingon Empire. Thus was the fleet repurposed as the Starfleet wing of the primary joint force with the KDF, fitted and developed as a combat unit from the beginning, albeit now against a different foe. After the war, Bravo Fleet retained this status as a flexible unit adapting to Starfleet needs, often on dangerous frontiers.

The Attack on Mars led to a significant shift in Starfleet protocols. Federation policy demanded a non-interventionist approach to interstellar affairs, a focus within its own borders in resources, defence, and research. Bravo Fleet thus spent much of the next fifteen years with minimal resources, plugging gaps where needed and rarely fulfilling its original mandate. This changed in 2399 with a shift in the lower echelons of Starfleet Command, a drive to return to Starfleet's traditional role, and a reluctant allocation of resources and a new mission for Bravo Fleet followed. While it quickly proved its worth, the devastation of Frontier Day in 2401 has once again set back Starfleet's capabilities, and the Fourth Fleet remains a standout in its pursuit of Starfleet's historic mission.

Operations

Many of the galaxy's dangers still require a large-scale response from Starfleet.

Specialised task forces undertake key operations across the galaxy on matters of diplomatic intervention and deep space exploration, with Starfleet ships pushing beyond borders and involving themselves in political engagements of other powers on a scale barely seen in two decades. With relatively limited resources and support from Starfleet, and many apprehensive that their mission may draw the attention of threats to the Federation, old and new, the Fourth Fleet faces an uphill battle in upholding Starfleet’s legacy of diplomacy, exploration, and peace.

Fourth Fleet ships often operate independently, and captains are given particular trust to undertake critical missions with little oversight from command. It is rare for Task Forces to deploy together, or even operate within the same region. Such units are bound by administration, leadership, and often specialised training and expertise, linked in their shared ethos and approach rather than physical proximity or operational links. Such independent operations have been the norm across Starfleet's history, but the Fourth Fleet's mandate of exploration and diplomatic intervention often has Starfleet captains acting alone and further from support than was common in the late-24th century.

Personnel

This organisational reality requires vast faith placed by fleet command in their captains, and good officers who establish themselves in the Fourth Fleet can rise quickly through the ranks and become deeply trusted. Because of this, fleet command's management often sees captains and command staffs as the key unit rather than their individual starships, relying on specific leaders and teams to complete missions as needed and fulfil the Fourth Fleet's mandate. Good captains are given every tool at the fleet's disposal, including the best ship for their mission, short or long-term.

In practice, this means it is not unusual for individual captains or whole command teams to be moved between ships as missions require. This could be for a single assignment, or for months-long operations. While many Fourth Fleet captains, especially those at the apex of their career, follow the traditional path of commanding a single ship for years at a time, it is not unusual for others to be assigned to several different ships over the course of even a single year. This is unusual for Starfleet senior officers, but this flexibility in crew assignments allows the Fourth Fleet to be adaptable in the face of different challenges, sending the right crew to the right mission with the right tools, even if that means assigning them to a new vessel. Such regular reassigning has only become more common since Frontier Day, where many ships may have the resources and capabilities, but may lack the personnel.

Mandate

As a collection of highly adaptive, specialised task forces, Bravo Fleet is a largely decentralised unit with wings across the galaxy to meet the changing needs on Federation frontiers. Each task force thus maintains a headquarters in the region of the galaxy that presently most benefits from their presence. However, any ship may be dispatched to any sector requiring their expertise and involvement.

Task Force 17

Deep space operations. Task Force 17 conducts deep space exploratory and diplomatic missions far beyond Federation borders, in challenging, distant corners of the galaxy such as the Delta and Gamma Quadrants. They are specialists in long-term operations with little support from Starfleet infrastructure.

Task Force 21

Frontier operations. Based in the Deneb Sector, Task Force 21 is assigned to frontier exploration and colonial support, surveying regions close to Federation territory to identify sites for new colonies, outposts, and resourcing operations, while identifying and mitigating threats to the Federation's most distant and vulnerable assets.

Task Force 47

Pathfinding. Based in the Thomar Expanse, just beyond the Badlands, Task Force 47 is charged with establishing and developing new opportunities for Starfleet’s primary mission of exploration. It is their duty to negotiate with local powers for access, support, and intelligence in order to explore regions previously inaccessible due to practicality or politics.

Task Force 72

Diplomacy and peacekeeping. Based out of Starbase 72, close to the Cardassian border, Task Force 72’s ships are at the forefront of diplomatic intervention and peacekeeping. Their duties focus on engagement with political powers in volatile regions, ensuring stability between major governments and the protection of local populaces.

Task Force 86

Border defence and counterinsurgency. Based out of Starbase 86 and bordering the unclaimed Triangle region of the Beta Quadrant, Task Force 86 has a mandate of maintaining local stability and security. They operate in regions beset by insurgency or criminal forces, primarily through cooperation and support of local governments and civilian populations.

Task Force 93

Humanitarian operations. Based out of Devron Fleet Yards on the border to the old Romulan Neutral Zone, Task Force 93 is tasked with providing humanitarian support and protection to struggling regions of the galaxy. While this includes protection from predatory factions, Task Force 93 aids worlds devastated by natural disasters or violence, and treats with local and major powers to coordinate this assistance.

Major Events

The fleet was born from joint operations with Federation allies

• 2367: Starfleet plans to form a technologically advanced fighting force to counter future Borg threats.
• 2373: The Fourth Fleet, codenamed Bravo Fleet, is formed.
• 2374: With the outbreak of the Dominion War, Bravo Fleet is assigned as the Starfleet wing of the joint Federation-Klingon Alliance forces. It will proceed to have a strong bond with the KDF for decades to come.
• 2376: Bravo Fleet is adapted after the war as a flexible unit to respond to a variety of Federation and galactic crises.
• 2384: With the pending Romulan Supernova, the Fourth Fleet is assigned to assist the initial Romulan Evacuation efforts.
• 2385: After the Attack on Mars, the evacuation is aborted and resource allocation to the Fourth Fleet is greatly reduced as Starfleet focuses on internal Federation affairs. The Fourth Fleet loses much of its prestige over the next fourteen years.
• 2391: Forces from the Fourth Fleet participate in Operation: Gatecrasher, ejecting annexing forces of the insurrectionist Klingon movement the Sovereignty of Kahless from Federation border worlds.
• 2399: Starfleet Command issues a directive allocating resources to new border and deep space operations. Bravo Fleet is assigned to this project, despite public misgivings of such a use of Starfleet resources.
• 2399: Incursions by the Hunters of D'Ghor into Federation territory are repelled by forces of the Fourth Fleet.
  • Bravo Fleet ships respond to the Omega Crisis. When the role of relics of the fallen Tkon Empire is discovered, the Fourth Fleet's decentralised nature has it lead the way in Starfleet's search for and use of Tkon technology to resolve the crisis.
• 2400: The outbreak of the Century Storm in the Paulson Nebula endangers dozens of colony worlds and all activity in the region. Nearby Starbase Bravo takes point on the humanitarian response, with ships of the Fourth Fleet deployed to help.
  • The collapse of the Romulan Star Empire leads to newly-independent regions requesting Starfleet help. The primarily-Reman population of the Velorum Sector receive aid from the Fourth Fleet to secure economic self-sufficiency and freedom from the Star Navy. Ultimately, the Fourth Fleet negotiate their membership of the Romulan Republic.
    

    The USS Caliburn engages the Lost Fleet
  • The manifestation of Blood Dilithium in the Gradin Belt triggers a 'gold rush.' The Fourth Fleet is dispatched to resolve Blood Dilithium's scientific mystery and ease the local tensions stoked by these new riches.
• 2401: The sudden incursion into the Deneb Sector by the Dominion Lost Fleet goes dismissed by Starfleet Command as false rumours. Fleet Admiral Ramar invokes the Fourth Fleet's galaxy-wide mandate to intervene. The Lost Fleet are beaten to a standstill, surrendering and escorted back to the Gamma Quadrant.
  • The Borg Collective's attack on Starfleet at Frontier Day hits the Fourth Fleet the hardest at Avalon Fleet Yards, where many of their ships undergo maintenance and repair after engagements in Deneb.
  • A post-Frontier Day resurgence of Borg activity is investigated by the Fourth Fleet, leading to a new understanding of the Collective's current state.
  • Starfleet's response to the brief opening of Underspace apertures across the galaxy is spear-headed by the Fourth Fleet.

In Play

• The Fourth Fleet is, simply, Bravo Fleet - the IC representation of the OOC organisation. Every character in BF is assigned to the Fourth Fleet, serving as a crewman, captain, staff officer, etc. Stories told by Bravo Fleet depict missions and operations undertaken by the Fourth Fleet and its ships and crewmembers.
• IC, 'Bravo Fleet' is an old codename and almost a colloquialism. All formal references to the unit will call it the 'Fourth Fleet.'
• NPC characters and ships in Starfleet may be assigned to different fleets, but all BF characters are part of the Fourth Fleet's organisation, hierarchy, and mission.
• The Fourth Fleet is an 'elite' unit in some ways, with its captains and command staff holding immense power simply because they often respond to emerging crises and long-range missions they must deal with alone. Their decisions can have massive ramifications. For some, the Fourth Fleet's mandate to uphold traditional Starfleet missions and principles is aspirational and admirable. But there are some in Starfleet and the Federation who may view them as naïve or a waste of resources against the dangers of the 25th century.
• The Personnel section above explains that it's not unusual for Fourth Fleet captains to be transferred to new ships as missions require. This is an IC explanation for the OOC existence of the Fleet Asset System, in which a member may change starship every few months. This IC focus on the importance of captains and command teams also reflects how Bravo Fleet is organised around individual members - you - and the ships are secondary to this.