USS Polaris
While research and development activities are traditionally conducted from starbases and outposts within the Federation’s core territories, not all research occurs within a lab. Sometimes, the greatest discoveries are made amongst the stars. This is the mission of the USS Polaris.
- "All we known is still infinitely less than all that remains unknown."
- — William Harvey
The USS Polaris is an Odyssey class explorer within Task Force 93 of the Fourth Fleet that is home to the Advanced Science, Technology and Research Activity, a specialized, cross-functional unit intended to fuel Starfleet’s innovation engine through exploration of strange new works, interactions and negotiations with alien species, and crisis response to some of the stranger realities on the rim of known space. It is also the flagship of Fleet Admiral Allison Reyes, conducting diplomatic and first contact duties as necessary to represent the interests of the Federation on the frontier.
Operations
Advanced Science, Technology and Research Activity (ASTRA)
ASTRA is comprised of four specialized science and research units that dramatically extend beyond the scope of research departments found on typical Starfleet vessels.
- Astrophysics and Exotic Sciences Unit, led by Commander Luke Lockwood, Ph.D., is responsible for research related to stellar and planetary phenomena, including astrophysics, subspace mechanics, temporal mechanics, stellar cartography, geochemistry, minerology, seismology, etc.
- Medical and Biological Sciences Unit, led by James Henderson, M.D., M.P.H., is responsible for research related to alien species, including ecology, biology, zoology, botany, etymology, medicine, anatomy, pathology, toxicology, bacteriology, etc.
- Cultural and Psychological Research Unit, led by Lieutenant Lisa Hall, Ph.D., is responsible for research related to the development, culture and perspectives of alien species, including anthropology, archaeology, agronomy, psychology, negotiation, historiology, etc.
- Technology and Engineering Research Unit, led by Captain Soren Ayal, is responsible for research related to Federation and foreign technologies, including propulsion, weapons, shields, sensors, communications, digital systems, synthetic lifeforms, etc.
The Director of ASTRA is Fleet Admiral Allison Reyes, who draws on her experience a former Director of Starfleet R&D's Frontier Sciences Division, Deputy Director of Starfleet R&D's Shipbuilding Technologies Division, and Section Chief for the Starfleet Intelligence Technology Analysis Bureau.
Starship Operations
Due to the multi-role purpose of the USS Polaris, general starship operations, including Flight Control, Engineering, Operations and Security, are principally overseen by Executive Officer Captain Gérard Devreux. Other functions, such as Medical and Counseling, are provided as extensions of the Advanced Science, Technology and Research Activity, with James Henderson, M.D., M.P.H. and Lieutenant Lisa Hall, Ph.D. doubling as Chief Medical Officer and Chief Counselor respectively. There is no standard Science department on the USS Polaris as its functions are completely subsumed by the Advanced Science, Technology and Research Activity.
Combat Operations
While the purpose of the USS Polaris is predominantly science, research and exploration, Fleet Admiral Allison Reyes, a veteran of the Dominion War, remains wary of the dangers in the unknown. During the refit of the USS Polaris in 2399, Reyes saw to the buildout of a Combat Information Center (CIC) capable of managing strategic operations across an entire sector of space should the need arise.
For direct action engagements beyond the scope of a traditional Security department, Fleet Admiral Reyes brought in a veteran of Starfleet Intelligence special operations, Commander Jake Lewis, as Chief Intelligence Officer and Hazard Team lead. Under Commander Lewis, the Hazard Team aboard the USS Polaris is a grueling assignment, with selection and training heavily focused on direct and covert combat operations.
Diplomatic Operations
As one of only a few flag officers permanently operating on a frontline explorer, and someone with many years of experience in deep space exploration and first contact situations, Fleet Admiral Allison Reyes is uniquely positioned to serve as an ambassador for the Federation on the frontier. The diplomatic facilities aboard the USS Polaris are well equipped for this purpose, and the crew includes both dedicated diplomatic staff and members of the ASTRA team that specialize in alien cultures, development and psychology.
Attached Vessels
The USS Polaris has an attached Aquarius-class escort, the USS Procyon, which can handle transporting away teams on independent scientific missions, serve as a temporary planetary camp for intensive studies, or operate as part of tactical operations either independently or as part of a multi-vector flight configuration.
For combat operations, the USS Polaris is also home to a squadron of 12 Valkyrie class fighters and 2 Apsara class bombers, with flight operations typically managed out of the Polaris' Command Information Center.
History
The Polaris Project commenced at Devron Fleet Yards in 2389. The project came under immediate and sustained scrutiny by those within the Federation who felt investments in large explorers were a waste in the wake of the First Contact Day catastrophe. Nonetheless, the project proceeded under the supervision of Captain Ethysaan Ch'chirrit, and the USS Polaris entered service five years later.
The first few years of the service for the USS Polaris were relatively uneventful as, under a Starfleet policy that saw it pull back from deep space exploration, the frontline explorer and flagship was relegated to diplomatic and support missions within core Federation territory. This would all change in March 2399 with the Osiris Initiative, which breathed fresh life into Starfleet as the Fourth Fleet was tasked with a return to the great unknown.
Due to the versatility and size of the Odyssey class, the USS Polaris was selected as a platform to host the Advanced Science, Technology and Research Activity. The USS Polaris spent several months in spacedock undergoing modifications for the specialized equipment and labs to support the needs of the Activity, and it relaunched in September 2399.
Notable Events
June 2400: A Place Removed from Space
The USS Polaris was dispatched to find two ships that had gone missing deep in the Talvath Cluster. As it began its search, the USS Polaris' warp field collapsed, and it became stranded due to incongruities in local subspace. The ASTRA Astrophysics and Exotic Sciences Team attempted to derive a new formalism around the local spacetime, one with impossible mechanics that somehow nonetheless existed in this specific area of space.
While work was ongoing to find a way to circumvent the spacetime anomalies, the USS Polaris made first contact with a xenophobic alien species. Through this contact, it was learned that this unnamed species had modified their local spacetime almost two millennia ago in order to defend themselves against aggression of pre-Imperial Romulan warlords. Although the manner in which they accomplished this feat is not understood, it had the effect of cutting them off completely from the rest of the galaxy, an isolation they have maintained ever since. Ultimately, this species agreed to transport the USS Polaris and her sister ships back to Federation space under the condition that the Federation never return.
April 2401: Infiltrate and Liberate
In the early days of the Lost Fleet crisis, the Nasera System fell to the Dominion and Breen assault. A key industrial center and one of the oldest Federation colonies in the Deneb Sector, retaking Nasera was deemed a key priority by Fourth Fleet Command. A covert action team, comprised mostly of USS Polaris Hazard Team members, plus a couple private contractors, was dispatched to Nasera II to disrupt planetary and orbital defenses, paving the way for the USS Polaris and a small assault wing to execute a counter-offensive to recapture the system.