Gateway Station
Starbase 23, code-named Gateway Station, is a Canopus-class space station located on the Federation border to the Romulan Republic and the Independent Romulan Factions. Constructed in the late-2390s, it was designed to replace border infrastructure that dated back to before the Romulan supernova and the collapse of the Romulan Neutral Zone. Gateway Station is now the hub of Starfleet operations in the Midgard Sector, a region that stretches across the territory of the Federation and Republic, as well as the collapsed Neutral Zone and the former territories of the Star Empire of Rator. Its mission is to maintain stability in the area through humanitarian operations and diplomacy with local Romulan factions. It is also the base for scientific operations to explore territories once inaccessible to Starfleet due to treaties with the Romulan Star Empire through survey missions, negotiating access with local powers, and the sharing of scientific knowledge with regional stakeholders.
Gateway Station is the headquarters of Endeavour Squadron, whose primary mission is to further Starfleet's ambitions in the Midgard Sector. The Rhode Island-class USS Tempest is permanently attached to Gateway, and used by her senior staff for missions off-station.
Operations
Gateway Station is charged with the following missions:
- Maintain the security of the Federation border.
- Engage in diplomacy and humanitarian aid with local factions to support regional stability.
- Liaise with the Romulan Republic on matters of commerce, security, and diplomacy.
- Develop opportunities for trade, research, and industry in the Midgard Sector.
- Establish new avenues of Starfleet exploration in and beyond the Midgard Sector.
Regional Stability
The Midgard Sector is a highly volatile region. Relations with the Romulan Republic remain underdeveloped, but it is the largest local power beside the Federation and a proven ally. All other non-Federation territory was formerly that of either the Neutral Zone or the Star Empire of Rator and is now independent. While there are multiple worlds, industry centres, or stations known to still be occupied or operational in the area, none are confirmed to Starfleet to have banded into any new factions or fallen under any local warlords.
Many of these worlds are struggling after the fall of the Star Empire, historically reliant on complex chains of economics and logistics. In the old Neutral Zone is at least one former Romulan Relocation Hub for the evacuation of Romulus, set up by the Federation in the 2380s before their withdrawal from the area after the Attack on Mars. Starfleet has judged that rendering humanitarian assistance is their moral obligation and a political necessity to avoid serious upheaval.
Commerce and Diplomacy
With the opening of the old Romulan border and the Federation's return to outreach programs, regional commerce, industry, and diplomacy changed at the start of the 25th century. Gateway Station acts as a headquarters for Starfleet and civilian efforts in these areas: hosting diplomatic talks with local factions, providing facilities for cross-border trading, and facilitating humane and responsible industrial undertakings in and beyond Federation space. Starfleet especially hopes that any cooperation with the Republic on Gateway can form a model for future relationships.
Border Security
The collapse of the Star Empire of Rator means that Gateway lies on the border with fractious territories of former imperial vassals. There are few even potential enemies in the region who could present a serious threat to Starfleet operations, and especially not to Gateway itself. However, opportunities for pirates and warlords to operate in such a lawless region are endless, and travel without a mighty starship is considerably more dangerous. Likewise, the Romulan Republic is less resilient against such threats. With its auxiliary craft of runabouts and starfighters, attached starship, and the other vessels of Endeavour Squadron, Gateway Station is expected to keep denizens of the Midgard Sector, especially but not exclusively Federation citizens in the region, safe from threat.
Research and Exploration
The formation of the Neutral Zone in the 22nd century locked Starfleet out from ever entering Romulan space. The Midgard Sector thus stretches across Federation territory that has been thoroughly explored and charted, and former regions of the Neutral Zone and RSE where Starfleet has never before ventured. Now, Starfleet is keen to explore beyond Federation borders for the first time. Gateway Station is a platform for scientific missions across the border conducting surveys and studies, and charting new regions. However, not all who dwell in the Midgard Sector welcome Starfleet visitors, and exploration in the region includes diplomatically securing access to previously-unknown locations.
History
Pre-Commissioning
Since the establishment of the Romulan Neutral Zone and the Federation's founding, Starfleet infrastructure in the Midgard Sector was designed to secure the border with the Star Empire. Until the Romulan supernova, regional stations were for surveillance of Romulan activities across the Neutral Zone, or defence against possible incursion, with limited capacity for humanitarian or diplomatic operations. This left the Starbase 23 of the 2380s, like many others on the border, under-equipped to assist with the evacuation of Romulus or to manage the subsequent refugee crisis.
By the 2390s, Starfleet was rolling out upgrades to regional infrastructure. In this age of heightened security, suspicion, and xenophobia, the new Starbase 23 was originally intended to act only to secure the border through defence and diplomatic engagement with the Star Empire of Rator, and discourage refugee migration. This changed after the Federation's return to past policies of exploration and outreach in 2399 and the collapse of the Star Empire of Rator in 2400. Now on the Federation's doorstep were the volatile remnants of the Star Empire, a cluster of warlords, abandoned worlds, and independent factions. Immediately adjacent was the Romulan Republic, in whose ongoing survival and stability the Federation had become increasingly invested.
As such, the new Starbase 23 finished construction not to cautiously guard a border but charged with maintaining regional stability to meet both Federation and Republic interests.