Outpost Houtman

Outpost Houtman
General Information
Class	Planetary Outpost-class
Affiliation	United Federation of Planets Starfleet Fourth Fleet
Commissioned	2400
Location
System	Sheo System
Quadrant	Alpha Quadrant
Assignment
Role	Dilithium Mining Station Long-Range Sensor Post
Personnel
Commanding Officer	Commander Nakil Ga
Station Populations	80
Template:Starbase

Outpost Houtman is a Starfleet dilithium mining facility located on Sheo III, a class-M planet dominated by humid jungles. This outpost is also the nucleus of a new Federation colony, though the sustainability of long-term inhabitation of the planet is unknown due to the planet's tectonic instability and unpredictable weather. Key threats in the region include the Breen, Tzenkethi, and Kzinti, so this facility also houses a long-range sensor array to serve as a waypoint for exploratory and patrol missions in the area.

Organization

Outpost Houtman has a Starfleet crew commanded by a Starfleet commander. The new colony slowly being established around the outpost is under civilian control, but its leaders defer to Starfleet in most matters.

History

The Sheo system was discovered on the coreward frontier of Federation space near to the Breen border in the mid-2300s, but was not fully surveyed until 2400 when it was visited by the USS Walker. Long sense thought to be unremarkable, or at least unappealing for colonization because of its tempestuous climate and hostile lifeforms, a massive dilithium deposit was discovered on Sheo II and Starfleet elected to establish a presence there. Outpost Houtman was established in late 2400 with a Starfleet crew, and limited civilian settlement surrounding the core structures was also authorized for a trial period to confirm the viability of colonization. Starfleet's core goal with this outpost is to ensure that the dilithium is extracted ethically and keeping with environmental laws, while also keeping an eye on the region with a new subspace listening post and deep space sensor array, designed to help plot both patrol and exploratory routes in the coreward Alpha Quadrant.