Episode 01 - Project Sienna

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Mission Summary

The year is 2389 and USS Galileo is finishing construction at San Francisco Naval Yards. Equipped with the latest sensor arrays and science equipment, she is a small yet capable survey vessel designed to replace the few remaining Oberth Class starships in the fleet. Throughout the past few years, the Federation has expanded and finally recovered its losses from the Dominion War almost 15 years ago. New species and governments, even entire sectors in the Beta Quadrant have joined the United Federation of Planets. The Klingon Empire, a valuable ally during the war, has maintained ties with the Federation and has also grown in strength and number, expanding and taking control over several sectors of the recently-shattered Romulan Empire. Conflicts of interest still arise on occasion yet both the Federation and Klingons honor the terms of their alliance.

Unfortunately, despite their mutual cooperation, each government still maintains skepticism of one another and takes the necessary precautions to protect their respective areas of interest. One such area, Federation Starbase 152, is located inside the Beta Quadrant near Klingon space. It houses a secret Research and Development facility disguised as a planetary and spacial observatory. Equipped with the latest holographic and sensor technology, the facility masks its true intentions by refracting sensor and energy readings and projecting false information. The true nature of the starbase is ground-breaking. The Federation has recently started experimenting with alternate methods of faster-than-light travel. The standard warp drive, though reliable and capable, has been in existence for hundreds of years and a new, possibly more efficient technology has emerged. Dubbed 'Project Sienna', it is a new propulsion system which utilizes a magnetic core drive (MCD), capable of folding space-time and allowing ships to pass instantaneously from one point in space to another. It's specific method of operation is classified but the technology is very promising and the practical applications are unlimited.

In order to keep the project going, Starfleet maintains a standing crew of twenty scientists and additional support personnel aboard the station at all times and resupplies them every two months. Recently, Starfleet has been concerned that the facility has been drawing too much attention. Local sensor readings over the last sixteen weeks have revealed an increase in Klingon activity in the sector and standard Federation resupply ships have been frequently stopped and inspected by their Klingon counterparts. With such a promising technology on the near horizon, Starfleet has decided to discretely evacuate the facility and move the project to a location closer to the Alpha Quadrant and farther away from the Klingon Empire. USS Galileo is dispatched on short notice to retrieve Project Sienna along with the scientists and transfer them back to Starbase 001.