USS DAEDALUS Writer's Guide
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Starbase Gibraltar and Surroundings
Formally Starbase 1256, Starbase Gibraltar is a deep-space outpost on the furthest reaches of Federation space, near the junction of the Federation, Klingon, and Ardillian borders. It currently serves as an operational base for approximately a dozen Federation starships, including the Normandy and Daedalus, as well as two Klingon warships.
Unlike most large starbases, Gibraltar is not located near any inhabited planets. Instead, it stands guard over the Alpha Quadrant terminus of the Gibraltar wormhole, an artifically constructed hyperspace passage leading to an uncharted region of the galaxy near the far side of the Klingon Empire's territories.
The base is located far from other Starfleet resources and support. Most personnel transfers to and from ships in the area are carried out by the D-Warp-equipped oversized runabout Iceshard, which makes a daily round-trip to Starbase Gibraltar from Starbase Delta (8 hours each way), since even at maximum warp, the trip between Delta (Green Fleet headquarters, orbiting Vulcan) and Gibraltar takes nearly two weeks for a normal starship. The starbase itself, like most starships, is equipped with defense systems, life supports, and other creature comforts. It also possesses several docking ports, consisting of extendable tunnelways equipped with airlocks, which are designed to be compatible with all known vessel designs.
Due to the local relative lack of inhabited planets, as well as its status as a border checkpoint and customs station for ships entering or leaving Federation space, Starbase Gibraltar is a very common layover point for the few civilian ships travelling in the area. These ships are almost always freighters, as the area sees almost no tourism. Civilian vessels, however, are barred from a restricted area surrounding the wormhole entrance itself, which is located approximately 4 light- minutes (or 20 minutes at full impulse) from the starbase.
Nearby inhabited planets include Chelonia III (a Federation member world inhabited by two sentient, technologically advanced species, the Geochelons - sentient bipedal reptiles similar to a Galapagos tortoise - and the Cetacealons - sentient dolphin-like beings) and Hanamatsu III (a Federation colony populated mainly by humans of Asian decent, which has been known to be a haven of illegal activities and organizations). Both of these planets, however, are over a day's travel from Gibraltar at high warp, and in any case can offer little or no assistance in times of crisis.
The Starbase has a commercial promenade ("Deck 99"), which contains mainly restaurants catering to the variety of civilian and military ships that commonly use the station for shore leave. These include, among others, the "Milky Way" (a '60's style diner, known for its milkshakes) and a location of the widely known Marguerite's chain of French cafes and delis. The promenade also houses a small variety of stores dealing in commonly sold goods and services, such as the "Spotted Parrot" clothing store (known for carrying everything from coveralls to wedding dresses) and the "California Clipper" hair salon. There is also an office and warehouse belonging to the Federation Parcel Service, which provides package shipping and delivery services (agents of FPS meet ships when they arrive to deliver packages to the crew of those ships, or notify the ship of the packages and allow the crew to come to their office to retrieve them).
The Starbase's military contingent is relatively small. It is commanded by Commander Heather "Tink" MacLane. Starbase Operations, responsible for flight-control and the docking ports, is commanded by Ensign Alexandra Athene Boulanger, a young officer of French descent (and younger sister of Captain Christophe Boulanger of the USS Normandy). The starbase is also home to the offices of Commodore Sarjena Kalem, a Bajoran officer who is the senior Federation official in the area, and overall commander of the Gibraltar Expeditionary Force.
In 2414, the number of ships based at Gibraltar was increased, including the assignment of the Daedalus and a number of smaller ships which had been working with it for some time. After the destruction of the Suffolk and Europa, the brand-new starship Normandy was dispatched as a replacement, arriving in September. In 2415, the Anchorage, a small but powerful warship, was assigned to Starbase Gibraltar as an additional line of defense.
The Gibraltar Wormhole and Regions Beyond
This artificial wormhole was discovered only a few years ago; initially investigated by the USS Suffolk, it has become a strategically important location to the Federation. Its near terminus became the locale for Starbase Gibraltar, and is located approximately 12 days at maximum warp from Starbase Delta, in a region where inhabited planets are relatively sparse. The far terminus is located in uncharted space slightly beyond the far borders of the Klingon and Ardillian Empires.
The few expeditions beyond the wormhole have revealed small areas of this uncharted region. Two alien races - known as the Tolkin and Creators - were discovered on one expedition; both appeared hostile. The technologically advanced Creators may be responsible for the wormhole, and are (based on last observations) believed to be involved in a genocidal war against their former vassals, the Tolkin. A later expedition (resulting in the loss of the starships Suffolk and Europa), in a different direction from the wormhole, discovered a Dyson Sphere of proto-Borg origins approximately 49 hours from the wormhole entrance. It was slightly damaged by the USS Daedalus during the rescue operation; one of the Sphere's egress hatches has now been severely damaged by torpedoes, causing a hole large enough to admit a starship.
So far, the only other sentient race contacted by the Daedalus is the Masovians, an early-warp civilization which communicates only by telepathy. No diplomatic arrangements have yet been reached, but they are not hostile, nor is their technology advanced enough to represent a threat to Federation security. They use monorail trains for intercity travel, and their justice system includes immediate punishment, with executions for murder (carried out by telepathically disabling the murderer's telepathic senses, then overlanding their body with pain until their nervous system fails).
The USS Normandy also encountered a ship calling itself the HMS Duke William, which was staffed by British Terrans, claiming to be a scoutship from a nearby planet, which may have been created by advanced aliens who "photocopied" Earth in roughly the 1770s, with alternate history since that date, in which the American Revolution never happened and Earth was unified under the aegis of the British Empire. Their homeworld and territories are yet to be charted. The Duke William did not possess warp drive, but used dimensional portals into a compressed layer of "hyperspace" to conduct interstellar travel at similar speeds.
Credits
This document was created by Charles Jencks, and was created from source material produced by the past and present crews of: USS Daedalus, USS Suffolk, USS Normandy and Starbase Gibraltar.
