Crew of U.S.S. Apollo, Stardate 9004:

Commanding Officer: Captain Thonaresh th’aveen

Executive and Science Officer: Commander Aabis

Communications Officer: Lieutenant

Chief Engineering Officer: Lieutenant Commander Harriet Muller

Chief Medical Officer: Lieutenant Commander

Chief Security Officer: Lieutenant

Helm: Lieutenant (junior grade)

Navigator: Lieutenant (junior grade)

Shuttlecraft:

01 - Eagle

03 - Intrepid

05 - Aquarius

07 - Challenger

NCC-1725 Apollo was one of the late-2240s build of Constitution class, built at Tranquility Base on the Moon. She was refit in the 2260s, to Bonne Homme Richard subclass standards, and in a more detailed Enterprise subclass refit in the early 2280s.

Commanding Officer up to 2288 was Allister McGann, replaced by Thonaresh th’aveen, an Andorian male Thaan. This was the third Constitution class vessel to arrive in the Tabula Rasa region after the Explorer and Potemkin. Recently refurbished to Enterprise class specifications, the Apollo would support the Colonial & Mining Operations aspects of the Federation presence in the region. Due to the primarily scientific and diplomatic capabilities of the class, the Apollo was one of the largest ships in the region – apart from Excelsior and Hood later in the campaign.

The attack on the Potemkin and Hirayama was playing on the mind of Starfleet and Admiral Bell especially. The number of Constitution class ships needed to be increased inthe region. Levant subclass starships Explorer and sister ship en route Temeraire, would supplement Enterprise subclass Apollo and the damaged Potemkin. The early reports from the Explorer clearly illustrate the scale of the situation was too much for one starship, or even a handful. The Klingons and Romulans had a head start in exploring and colonising the worlds nearest their borders.

The Apollo was first sent to the desert world of Jeddart to set up the colony there and ensure the mines were up and running. With Klingon and Romulan skirmishes in the region, the Apollo was on alert for possible hostiles; in the Neutral Zone, the usual rules did not apply. Captain Thon was a decorated officer for both his diplomatic adventures and his rare but brilliant tactical moves. Admiral Michael Bell (named for the vocal artist in the game), who commanded the Tabula Rasa operations wanted Thon as a commanding officer in the region for just those particular command qualities; he wanted a diplomat who knew how to fight at a disadvantage if necessary.

The Executive and Science officer of the Apollo was the Deltan Aabis. Aabis was a veteran of Oberth and Hermes class scouting and science missions. Aabis had to adapt to the less emotionally sophisticated races of the Federation. The humans, whoseemed to be the most prevalent race at Starfleet Academy, were at their emtionally vulnerable age and Aabis had to address the inappropriate advances he had. The natural athletic and intellectual abilities that he had inherited meant that Aabis was always one of the cadets in the upper echelon of his class. He graduated in the top ten of his class of 2273 and had his choice of any assignment. Ensign Aabis chose the Hermes class scout for a three year exploratory mission into the Beta Quadrant. Lieutenant (junior grade) Aabis followed this up with an anthropological study for eighteen months from 2276. Another Hermes class assignment followed from 2277 until 2280, displaying an aptitude for science and soon was one of the senior scientists on the ship, ranked Lieutenant. A scientific exploratory mission on a Tikopai class starship was next, mapping and exploring to pave the way for colonisation and Federation expansion. The mission was completed in 2285 and Aabin tooka leave of absence to Delta IV to be with his mate. In 2286 Aabis joined the Monoceros class scout U.S.S. Savitskaya as Lieutenant Commander and Executive Officer for a three year mission. The mission concluded at Starbase 20 Key Stone and Aabis found himself promoted and assigned to the Apollo.

U.S.S. Apollo was lost as the Federation forces were withdrawing from the Tabula Rasa systems, as the worlds were returning to their dimensional prison. The Apollo had been assigned to pick up some of the last Federation scientists in Anomaly Space, near to the Metar. Captain Thon knew that there would be some timing risks, given the impending mission to collapse the entrance into real space. The Away Team had been slowed down by the Metar, many of the Starfleet Marines laying down their lives to allow the escape of the scientists. Their mission complete, Captai Thon ordered all power directed to the warp drive to get to the rest of the fleet in real space.

The Apollo was under fire for much of her escape, taking hits in the impulse engines and one of her warp nacelles. Realising that the Apollo had been so badly damaged that she would not escape the collapsing anomaly entrance, Captain Thon took the decision to turn and dive back deeper into Anomaly Space, to repair the ship and figure out an escape plan later. Captain Thon did not want to imperil the other ships and crews in a rescue attempt – there was simply no time. The Apollo was last seen firing all of her phasers and photon torpedoes as the collapsing portal closed on her. The ship was reported as ‘missing with all hands’.

Author's notes:

This is Star Trek: Voyager for the Wrath of Khan era. The Apollo needed to be out of service in order for the new Apollo class frigate. She needed to go out in a blaze of glory. This is not about a starship 70000 light years from home, this is a starship in a pocket universe with NO way of getting home unless they break out of the pocket, releasing the Taubat and Metar trapped in there with them. The logical first call for the Apollo will be to the wreck of the Explorer, to get spare parts, supplies and make repairs. Beyond this, they have a whole pocket universe and dormant Metar to explore...

U.S.S Apollo, NCC-1725, appeared in Starfleet Academy: Chekov's Lost Missions. The starship was used in simulations in 2288 including a convoy mission. She is named for the famous NASA programme that resulted in the first person on the Moon, Neil Armstrong on 16 July 1969. The commissioning date has been chosen for this reason.

The Bridge of the Apollo is a darker version of the Enterprise-A Bridge from Star Trek IV. The feel I wanted with the Apollo is an older refit starship than the Explorer or Temeraire; this is very much a refit Enterprise Bridge like out of The Wrath of Khan or Search for Spock. This is back to the Eighties and the Star Trek that I remember well.

I want this ship to have the feel from Star Trek II and III, with the turtleneck uniforms and crowded, angular corridors. This vessel has just received the Galileo-style Star Trek V shuttles. With Voyager you had a starship with bio-neural circuitry and holodecks that managed to survive on the hope of getting home. This is a starship that will have survived Anomaly Space against the Taubat and Metar forces, along with encounters with Klingons, Romulans and Orions and now they will have to pick up stragglers and survivors to find a way home. There are no starbases, no re-supply stations; this ship will have to improvise and adapt to overcome the hardships ahead.

There are Marines, Engineers, Scientists from the colony they rescued, Klingons survivors from their colonies, Romulan war criminals who previously attacked a Federation Base and even the odd Orion. This is a ship that has to use survivors and guests to run the ship and survive over the long term.

There are colonies, mines, starships and freighters from all of the participating races strewn in various states across Anomaly Space. It will be down to the Apollo, her crew and other survivors to refuel, repair the ship and resupply with all of the foodstuffs to continue. The task for Captain Thon and his officers will be to keep the peace between the survivors and cultural clashes. When months turn into years, the chain of command will be challenged by guests who want to be in charge as well.