PROJECT FORESTALL
As the Federation continued its recovery, groups of senior officials were formed to analyse recent events and to question what could have been done to prevent a terrible re-occurrence. A growing school of thought began to emerge. They began to see their actions in recent years as being arrogant and somewhat naive, especially with reference to advanced civilizations such as the Borg and the Dominion. The Federation's actions were colored by a firm belief that they were more than a match was for whatever the Universe might send their way. They resolved to be more cautious in their approach. In that resolution Project Forestall was created.
The concept was simple and could be summarized by the phrase 'Look, see, but don't get caught!' In essence the idea was to use whatever techniques were available to detect and learn about other civilizations but not to allow them to learn of our abilities or even existence until defensive precautions could be taken.
Starfleet Command's reaction to the new concept was somewhat cool. They regarded the idea as skulking around in the shadows. It flew in the face of many embedded Starfleet traditions of proud explorers representing the shining ideals of their Federation. Needless to say this mindset was perceived to be part of the original problem, and with hindsight helping to guide the way, Project Forestall became a new directive to be applied to selected ships.
With Starfleet Command's approval, Project Forestall began a careful review of serving Officers to determine those with a mindset that would be sympathetic to project objectives. Also identified and actioned were some slight additions to Academy teachings and careful monitoring of Cadets that would be suitable for service in the Project.
Technological advances are one of the few positives to come out of a war. Two of the advances that came at the end of the Dominion war were greatly enhanced sensor imagery and a technology to allow the breaking of the Warp 6 speed limit.
The 'Warp Wake' effect had placed an operational maximum speed of warp 6 on general travel. Higher velocity caused increasing damage to Subspace traffic corridors. Travel at higher than warp 6 was limited to extreme emergency situations. Even criminal traffic obeyed the Warp 6 limit as higher speed resulted in a more noticeable warp signature and the damage to subspace made them very easy to track and apprehend.
Starfleet's Research and Development division developed a phase compression technology, which reduced the "Warp Wake" to a level which made it practical to travel at higher than warp 9 with only moderate warp wake effect.
The Sensitivity and resolution of sensor imagery was greatly increased with the development of some ingenious algorithms and a few, minor tweaks in performance parameters. The advances allowed existing sensors, with minor alterations to see further and much more clearly than ever before.
And then, with the return of USS Voyager and the information gathered from their experiences with slipstream technology, Project Forestall was able to work at development of the Slipstream Drive. After 3 years of development and testing, they were finally ready to begin field tests.
The USS Barantour was assigned to Project Forestall along with her crew. After arrival at Starbase 323 she was retrofitted with the new Warp and Sensor technologies, along with many system upgrades and the inclusion of advanced cloaking technology in line with the Project's objectives. With her upgrades in place she was dispatched on a long duration mission to discover what lies beyond the galactic rim.
The USS Scorpion was fitted with the same technology as the Barantour, but was also chosen as the test vehicle for the new Slipstream Drive. With the Scorpion's mission being to explore into and beyond the Typhon Sector, in the direction of Borg space, it was felt by Project Forestall that the Slipstream Drive would be best used for that mission.
And now, fitted with the latest technology that Starfleet can provide, the USS Scorpion is to silently go where no one has gone before....
With thanks
to our affiliate, the
USS Barantour,
for their
kind permission to use this story for our own purposes