First established: 2184

Federation supply station 'Aljetarius'

Located 20 light years driftward of the Zaldo system

2184: Covert Monitoring Station Aljeterius founded in Sector 16 to monitor the Romulan Neutral Zone

2279: Aljeterius upgraded to Supply Station to "explain" all the "exploratory" starships in the sector, which are actually keeping an eye on "underbelly" of the Romulan and Klingon Empires during a Cold War heating up.

2291: Aljeterius authorised for upgrading to starbase status to support the Tabula Rasa campaign, unofficial designation of Starbase 77. Supplies are delivered by USS Explorer but the subsequent releasing of the Metar and the ultimate disappearance of the Tabula Rasa systems delays the upgrading.

2293: - Khitomer Accords signed; in it are provisions for aid convoys Starbase 77 officially authorised in Khitomer Accords, but resources dedicated to upgrading base are diverted to Klingon Relief Operations. Upgrading is slow, and the base is still referred to as Aljeterius.

2294: 33-y.o. Lt. Cmdr Amanda Bryam assigned to Starbase 77 after a 6-month personal leave from being a tutor at the Academy; she becomes the XO of Commander Skellash of Tellar, a 10-year veteran destroyer captain.

2300: Amanda Bryam promoted to Commander and assigned elsewhere

2301: Aljeterius is officially renamed and commissioned as Starbase 77 after minimal administration facilities have been created. However, everyone still calls it Aljeterius and the "Starbase 77" title is regarded as a ridiculous joke by Starfleet rank and file. This is not due to Skallash’s bad leadership, just bureaucratic red tape, but Skallash hates the reputation his command has gained

2308: -USS Fearless assigned to Sector 16 to patrol newly established "Nirophian Corridor". -Commander Skallash has managed to steadily if slowly upgrade Starbase 77 so that it is a proper operational starbase now, but the stigma still remains.

2311: Commodore Maxwell Buckingham is brought in to officially transfer the 2nd Fleet's command to the fully equipped and operational Starbase 77, and to restore the base's heavily tarnished image

Supply station 'Aljetarius' was constructed in the early years of the Federation. Authorised after the end of the war with the Romulans, the base was selected on a planet on the spinward side of the Romulan Star Empire in order to both facilitate the exploration of the far side of the Romulans, but to also keep a convert eye on the Romulans, to see that they complied with the terms of the treaty as set down over subspace.

Supply station 'Aljetarius' was authorised to be upgraded as Starbase 77 as of Stardate 9153. The starbase was located in the Aljetarius system, on the very fringe of Federation space. This region had been a supply area for the missions during the Tabula Rasa missions of 2292. The future Starbase 77 was the main supply base, set up by the ill-fated U.S.S. Explorer before she continued into the Tabula Rasa systems. The base was used as a planning area during the exploratory phase of the Tabula Rasa situation, it was also used as the fall-back base when the situation was resolved. Starfleet planned to upgrade the base to Starbase standards, but when the Tabula Rasa systems vanished again, there was no need.

This was not a tactical advantage, merely a reshuffling of administrative resources to cope with the redrawing of the borders. With the abolition of the Neutral Zone, privateering, smuggling and other illegal activities that have used the Neutral Zone as protection could at last be addressed and dealt with. Most of the backwater worlds welcomed the Federation back, overjoyed that their worlds could now be supplied by the Federation with top-class equipment. Others, however, were not pleased that years of lucrative trading in information, spies and contraband were about to be ended.

Starbase 77 came on line on Stardate 11201.5 (Earth calender year 2301) and immediately took over all of the colonial and supply functions of Starbase 15, which was reduced to merely a support starbase. Upon Starbase 77 coming on line, all of the Omega class space stations and Starbase Arthur were officially decommissioned, although in truth they had been either partially or completely demolished during the previous 6 years. With Starbase 77 now fully functional, supporting Starbases 36, 15 and Starbase 6, this area of space has now finally be opened up for exploration and discovery.



Author's Notes:

Reality sometimes does not gel with what we are told. The description above is how Starbase 77 is officially described. What is written below more closely follows the truth, whatever truth truly is.

Unlike Starbase 15, Starbase 77 is a planetary based structure. The primary function of the station is administration. In the time since starbase 77 was authorised progress has been slow. The Federation offered "top class equipment" as mentioned above, and stated that "all the resources in the area would be at the disposal of Starbase 77 in order to impliment its construction, hasten its completion and assist in its operation". The truth is that so much of the aforementioned resources are commited to the Klingon humanitarian program and dealing with the smugglers that in fact Starbase 77 is lucky to see a starship every few months. And when a starship does turn up, it is usually a Starfleet Auxiliary with supplies, or perhaps a frigate. Occasionally a destroyer or even an elderly cruiser running taxi service for an admiral has been known to turn up. Commodore Maxwell Buckingham has been placed in command after the lack of progress for seven years. The Second Fleet is officially controlled from Starbase 77, although the base has no repair or maintainance facilities for visiting starships, were they to appear.

With a commodore, an ambitious one at that, now in charge of the station, one would think that the station would get all of the supplies, personnel and pretty much anything needed in order to get the station properly operational. Again, truth is, this is a station that is on the very fringe of the Federation. Nothing usually comes out this far, and if it is, it is has usually been supporting the post-Praxis clean up, or has been enhancing the quality of the Federation colonies that have been requesting upgrades for decades.

Starbase 77 has now had the central Hub complex of the base upgraded to level 3 standard. The sickbay and science block facilities are now undergoing an upgrade. Commodore Maxwell Buckingham has been promised new Starfleet personnel to enhance the base and it is only a matter of time before starships of the Second Fleet are redirected to Starbase 77.

Starbase numbers increase exponentially, to match the growth rate of the U.F.P. and fleet size. Below is a table of Earth year and number of operational starbases:

Earth Year	Starbase Quantity	Number Increase
2190	12	0
2265	17	5
2270	23	6
2280	31	8
2290	50	19
2301	77	27
2315	125	48
2330	250	125
2364	500	250

The above figures take into account the 'rules' used in TOS that said there were 17 starbases, and in TNG there were 'a little over 500'. A few minor discrepencies appeared in both series [which I shall gloss over, along with 5 starbases built between 2190 and 2265]. Other starbases and space stations exist which supplement these numbers.



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Update stardate 11429.5. Starbase 77 now undergoing upgrading in light of the rise to power of General Kaarg. Hub facilities are to be upgraded, and buildings 36, 37 and 41 and 42 - mothballed since the end of the Tabula Rasa campaign - have been assigned to be reactivated and upgraded. U.S.S. Sheffield [NCC 1976, Miranda class] has recently finished her assignment and has almost completely swapped out her crew. Whilst the Sheffield is in orbit, she is assigned to assist in the upgrading of Starbase 77. The science block is being enlarged, as are the construction facilities. Work has begun on an orbital drydock facility to repair visiting starships with, with the coming online of an antimatter refueling facility, the numbers of visiting starships has increased. The science block is a fairly impressive structure already, with a large behavioural science and intelligence unit supplementing the usual numbers.

With logistics being one of Starfleet's highest priorities, and the highest of this base, additional buildings supporting the logistical side of Federation colonial activities have recently come online. There is also a very strong Starfleet Auxiliary presence at the base. S.S. Green Rover [NAR 1268] and S.S. Red Rover [NAR 1277] have been shuttling between the antimatter generation facilities nearby and the antimatter storage facilities at starbase 77.

Since the completion of the first phase of Operation Cassandra, the task group assigned to the first part has been disbanded. Subsequently, there have been higher than normal numbers of starships in orbit of the base. U.S.S. Dreadnought [NCC 7745, Constellation class] has been in orbit undergoing debugging, following her pressing into service to cover for the otherwise-engaged U.S.S. Montrose. U.S.S. Albion is also at Starbase 77, having offloaded Commodore Matthews at the base, for transfer to U.S.S. Agile for transport to Starbase 6 for de-briefing.

Starbase 77 works in concert with the earlier established starbase 15 and starbase 6. Starbase 6, established even before James T. Kirk's missions on the Enterprise, is the command and control centre for the region. The fourth fleet is currently based at Starbase 6, allowing for a presence in the region. The fourth fleet was supposed to transfer to Starbase 77, but the support facilities are not up to the task at present. Squadrons deployed from the fleet can be assigned to starbase 77 for specific missions, under the auspices of Commodore Buckingham. Starbase 15 is a small orbital station, fulfilling starbase 77's role on a much smaller scale. With starbase 77 coming online, there is serious talk of repositioning starbase 15, or allocating the designation to a facility developing on the nearby M-class planet.

Second Fleet

The Second Fleet is based at Starbase 12 under Fleet Admiral Charles Lawrence Buckingham. The Second Fleet covers the Beta Quadreant, including the borders with Klingon and Romulan space. Fleet Admiral Buckingham is one of the two flag officers currently short-listed for the role of Commander-in-chief, Starfleet when Irina Khmelnova steps down. Excelsior class starships are used as flagships for the Second fleet, amongst those allocated are: Albion, Discovery, Endurance, Hood, Implacable, Renown and Fearless. Starbase 12 lies near the Maelstrom phenomenon, orbiting over the New Holland colony. Forward bases for the Second Fleet are SB 6, 15, 23, 24, 36 and now 77.

Author's Notes

With the overhauling of the Starfleet page, and the subsequent drawing up of the Starbase table, it soon became apparent that the other starbases nearby would have been around for just a short period before 77 came online. Starbase 77 therefore had to reflect the rushed-together supply base feel, from the established back story as the main supply base from the Tabula Rasa campaign. Having starbase 77 as the base for the fourth fleet now seems, in retrospect, rather ambitious, therefore the emphasis is on the possible progression towards this role by the station, although starbase 6 will be over thirty years further developed for the role. The strong influence of the Starfleet Auxiliary service is a tip-of-the-hat to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary that supports the Royal Navy on a day-to-day tireless fashion. With logistics being the most important aspect to Starfleet's onward push into the unknown, it makes sense that one of their most forward positioned bases would be dedicated to the role.

The Second Fleet is based upon many aspects of the Royal Navy and United States Navy - specifically the forward positioning bases at Gibraltar and Yokosuka, Japan; Yokosuka is where the Sixth Fleet forward-deployment base is, where the USS Kitty Hawk was based, now succceeded by Nimitz-class USS George Washington Carrier Battle Group.