Fourth Fleet Expeditionary Group
The Fourth Fleet Expeditionary Group is the Fourth Fleet's designated elite multi-mission response force, with a collection of starships and forward support bases meant to be able to quickly and effectively handle the fleet's most delicate and time-sensitive missions, wherever they are in the galaxy. These assets are assigned to the Fourth Fleet but not to a particular task force, and undertake a wide variety of missions across the galaxy that don't necessarily fit neatly into the mandate of one of the fleet's other units. Units in the expeditionary group take their orders individually from Fourth Fleet Command through the group's commander or the Chief of Fourth Fleet Operations, generally getting assignments that require some combination of discretion and special capabilities.
Active Starships
The Expeditionary Group may be composed of an unlimited number of starships drawn from those assigned to the Fourth Fleet, though presently numbers around two-dozen starships of various classes, each with a specialized role within the Fleet. Presently, the Expeditionary Group operates in the Alpha, Beta, and Delta Quadrants.
- Eos Station, a Watchtower-class station along the Federation-Romulan border.
- USS Altai, a Steamrunner-class light cruiser assigned to frontier support on the Breen border.
- USS Aquarius, an Excelsior II-class heavy cruiser assigned to the old Romulan Neutral Zone
- USS Columbia, a Galaxy-class explorer assigned to a five-year mission in the Delta Quadrant.
- USS Mercy, an Olympic-class research cruiser assigned to scientific and medical support.
- USS Venture, a Sovereign-class explorer assigned to the rimward Alpha Quadrant.
The Expeditionary Group In-Play
- In Bravo Fleet, RPGs are not housed within our Task Forces. They operate independently, which allows them to adapt their premise as necessary to explore the full width and breadth of the Star Trek universe.
- These units would never operate as a single unit; it's just the designation for independent vessels that report directly to the Chief of Fleet Operations through the Commander, Fourth Fleet Expeditionary Group.
- In some ways the entire Fourth Fleet is an elite unit, but the ships of the Expeditionary Group are meant to undertake particularly important or dangerous missions. That isn't to say that RPGs can't or won't be based on smaller, less-capable starships, but what makes these ships different in character is that they are taking their orders directly from Fourth Fleet Command, and so are generally tasked with handling things that need to be done with high priority.