Welcome aboard the USS Proteus
A New Frontier Awaits
The year is 2259. The United Federation of Planets stands at the threshold of a new era of discovery, pushing ever deeper into the uncharted regions beyond known space. At the vanguard of this bold endeavor sails the USS Proteus (NCC-1892), a Bellerophon-class starship purpose-built for the challenges of deep space exploration where no Constitution-class vessel can be risked and no standard survey ship can venture.
For the next three years, the Proteus and her crew of 220 will embark on their first deep space assignment under their new captain, voyaging beyond the safety of Federation space to seek out new worlds, catalog stellar phenomena, and make first contact with civilizations humanity has never encountered. This is not a mission of conquest or colonization, but of understanding—a scientific expedition into the vast unknown, carrying the Federation's ideals of peace, cooperation, and the endless pursuit of knowledge to the furthest reaches of the galaxy.
It's going to be quite the adventure. Hopefully the coffee holds out.
The Ship
The USS Proteus represents the cutting edge of Starfleet's explorer-class vessels. Commissioned in 2258, she is a Bellerophon-class starship—smaller and more nimble than the legendary Constitution-class, but no less capable where it matters most. Her eleven decks house some of the most advanced scientific laboratories in the fleet, with research facilities that rival starbases and universities. Enhanced sensor arrays allow her to detect subspace anomalies and analyze stellar phenomena at ranges her larger cousins cannot match. Her crew quarters, mess halls, and recreational spaces are designed for the long haul, acknowledging that three years beyond resupply requires not just advanced technology, but a ship that feels like home.
At 316 meters long with a distinctive wide-beam saucer design, the Proteus cuts an elegant profile against the stars. Her ventral-mounted warp nacelles give her exceptional maneuverability, while her reinforced shields and defensive armament ensure she can protect herself when exploration inevitably leads to danger. She is not a warship—her phasers and photon torpedoes exist for defense, not conquest—but she is no helpless science vessel either. The Proteus is an explorer with teeth, built to survive what she discovers.
She also has a starboard turbolift that hums persistently between decks five and seven. Engineering has fixed it seventeen times. It still hums. The crew has mostly stopped noticing. Visitors find it maddening. Such is life aboard a starship—even the cutting edge of Starfleet technology has its quirks.
The Mission
To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before.
For three years, the Proteus will venture into sectors of space that exist only as blank regions on Federation star charts. Her mission is threefold: scientific discovery, first contact, and survival. Every planetary system surveyed, every nebula analyzed, every alien civilization encountered adds to the Federation's understanding of the galaxy and our place within it. This is exploration in its purest form—not for resources or territory, but for knowledge itself.
The crew knows the risks. They will be months from the nearest starbase, light-years from reinforcements, alone against whatever the universe presents. They will face stellar phenomena that defy known physics, encounter species whose very biology challenges our understanding of life, and navigate diplomatic situations where a single misstep could mean war or extinction. They will also probably discover at least three things that Starfleet regulations never anticipated and have to improvise solutions that will make some admiral back on Earth very uncomfortable.
They chose this mission anyway, because some questions can only be answered by venturing into the dark and lighting a candle. Also, the signing bonus was decent.
The Crew
Two hundred and twenty souls call the Proteus home: fifty-five officers who lead departments and manage ship operations, one hundred and fifty-five enlisted personnel who keep the ship running and the mission moving forward, and ten civilian specialists whose expertise in xenolinguistics, cultural anthropology, and theoretical sciences makes first contact possible. They are humans and Andorians, Tellarites and Vulcans, Denobulans and a dozen other species, united by their willingness to venture beyond the known and face whatever waits in the dark.
They are scientists and engineers, security officers and medical personnel, helmsmen and communications specialists. They are veterans of previous deep space missions and fresh Academy graduates on their first assignment. Some joined Starfleet to see the galaxy; others to escape lives that felt too small. A few signed up because their parents said they'd never amount to anything, and spite is a powerful motivator. All of them knew when they signed aboard the Proteus that they were choosing three years away from family, three years beyond the safety of Federation space, three years where every day might bring wonder or disaster. They chose it anyway, because exploration calls to something fundamental in the sentient spirit—the need to know what lies beyond the next star.
Together, they form not just a crew but a family, bound by shared purpose and mutual dependence. Under new leadership, they venture into the depths of space, light-years from home, with only each other. The Proteus succeeds or fails as a unit, and her crew knows it. They've also learned that the replicator outside Lab 2 refuses to make proper Andorian tea, the mess hall has surprisingly good acoustics for impromptu concerts, and that Chief Kolos guards her transporter room like a dragon guards gold. These are the things that make a ship home.
The Journey Begins
The Proteus departed Starbase 12 on, her cargo bays full, her fuel tanks topped off, her crew ready for whatever the galaxy holds. Ahead lie three years of discovery—three years of mapping uncharted star systems, analyzing stellar phenomena, and making contact with civilizations that have never seen a Federation starship. Ahead lie dangers no simulation can prepare for, wonders no database can describe, and probably at least one incident involving diplomatic protocol that nobody remembered to program into the universal translator.
Ahead lies the unknown, in all its terrible beauty.
This is the story of that journey. This is the story of the USS Proteus and her crew, venturing beyond the light of known stars into the vast darkness between under a captain proving himself and a ship proving her worth. This is the story of exploration in its purest form—not for glory or profit, but for the simple, powerful need to understand. Also, there will definitely be some exciting running down corridors. It's practically a requirement.
Welcome aboard. The stars are waiting. Try not to break anything important.
"May you sail beyond the known and return with the stars' wisdom."
—Traditional Tellarite Explorer's Blessing
(Amendments for injuries sustained during wisdom-acquisition not included.)
Latest Mission Posts
» Don't Break My Heart, Mickey (Part 1)
Mission: Opening Transmission
Posted on 07 Dec 2025 @ 11:28am by Lieutenant Commander Roxanne "Rox" Matamoros Garcia & Lieutenant Michael "Mickey" Ballentyne
This is the first of a two-part backstory exploring the Proteus crew under Captain Collingwood. It develops Matamoros, who has to handle a crisis and elaborates on the friendship between Ballentyne and Foster as they are about to say farewell in our current timeline. It is not directly relevant to our story and can be skipped.
ON:
[ Shuttlecract al-Biruni ]
[ Beta Quadrant: Iapetus 4-B ]
A photon torpedo exploded into the lower portions of the shuttle and the pilot’s console exploded in a fountain of sparks and the pilot fell from her chair unconscious or perhaps dead. Engines…
» Turbolift Tango: Port
Mission: Opening Transmission
Posted on 05 Dec 2025 @ 1:02pm by Lieutenant Commander Roxanne "Rox" Matamoros Garcia
Introducing Rox Matamoros Garcia, who will be our NPC First Officer until someone wants to take the role as a PC. Like many people from Mexico, she has two surnames (and there's no hyphen). Where only one surname is used (which is fine) it should be the first, never the second,
ON:
[USS Proteus: Port Turbolift]
Troubled, Captain James Collingwood retreated from the Observation Lounge to the relative safety of an empty Turbolift and beathed deeply. Threlox Varn had neither mellowed with experience nor seemed to give an inch of deference to Collingwood, despite his reputation as one of Starfleet’s…
» Turbolift Tango: Starboard
Mission: Opening Transmission
Posted on 02 Dec 2025 @ 1:31am by Lieutenant Michael "Mickey" Ballentyne
[ USS Proteus: Starboard Turbolift ]
The Turbolift doors swooshed open and the freshly shorn (and shell shocked) Lieutenant Ballentyne entered the carriage much to the dismay of Commander Foster. Ballentyne twisted the handle, “Deck 7” and waited for the familiar rattling hum to start in what was otherwise silence.
“Oh Mickey, I errr…” Foster trailed off and sighed before beginning again, “Computer: stop turbolift.”
Ballentyne took a slow, deep breath, visible only by the slight tightening of his jaw, before rounding on her. “So, come on and give it to me” he challenged her, “anyway you can!”
“You know,…
» Hey Mickey
Mission: Opening Transmission
Posted on 30 Nov 2025 @ 1:55pm by Lieutenant Michael "Mickey" Ballentyne & Captain Threlox
[ USS Proteus: Barbershop, Deck 5 ]
“Hey, Mickey”. Lieutenant Commander Iris Foster, the Proteus’s Chief Science Officer, shouted as she entered the Barbershop.
A diminutive young man sitting in a barber chair jerked his head in recognition and was reprimanded by the Bolian Barber, who was attempting to prune the unkempt mass of brown curls atop his head. “Keep still”, chided the Barber.
“Sorry, Mr Dex”, muttered the young man with a mischievous grin.
Foster sucked her teeth, “Short back and sides for this one, Dex. Senior officers cannot be walking around with inappropriate hair!”
“Ignore her, Mr Dex,”…
» The Two Captains
Mission: Opening Transmission
Posted on 30 Nov 2025 @ 1:45pm by Captain Threlox
[ Starbase 12; K-type Orbital Facility ]
[ Observation Lounge, Deck 4 ]
"Captain," Threlox's Denobulan smile came across his face. His dimples rose greatly, and he raised his head to warmly greet Captain Sarah Okonkwo, who approached him in the Observation Lounge. Behind them was a large viewport of Haven IV and the docking ring with the Constitution-class U.S.S. Aryabhata in berth five with the Proteus in the adjacent berth.
"Sarah, Threlox. It's just Sarah now," Okonkwo replied warmly in her soft Nigerian accent. She placed her hand on his left arm, "It's definitely an adjustment for both of…