USS Bellerphon

THE STORY SO FARThe Federation starship Mephistopheles was launched in 2253 and was reported missing three months into its maiden voyage near the Naharu Rift. Under the command of Commodore Donald "Deke" Gordon, the Mephistopheles was a prototype destroyer, and had a crew of more than 350 officers and enlisted personnel. In 2254 the USS Bellerphon, under the command of Commander John Henry Armstrong launched from Earth and re-traced the Mephistopheles course to the distant Naharu Rift. An investigation by the crew of the Bellerphon led to the discovery of a debris field - the remains of the Mephistopheles, near the planet Gehenna Prime. Recovery of the logs from the Mephistopheles told a grim tale. Unusual radiation emanations from the planet had driven the crew of the vessel mad and led to an orgy of mutiny and murder, culminating in the vessel's chief engineer releasing the antimatter stored in the warp core causing an explosion which destroyed the ship. Even as the crew of the Bellerphon were making these discoveries, the strange radiation surrounding the dead planet Gehenna Prime began to affect the personnel aboard the ship. This unusual behavior first manifested itself as extreme irritability, sexual inhibition, and paranoia. As members of the Bellerphon crew began to succumb to the deadly effects of this radiation poisoning, the race was on to find a cure. Disaster was narrowly avoided as Dr. Wesley 'Wes' Kellerman developed a successful treatment for the poisoning which reversed the psychosis, just as the ship's first officer (who had barricaded herself on the bridge) was preparing to crash the vessel into the surface of the planet below. Some months after the events of the Gehenna Prime Incident, the starship Bellerphon was dispatched to the Bodega System where a local trade war had erupted between Venturi merchants and human colonists. An investigation by the crew of the Bellerphon led to the discovery that manipulation by the Klingons (who wished to destabilize the region) had led to the hostilities between the Venturi and human residents of Bodega. Uncovering the Klingon plot, and destroying a Klingon battle cruiser, I.K.S. Blood of The Damned, which had been hidden in system, convinced the warring parties to settle their dispute and return to their peaceful co-existence. Armstrong received promotion to Captain upon completion of this assignment. At the close of 2354, the starship Bellerphon led a Federation task force to the planet Alderon, where a natural disaster had left the planet's economy and infrastructure in ruins and the population at the mercy of famine and pandemic. Though the government of Alderon had often been critical of the United Federation of Planets and the Starfleet, Captain John Henry Armstrong believed that a substantial show of support with no strings attached would show the Alderonians the true face of the Federation and help to destroy the false image that decades of Klingon propaganda had produced. Armstrong drafted the initial proposal for Operation Amity and submitted it to the Federation High Council through the representative from Earth. When approved, Armstrong himself was chosen to lead the humanitarian mission. On Alderon the situation proved far worse than anticipated as hundreds of thousands were succumbing to the ravages of starvation and rampant disease. Even as teams of doctors and engineers from the Starfleet task force worked feverishly to help the native population, elements within the local government and Klingon agents used terror tactics and manipulation to oppose the Federation mission at every turn. When a supply of drugs from the Bellerphon were poisoned by the Klingons, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of planetary natives, numerous Starfleet personnel were arrested by planetary officials and angry mobs. Three Starfleet crewmen were murdered, and Alderon's government demanded that the Federation task force leave at once. However, convinced by Captain John Henry Armstrong to allow an investigation, a small group of Alderonian Parliamentary officials helped the captain and his security chief uncover the treachery of the Klingons and their agents on the planet. The Klingons had in fact, caused the disaster which had devastated the planet as a prelude to invasion and conquest, and were being aided by several traitorous members of the planetary government, including the Governor General and the Minister of Defense. This discovery shifted public opinion over night and led to the expulsion of all Klingons on Alderon, as well as the eventual signing of a treaty between the Federation and the planet. All Federation hostages were released, and Captain Armstrong was hailed for his work in securing an accord between the Federation and an strategically important world in the Alpha Quadrant.USS Bellerphon Department Colors & BadgesUSS Bellerphon CrewCaptain John Henry Armstrong (Jim Brown) Lieut. Cmdr. Savannah Fox (Barbara Eden) - XO Lieut. Cmdr. Glenn Ortegas (Pernell Roberts) - Navigator Lieut. Cmdr. Gene Jefferies (Robert Mitchum) - Engineer Lieutenant Tomas Barbados (Sidney Poitier) - Security Lieutenant Robert 'Buzz' Shepherd (Nick Adams) - Helmsman Lieutenant Dominique Devereaux (Diahann Carroll) - Communications Lieutenant Grex (an Aurelian male) - Science Dr. Wesley 'Wes' Kellerman (Karl Malden) - Medical Officer Dr. Jennifer Ryan (Aneta Corsaut) - Ship's Counselor Yeoman Katherine 'Kitty' Fairchild (Goldie Hawn)