[img]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3859/14512711683_3d18d032f0_h.jpg[/img][right][color=0072bc][b]"Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. 
Its mission: to explore and exploit strange new worlds, to seek out new resources,
to boldly go where no man has gone before."[/b][/color][/right]

The Star Federation of Mankind enjoyed over 300 years of prosperity and still counting. Humanity grew immensely with the average citizen believing there's nothing technology couldn't solve. Yet people became increasingly aware of one thing: they weren't alone. Though they lacked the practical means Humanity had plenty chances to observe signs of advanced civilizations inhabiting distant stars. They were not alone. There's an entire galaxy filled with life out there. Using various probes Humanity attempted to communicate with these races yet apparently without much luck on their part. All is changed after the discovery of hyperspace. Relying on the new physics of this alternate dimension it became possible to travel far faster than previously thought possible. They unlocked the final key to explore the galaxy and it's up for the crew of the Enterprise to take that monumental first step!

Captain Tiberius J. Kirk was at the command bridge of the FSS-1701 Enterprise. It was a freshly retrofitted Vega-class starship equipped for ultra long range exploration. Compared to before it had less Q-Box output to give space for additional construction and research equipment. From the standard 750 the crew also expanded to 1280. While Starfleet couldn't spare more than a single ship for something as half-hearted as galactic exploration they indeed do their job to prepare the Enterprise to accomplish her mission. This also explains how they got a troublesome officer like Kirk to command this vessel. He was expendable and the leadership would rather have him somewhere far away. Meanwhile the media coverage of this introduces the mission as a monumental step towards understanding the galaxy and meeting alien life. In reality the Federation has its hands full with its member nations and only has minimal interest in the project. In addition while there's a strong suspicion of alien civilizations they are only working with theoretical data. Whether Kirk meets alien babes along the way is rather questionable. Well, considering the diverse appearance of his girlfriends, Kirk wouldn't hesitate to start flirting with them. Cosmetic surgery within the Federation made such developments that it was possible and almost common to make people look like aliens from popular sci-fi. Hell, his first officer looks like an elf from whichever fantasy book he took inspiration for!

[b]"Farcaster initialized. Hyperspace corridor is stabilizing."[/b]
Navigational Officer Tomokazu Espósito Paris reported as he made preparations for long range interstellar travel. The Enterprise is traveling almost a thousand lightyears for the location determined most likely to hold sentient life. There could be numerous other places ripe for exploration but Starfleet determined those look actually useful and there are teams long prepared to seek them out. Yet this neglect might what cause the greatest change within the Federation in centuries.
[b]"We have now entered hyperspace. Estimated travel time is 2 hours 42 minutes."[/b]
[@WilsonTurner]