Starbase 80

Starbase 80, abbreviated as SB80, was a Federation starbase operated by Starfleet from at least the 2260s to the late 24th century.

The facility had an infamously terrible reputation; its personnel were slovenly and unprofessional, they were issued outdated equipment if any at all, and only "usually" had working communications. Being transferred to the station was among the worst penalties available for non-criminal infractions, which some commanders considered needlessly cruel and were unwilling to resort to beyond an empty threat. (LD: "Terminal Provocations", "Reflections")

Starbase 80 had the largest population of Acamarians (specifically, Gatherers) outside of Acamar III due to an old negotiation issue, resulting in the cession of half of the starbase to their authority. In their area, a multi-level commercial and service area was setup, providing bars, adult-entertainment, and shops. (LD: "Starbase 80?!")

In 2382, Starbase 80 was given a new purpose guarding an interdimensional rift and acting as the headquarters of a new mission of multiversal exploration. (LD: "The New Next Generation")

History

Aboard the USS Cerritos in 2380, Ensign Beckett Mariner accidentally knocked Doctor T'Ana's face into a platter of nachos that the latter had been eating. Despite Mariner's attempts to apologize, T'Ana told her that she should go to Starbase 80 if she wanted to "goof around", to the horror of their nearby crewmates. (LD: "Terminal Provocations")

At some point after being demoted and fired from the USS Titan for his incompetence in 2380, (LD: "Terminal Provocations") Fletcher was sent to Starbase 80 and was stationed there by 2382. (LD: "The New Next Generation")

In 2381, Commander Jack Ransom threatened to transfer Mariner to Starbase 80 if she disobeyed orders to stay at the Starfleet recruitment booth on Tulgana IV. She told him not to joke about that, because "Starbase 80 [was] the worst." Later, after Ensign Brad Boimler dramatically violated that same order, he expected to be shipped to Starbase 80, but Ransom assured him he would never actually send anyone there because it was a "hellhole". (LD: "Reflections")

However, later that year Captain Carol Freeman punitively and impulsively transferred Mariner to Starbase 80 when she believed that Mariner had deliberately badmouthed her to visiting FNN reporter Victoria Nuzé. Freeman only realized her mistake when the exposé Starfleet's Shame aired; Mariner's unauthorized interview had in fact been glowing, and the information she was accused of disclosing was obtained from other, authorized interviewees who obliviously shared "funny" anecdotes without realizing how ridiculous they would sound to an outsider. Mariner did not have a pleasant experience on Starbase 80; she fell into an open ditch soon after boarding, was infected with Denobulan lice, and was unsettled by the high population of Acamarian Gatherers. Already incensed by the unfair punishment and turned off by her horrendous experience on the station, she chose to resign from Starfleet, something only disclosed to Freeman when she was contacting the station to apologize to Mariner. During the communication with Freeman, station personnel were attempting to deal, unsuccessfully, with a Pyrithian bat loose inside the facility. (LD: "Trusted Sources", "Starbase 80?!")

By 2382 in an alternate timeline, Captain Freeman had been stripped of command of the Cerritos and transferred to Starbase 80 following a long string of errors on her part, leaving her daughter Becky Freeman in charge of the Cerritos. (LD: "Dos Cerritos")

When faced with the prospect of being forced back to duty in 2382, an AWOL Admiral Milius despaired that he would be punished by being given command of a fleet stationed at Starbase 80. (LD: "The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel")

Later that year, the Cerritos was forced to visit Starbase 80 for repairs due to what was believed to be a faulty navigation processor, bringing up bad memories for both Captain Freeman – who was reminded not only of her worst failure as both a mother and a commanding officer but of the counterpart she had recently learned of – and now-Lieutenant jg Mariner – who was reminded of her own role in the misunderstanding that caused her to be transferred to the station. The station's crew and the Cerritos crew fell under the control of an anaphasic lifeform named Clem, who turned out to be an alien junior officer trying to prove himself. After the problem was resolved, Clem was allowed to stay at the starbase. It was also discovered that Clem had been the source of the Cerritos' navigation issues, as he had possessed Lieutenant Matt in Cetacean Ops, who helped provide the ship's navigation.

Commander Kassia Nox explained that while Starbase 80's crew were goofy and eccentric, this posting wasn't actually rock bottom for anyone, Instead, Starbase 80 was a second chance for everyone who got sent there. Having gained a new appreciation for the infamous station and seeing the parallels between it and their own ship, the Cerritos crew helped to repair many of the issues plaguing Starbase 80. (LD: "Starbase 80?!")

After a quantum fissure was stabilized and left permanently open, Starbase 80 was the only starbase capable of guarding the portal due to the detrimental effects of the increased tachyon density in the vicinity on at-era technology. Starbase 80 was towed using tractor beams to the rift by a small fleet of ships, including the Cerritos and the USS Enterprise-E. There, it would guard the portal and act as the headquarters for a new mission of multiverse exploration overseen by Freeman who was transferred to the base, although Commander Nox would remain in command of the starbase itself. Admiral Alonzo Freeman also transferred to Starbase 80 to be with his wife. The Section 31 Defiant-class starship Anaximander and its interdimensional crew made Starbase 80 their new home as they took part in the new mission. (LD: "The New Next Generation")

Problems

Starbase 80 had more than its share of problems, which contributed (however exaggeratedly) to its bad reputation.

Technology issues

The facility itself was last updated in the 2260s, and thus, a significant amount of its equipment came from the TOS era, such as wall comms and consoles. A limited amount of 24th century equipment was available, but even as of 2382, newer models dated back to the 2360s at the latest. The turbolifts still utilized twist-handle controls to activate voice command over a century after these had been phased out. Some equipment was outdated even by the last update; the station appeared to rely on a Rolodex for its crew manifest, and had food vendors instead of replicators, food synthesizers, or even protein resequencers, a 20th century-style arcade instead of a holodeck, and a transporter that was unsafe for organic use, forcing visitors to use a 22nd century vintage decontamination chamber, complete with decontamination gel. The crew wore a variety of uniforms; most wore a single color jumpsuit from mid-2270s, which was described as "one-size-fits-some", while command staff were typically seen wearing pre-Federation uniforms. While in 2381 some assigned uniforms came with a 2360s-style combadge, by 2382 combadge use had been phased out, the crew instead relying on the wall comms. At least one Type 15 shuttlepod was attached to the base. (LD: "Trusted Sources", "Starbase 80?!")

Ironically, the outdated technology would eventually give it a chance to shed its negative reputation, as it was the only starbase that could handle the high tachyon emissions from a permanent quantum fissure that opened in 2382. (LD: "The New Next Generation")

Personnel issues

In addition to the outdated and mismatched equipment, the use of the starbase as, essentially, a non-criminal penal colony had resulted in a largely unprofessional and incompetent crew. Maintenance crews were known to leave parts of the floor uncovered, leading to new arrivals such as Beckett Mariner falling into an open ditch. They had a poor hygiene culture, leading to, among other things, a Denobulan louse infestation and a pervasive smell of garbage and sweat. Mariner later remarked, "A regular smart person spends too much time here, and somehow, through mysterious forces, they turn into a total buffoon!"

In 2381, shortly after Mariner's resignation, one crewmember was directed to deal with a Pyrithian bat loose in the station by fruitlessly attacking it with a broom; by the following year, the presence of Pyrithian bats had been allowed to escalate into an infestation. (LD: "Trusted Sources", "Starbase 80?!")

Design errors and malfunctions

The equipment also had several issues unrelated to its outdated nature. The operations center frequently had alarms go off due to a lack of tools to reroute the microcircuits. The turbolifts' voice command was unreliable and often sent riders to the wrong deck. The maintenance bay was so difficult to navigate that it was referred to as the "maintenance labyrinth" in the system. The gravity plating in engineering directed artificial gravity towards the ceiling rather than the floor, forcing the engineering team to use a fireman's pole for safe entry and exit and climb ladders to reach their consoles. It was common enough for doors to begin rapidly opening and closing of their own accord that when a Clem-possessed Ensign Livik caused a door on the USS Cerritos to similarly malfunction, Commander Kassia Nox instinctively scanned for an item to wedge into the door and effortlessly wedged a tray into it. The station only "usually" had working communications, suggesting that communication problems were not uncommon. (LD: "Trusted Sources", "Starbase 80?!")

Addressing the problems

Many of the problems (alarms going off, pyrithian bat infestation, and the artificial gravity in the engineering room) were fixed after a visit from the USS Cerritos in 2382. (LD: "Starbase 80?!")

Personnel

• See: Starbase 80 personnel
• See: Starbase 80 Acamarians