Task Force Invincible (Vanguard)

The mainstay unit of the Vanguard Command is Task Force Invincible. It is the largest task force formation in all of Starfleet and is commanded by the best starship commander of his time, Rear Admiral Jean-Luc Picard. He is ably seconded by some of the very best and brightest starship captains and starship officers ever gathered under one unit.

When Vanguard Command was to be formed, Fleet Admiral Maximus Hunter was in a dilemma on who should lead and man what was intended to become the foremost task force of Starfleet. Only one name came to mind when it came to abilities, experience and savvy – Jean-Luc Picard. But Picard was at that time most contented and already quite busy as commanding officer of the USS Enterprise-E and its battle group. Hunter knew that it would be next to impossible to pry Picard out of the Enterprise-E. For all intents and purposes, there was no need at all for Picard to relinquish such a prestigious and fulfilling post.

So Hunter devised a plan that would somehow make Picard think twice about rejecting the offer of commanding Task Force Invincible and the USS Invincible herself. Since Task Force Enterprise had been placed under Vanguard Command as its exploratory unit, Hunter gave all the crews of the task force a one-month shore leave on Station Frontier, with the exception of Picard and a few of his senior officers and staff who had already been eyed for transfer to the Invincible with him. On the pretext that Task Force Invincible urgently needed a thirty-day shakedown cruise as a unit, Hunter assigned this responsibility to Picard. And Picard was indeed overwhelmed by what he had initially seen.

Onboard as observers of the shakedown cruise were some of the most famous captains of Starfleet alive: Captain Benjamin Sisko, Captain James T. Kirk, Captain William Riker, Rear Admiral Elizabeth Paula Shelby, Rear Admiral Kathryn Janeway, Captain Mackenzie Calhoun, Captain Kira Nerys and other prospects for command positions in Vanguard Command.

Picard was exceedingly pleased to see that his Enterprise-E first officer, Worf, was given command of the Akira-class Heavy Cruiser USS Bat’leth and that his chief engineer, Geordi La Forge, was given command of the Intrepid-class Scout USS Challenger, both starships being part of the task force. Both Worf and La Forge had been given field promotions to the grade of Captain. He was likewise impressed by the collection of highly reputable officers of Starfleet who had been called in to comprise the shakedown crew of the USS Invincible. He was surprised that Captains Chakotay and Stareck and Lt. Commander Tom Paris had each accepted downgrades to the positions of first officer, second officer, and chief conn officer, respectively. And he was also mildly shocked to see a permanently “powered-down” Mark McHenry returning to Starfleet and serving as his chief navigation officer.

Among Picard’s many amusing experiences with the task force was witnessing the readiness, efficiency and sense of humanity of each of the Mark-V Emergency Hologram Complement of the ship during drills. Taking a cue from Voyager’s experience with the Mark-I EMH, and witnessing first hand the amazing growth of the late Commander Data under his leadership in the Enterprise-E, Picard gave the entire Emergency Hologram Complement regular rotations like any other crew member, with scheduled downtimes and power-downs.

With Chief Warrant Officer Annika “Seven-of-Nine” Hansen onboard, Picard readily placed her in charge of the ship’s astrometrics lab, in addition to her regular bridge duties as a mission specialist.

Hunter did not make the command offer to Picard outright during the shakedown cruise. Instead, on the third week of that cruise, the task force was made to utilize the Quantum Slipstream Drive to travel to the border of the Beta and Delta quadrants to “snoop-around”. He had recently received intelligence reports that the Borg had merged with roque factions of the Founders and the Hirogen and have been amassing a large fleet as its first wave, with plans to send it on its way towards the Alpha Quadrant within a few months. Hunter had anticipated that Picard would come face to face with this new threat and would be forced to make a critical decision when the offer to command the task force was given.

It was at this point when Hunter formally offered permanent command of the task force to Picard, highlighting the fact that the Enterprise-E and own its task force cannot stand a chance against this new threat and that there was no one else of his caliber that Starfleet could give command of Task Force Invincible without risking the destruction of the Federation.

Understanding the wisdom of Hunter's words, Picard accepted the offer. To keep the tradition alive, the Enterprise-E was designated as Hunter’s flagship in Vanguard Command, in concurrent capacity as Starfleet’s peace-time flagship.

Picard was promptly promoted to the rank of two-star Rear-Admiral, while Worf and Geordi La Forge were given permanent promotions to the rank of Captain. Captain Beverly Crusher was likewise given command of the Hope-class Medical ship USS Pasteur, but on a detached basis as she assumed the post of Chief Medical Officer of the USS Invincible. Commander Lance McCoy, a grand nephew of Admiral Leonard McCoy, being first officer of the Pasteur, would command when Crusher is off-board. Captain Morgan Bateson and the Sovereign-class Starship USS Atlas were the last additions to Task Force Invincible. Picard was humbled by the fact that Captain Bateson wished his ship to be attached to the task force.