Reporter Issue 37

Reporter Issue #37
Issue Number: 37 Issue Date: 237706.15 Editor: RAdml Ciara Randor Reporter Archive Index

Editorial Communique

by Rear Admiral Ciara Randor (who else??)

Its been six months, or so, since the last edition of the Reporter. And since then it has changed hands several times but never had a chance to spread its wings. However, its finally come to roost and is in the process of settling down to become a regular occurance again.

This time, however, the rules have changed and you, as the reader, have more of a sway on how things go. Its your suggestions and submissions that will make this newsletter sink or swim. How? Easy. The more you contribute, the better the newsletter gets. The less we have to put in the newsletter...well, the less Reporter there is and the less you have to enjoy. Its a fair trade, over all.

This does not mean you need to rush out and commit yourself to a column every month, although that could be nice, but it does require your feedback, you sending in interesting submissions which could be anything as long as it is related to UFOP and or Star Trek. And if you are particularily creative, you can write something yourself.

The deadlines are simple. All material must be in by the 10th of each month. Submissions past the 10th will be held over to the next issue or scrapped if they were time sensitive. The Reporter itself will be released by the 15th of each moth.

Nothing terribly complicated there. So I know that at least some of you can manage to help keep this Reporter up to the standards we'd all like to see. I look forward to printing your submissions.

Fleet Report

by Rear Admiral Shaun Marlin

The Reporter has changed hands again and so there has been a long break since the last fleet update. Over the last few months we have seen a lot of change to the UFOP Fleet. The USS Magellan launched some time ago under the command of Captain Ka'el Laang, and Commander Alucard has been trained to command level on the USS Isannah which he now captains. On another happy note, the recent fleet-wide promotion ceremony has seen the appointment of several new captain ranks which have been long overdue.

Sadly, Captain Vedoc has had to step down from command due to real life time demands. Initially he stepped down only from command but more recently it seems he may have to resign from the group entirely. This is a loss to our club as Vedoc is a fine commanding officer and a friend to many people within the group. He has been replaced as Captain of the USS Kodiak by another fine officer, Commander Hollis, formerly the vessels first officer. Hollis has settled down into the position of CO with remarkable speed.

Another change is that Captain Valarious and the crew of the USS Indria will shortly be transferring to the Steamrunner class, USS Wallace.

In terms of the UFOP fleet, February and March were a quiet, steady months as the relative turmoil of months gone by settled and the group went back to business as normal. Applications came at a steady, sometimes furious rate, and fleet growth was possible in the launching of the Isannah so soon after its crew had swapped over to the Magellan. April saw the Captains promotion ceremony and behind the scenes the work for the current fleet-wide awards ceremony began. April was tainted by the real life death of one our long standing members, Jeffrey Rhodes (Lt. Cmdr. Xalor). His tragic loss has touched many people who served with him, both past and present, and it is the first time for me, personally, to have lost a UFOP acquaintance. May has seen the first installment of the year 2000 UFOP award ceremonies, which are still running at the time of writing of this article. This is a great event which is able to reward the members of UFOP for their hard work.

In terms of Fleet Administration, April also saw the reelection of the Captains representative on the UEC council. Captain Demma chose not to stand for reelection and Captain Colin McHendry was voted as his replacement by his peers, to serve as a UEC member for the next six months. Also a formal review of the recent administration restructure has shown that we have a system in place now that satisfies everyone involved.

Overall the last few of months have been a very positive time for the UFOP group; a time for settling back into a steady routine after the rather hectic Christmas period. I am personally happy to see the promotion of our newest captains and the steady influx of cadets who are being tirelessly trained by Captain Y'Shirad. That's all good news for our fleet.

In closing I would like to ask you all, as always, to tell your friends about us and keep that membership figure rising!

Training Report

from Captain Yshirad

Greetings All. Well, Training has been incredible busy since May. We've had many fine cadets apply to the UFOP and many of them are now on your ships. These fine people are:Ensign N'val; Ensign T'Prin Dala; Lt Jg Alexander Tanikawa; Jack Valance; Ensign Mun; Ensign Piper; Ensign Sava Tolqu; Ensign Becka Fireclaw; Ensign Richards; Ensign Ocel; Ensign Antilla; Ensign Kyung-Chun; Ensign Barton; Ensign Ma'Ka; Ensign Alethea; Ensign Jordan Hurne; Ensign Taxon; Ensign G'Tal; Ensign K'Tar; Ensign Sheara Darius; Ensign Coy; Ensign Sam Westwood

I'd also like to say thanks to Captain Laang. He's been a big help with training.

Summaries

USS Hammond

USS Hammond Captain Allen O'Malley Hammond Site

The Hammond crew managed to successfully retake the ship from the Prometheans, but only after the aliens withdrew just moments after the ship's self-destruct sequence was disabled. It is still not known for sure what the Prometheans' intentions were. One person who could have shed some light on this clandestine conspiracy, Admiral Wellesley, is presumed dead. An inquiry on these events are still on going. As they try to unravel this treacherous plot, another one suddenly surfaces. This time it was even closer to home as one of the traitors turns out to be one of their own, Lt. Tyne.

USS Isannah

Commander Alucard

The Jelara are an mistrustful insectoid race of that is not much known. However the Federation wanted to get into contact with them for several years for two reasons: First, their home world Jelara III is rich of resources, e. g. dilithium and comparatively much of latinum, second their home world lies on a strategic good position in the Beta quadrant.

Recently the Jelara contacted the Federation. The Isannah was supposed to travel to Jelara III and transport the Jelara ambassador to Deep-Space-12 where further negotiations will take place. However the Jelara did not yet make clear what it is exactly that they want. The Federation hopes that they want to negotiate about mining rights because the Jelara seem not to have the technical equipment. But in fact they might have something else in mind as well.

To get to Jelara III the Isannah would have to take some major detours. Because of that COS Ens. Odeau contacted the Romulans. He learned:

1. Romulans would allow us to cross their territory within 3 hours.

2. Breen are trying to make comeback by steeling Romulan ships.

On our way through Romulan space an explosion occurred in engineering that caused the Isannah to loose Warp power. It was found that Breen had come on board and were responsible for that.

At the same time the Romulan ship Devor had decloaked. The Warbird was commanded by Admiral Vedara (female) who claimed that we were never allowed to cross Romulan territory and she thought that we would be cooperating with Breen. She gave us 15 minutes to hand them over, else the Romulans would attack. Since the Isannah was pretty much in trouble we sent out a distress call that was first hear by the USS Magellan.

Since Captain Laang of the Magellan is a Breen we made the Romulans believe that we were the additional ally that was mentioned by the Breen government. Our away team found out that the Romulans and the Breen intended to let our governments fall and to unite to rule the alpha quadrant with an iron fist.

Meanwhile the true allies of the Romulans and Breen were approaching and they were no one else than the Jelara. Because their sensors don't work very good we were able to fool them with a holodeck simulation that we were much stronger than we actually were. We also made them believe that the Romulan ship was a danger because of an anomaly. The Jelara agreed to follow the Magellan to safe space. However they sent out a shuttle to the Devor which would be a problem if they found out that the anomaly was a fake.

Meanwhile it was detected that we were not the allies of the Romulans. Also the warp core of the Devor was going to explode. Therefor the away team had to get away quickly. They did this by "borrowing" a Romulan shuttle. When the Romulan shuttle with the away team left the Devor it had a direct course towards the Jelara shuttle. The away team was informed about the situation and destroyed the Jelara shuttle just before the pilot could be beamed out by us. Therefore the Jelara believed that the Romulans tried to attack them.

The Devor was destroyed after a break of the warp core. Some Romulans could be saved but most of not. The Isannah, the Magellan and the Jelara vessel could escape. The Jelara became mistrustful again and returned to their space. The official Romulan leaders denied any connections to the incident. The Magellan and the Isannah returned to SB 118 where most of the old Magellan crew were transferred to their former ship, the Isannah. So far there is nothing known about the Breen involvement in the incident.

USS Kodiak

Commander Hollis

Kodiak Site

During the previous mission against the Borg, the crew of the USS Kodiak discovers a corrupt alliance between certain high placed officers in Star Fleet and the Orion Syndicate. While on leave at SB 118 the crew and ship suffer political and direct attack by those elements who fear the crew’s knowledge. The attacks cumulate with the kidnapping of 2nd officer Lcmd. Khanar.

The trail of the Star Fleet Syndicate leads to Risa. Arriving at the planet the crew discovers the world held hostage by the wealth and brutality of the Orion Syndicate. An investigation results in the discovery of a hidden Orion base beneath the Biggs Casino. However, while teams rescue the 2nd officer and raid the base, a bomb detonates on deck 5 of the Kodiak killing 32 crew.

At present the Kodiak remains in orbit over Risa undergoing repairs while the crew takes leave. On completing repairs the Kodiak will set course for the Gorn-Tholian border. This long-term patrol will allow the vessel to repair Star Fleet installations, deliver supplies to colonies, and reinforce Federation claims along this perpetually contentious boarder.

USS Magellan

Captain Kael Laang

The USS Magellan has been ordered to sector 225 to rendezvous with outpost 141. We have been ordered to investigate several recent disappearances of shipping belonging to Federation members and allies.

Upon arrival, we experienced a devastating attack by a mass driven weapon which at first was undetectable to our sensors. Upon investigation we learned that the reason we could not see these projectiles was because they were distorted by their high relativistic velocity. The attack originated from an unusually high region of positronic density in which the shipping appeared to have suffered mishap.

Upon further investigation it appears that this area has been experiencing unusual phenomenon both related to shipping and personnel for nearly 60 years, long before the Federation established a presence here.

It now appears that we are intending to enter the positronic region at impulse, armed with a modification to our shields and sensors which will allow us to detect and avoid the relativistic projectiles. Our intent is to discover who or what can manipulate such extreme energy and intercept them, since they and the positronic density are closing on outpost 141 rapidly. Given the temporal distortion of an object moving at such speed, we had to consider the fact that this entity set out for the outpost as long as 8500 years ago from its perspective, which raises questions about the apparently peaceful political situation in this . We are doing everything in our power to find a way to communicate with the entity, however in my heart I do not believe it is possible weapons are on standby.

USS Nemesis

Captain Torack Demma

Lt. Commander, Robert Falcon, now Commander and Executive Officer of the Nemesis. He also received the Barclay Bead at the recent UFOP Award Ceremony.

Out of the frying pan. . . . .

The crew of the USS Nemesis, under the command of Commander Robert Falcon, had only just halted a rebel uprising under the direction of Admiral Colt. Surprisingly it was Colt himself, along with a makeshift fleet pulled together by the Nemesis crew using the available ships at Starbase 118, that stopped the rebel fleet from reaching earth where they intended to overthrow and take command of Star Fleet Headquarters. Unfortunately Admiral Colt escaped before he could be taken into custody.

During this time the Nemesis gained two new ensigns, a science officer, Becca Fire-Claw and an assistant counselor, Jade Xavier.

And into the fire. . . . . .

Having only just returned to Starbase 118 we learned that our ships counselor, Lt. Lina Pyne, was to be transferred to the USS Magellan. A farewell party was held as repairs to the Nemesis were completed. Captain Demma, who was on a personal leave due to the passing of his father, called for the Nemesis to travel to his home world of Qo’Nos and retrieve him. We also received two new ensigns, Mackenzie Barton, security and Joel Richards, engineering.

No sooner was the Captain back aboard, and the Nemesis on her way, then we were attacked by several Breen ships. Outnumbered and with heavy damage we had no choice but to accept aid from two Shiloniy Legionaries, but at a very high price.

The new ships counselor, greatly concerned over Captain Demma’s actions and change in attitude since his return to the Nemesis and has expressed her unease to Commander Falcon. By some rather unusual circumstances, she has been able to force Captain Demma into counseling. The situation between them has quickly becoming a game of cat and mouse. The question is, who’s the cat and who’s the mouse?

In the meantime, the Shiloniy have taken out the Breen threat and the Nemesis is working on repairing the damage sustained by the attack. We were on our way to Starbase 251 when a distress call from the failed Daris II colony was intercepted.

Captain Demma immediately ordered a change of course to Daris II and has asked the Shiloniy Legionaries, Conicen S. Brynn and his wife, Trarii Gefion Culaerha to remain his guests until their payment for services rendered can be transacted.

Who knows what awaits us on Daris II? Only time will tell.

USS Ronin

Captain Adler

The USS Ronin was ordered by StarFleet command to the Kandor system to investigate the sudden loss of contact with the USS Hergest Ridge, which had sent a very garbled message regarding the end of the universe and the coming of something called Ogdru Jahad.

Captain Alder Wong-Aquiss and a small team have left the ship and travelled to Betazed for a funeral of a close friend of the Captains, leaving the Ronin in the hands of Lt Commander James. As we arrived in the Kandor sector, we found in orbit over Kandor IV a kind of "graveyard" of ships..a large variety of starships, Klingong, Romulan, Breen...and the Hergest Ridge. An away team was sent to the ship, only to discover the crew was dead, torn apart by some kind of shadow creatures that seemingly emerged from nothing.

Contact was lost with the crew for a while, and upon, re-establishing contact, we discovered the only surviving crewmember of the Ridge was the Captain, who apparently had gone crazy and was attempting to open a portal for the elder god Ogdru Jahad to enter our universe and destroy it. His attempt was aided by a power source emitting from the planet. Also complicating things was the arrival of a Section 31 ship, the USS Dulles, which promptly fired upon us.

The Ronin was able to escape any serious damage, but was able to beam a small crew to a Klingon ship, the IKS Gorkon that was also in orbit. Cmdr Maka, in charge of the away team on the Hergest Ridge, succeeded in disarming and stopping the opening of the rift on the ship, in effect killing the Captain. Once the rift was closed, the USS Dulles opened a channel for our ships to join forces to combat whatever was on the planet and stop the energy source.

Rather reluctantly, we sent a small team in conjunction with theirs down to Kandor IV, now having control of the Hergest Ridge, the Gorkon, and a Romulan Bird of Prey. Our last scan showed signs of an attack on the planet, of which we have yet to get an answer to.

StarBase 118

Captain Malcolm Lysander

Starbase 118 Site

The crew of the StarBase boarded the USS Phoenix - C to investigate the strange computer readings from the Daris 2 Colony, which was evacuated about a year ago. Upon arrival at the colony, the crew detected a cloaked StarFleet craft, resembling a Steamrunner class ship, just like the USS Phoenix - C.

After repeated attempts at contacting the ship, to no avail, the Captain ordered an away team to go ahead an land at the colony, using a shuttle so they could have the best possible tactical situation.

As the away team leaves the ship, Lysander is contact by Admiral Wolf, who unbeknownst to the crew, orders Lysander to carry out a top-secret mission, effective immediately. Lysander returns to the bridge and orders the Phoenix to "Alpha - Base 45". Once there, the captain orders the destruction of the base, and forces an oath of secrecy on the crew. As soon as the deed is done, Lysander turns the ship back around and gives orders to return to the colony. A mutiny breaks out aboard the ship.

Meanwhile, back at the Daris 2 Colony, the away team has been captured by the cloaked StarFleet ship. They manage to escape quickly to the colony itself, and begin an investigation.

The Phoenix soon returns to the colony, the mutiny having been quelled, and makes contact with the crew on the surface. Massive earthquakes have begun on the planet, and the crew is beamed aboard as quickly as possible. The cloaked ship, having threatened the Phoenix, soon finds itself under attack from the Phoenix, and is disabled. The crew from the cloaked ship is transported to the brig of the Phoenix, and with the cloaked ship in tow, the StarBase crew sets course back for 118.

USS StarWind

Rear Admiral Ciara Randor

StarWind Site

The crew of the newly commissioned StarWind - A was sent to complete a survey mission of the TioKai sector under the command of none other than Admiral Ciara Randor and Captain Edward Kingson. Upon reaching the TioKai sector, it was decided to take one of the StarWinds support vessels, the "Sirius" on a shakedown cruise and get some of the initial charting out of the way. The Sirius encountered difficulties and crash landed in one of the planets oceans. The Sirius crew managed to escape to a underwater palace inhabited by a peace loving alien race that was being attacked with a new phasing technology. While attempting to make repairs to the Sirius, her crew managed to find a solution to the menacing phasing attacks and provided the aliens with a defense against it.

Meanwhile, the StarWind and her crew encountered a group of rogue merchants that had discovered use of the new phasing technology and the massing forces that had created it. Through several dialogs with the pirate commander and first hand observation of the phasing technology, Admiral Randor determined that the new technology presented not only a life threatening oppression to the ToiKai sector, but a potential threat to the Federation and it's citizens as well. Once the Sirius was reunited with the StarWind and the phasing technology was dissected, Admiral Randor and the crew of the StarWind took a stand against the oppressive force that was using it. Upon realizing that the StarWind had a defense against their technology, the commander of the attack force withdrew his forces and agreed to never use the technology again.

The StarWind sustained two losses during the mission. Captain Edward Kingson and Lieutenant Adora Tekra were lost and are considered missing in action.

USS Wallace

Captain V. McGregor

This report will be fairly short this month. First and foremost the crew of the USS Indria now has their own ship.She is a steamrunner-the USS Wallace. Named after William Wallace of Braveheart fame:)We hope to be fully launched sometime after the end of the awards ceremony.

At present we are all on SB 118--waiting too launch USS Wallace. We have lost a crew member and unauthorized plans are being made to try and recover him.

We also welcome some new crew. Lt. Commader Marko Anderson,Lt. Jon Caravella, ACSO,Professer Drexler-a rather annoying but loveable guest., and Tuck -another guest who pops on and off the ship.

Interview

((Interview room, Star Base 118))

I sat down and adjusted the microphones while making sure the computer was ready to record on command. Captain Laang and Ensign Tormont 154 stood to one side talking to each other, I also wished to interview Captain YShirad but due to a new influx of Cadets and my schedule with USS Ronin, it made it impossible for either of us to travel to each others` location. I called Ensign Tormont 154 over first of all he walked over with grace, stood to attention and after a brief but pleasant conversation with each other, I offered the chair opposite me to him and he sat down.

AQUISS: Computer, start recording. Good Afternoon Ensign, I am Captain Alder Wong-Aquiss.

Torm: Good Afternoon, sir

AQUISS: A pleasure to meet you Ensign. Why did you think of a career with Star Fleet?

Torm: As being the 1st Hermat in Starfleet I think very highly of it.

AQUISS: On your first day of training, how did you feel?

Torm: Confused, granted all cadets are.

AQUISS: What were you main fears or worries while at the academy?

Torm: Making friend was my biggest fear I do not have very many friends back on the Hermat home world.

AQUISS: The final exam, ::smile:: make or break time.... When you stood on the spot light in the Holodeck, what was going through your mind as the examiner called out your name and assigned you to your duties?

Torm: I was hopping for a posting to Engineering but got sent to security.

AQUISS: What did you personally find the hardest thing about the final exam?

Torm: I personally did not find anything hard about it.

AQUISS: After you heard that you had graduated, what was the very first thing you did?

Torm: I celebrated with my classmates.

AQUISS: You were assigned to USS Ronin, was it placement given to you or did you personally choose the placing and if you did choose the placing, what was the main factors?

Torm: I choose the posting, it was because it has a war ranking of 5, I personally wanted to be on the front lines if there is another war.

AQUISS: ::Shaking his hand:: Thank you Ensign Tormont, well answered questions and good luck for your future career in the UFoP.

Torm: Thank You, Captain.

AQUISS: Good afternoon Captain Laang.

LAANG: Good Afternoon Captain Wong-Aquiss. ::The officer leaned across and we both shook hands with each other::

AQUISS: So I guess we better begin..

LAANG: I guess we should.. ::The Breen nodded politely and I couldn't help but wonder if there was some kind of mild sarcasm underlying it::

AQUISS: So, how did you first become involved in training?

LAANG: A funny question that, I was more dragged into it than 'became involved'. The Training department was particularly over-stretched and I inadvertently offered some help..

AQUISS: Inadvertently?

LAANG: Well, I'm easily persuaded, especially with a phaser pointed at me.. ::Laang pauses and I look at him strangely::

LAANG: I am joking..

AQUISS: Yeah, OK. ::Sarcastic:: Very funny. ::Taking a sip of water before continuing:: What do you look for in a Cadet?

LAANG: Good looking, short skirt and a good cook, ooh sorry, you said cadets..

I raised an eyebrow before softly sighing::

LAANG: The qualities that I look for in a cadet are the ability to work within a team, and of course, the quality and accuracy of their work..

AQUISS: Are you sympathetic towards the Cadets that do not pass the final exam?

LAANG: I am not even sympathetic towards the Cadets that do pass. Some say I am probably the worst of the training instructors at the Starbase. However I'd just say I am harsh.

AQUISS: Well, I have heard rumours... but I digress. How does training differ from Commanding a ship?

LAANG: It is very different, for a start you don't have a permanent set of people you work with, you don't have their inadequacies to deal with on a day to day basis, however you do not get the close bond between Captain and crew that you get on a star ship.

AQUISS: I see. ::Leaning forward with a smirk on my face:: So you missed your crews' inadequacies so much that you that had to retaken command USS Magellan?

LAANG: You could say that. ::takes another sip of water and pauses, her face drops as the pause becomes a deadly silence::

LAANG: To tell the truth, for once, I missed the crew and the ship, the feeling of.. of.. of..

AQUISS: Absolute power? ::I move my hand to give Aquiss a thumbs up::

LAANG: Square on the button.. ::I stifled a laugh, sat back in my chair and carried on the interview::

AQUISS: Do you still hope to carry on training Cadets in your available free time as well?

LAANG: Yes, as and when I have the time to do so, Contrary to popular belief, I find the whole experience quite enjoyable.

AQUISS: Which is your personal favourite final exam simulation and have you ever created your own scenarios?

LAANG: Hmm, you do think up some hard ones.. It must be the Meze simulation, that has got to be my favourite, if it is only to see the Cadets faces as they are bounced around the interior of a shuttlecraft. As for creating my own scenario, I'm working on one for use in the summer..

AQUISS: Thank you very much Captain Laang, it has been... interesting.

LAANG: I am glad you thought so Captain, it is always nice to know someone appreciates your endeavours.

AQUISS: Indeed Ka`el. Computer, please stop the recording.

I stood up and he did like wise. We then shook each others` hand once again before saying our goodbyes and wishes for each others` success::

May 2000 Awards

May 2000 Awards

STAFF Rear Admiral Marlin: The Picard Award Captain Valarious McGregor: James T Kirk Cross Kren Tekra: Sarek Star Captain Adler Wong: Christopher Pike Pendant Captain Adler Wong: Neelix Award

HAMMOND Lt. Commander Valeris: Neelix Awards Lt. Ryan Larinson: TOSMA I Dr. James O'Hara: TOSMA II

INDRIA Lt. Alan Keldor: Nebula Bar Ensign Carter: TOSMA 2 Lt. (DR.) Jen Malcom: Barclay bead

KODIAK Hollis: TOSMA I Speed: Barclay Bead Khanar: TOSMA II

NEMESIS Lt. Commander Matthew Lee: TOSMA II Robert Falcon: Barclay Bead

RONIN Lt Cmdr Kelen Lugard: TOSMA I Ensign Sotek: TOSMA II Lt j.g. Krapsparov: The Silver Palm Lt j.g. Kizri: The Barclay Bead Ensign Will Hawkley: Cochrane Award

STARBASE Lt.j.g. Dray Nis: Cochrane Award Lt Locke: TOSMA I

STARWIND (While not able to make it back to Starbase 118 in time, the StarWind held her own awards ceremony between events.) Admiral Ciara Randor: Picard Award (presented by Commander Mortalis) Captain Edward Kingson (MIA): James T. Kirk Cross Commander Slane Mortalis: Sheathed Sword Award Lieutenant T'Lan: Phoenix Award Lt.j.g. Terreis Bryte: B-Plot Award Lt.j.g. Vincent Chen: Scotty Cross Lt.j.g. Dawson: Neelix Award Ensign Drev Reaver: Merria Medallion

Invasion!

"The invasion and occupation of Betazed by Dominion Forces." Written and submitted by Captain Alder Wong-Aquiss, Lt Cmdr Kelen Lugard and Ensign Sam Kara

The question of why the Dominion took over Betazed was a puzzle to most people. The planet does not host any major industrial capacity to make it worthwhile, it is not particular rich in any crucial minerals the Dominion may have required (that we know of, anyway) and while being a host to a great many conventions and meetings of various planetary systems representatives - Betazed's occupation should have cost more then anything the Dominion could have hoped to gain.

These matters, though, make little difference to the suffering the people of Betazed were forced to endure. Their plight, along with a strong feeling that Star Fleet, rightly or wrongly, abandoned them without any resistance, is quite evident in the almost physical feeling of despair and anger that can be felt by any one coming to the planet - Whether they are in anyway empathic, telepathic or possess none of these abilities.

Betazed people, while on the whole, spiritual and peaceful hold a strong resentment to the fact that they feel that Star Fleet abandoned them. Star Fleets reasoning, that to have kept what little of its forces that remained in the system, would have meant further losses of material and personnel in a lost cause, does not remove the feeling of betrayal felt by Betaziods.

Even today, Star fleet personnel arriving at the planet to take part in emergency war relief and reconstruction operations, can feel a palpable weight of raw emotions pressing down on them, the latest personnel being a small away team from the USS Ronin, which was sent by a Betazed High priest, Herne Nyssa on matters that remain disclosed and they took the time to officially record and catalogue some of the horrific events that blighted Betazed.

They were first shown to the most effected areas - the poisoning of the water treatment plants, the laying of gravitic mines in places of worship and the destruction of the markets and animal live stock, but their main targets seemed to be the Betaziods` homes and villages, wreaking havoc and tearing their once peaceful lives apart.

After the away teams' horrific tour of Betazed, Captain Wong-Aquiss was then seen being parted from the rest of her away team and shown to a private area that none of Star Fleet has been privy to, that is until now.

She was shown to what was once a grand Training Seminary filled with highly intelligent children who learnt how to use their empathic capabilities laid in utter ruin, the main tall white building which housed more than 500 empaths at a time broken down to nothing more than rubble and although this was shocking enough for anyone, nothing could have prepared for the shock that was about to follow, the truth as to why the Dominion really occupied Betazed and tore the world in two - to Kidnap every young child from new newborns right up to the ages of 10 as then, the children's full empathic and telepathic abilities are awakened. No one could understand why the Dominion had Kidnapped these children, only pure speculation and rumours that were spoken quietly within closed circles.

Wong-Aquiss: "StarFleet engineers have repaired many of the physical scars on Betazed, but the emotional scars are still covering the planet like a shroud, void of any life energy and while Betaziods would certainly not turn to physical violence to vent their anger and pain, the mental imagery they project onto those they feel let them down has resulted in a sharp increase of psychological trauma reported in away team personnel sent down to work on the planet."

She wished to express that she had no comment about her own thoughts on the mission children, or why the Dominion had taken them, only "That I shall do everything in my power to make sure Star Fleet IS aware of the situation so we may proceed in peaceful negotiations in getting the children back to their rightful homes"

Whether StarFleet is truly able to succeed in locating the whereabouts of these children remains to be seen... but we wish them luck with their efforts while keeping you informed of their progress.

HOW NOT TO BE IGNORED

written and submitted by Lt. Commander Justyn Morgan, USS StarWind

Many people tend to slip into the role of being ignored on their vessel. Whether it is on a new vessel or one you have been on for a long time, it is easy to slip into a dark corner and not be seen by the rest of the crew, making SIMming both boring and a time consuming chore. This tip is designed to minimize this problem. Be sure to read it carefully and apply it to your own SIMming style.

1. SIM as often as possible. While this is a game, it is also one that involves other people, and therefore carries a certain obligation to maintain your end of things so that you do not stand in the way of other people's enjoyment. The less you SIM, the more people are going to view you as a part-timer and make contact with those that they know will SIM.

2. Be sure to read all SIMs before writing your own, and respond to those who have spoken to you. It is advisable to keep all of the SIMs you send and receive in one mailbox so that you may refer back to them should you need to remember what someone asked you or what something was named. It is not necessary to keep these SIMs past the current plot, and often not more than a month or two, even if the plot extends longer. Cut and paste those items you need to respond to into a fresh message where you are able to rework the perspective and respond to them while you can see them. If you use a mail account such as hotmail, or another web-mail account, it is suggested that you use a word processor, or notepad to write your SIMs. This allows you to cut, paste and save your work while you write, in case your computer or program crashes.

3. Talk to other player characters. Give them time to respond. Not everyone can SIM the moment they read their mail, so allow for a day, maybe two, before continuing on.

4. Civilians have it worse, since they will not have duties given to them. Nor will they be in the centre of the action during plots. But they are still free to interact with crew left over, or be creative at working themselves into the plot. Get yourself captured, allow yourself to overhear something that needs to be reported, etc. Civilians also have the freedom to create subplots that run alongside the main plot. Talk to other players who don't appear to be very busy on the ship at the moment, create a new holodeck program, etc.

Reader's Corner

Reader's Corner

Feeling ready to participate? Well, here's where you can do it. Contests here will be free for all personnel, (although some things may be blocked from certain ranks) and winners will be printed in the next month's edition of the Reporter. Please be sure to fill in your answers as completely as possible. ((Offline Readers will have to email your answers directly to the Editor))

NAME SHIP

1. RATE THE REPORTER (this issue) (1 being the lowest)

2. FAVORITE ST SERIES?

3. FAVORITE CHARACTER? (Any Series)

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SITUATION IN ANY OF THE STAR TREK SERIES OR MOVIES? (EG ... TNG episode : Q'pid ..... Worf saying, "I must protest, I am not a merry man!")

Here is where it counts most. Be creative on these!

5. JOINT PLOTS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN UFOP?

6. ONE THING YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOUR CAPTAIN DO IC (Captains, stay out of this one!!):

7. HOLIDAY YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE CELEBRATED IN STARFLEET: (E.G. Day of the Dancing Klingon)

8. BEST ONE-LINER USED IN A SIM?

9. WHAT WAS THE ODDEST, MOST STRANGE THING THAT EVER HAPPENED ABOARD YOUR SHIP, THAT SOMEHOW SEEMED TO FIT THE PLOT?

10. WHAT WOULD YOUR CAPTAIN DO IF S/HE FOUND OUT YOU HAD BEAMED HIM/HER TO THE HOLODECK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT IN A VERY ACURATE RECREATION OF THE SHIP AND TOOK THE SHIP ITSELF ON A JOYRIDE?

Terror by Assimilation

begun by Civ. Tan Pol

Chess… It was the ultimate intellectual competition, in Dave’s opinion. And this was one game he could not afford to lose. Slowly, he moved his knight into the fray, forward two and left one. His opponent chuckled to herself, moving a pawn one space forward, into the direct line of attack held by his rook.

She turned to the computer terminal – she had always felt more comfortable speaking to an object than into thin air – giving the computer an anthropomorphic personification had helped her adjustment.

"Computer – I think we could do with some music. ‘You Win Again’, by the Brothers Gibb, if it’s not too much trouble." The computer bleeped a reply and the heavy drum intro brayed across the room. It was called Gamesmanship – making the opponent as uncomfortable as possible, without actually interfering.

"Get out of this one." Dave smirked as his rook sliced across the board, removing her pawn from the field of play. It was a major mistake, and his unsympathetic competition took full advantage of it.

The rook had been blocking the entrance to Dave’s rear flank, where his king was protected only by a Bishop, two squares to it’s right. And the final move of the game was made.

"Queen’s Rook to Rook 8. Check and mate." Dave’s daughter collapsed in fits of laughter, almost falling off her chair. "I cannot believe you made such an elementary mistake! When was the last time you played?"

Dave folded his arms and hunched his shoulders. "I haven’t played two-dimensional chess in eight years. Three-dimensional gives you more room to-"

He was interrupted by the familiar bleep of a communicator.

"Lieutenant Shilton to the bridge, immediately", a harsh voice hollered.

Quickly, he grabbed the communicator and clipped it to his clothing, then morphed back into his ‘Fleet uniform, and knocked his King over to signify the end of the game.

"Congratulations, Honey – jolly good show. I’ll be back for a rematch later."

Grinning, he sprinted out of their quarters and towards a turbolift.

"Hey – Boss! Wait up!" The voice had a very shrill accent – definitely American, and very familiar. Lieutenant J.G. Kerry Crown caught up with her Department Head at the turbolift door. "Going my way?", she panted.

"If you’re headed to the bridge," Dave replied. "Any idea what they want us for?"

"No idea", she paused, then smirked. "Although I have heard a rumour that I’m being made Chief Science Officer when my superior is court-martialled for dereliction of duty."

"Very funny," Dave said, as the turbolift door opened. "After you."

Crown walked in, followed by Shilton, and started the lift moving towards Deck 1.

Then the world exploded.

Kerry coughed as she eased the debris off her legs. Whatever had happened, it was bad. The lift had been blown clear of it’s moorings and crashed through the corridor, causing more internal damage than she would like to contemplate.

She heard a shuffle behind her. She turned to see Dave sitting upright and dusting his uniform down. She found her voice, "Are you okay, Dave?"

"It takes a lot more than that to damage a shapeshifter. Any idea what it was?"

Kerry shook her head as she got to her feet. "Try your communicator."

The Lieutenant touched his communicator and spoke. "Shilton to bridge."

The reply was tinged with static, but still audible. "Lieu[crackle]ant – we’re un[crackle]ack – re[fizzle] bridge now!"

He turned back to Perry, who shrugged her shoulders. He looked down at the communicator again. "Understood, Bridge – who’s attacking us?"

This time, the reply was completely incomprehensible.

"Could you repeat that please, bridge?"

He was answered by a scream from along the corridor. Both officers did a double take and started to follow the sound, rounding a few corners and dodging bits of live wiring and collapsed wall.

They eventually found themselves face to face with a nightmare. The one thing that, no matter how many training simulations an officer attended still petrified them.

Shilton spoke up, yelling, "Let go of her!" His mind raced, trying to decide on a shape that would be effective against this particular enemy. His mind didn’t race fast enough. It turned away from it’s victim – a young woman dressed in civilian attire – and spoke to Dave and Kerry directly.

"Resistance is futile…"

To be continued…

Here ends the first installment of our story. Have some ideas on what happens next? Send in your installment and keep the story going. The best response will be printed next month. Send entries to the editor.

Classifieds

Wanted - Artist with a sense of humour for regular Reporter job. Please Contact Editor for details.

Wanted - Reporter Submissions of all types. Please contact Editor with ideas.

Have an ad for this section? In Character or OOC, let us see it.

WANTED: Any officers with a very basic feel for HTML, who are willing to help out. The volunteers will be taking SIMs from various UFOP ships and ceremonies, and converting them from e-mail to HTML format, so be viewed as an archive of a plot, online. Volunteers will have to ensure the accuracy of the conversion (so that no formatting is lost). A standard template will be provided. Respond to: Admiral Wolf wolf530@bigfoot.com

OOC

Chats

Are you aware that UFOP has its own IRC chatroom? It's on irc.starchat.net:6667, in #Starbase_118. This chatroom is open 24/7, so if you ever feel like dropping by feel free to do so. We can't guarantee that there'll be any people there, but if you're willing to sit and watch and wait, it could be a good way of meeting some people from other ships. There are also two organized OOC chats, which are moderated and more likely to have people in attendance.

Holodeck 7: Saturday -- 7pm PST, 8pm MST, 9pm Central, 10pm EST No moderator at present. (Volunteers?)

(For veterans of the Saturday chat, please note that we have LEFT talkcity and moved to starchat for both chats, after talkcity had a change in policy.)

The Euro-Chat -- Sunday -- 11am PST, 12pm MST, 1pm Central, 2pm EST, 3pm Atlantic, 7pm British Time, 8pm Central European Time Moderator: Captain Adler

Knowledge of IRC is not required for attending these chats, if you would like to attend but don't know how to, feel free to contact any of the moderators or any other member of UFOP Command, who will be more than happy to help. More information about IRC and connecting to it is contained in our IRC Info section.

We recommend using either pIRCh or mIRC as your Windows IRC client, or IRCle as your Macintosh compatible client.

Message Boards

UFOP has two message boards, and an OOC mailing list.

OOC Message board http://www.InsideTheWeb.com/mbs.cgi/mb328008

The UFOP OOC message board is a means for members of the UFOP fleet to have OOC discussion with any other member of the fleet. This board is for OOC messages or discussion. Feel free to leave messages to other members of the fleet, introduce new ideas that interest you, or just talk about UFOP in general! This is also the first place where requests for help are posted, so keep an eye out on it.

IC Message board http://www.InsideTheWeb.com/mbs.cgi/mb945656

This message board exists for the use of UFOP officers and crew. It is an In Character message board. Feel free to leave news of your UFOP ship or installation. This is a good way to get a glance on what is going on on other ships -- and to let other ships know what is going on on yours. Feel free to post IC, or drop in a mission summary sometime.

OOC Mailing List ufop-ooc@egroups.com http://www.egroups.com/group/ufop-ooc

This mailing list serves the same purpose as the message board, but in an easier-to-access, in-your-mailbox manner. Feel free to post on both, and ask whatever questions interest you. It hasn't been that busy lately, but I'm sure you can think of something to say... to join, send a blank e-mail to ufop-ooc-subscribe@egroups.com

Got a comment or a complaint?

UFOP still has -- and will likely have for a long while -- a feedback form, to hear what you have to say. Ideas, comments, complaints -- if you have something you'd like to say, but don't know where to say it; this is the place for it.

http://www.starbase118.netfeedback.shtml

This goes straight to the UEC, at the top of the group, and can be completely anonymous if you prefer.

While we welcome constructive criticism -- even desire it -- we can guarantee that a carefully worded complaint will receive a much better response than an irate rant. Be civil with us, and we shall be civil with you.

Interested in helping?

UFOP is a fairly busy group, with plenty going on behind the surface. If you've been around for a while, and feel like helping out, drop us a note and let us know.

Some sample areas: Assisting training, Reporter submissions, Personnel liaison (Keeping the Webteam up-to-date on your ships roster). Graphic designers, HTML coders...

If you're willing to do work OOC, please, let us know... if we don't have anything for you at the moment, we'll let you know and keep your name in mind, if we need someone later.

Keeping The Fleet Together

In the interests of making UFOP less a group of individual ships, and more a community, we are starting a new project. Those of you on different ships might have noticed that happenings on other ships don't usually affect the group as a whole... in that vein, we would like to devote a section of the IC message board for updates to the political happenings; what races each ship is interacting with, and how and what they're doing.

Example: (Purely hypothetical) One ship posts: We're dealing with Klingons right now; the relationship between them and the Federation seems to be a little strained right now, but not yet hostile.

Next ship takes a look at that, and they know that the Klingons are in bad moods; they can use that, and add that the Cardassians and the Klingons have had a few flare ups, but no official war...

You see how it would work? Each ship adds their own perspective on the race; each CO and crew can check to see what each race they might deal with is acting like... There will, of course, be splinter group behaving differently, but the goal is to have as much solidarity as possible, between the different races.

Fantasy Branch

There's a great deal of variety amongst the ships of UFOP, but the FSS Charybdis is quite different from the rest of them. It stands apart from all the others. How so?

It's made out of wood.

A year and three quarters ago, UFOP extended alliance to a a Fantasy SIM: Faerin, run by our own Admiral Randor and ex-Command Liaison Tekra. It takes place on a nearly desolate world, with unpredicatable magic and strange creatures. If you enjoy Fantasy as well as StarTrek, sail over to their website at www.bigfoot.com/~Faerin .

End Notes

-Please write and tell me what you like or don't like about the Reporter. I would also appreciate suggestions regarding what you would like to see in this newsletter.

-Submissions are welcome from all UFOP members.

-Have an idea for one of our regular sections?

Contacts

To Contact the Editor with submissions, suggestions, complaints or critiques, please e-mail Admiral Randor at randor@celticwarrior.com

UFOP UEC: ufopec@egroups.com

Individual Admirals:

Fleet Admiral Tristan Wolf wolf530@bigfoot.com Rear Admiral Shaun Marlin marlin@mersinet.co.uk Rear Admiral Ciara Randor randor@celticwarrior.com

Old Rank	Name	New Rank	Ship
Lt. Commander	Robert Falcon	Commander	Nemesis
Lieutenant j.g.	Shawn Dawson	Lieutenant	StarWind
Lieutenant j.g.	Vincent Chen	Lieutenant	StarWind
Lieutenant j.g.	Hebron	Lieutenant	Kodiak
Ensign	Robertson	Lieutenant j.g.	Kodiak
Ensign	'Acher	Lieutenant j.g.	Kodiak
Ensign	Tamara Brown	Lieutenant j.g.	Wallace
Ensign	Hunter	Lieutenent j.g.	Wallace
Ensign	Hirohito Kim	Lieutenant j.g.	SB 118
Ensign	Sava Tolqu	Lieutenant j.g.	SB 118
Ensign	Kelly Piper	Lieutenant j.g.	SB 118