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Outpost 42 destination of choice for Fleet Three 
OUTPOST 42 -- The most "coreward" outpost of Third Fleet has become the center of attention recently, as the Fleet-wide SIM moves toward climax. Base CO Paula Kirk found herself with her hands full when Star-Fleet Intel head honcho William Garner and his troops took control of the outpost. Armed with waves of Intel officers, a few Traf-class ships, and a lot of attitude, Garner and his right-hand man, er woman, Deborah Freed, punched a hole in the Star-Fleet attack force bearing down on OP42. With that accomplished, the supposedly-murdered Garner's next order of business: specialized incarceration of President Stadt. Unfortunately, Freed was out sick from Intel class when the teacher explained the importance of not giving prisoners knives, and allowed the President use of one with his meal. Freed must have also missed the presentation on table settings, as Stadt was eating chicken noodle soup.  Eventually, Stadt stabbed himself and was dissolved into a glob of goo when the transporter 'malfunctioned' trying to beam him to sickbay. 

Meanwhile, Captain Seamus Hughes of the renegade USS Hopper and Acting CO B.J. Phillips of the USS Athena have joined forces. Believing that 42 is the answer to meaning of life, the universe, and everything, the two captains are enroute to the outpost.  Meanwhile, in a different part of Fleet three, accused murderer Commodore Kavox Cox temporarily assumed command of the USS Concorde and teamed up with his former crewman Franco Torres, CO of the USS Dresden. Once they catch up on old times, will a trip to OP42 be far behind? 

Crisis reaches climax; outpost business ebbs  
PROMENADE -- Whoever said war was good for business never set foot on Outpost 42 during the recent Fleetwide RPG. Caught in the crossfire between the Good Starfleet, the Bad Starfleet, and the Ugly Starfleet, the outpost cannot accept or launch any ships. This means no new supplies for outposts businesses nor fresh blood by way of new visitors. With little remaining by way of selection for most vendors' wares, base occupants now rely mostly on base replicators. 

Additionally, since being held hostage within one's own home tends to dull the appetite, sales are down for base restaurants. Particularly hard hit is Sandy's Fine Eatery. Although the proprietress, Sandy the Restauranteur, was unavailable for comment, WeBBsights learned that since President Stadt turned into a large glob of goo in a recent transporter "accident," sales of a disgustingly similar jiggling dessert took a dive. 

Harry the Holosuite Honcho, head of Harry's House of Holosuites, notes a different problem: The sudden incursion of Intel officers. "I hate these Intel types," Harry the Honcho huffed. "They're too straight-laced.  They just stand around my shop doing an Al Gore immitation.  It's really starting to scare people away." 

It's not all bad news, however. Business is booming for outpost bars. One patron told this reporter that Seamus, proprietor of Seamus's Irish Pub, had been dancing around his establishment after hours tossing bars of gold-pressed latinum in the air. Infirmary records do show Seamus being treated for a concussion on the night in question.

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B.J., 16, lives in Bassett, Virginia, where he is a sophomore in high school.  A Star Trek devotee who was once quoted as saying quite openly that "Star Trek is the best form of sci-fi ever to be made! Bar none! Babylon 5 doesn't even come close!" he found STF while hunting through Yahoo! for a Star Trek RPG club.  "I looked through other Star Trek RPGs as well, but chose STF because of the club's realistic RPGing," he said, "not something too far-fetched."  Even with his additional duties as Co-PDir and FComm, B.J. doesn't find STF overly time-consuming, placing him in a minority of STFers (according to the latest SNN poll).  In his ample free (i.e., non-STF) time, B.J. is a Co-Captain of his school's Science Academic ACE team and a member of the concert band.  He is also in the process of establishing a chess club at his school.  College plans include astronomy and/or meteorology. 

Geneva Convention changes rules for the Post War 
STARBASE 117 -- Mike Bourdaa, with the blessing of the other FComms and AFComms, has altered the Post War.  The Ship of the Month Award is now based on quality instead of quantity.  Each FComm and AFComm now votes on ships in three categories.  The old SOTM award is now the "Most Active Ship" Award.  New to the Post War is the "Most Improved Ship" award, which goes to the ships that have improved the most in their posting over the last month.  Finally, the "Most Active Crew" Award is terminated, and will no longer be awarded.  Now to the results: 

• Most Active Ship (MAS): With a gross 807 total posts, and a net 700.7 total posts, the USS Andorian takes first place in MAS, setting a new STF record (The previous record of was set by the USS Concorde last month).  This amazing feat is made even more amazing when you realize that this is the Andorian's first month, and that it had a handicap of not starting until 9 days into March.  Extrapolating, if the Andorian had a full 31 days, its total would be near a whopping 1000 posts.  Second place was the USS Hopper with 698 gross posts, 654.6 net posts, a new Fleet Three record; and the USS Dresden with 717 gross posts, 618.5 net posts.  The Dresden was hit hard by short posting.
• Ship of the Month (SotM): The Andorian also takes first place in SotM.  The Dresden takes second, and the Alliance third.  Fourth, fifth, and sixth were the Columbus, Outpost 42, and the Hopper, respectively.
• Most Improved Ship (MIS): The USS Montgomery takes first place for MIS, followed by the ChunDab, Concorde, Dresden and Outpost 42 in a tie for second.

Trivia Answers 
SNN CENTER, CHICAGO -- The winner of the April Fools' Trivia Special was Nameless Ensign #98 of Outpost 42.  The first person to ever get all the answers right in the history of SNN Trivia, #98 has won a trip for two to the lovely beaches of Zeta III in the Damocles sector.  For those who weren't so lucky, the correct answers were: 

1. Mike Bourdaa's first name is "FComm-3."
2. Greg Hertzsch is currently the holder of the keys to the Executive Bathroom.  This is the most prestigious office in STF.
3. B.J. Phillips's parents were fans of President Harry S Truman, so they named their son in his honor.  "B.J." doesn't stand for anything.  It IS his first name.
4. FComm-1 Aaron Holland wants to keep VP Owen Townes in the dark about the fact that they are both Floridians, because Owen once threatened Aaron's life in the ED.  Aaron is afraid that Owen would carry through with his threat to join the NRA and assassinate him.  WeBBsights will not be held responsible as an accessory should Owen now do so.

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Fleet Three -- The Coreward Fleet   
by Deanne Morgan  
USS Athena, NCC-71819: Proving that heroics and intelligence don't always go hand-in-hand, acting XO James Speck has beamed over to the USS Hopper to talk to her current captain, Seamus Hughes (not to be confused with its previous captain, Seamus Hughes).  Meanwhile, after assisting CMO Rebecca Cadogan with an implant to make Speck traceable for emergency beamout, CE Randy McCullick stepped in to help new CSO Dierdre Stewart (send in the clones) with finding a way to foil the Hopper.  After impressing her by making a table disappear, McCullick has moved his sights higher and is working to make the Hopper's cloak disappear. 
  
USS Concorde, NCC-97123-B:  Never before has the line of command been quite so jagged as it has been on the Concorde recently.  Former XO Paul Ferris recently took command from Jean Flinois, naming until-then unknown researcher Itara Lykul his new first officer.  Within hours of Lykul rising from the bowels of the ship, Ferris disappeared (Spring Break does a number to STF: See related MicroNews [and stop reading WeBBsights out of order, you d*mn hooligans! --Ed.]), leaving the XO in command with the Concorde up against the USS Bearn and USS Lewis.  Like the cavalry, Commodore Kavox Cox arrived in the runabout Pursuit, sacrificing the littler ship to give the Concorde some breathing room.  Despite his being wanted for murder, Lykul was more than happy to turn over command to the more experienced Kavox, thereby keeping her bald Deltan head out of the noose a little while longer. 
  
USS Dresden, NCC-1837-B: With a bit of ingenuity, some suicidal runabout pilots, and a lot of Romulan mines, the Dresden has temporarily foiled Tartikov and his fleet of puppets.  That the Dresden is responsible for the a loss of six ships in Tartikov's fleet, equating to hundreds of Starfleet lives, has not gone unnoticed by CO Franco Torres.  CE Raymond Kalius has the Dresden's transponder signature programmed to change every 70 minutes to avoid detection, as the ship moves to intercept the Concorde [ummm, if your last name is Tartikoff, ignore that bit about the shields. And if you're on the Dresden, well, we swear -- we don't USUALLY pass out wartime secrets with this regularity. Really! --Ed.]. 
  
USS Hopper, NCC-78333:  Alternate realities plague the Hopper, where crewmen find themselves playing poker, visiting a 1920s Chicago pub, and standing nose-to-nose with the USS Athena all at the same time.  Dr. Tsigolohcysp Toidi of Pakled University theorizes that this is the cause of at least one crewmember's inability to tell the difference between OOC and IC posts.  In the fleet-wide RPG, CO Seamus Hughes first threatened to attack the Athena, despite being outgunned three-to-one.  At last, Hughes, armed with records that prove that Starfleet Intel used the Hopper to destroy the USS Brooklyn, invited Acting XO James Speck aboard the Hopper to discuss matters.  Intending to move on to Outpost 42, Hughes awaits word on if the Athena is for or against him. 
  
Outpost 42: See Headline Story. 

Fleet Four -- The Forceful Fleet  
by Randy McCuillick  
USS Ares, NCC-1-800-FLOWERS: The Ares held a ceremony to commemorate those lost on the Oceania adventure, including promotions for several officers.  CMO Daenna Kashkov declared all officers off-duty until they get to the starbase. Daenna, and her sister Med-1 Rena Kashkov checked out the crew while CE Andrew Zbikowski held a party to celebrate the promotions. Daenna (who slept off most of the stress from the RPG's end) woke up and socialized with the crew. Meanwhile, Rena, while checking the crew, discovered something possibly fatal to the members that beamed down. Captain Brennan Thomson and CSO Amanda Goldsmith finally had dinner and the ship arrived at Starbase 202. It is now being repaired.  The new mission should be beginning some time in July. 
  
USS Columbus, NX-97000:  After installing the cloaking devices on the rebel ships, The Columbus saucer separated and went to battle against the alternate reality's Klingon/Cardassian Alliance.  The battle was long and brutal (but not post-wise). During the melee, the stardrive was badly damaged and ran out of torpedoes. Captain Streak Agee programmed it to self-destruct and destroy the Klingon/Cardassian battle cruiser. Ensign David Forrester was killed when the Little Ship exploded.  The survivors of the stardrive explosion made their way to the saucer, which was waiting at the Nebula.  One shuttle was damaged and crashed on a nearby planet.  Meanwhile, in the other dimension (last REAL issue), CE Ford Dunub tried to communicate with the other Columbus.  Getting no response, he boarded the little ship and entered the nebula, picking up the damaged shuttle and joining with the saucer.  On the saucer, OPS Manager Thibodeaux and CMO Linnus had a minor altercation over stray violent thoughts by Linnus, but reconciled their differences and decided to relax in the holodeck, in their own forms of physical recreation.  Linnus was hurt, seriously, and suspicion was immediately directed towards Thibodeaux.  Agee, arriving as an old surgeon, donned surgical gear to try to help her. However, a Klingon warship discovered the badly damaged saucer in the nebula, a badly damaged saucer with one torpedo and no phasers. 
  
USS Montgomery, NCC-84704: The Montgomery has been repairing the damage suffered during the Delmaron incident.  Currently docked at Starbase 202, the Monty has taken on new crew, which have revitalized this battered ship.  CE Murri Kep also made a startling discovery.  Apparently, the CE's chair in the Chief Engineer's Office is a salvaged part from the USS Chernobyl, class-ship of the failed Chernobyl class, all of which were lost in the line of duty.  Its karma has apparently been affecting the Montgomery, resulting in the string of disasters and hull breaches which has plagued the ship since it first set out from Starbase 117 and was hijacked by the Maquis.  Unfortunately, the chair is built into the skeleton of the ship, a design decision made by the engineers at the Churlsun Han Fleet Yards during construction to reduce overall costs, so it cannot be removed.  Kep has reportedly accepted the Monty's cursed fate. Several of the newer officers, however, are not yet used to it [well, we'll just have to teach 'em: That's how we do things in Starfleet! --Ed.]. 
  
IKS chunDab:  For one of the most inactive ships in the fleet, the IKS chunDab has seen a lot of action recently. Suicidal Kahless, who blew himself out the airlock in the last issue, was "rescued" by a Borg scout ship.  In appreciation, Kahless broke free of the Borg assimilation and took control of the cube, bringing it and 1,000 drones to the chunDab. Meanwhile, COS kun'wah'tha found himself on the wrong side of a hull breach, and now haunts the ship.  XO Ryumyo's "diplomatic" solution of taking the planet Tychon hostage only managed to infuriate the planet Seamus, a Tychon ally. Twenty Seamusim ships attacked the chunDab, destroying the Borg cube and making the chunDab little more than a hunk of metal in space. No, this is not still our prank issue. 
  
Starbase 202:  The Freeman Chronicles: Part One -- The "Skippy" Syndrome -- With two Romulan Warbirds sitting armed outside of the station, our hero, XO Kys Freeman, held a meeting, finally deciding on a plan of action to bring up a tachyon net with 30 probes.  While the meeting was going, CE Carl Bledsoe entered engineering, saw blood on the warp core and was knocked unconscious. BCO McKee came back to threaten the Romulans.  CSO Alex Haley started seeing double of Bledsoe. Realizing one is a fake, he attacked and was knocked unconscious.  COS Michael Barret awoke to find himself being detained by Romulans.  The REAL Bledsoe, on the other hand, came out of sickbay and talked to our hero, Kys Freeman, who treated him coolly.  Thinking this was odd, he continued down to the corridor . . . only to run into our hero, Kys Freeman, who yelled at Bledsoe on his attitude and profanity, as usual.  Then our hero, Kys Freeman, continued down the hall, leaving Bledsoe confused.  Apparently, Romulans had infiltrated the starbase with duplicates of Bledsoe and our hero, Kys Freeman.  The duplicates shut down the comm system, so (our hero) Kys Freeman and Ensign Bledsoe went to Engineering to fix it. The two duplicates armed themselves. Counselor Benni realized that Haley was in trouble and went off to rescue him, however, Haley awakened to find himself confused at the telepathic contact from Benni, and ran off, knocking himself unconscious.  They recovered him and attempted to revive him, but without much lasting luck, as he had sustained a major head injury.  Benni linked with them and they shared a telepathic dream while Agee operated. Meanwhile, security got itself organized and went after the Romulans, stopping at the briefing room to get orders from (Our Hero) Kys Freeman. 

Fleet Five -- Zenith Fleet  
by Larry Garfield  
USS Alliance, NCC-82396-A: The away team send to Tttic to prepare for first contact was hit almost immediately by disaster.  Counselor Pat Garrett, the leader, was kidnapped by a man whom she discovered was not Tttoe. He was a member of a different unpronounceable race, and was trying to replace the ruling nine members of the Board with his own people.  He also took Garrett as his wife, much to her amusement, as she had nothing to do with it.  Rescued by the rest of the team, she and half the senior staff are trying to make their way to the nearest city to warn the Board without blowing their cover.  Meanwhile, the Alliance discovered that the warp drive that is slated for testing soon is of Federation design, and found its way in to Tttoe hands by means of a secret Orion Syndicate base on the Tttic moon of Tttac.  An away team led by XO James Hughes and consisting of the rest of the senior staff has infiltrated the base and is trying to locate the Tttoe contact who bought the drive. 
  
USS Andorian, NCC-2019-D: The ship received a distress call from the rebels of the T'Bete, asking for help. While COS Regen Wilks went hunting for a potential saboteur, Captain R.E. McCullick held a conference to decide the moral implications of helping the rebels.  The final decision was to send XO Aaron Kalius on a diplomatic mission to try to establish relations with the planet's government, while Wilks would try to contact the rebels and hear their story.  Finally, Assault Sled Pilot Wedge Briggs would "crash" onto the planet's surface and gather data on the actual condition of T'Bete.  The ship arrived in neutral space and launched a fighter squadron (with Briggs) for practice maneuvers.  Briggs' control "failed" (as planned) and he started plunging towards the planet. Meanwhile, Bolar began repairs on the secondary systems. A ship came up from the planet and hailed the Andorian, informing them that it was a rebel ship there to give information about the situation on T'Bete.  McCullick ordered a second squadron launched on patrol and to help the rebel ship if it gets in trouble. 
  
USS Olympic, NX-80000: Taking a cue from the USS Ares, Olympic GM Owen Ashcroft decided that as the crew was still lost in the bowles of the behemoth and unable to get involved that he would put an end to the RPG's misery by blowing up the ship.  While the crew floated down to Earth in the escape pods, they voiced their outrage with Ashcroft's actions, as did several non-crewmembers who were viewing the ship.  Confronted with the fact that as GM he did not have to power to destroy the ship, Ashcroft reinstated the Olympic and declared the RPG segment over, just in time for him to leave on vacation for two weeks.  He also resigned as AGMDir, though did not resign from STF as he had initially threatened to do.  The Athena and her task force have left the area for greener pastures, and the Olympic crew is currently waiting for a new GM.  In the interim, new OPS manager DeeDee Brent and CO Alexander Cadogan have restarted an old relationship, a relationship which shows almost as much promise as the Tallen/Hawkins romance on Outpost 42. 
  
Starbase 257: Starbase 257 shares were down today in active trading, as investors worry about the latest drop in prices for Nimitz-class ships.  Trading was heavy on Trafalgar-class Destroyers, with the price climbing 2 3/7.  The Aurora-class held steady, while the Columbus-class fell 4 5/8 to close at 234.5.  Investors in the futures market expect the Yub nub to climb steadily in the near future, while strikes at the Larimeda ME shipyards have caused the Olympic to dive sharply.