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Civil war thwarted
Chaos averted by being too complicated
OUTPOST 42 -- For several real-life months, the
all-encompassing Third Fleet RPG has kept players watching their backs
and wondering if that seemingly secure bulkhead was going to blow apart
at any given second. Now, after a labyrinth of plot twists, a population
of corpses, and more saboteurs, bombs, turncoats, and phasers-set-on-kill
than all Trek-related series and movies combined, the RPG drew to a close
with four simple words: You have been served.
The USS Athena and USS Hopper, deciding at long last that
they were on the same side of the insanity, traveled together to Outpost
42. There they hoped for answers. And they got more than they
bargained for. For in-depth coverage of these and the three other
ships' movements in these last few weeks, please see the "Fleet Beat" section.
In any event, this story is not over: The trial has just begun as subpoenas
were sent to all ships of the fleet. The Concorde towed the
Dresden
to Utopia Planitia for repairs of both vessels. At docking, Kavox
was arrested to stand trial and the command crews of both ships told to
be available for questioning. The Hopper has been ordered
to Earth. Hoping to set the record straight, Hughes ordered the ship
there at Warp 9, twice (velocity has been reduced to Warp 5 to placate
the XO). The Athena, under CE McCullick's lockout, does not
know about the subpoena, and is still heading at maximum velocity to parts
unknown. Outpost 42 CO Paula Kirk, now working with Darwin
CO Andrew Patrell, the emotionally unstable lieutenant who just days prior
wanted to wipe the deck with her blood, has refused Starfleet's subpoena
until she can get her station working again. With the outpost being
an old Romulan fortress, no one is sure just when that will be.
SNN's exclusive interview with
a Romulan
SNN CENTRE, LONDON -- In the shadow of Big Ben,
SNN reporters met today with Subcommander Pez, a major player in the recent
Romulan hostilities. Pez, noted throughout the Milky Way for his skill
at 3-D chess and his military acumen, was until three days ago the CO of
the Romulan Warbird Szillopow, named after a Romulan word that roughly
translates as "Almond Joy." Subcommander Pez is the inventor of the Inverted
Baby Ruth, a precise formation Warbird manuever that has recently been
employed, with great success, by an increasing number of Romulan captains.
Pez defected to our side on Friday, after capturing an Andorian chocolate-bar
factory. Says Pez, "For the first time in my life, I realized that there
were skilled confectioners outside of the Romulan Star Empire. From then
on, well, giving up my freedom and killing all those innocents just to
get a decent Snickers bar simply didn't seem worth it." A recent review
of the Subcommander by a noted psychologist (who asked not to have her
name printed) reached the conclusion that Pez was "emotionally unstable,"
that he "believed that what he was saying was true," but yet that he was
"hiding something." When grilled, er, questioned by SNN reporters, he revealed
that there were many others like him in the Empire, held in bondage by
the misconception that nowhere else in the galaxy can one get quality chocolate,
cigars, or (and Pez says that this is the most prevalent one) premium coffee.
When asked about his future plans, Pez replied that he was going to become
a paid candy-taster on Ferenginar. The subcommander says he is looking
forward to his first Payday.
To our readers
SNN CENTER, CHICAGO -- Please accept our apologies
for the various technical problems of this issue. As you have no doubt
observed, this is the first WeBBsights issue since mid-April, a
major deviance from our usual biweekly schedule (and for those of you who
think you've missed something . . . yes, Issue #12 was our last issue).
It was never our intention to delay publication this long, but outside
influences on our staff forced the one-month hiatus. We hope to be back
on schedule for next issue, two weeks from now. |
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Personality Focus:
Nathan Miller, Deanne's biggest fan
LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA -- Nathan Jerimiah Miller
is one of the most active members of STF. Through his liason with
Deanne Morgan, Nathan has managed to establish no less than 10 characters
and one GM position, with a short tenure in an 11th position. Crews
on the Montgomery, chunDab, Hopper, Andorian,
Futura,
Athena, Columbus, Outpost 42, and Starbase 202 as well as
visitors to Crell will all know Nathan as an active, productive, and creative
contributor. How he is able to maintain this level of activity and
remain sane is still pending investigation by Starfleet Intelligence.
Still, he has made a few mistakes, such as posting as one character while
on another character's ship. Nathan found STF while poking about
in Yahoo! for a Star Trek RPG club and decided the BBS format was far superior
to the other e-mail and IRC-based clubs. "It seemed more . . . human,"
Nathan said, "Friendlier."
Nathan, 17, is a High School sophomore trying to graduate next year.
His school has steadfastly refused to accept credits for the work he did
while homeschooled for two years, so Nathan is involved in a lengthy debate
with the school board. Because his school doesn't challenge him --
he says -- he is still given plenty of time to log onto STF and make life
interesting for the rest of us. Skilled in history and English, Nathan
also distinguishes himself by writing school reports entirely in HTML,
with Notepad. "It's much easier to manipulate and handle that way,"
he says. A pet peeve of Nathan's is WYSIWYG editors that use proprietary
code and work in all caps for their tags [Fight the good fight! This is
one of my annoyances as well --Ed.]. He and Deanne Morgan
never pre-planned to have their characters get involved on so many ships,
it just happened. Plans continue for their first love match, Tallen
and Hawkins on Outpost 42. Their other relationships, however, continue
to provide endless entertainment for dozens of STFers club-wide.
Ship-of-the-Month Results in
STARBASE 117 -- The results of the April Ship-of-the-Month
contest are finally in! May I have the envelope please:
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Most Active Ship (MAS): The USS Hopper returns to the throne
for the MAS award with 518.8 posts, adjusted. Second place goes to
the USS Andorian with 414.6 posts, and the Dresden pulls
in at third with 388.6.
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Ship of the Month (SotM): The Andorian takes first place
in SotM for the second time in a row, followed by the Dresden.
Outpost 42 and the Hopper tied for third, while the Alliance
and Futura tied for fifth and the chunDab and Futura
tied for sixth.
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Most Improved Ship (MIS): There was a three-way split for the MIS
award, with the.chunDab, Athena, and Concorde all
garnering seven point-votes.
MicroNews
by Will Yates, SNN Society Editor
After a delay of one month, Election Coordinator Mike Ballway is
expected to open STF Summer Elections 1998 on Monday. STF President Greg
Hertzsch, whose last term will have been nine months instead of the
usual eight, is expected to declare his and Veep Owen Townes' candidacy
early on, and has already stated that, if re-elected, he and Owen will
serve a seven-month term to make up for the one-month extension on the
current one. Both the EC and the Prez agree that a new Prez -- if elected
-- would serve a full eight-month term. Prospective candidates for Prez
and Veep run as a team and must be nominated in the first two weeks (1-15
June, in this case). Active campaigning does not begin until the start
of the second week (8 June). Voting, conducted by secret ballot to an email
address held by the EC, will commence on 15 June and last until midnight
CDT two weeks from then (28/29 June). Complete election rules are detailed
in the Articles of Organization and will be posted in Government subjects
during the next week.
FComm-4 Colin Wyers has been forced to take what is expected to
be a two-month Leave Of Absence. Until such time as he returns, AFComm-4
Larry Garfield has assumed command of Fleet Four as aFComm, and has appointed
Capt. Deanne Morgan as aAFComm until Colin returns [Forceful crewers .
. . run while you still can! --Ed.]. AGMDir Deanne Morgan
has also replaced Colin as GMDir.
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STF*Prodigy News-in-Brief
SNN CENTER, CHICAGO -- The WeBB is such an excellent
work of software because it is based on a system that works -- the Bulletin
Boards of the Prodigy online service. For years, SNN has believed that
Prodigy's chief selling point is its extensive and well-designed Bulletin
Board system. So when it came time to expand STF onto the Internet, it
was obvious that a *PBB-like program was in order.
SNN still believes that the Bulletin Boards of Prodigy are superior
to the WeBB in technical design and ease of use. This, however, is only
because Prodigy has invested thousands of dollars and many full-time professional
coders into this commercial, pay-per-use service. As a labor-of-love, hastily-assembled
one-designer program, the WeBB actually compares very well.
So don't yell at us for comparing the WeBB to STF*Prodigy. STF*P has
everything that the WeBB has. Except news to report.
Fleet Three -- The Coreward Fleet
by Deanne Morgan
USS Athena, NCC-71819:
In these final weeks of the RPG, the Athena traveled to Outpost
42. While waiting for the outpost to answer their hails, not knowing it
was under the control of Intel man Garner and his cohorts, the Athena's
CE Randy E. McCullick discovered that the ship's kidnapped captain, Charles
Robinson, was on the outpost. By setting sensors to scan for Robinson's
rapidly-changing DNA sequence (an effect of Intel-planted nanites), McCullick
found the dying CO and then hacked into and then physically destroyed the
outpost computer system. As the outpost succumbed to lack of power,
zero gravity, and minimal life support, McCullick transported Robinson
directly to Athena's sickbay. Garner and his flunkies, knowing the
jig was up, relinquished control of the outpost and disappeared.
At this point, little known to the crew, an unknown saboteur rigged the
ship's weapons systems to fire upon the unsuspecting Hopper.
With shields down, the Hopper sustained significant damage. On-ship,
oblivious to this development, CE McCullick engaged a little-known general
order that gave him sole ship control. He rushed the Athena
to the unknown homeworld of the genetic engineers -- his home planet.
USS Concorde, NCC-97123-B:
Um, I dunno.
USS Dresden, NCC-1837-B:
The USS Concorde and USS Dresden have joined forces.
With Dresden CO Franco Torres reunited with his "Cappy," Commodore
Kavox Cox, a suicidal plan was developed involving the two ships, Tartikov's
fleet, and one Romulan Warbird. With former USS Columbus CE
Chris Churchill at the helm, the newly-repaired Warbird Plague broke
through Tartikov's lines and headed straight for Earth, specifically Chicago.
There, in an exclusive agreement with SNN, Churchill provided proof of
the plot to take over Starfleet. Meanwhile, the Concorde and
Dresden
engaged Tartikov's fleet, despite computer predictions that one, if not
both ships, would be lost in the effort. With the Dresden
crippled and the Concorde badly battered, Kavox ordered the crew
to prepare to abandon ship and set up a self-destruct sequence. Just
as Kavox was declaring to the crew that their sacrifices would not be in
vain, Starfleet Command issued a ceasefire. And the war was over.
USS Hopper, NCC-78333:
Allied with the Athena, the Hopper has Deciding that not
enough lives had been wasted, a gang of NPC crewmen mutinied against Hughes.
Rigging a communications jammer, the band quickly took half a dozen decks,
including main engineering, and control of all ship's systems. With no
intra-ship communications nor turbolifts, and with his crew scattered on
either side of the main engineering, Hughes fervently tried to piece together
a viable attack plan. But overzealous engineering officers and an
executive officer with a penchant for spewing contradicting orders made
it rough going. At long last, after successfully retaking main engineering,
Hughes regained control of the Hopper and set course for Earth,
as per Command's request.
Outpost 42: See Headline
Story and preceeding summaries.
Starbase 243: The new
center of Fleet Three operations is also hosting the trial for Commodore
Kavox Cox, c/o San Francisco. So far, the command crew of the USS
Brooklyn,
more recently of the USS Hopper, has been transfered to the new
USS Genesis in Fleet Five so as to not endanger anyone else's life
by giving the unstable crew an Intel ship. Stunning testimony from
Lt. Stoek of Outpost 42 may lend credence to Kavox's case, but further
information is still pending.
Fleet Four -- The Forceful
Fleet
by Larry Garfield
USS Alliance, NCC-82396-A:
The away team to the developing world of Tttic led by Counselor Pat Garrett
was able to contact one of the ruling judges, one Lobar, and convince him
to aid them in thwarting Garrett's "husband," Oophium Baarqtoak.
Together they managed to use the Tttoe warp ship, which had been built
using stolen Federation technology provided by the Orion Syndicate so that
Barqtoak could exploit the Tttoe to mine a neighboring system for a mineral
that was essential to Ketrecel White for which the Dominion was willing
to pay handsomly, to ram Barqtoak's ship, destroying both. Barqtoak
escapped. The Orion Syndicate meanwhile sent a pair of mock-up Jem'Hadar
warships to attack the Alliance in hopes of driving it off, to no
avail. One ship was destroyed and the other was captured. As
the Syndicate abandoned their base on Tttac, Garrett and her team mopped
up the last members of Barqtoak's cadre on the surface and regrouped with
the rest of the away personnel, at this point consisting of almost the
entire crew, and returned to the Alliance, but not before recieving
word that the Tttoe Judges had decided to allow the opressed O-class of
the society have equal privileges with the ruling X-class. Despite
concerns that this violated the already broken Prime Directive, the Alliance
was forced to return to Fleet Four, where Captain Bligh was ordered to
assume temporary command of the fleet.
USS Ares, NCC-3PO:
Ordered to escort a group of Crag Yub nub cruisers to Kadok III
to help quell the rebellion there, the Ares suffered severe damage
when Ens. Kenny hit the overdrive button, and was soon replaced by the
much more capable Ens. Kenny. Repair work was slowed by the drunken
nonsense of one Ensign Joe Loomer. Arriving at the planet, the Ares
contacted the ruling magistrate and aranged for a meeting, however, one
of the Yub nubs fired on the capitol building, killing everyone
inside. Recieving word from Starfleet Command that they had violated
orders by firing on the surface, Captain Brennan Thomson ordered the Yub
nub's to surrender. The rebels on the surface retaliated with
fighters, and in the ensuing battle the two Yub nubs destroyed the
fighter squad, damaged the Ares, and then destroyed each other.
While conducting repairs, the Ares was contacted by the resistance
movement on the planet that still supported the Crag colonists.
USS Columbus, NX-97000-A:
The brave crew of the Columbus chose to play it safe with their
crippled saucer section and run, back through the nebula that had brought
them to this alternate dimension [see last issue]. Followed by a
group of Klingon-Cardassian Alliance ships that had survived the destruction
of the stardrive section, the saucer was boarded. In yet another
heroic act, the crew abandoned the saucer in favor of the Klingon-Cardassian
ship and blew up the saucer. Having had enough of the Columbus,
the crew decided not to look for the alternate-Columbus that remained
in the "normal" timeline and returned to Starbase 202, where a new Columbus-A
was waiting.
USS Montgomery, NCC-84704:
Reciving orders to help infiltrate and undermine the anti-Crag rebellion
on Kadok III, the Montgomery made plans to play possum to lure in
a rebel cargo ship and commandeer it. A special task force would
then sneak aboard and onto the planet. While waiting for the cargo
ship to arrive, Captain Megik held a party in his quarters for the senior
officers. Things were going smoothly until Med-1 Tavorak Rhiannen,
wife of the XO Nathaniel Tavorak, recieved word that her uncle had passed
away. She and her husband left the party, and the rest of the party
began to die down. In other news, yet another Counselor has appeared on
the Montgomery, despite the fact that as a Trafalgar-class ship,
it doesn't have such a position.
IKS chunDab:
With its second RPG under CO K'Peesch completed successfully, the IKS chunDab
headed to a Klingon starbase. There, a special representative of the Klingon
Council had a special weapon installed on the ship and came aboard to escort
the crew on its mission: Annihilate a band of rebels bent on destroying
the Klingon Empire by using the new Starkiller weapon to wipe out the rebel
planet's sun. Shortly into the trip, the Starkiller overloaded the ship's
system, causing a massive explosion that injured the special envoy and
two crew members. But the truly horrifying discovery was made in engineering
by Eng-1 Kah'less. While examining a malfunctioning engine he discovered
the dreaded enemy of the Klingons: A tribble.
Starbase 202: Receiving
word from Command that a minor revolt was taking place on the planet Kadok
III, human colonists were killing Crag, CO Brandon McKee took part of the
command staff and the USS Independence to infiltrate the human rebels.
Meanwhile, the remaining crew detected a large asteroid heading right for
the station and the planet behind. Taking a pair of shuttles to try
and divert or destroy the asteroid, the crew found that the asteroid was
in fact inhabited on the interior. Sec-2 Luna Trow has attempted
to make contact, so far unsucessfully.
Crell: Business
is booming on the Crag homeworld, with two bars now open and several apartment
buildings. The Eecha Lowa Bar & Grill has opened under the ownership
of Bajoran military hero Bouree Alis. Offering dinner services, fine
Crag liquor, and boarding space for several tenants, it has already become
home to SNN's Associate Editor for WeBBsights, Larry Garfield, Real
Estate Agent Chris Churchill, and seedy businessman Lastrik Pfen.
Meanwhile, the Northern Lights Inn and McDuff's Café are offering
meals for breakfast and lunch, so visitors to Crell will never go hungry.
Fleet Five -- Zenith Fleet
by Deanne Morgan
USS Andorian, NCC-2019-D:
Welcoming the T'Beten rebel commander aboard, CO Randy E. McCullick got
more than he bargained for when the man collapsed in his quarters, a victim
of the plague slowly killing off the T'Beten population. After quarantining
two decks, including main engineering, acting CMO Sesenta Nyan discovered
that two nameless ensigns, engineer Scurvy, and the captain were all infected
with the virus. The captain lapsed into a coma, but not before sending
telepathic information to Nyan that may lead to a cure. Meanwhile, down
on the planet, Andy infiltrator Wedge Briggs walked and walked and walked
and walked with the rebel party, wondering if he'd ever get where he was
going. And the diplomatic away team was kept waiting and waiting and waiting
and waiting for its meeting
USS Furura, NCC-72940:
The newly-commissioned transwarp vessel is currently docked at Utopia Planitia
Fleetyards. The command crew has arrived and character development is the
order of the day while the ship awaits its first mission. The CMO has ordered
the crew's favorite activity -- physicals -- accidentally mistaking android
Matt Veety for a goat. Meanwhile CO Alexander Cadogan and XO DeeDee Brent
had their romantic dinner ruined when the replicator burned it.
USS Genesis, NCC-85101:
The newest ship to Fifth Fleet comes with a seasoned crew: Seamus Hughes,
former CO of Third Fleet's USS Hopper, was given command of this
newly-commissioned science ship after Starfleet Command decided letting
him command a top-secret Intel ship was a bad idea. Along with Seamus,
several Hopper department heads came aboard and met with the newer
crew members in the observation lounge.
USS Olympic, NX-80000:
James Speck, former XO of the USS Columbus, took command of the
Olympic
from the departing Alexander Cadogan just in time to be summoned to Earth
for questioning by Starfleet Command. With all command staff in San Francisco,
the junior officers have the run of the ship. If only they would get moving.
Starbase 257: Militant
Siskoists, operating without endorsement or clearance from the Church of
Sisko on Novaroma VII, torched and bombed several hairstylists on the Promenade
on Thursday, protesting plans by the salons to begin offering a "get your
hair cut in Janeway's style-of-the-week" promotion. Adam Cardinal Kent,
a Siskoist Archbishop, noted that while the Church does object on
moral grounds to Janeway-style haircuts, the firebombing crowd was not
acting in the spirit of Sisko.
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