Starfleet Academy Report - February 2020

Overall it’s been a quiet month in the Academy. More or less that’s on me, I had a bit of a busy month outside of STF. Overall we seem to be adapting well to having only one active ship. Sarah has things pretty much 100% handled on the Challenger, so at this stage Owen and I really just have to poke our noses in their occasionally to make sure everything is totally fine (haven’t been surprised yet which is so nice and refreshing).

We had one graduation, congrats Julie! Well done!

Over the coming weeks, my goals are to continue to review our training documentation. I have re-written the Academy Syllabus, it’s still very much in draft mode, but I hope to be able to unveil that perhaps next reporting period. We’ve sought to make it just a bit more point form and easier to digest for everyone involved rather than a wall of text smacking you in the face. I’m looking to revamp much of the textbook in a similar fashion, Cale has kindly done this with the CNS course, which I’m embarrassed to say that I haven’t had a chance to review in depth yet, but my first cursory glances at it look amazing!

That’s about all I’ve got presently for the Academy.

-Kat, Academy Commandant

USS Challenger

Commanding Officer: Sarah Hemenway

Crew Posting Level: 9
Senior Staff Posting Level: 9
Overall Ship Health: 9

Ship Status: The Challenger is doing well. We completed a quick graduation and promotion ceremony before heading right into our new sim. The quality of posts from the cadets and the staff alike has been extremely high and enjoyable to read.

Spotlight: Congratulations to Julie Watts on her graduation from the Challenger and to Ben Z for completing his “graduated cadet DH” sim!

Executive Officer: Steve Johnson

Crew Posting Level: 9
Senior Staff Posting Level: 9
Overall Ship Health: 9

Ship Status: The Challenger is doing great. We have kicked off our new simm, and people are getting into the swing of things. At the same time, the senior staff are playing a friendly game of poker.

Spotlight: None given.

Gamemaster: Geoff Joosten

Crew Posting Level: 9
Senior Staff Posting Level: 9
Overall Ship Health: 9

Sim Overview: At Lindsey’s advice I am going to start posting larger SIM updates so that 1) I know what happened, and 2) People can follow along at home if they care to.

The Story So far…

A mining colony on an ice moon orbiting Alpha Cygnus IX, sometimes referred to as the Deneb system, sent out a garbled distress call. It wasn’t clear what the problem was, but the two closest ships to the colony were the USS Shining Sea on a military mission to Deep Space 7, and the Challenger who was two days out. Deemed a low priority, the Challenger was dispatched to investigate the cause of the alarm.

The moon was closer to an asteroid, truth be told. Small and covered in solid ice, The Hyrambi Mining Cooperative operated 10 mining stations on the surface to extract rare metals for refinement. While near inhabited planets, the electromagnetic storms in the atmosphere, and the fridged temperatures, made the rock very isolated, supply ships only able to breach the storms a few times a year.

The hearty miners of the station must have been in dire peril to send out a call asking for another ship to rescue them.

The Setup:
The bridge crew executed some simple queries and scans and discovered the following
The Challenger was around 5 light years away from the destination. At warp 8 they should arrive in a little under two days.
The local administrator was an Andorian female by the name of Charl Oeuss. Charl had been with the company for many year and had a proven record of being level headed and pragmatic. She was not known to be one prone to panic or trip emergency systems without cause.
Her second in command was also an Andorian. His name was Ressis Th’shiarhen. Known to be a relatively austere man little was available on his personal life but he, too, had multiple commendations for productivity and behavior.
The bookkeeper/quartermaster at the station was a Ferengi named Lobac. Male, and, well, Ferengi. Part of the mining company had been purchased by Ferengi investors and, in addition to ensuring that the profits from the minerals were properly accounted for, was there to ensure that Charl didn’t stray too far from established productivity quotas.
The chief of security at the station was Zesen Borefar, a Bolian. Known to be the most affable of the bunch, she was none the less dependable and had a good record. There were a few blemishes, however, from when she looked the other way and let some of the other miners sneak contraband into the bunks that was discovered during a routine inspection.
The remaining 8 members at the station were miners of various levels of experience and of various ethnic background. The majority were Denebian recruited from the surrounding system.

The Challenger laid in a course and arrived just about two days later. While enroute the crew was able to get a short and garbled message:
“Ah ..... I am glad some… got a hold of us. These ..orms have made ge..ing out of .ere a bit proble…ic and with ..... is down in … mines… We would sure like to … out of … before anything hap…s to the rest of … station.” Just then there was a rumble on the other side of the wall and a curse from the station chief. “… just us and a ..... rob....”

Spotlight: Nicholas Tardive, a new cadet, is making good progress and I am impressed.

FComm’s Comments: The ship appears to be in great shape. I’m curious to see where Geoff takes the crew and the cadets, I’m sure wherever it is, it’ll be entertaining as heck. :)