--Commander Mike Bourdaa, 22 July 1997
--Commodore Mike Ballway, 13 March 1998
Three months after the original upload, I decided to insert headlines to break up the text, which was hard to read due to its length. These headlines were written by me, not Bourdaa.
--Commodore Mike Ballway, 11 June 1998
First Encounter with STF
I "joined" STF early in 1992 (it may have even been December 1991, but that's not the point). My sister "Dee" (who went on to found the "Q" club late in 1992) was a huge 90210 fan at the time, and decided to enlist my Prodigy ID [membership account] in order to cause some general chaos within the predecessor of STF, "ST." She made up a ship, the USS Guerre, and started randomly attacking both friends and foes of ST.
It was quite stupid, when I saw it, but I felt the need to apologize for the stupidity of her posts . . . the person who seemed to be in charge of the club was an Admiral Platt (although I later realized he was not technically the top leader). So I contacted him, explaining what had occurred and why (as best I knew). Admiral Platt replied promptly one day later, hinting that if I knew anything more, such as "90210 tactical plans and strategys" or "operations to take over ST" that he could guarantee me an Admiralty. It took me a few minutes to pull myself off the floor, after the biggest laughing attack I had had in quite some time.
Mike Bourdaa, Secretary -- and Politician
I suppose I really should have just let it drop right then and there, and left ST to its fate. However, it was a place to discuss Star Trek, and there were other shows on that same board I was interested in as well (at the time, the top areas on the board were devoted to 90210, the Mickey Mouse Club, Star Trek, Terminator 2, and Tiny Toons. I joined the latter three).
After a while of observation, the T2 club was having an election, under pressure from STF. STF-backed candidates were running for President and VP . . . the opposite coalition, who were more long-term members of T2, were far more neutral, didn't care about any treaties or anything; they just wanted to be left alone. I was nominated for Secretary, the third-in-command post of the group . . . and won unopposed. Mike Platt won the race for VP, but the "local" party won the Presidency . . . that made my voice in the council the tie-breaker. That, more than anything, led to pressure from the Platt brothers to promote me . . . an attempt to buy my support for "what was good for ST."
At the same time, I had observed from afar the brewing conflict between [Captain Jim] Midyette and the Platts . . . I was out of the loop of some of the more critical information, but I knew that there was definately something going on . . . I began to gain the respect of people who were more anti-Platt, just by talking to them, starting to voice my opinions (and I'm a real loudmouth anyway!)
New Ranks, New Duties, New Friends
The fact was, I was able to effectively play both sides against the other. By Feburary, I received a promotion to "Senior Admiral" -- at the time, the 4th-highest rank in STF, a rank that only 2 others held. Of course, there were 5 or 6 Fleet Admirals, and a Senior Fleet Admiral, and a Flag Admiral.
I had some allies now. FA Takahashi selected me as his assistant for . . . I think it was the Foreign Affairs Department, but my memory has faded on this point. But I took it on myself to infiltrate David Platt's "Internal Affairs Dept." -- which was the biggest joke: The largest threat to STF was in charge of investigating internal threats to STF!
I also had some lower ranking allies: Julie and Grace Larsen (no relation of course!), and Matt Jordon were high on this list, but most important, I believe, was Genesun Han. He had the presence to refuse promotions left and right (long after his ship was gone, he continued to list his rank as "Ship's Clown").
Starbase, Bringer of War
But the Platts' influence was climbing rapidly, and oblivious to all around them, they were causing problems left and right. One incident was their "invasion" of other groups . . . they posted subjects entitled "Starbase" in the MMC [Mickey Mouse Club], TTA [Tiny Toon Adventures] and 90210 areas, to "maintain a ST presence."
Now, I don't know about you, but if some Melrose Place club, for example, posted "Apartment 3C" in the middle of STF, just "to keep an eye on us," I think we'd all be a little upset. Well, so were the other clubs . . . STF was the largest group on the board, but not by very much, and so the other groups were all angry at us, and they had the manpower to drive us into yet another useless flame war.
Mike Bourdaa, Diplomat and Spokesman
Helping to resolve incidents like this was where I got a reputation as a diplomat. In fact, few
thought of my role in the club as anything else. Although FgA Torres insisted on handling most of the actual high-level meetings, I was often the one (along with Midyette and Takahashi) who soothed things over and kept everyone else on the boards away from the brink of another flame war.
The so-called "Black April" struck quickly, and it was marked with the NUFP problems . . . and the formation of the IKE as noted correctly by Jim Midyette [see No Regrets]. STF was suffering, and I made a bold move . . . I protested the decisions of the upper management (never mind that I was, by this time, almost upper management myself) in mishandling the NUFP and Starbase incidents. A large number of STF "lower officers" joined my protest, a very subtle one, by simply refusing to sign off with their ranks. It wasn't all-out mutiny, but it was very close. Within three days FgA Torres acceded to my demands (although he made it seem as though it was his idea, to save face): a representative system of government was to be established, a Fleet Admiral council, which consisted of most of the old-time FA's, and a Senior Admiral council, which would be made up more by the more junior members of STF. Both councils would have to approve decisions before they could be enacted, so this would curtail the power of the Platts.
I was surprised that I retained my position, and became part of the SA council, but in a peace offering, I refused the position of "Speaker" of the SA council, and nominated Genesun Han (who had broken his own policy of refusing promotions to try and help save STF in this way) for the post.
Fixing the System
But the victory was short-lived. The FA council, appointed by Torres, was a 5-member group,
headed by Monroy, included both Platts, and did not include Midyette. He was
assigned to the SA council (a demotion, in effect).
The effect was chilling, because this gave the Platts full control of the higher council, and they had their supporters in the SA as well. If we could get two more votes in the FA, we could block the Platts and that would be the end of our problems, I figured. . . .
I threw my new-found weight around again. I proposed a bill in the SA council condemning the demotion of Midyette to SA, given his months of service to STF. I purposefully hid my support of Midyette, the text was very simple: such a long-time member of STF should not be demoted for having not done anything wrong.
Obviously, the Platts saw the threat. They would never agree to the bill, but Monroy might, since he had worked with Midyette longer than them . . . and the other two FA's certainly would, but they didn't want to stick their necks into the conflict. They also still saw me as a potential ally. It was a shock when the decision from Torres (after a phone call from the Platts) was handed down, but it was clear to whom I owed my position. Both myself and Midyette were promoted to FA, to fill out the council at 7 members.
Setback In the Fight for Democracy
Now, the business of the day could be had. I recommended two replacements for the SA council, both good members who had long been neglected -- Matt Jordan and [Grace "Sunnie"] Larsen, to fill the vacated SA seats.
I wanted to leave my mark on STF, and I had already done so, but the next move would be the last stroke. In the midst of the Black April, I could get a law passed by both councils that would transform STF forever. Effectively, it would create the essence of what STF has now: An elected President (although the rank Flag Admiral would remain the official title), and VP, and an elected council of members (the future of the SA council) and a small cabinet (the FAs). I had a lot of support from the lower levels, but it would take some doing to convince the SA council to pass it quickly. I needed to ensure enough votes to get it passed by both councils quickly, before Torres or the Platts could stop it . . . once the statement was made, Torres would have little power to stop it, and the 3-month transition time would give him time to learn to accept it.
But just as I was about to put this plan into motion, Torres did something incredulous. He disbanded the FA and SA councils in one fell swoop, and appointed David Platt as the only Fleet Admiral, and me as the only Senior Admiral.
Fighting the System
Now, on one hand, you might say, I was now 3rd-in-command of STF, a position I had held at T2 and been happy with there. But the real message was simple: Platt got wind of my plans, and he tried again to buy me off.
Some people never learn. Principles were my goal, not rank. Platt, on the other hand, cared not for principle -- he wanted power, in his deluded mind, and didn't care what he did to get it.
It was intolerable, the way Torres did this, and I resigned on the spot. It was the only way I could think of to avoid being "part of the dictatorship," as it had indeed become.
That day, April 26th, 1992, I indeed took part in an underground among Takahashi, Midyette, and a few others -- Monroy was not there, although he turned up later. We discussed what could be done, but decided to take a wait and see on the events. Now that it was just Platt and Torres running STF, we wanted to see how the rest of STF would react.
The STC Defection
Torres, in the morning of April 28th, 1992, posted a note reinstating the councils, and in effect,
voiding the last two days. This was obviously a ploy. He saw that no one bought his radical moves, and was trying to move back into the center of power before someone (like myself, or Midyette) took it away, as we very nearly decided to do.
Well, this is near the end of the story . . . STF was in turmoil, and with the Platts and Torres running the show, there would never be any sort of peace within the club. STF was born of war, and nothing short of revolution would heal that wound of birth.
So I became a revolutionary. I re-resigned (since Torres had ignored my resignation of two days prior) and founded "STA," declaring myself "Acting President", and promising to hold elections within 1 week. Monroy, Takahashi, Jordan, and several other admirals from STF signed on, and we moved by that evening to STC, where we stayed long after I left P[rodigy].
A New Club -- A New Government
Matt Jordan emailed me a message that day suggesting that we have a constitution for the new club. He and I wrote the Charter within 2 days, and, with few modifications, it was written. It was a product of the times in which it was written, it was a move of veiled desperation, but pretending to be bold and powerful.
The elections pitted myself against Jose Monroy for the Presidency, and Taiga Takahashi vs. Matt Jordan for the position of "Secretary" -- which was the head cabinet post. I won handily, as did Matt. But within a week, only Matt had remained (Monroy, by finishing 2nd for President, became the Vice-Prez, and Tagahashi was appointed Personnel Director). But we were growing, and doing things far differently from STF at the time. We started at the top: No Admirals (to this day, STC has had only 4 Admirals; all of them were honorary).
We had far fewer ships than STF, but rivaled in membership, because we had actual ships. This was an accident of birth: Captain Randy McCullick of STF (yes, you read that right) joined STC, bringing with him STC's 1st actual ship, and a crew of 4. His only condition for joining was that he would refuse any rank above Captain -- he wanted to stay with his ship.
STC: Its Own Father's Father
Later, several greats of STC joined, and really, other than myself and Matt Jordan, STC was not a product of STF, but a rebellion from it. I prefer to believe that STC became first a rebellion, then an alternative, then a model for, STF. It is interesting to note that as of today (July 22, 1997), STF follows the STC Charter more closely than STC does.
The Platt Scandal
Well, one last bombshell, to make this worth reading. You know how Jim Midyette mentioned that a Judge Bourdaa, my older sister, presided over the Platt Treason trial [see No Regrets]?
There was no such person. It was me, using another I.D.! Yes, I am not above such deceit, but it was a pleasure to deliver the crushing blow . . . any other STFer might have overreacted, kicking them out of STF. My ruling from the beginning was going to be a demotion to Captain . . . and force them to quit STF on their own (since they would not have any prospect of returning to power, but not being actually kicked out, they could do nothing against STF vindictively).
So there you have it. I've confused some points, maybe made a lot of errors, but what's wrong is, as far as I'm concerned, wrong for good.
--Commander Mike Bourdaa, 22 July 1997