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The Dome on the hostile planet was lit up with the bright light from the nearest sun, rays breaking through the glass in infinite shades of yellow and red. Parker sat outside one of the many bars they had around here, or what the locals referred to as sprinklers. At least they had a sturdy seating situation here. It would not be the first piece of furniture his enhanced muscles crushed under their weight. Just one more cup of coffee, and he will have the pleasure to finally get away from this dump. Granted it was a good looking one, but he did not shy away from looking behind all that sparkle and greatness around the place. “Yo.” He knew what was happening even before he turned around. “Harlow, what a pleasure.” It was not, and Parker got his point across by flipping the young and slimy man off. What a paper pusher he was, standing above him with his nice suit and that fancy Borsalino on his head. His face was way too smug and clean for Parkers taste, he almost had to gag. “I wanted to ask you something.” His gesture was ignored, and he waited for the man to finally reach the point of his visit. “I need to know how you got your hands on that automated puppy. Price and everything. The Burgomaster loved it, and I’m sure his daughter wants one for herself soon.” He anticipated that someone would ask and produced a data stick from his pocket. Without resistance or a word from himself, the tiny thing exchanged hands. “Thanks, Parker.” He waved the man away from him, leaving the scene not shortly after. The coffee was still steaming, but his appetite was ruined. Time to get away. His shuttle was waiting for him, and the transition ship will be entering the system soon. Korala was the name of the warp capable ship, and he hated that place too. At least no one bothered him in his shuttle as he waited for the massive warpdrive of the ship to spin up. No one, except his best friend of course. The little pet dragon crawled over the instruments of the pilot compartment and jumped on Parkers arm. Watching him patiently with googly eyes. Typical. He knew that his defense would not last long and before he knew it, he was petting the cursed reptile. A rumble went through the ship and they signaled the passengers that a jump will commence soon. Little Paolo managed to fall asleep on his arm in a new record time and he had to bend over to activate one of the many polished screens around him. The signal was hooked into the net of the planet and with that he had access to the local news. They focused on a recent explosion in the local refinery that spanned half the planet. Their lifeblood had an accident, something blew the grav-engine to pieces right as the Burgomaster was visiting the top engineers. Parker lit a cigar and listened to the extra fans around him kick into action. What a marvelous investment. Back at the display, they feared that the incident will plunge the planet into economic disaster. No one out here wants to get bought by some big corporation. It was only natural to fear change, but without that refinery spitting out profits there will be no choice. They feared some sort of tampering, maybe even a conspiracy. He could not keep that ugly grin off his face. Whoever was responsible for that chaos is going to get a lot of credits for it. The ship leapt into warp speed and he shed his name away from him and the logs like a snake. Parker ceased to exist in that moment and all that made him up dissolved into nothing. The man will be called Ridor from now on. And he did not even get to see if the people back at Parkers last known location managed to find the mini nuke in the puppy he brought to the planet only a few days ago. Only the death toll. And that was something he was not even the slightest bit interested in.

There are many times that I love small snippets of SIMs so deeply that they could be a reason to throw the whole post to the appreciation forum, but as I would basically spam that place every time any of you sends an email, I will open a thread just to include those great moments that can be read in the Thor. To initiate it, I would like to highlight this moment from @Alex Brodie I don't know why, the scene play in my head as the perfect comic moment, without the need to say anything and I chuckle every time I read it. Good job, Brodie! What other moments have you enjoyed? Share them with everybody else!

As the white light consumed the screen, Chythar instinctively raised a hand to protect his eyes until the light faded. When it did, there was nothing -- he was no longer the bridge of his ship, there was nothing on the viewscreen in front of him. It looked like a big, blank space for a moment before it shifted to Skyfire Beach. Near the waterline, the only occupant of the shore was a redhead in a red Starfleet uniform. It wasn’t until she turned around to face him that Chythar made the connection in that he’d seen this woman before -- captain’s pips, red hair, eyes of a similar color to his own. His mother, Captain Kyrethia Angelica Skyfire. He was only a small boy when she died, and his pulse skyrocketed when he considered he might also be dead. As the question “am I dead?” burned around in his mind, he swallowed roughly and closed the distance between himself and the captain, his muscles tensing a bit as he did so. As he stepped forward, she smiled softly at him. “CD. You wear the teal uniform well. Starfleet life isn’t too rough on you, I hope?” “Mom. I...Am I dead?” She moved close to her son and pulled him into a warm embrace, the sort of familial contact he had missed out on for his entire adult life. Everything else vanished away, and there was nothing else that occupied his mind. Even though this was only a holodeck program, he was willing to accept the fact that he might, in fact, be dead if it meant that he could hold a conversation with his mother for the first time in over twenty years. “What have you been up to? Last time I saw you, you were up to your ears in linguistics and learning Russian with your uncle.” Chythar attempted to come up with an answer. He wanted to answer with confidence and conviction, but his words came out in a jumble of a summary. “Overall? Let me nutshell it. I’ve experimented in the realm of love, had my heart broken and mended, provided myself as a role model to a few medical officers and a little girl I’ve become a godfather to and will probably never see again, become CMO of a few vessels, became a lieutenant commander, well decorated officer, and finally a barista for Uncle Chris. Now I’m slinging coffee aboard a starship because my clearances have been suspended.” Ky smiled softly and took his hand, walking with him along the shore line near the water. She loved the beach, and even though she was probably only a figment of his imagination at this point, he fell in step beside her. “Love is a tricky realm. It’s never the sort of thing that comes easily. Even with your father.” “Dad’s dead, Mom. He took the supernova rather hard, and I was basically raised by Uncle Chris after your funeral.” She seemed unsurprised, and nodded sagely. She seemed, to his eye, almost jaded by the news. As though she knew Calvin was already dead. “So these officers and the little girl you inspired are colleagues of yours, then? Friends you’ve made in Starfleet?” CD nodded slightly. “The little girl is currently on Earth with her father, but she did a marvelous science project on pain medication absorption by different species based on reading my SFMJ back-issues.. She wants to become a medical officer when she grows up. Some of these colleagues have read my work that was published in the SFMJ, and have served with me for a number of years now.” Ky smiled again, and the warm, motherly pride in her son was evident in her eyes. She stopped and gave him another hug, pride and love washing off of her like tidal waves of a tsunami. As the emotional overload hit him, he tensed completely under her grip and did his best not to flinch. However, due to motherly instinct, she noticed and let go almost immediately. “You didn’t flinch the first time I hugged you...you’ve changed….” This was a conversation he hadn’t ever envisioned having with his family, especially because he had no real family to speak of. He felt isolated from the Moonsongs due to his connection with Raissa being so tenuous and his biological family being dead, so he nodded slowly and took a breath. “I’ve had my DNA scrambled, Mom. I’m a T2/E6 now, and I’m still getting used to the empathic overload. Series of freakish accidents.” The smile quickly disappeared, replaced by one of concern. Having one’s DNA toyed with was never a fun experience, but to have it stated so bluntly was an unusual experience for the captain. “Indeed? Well. We have no reader ancestry, so this is...very different.” CD just nodded. “Yeah. I’ve been getting training in how to deal with it.” She nodded and ran a hand along his bearded face. “That’s good. So...you mentioned your love life is not anything special?” “Not really, no. Nobody special right now. I have a dog, though. Given to me by a pair of colleagues because I’m a high stress depressive. Devlin’s an adorable beagle.” She glanced over his shoulder to see the five year old beagle running toward them. “You always were good with dogs. And yes, he is quite adorable. That’d be him, I trust?” CD turned and patted his leg. “Come here, boy.” Devlin ran up and gave a yip of greeting as he approached. The captain knelt down and extended her hand to him, which was sniffed for a moment before being given a friendly lick. The moment was picture-perfect. Mom, Chythar, and his dog. A moment of serenity before a sudden burst of gale force wind came in and disrupted everything. The world went black, and Kyrethia and Devlin faded from view, ~~~ Chythar woke suddenly, the sudden wind from his dream sending a chill through his body. The abrupt motion disturbed the dozing beagle beside him, who noted his master’s distress and gave a whimper, nuzzling up against the doctor’s chest and licking his face reassuringly. “It was just a dream, boy… just a dream…” END ==== Chythar Skyfire, MD Brew Continuum Barista USS Veritas NCC-95035 O239002CS0

Each month, we interview a captain or first officer of the fleet to gain more insight on what it takes to command a ship and learn more about how each of these staff members found their way into these roles. This month, we’re interviewing Fleet Captain Aron Kells, the CO of the USS Thor, one of two support ships from the Embassy of Duronis II. The crew of the Embassy has transitioned permanently to the Thor and embarked on a new mission. GALVEN: Thank you for agreeing to take a moment and be interviewed! Could you tell us a little about yourself for our readers out there? KELLS: Sure! My name is Tony, which I use primarily in part because I’ve used half a dozen different characters as PCs since I first joined the fleet back in 2005. Kells is probably the character I’ve simmed for most often, which is one of the reasons I chose him for command this time (but more on that later). A fun fact about me is that I joined 118 when I was still in high school and I’ve just recently finished my PhD, so the group has seen me through my entire higher education journey. You just recently took command of the USS Thor. With your previous command service record, has it been a smooth transition process? Very much so. My first regular command was of the Mercury, almost exactly eight years ago, and that was a more difficult situation. The original CO retired only four months after launching the ship, and his replacement lasted less than a week before he had to take an emergency, long-term LOA. The Mercury’s XO was a real trooper and was a great help to me when I came on as CO, and I knew when I found out what a force Brian (Lt. Cmdr. Teller, the Embassy’s and now the Thor’s XO) had been in helping to keep things together, I knew that the work he and the other great staff members had started put me in a really strong place to come in and help the Embassy crew move to Thor. With such a decorated service record. where and what kind of places do you turn to with that kind of dedication and contribution to 118? I like Trek a lot, first, and that’s part of my persistence. It’s such a rich universe, and there are always more stories to tell. That said, I read and watch very widely, partially just as a lover of sff (science fiction & fantasy) and partially because I co-host a podcast, The Imaginaries, that looks at contemporary sff from a queer perspective. Blatant self-promotion: https://www.imaginaries.net/ Out of the number of years you’ve been with the fleet, is there a specific time that stands out the most for you that’s memorable? I was very, very lucky in that I managed to attract a group of dedicated, devoted simmers, many of whom are still around. Of those, several went on to commands themselves, which makes me very proud. In general, though, I’d say the years that I spent commanding the power trio of Mercury-Garuda-Invicta are some of my very best memories of the fleet. I know that’s a big span, but it was all pretty good. Before you wrote for Aron Kells, you had another character named Niccolo del Vedova. What made you decide to use Kells rather than del Vedova to command the USS Thor? That’s a great question. I do think that I will switch to Nic del Vedova, or Del, as a CO sometime in the future — but I expect that to be more than a year hence, probably. I did consider which character to use as my CO character carefully, and I ended up choosing Kells due to a combination of familiarity (both to me and the fleet), experience (IC and OOC), and story. Del will get there! What kind of advice would you give new and even current members of the fleet? Surround yourself with people who are smarter and more talented than you. Seriously, part of the reason that I remember those Mercury-Garuda-Invicta years so fondly is that I was surrounded by just that caliber of folks. Rich (aka Flt. Capt. Rahman) blew me away from the start, but there are plenty of people who are still around (Mandy, aka Lt. Cmdr. Moonsong — Sarah, aka Cmdr. Saveron — and many, many others) who are just some of the most amazing people. Thank you for your time, Fleet Captain Aron Kells! You can read more about Fleet Captain Aron Kells on the wiki. The post Captain’s Corner: Fleet Captain Aron Kells, USS Thor appeared first on UFOP: StarBase 118 Star Trek RPG. View the full article