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As colourful as always.

Happy anniversary to all of our members, on this 26th year since we were founded on June 15, 1994. Since it’s Pride month, and as thanks for the long history of roleplaying fellowship and Star Trek fandom, we’re releasing a set of LGBTQ emoji for Discord, Slack, and forums. Read more about these free-to-use emoji, and our road to celebrating our LGBTQ members, at the link below: How roleplaying gives LGBTQ and non-binary people an outlet to explore themselves. The post It’s our 26th anniversary of founding! appeared first on UFOP: StarBase 118 Star Trek RPG. View the full article

STOP. Just stop. You've managed to found a GREAT example of a sim. One that have made me smile and chuckle all the way. One that mix the joy and silly parts you sometimes see in a Star Trek show and, at the same time, keeps being AWESOME. And Mister @Wes Greaveshas managed to do this he alone so... _____________________________________________ ((Ferenginar, Outskirts of Upper Bowog Bay, . Late evening )) A street race. If someone had asked Wes what was the very last thing he expected a Vulcan Doctor to suggest, a street race on Ferenginar would have topped the list of “there’s no way”. Then to find that not only their physician but their chief engineer had thrown down the gauntlet together, well it all made Wes drastically reconsider his assessment on Vulcan spontaneity. Particularly the spontaneity of drunk Vulcans. What had started as Alieth’s offhand comment about the crew’s new-to-them grav bikes had quickly spiraled into an opportunity to mercilessly hound the intoxicated woman until she committed to her half-baked idea. Now in the pouring rain, he began to regret his campaign to ensure the race actually occurred. The droplets fell like fat, wet, rocks, seeming to ping off the Marine’s sleek black and red racing gear. The Ferengi he bought the suit from assured him that not only would it match the red racing bike, but it would also decrease drag, protect him from debris, and keep him mostly dry. Now that he was wearing it, Wes was pretty sure it was just a scheme to get the salesman some extra latinum and drum up a good excuse for others to place bets on the Marine. He did look fast after all. From his perch on to the side of the starting line Wes examined his position. As soon as it became apparent that the pair of Vulcan officers intended to modify their bike, Wes had raced down to the Marine Deck and enlisted the help of the detachment’s combat engineers. While only half had been around at the time, getting the group to help was simple. The man simply had to explain that the officers of Medical and Engineering thought they could dare challenge the Marines. Wes practically had to beat back the number of volunteers with a stick. Now, kneeling over open panels in the SAG in the soaking rain with eager smiles, two of his combat engineers argued over a modification they were working on. Cooland: Are you crazy! It’s already front heavy as it is. If we throw another power cell in the front the Lieutenant’s gonna be riding a supped-up plow! Porter: No way man, we’ll just reroute some of the extra power to front grav thrusters to compensate. Plus, there’s no way the inducer coil is going to run for longer than a few seconds without it. Cooland: Even if we could compensate, he’ll be riding on a freakin powder keg. Are you going to explain to the skipper how we cooked the Platoon Commander when it goes up in flames? A shiver ran down Wes’s spine and he chose to walk away from the conversation before he learned so much that he refused to ever get within 20 feet of the bike again. He instead paced over towards where Alieth and Sirok were finishing their own modifications. Doing his best to look inconspicuous in his very conspicuous outfit, the man eavesdropped on his opponents. Alieth: How the modifications progress? Sirok: For this race, finished. :: He kept to himself his opinion on what should be done with those particular SAGs.:: Alieth: I see (wiping the rain off her face) what advantage will that give us? Sirok: I have tried to stay within the basic characteristics of the vehicle, but I have improved the drive system to give a higher cornering speed, as well as more top speed time. I have placed several sensors inside to control all technical aspects, I will be able to guide you if you need to make any adjustments during the run. :: Besides being able to obtain performance data for the future design of a SAG under Starfleet standards.:: Wes frowned given the new information, and upon a sideways glance from Sirok, he turned away as if engaged in enthusiastic conversation with a Ferengi. Fortunately further off in the crowd, a rabble-rouser hurled some words of encouragement. Ferengi 1: Hey! Vulcans! I have bet two bars of latinum that you will crash the human into a tree, don't even think about failing, or you will have to deal with my lawyer! Images of Wes colliding with a tree followed immediately by a plume of orange and yellow flame ran through his mind. Maybe his bike would explode if he hit a tree? Wes hoped against hope that his two Marines figured out their power supply issue before the race started. He tried to push the thought from his mind as he strolled back over toward the Red Rocket. Porter has just sealed the last panel as Wes walked up again, with the third Marine nowhere in sight. Greaves: Where’d Cooland go? Porter: Ah, he got his feelings hurt and went off to pout. ::Toothy grin:: Don’t worry sir. I got you. You’re all set. Let’s do this! Before Wes could ask whether he needed to change into something more flame retardant, one of his opponents cut him off. Alieth: Ready to start, Mr. Greaves? Or have you decided to give up? Sirok raised an eyebrow, it seemed that the doctor was using Sobok's advice not to support a comrade but to undermine the morale of a rival. In any case, he did not care about the result of the race, but about the performance of the vehicle and the data he could get from it and from others. Greaves : Whoa, Doc. When did you learn how to talk smack? I know you didn’t have time to learn this morning with the migraine you must have woken up with! We’re ready to rock over here! Alieth: Response Wes anxiously glanced over at Porter who gave him two thumbs up and a wink. Sirok: Do you need me to check your vehicle? Greaves: And let the competition see what we’ve got hiding up our sleeve? Unless you’re going to let us check your work, there’s no way! Keep your nose in your own SAG. Sirok: Response Alieth: Response? A small drone whizzed by close overhead and the crowd swelled in volume. It seemed that the call for initial bets had closed and a hurried Ferengi rushed over to the starting line. Race Organizer: It’s time to start! The patrons are getting impatient and all of the bets are in. You’ve got two minutes before we start. ::jabbing a finger toward Alieth:: If you’re not ready to go in time we’ll seek recompense as stated in the contract! Sirok/Alieth: Response Another drone soared by and Wes realized the small flying machines weren't courier drones but were cameras. Greaves: Wait a sec Alieth. ::exasperated:: It this being televised?! Sirok/Alieth: Response Wes jogged back toward his SAG shaking his head. A competitive pair of Vulcans. Now he’d seen everything. Wes snapped his racing helmet into place and a small HUD activated in his visor. The Marine smiled at the handiwork of the modifications the crew had made in such a short time. Porter helped Wes onto the bike and got the thrusters started. With a low hum, the SAG hopped gingerly off the ground, albeit with a slight forward tilt. It took no time at all to finesse the bike to the starting line where Alieth waited atop her own. A gleeful smile played across his face as Wes revved the engine and winked at Alieth. The crowd swelled again as an announcer counted off toward the start of the race. From behind the pair of racers, Corporal Cooland ran down a small hill toward the starting line waving his arms and shouting something indistinct. Unfortunately for Wes, he didn’t hear, nor see the Marine behind him. With the wave of a flag, a cheer from the crowd, and a roar of engines, the contenders shot off onto the course. ========================= 1st Lieutenant Wes Greaves Marine Officer USS Thor - NCC 82607 E239702WG0 =========================

Awe, thanks Alieth. This one had me smiling the entire time I was writing. Oh, and thanks to the crew of the Veritas for giving Lieutenant Commander Teller the opportunity to take these grav bikes back to the Thor!

I went with the Odyssey Class. I remember when they first introduced that into the STO universe. It was spine chilling. With eighteen type-14 phaser emitters; six quantum torpedo launchers it is perhaps the most equipped ship in the Fleet.

Each month we interview a First Officer or Commanding Officer of the fleet as part of our “First Officer in Focus” and “Captain’s Corner” columns to get to know them better, and learn more about what their positions entail. This month, we’re interviewing the First Officer of the starship USS Veritas, Lt. Commander Sky Blake, a Brekkian/Betazoid hybrid female. GALVEN: Tell us a little about the writer behind Blake. Where do you hail from, and what are you up to when you’re not simming? BLAKE: I live in Australia, and when I am not simming, I am studying as a cloud student for a Bachelor of Arts. I earned my Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing in 2019, where I was also able to edit and publish a fairly hefty student anthology of works, as well as put together a demo memoir I released that November. Between writing and reading for my degree and simming, I also consume a fairly unhealthy amount of Netflix, AnimeLab, Playstation games, and iced coffee. Tell us more about your writing style. What’s your process for putting together a sim? It depends on how much time I have. If I’m on a tight schedule, I’ll actively look for Blake-specific tags, throw them into a Gmail draft and focus on adding dialogue first, then examine the scene more closely for Blake’s physicality — ie. how is she presenting herself, how is she feeling, is she cold, etc — reactionary type things. After that, I go back through and do a basic edit alongside a pass with ProWritingAid and send. That usually takes me about 15 minutes to a half hour. On a good day when I can spend up to hours working on a sim, I work properly on narration, backstory and thoughts. I can double check to see if everyone has been included in a scene and add relevant tags for those who may not be. These sims will typically be much longer than my rush jobs, have been formatted properly, edited, and may have about three times more the narration. According to Blake’s professional history wiki page, she was the USS Avander’s chief of security/second officer in 2389 and then the USS Veritas’ first officer the first time in 2393. What was the experience like transitioning from second officer (2O) to FO? It’s been almost a decade since I was Avandar’s 2O — the way the position was treated back then is different to how it is now. I feel that 2Os today get a bit more of a presence in the command staff than they did back then. I definitely wouldn’t say I transitioned between those two positions, mainly because when I held them each for the first time, they were not in a period close together. After Avandar, I didn’t serve as Vigilant or Garuda’s second officer. I became Invicta’s XO as Kinan Venroe/Tristam Core when Fleet Captain Rahman (then-Commander) took command. Invicta was my first outing as an XO, a few months before Veritas launched. I remember it being a very tumultuous few months: a lot happened, IC and OOC, and we were navigating that as the new kids on the block. Rahman already had the experience as an XO and was mentoring me through that. As second officer on Avandar, I was the IC back-up XO — there wasn’t much I did in the position outside of that, as there were no OOC tasks set for the 2O during that time, and most ships used it almost like an award of sorts. We’ve since strived to make something more important of it. I think the transition between being a second officer versus being first officer is dependent on your CO. Rahman and I work well together because we defined what my role as XO was going to be before I got it: I’m there to support him, it’s my job to make sure what he says goes — that’s an oversimplification of the XO role, though, and Rahman (and probably many other captains) would argue XOs do significantly more than that. On Veritas, on top of their IC position, we treat the 2O role as the rightful third person in the command structure — they’re there as another pair of eyes for command issues (assuming something cannot be solved directly through our ship staff list) and another face for crew to speak to. Looking back on your experience so far, what would be one piece of advice you’d give to anyone who’s just joined? The fleet offers a lot of out of character activities to participate in, but your highest priority should be having fun IC. Be here to have fun with the game, first. A lot of what you said reminds me back when I first joined and I was given you as my mentor which I can’t thank you enough for all the incredible advice and long emails that I still read when I need to look back on something. Where do you get that kind of insight from? Much of it comes from what my mentors sent to me. I didn’t start off with a mentor when I joined as an ensign — I only had one on Ronin and Mercury (decaphoebs ago at this point…), and since then, Rahman has been filling that role. My first mentor who was my Ronin/Mercury captain, set the scene for how I’ve treated my own mentees. He was very big on long emails that detailed everything I needed to know, usually with headers, because that’s how he felt it was best to communicate with me (I’m not sure if that’s how he was with everyone, I didn’t get to see him mentor others). So I’d use those emails like a handbook to refer back to in future. There have been and will continue to be times where I need advice from other mentors on how to approach something that’s come up, and that’s why the ship staff is there. Outside of this, my advice or guides for other people come from a place of self-ownership. I have matured significantly over the course of my being in 118, and with that comes a lot of understanding. When you’re a ship XO, it is a little sobering to think on how much of a rascal you were and how much your own CO/XO had to deal with that back in the day. I am very much a believer that we learn best by making mistakes, and I try to encourage mistake-making — within reason, of course. Quite a bit of what I learned from you is how I mentor others and I appreciate that you still take the time to see how I’m doing. Have you experienced any kind of situation where the mentee starts becoming a mentor themselves? Veritas’ mentor system is managed by the XO — so when we get new members, it’s part of my job to assign them a mentor. I’ve been around for long enough to have or have seen people get mentors assigned to them, only for me to then assign them as mentors to new players. I’m genuinely proud to be a part of that — one of the LtJGs I championed for behind the scenes (don’t tell them that) now serves as an XO themselves. Two are currently weighing up their commander’s practicals. Another just hit LtCmdr. You’re currently serving as 2O of Ops. I was not directly a mentor for all of you, but when “one of ours” gets to where they want to be, and/or starts giving me advice, it reaffirms what I already know. It is not a bad thing to still receive advice as an LtCmdr and onward. As time goes by, your audience for sims and other types of emails change. Rahman and I are constantly talking about what we can do to make our sims better, what we need to improve on, etc. They’re important conversations to have as writers. Your mentor should be your first port of call when you’ve got something on your mind about the game. “Back in my day”, you were assigned one mentor, and that was it. If you transferred, you were essentially on your own (whereas, these days your new ship may assign a new mentor to you). My first mentor made it a habit to check in with me once or twice over the years, despite me not playing on his vessel. Sometimes it was just to touch base, others it was to talk about something being discussed on the forums. I think it’s important to keep that door open, regardless of rank. And lastly, it’s been 8 years since you were promoted to Lt. Commander. Do you have any aspirations to become a Commander and beyond? I am on the path to being a Commander. I think it’d be nice to drop the “Lieutenant” from “Lieutenant Commander” (though sometimes I fear players don’t realise how much of a sweet spot the Lieutenant rank is). I am not ultimately interested in being a CO — I feel confident as a supportive fleet staff member, and I’m happy as a collaborator on Veritas and what’s coming next after it. Thanks for your time, Lieutenant Commander Sky Blake! You can read more about Lieutenant Commander Blake on the wiki. The post First Officer in Focus – Sky Blake, USS Veritas appeared first on UFOP: StarBase 118 Star Trek RPG. View the full article

I always liked the Akira, but when it comes to ships in it for the fight, Defiant all day for me! its built to kick you in the teeth and get out of the way if retaliation, fast, and packs a huge punch for its size. The first to mount a whole host of new Starfleet weapons.

For the first time, Jarred opted against dress whites for the Annual Awards

New shoes for Raissa.

Did someone say, silver jacket with a red tie?! ...no? Well, that's what Wil's wearing anyway!