LtCmdr Alexander Richards

A more glaring error is the Klingon Birds of Prey as 09' calls them quite clearly being D7 attack cruisers (Kobayashi Maru scene)

(( OOC: This will be a bit of a back post. Gotta get Ren to the station! I warn you I tend to get a bit wordy when fleshing out a new character. This won’t impact the story line much, if at all. )) ((USS Firefox)) :: Ren took the final swig of his coffee and turned his attention back to the PADD that he had brought with him to the Firefox’s forward lounge. He debated heading back to his temporary quarters and decided against it. Instead he got the bartenders attention with a slight wave of his hand:: Ren: Lilly, I’ll take another coffee when you have a minute please Lilly: You got it babe. :: Lilly came over, poured him a fresh cup of coffee and smiled at him:: You got it all figured out yet? :: Ren had gotten to know Lilly pretty well over the past week that he’d been on the Firefox. Since he was a civilian being transported to DS17, where the Firefox was heading for some refit work anyways, he had had plenty of free time on his hands. Lilly, a very spunky and attractive young woman had caught his attention on his first day and he decided it was far better to spend some time chatting with her than just holed up in his quarters. Her question revolved around a discussion on the tenuous relationship between three factions in the Ithassa Region and the sociological causes behind their tensions. Or at least that’s what Ren was talking about. He was pretty sure Lilly was just being polite and trying to seem interested in the theoretical banter that he was engaged in:: Ren:: Lilly, you never really figure these kinds of things out. The best you can hope for is to arrive at some semblance of a hypothesis that might assist in resolving the conflict. Lilly: Hmmm.. sounds like a overly educated guess to me Ren: ::nodding his head:: that’s probably as good of an explanation as any I suppose. :: One of the other patrons got Lilly’s attention and off she went to take care of their drink order. In another time and place Ren could see himself and Lilly becoming friends, perhaps even something more, but he was due to arrive at DS17 in less than 24 hours and life at that point would get quite interesting, and very busy, to say the least:: :: He took his coffee and walked to the other side of the lounge to a table that gave him a great view of the stars outside the window. As he stood on the precipice of a new chapter in his life he couldn’t help but look back over the past seven years. It was hard to believe that just seven years ago he was a green cadet entering Star Fleet Academy. He and his twin sister Rai had both been accepted and gone through the Academy together. Not surprisingly she was the much better student early on, whereas Ren tended to be more of the social butterfly. It wasn’t until his last two years in the Academy that Ren really buckled down and applied himself to his studies, no doubt because of the fascination he developed with a new course of study for him, Psychology. Little did he know then that this “fascination” would turn into a full fledged occupation, and some would say obsession, before it was all said and done:: :: After graduation Rai, like 99% of the newly commissioned officers, went off to her first duty station, the USS Trident. Ren on the other hand got an opportunity to further his education and enrolled in the Doctorate of Social Psychology program at Cambridge University. The three years had absolutely flown by, largely due to the utter enjoyment Ren received from the studies, clinical trials, and counseling sessions that he first assisted with and later conducted under the supervision of Dr. Allison Tempest, one of the foremost experts in the Social Psychology field:: :: After graduating with his doctorate degree Ren contacted Starfleet Command. When he was given permission to attend Cambridge it had been with the considerable condition that upon completing the program he would fulfill his enlistment commitment. By now the thought of spending five years “in service” did not appeal to him in anyway. He had nothing but respect for Starfleet, but he no longer had the desire to pursue a career in it. But, he had given his word and technically SFC had a written agreement with him, so he would just have to accept whatever orders he was given and make the best of it. Surely it would be in the counseling field, so at least that would be rewarding:: :: His thoughts were interrupted when Lilly came by the table to check on him :: Lilly: Can I get you anything Doc? Ren: No thanks Lilly. I’m doing alright. Lilly: ::glancing down at his cup:: You haven’t even touched that cup of coffee I see. Ren: :smiling: No, I guess not. I got a bit preoccupied with the past I suppose. Lilly: I understand. If you need anything just let me know. :: Ren took a gulp of coffee and watched as the lovely Lilly made her way back to the bar. Within moments his thoughts continued going over the events that led him to this point. Upon advising SFC that he had graduated and was ready for his first assignment he was called to visit SFC in person. That seemed a bit odd to him, but he did as he was ordered and arrived at SFC the next day. He was then escorted to see Vice Admiral Na’mer, who peppered him with several questions about exactly what a Social Psychologist did. He remember explaining it something like this:: Ren: Admiral, a Social Psychologist is a sub specialty of Sociology with an emphasis on social and cultural interactions of races, groups and individuals. In short I look at group or individual dynamics from a sociological perspective and attempt to identify barriers and obstacles that are in place and hopefully find ways to remedy those. Then by implementing psychological techniques I work with the key individuals in various settings in an effort to help them work through whatever issues have been identified. That’s a pretty simplistic answer, but that’s the general idea. :: Admiral Na’mer nodded approvingly and then proceeded to make Ren an offer he couldn’t refuse. SFC was prepared to release him from his enlistment commitment if he was willing to lend his growing expertise to them in the Ithassa Region. When Ren explained that he did not know very much about the Ithassa Region the Admiral nodding his head knowingly:: Na’Mer: That isn’t surprising Dr, not many people outside of Starfleet do. It’s a rather remote sector that we have just truly begun to explore. Here’s a real brief description. ::he handed Ren a PADD:: :: Ren read the overview: The Federation is not the only major power in the region. At least three previously known major powers are present in the region, in the form of the Gorn Hegemony, Tzenkethi Coalition and the Tholian Assembly. There have also been reports of the Breen, and the USS Ronin has encountered the Cardassian Empire. In addition to these major powers, there are several local powers as well. The Confederacy of Core Worlds, which include the Free Trade Union, as well as the One Kingdom are examples of these. In all, the area is a politically active region, and occasionally quite a controversial one.:: :: He was intrigued to say the least. He would be hard pressed to identify another sector of space that had this kind of diversity, potential controversy, and ample opportunity to practice his specialty. Within minutes he confirmed his interest. The Admiral drew up the appropriate orders designating him as a Civilian Consultant/Counselor and assigning him to the USS Tiger-A. In a discussion that took less than an hour Ren’s immediate future had been laid out, and he couldn’t have been happier:: :: During the past week he had immersed himself in everything he could get access to on the Ithassa Region. Although he was a civilian, due to the anticipated nature of his position he had been given adequate security clearance to access a plethora of information. The more he studied the more intrigued he became by the region itself, and the crew he would be serving with. He knew this was going to be an absolutely incredible experience.:: =/\= Bridge to Dr Kolar =/\= =/\= Go ahead Bridge =/\= =/\= Doctor, you have a incoming message from the USS Trident coming in that is classified as personal =/\= oO Ria! At last Oo :: He hadn’t been able to fill his twin sister in on the recent events yet and was looking forward to talking to her.:: =/\= Acknowledged. Please patch it to my quarters. I’ll be there in three minutes =/\= =/\= Understood Doctor =/\= :: He stood up, finished his coffee, smiled at Lilly and quickly made his way to his quarters:: (( OOC: more to come later but I figured you were probably tired of reading about Ren by now lol)) Dr Kolar Ren, PhD Civilian Consultant/Counselor USS Tiger-A

the story missions later down the line are a lot of fun. Of note is the moment when the Tal Shiar have captured you and force you to fight various creatures in a Colosseum setting

Just want to say it's been fun reading this years entrants and, the winners of every round were deserving. Congratulations to the 3 finalists. All 3 were amazing sims and I only wish that all 3 could win.