Ben Livingston

Welcome aboard, Lyra!

To Kieran's point ... our Chief Tactical Officer has yet to fire a weapon! That doesn't mean he doesn't stay busy, though.

Welcome, Gor! It is a great community, and some of our other members write in part to improve their English language skills. And I think we all have improved, whether it was a goal or not!

Ben was relieved that the feeling he had as he stepped onto the Starbase 118 hangar deck was one of silent affirmation. That's one small step for a man ... he thought, but then shooed away the oft-quoted phrase, embarrassed at having made the comparison. He had been waiting for that step for four years; the arrival for his cadet cruise from the San Francisco campus signaled, in his view, the start of a new life. For such a level-headed person, this "step" superstition was something of an anomaly in Ben's personality. Perhaps it was an outlet for the repressed nonsense, squeezed out of his consciousness by years of learning discipline at the Academy, Power Storage Solutions, and an overly-regimented upbringing; perhaps it was a last link to the world of gut reactions and trusted instinct. The idiosyncrasy remained, though, exactly as it had been six years ago, when he graduated top ten percent from engineering school. At least, the experience was the same in the pull to feel for it, waiting with breath held back until it came. Different -- a complex conjugate pair -- in reaction. Walking into the building on his first day as a design engineer, his first step left him thinking he couldn't be there his whole life. It wasn't intimidation or the thought of being unable to handle it. He had been prepared, but the bewildering fog of boredom loomed on the horizon, even that first day. In deference to the step, here he was: a man more fully developed and more committed to himself than before. Ben looked around the hangar bay at the new cadets in perfect uniforms and noted their general amazement at their surroundings. From tight corridors and manned duty posts, doubtful gazes of hardened crewmen and officers sized up the compatriots upon whom they would depend, for better or for worse. It occurred to Ben that he was among those being evaluated. He smiled. An officer approached. Ben picked up his bag and took a second step; the feelings of the first resounded within him again, echoing off the walls and engulfing him in assurance. "Cadet Benjamin Harold Livingston," he informed the officer, "ready and reporting for duty."

Hi! My name is Will, living in Connecticut, USA. Just applied the other day and looking forward to the start of training. I've played some RPGs, but haven't had a consistent group in the past. I've always liked Star Trek: TOS (and the movies) but never really went further than that until recently. Now I've seen the first season of TNG and am starting on Enterprise -- there's so much out there. I'm really just beginning to become more interested in this. So if anyone has suggestions for what I watch (or read or play) to continue my Star Trek immersion, just let me know! I guess it's by those two points combined (no steady RPGs and renewed interest in Star Trek) that I started looking for this group. Glad I found it! My character's name is Ben Livingston, an engineer joining Starfleet after a few years in the civilian workforce designing energy storage systems. This is (I suppose) a partially autobiographical character, as I'm a design engineer working in electrical distribution. Thanks in advance for the great community -- I'm looking forward to my first simming experience!