StarBase 118 Staff

The Top Sims Contest is now accepting nominations for Round 18! There are some great sims being produced by our members every day. Making sure they get the recognition they deserve is easy, and only takes a minute. Visit the Top Sims Contest page and start a new topic. Then paste the sim you want to recognize into the text field. It’s just that easy to share a great sim with the entire fleet. The winning sim will go on to the third run-off round. And while you’re out there, please take a moment to congratulate FltCapt. Rainier (nee FltCapt. Nicholotti), for her post “Legacies,” which just won the second run-off round of the year. This sim now proceeds to the final run-off round of the year to face off against three other sims. Run-off round one winner was LtCmdr Jalana Laxyn, and the other two run-off sims will be chosen later this year. View the full article

Rear Admrial Jaxx is a high ranking Betazoid officer of great renown having commanded the USS Victory, Starbase 118 Ops and the USS Apollo. A great many officers have served and thrived under his leadership but he started out just the same as any officer and first served as a counsellor aboard the USS Challenger in 2384. From there he worked through the ranks and did a spell as a strategic operation officer as he took his first steps into command as second officer aboard that ship. From there he was first officer aboard the USS Resolution before moving back into the role of strategic operations officer aboard the USS Eagle. In 2387 he was transferred to the USS Victory as first officer and would later become its commanding officer. Outside of work fitness is important and Jaxx loves to work out, he can often be found in the holodeck playing sports such as racquetball, fencing, skiing or sparring and is notably, one of few Betazoids who can use a Bat’leth. He is an avid swimmer and spends as much time in the water as is reasonably possible. He likes socialising with and getting to know his crew and will scrub in and help even the lowliest of crewmen, often much to their surprise! He is an excellent judge of character and is able to quickly assess new officers and decide whether he will like them or not. There are very few people on his bad side but thankfully they generally have the sense to keep out of his way. Congratulations to Rear Admiral Jaxx! His bio will be displayed on the wiki’s front page for the month of April. This month, our star pick bio belongs to Lieutenant Commander Nia Calderan, so congratulations to her as well. As always, you can find out more about the contest at its wiki page or in its forum. The next is now open, so be sure to drop by and submit your nominations! View the full article

With the summer in full swing, you’re probably well into enjoying the sun (or at least a sunburn or two…). And that being the case, it’s certainly a good time, no matter what you’re doing this summer, to check out the forums and the many things going on there. Here’s just a sampling of the many events and conversations we’ve got happening around the Fleet’s forum boards. There are a number of player’s guilds here at Starbase 118. You can join one regardless of if your main character falls into the category defined by the guild or if you just want to join in on the conversation. Head over here to find out more: http://forums.starbase118.net/index.php?/forum/99-guilds/ The latest writing challenge entries will soon be posted here. Be sure to check out the winners from the last contest, as well as the feedback they’ve received from the judges, the topic for the newest round, and more on the Writing Challenge forums: http://forums.starbase118.net/index.php?/forum/137-writing-challenges/ Do you know of a great sim that deserves fleet-wide attention? Be sure to post it in the Top Sims contest threads so that everyone can see it! http://forums.starbase118.net/index.php?/forum/283-top-sims-contest/ Come meet your fellow members and welcome new members to the 118 Fleet in the Meet the Lemmings thread: http://forums.starbase118.net/index.php?/forum/15-meet-the-lemmings/ And don’t forget to weigh in on the poll of the week. There’s a new one each week, so stop by and let your voice be heard. Have an idea for your own poll? There’s a submission thread as well – submit your ideas there and they may be the topic of next week’s conversation! http://forums.starbase118.net/index.php?/forum/328-poll-of-the-week/ Be sure to remember the forums when you take your much needed break from the summer sun (and all of your summer fun)! Until next month, we’ll see you on the threads. View the full article

Like all good science fiction, Star Trek showed us the possibilities our future might hold. Some of these have become reality, from communicators that predicted cell phones, to PADDs that inspired the iPad. One technology ubiquitous to Star Trek’s world that doesn’t yet exist in ours is the Replicator. Nestlé’s R&D wing seeks to change that – perhaps within a few decades. The project, codenamed ‘Iron Man,’ is an extension of the company’s effort to analyze and map the nutritional needs of the individual. Eventually, it may be possible to meet these needs with a machine that synthesizes nutritional components into a custom-made meal. Maybe this is more like the food synthesizer from Star Trek’s 1960s run. Maybe it won’t be able to meet your order of chocolate wobble with pistachio (and peach) like it did for Nurse Chapel. That’s okay – better not to spoil your supper. Read more at the links below: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-22/nestle-aiming-to-develop-a-nespresso-of-nutrients.html http://3dprint.com/7142/star-trek-replicator-nestle/ View the full article

Star Trek, the original series and beyond, helped us to envision worlds beyond our own, opening our imaginations to the possibilities that could exist in such a vast galaxy. Worlds but ‘natural’ and ‘man-made’ existed, offering a plethora of life to be discovered and adventures to be had. While none of the events in the series have ever come to past, that doesn’t mean that scientists aren’t embarking on their own exciting ventures into outer space. One such adventure could occur as early as 2015. Scientists had been putting together a proposal for NASA’s Discovery Competition – and the winner actually gets to put their plan into action. Their propsal? Study an asteroid that is a member of the Kuiper belt – the line of asteroids that separate the first four planets from the last four. But asteroids exist in an abundance, right? True, but this is no ordinary asteroid, but one made of metal and thought to be the core of a protoplanet. The hope is that by studying this great, grey, lump of rock that scientists can learn more about the formation of planets. Unfortunately, the Psyche mission was not chosen as one of the final contestants, but if nothing else, the discovery of this core does lend itself to the imagination. And who knows, maybe a study of Psyche will come to pass some time in the future. View the full article

Please welcome our newest Academy graduates to the UFOP: StarBase 118 fleet: Joran sek, L’Ral Rai’ow, and Ethan Parker! View the full article

Having managed to regain control of the USS Hermes, the USS Gemini NCC 80564 and the USS Wyoming NCC 82011 turn their attention to the Klingon Warbird commanded by the rogue officer Koval. A transmission intercepted by Ensign Rocko Stevens confirms that Koval is acting outside of the direction of the High Council. But as aggressive and determined as he is, Koval knows when he is outgunned, and that his ship is no match for the combined power of the Gemini and the Wyoming. Rather than press the fight, Koval retreats into Klingon space. The Gemini is in no condition to pursue, leaving Koval to escape. The Hermes secured, the Gemini sets course for Starbase 118 for urgently needed repairs and some well deserved leave. View the full article

The Captains Council of UFOP: StarBase 118 is pleased to announce the promotion of Lieutenant Commander Ben Livingston to the rank of commander. Commander Livingston serves on the USS Excalibur as the First Officer to Capt. Cascadia Rainier. Commander Livingston has been a member since June of 2012, simming under the same character. He has previously played science and engineering officers on both the Excalibur and StarBase 118 Ops. He was recently running the “This Week on 118Wiki” feature, which will be morphing into a contest very soon (more information coming!), and has been recognized with both the Neelix Award and TOSMA I in the past. Be sure to congratulate Commander Livingston on the forums! View the full article

A running gag, and not just those of us who are Star Trek fans, but that of those also who are Star Trek observers for entertainment sake, is that of the dangers of wearing a red shirt in the Star Trek universe from the old series. To break it down, there were 59 deaths of crewmembers during the 79 episodes of the original series. 16 of these deaths were off-screen, so the color of their shirts were unknown. So that leaves us with a visible 43 on-screen deaths that we witnessed. Of those 43 on-screen deaths, 25 wore red shirts. Therefore that leaves us with 18 crew members who were fated to death who wore uniforms of colors either blue or gold. So that brings us to this week’s poll of the week. If you were a Starfleet officer of that era, what do you think would be the safest color to wear? Would you rather wear command gold or science blue to save your skin on an away mission? Head on down to the polls and let us know what you think and I will have the answer for you next week. View the full article

Since 1999, the Simming Prizeward has been presented to sims on the internet for their quality and fun factor. It is that time of year and the 2013 Simming Award has been opened. Up to five Prizes are awarded annually to people, sims, clubs, or organizations who (1) exemplify service, quality, and dedication within the simming community, or who (2) pioneer new technology or techniques within the community. It can be awarded for a specific accomplishment or for sustained superior performance over a period of time. Winners may use the honorific Simming Prize Laureate. Oh yeah, its official name is the The Prize for Simming and Online Role Playing in Memory of Seth Cotis. We just call it the Simming Prize because it’s easier to say. Today is the last day to submit a nomination, so head over to the nomination form now. View the full article

The crew of the USS Apollo, NCC-71669 was rescued and delivered to Deep Space 5. Fleet Captain Andrus Jaxx received orders sending him to Earth for a debriefing. Orders for Lieutenant Commander Sundassa Faranster were to take the remaining crew to the USS Aegis, NCC-74323 on a survey mission with Lieutenant Commander Jalana Laxyn as her First Officer. Because of the haste in leaving, some of the officers had a problem with this, so Lieutenant Alexander Williams, and Lieutenant JG Eileen McCleran requested opportunities to speak with the Captain in private, questioning decisions. After handling those conversations, Faranster returned to the bridge to find that the Aegis received a distress call from an unknown ship, the transmission was vague, but left the crew very curious. The Aegis turned course to head for the distressed ship, all the team was at work trying to find out as much information about this unknown ship, and what happened to it. Before they reached the ship, something slowed down their computer systems, and it was discovered that this was the Artificial Intelligence of the alien vessel, by the name of Rapture, trying to assess the people coming to their rescue. View the full article

Surprisingly, it seems that the July/August Writing Challenges have been least likely to feature some sort of specially themed or holiday topic. While July and August have seen their share of unique Challenges — such as the First-Person Fortnight and Flash Fiction Challenges, both from 2012 — they’re much more likely to have a topic not based in anything related to the time of year. However, it’s possible that the very first July/August Challenge, all the way from back in 2004, took its cue from an event that will dominate those months for students and teachers among the writers of UFoP: going back to school! That 2004 Challenge, “Academy Memories,” might have been chosen for that very reason. What do you think? As for the 2014 May/June Challenge, I hope you’ve entered your story already! No more entrants will be accepted and judges have convened to choose a winner for the Challenge. Keep your eye on the Writing Challenge forum, and good luck to everyone who entered! View the full article

“Profit is great but my collection is better than yours.” – Zibalian wisdom This species, like the Ferengi, are well known as traders and merchants, major players in both the Alpha and Beta quadrants of the Federation, and its surrounding regions. While they do have a reputation for specializing in the higher quality or more profitable merchandise, they will deal in just about anything if their is a profit in it. They are also well known for brokering some rather strange deals as well. While they seem to be mostly concerned with only profit a larger than expected number of them are also avid collectors or one thing or another. This unusual, some would say almost genetic quirk runs strong within the majority of them and as a result they can be rather unpredictable at times. Some of them will do just about anything in order to add another rare item to their personal collections. As a result this has been the ruin of a few great merchants. Learn more about the Zibalians from their wiki page! View the full article

The Top Sims Contest is now accepting nominations for Round 17. There are some great sims being produced by our members every day. Making sure they get the recognition they deserve is easy, and only takes a minute. Just check the calendar to see which round we’re on, and start a new topic and paste the sim into the text field. It’s just that easy to share a great sim with the entire fleet! The winning sim will go on to the fourth run-off round. And there’s still time to vote on the winning sim for the Second run-off to determine which sim will go on to the final run-off to determine best sim of 2014. Vote now! View the full article

When I first joined UFOP:SB118 back in 2005, the fleet was a very different place. However, at least one thing connects that time and this: A Gorn character named Nugra was in play on the USS Victory. Back then, when I was only an ensign with my first PC, Nugra was a lieutenant commander and chief of security and tactical, and later the first officer. Now, he’s a commander and new to the Victory‘s center chair, so I was very interested to know more about Nugra, his writer, and their winding path to command. I remember well when you became a command officer, the Victory’s XO, many years ago. How do you think Starbase 118 has changed between now and then? How have you changed? What is very interesting is how much has changed, but yet has not changed. The first thing that struck me when I rejoined back in 2012 was that there was a lot more emphasis on writing than had been present back in the early days. Not only have many of the processes that were still new when I first took a LOA in 2006 are now tried and true, but many of the beginner writers are staff! One of the ways I changed is I’m “older and wiser”. After joining the U.S. Air Force, I “grew up” a lot and find that a lot of my original thoughts and ways were childish and it helped me form my moral code to the way I feel that I am a much more rounded person. I’ve assumed that you chose the Victory as your command practical ship because you’re respecting and carrying on the legacies of Captains Phoenix and Hurne and the other officers and writers who served there. Is that true? If it is, can you tell me a bit more about it and about some of your memories of those old officers and writers? You are correct. I did toss around the idea of creating my own ship, but when Starbase 118 was temporarily retired, I realized my old ship was now available. New ships are cool and a lot of fun, but there has to be something said about ships of old with long crew history and such amazing adventures. I could not allow the old girl to sit in mothballs! Being able to command the USS Victory brings a sense of accomplishment not only to Nugra, but also myself in OOC.I have a fond memories of the Victory in the early 2380s, the one that stands out to me is the battle against the Lycanthropes, an IC classified mission that brought us in contact with a subservient race of the Tholians AND the Tholians themselves. I remember it distinctly because it was my first chance to play a MSNPC and for some reason, the creativity and simming speed just skyrocketed. I don’t think the crew of the USS Victory ever fought something so hard and it brought out the core parts of everybody’s character! What are your plans for Nugra? What sort of CO will he be? Do you have any character arcs or developments planned for him? Nugra has always been a very “follow the rules” CO, with a tendency to think they don’t apply to him in certain cases when he feels his disobedience is for the better of the crew, even if he gets in trouble for it (and he does!). He will probably bring that with him and at first, the crew will probably see him as very strict. I hope to bring across the effects of his return to command since he lost his own ship in the Gorn Confederation in a conflict that spanned 200 years. Being trapped in a singularity for that long changed him. His fear of losing his crew and dedication to his duty will also force him to move forward from that horrible time. What about the Victory’s first mission — what can you tell me about that? Assuming that your practical is successful — as I’m sure it will be! — will you keep the Victory as your ship? What sorts of missions will you be most interested in running? I have always had a philosophy that as beautiful the universe is, there are horrors of equal magnitude; there are secrets that should never be found. The Embassy had gotten a first taste at something lurking in the darkest shadows and now the USS Victory is tasked to find this ancient menace before it finds us. I am wholeheartedly planning to keep the USS Victory even past the practical. I love the old girl and I now can not imagine not having Nugra on the bridge.I plan to run “exploration” missions and try to bring the “strange new worlds” to the USS Victory. It is what I love most about Star Trek, what strange thing will we find around the next star? To me, that is what Star Trek is, species VS environment and the search for knowledge. If you could write again with one person from the group’s history, who would that person be, and why? Oh, that’s a hard one. My first would be to say the old crew of the USS Victory. Mal Avatar, Stevok, Hurne, Parker, the whole lot, but if I had to chose one, it would be Captain Jordan Hurne. The man was my mentor both IC and OOC so when he retired, it did take a bit of the fun from the game. He fostered a creativity that I have always looked for and hope to bring to my own ship now that I her. You can learn more about the Victory and her new series of missions under Commander Nugra on the wiki! View the full article

Please remember to nominate a character bio for the latest round of the Featured Bio Contest before it closes on July 1, 2014. Just check these three simple points: Nominated articles must be of a player character played by a CURRENT and ACTIVE member.Nominated articles must be either a PRIMARY or SECONDARY player character. PNPCs are ineligible.All information in the article must be CURRENT as of the submission date.We’re looking for the highest quality bios in the fleet to not only help provide an example for our members on how to structure their bio, but also to show off how much our members put into the creation of realistic and emotional characters. Head to the Featured Bio Contest forum to nominate a bio today. View the full article

Following the awards ceremony, the crew of Embassy settled in for a couple days on the beach, allowing newly transferred crew members from the decommissioned USS Tiger to settle in and get used to their surroundings. But all was not wine and roses, as soon, the crew was called into a briefing. It seemed that four ships had been lost in space, one of them being a Laudean freighter. A garbled distress call was all the evidence they had to go on, so the USS Thunder-A NCC 70605 headed to the coordinates of the missing ships and attempted to investigate the anomaly. Several probes were launched and lost, and fighters sent to investigate…until the anomaly began to grow and took two fighters to the other side….. Following them through the rift, the Thunder found herself orbiting a dead sun..or so they thought, as they established communication with whom had sent the earlier distress signal. They also found themselves thirty three years in the future, and the crew was no longer the spry bunch they had been. They also carried the memories of that thirty plus years, which revealed some painful revelations for several of the Thunder crew. Then weapons on the surface locked onto the Thunder, and opened up, the hits being taken by the armor and causing minor damage. With the fighters now on board, it was decided to send down an away team to get some answers. When the team arrived, they discovered what they had originally believed was a prison, but was also a massive graveyard of wrecked starships, the prison itself wrecked during the attacks on the Thunder. Survivors gathered with the away team as the ground began to tremble beneath them. A massive machine opened fire on the away team and the prison, endangering them all and forcing an emergency evacuation of the prisoners and away team members. Once everyone was on board, the damaged Thunder escaped the collapsing sun, and escaping through the rift back into their own time and space. View the full article

A friend of mine is actively looking for a new roommate and she asked if I would consider. For the last year or so, I have lived on my own and enjoyed it immensely. I answer to no one. I come and go as I wish and even though I am a clean person, should I leave a bit of a mess behind before heading out the door, I don’t feel bad that someone else may stumble upon my mess. However, I do sometimes feel lonely when I don’t want to go out and I also miss the presence of another soul with me where I live. So I’m kind of in a dilemma. Should I or should I not take my friend up on her offer? I guess I will decide soon enough. Nevertheless, that brings us to this week’s Poll of the week. What species in Star Trek would make the worst roommate? Would it be an Andorian who always keeps the room bitter cold? A Bajoran who prays to the prophets all the time? A Betazoid who can read your dirty thoughts and dreams at night? How about a Cardassian who keeps the temperature at the highest levels in your quarters or a Ferengi who only discusses profit with you as you chit chat? What about a Klingon who smells not quite fresh, or a joined Trill who speaks of memories of a time long before your grandparents were alive? How about a Vulcan who would not understand your emotions should you have a particularly difficult day? So who would you deem to be the worst roommate? Head on down to the polls and let us know what species would be the one to make you wish you lived alone! View the full article

Welcome to Emergency Rations, where each month we highlight details from the worlds of Star Trek and UFOP: SB118 to fuel your fandom, inspire your writing, and help bring your sim to life. This month’s theme is Anniversaries. UFOP: SB118 is celebrating 20 years of simming excellence, and this column is a stunning two months old! In honor of these achievements, we’re looking at the milestones your character might celebrate in their 24th century life. You have caught up on your reading; you have scrolled through all the forums; you have read the entire wiki again. Maybe you’re celebrating your 20th post this week, and need the inspiration for just one more. A toast to your creativity! It’s time to break out the Emergency Rations… Everyone celebrates a birthday in character – like an office party in real life, you somehow can’t avoid it. Below are three types of social occasions that might inspire further festivities. As you chew your way through your rations, think about how you can incorporate these items and ideas into your sim. When you’ve succeeded, tell us about it on the forum. We’d love to hear how you’ve put your creativity to use! Annual Parties. If it’s annual, it counts! If you work on the Embassy, you know which holidays to celebrate. Anything similar on other ships? How about back home? What holidays and festivals are important where you come from? Speaking of annual events that bring us together: anyone watching the game? What is the World Cup of the 24th century? What is the Super Bowl? Will you watch it with friends? And what IS the Starfleet equivalent of an office party? Great Moments in History. Treaties, battles and first contacts make for a thrilling history, and the events of history are part of our everyday lives. During its 20 years of interactive storytelling, UFOP: SB118 has covered a vast area of time as well as space. How well do you know the events of recent UFOP history? Does your character remember the past with a special commemoration event back home? How about at the Academy? Or on your current ship? How do you memorialize the past? Any famous forbears? Toured any famous sites? Commemorations. The stunning accomplishments of history’s greatest figures fill our invented past. Which do you celebrate most? In 2391, it has been 230 years since the formation of the United Federation of Planets. 98 years since the Khitomer Accords were signed. 28 years since the first confirmed contact with the Borg. 15 years since the Pathfinder Project contacted USS Voyager. A short 4 years since the SB118 Fleet fought the Vaadwaur Invasion. What great moments do you remember? It’s the 5 minute anniversary of when you started reading this column. I salute you! Please visit the forum to let us know how you used these ideas in your writing. Happy simming! View the full article

The crew of the USS Garuda found themselves between a rock and a hard place during their mission to the Zeta Equulei system where the Community and the Myr Luuks were hostile neighbours. Cmdr. Ross’s away team visited the home moon of the Community and discovered a complex base in the course of their discussions that was probably left from an older race, as the Community didn’t possess the technology necessary to construct the structure. As part of the negotiations, Lts. Delano and Mei’konda and Ambassador Ventu willingly underwent a mind merge with the Confluence (the Community’s hive brain) where they discovered a link between with the even more ancient and mysterious Menthar race that once inhabited this region of space: The Menthar had uplifted the pre-warp Community to be an aggressive race that could fight on their behalf. After the disappearance of the Menthar, the Community continued along this developmental path. Meanwhile, the Garuda’s saucer section under Lt. Cmdr. Calderan was hosting a delegation of Myr Luuks. However, a renegade on board had plans to scupper the meeting. They murdered an ensign to gain control of a shuttlecraft, and launched it on a collision course with the alien escort vessels, destroying one upon impact. This brought the Myr Luuks and the Community to the brink of war. To remove themselves from making the situation any worse, Captain Egan Manno decided to reunite the saucer and stardrive sections and withdraw the USS Garuda from the Zeta Equulei system. However, it must be noted that the Myr Luuks – unsatisfied with the Federations overtures, began negotiations with the Cardassians soon after. Before the Garuda arrived back at DSX, Commanders Rahman and Core discovered that a nest of DSX’s rogue spider-drones had been making a new home in the Garuda’s plasma conduits. The nest was excised quickly and the crew began shore leave on DSX, though there remained several loose ends to tie up…. View the full article

Please welcome our newest Academy graduate to the UFOP: StarBase 118 fleet: Nyals! View the full article

:: A deep pulse of bass music opens up with a graphic of turbolift flashes over the screen before the screen lights raise up to focus in on Vulcan man seated in a chair with a pair of ceramic coffee mugs on a small table between his chair and the as of yet off screen occupied one. :: Sopek: Hello and Greetings. My name is Sopek and it is time once more for an installment of The Lower Decks. Where we leave behind the center chair and big office and go down below to speak with the crew of the vessels and bases in Starfleet. ::He shifts slightly to meet the changing camera and waves a hand to the other chair.:: Tonight’s guest is Lieutenant, junior grade, Chythar Skyfire. Currently he is a Medical Officer on the USS Excalibur-A. Welcome Lieutenant. :: The lieutenant stepped forward onto the screen and smiled toward the camera before heading to the unoccupied chair. As he sat down, he smiled softly. :: Skyfire: A pleasure to meet you at last, Mr. Sopek. I’ve been a follower of The Lower Decks since my graduation from the academy last year. I believe you mentioned Argurtha in your message to me. Was it my work there that you wished to ask about? Sopek: Of course if that is what you would like to start there. Please start by telling a little about the mission to our viewers. Skyfire: The mission was to render aid during a crisis that I referred to as the Argurthian Plague. Argurtha was one of three planets along the Romulan/Thracian border. We were given the Excalibur-A as our ship, a lot of us were reassigned from Starbase 118. The plague had already claimed over a thousand lives by the time we got to the planet, and it was the first of three in which the outbreak was recorded. I was one of the doctors on the first response team. Sopek: And what happened there when you arrived? Skyfire: We were quickly ushered to the makeshift medical facility where the research was to take place. Doctor MacLaren was actually the lead of the relief effort, with myself, Crewman Banks, Doctor Folds, and Doctor Baker as her assistants. We were looking into x-rays and tissue samples to examine correlations. I at first thought it was similar to an epidemic on Earth in the 21st century, and that theory was quickly disproved. Doctor Folds and at the time Ensign Cuthbert went down to the morgue to investigate one of the people carrying the plague. Sopek: What avenue did you take in your research of the plague? :: CD blinked for a few seconds and attempted to recall the details. His encounter with the bomb may have distorted a few facts in his mind, but he tried to piece it together for the camera. :: Skyfire: I spent most of my time analyzing blood samples, and attempting to distinguish antibodies. It wasn’t until I discovered that Lieutenant Luna Walker was a carrier of two different strains that it began to make sense. She was a carrier, but it wasn’t spreading. Due to her unique Romulan and human physiology, the human side was providing the necessary antibodies at a rate sufficient to stave it off. :: Skyfire’s words broke abruptly, trying to recall the rest of it. He blinked again and took another breath before continuing. :: The abundance of vitamins D and C were present in the blood sample I took from Lieutenant Walker, and my prior scans of the Romulans I treated had those vitamins as well at a 10 percent decrease from that of a human. I made sure to account for that in the information that followed. SOPEK: Fascinating, so with that information it must have been easy to get to the solution of the problem then? :: With a nod, he gave a faint grin. :: SKYFIRE: It wasn’t easy. A bomber came through and disrupted the research. I wound up temporarily deaf and with a minor concussion, the rest of the medical team were worse off. Except for Dr. Folds, who beamed back aboard the ship with our wounded colleague Cuthbert before the bomb went off. SOPEK: What happened then? With so many injuries and your own capacity diminished, was it hard to work? :: The medical officer had a sip of his coffee, thinking for just a second before making a reply. :: Skyfire: It was difficult, yes. My mind hyperfocused on healing the crew members around me, and it took several minutes for Captain Nicholotti’s words to actually register in my mind. She told me to get back to work on the plague antiserum. Lip-reading served me well, as it’s a passive skill I learned when I blared music growing up. Sopek: I see. Fascinating, so once it was prepared how did you distribute it in a timely manner? Skyfire: Ensign Folds was called in to the office to confer with me and Lt. Commander Brek. Once it happened that we were done talking, he ordered Nurse Briskow to begin the synthesization. During that time, I was typing up my report as I was ordered. I helped Briskow and typed up my report at the same time. SOPEK: Did you expect to reap your rewards for such a job well done? SKYFIRE: No, I wasn’t expecting anything from it. Just a commendation that I did good work. I included in the addendum I wasn’t after awards or promotions, that I didn’t want the position of CMO. The half pip caught me completely by surprise. The campaign ribbon I was expecting. The rest, I was blown away. SOPEK: A reward for a job well done. :: He nodded and gave a grin. :: Skyfire: Indeed. Something I will continue to aim for: performing my job well. Sopek: Can you ever see yourself moving into more of a command role? Skyfire: If I surpass Chief Medical Officer, then yes. Otherwise, not in the immediate future. Sopek: I wonder if you could clue us in a bit about what has been happening on your ship since then? Skyfire: I could try…gained some new crew members, had a promotion from Lieutenant JG to Lieutenant in the form of science officer Sal Taybrim, the return of our former chief engineer from the Atlantis, the court-martialing of Lieutenant Vitor Silviera, and the wake of Fleet Captain Kali Nicholotti. Sopek: Yes I understand the Excalibur is under a new command, how is your new commanding officer working out for you. :: Skyfire’s eyebrows raised slightly, as though this was news to him. Instead, he chose a simple response that clearly conveyed his surprise. :: Skyfire: We have a new CO? Sopek: I would like to thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. May you have many more adventures in the stars. Skyfire: Not a problem, Sopek. Maybe we may speak again after my next breakthrough. Kat joined SB118 in February of 2389. Originally born and raised in the Silicon Valley, and has recently taken up residence in Mukilteo Washington. She’s a student of business management, web design, and English Literature, in possession of an Associate of Arts degree from De Anza College that she achieved in 2008 and makes chainmail armor in her spare time. View the full article

As part of the ongoing overview of the fleet as a whole, here are the monthly figures for total posts for each ship. This summary will give you an idea of how active the ship is on a month-by-month basis. While simming in general has decreased slightly, the fleet remains active as we head into the summer. As many people head into end-of-school-year activities and the first weeks of summer vacation, simming averages continue to remain steady. Though down slightly from the month before, sim averages place each ship at simming only 16 less than in April. Our next chart gives the number of sims for each ship over the course of March. The effects of short LOAs and busier than normal lives is readily seen in this month’s post totals, as all but one ship simmed fewer sims this month than last. For some, this was a dramatic drop as the USS Vigilant crew said their goodbyes and prepared to move over to their new assignments on the Embassy and the Victory. As things settle, and the summer continues, the promise of more sims and some new amazing stories is sure to offer everyone something to remember. View the full article

Join the discussion about our 20th anniversary on the forums. I founded our community in June of 1994 — while the exact date has been lost to time, generally we celebrate the day on June 15th. That means we’ve just crossed the 20-year threshold of simming! That puts us among the oldest institutions on the web, and certainly makes us one of the longest-standing communities. When we started simming on AOL chat rooms, AOL didn’t even have a Internet browser in its software, and the idea of the Internet was unknown to most people. “Online” meant a service you dialed into — AOL, Prodigy, Compuserve — using a good ol’ fashioned phone line and modem. Your time on the service was billed in minutes! Simming, and the trappings of our community, have changed immensely since those first, formative years. We began without an official roster in chat rooms, where we simmed live. People simply showed up at the time we had set previously, and everyone picked a duty post they were comfortable with. The simming was more focused on the action of the plot than the characters, since things moved so quickly and it was difficult to add characterization into the sim. When we moved to an email format, there was no freely available email listserv service, so everyone’s email address was added to the “To: ” line of the email — you can imagine how often that got messed up! Sims were shorter and more dialogue-focused, as you can see in the archive of the USS Freedom-A, commanded by Captain Jeff Pelletier. The group you’re a member of today was molded by some of the earliest players. Elinor of Kanist, one of the first members of the group, formed the Academy to train new members and relieve captains of the stressful duty of bringing cadets up to speed with how simming works, and also created the Reporter, the group newsletter that still influences how we talk to our membership. Shaun Marlin built our first website in the earliest days of the widely-available web, and laid the groundwork for the website structure that still exists today. Brian Kelly wrote our group constitution in 2000 — at that time he had been a member for over five years. For a full accounting of our group’s commanding officers, check out the Fleet Timeline. Since those first days, we’ve been the parent group to other sims — including some that now claim to be older than ours, seen thousands of simmers pass through our hallowed email lists, written hundreds of thousands of sims, launched and closed dozens of ships, watched two whole Star trek series from beginning to end and a half-dozen movies premier, and influenced the formation and flowering of an online Star Trek ecosystem from the Daystrom Institute Technical Library to Memory-Alpha. It’s hard to imagine how we can honor this history. The countless hours of writing, creating, plotting, and administrating that have been a part of our shared collective were given freely and gladly, but nonetheless helped to make something enduring. Gene Roddenberry’s vision was one of an inspirational future, where humans have something to be proud of. We are keeping that vision alive in every word we write, and when it comes to honoring traditions and the history of our community, I think that’s a great place to start. So here’s to another 20 years of simming. I look forward to the adventure. View the full article

The Top Sims Contest second round run-off is now open for voting. The winning sims from rounds 6 – 12, as selected by our panel of judges, are posted and ready to be voted on by our community. Your votes will determine which sim will go on to the final run-off round to determine the best sim of the year. So head over to the Top Sims Contest page and make you voice heard. Polling closes at 11:59pm on Sunday, June 29th, so don’t delay! And while you’re there, be sure to congratulate the each round’s winner: Round 7: Aron Kells & Arden Cain: “The Seeker“Round 8: Liam Frost & Hsina Amman, “Qualifications“Round 9: Tyr Waltas, “Here we go again“Round 10: Raj Blueheart, “Dreams Made Of Memories (Part 2)“Round 11: Nienne Kenoi, “A Moment Described“Round 12: Kalianna Nicholotti, “Legacies“Round 13: Eileen McCleran, “When the unknown gets impatient“Finally, don’t forget to nominate some of the great sims that our community is constantly producing. Round 15 is now open for submissions, and the people you think are writing great sims can’t get the recognition they deserve unless you nominate them. The best sim of the year may be here, or it may have yet to be written, the choice is yours. View the full article