Ryan Horn

As Luna is going... "Did you need any help with the Tape?"

So.. apparently simming while in a lunchtime meeting is a no-no.. Now just need to avoid the XO for awhile... Lunatic Cupcake.. the third..

This in from Gotham... " T’Dara: As I was saying! To the transporter Room! " errr.. Batcave! (Yep.. that's where my head went when I read it.. )

Ahem.. a parade.. that ended up with us in the past.. and NEEDING 11.. The real question is how many she'd bring if she thought we were going into combat..

I was thinking of going with "Fed - Busters".. but...

Washington: Ms. Walker, let me introduce you to your new quarters.. please note the restraining field.. as soon as you have sufficient restraint.. you can leave. Walker: :: muttering:: Or until I break out.. again. Yep.. gonna be an interesting time had by all...

Vetri: LtCmdr, Walker, you are, without a doubt, the most malevolently minded individual I can call to mind - that I'm not married to. Your proposal is precisely the sort of thing I would expect to hear from a deceitful, back-stabbing little sneak with no concept whatsoever of the proper way to behave in this sort of situation. :: She paused for a moment, letting her words hang in the air, then her stern and sober mask dissolved into something that could almost be called impish.:: Vetri: Well done. Make sure you make a note of any more ideas like it that occur to you, and get this one ready to go by the time the insertion team is ready to go. Luna - > Hey! I'm not malevolent! The rest fits pretty well though..

The fact that crossing the neutral zone will start a war/diplomatic incident is actually largely moot. You can't ignore the distress beacon, and to do anything about it will break the treaty. And, if as everyone knows by the time they take it, it is in fact a trap. It doesn't matter how stealthy you are, or how obvious. You will be caught.. and you will be destroyed. I don't think that my solution changes any of the above. The only thing I'd hope for is that my solution is different enough, and creative enough that I minimize the losses. And using the shuttles helps minimize the losses and keeps the starship on the right side of the zone. Besides, if I get the view that there are enough Klingon/Romulan/whatever ships to annihilate a shuttle before it can escape, the trap is revealed and I can retreat to get reinforcements. At that point it's a numbers game... Which is why, having taken the test this way I'd probably not be given a Captain's chair. My response is far too analytical, minimizing and mitigating a bad situation. The only solution which I've read that was technically a win was Chekov's who saw the message, said it was obviously a trap..and carried on. Someone else doomed to tactical. *chuckle*

So.. since I've actually thought this through before... My solution.. (here goes) The assumption is that this is a trap, however, that whether it is a trap or not lives are at stake. I would, as others mentioned send a buoy with the situation. Here's where it get's interesting. I'd keep the ship on this side of the neutral zone, and deploy shuttles to the Koyabashi Maru. The Shuttles would stay spaced out to near maximum range for transporters. And, as would be broadcast by the shuttles, they would have shield up but weapons down, as they don't want to be damaged by any other active gravitic mines.. (as I recall the reason the Maru is stuck). Before any shuttle leaves the area, they are configured that at the point shields drop below 40%, the transporter automatically diverts power and transports everyone in the ship, pilot last. To the nearest shuttlecraft or Federation starship. Meanwhile, the main ship is broadcasting the intent and reasons, as well as logging reactions. Yellow alert is on, and course is laid in to meet with the rearmost shuttle at maximum warp. Potential responses: Enemy attacks a shuttle with sufficient force to destroy it utterly. Other shuttles scatter and flee, Main ship sends message and buoy about situation. Depending on timing, crosses minimally to retrieve remaining shuttlecraft. We mourn the dead sacrificed. Enemy attacks multiple shuttles simultaneously, destroying them. I continue to broadcast our intent, but don't cross the line.. We mourn the dead sacrificed. Enemy attacks multiple shuttles but don't destroy them. Shuttles withdraw at all possible speed, using the transporters to "hopscotch" across to each other. As described above, transporters ar keyed to the individual shield harmonics allowing them to pass. See first for Ship response. Shuttles arrive at Koyabashi Maru without incident. Maru crew are transported onto shuttles, most wounded to least. If it takes multiple trips..they continue. Maru itself is left behind or destroyed depending. At worst, 2 people are lost per shuttle destroyed, and the diplomatic incident is minimized. And I am assigned to Tactical forever for an excellent solution, but leading from the back..

It does remind me of the old days... and done to music no less!

A momentary Resistance The dark haired woman rushed into the room. Her security reds long since battered and torn from hard use. In the not so great distance, she could hear the rhythmic shuffling of feet headed in her direction. Closing her eyes and swallowing hard, she quickly keyed in the sequence to seal the door behind her. When it failed to move, she cursed and pulled off the control panel, revealing the circuitry underneath. Moments later, she successfully short circuited the controls, closing off the view of a Borg drone just turning the corner. Her breathing came out in ragged gasps, and her eyes were wild as she knocked over the furniture near the door making a rude barricade. Backing away from the door, she screamed in fear and denial as she heard the pounding on the door. After long moments, she forced herself to turn away from the door and turn on the computer. The isolated console was one of the few on the ship not tied to the main computer core. Her temporary seal wasn’t going to last long, but before it broke, there was something that needed to be done. “To whoever receives this message, I am the last remaining survivor of the USS Miranda Hall.” ….. The ship had been going through her normal paces when it happened. While she wasn’t the best ship in the fleet, she’d always gotten the job done well and efficiently. If she hadn’t been caught in the limelight as often as other ships, it was just a matter of time. Which was why, when the battle started, it had been a shock to everyone on board that the Borg had targeted her. Their initial insertion on board had come in just below the bridge, almost immediately cutting the rest of the crew off from their leadership. Several decks had been flooded with the attackers before a counter assault could even be attempted. And yet, despite the sudden loss of leadership that hadn’t prevented the crew from fighting back against the invaders. If anything, it had driven them into a frenzy of action. Angered beyond reason, some security members had literally thrown themselves into the fight as they tried to stem the tide of the Borg infection. A tactic that had shocked and slowed the assault for long hours, but had not allowed them to turn them back. Taking a more drastic approach, engineering had shut down environmental controls, hoping to raise the heat to levels the drones could not survive. It had made the ship slightly more hostile to the invaders, allowing the poisonous insurgence to be halted, and even momentarily turned back. Unfortunately, the crew themselves could only handle so much of the heat, and a second surge of reinforcements broke through the lines, further spreading the infection. Despite their losses, the fight continued. The defenders, forcing the swarm to pay for every deck, even as hope dwindled and faded. After days of fighting, it became less about winning, but enduring long enough for reinforcements to arrive. As days turned to weeks, it darkened to being not even survival, but about depriving the Borg of their victory. ….. The pounding was louder now. The door had been reinforced, but without any power it was just a matter of time. Forcing herself to turn away, she continued with a tremulous voice. “Engineering came up with the idea. By scrambling the core, we’d generate a tremendous electromagnetic pulse. The ship would be lost of course, the stroke too much for it to survive. But at least this would be one ship that would not be joined to the Collective. I’m sure it would have worked too, had the Captain had been one of the first taken. I’m not sure how they turned her, but we’d no sooner keyed in the startup sequence, before we lost control of the core entirely. That was ten days ago. But that was the last time we had any chance. “ Tears flooded her doey brown eyes. “Now I’m the last one left. I’ve sealed the door, and barricaded myself inside. It won’t be enough. I know that now. But I hope, I pray, that someone else will see this message and avenge us. This is Lieutenant Meh…” Before she could continue, the door bowed and then burst inside, metal fragments spraying across the room. Her screams of pain and fear overwhelmed by the repeated chant of her former crewmates. “Resistance is Futile” ….. Borg Drone 1 of 20 stood up from where it had fallen. It noted, without emotion, drone 12 of 14 moving away from it, the nannite injector on its arm already folding back inside. The USS Turkina had been under attack for no more than a few moments, and the drone formerly known as Lt. Miranda Hall was the first to have been brought into the collective. She had been the first from the Turkina to encounter the Borg, and despite her body's attempts, the nannites had completed in mere moments what internally had seemed like weeks. In a small corner of its consciousness, it recognized the last resistance fading. Moments later all that remained of Lt. Miranda Hall, her biological and technological distinctiveness, was absorbed into the Collective. Moving as the collective ordered, Drone 11 of 20 followed the others of its kind repeating the phrase that has proven so true as it moved forward. “Resistance is Futile”

It was an excellent round this time through, as we had 3 of the 4 entries within a single point of each other. We had to call out to the Captain's council to help us get the tiebreaker... But..with no further ado... Congratulations to Lt. Kevin Breeman with Excision, and our runner up, And New Civilisations - by Mailea Labria. Lt. Breeman will be joining the writing challenge judges again, as well as helping us choose the next topic. Great job everyone! The next round will start sometime next week..as I'm going to be moving..and thus no internet til then..

Good Evening all, Congratulations again to our last rounds winner, Lt. Jg. Jesse Lawn...who will be joining the judging for this round, and has come up with the following: “To Seek Out New Life…” In this month’s writing challenge, create a first contact experience with a new unknown species. This may result in a wonderful cultural exchange, or a brutal ship-to-ship space battle. Feel free to choose a Federation first contact scenario, or that of an unrelated people. Be sure and give details about this new encounter! Guidelines: To participate, create a new thread. The subject of the thread must be the title of your story. If it is a Work In Progress, denote that with the heart post icon. If your work is complete, use the horizontal arrow post icon. Items not marked with an icon or marked with the WiP icon will not be considered for judging and will be moved to the "Character Cafe" forum at the end of the contest. Your work must be entirely your own. No co-authoring. You are welcome to create any character you so desire, but they must be from the Star Trek universe. No "canon" characters allowed. (i.e.- No one who has been on a show.) Want to participate, but can't start a new topic? Why didn't you view the "Read Me First!" forum? You'll need to ask a moderator or Senior Member to create a thread for you! Length: No more than 3000 words accepted. Beginning Date: Monday, March 8th Ending Date: Friday, April 9th. See Also: the Writing Challenge Website Challenge: “To Seek Out New Life…”

And without any further ado... the reviews: What a Strange, Strange World - Lt Cmdr Tal Tel-ar Reviewed by Capt. Ben Walker All too often people walk around without really seeing the environment around them. Describing Earth as seen by a young Andorian alone would have been an interesting read. But Lt. Cmdr Tel-ar took it a step farther by showing us a section of Earth that any of us in this century would recognize. This wasn't a "Star Trek" story where there were clean divisions, and the humans had gotten over all of their assorted issues. No this was the reaction that anyone not from the docks would have received, made all the more dramatic by it being an alien doing it. Wrapping all of this up with the continuing thread of the Andorian's comparing it to the home he was exiled from was the perfect way to pull it all together. Excellent story, hoping to see more of them! Broken - Lt (jg) Jesse Lawn Reviewed by Capt. Ben Walker I found this story to be an interesting quandry for me initially. Reading the story in a simming format kept throwing me out of the story. Additionally, the concept of a non-space capable civilization having weapons that were able to breach shields, but not destroy the ship utterly, broke through my suspension of disbelief. Then I got past those distractions and into the message behind the story and was very impressed. I found myself playing out in my head what was going to happen next. Would the ensign become stronger from the experience, or was she also speaking of herself as being broken? Would she risk her career to send down supplies, or would she follow orders? And if she did follow orders, as is drilled into every ensign...would she in essence be supporting the decision not to intervene? Any story I read that has me questioning what would happen next to the point where I'm asking friends outside of UFoP their opinions on the situation... that shows an exceptional amount of talent. Great job Lt. (jg) Lawn! Observational Report: Lt. (j.g.) Ashad Gee Reviewed by Lt. Tallis Rhul The twist at the end of the entry shows the spark of an intelligent idea here, and the inference that we are watching a scene unfold between two Federation scientists lulls us into a false sense of security. I would have loved to see a little more detail, as there could possibly have been more reference to well-known events or the Federation style of behaviour other than their propensity for explanation. This would add another level of depth to their discussion and really give the reader something to think about without spoiling the illusion that you’ve created. I also enjoyed the casual nature of the conversation, which I feel reflects how much more advanced than the Federation the aliens are. Perspective: Lt. Cmdr Karynn Ehlanii Reviewed by Lt. Tallis Rhul The best word to describe this story is “endearing”, a sentiment that washes over the reader right from the opening few lines. In a world of phasers, ship battles and hostile aliens it can be easy to write something that relies on action and suspense, but the underpinning part of any piece of trek literature is always that feel good factor – the network of relationships that exists between characters. The writing style is very descriptive, and conjures up a vivid image of the station’s promenade. It’s also nice to see familiar things, such as a Starfleet uniform, or an Andorian’s antennae, being described in a new light, tying us firmly into the ‘perspective’ theme. The simile that compared the races of the Federation to the different tastes and textures in a fruit salad was a particularly nice touch. An enjoyable read! Fragments: Lt. (j.g.) Thomas Gregory Reviewed by Lt. Tallis Rhul The action in this entry is compelling, and there is a definite aura of mystique that flows throughout. It was a little difficult to follow at times (such is the nature of a piece that jumps to different points in time), but I feel it would have had more of a lasting effect if the questions that are raised during the story were answered more clearly by the end.

After reading through the stories, it was a very close...but the judges have determined a winner: And now the results.... Congratulations to.....Lt. jg Lawn with the winning story "Broken" and Lt. Cmdr Ehlanii with the Runner-Up "Perspective"! We'll be sending out the reviews in the next few days, and Mr. Lawn, expect a message from me for our next Writing Challenge topic. Great job everyone! Jesse Lawn's Banners http://www.angelfire.com/my/lost/C/Banners...010Winnerlg.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/my/lost/C/Banners...010Winnersm.jpg KarynnEhlanii' s Banners http://www.angelfire.com/my/lost/C/Banners...0RunnerUpsm.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/my/lost/C/Banners...bRunnerUplg.jpg