Anen

Congratulations and welcome!

*tries not to show her linguaphile nature* I've already picked up as much Rihannsu and Vulcan as one can so I chose Bajoran, which sounds wonderfully liturgical from what we've heard from it.

I just finished watching it and other than falling victim to the postmodern "dark, gritty, everything is morally grey" clichés, the film spends way, way too much time explaining things instead of delivering narrative and emotion which is often a symptom of some fan productions. It spends too much time laying down a fanon than telling an actual Star Trek story.

((Capitol City Heralokk, Mercadia III)) ::The cool night air swirled around her as she walked further away from the lights of the city with the rest of the group. Members of her family, along with other people from around the grouping who had come to Heralokk for the launch, moved further from the few lights that were left on so that their view of the sky would be better. Above them, the stars twinkled in the clear protective layer of their atmosphere.:: ::And all around, wonder danced from young to old. It was the dawn of the space age here on Le'wei; no one was willing to miss out on the fun. As the crowd slowed, a voice filtered back from the front of the group.:: Voice: Here is good. Looking up, you'll want to find the drawing of Malak, the Guardian of Le'wei. The stars of his sash will point the way to where our hero will fly by. ::A small capsule housing only one man had been sent to the heavens. It was only the fifth launch of the current era, but in such a small amount of time they had come such a distance. The moons were closer to them than ever before. Plans were already in the works for visits there, and to the other planets of their space system. Every bit of creative energy was being put into the program and the whole of the population ran rampant with excitement.:: ::The future was out there. All they had to do now was grab it.:: Kai'la: One day I'll be up there. ::It was a statement whispered to her twin brother who nodded in return. He was well aware of the newfound obsession his sister had for the space program.:: Herolt: We know Kai. ::He grinned and found a place on the cool grass to lay back and look upwards. Kai dropped beside him and into a similar position. Together, they found themselves transfixed on the sky above them. In the distance, she could hear the voice of the one who had lead the out here, but she already knew most of what he was saying so she tuned it out. Instead, he leaned her head a bit closer to her brother and whispered again.:: Kai'la: I wonder what's out there. ::It was a statement more than a question. She did wonder, but she also knew that in her not far off future, she planned to find out.:: Herolt: I guess you'll have to just wait. ::He knew the time would be problematic for her, as she always was one to just jump in with two feet, but he didn't know how to pass it along faster. Instead he'd chosen just to pick on her instead.:: Herolt: Besides, it's probably some big scary space monster playing with marbles or something. ::His sister snorted, having fielded a number of his crazy space and universe origin theories.:: Kai'la: Well then one day I will play with him. ::The teenager grinned, never taking her eyes from the stars above. This was magical, and it was something she swore she'd be a part of.:: TBC -- Kai'la and Herolt Civilian Citizens of Le'wei (Mercadia III) As simmed by Fleet Captain Kalianna Nicholotti Commanding Officer USS Excalibur A

((USS Excalibur - Deck 1 - Briefing Room)) Nicholotti: If there are any other questions, I will field them now. Otherwise, let's get to work. :: Cory got up quick got up and headed for the door. He wanted to get back to the helm and look over the information that was on his PADD. Since the ship was already on course and the ride is smooth, he could look it over at his leisure. :: oO Hmmmm, the Afehirr sector, the Mercadian system. Not much there. Something that can destroy a planet? It would take every starship in the galaxy. I will definitely have to get sometime in the holodeck to get a feel for maneuvering the Excalibur. I do not want to get hit by anything that powerful. Oo =/\=You are invited to come help Lt.JG Aurora James and Major Irina Pavlova celebrate their new Engagement at a private party in Irina’s quarter sat....2000 hours. If you don’t know what to bring, bring Vodka for drinking games! Major Irina Pavlova, Chief of Marines=/\= oO What in the world is this? A party? Well, a party might mean there is someone I could meet there. I really didn’t get a chance to meet anyone on the Conny. I know Alex was getting chummy with that new science officer before we left. Oo :: Cory sat back and continued to monitor the Conn station watching the warp field around the Excalibur. He sent a query to the Hanger Bay to see the status of the fighters and shuttles. He is learning that the Captain and XO like to know what is going on and ask a lot of questions. He wanted to stay on top of everything. Cory’s mind started drifting to where everything started. :: (( Flashback, Stardate 238703.2, U.S.S. Shiloh NCC-95201)) :: The Main Hanger onboard the Shiloh was a burnt mess. Parts of shuttles and equipment were scattered everywhere. The acrid smell of burn plastic and even the faint smell of burnt fresh still hung in the air. Petty Officer Second Class Stoyer stood and looked around to see where his crew should begin to start the cleanup and repairs to the bay. :: oO What a darn mess! The guys I have with me are lucky to be alive. Too many of our friends are in bags in the morgue. Now, we have to get this place put back in order. I have no idea where to start. Oo :: Cory looked about picking a nearby corner and pointed. :: oO As good a spot to start as any. Oo Stoyer: Let start there. Let’s get the serviceable equipment in one pile so Engineering, when they ever show up can go over it. Let’s start with a wash down and then we will know exactly what needs to be repaired. :: His crew started over to the indicated corner and started moving everything. One crewman got a hose and was ready to start washing the bulkheads and deck of the soot and other debris. Cory was watching and directing when he noticed someone walking over to him. :: oO Darn, it’s the Captain. Oo :: Cory stood at attention when the Captain and the XO walked up to him. :: Captain Wynne: Petty Officer Stoyer, you and your team are to be commended. You help save the ship from further damage. I am hereby promoting to Petty Officer First Class. Since Lieutenant Davis is still in Medical and you do not have a Hanger Chief, I am making you the acting Hanger Chief. oO What??? I must be hearing things. I was just promoted to Second Class. Oo Stoyer: Thank you, skipper. :: Cory shook the offered hand. :: Captain Wynne: I want you to come by my ready room at 1600. I have something I want to discuss with you. Stoyer: Aye aye sir. ::With that the Captain and XO left. He noticed that some Engineering folks entered his Hanger. :: oO Let’s get this over with. Oo (( Captain’s Ready Room, U.S.S. Shiloh )) :: Cory freshly showered and in a clean uniform pressed the buzzer to the Captain’s ready room. After hearing the Captain bellow “enter”, he went in. :: oO What did I do wrong? It is never good for an enlisted man to go see the skipper. Oo :: Cory stopped 12 inches from the Captain desk and stood at attention. :: Stoyer: Petty Officer Stoyer reporting as ordered Captain. Captain Wynne: Stand at ease. :: Cory relaxed a bit and waited for the other shoe to drop. :: Captain Wynne: I have here a completed application to the Academy for you. After your performance yesterday, and with Lieutenant Davis’ recommendation, I approved it and will send it to the Academy. I think you will make a good officer, Petty Officer Stoyer. oO Again, I am not hearing him correctly. I barely graduated school. Well, they was mostly due to me not caring about the homework. Oo Stoyer: Yes, sir. Captain Wynne: Is that all you have to say? Stoyer: Skipper, it is all sudden. Sir, I barely graduated. I don’t think I could make it through it. Captain Wynne: Stoyer, you have brains and leadership skills. You do not quit either. Those are qualities that are needed in the Academy. They have tutors to help you with the more interesting subjects. Besides, Lieutenant Davis, the XO and I think you will make a pretty good officer. Stoyer: Thank you, Cap’n Captain Wynne: We will see orders for you in a couple of months. Thank you again for your efforts yesterday. You are dismissed. Stoyer: Aye, sir. :: With that Stoyer left the Captain’s ready room and the rest as they say is history:: ((End flashback)) :: Cory came back to the present to see his relief looking at him. Sheepishly he started his turn over. After that he headed to his quarters to start unpacking. :: (( Stoyer’s Quarters, Deck 4, U.S.S. Excalibur-A)) :: Cory was about to open his door when he saw a beautiful blond lady wearing command red coming out of her quarters a few doors down. He stared unabashedly for a few second until he realized that she was starting at him in return. Blushing he hurriedly entered his quarters. :: oO Who was that? She is gorgeous. Real smooth Mr. Slick. You probably scared her off. Oo Lieutenant JG Cory Stoyer Helm Officer U.S.S. Excalibur-A

Welcome! I hope you guys enjoy your time here and are ready for the fun of writing in this group, both in and out of character. We're a fun bunch

Welcome!

Startrek.com just released a list of the greatest Star Trek novels for a new reader, I'll dig it up... Here! http://www.startrek.com/article/ten-for-ward-ten-star-trek-novels-for-the-new-star-trek-novel-reader

I like the classic TOS Enterprise. I mean have you seen that thing in CGI or in more recent Star Trek art? AMAZING! I love the classics...

Ehhhh I think the strength (like the only strength) of the Enterprise crew was them having Archer to hold them together and channel the various aspects of their personalities. We saw a few times how badly things could go with no Archer so perhaps for dramatic effect or real character dynamics I feel like none of them would make good captains. But if I had to pick one of them, it would be T'Pol.

I would have to agree, though Kira didn't always make the right or most 'diplomatic' decisions but I always empathized with them and understood her reasoning. She never did anything that just made me say 'well why the heck did you do that'? She had the rhyme and reason necessary for a good, yet dynamic Captain.

Same, you couldn't imagine my giddiness as a young red head, interested in medicine, when Dr. Crusher took command of the Enterprise in Descent.

This sounds amazingly fun! I really didn't think about Verana's heritage for the most part (Largely because Deltan history is sparse) though I have an NPC I've been tossing around for a week... Many, many options, great challenge!

Welcome back!

OOC: I thought I might as well try my hand at a good challenge though I'm literally quite fresh off the boat, I pondered this topic while in the last leg of training and wrote this up tonight as the story just kind of flowed to me though it takes several notes from Verana's pre-established back story. I hope you enjoy, I loved writing this and getting to further establish Verana as a person defined by actions and thoughts as I did with my other post here on the forums... The air was… hot here, like the individual electric sparks of chemistry between two lovers had combusted to create an enveloping, but not quite smothering atmosphere of love, lust, and tension. To Verana this combination of emotions was nothing new, after all she had grown up in a society where love, lust… sex were worshiped, but what made her head spin in an almost euphoric ecstasy was that she was sensing the ambient emotions of aliens, humans, not Deltans. Verana had kept her ear to the ground so to speak, over the last few years of living in Paris and she knew the reputation that the human sub-culture called the ‘French’ were somewhat infamous in their rituals of love. Verana had observed several of these… rituals. Wine, chocolates, roses, starlight, the city of Paris itself, from what Verana understood it was all entirely and unquestionably cliché. But then why did so many women, and men, fall for the same trick that their ancestors had been using? Was love really that basic among humans? That plain? At first Verana had thought these clichéd rituals were just that, rituals, a sort of predicable foreplay that humans were expected to go through before mating. But Verana’s senses told her that wasn’t the case, many delighted in these experiences for whatever reason, and it wasn’t just going through the motions or simple ritual to them. To many it was a profound and romantic gesture to sip wine on the Siene, look up at the stars and feel the cool autumn air. So maybe these so called ‘romantic’ things and experiences were cliché at all, overused definitely, but they still held a deep meaning for many, and captured the imagination of the Parisian children Verana passed everyday on her way through the city. And now Verana was here in the middle of another so called cliché, a dark lit lounge in the middle of Paris, Piaf playing in the background, and a very handsome man standing across from her, gazing at her with eyes that were just as vibrant as the electric mood. Part of Verana wanted to turn on a heel and run right out of this situation and not be a puppet to an ages old idea of human romanticism. She would not be party to this insidious and tired concept of a foreign girl finding love in Paris. How dare a cliché come to life right around her! She wasn’t looking for anyone to make her bed warm, she wasn’t looking to fall in love or be a slave to someone else’s emotions, especially not a member of such a sexually immature species such as humanity! And still, a few minutes later, Verana was still there, in the same spot, precisely four meters from the exit, and precisely five meters towards the very… handsome human across from her, still looking at her, his gaze apparently unbroken. His head relaxed against the post he stood next to and the rest of his body followed. His eyes grew more intense and now he had shifted from simple observation of the seemingly human woman across from him to full blown admiration. There was something about his stance though, the look on his face, that kept his perceived admiration from turning into pathetic longing across a crowded room. No, his gaze was fixed, his face had a slight smile on it, like he found Verana both beautiful and somewhat amusing at the same time. Verana constantly shifted both her gaze and her body under his steady eye contact. Part of her melted under it, and part of her froze. She had not the will to run and she lacked the strength to move forward, Verana was paralyzed like prey in the sights of the most deadly predator. Did she really consider the man to be that dangerous? Or was it what he represented? As a Deltan Verana (Despite what her presently black dyed hair that made her appear human inferred) had signed an Oath of Celibacy, to break it and mate with an unprepared and immature individual would induce madness and brand Verana the worst kind of criminal among her people. A few pairs of people passed between the previously unbroken line of sight between Verana and her admirer. Her instincts told her to run, this was her chance to escape, she was out of the trance that his eyes had put her under, and yet her body did the unthinkable… she moved forward… There was a sort of urgency to her movements as she parted her way through the small crowd of people flowing from one end of this tiny bar to another. Perhaps once the crowd had moved past he would have taken her way out and ran or evaporated, or turned out to be a figment of her clinically depressed mind. And when Verana met the edge of the crowd and emerged into a clear line of sight she was met by the same eyes she had seen from across the room, and were now inches away from her own. For the first time Verana didn’t avert her gaze at the sight of those two beautiful green oculars, and she returned his direct eye contact with an unflinching, unmoving gaze of her own. And suddenly as the crowd passed and the air became slightly clearer, Verana smelled something in the air, something that provoked her heightened Deltan senses to drive her body to lean in and kiss the lips that accompanied those beautiful lips on perhaps the most symmetrical face she had ever seen on a human. Verana didn’t even know him a few moments ago but now as they both melted in the moment of the kiss, their respective scents, tastes, and minds betrayed their true nature as Deltans. Physical contact between two Deltans was intense and provided more than just an exchange of passions for their tele-empathic abilities allowed for the transfer of ideas, emotions, thoughts, and complex feelings to be absorbed in a simple kiss. The incredible sensations a simple kiss had brought Verana would no doubt have driven a human insane, well perhaps not, but in this moment, Verana didn’t care about accuracy, she could exaggerate her feelings of contentment, no, more than that… feelings of understanding and love, like a door had been opened within her. Verana didn’t know how long the only two Deltans (Or partial Deltans in this case) in the room stood there for, but as the Piaf played, the internal lighting dimmed, and Paris itself lit up on the outside, Verana didn’t care. Some would call this cliché no doubt but neither seemed to care, and in their tender kiss, two bodies and two hearts became one as only Deltans could experience and that element of foreignness made certain there had never been a night like this in the entire Parisian volumes of love stories. It had many elements of the classics within it to be sure, Paris, lights, strangers meeting, love at first sight… but in this moment Verana couldn’t care less and conceded to the point that just because something was old and tired didn’t mean it couldn’t be, dare she say it… romantic… Ensign Verana Intelligence Officer USS Discovery-C

Thank you all so much, I feel so welcome... perhaps our paths might cross in the future and we'll be able to write together