Headlines Stardate 20508.01

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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER

A Note From The Editor

Welcome to this, the first in what will hopefully become a bimonthly publication - the Federation Space Newsletter! Our goal here is to bring you what it is that you want to know, whether that be how phasers work, how to hotwire a matter/antimatter reactor, the current astropolitical climate of the quadrant or simply what's going on aboard the Titan, you can find it here. In this issue, you'll find our two regular features: updates for each ship along with a link to the Captain's Logs in case you want more detail, as well as an interview with one of our captains. Also, each issue we'll be featuring articles both about something within the FedSpace world, and about Trek in general. This month, we brought you an overview of what's going with all the major powers of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants in the current FedSpace situation, and a book review. Next time, who knows? Possibly a briefing on tactics in space battles and a gossip column about what's gonna be next for the Star Trek franchise.

For now, though, read on and enjoy!


Fleet Dispatches: Current Events From Ships Around The Fleet

USS Comet: Captain's Log The Comet is underway with the Gettysburg to contact a Romulan rebel group. This group claims to have amassed a large gathering and quite a bit of power. The Gettysburg and Comet are to follow a very specific route to rendezvous with this unknown group. The two ships have just encountered four Romulan ships but do not know their loyalty. Currently the crews are concentrating on surviving in Romulan territory. Meanwhile on the Comet First Officer Tei has been promoted to Captain, while former Captain Ysiadina Lanael has joined to crew as Chief Medical Officer and Second Officer while taking a drop in rank to Commander.

USS Comet

Cdr Arthur Flynn

Chief Tactical Officer

USS Copernicus: Captain's Log Well the mission has not been underway long but already a lot has happened. Cdr Avark has taken a new form, preferring to appear as photons and forcefields as opposed to the more traditional flesh and blood option that the rest of the crew tend to stick with. We’ve seen the death of loveable telepath J’all Keless, and rough spoken LCdr Alex Crowhurst has taken on the duty of Tactical Chief. Chief Science Officer Cdr Ariana Lacey has fallen pregnant with her second child, fathered by her technically deceased Klingon partner. As for the mission itself, Task Force 1 (who gets the joke?) have travelled a great distance to a dark matter nebula along some very hostile borders. A difficult challenge was presented to the crews of the Yeager, Titan and Copernicus as they flew through it blind, eventually reaching a planetary system hidden in the middle of it. The system is comprised of over a hundred planets as well as 3 stars. The planets orbits are maintained by 7 Gravimetric Tractor Emitters that are installed on 7 of the planets, although one of them appears to be malfunctioning. The three ships have been divided to scale more of the system in a shorter space of time, and the USS Copernicus has stationed itself in the middle.

As the scans and such have gone underway, we have discovered that one of the planets has a civilisation just barely entering the warp era, and is called Botticelli. Upon looking closer at the planet, a few familiar faces were found to be down on the planet, one Captain Narret Rayne (Or, to be correct, Midshipman Narret Rayne.) and perhaps even more surprisingly than a resurrection, one Cadet avarQ. It appears that Rayne has been helping these people enter the warp era, and through no fault of his own, the cadet has joined him.

Back on the Copernicus, the ship has been divided into three teams, a Runabout lead by the Holographic FO, a pair of shuttles both lead by the CTO and the Copernicus. The runabout Xenon is on a mission to investigate Botticelli, whilst the two shuttles are studying the planet Vivaldi, which could possible be supporting a pre-warp civilisation. The Copernicus is concentrating on the planet Warhol, one of the planets supporting the giant gravimetric array, to see if there is a way to repair it. Without it being repaired, the planets Warhol and Vivaldi will collide in approximately three years.

The mission roster for the three teams can be found here… http://www.vlodnak.com/fedspace/copernicus/missionroster-dalmatia.htm

That’s all for now, this is LCdr Alex Crowhurst signing off.

USS Dauntless: Captain's Log The beginning of our current adventure starts with the Dauntless being diverted from StarBase 157 to look for a ship called the Alba Varden. This ship was lost in a place called the Hromi cluster near Klingon space. Crew-wise on our way a few things happened. Our CSO Cdr Havek departed, we lost our FO Cdr Rylus to a reaction to a cure for a virus that had been causing hallucinations among the crew (we still don't know where the virus came from), we lost our COS Cdr Caer to the Drake as their FO, and our Lt Dregs from medical left us for CMO position on the Copernicus. So with a very depleted crew the Dauntless docked at a StarBase undergoing construction on our way to the Hromi cluster. At a reception I got promoted to FO, only because the good Commodore wanted me away from the helm and his shuttles. Our dashing young Lt Thomas got the job of COS, and we picked up a few extras such as Middy Halycon who's so good he's had Thomas running after him for the last few weeks (literally) trying to promote him, we also picked up Lt Hendil, our clean-cut military man from tactical and MCapt Sexton another thoughtful (unusual for a marine!) military man. Both were returning from long LOA's. And we also found ourselves another engineer, Middy Reid who's finding himself bewildered at the moment by our great, kind and generous GM. And in between all this we had a little get-together in 10 Forward which started with a speech by our also good and great Commodore Thrawn then ended with a marine fight.

In the midst of all these crew changes something bad happened beside the station we were docked to. A black (kind of) hole formed, sucking everything in its path into its swirly vortex! With an ingenious plan devised by the Commodore we escaped the black holes clutches and saved a few hundred crew from the station and nearby ships, but as we sped away we had to face the sad fact that we couldn't save everyone.

Just as we were contemplating what had just happened the black hole disappeared. Along with everything else. There was no comm traffic from the Federation, no other ships, the Dauntless was on its own.

Seeing as there was nothing we could do about our lonesomeness we headed off to our lost ships last location, the Hromi cluster. Getting there proved difficult. Lt Auroris showed himself to be adept at navigation while piloting the Dauntless through a whole lot of "anomalies". Meanwhile in the Commodores readyroom our good CO wasn't too pleased to find he had a strange problem in his nether regions.

Finally we arrived in the Hromi Cluster. We found a few things. Debris from the ship we were looking for, a "chroniton beam" of chroniton particles coming from a planet which was focused on another planet. The beam was renewing everything in its path, making burnt forests into swamps and the like. We also found some "interference" which was like that from an anti-time anomaly which appeared in the Devron system that Capt Picard found in his times and fixed. Which brings us to where we are now, investigating all the above.

Meanwhile information is appearing on our ship that is incorrect, but everyone seems to think it's right. Like the Dauntless had torpedoes before, but now they've disappeared and people at first have a problem with that but then think that's the way it's always been. (Either we're all going crazy… again, or something funny is going on!) A Lt Darkfang from tactical has had a fight with some barstaff and is currently in the brig, and our CMO and SO LCdr Wong has the bridge for the first time...who knows what will happen next.

LCdr K'Etana

USS Drake: Captain's Log Dear Dr. MacLeod, Thank you for the upgraded holographic medical emergency program you supplied to me during the Drake’s computer system malfunction. There were far too many casualties for my staff and me to have handled alone, and your assistance was most appreciated. I have added additional programming to his original matrix, mostly focusing on the personality subroutine from the Williams II holographic doctor.

On a different note, the Drake has reached the mining colony for which she originally set out for, a small outpost on the fourth planet of the Kessik system in the Delta Triangle. Actually getting into the system turned out to be more difficult than anyone seemed to have anticipated as we were challenged by a Gorn ship. Setting aside the awkward language and culture barriers, the outstanding diplomacy skills of Captain Jal came through and we were able to enter the system without damaging any precarious treaties. The ship, however, will remain at yellow alert for the time being.

The bridge has initiated a sensor sweep of the planet, but all our hails have gone unanswered and it appears that the entire federation colony has been completely demolished. The planet's atmosphere seems to have a dangerously high level of polaron radiation, making the possibility of any surviving life forms highly unlikely. In conjunction with the science department, medical is now working on a way to protect an away team sent to the surface of the planet against radiation poisoning. Science has developed a method of creating a localized ionized field, capable of neutralizing the radiation field up to five feet in all directions. Medical, to my deep satisfaction, has succeeded in finding a treatment to counteract any polaron ions that enter the body in the case that someone does happen to be poisoned. Hopefully together the two methods will be effective in keeping our away team from harm.

As if the Gorn situation and the condition of the mining colony weren't enough, we have had some trouble with a small number of casualties occurring onboard. Doctor, please keep in mind that I hold your opinions in high regard and am asking your moral guidance on the matter with the understanding that I, as ships doctor, am required to adhere to certain principles. I have been having some difficulty accepting these losses, but am trying very hard to let go of the responsibility for their deaths.

But of course that's all old news. It's the age old doctor-accountability complex and I've slipped into it yet again. Is it just me, or is this what I always end up reverting to in my letters to you? I think I've taken up enough of your time for now. I look forward to your reply and will continue to do as you advise; to let go of the responsibility for the deaths of my shipmates and focus my attention on the away mission.

Respectfully Yours, Lt. Salene Tynan Chief Medical Officer USS Drake

USS Gettysburg: Captain's Log, Begin Log Surak Cuazon Personal Log for Stardate 20506.20

Well this has been a very interesting day. I almost can't believe what happened today. It started just like I expected. I reported to the bridge to report to the Captain but he was not there. It was LCdr. Idrani who was in charge of the ship. My reporting seemed to confuse him and it took him a few minutes to figure out what to do with me. Then the EMH for the Gettysburg offered to take me to the sickbay. It was very interesting that the ship was not in any danger but the EMH was active. I wondered if there was something wrong in sickbay to have the EMH active. After a short turbolift ride, I found my way to the sickbay. That was after getting lost because everything on board the ship looks the same.

Meanwhile I arrived on at sickbay and it appeared to be empty. I wondered where everyone was, while I wandered around getting my bearings in the sickbay. Then I noticed a man in an equipment room whooping in excitement. It turned out that this man was PO3 Haakon Vigo a nurse for the Gettysburg. As I walked in he pushed something out of the way so I would not see it. I assume that was some form of alcohol that he had been drinking. Then he called LCdr. Idrani for a physical, which I was to perform. He was just using this situation to keep me busy so he could have some fun. The LCdr came and I started the physical not realizing that Vigo was not there to assist me. Then we both heard, [This is Haakon Vigo - PO3 Vigo, in fact.Nurse Haakon Vigo...]

A loud burp interrupted the message...then the voice pitched to a deep low but was still distinct.

[...Haakon Vigo, Lord of the Haakon universe.....

...I am in control of this vessel. Anyone have any issues?].

I could not believe it. This nurse had maneuvered everyone to get access to the command chair. It was so ludicrous that I would have laughed aloud but LCdr Idrani had dressed and grabbed me to take me to the bridge to help the situation. I mean this officer physically grabbed me and dragged me off to the Bridge. And I was back in the turbolift on my way to the bridge.

When we got there we saw a scene that I thought I would never see in my life on a starship. A Science officer Lt[jg] by the pips had gotten in a fist fight with Vigo. His name it turned out was Archer. He had come to get the unruly nurse out of the command chair but he would not go. So Archer tried to physically move him. It quickly turned into a full out fight. After looking at the sight on the bridge, I was ordered to grab a MedKit and treat the wounded by LCdr. Idrani.

That was when a very commanding presence came onto the bridge. It was my CMO Commander Larsen. She immediately took command of the situation and brought order back to the bridge. I just stood back a lowly midshipman watching everything take place. Then she had Vigo arrested and turned to me. She had me go and try to patch Vigo up in the brig. I did as I was ordered and that was lucky for me because shortly after I left Commander Meor knocked over a bottle left by Vigo that had Cyanide in it. It quickly filled the bridge and started to affect the bridge crew. I found out later that Commander Meor had the entire bridge crew beamed to sickbay without any clothes on.

Meanwhile I was in the Brig tending to Vigo's wounds. When I got the call about a medical emergency and my presence was needed there. I mean here I am a midshipman on my first day and already I am being called to help in a medical emergency. So I took off running to the turbolift and on my way I had the computer send the vitals of the people involved to a PADD I was holding in real time. Seeing the vitals I knew that I was going to need some help so I called the EMH in to help with the most severe cases first because he could be there in seconds.

I got to the Isolation ward of sickbay and found that I was the only doctor there that was not affected by the gas. That meant I was in charge of the situation. This was crazy because here I am a midshipman in charge of an emergency situation and some of the patients are the CMO, the First Officer who also is a doctor and a trill, and the bolian CSO among others. That was not the craziest part. The craziest part was seeing everyone naked. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the view but most of these people are the senior staff of the ship and I had to concentrate. I am just worried about the next time I have to work with them after seeing them in that state, especially since I had never seen the XO or the CSO before, clothed or not. After recovering from the shock of the situation, I started to take charge and got Archer and a security officer by the name of Mhax to help me clean up the other patients and to start administering the antidote to the most serious patients.

As the rest of the patients started to recover, I released Archer to report to the Captain about the situation. I had no idea that at that moment a group of Romulan Warbird had surrounded the Gettysburg and the Comet. I had no clue that anything was wrong until the ship shook under my feet from the disrupter fire. So at that moment I was not only in charge of the medical emergency, but I was also in charge of sending medical teams to injured crew members on the ship. It was overwhelming to be in this situation and I almost had a mutiny on my hands because everyone wanted to get out of sickbay and help the ship in this battle. I finally had to force the crewmember to perform menial tasks to show me and them that they were not ready to leave sickbay yet. Some passed but others failed and I got the rest of the medical crew ready for the wounded crew on the ship.

Well I will have to continue this later. I must get some rest before I am required to be back on duty.

End of Log

Midshipman Surak Cuazon

USS Philadelphia: Captain's Log Sometimes you just have to wonder if the fates are just looking at your ship and laughing. Other times, you don’t wonder. You just know. The current mission started out like most of the ones the Philadelphia has been on recently: with a new captain trying to find a new first officer. Captain Jacobs, knowing that as a man of medicine he had extremely limited experience in all matters tactical, chose then-Lieutenant Shard Vinzz, late of the Copernicus, as the new FO. Some of the department heads – Commanders and Lieutenant Commanders – were very unhappy with this arrangement, to put it mildly, when it was first announced. Fortunately, very shortly after being installed as FO, he was also promoted to LCdr, lessening the anger somewhat if not eliminating it totally.

Once underway, the crew was apprised of the mission. The Philadelphia was charged with leading a four-ship task force to the Pangar system to train their new national defense fleet in the tactics of space warfare through several wargame exercises. These will include both raid and invasion “attacks”, and hopefully will be a good start to greater diplomatic relations between both the Pangaran government and the Federation.

On the trip, however, a stopover at Betazed was arranged so that a member of our crew, Eliana Tamerein, could transport her niece to another location – an odd request, but as Betazed was along the way, so to speak, it was allowed. Upon arrival, however, both Tamerein and the girl were forced to stay on Betazed by the sudden disappearance of several members of their family; meanwhile, a transmission from the Corps of Engineers saw Cdr Mancilla transferred to Betazed for transport back to Earth. To further complicate matters, our Marine Commander, a Klingon liason officer named Major Kontak, died suddenly, apparently of a brain aneurism. Needless to say, these major vacancies have left us short-handed, although the crew of the Philly always seems to muddle through somehow.

While en route to Betazed, the Philly encountered an Ion storm while both Captain Jacobs and LCdr Vinzz were in meetings. Lt Braggins, who was in command at the time, chose to pilot directly through the storm, possibly due to miscommunication about the intensity of the storm. No damage or injuries were reported, but the lieutenant’s confidence has been shaken, and he will bear the watching most closely from now on.

Hopefully, we can soon reach Pangar and carry out our assigned task. Whether we’ll make it back in one piece, however, is up to the fates to decide.

Cdr Aitrus Colso

USS Sheridan: Captain's Log Ok here is what has been happening in the Sheridan for the past month or so. We left space dock not knowing what our mission was. Everything seemed to be going fine until a bust up happened in sickbay between: Dr Leviathan Copper and Lt Shypoken. This Dr seemed to have come on duty drunk. Security was called and Lt [Jg] Desmarais came and took the Dr into the brig. Shypoken took some scans of the Doctor and gave the tricorder to me (Lt Princip), and I checked it over. I found out that he had actually been poisoned so I took Lt Shypoken and Lt James Everett, Lt [Jg] Desmarais to the brig and had to carry him to sickbay. We got delayed by Ensign Adaro another medical officer who also had to help us carry the Doctor in. Unfortunately Dr Copper died and a murder investigation had to start. I worked out that the poison was in gas form and had been released into Copper’s life support in his Quarters. I remembered that Lt Longland had been in those quarters so he was called to sickbay and given an antidote.

A meeting was held between Lt Longland(COS), LCdr Talek (CSO), Lt Shypoken and myself. The doors got jammed in the CMO office and life support was cut of. We Crawled through the Jeffries tubes and caught the one who had been responsible for everything. Ensign Adaro. Longland and Talek tried to arrest him but he escaped into the Jeffries tubes into his quarters where he released the poison on himself. From what I can gather Dr Copper had been in love with Ensign Adaro’s sister and had hurt her badly during their break up. Adaro was merely getting revenge.

Another recent event was Lt Cortwin Ralston giving a tour of the starship to his family. Although not much expect annoyances came out of this one family member got left behind in Cortwin’s quarters, 6-year-old Bobby Skane. Cortwin’s cousin. The young boy showed great interest in the ship and simple activities such as eating junk food (Which as a medical officer I must mention contains too many E numbers for a growing boy).

The boy was discovered by Ensign Anareema Novatori who has been keeping an eye on the boy ever since. The boy was taken round the ship but unfortunately cannot be sent right home yet. This is because the mission orders came, but I will go into that a little later. LCdr Talek became ill in ten forward and was taken to Ana’s quarters where he was being looked after by Ana and Bobby.

Our mission was to find out what happened to a ship called the USS Jutland which the federation had lost contact with a year or so before. Cdr Jenai the first officer of the Sheridan organized the away team. This consists of two engineers, two-security officer, LCdr Talek, Cdr Jenai, a new tactical midshipman and myself.

We used a shuttle to get over into the Jutland. When we stepped into he their shuttle bay we noticed lots of phaser marks on the wall and several dead officers. The Jutland began to move to impulse speed by itself and Captain Dramar contacted the away team. He unfortunately said that it maybe a trap, which spooked several of the officers including Lt Princip (Me). Lt Princip began to show paranoid signs and now seems to have gone completely insane, he thinks that the walls are closing in and there is a bunch of Klingons after him (however none of the other away team members can see them) This is all that ahs happened so far.

Lt Gaelio Princip CMO reporting.

USS Titan: Captain's Log The Titan, bolding going where everyone and their mother really doesn't want to go, has had a rather slow mission as of yet. Under the command of Captain Joseph Daher the Titan has been an escort for the USS Copernicus so she can survey an unchartered super-system. Shortly after moving into the region of space the crews of the task force found that if a certain gravitational emitter was not repaired this system would collide in about three years. Interesting? Not quite yet.

The Titan, a warship now working as a science scout, broke off from the task force so as to allow more space to be covered in a shorter amount of time. Their job? Investigate a planet named Dvorak.

An away team comprised of LCdr May(CTO), LCdr Gregg(CSO), LCdr Brackett (COS), Ens Johnson, Mid Gaku, Mid Foxx, CM Coleman, and CM Grellen has been sent down to the planet to investigate the planet. Under the assumption that the planet had been destroyed by nuclear war they went to work looking for anything that might be a link to who or what lived there. What did they find? Perhaps a portal to wherever they wanted to go!

Foxx came across a building, still mostly intact, bearing Iconian markings. Since then the team has been trying to uncover the mystery of this building. Currently Johnson and Foxx are attempting to open the door into yet another room which hopefully won't turn out a death trap. Gregg and Gaku have been diligently searching for life, friendly or not, to ensure the team does not get ambushed. How to open the door? Time is the only way to tell.

Back on the ship Daher and his wife have found a slightly disturbing plot against them. Daher, walking into his ready room, was greeted by a statue of his lovely wife's head. Unfortunately that same statue had a knife sticking through it... Why? No one knows. Who? No one knows that either. Unknown to the rest of the crew PO1 Sharpe and a new medical officer, Lt Ejanix are in process of searching for the culprit.

A small situation flared up in Sickbay where Foxx, a brand new midshipman to the Titan, approached Lt (j.g.) Rose. In an attempt to escape from his relentless charm Rose ended up sparking a one-up war between Mid Foxx and Lt (j.g.) Striker. Is it over? Probably not.

Life is all but normal onboard the Titan, which is exactly how the crew would have it.

Mid Van Foxx

USS Yeager: Captain's Log The Yeager, Copernicus, and the Titan, as Task Force 1, were sent to investigate a suspicious solar system. Their course took them through the Badlands and Menthar Nebula in the thin piece of Federation territory sandwiched between the Cardassians and Breen – an uneasy position to be in. The journey in itself went without incident, but the Yeager experienced many…. strange occurrences. While en route, the Captain’s chair malfunctioned and floored him, pulling a muscle in his side, a console exploded for reasons still unknown, a faulty power distributor node on the bridge caused problems there too, felling LCdr Trem (CEO) mysteriously. Trem did recover later.

They eventually arrived at the huge system…with over 100 planets. The Yeager was assigned to the first third of them. It began its task with the first planet in the system, “Wagner.” They received a greeting an invitation for the Captain to come down from a woman named Akate. The First Officer and mostly everyone were suspicious but the Captain feigned graciousness and went down by shuttle because of radiation in the atmosphere (due to the planet’s proximity to the sun). The Captain, the doctor, a science officer and an engineer all went down to the surface and met with Akate. After a violent ionic storm came and destroyed the away team’s shuttle, Akate’s bodyguard overacted when spotting a concealed phaser on a member of the away team. They were subsequently all thrown into prison, the Captain unconscious and not in good shape for reasons unknown.

Meanwhile, those on the Yeager were very on edge, since their sensors were blinded by the storm and they had bad feelings. When the storm eventually passed it was determined that their signals (commbadges) were in very close proximity to each other and it was deduced that the away team had been captured and restrained. They were attempting to come up with ways to protect the ship, in case the planet turned aggressive in addition to starting a rescue mission. Minor problems still plagued the ship; a rogue turbolift trapped the FO and CTO for a wild ride. After they got out of that, they got a call from the bridge that the planet had contacted the ship. The Captain had been taken to a hospital and the storm had destroyed the shuttle and they still could not be transported up due to radiation.

LCdr Amalek Barrett


Captain's Debriefing: Who's Who In The Captaincy

This Issue: Captain Quill Dramar, USS Drake

Q: How did you first get involved in Federation Space? Quill: I first got involved with Federation Space back in August of 2001. I was involved in several table top RPGs and I was looking for something that could be done more regularly than once or twice a month. I also was interested in a Star Trek RPG. So I search various search engines until I found one that I like and here I am. Q: Are you at all like your character? Quill: Oh yes. I am very much like Quill Dramar. We both share an interest in science. Our personalities are rather the same. Both of us tend to be rather shy, but we have changed. Dramar has grown as I have. Q: Is your character different from what you expected him to be? If so, how? Quill: Quill has turned out being a little different than I had imagined him. He is stronger than I had expected 4 years go. Since he was a reflection of myself, it shows me how I have changed as well. Q: Which mission that you've been on is your favorite thus far? Quill: I don’t think I’ve had a favorite mission to say but a series of them. I think that the Romulan/Borg War was my favorite. It allowed for so much character development and saw the greatest growth in Quill during these times. Q: How did you first get into Star Trek? Quill: I was first introduced to Star Trek by watching The Next Generation. Q: Which is your favorite series and why? Quill: I think it would have to be The Next Generation. I think it embodied what Star Trek is truly about, (in my opinion) the opening words of the show, “Space, the Final Frontier…” Q: You served mostly on the Philadelphia before becoming CO of the Sheridan. Do you think that serving on one ship helped you prepare for being CO? Quill: I wouldn’t say that it hurt my preparation. It certainly did allow great character development. Since I was on one ship, I was able to know the crew of that ship much better, which leads to better development between our characters. Q: Which captain that you've served under taught you the most about how to be a CO? Quill: I don’t think it’s fair to say that any one Captain taught me the most about being a CO. I learned a great deal from each Captain I served under. Each Captain taught me something different. They contributed to my command style. Q: You come from a science background. What do you think about being in command of a destroyer? Quill: I rather enjoy it. The Sheridan is not that much of a change from the Philadelphia. Both were warships, though the Sheridan packs a little more punch than the Philly. Q: What, to you, makes a good post? Quill: To me a good post is one that paints a picture in your mind’s eye. It gives details of the surroundings and puts there with the character. A good post is a window into the character. It helps you connect with them, feel what they feel, and see what they see. Q: Any advice for new members on how to make their time here at FedSpace the best possible? Quill: My advice is to find a member of the crew you can identify with. Get with that person and do some role-playing. Fedspace isn’t about the points. It’s about the people who wear the uniforms and their stories. Use every chance you get to develop your character. If you’re finding that you’re having trouble, talk to fellow players or your Department Head. They’ll help you come up with something to keep you interested. Above all; have fun.


Information from Command: More About The Galaxy We Inhabit

Message from the Top: Declassified UFP Documents

United Federation of Planets Diplomatic Corps Document 37090-1453-05-A Released Stardate 2050526.23 For Star Fleet Line Officer Use Re: State of Interplanetary Affairs As many of you are no doubt aware, current situations both within the Federation and in the governments of our galactic neighbors have caused immense changes in the balance of galactic power. This document is meant to give a brief overview of all changes, in order to assist you in dealings with foreign powers, as well as to apprise you of the current situation which the Federation finds itself in.

The Klingon Empire, once the friendliest of the foreign powers through the Khitomer Accords, has rapidly cooled towards us. A recent coup has removed the old pro-Federation government and installed in its place a very anti-Federation government. The new government calls for a return to the “old ways,” when Klingons were feared throughout the galaxy as a mighty and powerful empire. They believe that the Federation has been softening the Empire as a prelude to takeover, and are very hostile to what they see as “Federation lies and deceit.” It is only a small comfort that the new government is as hostile towards everyone else as it is towards us.

The Romulan Empire, on the other hand, has withdrawn into itself again. This new wave of isolationism comes in the wake of the recently resolved Romulan War, which has now been officially concluded. From our sources on Romulus, it appears that this isolationism is not a true stance of the government, so much as a result of a new struggle for power. After Praetor Goralan conceded the war in the wake of the Borg onslaught, many factions saw their opportunity to rise to power. The praetor was dead within a week, but the struggle for power still continues. The Senate has yet to name a new Praetor, but Proconsul T’Shala is presiding over the day-to-day operations of the Empire. Her continued existence is most likely due in no small part to her former employer, the Tal’Shiar. Fortunately, only the Praetor can command the Star Navy to try for any goal outside of Romulan space, and the battle over the next Praetor could take a very long time, indeed.

The political climate within the Cardassian Union is very similar to that of the Klingon Empire at the present time. Following their defeat in the General War, a wave of democratic idealism passed through the Cardassian people, much as it did in the wake of the Dominion War. Now, as then, it was quickly crushed. The Detapa Council, the civilian political body which reformed after the General War, was deposed within a year of its election, effectively eliminated in a rare joint effort of the Obsidian Order and the Central Command. Both organizations, now back in power, have resumed their customary stance of wary isolation from each other and staring menacingly at the rest of the quadrant. While the Demilitarized Zone between the Federation and the Union still exists as the current boundary, this is the only treaty still standing between the two powers. The Central Command has issued statements relaying their discontent with the current balance of power, and that they will no longer stand for being sidelined as a minor power. However, to date there have been no aggressive actions taken which might indicate these threats as precursors to a new round of warfare between the Union and the Federation.

In contrast to the previous three powers discussed, the Ferengi Alliance has changed very little. The commodities markets are thriving due to the recent Romulan and Borg conflicts – for everyone to weapons merchants to scrap dealers – and the Latinum Bar continues to be the most stable currency in the quadrant, backing even Klingon dealings. The only significant changes in the Ferengi way of life in the past quarter century, the reforms instituted by Grand Nagus Zek and continued by his successor, Grand Nagus Rom, have all been repealed by later successors as “too destructive” to the Ferengi way of life. As such, women have returned to the home, and the much-despised income tax has been abolished. The only struggle which the Alliance is currently dealing with is the Ferengi Commerce Authority’s war to wipe out the fledgling unions which started under Rom’s rule.

The Tholian Assembly has withdrawn much as the Romulans have. The Tholians, having been described at best elusive and at worst xenophobic, have resumed the stance of isolation they maintained for a hundred years after the contact which resulted in the loss of the USS Defiant and nearly claimed the USS Enterprise in the 23rd Century. In fact, it was only the resurgence in Borg activity two years ago which brought them out of hiding and forced them to help defend the quadrant again. Since then, they have kept to themselves, warning ships entering their territory to leave immediately, and most ships that don’t heed that request are never heard from again.

The Gorn, however, have finally come to the forefront of Alpha Quadrant politics. When several Federation member worlds left the UFP following the Romulan and Borg incidents, the Gorn were quick to offer protection and alliance with those closest to its border. Several worlds took this offer, and the Gorn quickly came in and set up, expanding their border and seemingly taking a much more offensive stance with the Federation. Again, no new threats have come from this, leading some within the President’s cabinet and the Joint Chiefs to conclude that their offensive stance is merely posturing, or conversely that they are trying to goad the UFP into a new war.

An often overlooked player within interstellar politics, the Orion Syndicate should bear close scrutiny in these days. The largest and best organized crime syndicate in the quadrant, the Orions have become a power in their own right. With the recent wars, the Syndicate has been stealing derelicts from the battle sites, refurbishing them, and either selling them to the highest bidder or, more frighteningly, keeping them for themselves. Fortunately, most of the ships stolen in this way have been small, and have contained no secret technologies. However, this activity is still worrying, and many on the Federation Council desire to put a stop to the Syndicate. Getting them to agree on how, however, could prove a long time coming.

Internal UFP politics proceed as normal, for the most part. The shock caused by the secession of several worlds has mostly passed, although the impact is still ongoing. Some member worlds, spearheaded by Councilor Thirizaz sh’Riss of Andor, are calling for stricter guidelines regarding membership, such as making a member world have to go through the full Council in order to attempt to withdraw. Another group headed by Councilor Martin Bishop of Luna is calling for increases in Star Fleet, including more ships, mandatory military service for all UFP citizens, and a reorganization of the admiralty. The bulk of the Council, however, believes that the Council has no right to introduce either of these changes, and the bills proposed by these groups have stalled in their committees, neither of them being likely to come before the full Council for debate. With the elections coming up later this year, few Councilors are willing to risk their seats over such a controversial issue, even if they believed that either of these extreme solutions would work. President Cynthia Moran has issued statements asking for the Council to remain calm and not overreact to the legitimate actions of former members, but to no avail. A public announcement issued last week states that if either of these groups bills reach her desk, she will not hesitate to veto them.

Going To The Top: A Message From Your Friendly Neighborhood Fleet Admiral

First, I'd like to express my thanks to Cdr Colso for putting this newsletter together. Job well done. Next I'd like to give some updates on a previous post of mine.

The site redesign is still in progress. As we are doing this on a 'when we get to it' basis, it may be several more months before this project is completed.

New logo and the Fed Space store. I simply haven't decided on the final logo yet, which has in turn delayed the Fed Space store. There is one other logo I will design and probably put it up for a vote. A simple majority vote will determine our new logo. As soon as we have a permanent logo I'll work on setting up the Fed Space store which can take as much as a month.

You should start seeing some stuff about the writers workshop by the time you read this. I'm looking forward to this as it will allow many of us to take our writing in a different direction. The workshop will begin August 8th.

There will be a slight change in the way missions are presented. Right now, what happens is the GM's make a post and wait for the players to respond. Sometimes they wait several days. What has been directed to happen now is this: The GM makes a post, waits for two days for a response and on the third day, responses or not, moves the story forward. Why am I directing this? The biggest complaint we get involves pacing in the story, or how fast the story moves along. The problem we are seeing right now is the GM's post and wait for a response and then the players post and wait for a response. Sometimes this waiting game will spread over a week or more. In short, we want to eliminate the waiting and keep the game moving.

I am mulling over the idea of starting a Federation Space Blog. This would be an external area for members of the site or whoever else, to discuss world politics, religion, moral topics or anything else. Doing an external blog would allow us to remove those topics from the game board. I'd like to have some input from all of you whether you this is something you would want or not.


Through The Looking Glass: A Look At Trek In The Real World

Book Review: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Hollow Men by Una McCormack (Minimal Spoilers)

Sometimes the story hits you upside the head. Others, however, just insinuate themselves into your mind. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Hollow Men is billed as a sequel to the sixth season DS9 episode “In The Pale Moonlight,” and delivers in all respects. Taking place immediately following that episode, it chronicles the events of the first meetings between the three allied powers – the Federation, the Klingons, and now the Romulans – at which Sisko is present. Bringing Garak along for “discussions” with Star Fleet Intelligence, Sisko leaves the station for Earth, and brings along baggage which weighs more than his clothes. The weight of two murders already on his head, he comes to the conference tables with little enthusiasm. As the conference progresses, and Sisko’s crises of conscious ensue, we’re treated to a new story.

Anti-war sentiment on Earth is reaching its height, stirred on by Tomas Roeder, a former Star Fleet security officer and an old friend of Sisko’s, and in fact hold a rally on the steps of Star Fleet Command during the conference. The entire movement – and the fact that the Federation allows such vocal opposition on its own capitol world – fascinates Garak, who attends the rally with Captain Sisko. After a conversation with two apparent Star Fleet Intelligence officers, however, his interest in both Roeder and the entire movement become professional.

The rest of the DS9 crew is not ignored, however. Back on the station, an unexpected cargo ship throws the normal station routine completely out an airlock. The freighter Ariadne has engine troubles which force them to put in to the nearest station for repairs, which just happens to be Deep Space Nine. The cargo – a container with several thousand bars worth of latinum – demands special security precautions. The presence of some of the most unsavory of characters, other than Quark obviously, makes Odo even more nervous, giving him his own moral dilemma to deal with. Bashir, having learned more about the “dark side” of the Federation in his recent discovery of Section 31 (“Inquisition”, the episode immediately prior to “In The Pale Moonlight”) and his unwilling cooperation with the sale of illegal material (biomimetic gel in “In The Pale Moonlight”), is if anything more troubled by what Odo does than Odo is, at least at first.

As the first actual novel set inside DS9’s television run since the DS9 relaunch began in 2001, Hollow Men has a tough job of telling an interesting story without actually changing anything. It succeeds well enough; the thing that happen which might be worth mentioning on screen generally occur to those characters least inclined to talk about them, or between people who wouldn’t discuss them, much like “In The Pale Moonlight” itself. As Una McCormack’s first actual novel, she does an excellent job, although this is not her first foray into the world of DS9. She previously wrote “The Lotus Flower” in Worlds of Deep Space Nine: Book 1: Cardassia and Andor as well as her debut work “Face Value” in Prophecy and Change, the 10th Anniversary anthology published in 2003, and has never disappointed in her work.

If you enjoyed DS9 in general, and “In The Pale Moonlight” in particular, then definitely go pick up this book. It is a very well written novel, and even though many of the different elements may appear unrelated, they all get tied up in the end, if anything a little too neatly. Also, if you enjoy books where the primary conflicts are moral and not physical, such as Speaker for the Dead and Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card, this is for you too. In the end, for any Trek fan who enjoys struggles not only between men, but between right and wrong, you’ll love this one.