Post of the Month -- April 2012

Let's all congratulate Reece Thompson, who has just been transferred to the USS Discovery, on getting PotM for April 2012! Well done Mr. Thompson.

Creeping around Starfleet Command wasn't exactly what Reece had planned during his leave on Earth. However, circumstances never allowed Reece to follow his plans. He arrived at the transmitter control room, to find a drone standing outside the door. There was no way he could sneak past it while it was looking down the corridor in his direction.  

"Computer. Are the transporters still online?" he asked, it was a long shot.  

"Affirmative." Reece was taken aback with the answer. he had hoped for it, but it was still a surprise. 

"Oh.. really?" he asked.  

"Affirmative."  

"Good. Lock on the drone outside the transmitter control room and beam it into science lab 3."  

Reece listed as he heard a transporter hum, and peered around the corner. With a nice clear view, he sprinted down the hall and dived into the doorway. Reece looked out and saw a green hue as another borg beamed in to take the missing space. Luckily, it was facing down the hall. The door swished shut, and Reece heaved a sigh.  

He picked himself up off the floor and walked towards the transmitter controls. Taking a quick look over the console, he could see they were locked down.  

"Ahh. This is a problem." He said to himself. He knelt down beside the console and opened it up, revealing the circuits and the isolinear chips. "OK. I remember being showed this."  

He stared at the console, trying to take himself back to his time on the Churchill, when one of the Engineers showed him how to unlock a console. 

He picked one of the chips and placed it in another slot. The console beeped twice, bringing Reece up to check it out. The transmitter was back online.  

"Yes!" He praised himself. "Now I better send out a warning."  

---This is Lieutenant Reece Thompson in Starfleet Command. Earth has been attacked by the Borg. Keep your distance until the situation is rectified. I repeat, Earth has been attacked by the Borg. Do not approach Earth. This message is set to repeat.---
Reece read the message through. That should keep the people away. He knew he couldn't broadcast it on all channels though. It would be detected too quickly. He needed a way to hide it.  

The emergency broadcast system.
  

Tapping away on the console, Reece input the message into the Emergency broadcast system. Anyone listening to it would have their signal interrupted for a few seconds while the message played. The interruptions would occur every few minutes. it was the bets he could do without increasing the risk of having the message discovered and purged.  

He released the message into the system and allowed it to broadcast through the Sol System. Hopefully, someone would hear it. 

Competition Time!!!

Hey! Are you interested in winning the latest TOS novel (Star Trek: That Which Divides)? Are you creative? Do you just plain love Star Trek? If you answered yes to any of the questions, this is a competition for you. Put your thinking cap and create a cover for the upcoming poetry anthology, Beyond the Stars. For full terms & conditions, as well as to submit your design(s), check out the competition thread on the Shadow Fleet website. You have until April 30 to submit your design(s), after which a winner will be chosen. Don't forget, you can still submit poems to the Articles section of the forum. Even if you don't think your poems are very good, we would still like to see them. Let's get those creative juices flowing, and good luck!

Post of the Month - February 2012

Post from Lance Krol of the USS Churchill. Well Done!

Lance blinked.

Lance looked around.

And suddenly, he realized Taras was right. He was the ranking officer.

Jesus, I'm the ranking officer.

He reached under his uniform and felt the little wooden crucifix there, older than him, worn and snarled with age. Not of any particular significance, but he felt like this was a scene God should witness. Everyone else had turned to face him, so maybe he could use someone that actually outranked him.

"...No."

"...No. I won't do it. I'm not the ranking officer, I won't take this amount of power and if anyone has any problem with that they can step into that ready room and tell the captain that his best and brightest engineering officer is refusing to rise any further," Lance's heart was beating. When did he start talking? It didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore.

Everyone was staring at him. The regular beeping of buttons being pressed had absolutely stopped.

How loudly was I talking? Was I shouting?

"I'm sick of this. I am a god among you people. In six months I have gone from ensign to lieutenant and now I have no experience and control of the bridge. Do you people expect me to know what to do? Am I your messiah, that sweeps away error and sin like God? I've got nothing on God," and he realized he had raised his voice. He didn't know what he was saying.

"I don't know what you people expect, but I don't have it. I am smart, I know how to build a warp drive and I could God damn run the engineering department by myself if I needed to. But I won't rise to this. Not this," he killed his tears without feeling. Like beheading a child, like breaking a wooden toy box, his emotions died with a childlike scream. All the joy and all the pain went out of him, because if he allowed himself to feel anything now of all times then he'd collapse on the spot.

He looked around, and realized where he was. His emotions lay broken in the back of his mind. His eyes lost sharpness and his body sagged, then he stuck himself back together again and walked to the engineering console. "Mr. Cadenza, you have the –" his voice broke slightly. "– the bridge."

He touched the shoulder of the poor crewman at his console gently, kindly, suddenly feeling older than he ever had. These people were so young. They didn't stand a chance.

"I'm your relief, crewman," he stated, his blank tone not at all matching his tired, aged face.

He whipped his hand away from the crucifix and ended with an inaudible murmur to his own obsolete beliefs as he tapped at the console in the total, stunned silence of the room.

"...amen."

This day is going to be hell, and I know this because I've nowhere left to go.

Despite it all, he felt better. Free. He'd finally jumped off the chain of command, too late to simply exist but not too late to rebuild himself.

The Shadow Fleet Timeline

Arranged by: Shelaf Greegy

2379

• USS Enterprise-E defeats Romulan Praetor Shinzon during the Battle in the Bassen Rift

2383

• Shadow Fleet formed, with its base of operations at Deep Space Station Discovery
• USS Discovery commisioned into Shadow Fleet, under Captain Kayla Harper
• USS Monitor attached to Shadow Fleet center of operations, DS Discovery

2384

• Captain John Kawolsky takes command of the USS Discovery
• USS Discovery discovers Shadowous Station
• USS Discovery first learns of civil unrest in Cardassian territory
• Orion crisis begins
• USS Discovery becomes the second Federation starship to witness the collapse and expansion of two binary stars in the Omega IV system.
• Commander Scott Bradley seemingly killed in action against Romulans.
• Peace talks begin with the Orion Syndicate.
• USS Discovery is destroyed by the Orion Syndicate in a final stand.
• Orion Crisis ends

2385

• The Akira-class USS Blackpool is commisioned into Shadow Fleet
• Admiral Chris O'Neill kidnapped from the DS Discovery, but shortly thereafter rescued by Captain Kawolsky on the USS Blackpool
• USS Blackpool renamed USS Discovery-A in honor of the first Starfleet vessel to bear the name.
• Commander Bradley discovered to have been kidnapped by Romulans, but rescued by the crew of the USS Discovery
• USS Discovery comes across large Sal'Tek fleet and is almost destroyed in the fighting, however it is rescued by the USS Monitor, under Admiral O'Neill
• Cardassian Civil War begins
• Scott Bradley takes command of the USS Atlantis
• Planet codenamed "Safehaven" discovered for Cardassian settlers and government.
• USS Discovery and USS Atlantis forced from SafeHaven leaving many crewmembers behind.
• USS Discovery and USS Atlantis return and rescue the stranded crewmembers.
• Cardassian Civil war ends, and Scott Bradley returns to the USS Discovery
• USS Discovery makes first contact with the warlike Telonians, and several crewmen are kidnapped

2386

• USS Discovery transported to the far reaches of the Beta Quadrant.
• USS Discovery rediscovers the extinct Iconian species, and the sleeper agents appear for the first time.
• USS Discovery returns home to the Alpha Quadrant
• Iconian War commences
• A large Federation fleet, accompanied by the USS Discovery, destroys a major Iconian staging vessel, setting back their war effort
• DS Discovery renamed Blaisdell Station and Commander Riley T. Munro appointed Commanding Officer.
• Blaisdell Station attacked by a large Iconian fleet. The USS Discovery is mobilised to defend it. Several sleeper agents activated onboard the Discovery

2387

• USS Repulse commisioned, under command of Commander Richard Ransom
• USS Repulse encounters the rogue Vulcan T'vek
• USS Intrepid commissioned, under command of Captain Jacob Hannagan
• USS Discovery finds a damaged Iconian ship, and it is discovered that the sleeper agents onboard the Discovery are the historical leaders of the Iconian people, the Draynar
• Blaisdell Station destroyed by an imposter posing as Starfleet Admiral Hansen, killing several crewmen
• Starbase 83 becomes Task Group Alpha Headquarters
• USS Repulse transported to alternate timeline, in which Starfleet has lost the Iconian War
• Romulus destroyed by a supernova
• USS Intrepid transfered out of Shadow Fleet
• USS Repulse defeats T'veks plans to ignite a civil war in the Federation
• USS Repulse destroyed, with T'vek on board
• USS Port Royal commissioned under command of Captain Riley T. Munro
• USS Discovery encounters a rogue Iconian faction, and begins negotiations
• USS Port Royal finds and kills the imposter who destroyed Blaisdell Station
• Iconian war ends after approximately 500 days of fighting, with millions of casualties on both sides

2388

• USS Port Royal destroyed in combat after an imposter beams aboard and discharges a phaser in engineering
• Commander Scott Bradley takes command of the USS Discovery after John Kawolsky is promoted to Rear Admiral (Lower Half)
• USS Discovery transported to an alternate timeline, where it encounters and fights the Borg
• USS Churchill commisioned, under command of Commander Alexander Clarke
• Commander Clarke is kidnapped by pirates. Mike Cortez takes command of the Churchill
• Pirate crisis begins
• The crew of the USS Discovery arrested by Starfleet and held for questioning.
• Commander Clarke rescued and resumes command
• USS Discovery returns to earth and encounters strange phantoms.

The Calm Before The Storm

 This piece was written by our very own T'Ra Jones of the Fleet, we are so proud of her talents.


The Calm Before The Storm
Written By : T'Ra Jones (USS Churchill Science Officer)

She stood on the bridge, a padd in her hand
Her mind was so empty, her thoughts were so bland
She listened silently as others walked by
Things happened so slowly, yet in the blink of an eye
Sensors beeped, machines hummed
Surrounding air smelled a bit like rum
The doors swished open, the captain walked out
His shoulders were broad, his stand was so stout
"Hello, ensign," he said with a sigh
He let out a belch, "I ate too much pie."
With food on his mind, he sat in his chair
His stomach rumbling, as if the cupboards were bare
The ship was quiet, in such a blissful state
Such a peaceful lull was actually the bait

Although it was peaceful, it wouldn’t be for long
Alarms started sounding, ringing in her ears like gongs
“All personnel to battle stations!” exclaimed the captain with a cry
The crew began to scramble, some on the fly
They switched on the main screen to see what came near
Although they thought they were ready, their hearts filled with fear
Onto the screen appeared a big, massive ship
It was an enemy vessel making an unexpected trip
“Maintain the shields,” said the captain with fright
“We don’t know if they’ll fire, but they very well might.”
A scarlet beam, from the enemy ship came
It broke through the shields, the bridge was aflame
Chaos ensued, “Look out!” she said
Objects went flying, one struck her on the head

The bridge was quiet went she awoke with a start
Who knew how long she’d been in the dark
She rose to her feet and took in the view
So many dead bodies, all over they were strewn
The captain was among them, by his chair he lay
His once good-looking shirt, stained by the blood of the day
“T’Ra to the crew, the captain is dead.”
Her voice almost cracked as her mind filled with dread
“Hello?” she asked, “Is anyone there?”
Why was she still alive? It didn’t seem fair
“Hello?” came a voice, it was Buehler that replied
T’Ra was so happy, she even almost cried
“Thank goodness you’re alive,” a weak Buehler said
“We’re the only ones left. Everyone else is dead.”

Fleet Award Ceremony With Admiral O'Neill!

With both the SIMM and Task Group awards now over, it is time to focus our attention to the annual fleet-level awards. There's only two to present but they both recognize the hard work of our members in making us a real contender on the Star Trek RPG front.


The first award is presented to the graduate with the best Academy course of the entire year. This is open to both officer and EPC graduates and exists to reward those who put just a little bit more time and effort into their Academy posts. So, without further ado, I hereby present the Cadet of the Year Award to Taras Cadenza for his skillful use of descriptive words to paint a colorful picture in the mind of the reader, but also because of his dedication to detail and accuracy that makes his posts a joy to read. Please take the time to congratulate Taras on such a brilliant achievement!

The ultimate award for any Shadow Fleet member to attain will be presented shortly. The Player of the Year Award is personally presented by the Fleet Commander to the player whom he deems has put into the fleet the most amount of time and effort over the past year. And here to present our last award for this ceremony is Admiral O'Neill.

Greetings and Saluation,

I'm not so adept at making long speeches, but I know I have to make at least an attempt at one. With that being said and out of the way, on to the Player of the Year award. This entire year has had some ups and downs, good and bad parts. Even with that, a few members have gone above and beyond the call of duty in terms of an RPG. It has been a difficult process, but three individuals could have the privileged of the PotY in the end.



I would like to thank Shelaf Greegy, who has this entire year, consistently contributed outside of normal missions, putting 100% effort into everything he does, regular helps improve his Simm by submitting ideas and going out of the way to help the Command staff. Because of your actions this year, I am pleased to present to Shelaf Greegy, this years Player of the Year award for 2012.

Before I finish this off, I would like to  recognize the three remaining individuals who have also contributed to Shadow Fleet as a whole and were on the list, as well. One of whom  talked himself out of the award without knowing it, as well. Lance Krol, Alyssa Meadow, and John Kawolsky, all three of you this year have also contributed to Shadow Fleet heavily this year. If there was another award that would suffice, I would be awarding  them to all four of you together on top of the PotY which is a singular award.

All of you has spent time improving the RPG from what it was before to what it is now. In closing, I am hoping to see another year of SF without any accidents (hopefully not caused by me or some hackers which I won't name). I  will try to join into one of the story lines coming up that I know of if it is ready by then.

With that said, I would like to thank every member of Shadow Fleet for their continued efforts over the past year. Good job!

Task Group Alpha- Award Ceremony!

After the celebration of our individual SIMMs, we have also done the Task Group awards. They were splendid and I can only hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

TF-10 Task Group Alpha

I'm going to start us off with the Unit Citation, which is awarded the officers and crew of the SIMM that has been the most active over the past 6 months. It was an extremely difficult decision to make, but after weighing up the posting activity levels for both ships, I have decided that the USS Churchill has demonstrated more activity than the Discovery. I would like to personally congratulate Commander Clarke and his crew for what has been a very successful 6 months.


The second award I am pleased to announce is the Crew Efficiency Ribbon, awarded to the SIMM that has demonstrated the best organization over the past 6 months. As with the Unit Citation, this was a very difficult one to decide. However, I feel that the USS Churchill has once again proved to have had the better organization of the two ships.


That brings me nicely onto the Distinguished Command Award, which is given out to one Commanding Officer each year for demonstrating effective leadership and management of their SIMM. I am pleased to announce that Alexander Clarke is the recipient for 2011 for getting the Churchill up and running behind the scenes and for his development of the SIMM's first season. Though it is true he wasn't able to commit to posting full time, he did ensure the SIMM was running smoothly in his absence by checking in on it on a regular basis and instructing his First Officer well. Please congratulate him on this achievement.


The final award left for me to present today is the Task Group Commander's Commendation, which is my chance to personally recognize the efforts of a player within our Task Group. The person I am awarding this to I feel has demonstrated an excellent standard of posting while a member of the Task Group. He regularly goes above and beyond what is expected of him and artistically paints a picture of what his character is doing whenever he posts. He is never afraid to get involved in out-of-mission discussions and always has a good attitude towards his service to the fleet. Please congratulate Lance Krol on earning the Task Group Commander's Commendation. Keep up the good work, Lance!