@oldkhemaraa: Another very detailed entry! Lots of potential for great future tales!
Thanks... I've a lot of notes scattered all over in my comp on my various avatars in game.
Tried my best to stay within topic. If it reads like what you would expect from an intel briefing then I did good.
I did get a couple private messages asking some hows and whys.. I figured it would be best to answer them here.
Captains' of the KDF have the absolute power of life and death over their crews, much more so then a Federation captain. The personality, view and motivations are far more critical then that of the crew, and other officers aboard. A KDF captain is absolute lord and master. a KDF captain can kill or order killed any crew member or officer which does not meet the captains desires.
Star fleet assigns officer and captains, and a star fleet officer simply cannot dismiss officer from a ships company with out a great deal of justification, and a even more paper work. a Federation capatain is going to have to justify their action
I suspect Romulans are some where in the middle of these two ends of the spectrum. More of a classic "Master and Commander" mind set.
I concentrated just on Kui, with the type of back round information that an section 31 field operative would need to have or know when either dealing with her, her ship, and her crew, or if advising star fleet vessels involved with a possible confrontation with her and her ship.
References were made to other existing files for "further" information, with the assumption that there is further biographical information available on her, and her crew.
Some possible details were purposely omitted simply because the information would be at best difficult to obtain for section 31 to get hold of. Not so much because KDF society is closed and insular, which I believe it to be, but that simply getting that level of information would be phenomenally difficult.
Kui's is a bit more of a "visible" then most KDF captains, both because of her off duty activities and her involvement in Task Force Omega, and other "allied" activities. All of which would most certainly draw the attention of section 31.
Her being non a "Cartel" Orion would also make her of interest. I assume that section 31 has likely as not deeply penetrated the Orion Cartel, but Kui would be a big question mark to them. She's just not what might be considered a "Normal" Orion.
She would have to out Klingon Klingon's to have gotten her rank and position, much less any justification in her story to be handed a prototype star ship. So I had to have her back round make sense, and give her a slight leg up in side the empires societal pecking order.
Hope it entertained!
Kui sends.
P.S. This is my first ever entry into one of these lit challenges. Not to shabby for a first effort if I don't say so myself.. and I do!
I've added The <REDACTED> Files as my piece to this LC.
I kinda stretched it at the end there, maybe a llllliiiiittttlllleeee too far, so I might change it in the end. My goal was to be a little humurous at the the very end. I hope you all enjoy.
I love all of the unique views in this LC, and hope we get to see more LC's pulled from the thread for ideas. All of them were really good.
@mrdarksabre - Remember the LC rule that only one post is allowed (unless Smirk gives the ok for more )
I had to split my posts into multiple parts a lot in previous challenges when I would constantly hit the word limit. Writing is my passion and one of the very few things I'm good at, so long as the posts are tied to a single cohesive story, I rather doubt anyone really cares.
Besides, I'm pretty sure plenty of other people have done so over the course of the Literary Challenges, I doubt most of them have even read the main post beyond the paragraph of subject matter.
Thank you as well to everyone for the feedback so far, I am appreciative of it and if anyone else wants to weigh in they are more than welcome.
Krovennan Darksabre: Commanding officer of the U.S.S. Blacksabre-E NX-973484-E
I earned my Vet rewards with commitment, not cash.
@grylack: great additions...fleshes out your entry nicely. And I'm glad you're enjoying the "Hunt for the Bonaventure"
@keepcalm: Now I've got this graphic image of Daring going gliding on Earth with not-so-nice results...
@duneczan3: Interesting details...hopefully we'll be reading about them in future LCs?
@aten66: Excellent overview...feels like an 'origins' story; new readers will be able to jump into your tales with this post, and it detials out some things your current readers may have missed the first time.
As for dealing with 2409...I just use it as the current point. Nico went through the Academy ssome 20 years ago, which gives me a lot of wiggle room to go back and tell tales like the loss of the Yorktown, or how Doc Irve first met Sotek, etc. For the game backstory....well...I just look at it that Nico was a passenger during the intro mission, in semi retirement...and the subsequent events made him jump through the hoops if he *really* wanted back in command. I can't buy this 30 days from Ensign to Admiral the game allows...so for the LCs I use something a bit more plausible. (Regardless of your experience, if you go away for a bit you need to be retrained, just so Starfleet will be confident you won't try to route phaser power through the engines or something...)
@aten66: Excellent overview...feels like an 'origins' story; new readers will be able to jump into your tales with this post, and it detials out some things your current readers may have missed the first time.
still fishing for comments on my latest tale...
*Bites Lure*
Question... Who's Jacob and where did you get the Idea for DTI Section31 knowing abut each other?
Sorry that some people think that statement means I've got a Sue, but I look forward to it nonetheless.
As far as the rapid promotion thing, I only write one of my toons at VADM level, despite he in-game rank. That toon's rapid promotion is explained by his being a highly experienced exchange officer, not a normal green ensign. Gul Berat was a senior Gul in the CDF, meaning his duties were that of a senior captain and sometimes of a lower-level admiral, the reason the crew followed him in the Vega incident was because, all ranks and formalities aside, they knew he had the experience and leadership credentials to pull their butts out of the fire. His rapid ascent in the ranks brought his Starfleet rank about to par with his Cardassian Defense Force rank--so he is a dual-commissioned exchange officer in a special liaison position. While a stretch, it is IMO a LOT more believable than some of he baby-faced admirals running around in game. Oh, and add to it age: he's in his 70's...middle aged for a Cardassian but wise enough to have been around the block a few times and not make dumb Academy kid mistakes (most of the time since no one is perfect).
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
I think the way I'll address it is retconning and saying my Captain was a First Officer in the Vega incident. Four years from Commander to Admiral is still impressive, but not as patently absurd as from Ensign to Admiral. Plus, it's kind of crazy that Starfleet put an Ensign Science Officer into a command position because it had to happen briefly during a combat scenario.
Vice Admiral Meria Farron USS Stradivarius
NX-163292
I did something similar with mine, making one character a Vice Admiral, in this instance, an Acting Vice Admiral, instead of a full-fledged one. Granted, she's been an Acting Vice Admiral for some time now...
The rest are listed as 'Captains' (Commanders in the case of the Romulans, since that's how their system works), with the exception of my Orion tac officer who just so happens to be an Acting Lieutenant General (surprise!).
Oh, in-game Grunt hit 50 some time back; he's currently in command of the Obelisk Carrier USS Leviathan. But in stories, for the foreseeable future he's a Captain, and commanding the Celestial-class exploration cruiser USS Bedford.
I have exactly one Admiral (and one who retired at that rank, to become a "simple freighter captain"), both of whom have service histories going back to the Dominion War. The rest are mere captains, commanders and subcommander(s), and even those are written as having been in service for some time before 2409.
I write my VA characters as VAs because, well, that's part of the creative constraints under which we labour, kind of thing, innit? Making my characters as written match up with the ones in-game. (Other approaches are perfectly valid - might even make better sense, realistically - but that's mine.)
If I need to grope around for explanations, well, I start with the assumption that they're people of above average ability - they're the protagonists in a video game, so of course they're special - and then I bear in mind that Starfleet is not, supposedly, a military organization. It used to be, and it still has a lot of military structures and traditions, but it's not fully military and its treatment of personnel reflects that.
There are huge numbers of people in Starfleet who are in it for the exploration, either literally in terms of going out to new star systems, or metaphorically - scientists, theorists, cultural observers, all that good stuff. The people who are military, and are temperamentally suited to the assumption of military command, are probably in relatively short supply - in times of war, especially, they will be at something of a premium. (I made this point in one of my fics: the Federation is a post-scarcity economy - machines, even machines as huge and complex as starships, are cheap, but the people with the skills to command them are not.)
So, in that situation, people with military ambitions and military competence are likely to be promoted fairly rapidly to a level that suits their abilities.
Of my characters - the ones who've made any significant appearances, at least - Tylha on the Fed side and Shalo on the KDF side are probably the best examples of this. Both of them are capable, and also psychologically driven, for various reasons, to push themselves forwards. Other characters have other factors affecting them - T'Laihhae got in on the ground floor, as it were, of the rapidly expanding new Republic navy, so her career has that impetus behind it; Rrueo and R'j are sort of semi-independent privateers whose KDF rank is more of a courtesy than anything else; Ronnie is - kind of a special case, but native ability and wide-ranging experience mean it's silly for Starfleet not to make use of her, despite her social problems.
At least, that's my take on it - and, with a bit of creative vagueness about character ages, I think I can make it plausible.
*Bites Lure*
Question... Who's Jacob and where did you get the Idea for DTI Section31 knowing abut each other?
Thanks by the way!
Hmmm...which one's the emote for pulling a rabbit out of....
Ok...here's a shot at explanation:
DTI isn't a secret, and when you have assets downtime (or uptime) you can know pretty much anything that you want to. Hear a rumor that S31 caused a shipwreck that will be spewing deadly radiation for years? Send a note to your 34th century counterpart to investigate the wreckage and see if there's some truth to the matter.
DTI, as part of their mandate, deals with temporally displaced persons. Sometimes these people don't want to play by DTI rules, or try to get back to their time frame. The DTI can go back and forth, potentially causing additional paradoxes, or they subcontract out to locate the temporal runners,
S31, as spymasters, are quite adept at finding people who don't want to be found, and do so without leaving chroniton signatures everywhere.
DTI also noted that a lot of S31 operations, if mishandled, would cause extensive damage to the timeline that they'd have to repair.
A partnership of sorts was suggested: S31 finds DTI runners, and DTI would prevent massive resource loss when S31 attempts an operation that DTI will have to undo. S31 would also provide local agents to help out so temporal agents don't have to risk the damage that accompanies time travel, per "Relativity".
The Eye was where they could coordinate operations: a facility designed to oversee any tracked asset movement. If it is tagged, it can be tracked here. And both organizations have been *very* busy placing tags on humanoids, ships, parcels, pets...it's a safe bet that you've interacted with at least three tracked items every day.
Naturally, S31 wants to get into that overwatch room...get their hands on the protected timeline database. And DTI doesn't like a bunch of spies looking to exploit the slightest mistake in protocol. It's an assignment nobody likes: remote location that is a pain to get to; mistrustful people looking at every move you make; everything recorded and every action accountable to a higher power.
And the replicators can't make good pie for some reason.
Jacob is S31's Chief of Operations at The Eye. He's an enigma, never giving a straight answer. He's tired of his job and is always on the lookout for his next replacement. Jacob has a mean streak that comes through at times.
But he's nothing compared to the DTI Chief at The Eye. He's a real monster.
Hmmm...which one's the emote for pulling a rabbit out of....
Ok...here's a shot at explanation:
DTI isn't a secret, and when you have assets downtime (or uptime) you can know pretty much anything that you want to. Hear a rumor that S31 caused a shipwreck that will be spewing deadly radiation for years? Send a note to your 34th century counterpart to investigate the wreckage and see if there's some truth to the matter.
DTI, as part of their mandate, deals with temporally displaced persons. Sometimes these people don't want to play by DTI rules, or try to get back to their time frame. The DTI can go back and forth, potentially causing additional paradoxes, or they subcontract out to locate the temporal runners,
S31, as spymasters, are quite adept at finding people who don't want to be found, and do so without leaving chroniton signatures everywhere.
DTI also noted that a lot of S31 operations, if mishandled, would cause extensive damage to the timeline that they'd have to repair.
A partnership of sorts was suggested: S31 finds DTI runners, and DTI would prevent massive resource loss when S31 attempts an operation that DTI will have to undo. S31 would also provide local agents to help out so temporal agents don't have to risk the damage that accompanies time travel, per "Relativity".
The Eye was where they could coordinate operations: a facility designed to oversee any tracked asset movement. If it is tagged, it can be tracked here. And both organizations have been *very* busy placing tags on humanoids, ships, parcels, pets...it's a safe bet that you've interacted with at least three tracked items every day.
Naturally, S31 wants to get into that overwatch room...get their hands on the protected timeline database. And DTI doesn't like a bunch of spies looking to exploit the slightest mistake in protocol. It's an assignment nobody likes: remote location that is a pain to get to; mistrustful people looking at every move you make; everything recorded and every action accountable to a higher power.
And the replicators can't make good pie for some reason.
Jacob is S31's Chief of Operations at The Eye. He's an enigma, never giving a straight answer. He's tired of his job and is always on the lookout for his next replacement. Jacob has a mean streak that comes through at times.
But he's nothing compared to the DTI Chief at The Eye. He's a real monster.
I feel like you should make a series around this, since you put so much thought into this. I like it a lot, and it makes sense, since DTI agents *cough* Lucsly *cough* prefer to not make the timeline worse, so they have Starfleet liaisons. Now it makes sense S31 would lend services for such tasks.
*Edit: I bet The Eye keeps an lookout for Shon's Enterprise, since everything seems to revolve around Kirk/The Enterprise name, when it comes to time travel problems....
Oh, in-game Grunt hit 50 some time back; he's currently in command of the Obelisk Carrier USS Leviathan. But in stories, for the foreseeable future he's a Captain, and commanding the Celestial-class exploration cruiser USS Bedford.
I'm in relatively the same place: Kathryn hit 50 several months ago (only been playing since 11/2012). I also decided to keep her at "Captain" for various reasons, but mostly because its so easy to get to level 50 in the game, that for the sake of whatever canon exists for Star Trek, there are not THAT many VA "realistically". :P
I tinker with several ships so that I can understand my ultimate favorite (Excelsior) better. Seriously though, if the AHCR had a LtCmdr Sci slot I'd never play another ship evah ... but that's another discussion.
Introducing recently obtained boff M'aei, a Female Caitian Engineer!
Also fixed a spelling error, as well as adding estimated ages of crewman, minus 4 years for what age I originally had them start off as.. There is a discrepency between Gregs and Sharvan's age for a reason.
@aten66: yep, The Eye watches any ship or personnel related to prior timeline incidents. So Enterprise, Defiant, Voyager, and friends and relatives of Kirk, Sisko, and Janeway have been marked for close surveillance.;). Oh...after checking out your updates, all of a sudden I'm feeling really old...you need some humans in their 40's on your crew!
@mli777: I get this image of the crew calling each other "Hosers" as they install parts they bought with Canadian Tire money...and briefings that take twice as long since they give them in English and French...and replicators with presets for double doubles, Kraft dinner, and poutine. But do they screech in non-Canucks assigned to the ship, or just have them pick up the two-fours?:D
@aten66: yep, The Eye watches any ship or personnel related to prior timeline incidents. So Enterprise, Defiant, Voyager, and friends and relatives of Kirk, Sisko, and Janeway have been marked for close surveillance.;). Oh...after checking out your updates, all of a sudden I'm feeling really old...you need some humans in their 40's on your crew!
Hey, if you think about it this is only my bridge crew, this doesn't mean there is not other officers aboard my ship that are just serving other roles. And Gregs is waaayy older then his 20's... he just doesn't look it, so Drake just estimated.
I also think about how in the tutorial only Cadets/Ensigns are left alive after the training run, so it's only fair when you command the ship your fellow survivors become your Bridge Officers since you work so well with them, while other crew is replaced through transfers of command and occasional death of crew.
@mli777: I get this image of the crew calling each other "Hosers" as they install parts they bought with Canadian Tire money...and briefings that take twice as long since they give them in English and French...and replicators with presets for double doubles, Kraft dinner, and poutine. But do they screech in non-Canucks assigned to the ship, or just have them pick up the two-fours?:D
Some folks say hosers, though generally they don't wear jumberjack clothing on duty, normally.
Well, the replicator presets are a given (the ship practically lives on replicated Tim Hotorns Coffee or better yet, the real stuff made from coffee beans stored in stasis.:P) Poutine is considered a rite of passage, access to the booze (see blow) only comes after the victim...erm initiates must consume a half pound of poutine, in one sitting. Kraft dinner is a bit of a divisive issue, between those who add ketchup/sauces onto Kraft Dinner and those who think that is a heresy, as well as the debate over using a fork or spoon to eat Kraft Dinner.
On more semi-serious note, there are annual hockey tournaments on the holodeck.:D
Also, as long as you aren't on duty, the Canada is a "wet" starship. That means the ship has an entire cargo hold filled with real alcoholic drinks, spirits, beers, ales, and whatever is the 25h century equivalent of the two four.:cool:
USS Canada
N.C.C. 171867
Sovereign Class
Saint John Fleet Yard
"A Mari Usque Ad Mare"
Some folks say hosers, though generally they don't wear jumberjack clothing on duty, normally.
Well, the replicator presets are a given (the ship practically lives on replicated Tim Hotorns Coffee or better yet, the real stuff made from coffee beans stored in stasis.:P) Poutine is considered a rite of passage, access to the booze (see blow) only comes after the victim...erm initiates must consume a half pound of poutine, in one sitting. Kraft dinner is a bit of a divisive issue, between those who add ketchup/sauces onto Kraft Dinner and those who think that is a heresy, as well as the debate over using a fork or spoon to eat Kraft Dinner.
On more semi-serious note, there are annual hockey tournaments on the holodeck.:D
Also, as long as you aren't on duty, the Canada is a "wet" starship. That means the ship has an entire cargo hold filled with real alcoholic drinks, spirits, beers, ales, and whatever is the 25h century equivalent of the two four.:cool:
Makes me wonder if there's a ship crewed entirely by people of Germanic descent, who celebrate Oktoberfest every year...
Some folks say hosers, though generally they don't wear jumberjack clothing on duty, normally.
Well, the replicator presets are a given (the ship practically lives on replicated Tim Hotorns Coffee or better yet, the real stuff made from coffee beans stored in stasis.:P) Poutine is considered a rite of passage, access to the booze (see blow) only comes after the victim...erm initiates must consume a half pound of poutine, in one sitting. Kraft dinner is a bit of a divisive issue, between those who add ketchup/sauces onto Kraft Dinner and those who think that is a heresy, as well as the debate over using a fork or spoon to eat Kraft Dinner.
On more semi-serious note, there are annual hockey tournaments on the holodeck.:D
Also, as long as you aren't on duty, the Canada is a "wet" starship. That means the ship has an entire cargo hold filled with real alcoholic drinks, spirits, beers, ales, and whatever is the 25h century equivalent of the two four.:cool:
Sounds like your crew would be right at home on the Bonaventure.
Just make sure you do sweeps of the hydroponics bay and the arboretum from time to time. I had some midshipmen...Richard and Julian, I think...on a famil flight a few years ago and they had a different definition of "Ops" than the Starfleet standard.
But they increased soil efficiency 420%, so I couldn't punish them too harshly.:P
Well i think i cheated a few times on this one, but the entry is in and it's pretty much like i planned in my head. i decided to keep it shorter just so it wasn't too much of a Jumble.
@wraithshadow13: nicely written. <Spoiler alert> left me feeling queasy as the (I'm guessing) Tal Shiar violate the crew's personal files...and apparently the crew itself in short order. If this is the end of your ship...you'd better have a good revenge plot brewing!
wow... my story was so terrible, it killed the thread for over full day...
Not at all, I've just been -- distracted I really enjoyed the file section, but felt the story at the end was, not bad, just -- superfluous to an already strong entry :cool:
Not at all, I've just been -- distracted I really enjoyed the file section, but felt the story at the end was, not bad, just -- superfluous to an already strong entry :cool:
I was going to say something, but Marcus already said everything that I was going to say.
Not at all, I've just been -- distracted I really enjoyed the file section, but felt the story at the end was, not bad, just -- superfluous to an already strong entry :cool:
I think it was needed, but i probably could have done it better... or at least shorter. Trying to write one solid entry wasn't something i wanted to do, but it seemed necessary at the end due to the jumping between files.
@wraithshadow13: nicely written. <Spoiler alert> left me feeling queasy as the (I'm guessing) Tal Shiar violate the crew's personal files...and apparently the crew itself in short order. If this is the end of your ship...you'd better have a good revenge plot brewing!
Thank you. I've always got my mind going on things that could happen, but tossing in this character has really just thrown me off on definitive planning.
Comments
Thanks... I've a lot of notes scattered all over in my comp on my various avatars in game.
Tried my best to stay within topic. If it reads like what you would expect from an intel briefing then I did good.
I did get a couple private messages asking some hows and whys.. I figured it would be best to answer them here.
Captains' of the KDF have the absolute power of life and death over their crews, much more so then a Federation captain. The personality, view and motivations are far more critical then that of the crew, and other officers aboard. A KDF captain is absolute lord and master. a KDF captain can kill or order killed any crew member or officer which does not meet the captains desires.
Star fleet assigns officer and captains, and a star fleet officer simply cannot dismiss officer from a ships company with out a great deal of justification, and a even more paper work. a Federation capatain is going to have to justify their action
I suspect Romulans are some where in the middle of these two ends of the spectrum. More of a classic "Master and Commander" mind set.
I concentrated just on Kui, with the type of back round information that an section 31 field operative would need to have or know when either dealing with her, her ship, and her crew, or if advising star fleet vessels involved with a possible confrontation with her and her ship.
References were made to other existing files for "further" information, with the assumption that there is further biographical information available on her, and her crew.
Some possible details were purposely omitted simply because the information would be at best difficult to obtain for section 31 to get hold of. Not so much because KDF society is closed and insular, which I believe it to be, but that simply getting that level of information would be phenomenally difficult.
Kui's is a bit more of a "visible" then most KDF captains, both because of her off duty activities and her involvement in Task Force Omega, and other "allied" activities. All of which would most certainly draw the attention of section 31.
Her being non a "Cartel" Orion would also make her of interest. I assume that section 31 has likely as not deeply penetrated the Orion Cartel, but Kui would be a big question mark to them. She's just not what might be considered a "Normal" Orion.
She would have to out Klingon Klingon's to have gotten her rank and position, much less any justification in her story to be handed a prototype star ship. So I had to have her back round make sense, and give her a slight leg up in side the empires societal pecking order.
Hope it entertained!
Kui sends.
P.S. This is my first ever entry into one of these lit challenges. Not to shabby for a first effort if I don't say so myself.. and I do!
I kinda stretched it at the end there, maybe a llllliiiiittttlllleeee too far, so I might change it in the end. My goal was to be a little humurous at the the very end. I hope you all enjoy.
I love all of the unique views in this LC, and hope we get to see more LC's pulled from the thread for ideas. All of them were really good.
I had to split my posts into multiple parts a lot in previous challenges when I would constantly hit the word limit. Writing is my passion and one of the very few things I'm good at, so long as the posts are tied to a single cohesive story, I rather doubt anyone really cares.
Besides, I'm pretty sure plenty of other people have done so over the course of the Literary Challenges, I doubt most of them have even read the main post beyond the paragraph of subject matter.
Thank you as well to everyone for the feedback so far, I am appreciative of it and if anyone else wants to weigh in they are more than welcome.
I earned my Vet rewards with commitment, not cash.
@keepcalm: Now I've got this graphic image of Daring going gliding on Earth with not-so-nice results...
@duneczan3: Interesting details...hopefully we'll be reading about them in future LCs?
@aten66: Excellent overview...feels like an 'origins' story; new readers will be able to jump into your tales with this post, and it detials out some things your current readers may have missed the first time.
As for dealing with 2409...I just use it as the current point. Nico went through the Academy ssome 20 years ago, which gives me a lot of wiggle room to go back and tell tales like the loss of the Yorktown, or how Doc Irve first met Sotek, etc. For the game backstory....well...I just look at it that Nico was a passenger during the intro mission, in semi retirement...and the subsequent events made him jump through the hoops if he *really* wanted back in command. I can't buy this 30 days from Ensign to Admiral the game allows...so for the LCs I use something a bit more plausible. (Regardless of your experience, if you go away for a bit you need to be retrained, just so Starfleet will be confident you won't try to route phaser power through the engines or something...)
*Bites Lure*
Question... Who's Jacob and where did you get the Idea for DTI Section31 knowing abut each other?
Thanks by the way!
I would certainly like to. We'll see if any of the other spark my creativity.
Sorry that some people think that statement means I've got a Sue, but I look forward to it nonetheless.
As far as the rapid promotion thing, I only write one of my toons at VADM level, despite he in-game rank. That toon's rapid promotion is explained by his being a highly experienced exchange officer, not a normal green ensign. Gul Berat was a senior Gul in the CDF, meaning his duties were that of a senior captain and sometimes of a lower-level admiral, the reason the crew followed him in the Vega incident was because, all ranks and formalities aside, they knew he had the experience and leadership credentials to pull their butts out of the fire. His rapid ascent in the ranks brought his Starfleet rank about to par with his Cardassian Defense Force rank--so he is a dual-commissioned exchange officer in a special liaison position. While a stretch, it is IMO a LOT more believable than some of he baby-faced admirals running around in game. Oh, and add to it age: he's in his 70's...middle aged for a Cardassian but wise enough to have been around the block a few times and not make dumb Academy kid mistakes (most of the time since no one is perfect).
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
USS Stradivarius
NX-163292
Author of Reprise
The rest are listed as 'Captains' (Commanders in the case of the Romulans, since that's how their system works), with the exception of my Orion tac officer who just so happens to be an Acting Lieutenant General (surprise!).
If I need to grope around for explanations, well, I start with the assumption that they're people of above average ability - they're the protagonists in a video game, so of course they're special
There are huge numbers of people in Starfleet who are in it for the exploration, either literally in terms of going out to new star systems, or metaphorically - scientists, theorists, cultural observers, all that good stuff. The people who are military, and are temperamentally suited to the assumption of military command, are probably in relatively short supply - in times of war, especially, they will be at something of a premium. (I made this point in one of my fics: the Federation is a post-scarcity economy - machines, even machines as huge and complex as starships, are cheap, but the people with the skills to command them are not.)
So, in that situation, people with military ambitions and military competence are likely to be promoted fairly rapidly to a level that suits their abilities.
Of my characters - the ones who've made any significant appearances, at least - Tylha on the Fed side and Shalo on the KDF side are probably the best examples of this. Both of them are capable, and also psychologically driven, for various reasons, to push themselves forwards. Other characters have other factors affecting them - T'Laihhae got in on the ground floor, as it were, of the rapidly expanding new Republic navy, so her career has that impetus behind it; Rrueo and R'j are sort of semi-independent privateers whose KDF rank is more of a courtesy than anything else; Ronnie is - kind of a special case, but native ability and wide-ranging experience mean it's silly for Starfleet not to make use of her, despite her social problems.
At least, that's my take on it - and, with a bit of creative vagueness about character ages, I think I can make it plausible.
Hmmm...which one's the emote for pulling a rabbit out of....
Ok...here's a shot at explanation:
DTI isn't a secret, and when you have assets downtime (or uptime) you can know pretty much anything that you want to. Hear a rumor that S31 caused a shipwreck that will be spewing deadly radiation for years? Send a note to your 34th century counterpart to investigate the wreckage and see if there's some truth to the matter.
DTI, as part of their mandate, deals with temporally displaced persons. Sometimes these people don't want to play by DTI rules, or try to get back to their time frame. The DTI can go back and forth, potentially causing additional paradoxes, or they subcontract out to locate the temporal runners,
S31, as spymasters, are quite adept at finding people who don't want to be found, and do so without leaving chroniton signatures everywhere.
DTI also noted that a lot of S31 operations, if mishandled, would cause extensive damage to the timeline that they'd have to repair.
A partnership of sorts was suggested: S31 finds DTI runners, and DTI would prevent massive resource loss when S31 attempts an operation that DTI will have to undo. S31 would also provide local agents to help out so temporal agents don't have to risk the damage that accompanies time travel, per "Relativity".
The Eye was where they could coordinate operations: a facility designed to oversee any tracked asset movement. If it is tagged, it can be tracked here. And both organizations have been *very* busy placing tags on humanoids, ships, parcels, pets...it's a safe bet that you've interacted with at least three tracked items every day.
Naturally, S31 wants to get into that overwatch room...get their hands on the protected timeline database. And DTI doesn't like a bunch of spies looking to exploit the slightest mistake in protocol. It's an assignment nobody likes: remote location that is a pain to get to; mistrustful people looking at every move you make; everything recorded and every action accountable to a higher power.
And the replicators can't make good pie for some reason.
Jacob is S31's Chief of Operations at The Eye. He's an enigma, never giving a straight answer. He's tired of his job and is always on the lookout for his next replacement. Jacob has a mean streak that comes through at times.
But he's nothing compared to the DTI Chief at The Eye. He's a real monster.
I feel like you should make a series around this, since you put so much thought into this. I like it a lot, and it makes sense, since DTI agents *cough* Lucsly *cough* prefer to not make the timeline worse, so they have Starfleet liaisons. Now it makes sense S31 would lend services for such tasks.
*Edit: I bet The Eye keeps an lookout for Shon's Enterprise, since everything seems to revolve around Kirk/The Enterprise name, when it comes to time travel problems....
I'm in relatively the same place: Kathryn hit 50 several months ago (only been playing since 11/2012). I also decided to keep her at "Captain" for various reasons, but mostly because its so easy to get to level 50 in the game, that for the sake of whatever canon exists for Star Trek, there are not THAT many VA "realistically". :P
I tinker with several ships so that I can understand my ultimate favorite (Excelsior) better. Seriously though, if the AHCR had a LtCmdr Sci slot I'd never play another ship evah ... but that's another discussion.
Like, Three's command style is highly likely to lead to a destroyed ship a la ST3 or Generations. Crew before the ship, sort of thing.
Might provide an excuse to get her into that Chel Grett that I got for her during the winter event...
Also fixed a spelling error, as well as adding estimated ages of crewman, minus 4 years for what age I originally had them start off as.. There is a discrepency between Gregs and Sharvan's age for a reason.
Hope you guys like the new information.
@mli777: I get this image of the crew calling each other "Hosers" as they install parts they bought with Canadian Tire money...and briefings that take twice as long since they give them in English and French...and replicators with presets for double doubles, Kraft dinner, and poutine. But do they screech in non-Canucks assigned to the ship, or just have them pick up the two-fours?:D
Hey, if you think about it this is only my bridge crew, this doesn't mean there is not other officers aboard my ship that are just serving other roles. And Gregs is waaayy older then his 20's... he just doesn't look it, so Drake just estimated.
I also think about how in the tutorial only Cadets/Ensigns are left alive after the training run, so it's only fair when you command the ship your fellow survivors become your Bridge Officers since you work so well with them, while other crew is replaced through transfers of command and occasional death of crew.
Some folks say hosers, though generally they don't wear jumberjack clothing on duty, normally.
Well, the replicator presets are a given (the ship practically lives on replicated Tim Hotorns Coffee or better yet, the real stuff made from coffee beans stored in stasis.:P) Poutine is considered a rite of passage, access to the booze (see blow) only comes after the victim...erm initiates must consume a half pound of poutine, in one sitting. Kraft dinner is a bit of a divisive issue, between those who add ketchup/sauces onto Kraft Dinner and those who think that is a heresy, as well as the debate over using a fork or spoon to eat Kraft Dinner.
On more semi-serious note, there are annual hockey tournaments on the holodeck.:D
Also, as long as you aren't on duty, the Canada is a "wet" starship. That means the ship has an entire cargo hold filled with real alcoholic drinks, spirits, beers, ales, and whatever is the 25h century equivalent of the two four.:cool:
N.C.C. 171867
Sovereign Class
Saint John Fleet Yard
"A Mari Usque Ad Mare"
Makes me wonder if there's a ship crewed entirely by people of Germanic descent, who celebrate Oktoberfest every year...
Sounds like your crew would be right at home on the Bonaventure.
Just make sure you do sweeps of the hydroponics bay and the arboretum from time to time. I had some midshipmen...Richard and Julian, I think...on a famil flight a few years ago and they had a different definition of "Ops" than the Starfleet standard.
But they increased soil efficiency 420%, so I couldn't punish them too harshly.:P
Ahhh, I guess they were chasing purple elephants around or hallucinating the Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup.:P
N.C.C. 171867
Sovereign Class
Saint John Fleet Yard
"A Mari Usque Ad Mare"
Not at all, I've just been -- distracted
I was going to say something, but Marcus already said everything that I was going to say.
I wonder what the next LC will be?
I think it was needed, but i probably could have done it better... or at least shorter. Trying to write one solid entry wasn't something i wanted to do, but it seemed necessary at the end due to the jumping between files.
Thank you. I've always got my mind going on things that could happen, but tossing in this character has really just thrown me off on definitive planning.