UFOP: StarBase 118

Please welcome our newest class of Academy graduates to the UFOP: StarBase 118 fleet: Kaitlyn Falcon, Mnheia Thieurrull-Orpheus Khellian, and Brian MacRae!

Back out beyond the Romulan Empire once again, the USS Avandar soon found itself receiving an automated distress call from an unidentified ship. When they investigated, the crew found the source of the signal to be inside an asteroid field, a field who’s chemical composition made attempts to scan less than effective.

With caution, the Avandar began getting closer, and was eventually able to detect a pair of ships – one little more than wreckage, whilst the other was very much active. Before much could be done to react to this discovery, the Avandar began suffering massive power drain, quickly identified as coming from something among the asteroids. To add to the trouble, the active one of the ships they’d found moved to attack.

Within minutes, the Avandar’s crew had some major problems on their hands – not least of which was the fact that the power drain had effectively stripped the ship of it’s shields and allowed boarders to infiltrate and begin grabbing anything they could. The intruders were repelled, but not without the loss of a fair amount of hardware, and their ship broke away. The Avandar is now left with deciding what to do about the attack, and also how best to deal with their first contact with a species that they had only ever really encountered in old second-hand Romulan reports.

The push is beginning! The doors to our fantastic roleplaying community are always open to new members, but we need you to help us knock down the front wall in order to accommodate a stampede of new members when Star Trek: Into Darkness hits our screens! Every available fleet member can easily spend a little under 10 minutes to help us to advertise our group and channel that stampede in the right direction!

“So what do I need to do,” I hear you ask?

Simple! We’re looking to increase our representation across active Star Trek forums with the group’s best possible ambassadors – you guys! All you need to do to start helping is to head here to find a list of active forums, make sure you’re signed up, and start posting! There should already be a place to post personal logs for your character (look for SB118 in Roleplaying/SIMming/Gaming) but you don’t have to restrict yourself to that! Join in with anything at all that’s happening on the board, making sure you’re always representing us well and painting us in a good light!

So how does that get us new members? When you join the forum, make sure you have a great sig (you could use the one you already have for our own forums if it’s compliant with forum rules!) and include a link to our main site (http://www.starbase118.net) in your signature text! The combination of an eye catching signature, a catchy slogan and that link should have members flocking to our gates!

Remember – you don’t need to be a member of the Publicity Team to go forth and recruit! If you get a taste for it then please feel free to join us!

The Zakdorn are a playable species, one with the unusual reputation of being the best strategists in the universe. As a result they have not been challenged by any other species for more than 9 millennia. Odd, really, when you consider that they do not present a very intimidating aspect in person. They tend to be slightly overweight and appear to be slow-witted.

While it is true that they are not excellent athletes, they do have very intelligent and analytical minds. Unfortunately, they know it and are not afraid to show it. Many people go out of their way to challenge them, hoping to beat them. It is an extremely rare case when one of them is beaten at any kind of strategic game.

They can be smug and overconfident, but with good reason. They know what they can do. For the most part they occupy positions that requires excellent analytical or organizational skills. They can be found scattered all over the Federation working for Federation interests or as independent contractors.

As members of the Federation, their contribution has been lacklustre, except for the fact that they tend to occupy jobs where their skills can best be utilized.

They are probably one of the harder species to sim for. After all, they tend to be more academic than physically motivated. That, and their general attitude of superiority, can make them into unique characters with great potential for character development.

As Star Trek: Into Darkness draws ever closer, it’s time for UFOP: Starbase 118 to prepare to send out hails on all frequencies in preparation to bring as many people as we can into the fleet! The best possible ambassador for our group is YOU! Who better to instill enthusiasm into the legions of trek fans out there and tempt them to join our ranks!

While the Publicity Team members put their pedal to the metal, there are a couple of little things that the membership at large (that’s you!) can do that will have a serious impact in helping us out! For those of you who have Facebook accounts, we’d love you to follow us! Everyone who likes and shares our posts is spreading the good word to friends who may potentially do the same! That gives us a shot at reaching people who we would otherwise not be reaching, and there’s no telling who we could tempt in. The same goes for Twitter! Give us a follow and retweet our posts! It’s all great advertising!

Also, we have a great opportunity to make an impact in real life by posting our awesome flyers in local comic book/sci-fi stores! To find out how to get one, for free, and help to spread the magic to other trek fans, head here. Advertising in this way helps us reach out to countless people who may not know that we exist or that email roleplaying exists!

If you’re interested in joining the Publicity Team to help with the big push, check out our recruitment page!

With your help, we should be able to dramatically increase the number of people who want to join our awesome fleet over the course of the next couple of months and beyond! Any time you can spare for us would be greatly appreciated! Remember – more members means more ships, a stronger community, and huge possibilities for the future!

Of all the phenomena that we have seen in Star Trek, few could be said to be as problematic, dangerous, or even as convenient as the Mirror Universe. So named for creating a parallel and often opposite universe to the one that we all enjoy simming in, this alternate reality or alternate dimensional plane, as it is officially described, has been a long-running feature across several Trek series.  In particular the Mirror Universe was seen in The Original Series, Deep Space Nine, and briefly in Enterprise. Despite the tragic circumstances, we even have the Mirror Universe to thank for prompting the commission of one of our ships of the SB118 fleet, the USS Tiger-A.

That brings us to this week’s poll, which is: What do you think of the Mirror Universe? Are you a fan who would love to see more or even have encounters with this deadly dimension in sim, or do you loath to sit through a Mirror Universe episode? No matter what your stance, we want to hear more from you on the forums, whether that be opinions of the various episodes or even memories of in-character adventures from on the other side. Remember, voting is only half the fun.

It is all up to you; so have fun!

The USS Apollo, NCC-71669, has just left the Quatal system after taking final scans of what remained of the weapons manufacturing facility. The workers in the facility activated a self destruct sequence that could not be stopped. The away team, scattered and alive, made their way back to the Apollo. With the amount of unknowns from the facility, everyone was quarantined until they were able to get a good bill of health from the Chief Medical Officer, Jalana Laxyn.

The crew started to analyze what happened on the surface to use it as a learning experience for the newer officers. The crew will enjoy some down time as the Apollo departs the Cardassian border and returns to the Typhon Sector for the first time since being called away when the Klingons advanced into Romulan territory.

A new service ribbon has been introduced and is available to be awarded starting immediately. The Medical Science Ribbon recognizes members of Starfleet who participate in, and successfully find a cure to a deadly, infectious disease which threatens to infect an entire planet or crew. This ribbon will serve as recognition for a job well done in saving the lives of others through scientific research, determination, and personal risk.

The USS Tiger prompted the creation of this ribbon, from a mission to Bilire IV during the Klingon Invasion summer blockbuster. A cure was needed for a biologically engineered deadly disease called “The Wrath” which had plagued the Romulan colonists on Bilire VI (also Bilire IV) for over a year, and had begun to infect other species. The crew was successful in aiding the citizens of this planet and finding a cure.

Members who believe their actions since January 2012 may have earned them this ribbon should contact their captain and ask for consideration.

The crew of the USS Tiger has enjoyed a much needed extended shore-leave at DS 17 after two missions back-to-back. After a promotion ceremony, many found recreation in the Holodeck, including LtJG Blair who explored the life of pirate on the high seas of old Earth. Meanwhile, others enjoyed the various shops that comprised DS 17. Ensign Zerxes handled the routine daily affairs that accompanied the job of working in Security such as interacting with Tirzah, the Captain’s adopted daughter. However it wasn’t long before the crew was recalled by the Captain as a new situation in the Hermates Sector arose that required the attention of the Tiger.

Please remember to nominate a bio for the Featured Bio Contest before Round 11 closes on May 1st.

We’re looking for the highest quality bios in the fleet to not only help provide an example for our members on how to structure their bio, but also to show off how much our members put into the creation of realistic and emotional characters.

Head to the Featured Bio Contest forum now to nominate a bio of your own, or someone else whose bio you admire.