Join us for another in a series of interviews with winners of awards from the 2022 Awards Ceremony. Our goal is to give you insight into how our fleet’s best simmers write, and imagine their characters as well as their out of character contributions and achievements.
This month we’re interviewing the writer behind Lt Commander Cadfael Peters playing a Human male chief engineer assigned to the USS Astraeus. Last year he was awarded the Prestigious Service Medallion for the Pilot’s Sextant while simming as the helmsman of the USS Chin’toka. These medallions are “Awarded to members in the fleet who are steady and unwavering from their chosen Duty Post” and “who has already won a duty post award.”
Promontory: You shared a bit about yourself in your previous interview. Are there more details you’d like to share about yourself?
Peters: I do not mind sharing that I am also a high functioning autistic, and as such resort more to fantasy or sci-fi gaming than I do real world things.
This is your second recognition for excellence in the helmsman duty role. What advice would you give to others who are struggling to find their voice in this role?
Peters: Don’t be afraid to take risks pertaining to flying. Wikis are your friend. 118 Wiki + Memory Alpha is your friend. Memory Beta is something I use as a last resort, but generally someone within the fleet has already written something if it isn’t on MA.
I want to ask about this specific incident: “Early this year, Cadfael inverted the Chin’toka as it descended down through an atmosphere in order to catch a shuttle within one of our shuttle bays, upside down…” What more can you share with our readers who might not have witnessed that themselves?
Peters: Ah yes, the Peters maneuver with a Raga Inversion. Which was basically to take the Akira class vessel into the atmosphere of a planet and went into a nose-dive before flipping upside down to “catch” the shuttle into our shuttle bay. This was not a simulation and totally unplanned on the spur of the moment. If you wish to do something crazy like this, run the idea past your captain first, find out what limits you have regarding damaging the ship, and *then* go crazy with it.
I am including a couple links for your reading pleasure about the maneuver.
LtC Cadfael Peters: This Had Better Work Part I
LtC Cadfael Peters: This Had Better Work Part II
LtC Toryn Raga – Peters Maneuver with a Raga Inversion
You also were praised for your PNPCs. When a crew might be a little thin in some areas of a duty roster, what counsel would you give to those creating fill-ins ?
Peters: Good question. Carter Greyson started out as just a faceless NPC who was a generic engineer I stuck in a few cameo scenes to increase my sim count when I found myself lacking other PCs to interact with. I spent a few days worth of scenes writing many of those early sims on my own, and eventually he turned into a PC. Everyone starts somewhere, and you may need to write a couple one-offs between your PC & NPC for a bit. It happens, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you would like to see my full lineup of characters, click here. If you have questions on any of them, don’t hesitate to reach out. I answer discord almost faster than email.
You’ve just passed your decade mark with Starbase 118. To what do you attribute your longevity?
Peters: I did? My, how time flies. Okay. Well, part of that is due to the length of story I created with my main character, Chythar Skyfire. He was my main for nearly 7 years, and has a very rich service jacket history. I have spent the last 3 playing different characters, adjusting to the needs of the ship.
Last year you mentioned that you hoped Cadfael would break his bachelor steak. Any progress on that front?
Peters: Nope. He’s still a bachelor, but is finally back out “on the market” so to say. He has a StarFlirt profile, at the very least. I was debating trying to write something for him with one of my own NPCs, but that’s still on the table even though I am not very good at it.
What else might be in Cadfael’s future?
Peters: I have no idea. For now I’ll be content with trying to get the Astraeus’s warp XV engine to actually get them to warp XV. Right now they are at warp 13.1 as maximum speed, and maybe one day try to get him to commander.
Thanks for your time, Lt Commander Peters!
You can read more about Lt Commander Peters on the wiki.
