potw

So, we’re now two weeks into the new year, be that 2021 for the writers, or 2398 for our characters. We’ve shrugged off the festive coma, started working out to get rid our beer bellies, eaten the last of the Christmas chocolates, and polished off the last of the port.

Now is the absolute perfect time to look at some good old fashioned New Year’s resolutions (and not the New Year Resolution, which is to do with one of our ship’s current missions); what are your Starbase 118-related resolutions and goals?

Perhaps you’d like to get yourself a shiny new pip for your character, or make a Department Chief position (even if that comes with a buttload of extra PADDwork)? If you really like paperwork, perchance you’d like to embrace it and become a member of our beloved staff? Maybe you have a personal storyline that you’d be looking to expand upon, draw to a close or open up for the first time? What about relationships? You could forge new friendships, reopen old rivalries or maybe you want to make that special love connection?

Or is it possible you’ve got a more out of character goal? Maybe you’d like to join a taskforce (or even facilitate one) and ensure that our community continues to grow and grow! Might you just want to continue to learn and develop as a writer (I know this is arguably my most consistent goal); do you have action steps you want to take or do you just learn by doing and reading other’s work?

This week, we want to know…

​What are your Starbase 118 related resolutions and goals for 2021?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll on which you would choose, or let us know your own! Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

As part of a new series in the Poll of the Week, we’re bringing you into the centre chair. When presented with a situation, how would you react? What would you do?

Your ship, the Steamrunner class USS Âu Cơ, is on a routine diplomatic visit to the world of Ferinoat IV, in the Theta Sector. Newly allied to the Federation, this world is known for its raw material shipments for what cannot be replicated, and there is a diplomatic push to get it as a full trading partner of the Federation. It is also a paradise world, with half of it’s 1.4* Earth sphere given to extreme low impact business and eco-friendly tourism.

Upon arriving, the ship is hailed by the Chief Executive Officer of Ferinoat, Arcturan Nadarion, with an urgent request for aid against a paramilitary movement committing actions of insurrection and terrorism, the Independence For Kel-Mora Republics. An officially proscribed organization since 2367, the organization had a political wing gathering power, unhappy with the allotment of resources and power given to non-favoured component republics.

Investigations by the Chief Tactical Officer reveal that the reason is an upcoming plebiscite that there is some doubt is entirely free – from either side, and the ship is contacted by one of the IFKR members, disguising themselves as an animated fox-girl. They claim that the Chief Executive’s party has been subverting their contractual rights to free expression, free movement, and the right of the licensed press to print the truth.

Two days later, your senior staff assemble to pool the information gathered, revealing the following:

• The Ferinoat system produces 45% of all raw tarsonium, a material used in starship construction.
• Reports have been filed by Federation and Starfleet Intelligence supporting both claims.
• The contract granting the Ferinoat IV Colony, KSLC rights to incorporate by the Satikail Corporate Nations, also guarantees those rights, but also states that the planetary corporation must allow for severability and spinning off.
• While there have been few deaths so far, it is the opinion of your tactical officer and counsellor that this will soon end, as there are clear signs of escalation on both sides. However, throwing your support behind either side would likely end the conflict without any more escalation.

However, the time for debate ended abruptly with the arrival of a Satikail Battlecruiser. While they permit you to stay in orbit, you are warned in no uncertain terms not to interfere. After a trial back on Staikail Secundus (in absentia, which is legal under their laws), they intend to send down a management team and corporate security assets and perform mass arrests of anyone on either side.

​What do you do?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll on which plan you would choose, or let us know your own! Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

Like all military organisations, wearing a uniform shows who you represent, develops a sense of commonality, solidarity and equality. It makes the person wearing it instantly recognisable, stand out in a crowd, distinguish themselves for the service they provide, and has an impact on others, especially those within the Star Trek universe. The same uniform is worn by everyone from the Captain down to the Crewman, the only differences being the pips on the collar and the colour to denote the department.

There are some cultural influences on Starfleet uniforms we’ve seen over the years, including the addition of Worf’s baldric, Nog’s headdress, and Kira’s Bajoran earrings. Either symbolic of their family or their religion, and culturally appropriate for them. We’ll not talk about Troi and her casual attire…

Colours and uniforms have changed through the run of Star Trek, showing the changes in style and function throughout the years, and how Starfleet adjusted for them. While we were used to seeing the department colour taking up the dominant part of the uniform, during the Dominion War, this left Command Officers at risk, so it was reduced to just the collar, the rest of the uniform black and grey. 

Each of the series of Star Trek has introduced the viewer to a new uniform, in one way or another. Looking back through the racks and wardrobes of the costume department, some are favourites, and some can be confined to the charity bin of history.

This week, we want to know…

​Which Starfleet uniform era was your favourite and why?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll on which plan you would choose, or let us know your own! Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

While Kirk and company started off the “wagon train to the stars”, it was the prequel series of Enterprise that gave us a glimpse at the birth of the Federation that we have come to know and love. The intrepid crew of the NX-01 would need the explorer’s spirit and nerves of steel to venture into the unknown. Who would be counted worthy of participating in this trek?

Captain Jonathan Archer was a kind man and epitomized what it meant to be human. He was ready to reach out a helping hand – sometimes to a fault. His father before him worked on the warp engine design that would carry the Enterprise on her mission of discovery, so he was no stranger to what it would take for mankind to take its place among the stars.

T’Pol was the Vulcan observer and represented the ever-watchful stare of the Vulcans. Because of her different views and manner, she sometimes found herself at odds with the rest of the crew. Eventually, they seemed to settle into an understanding which brought us many storylines that helped us see the Vulcans as brothers and not just as rivals holding humans back.

Commander Charles “Trip” Tucker III. The engineer with all the know-how and a southern drawl too. He was likeable, quick-witted, and made a great mother.

Doctor Phlox introduced us to a new species in the Star Trek universe – the Denobulans. Phlox was also somewhat of an outsider. He did not always understand or agree with the decisions the captain and crew made but his gregarious personality stood in stark contrast to that of T’Pol. He was always viewed as a valuable member of the crew and seemed to have a never-ending supply of wise words.

Then we have crew members such as Hoshi Sato, Malcolm Reed, and Travis Mayweather. And who can forget other regulars like the Andorian Captain Shran or Vulcan Ambassador Soval?

​Who is your favourite character from the Enterprise series?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll on which plan you would choose, or let us know your own! Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

We rarely see the holiday season in the Star Trek franchise; with a plethora of cultures, species and systems of beliefs, that makes perfect sense.

Ignoring that one scene with Jean-Luc spending a Christmas in the Twilight Zone, I mean, um the Nexus from Star Trek: Generations, of course.

So… if we did get a one-off Christmas episode, who would you rather spend it with? Rocking around the Christmas tree with Data, Crusher and Riker (his leg posed on a large snowman)? Having a happy Hanukkah with Kirk, Spock and Bones? Spending Winter Solstice with Archer on the original Enterprise (and not just because it’s the shortest day of the year)?

Perhaps you’d like a krazy Kwanzaa with Janeway doing that face parents do when you open your presents and they know exactly what they’ve got you? Chakotay, of course, wouldn’t have a clue what he’d got you, and Neelix would make a banging dinner. Perfection.

But of course, there are plenty of other options for winter holidays that you could choose from; but that’s not what we’re asking for here.

What we want to know is WHO would you choose to spend some time with over the holiday season? Of all the different crews from the Star Trek shows to choose from, although I’m sure some of you might select a crew not from one of the lead ships. Perhaps you’d rather spend an extra cold Christmas with Shran and the rest of his Andorian band? Or maybe take in some bloodwine at a Klingon opera with Gowron and his magnificent stare?

​Who would you choose to spend some time with over the holiday season?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll on which plan you would choose, or let us know your own! Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

As part of a new series in the Poll of the Week, we’re bringing you into the centre chair. When presented with a situation, how would you react? What would you do?

Your ship, the Ambassador class USS Æthelflæd, is en-route to the Gardner system, responding to a medical emergency in the colony there. Your ship, stationed at Starbase 47, was the first responder and will be followed up by the Horizon class USS Edward, but it’s missing a large component of its normal crew, onboard your ship.

The medical emergency appears to be a set of plagues a new one every 19.27 standard hours. The comm went silent shortly after the SOS, and no attempts to raise the colony have succeeded. As the normal sector commander is at a conference over in the Eta Sector, you have called together your senior staff to discuss if you should request backup as well from the Akira-class USS Penda.

After gathering information from your staff, including a briefing on the Gardner system, you and your staff come to the following information:

• The Gardner III colony has dealt with four different viral plagues, and the fifth should hit in 4.15 standard hours.
• You are approximately 4 standard hours at this point, waiting for the Penda would make that 12.
• Sensor readings of the Gardner system are impossible at this distance due to the deep subspace inversion the star and gas giants are undergoing.
• The USS Edward was undergoing a refit, and only half of its weaponry is present.
• The Gardner system is within only a few light-years of Tholian AND Cardassian space.
• The Cardassian force in the area is only a few hours away from Gardner, on "wargame exercises"
• At last census, in 2397, the Gardner III colony contained one million sentients. The SOS implied half were dying, and their infrastructure was at risk of collapse.

After the meeting, the USS Penda is summoned, and the cautious arguments of your tactical officer lead you to drop out of warp early and take readings the second you cross the heliopause of the system. There is a battlecruiser of unknown design above the colony.. and one in the asteroid belt, tractoring an asteroid on an impact course with the colony.

Your staff immoderately erupts in suggestions, but you know that those battlecruisers individually out mass and outfight your ship, and the Penda is eight hours out. Fighting is out of the question, but inaction will only let you see a colony die.

​Which course of action do you take?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll on which plan you would choose, or let us know your own! Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

Star Trek has a long and torrid love affair with bringing wonderful characters and protagonists to life, presenting a fantastic array of challenging situations, pitting themselves against insurmountable odds and, sometimes, some really cracking villains.

Who can forget the golden moments of Gul Dukat in Deep Space Nine as he evolves into a character some of us actually care about? Or the ripping emotional tension we get from Khan Noonian-Singh? We cheered the intelligence and the guile of the Klingon General Chang, sporting his eye-patch of doom (bolted to the face for full metal), and some of the worst enemies the Federation has ever seen came as the Jem’Hadar, the brutal troper force for the Dominion ready to commit unspeakable acts for the glory of the soldiering life. 

However, let’s face it — some Star Trek villains are just… bad. 

While we had Khan, we also had the Son’a — who, if remembered for anything, it’s the facelift. In the late nineties, it seemed everyone wanted to get young again and have their skin pulled back until a display of any emotion would literally crack the face open in ways a dubious plastic surgeon would be proud of. The Son’a were riddled with toxins they had to expunge, and instead of throwing themselves into a New Year Resolution of kale smoothies and yoga on Thursdays, they did… this. And then killed an Admiral no one cares about with a facelift. Take that, beauty standards!

But for a series spanning six decades now, not every villain is going to be perfect, and for some, they are a product of their time. 

So, this week, we want to know…

​In your opinion, who is the least interesting villain in Star Trek?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll on which plan you would choose, or let us know your own! Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

The huge list of actors and actresses that have graced our screens as part of the Star Trek universe adds to the complexity that is our favourite sci-fi show. These secondary characters that add a depth to the stories we love to watch. It’s only natural that a stray actor might fill multiple roles. And then there’s American actor Jeffrey Combs! This man played multiple memorable characters and his name should be synonymous with Star Trek!

On Deep Space 9, he played the Vorta clone Weyoun. His masterful execution of this servant of the Founders and Directors of the Jem’Hadar foot soldiers of the Dominion was a character we loved to hate. His weasely ways certainly added to many of DS9’s episodes.

Another character Jeffrey Combs is well-known for also hales from Deep Space 9. Liquidator Brunt was a thorn in Quark’s side. As a member of the Ferengi Commerce Authority, he played a role in foiling Quark’s plans in multiple episodes. Combs portrayal of the character added a lot of depth to the Ferengi species and helped pull back the curtain on a species that had been introduced before but never fully explored.

A third character Jeffrey Combs gave us was that of the Andorian Captain Shran from Star Trek Enterprise. His character, a seeming villain to begin with – expanded our knowledge of the Andorian race. We came to understand them as oppressed, not war-like, and valuable allies in a forming Federation.

No matter who your favourite Jeffrey Combs character is, I think we can all agree that his talent certainly brought a lot to our favourite franchise. But the question remains…

​In your opinion, who was the best Star Trek character that actor Jeffrey Combs portrayed?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll on which plan you would choose, or let us know your own! Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

As part of a new series in the Poll of the Week, we’re bringing you into the centre chair. When presented with a situation, how would you react? What would you do?

Your ship, the Nebula class USS Æthelwulf, has responded to a distress signal, only to discover it was a trap set by pirates, who ambushed your ship at close range. While you destroyed three and drove off the four, your comm officer has picked up signal traffic indicating reinforcements will be there shorter than the relief delegation Starfleet has sent.

Meanwhile, your ship is heavily damaged, and your warp drive cannot form a stable warp field. While your surviving crew is busy repairing the ship, you do not anticipate having more than one torpedo launcher, half of the phaser arrays and maybe shields at half strength before reinforcements return.

Your tactical officer suggests they may be trying to capture your ship to use as part of a pirate fleet. Your XO disagrees, feeling they are just trying to weaken and destroy shipping escorts in the Eta sector.

However, at a staff meeting, your crew has three separate plans proposed to you.

​Do you pick one of the proposed plans, or do you have your own?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll on which plan you would choose, or let us know your own! Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

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With a laundry list of accusations, enemies, nicknamed “The God of Lies”, Guinan doing the cat claws, described as “obnoxious”, “interfering”, a “pest”, and Picard’s glowing character reference of “devious and amoral and unreliable and irresponsible and… definitely not to be trusted,” how could we not cover the most wonderful, the sublime, and the irresistible charms of Q?

As a powerful, almighty, and divine-like entity from a race of faux-celestial beings known collectively as the Q, Commanding Officers of starships were briefed on the existence of this super influential race. Q would usually appear in humanoid form, dress in the uniform of a Starfleet Captain, and in every instance where he appeared, Q immediately commanded the stage. The obnoxious and sometimes dangerous being turned up on the bridges of the USS Enterprise, USS Voyager, and appeared on Deep Space Nine, to hassle the Captains with an underlying guise to better understand the human race for their folly and their actions, all with the best interests for the survival of Humanity kindling beneath. 

Star Trek has in him one of the finest antagonists ever known, who eventually — through much, much trial and error — becomes a friend.

This week, we’d like to know…

​What is your favourite moment of Q throughout the Star Trek series?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll. Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!