12-19-2004, 05:17 AM
Name: USS Pathfinder
Type: Star Trek PBeM (Yahoo Group)
Class: Nova
Affiliation: Task Force 72 of Bravofleet
Website: http://usspathfinder.bravohost.org/
The USS Pathfinder is a fairly new RPG operating out of Task Force 72 in Bravofleet. We're a Nova Class vessel and as such, focus more on story and character development than phasers and huge battles. I am her commanding officer, Drake William Cassidy, and as an aspiring writer and fan of Star Trek, I try to encourage as much of the "story" aspect of the game as possible. As a graduate of the Bravofleet Command Academy, I am fully qualified to operate simulations to their full ability.
After September, the RPG sort of became idle and vacant due to the copious amounts of crewmembers who left to concentrate on their schoolwork, and now, to bring in the new year, it is my hope that I can bring back the game in full swing and make it more successful and fun than ever.
We at the Pathfinder also encourage a good, friendly OOC environment and try to make the simulation as much of a "home" as we possibly can. Being a small ship, we have a small crew, and this makes it fairly easy to acomplish this goal.
The following positions are open (Don't go by the crew page on the site - that's in-character):
-Executive Officer
-Second Officer (Will have to have an alternate position)
-Chief Flight Control Officer
-Assistant Flight Control Officer
-Helm Officer
-Chief Operations Officer
-Assistant Chief Operations Officer
-Operations Officer
-Chief Engineering Officer
-Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
-Engineer
-Assistant Chief Tactical Officer
-Tactical Officer
-Chief Medical Officer
-Assistant Chief Medical Officer
-Doctor
-Assistant Chief Science Officer
-Science Officer
-Marine XO
-Lounge Manager
-Civilian
Here is a sample of the work of our crew (me in paticular):
**********************************************************
USS Pathfinder
Day 15
Stardate 58039.36
0800 Hours
ON:
=/\=
Executive Officer's Personal Log, Stardate 58039.36
Following the departure of the Pathfinder from Starbase 72, the shakedown cruise has been running rather smoothly. In spite of the Captain's rather ... hostile attitude towards the crew, the maiden flight has been uneventful thus far. Truth be told, it's been a bit boring, and I'm starting to wonder if the stigma of "boredom" that science vessels have held for so long in the Federation is actually true. In any event, I suppose it's better to be living a dull life in space than a dangerous one.
Major systems are operating in varying proficiency percentiles, but they could stand a bit of tuning. Hopefully, we'll be able to pull into a repair station sooner or later so that we can complete the repairs that Starbase 72 began. It's a comfort, at least, that all of LCARS panels are working now. Still, with the incessant boredom that has claimed the ship, it seems that a lot of the crew is ready to transfer as soon as they get the chance. I can't say that I blame them. Communication systems have been a bit fuzzy, but our Chief Engineer claims to be nearing some kind of breakthrough. I hope that we haven't missed any important communications - things seem too quiet around here. I'm getting a bad feeling about things.
We're headed to a Federation asteroid field just past the Alluran System where we'll be conducting further weapons testing. There have been some issues with the phaser arrays that need to be remedied.
The bridge of the Pathfinder was quiet save for the occasional beep or click coming from the various stations around the bridge. Commander Cassidy looked straight forward from his seat staring straight at the main viewing screen. Empty. An endless stretch of stars and nothing. Though there had been many a night Drake had spent staring up into the sky and looking at the stars with wonder, after several weeks of looking at nothing else, he'd gotten rather bored of the twinkling vacuum.
=/\=
"Report," Captain Moore (NPC) said mundanely. "Anything new?"
No one answered. Everything was the same. The captain sighed and slouched back in his chair with rolled eyes and Drake could see that even he was getting weary of this.
Drake thought he heard someone suddenly groaned in boredom-induced anguish. Next, he heard the sound of a comm badge tapping and turned to the source of the sound - Marine Captain Arcus Crusher who looked like he'd seen better days.
Cunningham taps: Lt. Cunningham to Captain Crusher.
Crusher: Crusher here, what is it Lieutenant?
Cunningham: I'd like to take the boys on a PT run through one of the
holodecks, sir.
Crusher: Please do so. I've sent Lt. Miranda to deliver you an
overview on a new training program I want to put into action. Take a
look at it when you have the time.
Cunningham: Very well sir
Crusher: Crusher out.
Arcus leaned back, thinking about what he could be doing in a few
minutes time if he was back in the Armory. He sighed, and looked
around the bridge again. No change...
Drake raised an eyebrow but turned back to the fore of the ship before Crusher could notice. He wanted to tell him that it'd be okay and that something exciting would happen soon, but he wasn't that good of a liar.
BOOM!
The bridge shuddered suddenly and the officers on the bridge were awakened in surprise. Many looked as if their heart had nearly exploded from the sheer shock of the rumble. Others simply looked excited at the prospect of something - ANYTHING - happening. Captain Moore was of the former.
"What the hell was that?" he demanded of the bridge with wide-eyes. "Report!"
All eyes turned to Lieutenant Marshall at Tactical who was quickly jabbing keys on his LCARS panel.
"It was some kind of plasma flare," he reported with furrowed eyebrows - he was confused. "I don't know why sensors didn't pick it up."
"A Plasma flare?" Drake repeated quizzically. "Where could that have come from?"
BOOM!
Rumble-Rumble.
"Find out quick!" Captain Moore commanded sternly.
"Maybe something's wrong with our sensors," Commander Cassidy offered. "Those flares have to be coming from somewhere..."
BOOM!
Rumble-Rumble.
Sure enough, Lieutenant Alexander Sayden was on the job. Now it was his turn to go about punching various keys at his station. After a few seconds and a few more random rumbles, the Lieutenant nodded.
"Something's there alright," he confirmed. "The sensor array doesn't seem to be properly aligned though... I just did a diagnostic a while ago though-"
BOOM!
Rumble-Rumble.
The shaking was getting worse with every interval.
"Compensate!" the Captain barked and the Chief Operations Officer quickly went about re-aligning the sensor array while the rest of the bridge officers looked on helplessly.
"Got it!" the Lieutenant cried happily and clapped his hands together - but his smile quickly faded as he looked at the panel and read the data more carefully. "Oh my God..."
"What? What is it!?" Captain Moore demanded as he became afraid of Alex's suddenly-grim and pale face. "On-screen! On-screen!"
Someone who wasn't scared out of their wits followed the Captain's orders and there it was.
It was immense.
A billowing cloud of reds and purples shimmering with white electricity - and they were headed straight for it.
"MR. DEM'ORR!" Captain Moore and Commander Cassidy screamed out in unison but the Romulan helm officer had started pressing buttons in front of him as soon as he saw the storm.
Everyone held onto something as the ship sharply took an angle as Junior Grade Lieutenant Dem'orr tried desperately to pull off a last minute turn to avoid flying straight into the eye of the largest plasma storm anyone on the bridge of the Pathfinder had ever seen. The rumbling now became constant and more violent than ever. Lights and LCARS panels were soon flickering like candles caught in the wind and sparks began flying from the walls as they hit the very edge of the storm. Another flare hit them and the quake that ensued flung Captain Moore from his seat.
Desperately, Commander Williams tried to scream orders but the frightened screaming and small explosions all around him were deafening. Looking about him, Drake thought ironically that the ship looked as in much of a state of disrepair as it had when Starbase 72 was still in the middle of putting it back together before they'd left dock. Thereafter, a montage of images flashed before his eyes.
Earth.
His wife.
His unborn child.
Was fate so cruel that it would kill him here? Now?
Some sick part of him laughed.
But before Drake could continue to worry about his death, he noticed that the rumblings stopped and sparks stopped shooting out of the very bowels of the ship controls. A few seconds later, auxiliary power kicked in and the primary lighting and systems came back online. Catching his breath, Drake looked around and wondered how he was still alive.
"What happened?" Drake wondered aloud and noticed that the view screen was no longer consumed by purple and red. "Where's the storm?"
"Emergency warp," Lieutenant Dem'orr explained in his regular monotone voice - but Drake could sense some small tone of relief in him. "We're a few light-years out of our way, but we've outrun that ... thing. For now."
Now Drake turned to the Ops station as a medical officer picked up the unconscious body of the Captain and began carrying it towards the turbolift.
"What WAS that thing?" he asked Lieutenant Sayden whose face was dirty and sweaty from the events.
"As far as I can tell, it was a level ten plasma storm. A very large one."
"Level...?"
"Ten."
"Are you sure you've fixed the sensors properly?" Drake murmured in disbelief. "If memory serves, the highest level storm this close to Federation territory was only level-"
"Sir," Lieutenant Sayden interjected looking thoroughly harassed. "All systems other than basic life support and propulsion are down. The systems are fried. Shields are gone. Our aft torpedo launcher has been welded closed. Decks five through eight are reporting casualties - and we didn't even ENTER the storm."
"How close did we get to it?"
"Not terrifically."
"Sir, we're being hailed," Lieutenant Dem'orr reported. "Audio only."
"The irony," Drake laughed. "The moment all of our systems go down, the one system that wasn't working before decides to work. Let's hear it."
"Attention all Federation Vessels," came a choppy and distorted voice. "By order of Rear Admiral Rolf Emerson, all vessels within the Alluran System must report and dock at Starbase Seven IMMEDIATELY. A level ten plasma storm is approaching. Repeat: do NOT attempt to fly through the storm."
The communication ended.
"It's a beacon," Dem'orr explained. "Apparently, it's been playing for quite some time now. Perhaps if we had waited for Starbase 72 to properly fix our communications array, we would have been forewarned."
Drake rolled his eyes and sighed. He wanted to say "I told you so" to Captain Moore and spit in his face for the danger he'd put the ship in, but somehow, he didn't think that was advisable seeing as how the Captain was on his way to the infirmary. Anyway, he was in charge of the bridge for now and he quickly adjusted.
"Set a course," Drake said sitting down in what was normally Captain Moore's seat. "Starbase Seven. Emergency Warp. The weapons test will obviously have to wait."
"Aye sir."
As the ship began to move again, Drake remembered that he had wanted to have a look at this new Starbase that everyone was talking about; however, he wished that the circumstances had been a bit more friendly.
OFF
OOO
Commander Drake William Cassidy
Acting Commanding Officer (IC)
USS Pathfinder-B
Task Force 72
**********************************************************
Interested? Sound like your calibur of writing?
If you would like to help us become a successful science and exploration vessel, or if you'd just like to join a extra ship for your free time, please learn more about us at http://usspathfinder.bravohost.org/
Star Trek Pathfinder: Warp Into Adventure!
Sincerely,
Drake William Cassidy
CO USS Pathfinder-B
Type: Star Trek PBeM (Yahoo Group)
Class: Nova
Affiliation: Task Force 72 of Bravofleet
Website: http://usspathfinder.bravohost.org/
The USS Pathfinder is a fairly new RPG operating out of Task Force 72 in Bravofleet. We're a Nova Class vessel and as such, focus more on story and character development than phasers and huge battles. I am her commanding officer, Drake William Cassidy, and as an aspiring writer and fan of Star Trek, I try to encourage as much of the "story" aspect of the game as possible. As a graduate of the Bravofleet Command Academy, I am fully qualified to operate simulations to their full ability.
After September, the RPG sort of became idle and vacant due to the copious amounts of crewmembers who left to concentrate on their schoolwork, and now, to bring in the new year, it is my hope that I can bring back the game in full swing and make it more successful and fun than ever.
We at the Pathfinder also encourage a good, friendly OOC environment and try to make the simulation as much of a "home" as we possibly can. Being a small ship, we have a small crew, and this makes it fairly easy to acomplish this goal.
The following positions are open (Don't go by the crew page on the site - that's in-character):
-Executive Officer
-Second Officer (Will have to have an alternate position)
-Chief Flight Control Officer
-Assistant Flight Control Officer
-Helm Officer
-Chief Operations Officer
-Assistant Chief Operations Officer
-Operations Officer
-Chief Engineering Officer
-Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
-Engineer
-Assistant Chief Tactical Officer
-Tactical Officer
-Chief Medical Officer
-Assistant Chief Medical Officer
-Doctor
-Assistant Chief Science Officer
-Science Officer
-Marine XO
-Lounge Manager
-Civilian
Here is a sample of the work of our crew (me in paticular):
**********************************************************
USS Pathfinder
Day 15
Stardate 58039.36
0800 Hours
ON:
=/\=
Executive Officer's Personal Log, Stardate 58039.36
Following the departure of the Pathfinder from Starbase 72, the shakedown cruise has been running rather smoothly. In spite of the Captain's rather ... hostile attitude towards the crew, the maiden flight has been uneventful thus far. Truth be told, it's been a bit boring, and I'm starting to wonder if the stigma of "boredom" that science vessels have held for so long in the Federation is actually true. In any event, I suppose it's better to be living a dull life in space than a dangerous one.
Major systems are operating in varying proficiency percentiles, but they could stand a bit of tuning. Hopefully, we'll be able to pull into a repair station sooner or later so that we can complete the repairs that Starbase 72 began. It's a comfort, at least, that all of LCARS panels are working now. Still, with the incessant boredom that has claimed the ship, it seems that a lot of the crew is ready to transfer as soon as they get the chance. I can't say that I blame them. Communication systems have been a bit fuzzy, but our Chief Engineer claims to be nearing some kind of breakthrough. I hope that we haven't missed any important communications - things seem too quiet around here. I'm getting a bad feeling about things.
We're headed to a Federation asteroid field just past the Alluran System where we'll be conducting further weapons testing. There have been some issues with the phaser arrays that need to be remedied.
The bridge of the Pathfinder was quiet save for the occasional beep or click coming from the various stations around the bridge. Commander Cassidy looked straight forward from his seat staring straight at the main viewing screen. Empty. An endless stretch of stars and nothing. Though there had been many a night Drake had spent staring up into the sky and looking at the stars with wonder, after several weeks of looking at nothing else, he'd gotten rather bored of the twinkling vacuum.
=/\=
"Report," Captain Moore (NPC) said mundanely. "Anything new?"
No one answered. Everything was the same. The captain sighed and slouched back in his chair with rolled eyes and Drake could see that even he was getting weary of this.
Drake thought he heard someone suddenly groaned in boredom-induced anguish. Next, he heard the sound of a comm badge tapping and turned to the source of the sound - Marine Captain Arcus Crusher who looked like he'd seen better days.
Cunningham taps: Lt. Cunningham to Captain Crusher.
Crusher: Crusher here, what is it Lieutenant?
Cunningham: I'd like to take the boys on a PT run through one of the
holodecks, sir.
Crusher: Please do so. I've sent Lt. Miranda to deliver you an
overview on a new training program I want to put into action. Take a
look at it when you have the time.
Cunningham: Very well sir
Crusher: Crusher out.
Arcus leaned back, thinking about what he could be doing in a few
minutes time if he was back in the Armory. He sighed, and looked
around the bridge again. No change...
Drake raised an eyebrow but turned back to the fore of the ship before Crusher could notice. He wanted to tell him that it'd be okay and that something exciting would happen soon, but he wasn't that good of a liar.
BOOM!
The bridge shuddered suddenly and the officers on the bridge were awakened in surprise. Many looked as if their heart had nearly exploded from the sheer shock of the rumble. Others simply looked excited at the prospect of something - ANYTHING - happening. Captain Moore was of the former.
"What the hell was that?" he demanded of the bridge with wide-eyes. "Report!"
All eyes turned to Lieutenant Marshall at Tactical who was quickly jabbing keys on his LCARS panel.
"It was some kind of plasma flare," he reported with furrowed eyebrows - he was confused. "I don't know why sensors didn't pick it up."
"A Plasma flare?" Drake repeated quizzically. "Where could that have come from?"
BOOM!
Rumble-Rumble.
"Find out quick!" Captain Moore commanded sternly.
"Maybe something's wrong with our sensors," Commander Cassidy offered. "Those flares have to be coming from somewhere..."
BOOM!
Rumble-Rumble.
Sure enough, Lieutenant Alexander Sayden was on the job. Now it was his turn to go about punching various keys at his station. After a few seconds and a few more random rumbles, the Lieutenant nodded.
"Something's there alright," he confirmed. "The sensor array doesn't seem to be properly aligned though... I just did a diagnostic a while ago though-"
BOOM!
Rumble-Rumble.
The shaking was getting worse with every interval.
"Compensate!" the Captain barked and the Chief Operations Officer quickly went about re-aligning the sensor array while the rest of the bridge officers looked on helplessly.
"Got it!" the Lieutenant cried happily and clapped his hands together - but his smile quickly faded as he looked at the panel and read the data more carefully. "Oh my God..."
"What? What is it!?" Captain Moore demanded as he became afraid of Alex's suddenly-grim and pale face. "On-screen! On-screen!"
Someone who wasn't scared out of their wits followed the Captain's orders and there it was.
It was immense.
A billowing cloud of reds and purples shimmering with white electricity - and they were headed straight for it.
"MR. DEM'ORR!" Captain Moore and Commander Cassidy screamed out in unison but the Romulan helm officer had started pressing buttons in front of him as soon as he saw the storm.
Everyone held onto something as the ship sharply took an angle as Junior Grade Lieutenant Dem'orr tried desperately to pull off a last minute turn to avoid flying straight into the eye of the largest plasma storm anyone on the bridge of the Pathfinder had ever seen. The rumbling now became constant and more violent than ever. Lights and LCARS panels were soon flickering like candles caught in the wind and sparks began flying from the walls as they hit the very edge of the storm. Another flare hit them and the quake that ensued flung Captain Moore from his seat.
Desperately, Commander Williams tried to scream orders but the frightened screaming and small explosions all around him were deafening. Looking about him, Drake thought ironically that the ship looked as in much of a state of disrepair as it had when Starbase 72 was still in the middle of putting it back together before they'd left dock. Thereafter, a montage of images flashed before his eyes.
Earth.
His wife.
His unborn child.
Was fate so cruel that it would kill him here? Now?
Some sick part of him laughed.
But before Drake could continue to worry about his death, he noticed that the rumblings stopped and sparks stopped shooting out of the very bowels of the ship controls. A few seconds later, auxiliary power kicked in and the primary lighting and systems came back online. Catching his breath, Drake looked around and wondered how he was still alive.
"What happened?" Drake wondered aloud and noticed that the view screen was no longer consumed by purple and red. "Where's the storm?"
"Emergency warp," Lieutenant Dem'orr explained in his regular monotone voice - but Drake could sense some small tone of relief in him. "We're a few light-years out of our way, but we've outrun that ... thing. For now."
Now Drake turned to the Ops station as a medical officer picked up the unconscious body of the Captain and began carrying it towards the turbolift.
"What WAS that thing?" he asked Lieutenant Sayden whose face was dirty and sweaty from the events.
"As far as I can tell, it was a level ten plasma storm. A very large one."
"Level...?"
"Ten."
"Are you sure you've fixed the sensors properly?" Drake murmured in disbelief. "If memory serves, the highest level storm this close to Federation territory was only level-"
"Sir," Lieutenant Sayden interjected looking thoroughly harassed. "All systems other than basic life support and propulsion are down. The systems are fried. Shields are gone. Our aft torpedo launcher has been welded closed. Decks five through eight are reporting casualties - and we didn't even ENTER the storm."
"How close did we get to it?"
"Not terrifically."
"Sir, we're being hailed," Lieutenant Dem'orr reported. "Audio only."
"The irony," Drake laughed. "The moment all of our systems go down, the one system that wasn't working before decides to work. Let's hear it."
"Attention all Federation Vessels," came a choppy and distorted voice. "By order of Rear Admiral Rolf Emerson, all vessels within the Alluran System must report and dock at Starbase Seven IMMEDIATELY. A level ten plasma storm is approaching. Repeat: do NOT attempt to fly through the storm."
The communication ended.
"It's a beacon," Dem'orr explained. "Apparently, it's been playing for quite some time now. Perhaps if we had waited for Starbase 72 to properly fix our communications array, we would have been forewarned."
Drake rolled his eyes and sighed. He wanted to say "I told you so" to Captain Moore and spit in his face for the danger he'd put the ship in, but somehow, he didn't think that was advisable seeing as how the Captain was on his way to the infirmary. Anyway, he was in charge of the bridge for now and he quickly adjusted.
"Set a course," Drake said sitting down in what was normally Captain Moore's seat. "Starbase Seven. Emergency Warp. The weapons test will obviously have to wait."
"Aye sir."
As the ship began to move again, Drake remembered that he had wanted to have a look at this new Starbase that everyone was talking about; however, he wished that the circumstances had been a bit more friendly.
OFF
OOO
Commander Drake William Cassidy
Acting Commanding Officer (IC)
USS Pathfinder-B
Task Force 72
**********************************************************
Interested? Sound like your calibur of writing?
If you would like to help us become a successful science and exploration vessel, or if you'd just like to join a extra ship for your free time, please learn more about us at http://usspathfinder.bravohost.org/
Star Trek Pathfinder: Warp Into Adventure!
Sincerely,
Drake William Cassidy
CO USS Pathfinder-B