The Federation Tribune - November 2007

[Chief Editor Frontier Fleet]

                  ==== The Federation Tribune ====
                         ==== November 2007====

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Chief Editor's Notes:
By Rob Verlinden
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Hello readers. Frontier Fleet's wonderful newspaper is back! This issue is full
of status reports and posting statistics, but it also has a quiz and a legendary
post. Special thanks to Sussie Andersson for sending in an article about being
Swedish.
As you can see the newspaper is here to inform you about what's going on on
other dutystations. But it's also a place where you can publish stories, posts
or quizzes. If you've got a idea or finished article, send it to
chiefeditor at frontierfleet.com .

In this edition:
USS Calhoun Status Report, October 2007. By Adrien Rodd.
USS Odyssey Status Report, October 2007. By Rob Versteegt.
USS Valkyrie Status Report, October 2007. By Rick Clogston.
USS Atlantis Status Report, October 2007. By Ben Versteegt.
SF Academy Status Report, October 2007. By Rick Clogston.
How well do you know the people behind the game? By Rob Verlinden.
Legendary Post. By Rob Verlinden.
Posting Statistics October 2007. By Rob Verlinden.
Nice Surprises: Sweden as a Culture. By Sussie Andersson.

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USS Calhoun Status Report
October 2007
By Adrien Rodd
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STARDATE: 2393.08.28
EPISODE: #30, "And a Star to Steer Her By" (2.04)
LOCATION: conducting routine patrols

Several crewmembers remain trapped on the holodeck, in a deadly pirate
simulation with the safeties mysteriously disabled. After reassembling to
consider their options, the unwilling participants in the simulation are in for
another surprise: a huge figure claiming to be Poseidon tells them they must
complete a new quest if they wish to leave the holodeck alive...

On the "outside", the rest of the crew are now aware of something wrong, and are
trying to reach their trapped crewmates.

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USS Odyssey Status Report
October 2007
By Rob Versteegt
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Mission 17: "Only Time Will Tell"
Stardate: 2443.09.03 (50 years in the future!)
Location of the crew of the Odyssey: Earth, fifty years in the future.

Summary:

The Ody has been dragged 50 years into the future, by the USS Telemachos.
On board the Telemachos, there are various people who know the present
Odyssey crew well. Jalando's daughter, an older version of Commander
Lorvok, Captain Su, Captain Velden... the list goes on. They all want one
thing: that the Odyssey crew understands that the Transwarp project must
end. After all, transwarp seems to be causing the deaths of the Transwarp
Aliens. That is why a war is going on between the Federation and these
aliens. A war which the Federation is losing... badly.

Just when the future crew of the Telemachos had finished talking to the
present senior crew of the Odyssey, Captain Lorvok (future version of the
Ody's FO) received a call from his ship, stating that a fleet of transwarp
ships was on its way to Earth... roughly five hours away. The crews
scattered, feeling the urge to talk to each other. So that was exactly what
happened: present and future versions started talking to each other...
about the war, about themselves, about everything.

Both crews were shocked when suddenly Lieutenant Kamal shot the Captain of
the Telemachos: Arienne Jalando, daughter of Captain Jalando. Why the
Lieutenant had done this is still not sure, but it is believed she was
under the influence of mind control. Captain Arienne Jalando is recovering
in the Odyssey's sickbay: she will soon wake up, most likely. In the
meantime, Captain Jeff Jalando was talking to Captain Lorvok, ex-Captain
PaRel, and Lieutenant Keller, respectively. Jeff Jalando will soon go down
to the surface of Planet Earth, to see his future self... who has gone
crazy in the future.

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USS Valkyrie Status Report
October 2007
By Rick Clogston
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Downtime.  Back from Krios, repairs made, and a time jump to 2393.08.24.
Which just happens to be Ops Chief Alexandra Davis' birthday!  LtJG Foster
declared it Girls' Night Out at Guido's, and it seems like most of the females
on board are joining in the festivities.

Problems have been mounting with the Engineering department, which is causing
Captain Denebris to deliver a reprimand to Lt. Finlay (still in mid-post, btw).
Afterward, he and FO X'ok PaRel went to the holodeck for a relaxing knife-fight.
Ah, the life of the senior staff.

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USS Atlantis Status Report
October 2007
By Ben Versteegt
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Stardate: 2393.05.23/24
Locations of the (crew of the) USS Atlantis:
- Inside Lysian space, racing towards the Lysian Central Command.
- On the USS Birnam
- Holding position near the Lysian Central Command.

Summary:

- 2393.05.23:

At 2300 hours, two thirds of the Atlantis crew gathered in the shuttle bay
at Captain Torn's orders. Little did they know that their memories would be
altered by the Ullian telepath Dobin, who imprinted in them a deep
conviction that the Lysian Central Command had to be destroyed. Later, the
remaining crew members had their memories altered as well. Only Lieutenant
Jomorr and Ensigns Quinto and Sorek retained their original memories, as
did diplomatic attaché Demetrius. Unfortunately, Jomorr, Quinto and Sorek
were caught and placed in the brig as the Atlantis made its way towards the
Lysian central command.

On the USS Birnam, meanwhile, the Atlantis away team had figured out how
to shut down the neurogenic field generators which continued to broadcast
hatred against the Lysians into the minds of everyone on board.
Unfortunately, the procedure to shut down the generators activated a safety
feature: the neurogenic field generators all over the ship started to
broadcast a trigger signal, sending all Birnam crew members into fits of
violence. Birnam STC McKnight also turned violent and attacked Doctor
O'Gallagher. The battle between the two ended when O'Gallagher smashed
McKnight into a console. The electric shock he received as a result proved
to not only disable him, but also remove the violent emotions that had been
triggered by the neurogenic field.

- 2393.05.24:

With the neurogenic field generators deactivated and the Birnam crew
slowly recovering from their ordeal, the Galaxy class ship arrived at the
Lysian Central Command in the early hours of the morning. The Lysians were
not very friendly at first, believing that the Birnam was here to destroy
the Central Command. When Velden convinced them that it was the Atlantis
they should be worried about, the Lysian admiral didn't become any
friendlier. He refused to evacuate and demanded that the Birnam stop the
Atlantis at any cost.

The Atlantis, in the mean time, was only a few hours away and was closing
fast. Captain Torn and doctor Oakeshott, still under the influence of
Dobin's mind control, decided to pay a visit to the recently captured
'renegades'. Demetrius was there also, disguised as a guard. He watched as
Jomorr and the others managed to get Captain Torn to doubt some of his
altered memories. When Dobin showed up, however, all hope of convincing the
Captain of the truth was gone... Or was it? Dobin, still struggling with
his conscience, reluctantly restored Captain Torn's and doctor Oakeshott's
memories, even though Lenox, the Satarran disguised as a Starfleet
Commander, would kill Dobin's family for it if he ever found out.

Their memories restored, Captain Torn and Doctor Oakeshott joined up with
Jomorr, Quinto, Sorek and Demetrius, and Dobin reluctantly joined their
little group as well. They had just over four hours to stop the Atlantis
from reaching the Lysian Central Command and prevent the deaths of
thousands of innocent Lysians.

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Starfleet Academy Status Report
October 2007
By Rick Clogston
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October.  Early fall in San Francisco.  The breeze off the bay is taking on a
sharper edge, and the baseball season is over.

We had nine signups this month.  Two are currently in training, five were
rejected and have not re-applied, and two are still waiting on a final decision.
We currently have four instructors, which is actually pretty good, but we can
always use more.  We're also rather top-heavy on Valkyrie players in the
Instructor ranks; they account for three of the four.

Anyway, three of those four currently have students, although all report that
they're going slow.  So, we'll see who the next graduate will be.  There were
none in October.

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How well do you know the people behind the game?
By Rob Verlinden
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We're actually very lucky that the people in and behind the game are mostly the
same. Our best players often have tasks in the organisation of the game. Tasks
like making the website and running the academy are very important. It's time to
give credit to the people behind the game. Without them the game
would not exist like it is now.

Frontier Fleet: Powered by your friends! Can you recognise their description?

He/she:
A. gives away free donuts on the Valk.
B. is the Father of the Atlantis.
C. once played the captain of the Calhoun, Odyssey and Valkyrie.
D. used to be CO, FO, Council member, Chief Editor, Academy Commandant and
PR-officer at the same time!
E. added the most entries into the LCARS.
F. designed Pandora's layout and was it's first CO.
G. is the only instructor who stayed from the beginning.
H. has a twin brother, who is no longer in the game.
I. is part of the webteam and making the new member book.

1. Clare Bradley
2. Rob Versteegt
3. Merijn Donders
4. Rick Clogston
5. Guido Dorssers
6. Bram Peeters
7. Nick Bartkowiak
8. Dennis Church
9. Adrien Rodd

Match the names with the descriptions and send your answers to
chiefeditor at frontierfleet.com before the 1st of December. If you have them all
right, you qualify for the "Reader of the Year" award. That's a new award for
the most active reader in the fleet.

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Legendary Post.
By Rob Verlinden
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And in this newspaper there is of course another Legendary Post. This one goes
back to 2003 and was posted on Pandora Station. The festive season always
excites us to write rhymes, but nobody had ever written a post, which totally
rhymed. Until Rob Versteegt and Merijn Donders...

Subject line: Barber Whax & Holographic bartender Bart

(USS Atlantis - 5 For - 2391.03.17, 2120 and more.)

It had been a boring day,
and everybody had got in Whax's way
Luckily he had himself to talk to.
At least he had something to do!

A weird one he was indeed,
but now it was time to feed.
Then suddenly, the bartender approached him.
"Do you want a drink?" Suddenly, Whax's mood became grim.

"Do I look dehydrated to you??", he said.
He then stood up, "I only came here to be fed !!"
"I'm sorry." Bart replied, in shock.
~If he wants to mock me, let him mock!~

"Do you want something to eat then?"
He hoped this was the case, business was slow again.
He waited for the barbers reply,
but before it came, Bart let out a sigh.

~Why do I have to have tough clients here?
Why can't they all just drink some beer?
That way everything could work out.~
Again, he sighed out loud.

Noticing the sigh,
one of his personalities let out a cry.
He had to surface soon,
even if it was a whole platoon.

"Are you okay Sir?" Bart asked the man.
"Is there something that I can help you with then?"
Whax looked up in agony and pain,
"Something is wrong.. in here... my brain.."

The barber soon fell to the floor
and hit his head on the door.

~Uh-oh~, the bartender thought.
~If people find out he's hurt, I'll get caught!
I must let this man be alright,
Or else it's time for me to hide!~

He quickly let the man sit up straight.
~This can't be something he ate.
My food is always the best.
Maybe all he needs is some rest!~

Whax looked up in a daze
and felt like a mouse in a maze.
~What do I do now then?~,
he thought, looking at the holographic men.

~Two of them? ~, he said to his other.
Finally, more people to bother.

"Please.. are you okay?"
Bart didn't want to pay,
If the man would have pain,
he would be the one to blame.

Whax wondered what the man said, ~A beer?~
He answered, "A beer would be fine, dear.."

~Dear? This man must have been drinking too much.~
"I'm sorry." he said. "We only have scotch.
But I'll check and see if there's anything else to drink."
When he stood up, he started to think.

~I think he'll be okay, for now.
I just want to know how,
how and why he fell.
Is it something I didn't do well?~

Whax tried to stand up straight,
he shook his head and stayed.
He really needed to eat,
Apparently that was, what had swept him off his feet.

Bart returned with something to drink in a cup.
"Here." he said to the man who had gotten up.
"I hope this will strengthen you."
He sighed. ~what else can I do?~

Whax grabbed the cup,
and said, "bottom's up"
All went down in one try,
now his mouth no longer was dry.

"Well, anything else I can help you with?"
Bart said. "How about I tell you a myth,
about a barber who fell on the flour,
and couldn't get up... not ever, no more."

"I don't need a myth,
and there is nothing to help me with."
This is how he was born,
a weird fellow, but luckily he wasn't a gorn.

"Well then, I hope this didn't lead,
to any injuries... you don't bleed,
do you? Let me have a look."
Bart did just that, and suddenly shook!

"You've got a bump on your head!
If you would have fallen harder, you'd be dead!
We have to get you to sickbay right away.
They have to get you... I have to stay!"

"why?", asked Whax, not seeing a chain.
"You're not tied up?", he asked, but the attempt was in vain.
He knew he was a hologram
and not a real man ...

Bart sighed, and said: "Damn!
Don't you know I'm a hologram!
I can't go with you, you understand?
I can't go off holding your hand!

Anyway, you're sure you're fine?
I hate to let the fault be mine.
How are you? Can you move??"
~Or at least be able to groove?~

Bart wanted to make sure to know,
How Whax was, strictly business though.
If Whax was hurt in the 5-For,
He wouldn't sell any drinks no more!

Fortunately Whax seemed fine.
"It just hurts to switch to another personality of mine."
The barber replied, and then gave a yawn that was deep.
"I think I'm turning in for some sleep"

"Very well, and come back soon!"
Bart said. ~He's as crazy as one full moon!~
He watched the barber walk away from the bar.
~Well... that went well... at least so far!~

(Reply any, which could be many)
(And this is posted by: no surprises or wonders:
Rob Versteegt and Merijn Donders)

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Posting Statistics, October 2007
By Rob Verlinden
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Calhoun players (5):
      Adrian Rodd 48 (Cal 26, Ody 22)
      Kelley MacKinnon 26 (Cal 16, Ody 10)
      Laura Elliot 10
      Mark O'Bannon 8
      Benjamin Ditch 20

USS Odyssey players (5):
      Rob Versteegt 31 (Ody 19, Cal 3, Valk 3, Atly 5, Panda 1)
      Jake Hanlon 9
      Daniel Balding 2
      James Jackson 10
      Rob Verlinden 5

USS Valkyrie players (11):
      Dennis Church 5 (Valk 4, Ody 1)
      Rick Clogston 22 (Valk 14, Ody 7, Panda 1)
      Blayne Welsh 2
      Abby Leib 2
      Ann Montague 9 (Valk 4, Ody 5)
      Nick Bartkowiak 2
      Ruben Hilbers 17 (Valk 9, Cal 8)
      Kelly Power 4
      Melissa McIntire 4
      John Gibson 2
      Don Draper 2

USS Atlantis players (7):
      David Susman 7 (Atly 6, Panda 1)
      Ben Versteegt 14 (Atly 8, Ody 4, Panda 2)
      Bram Peeters 2 (Panda 2)
      Sasa Gerbus 6 (Alty 4, Valk 2)
      Dawn Johnson 3
      Larry Ostwald 1
      Jason Frick 1

Top posters October 2007:
      1. Adrian Rodd 48
      2. Rob Versteegt 31
      3. Kelley MacKinnon 26

Dutystations:
      1. Odyssey 94
      2. Calhoun 85
      3. Valkyrie 54
      4. Atlantis 26
      5. Pandora 7

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Nice Surprises: Sweden as a Culture
By Sussie Andersson, former 2O/CMO Pandora Station
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Author's Notes:
This was written as an assignment for my English B class in
school and it was composed during a single weekend. As such I never really got
the chance to dig as deep into my people's minds as I had wished for when I got
the assignment. Instead what came out was a very broad approach to the subject
which covers a great deal of things.

However I'm still quite proud of the writing I displayed in the paper and that
is (more often than not at least) what ultimately matters in a language course
in school. I only hope now that my work will do well as an article in the
Federation Tribune and be able to at least entertain some of its readers or
maybe at the very least understand my characters better. ;)

I look forward to your reactions regardless. Thanks to Adrien Rodd for his help
by proof reading this paper, it was greatly appreciated. However, any remaining
mistakes are my own.


Nice Surprises: Sweden as a Culture

I sat on the train the other day, commuting to and from school. I was doing what
I usually do during these times, daydreaming mostly, but also thinking about
life in general. It was okay in the beginning, my 40 minute ride to school and
home. It was a good time to rest but in my second year of my new commuting life
it has becoming increasingly arduous.

It's a sombre kind of mood on the train, broken only by the occasional life
threatening cough, which everyone pretends that they didn't hear. I try to
shield myself the best way possible when the poor person suffering from this
lethal disease does it.  However when he or she is sitting right next to you or
in front of you, you can't do much else than just try to hold your breathe for
as long as possible.

Of course the life threatening cough isn't what signifies a Swede. I'm pretty
sure every country has the same problem but there are a lot of other things that
take place on a commuter train headed for Stockholm C. One thing I've both been
a 'victim' of and done myself is some innocent toe-flirting.

It is surprising that nudging each other with ones shoes can be so embarrassing
and terrifying but apparently it is. We (and I include myself in this
generalizing term) Swedes are easily mortified by this even though it is bound
to happen on a crowded train in the middle of rush hour.

Thank the heavens though as we aren't as easily flustered as Americans. We still
generally accept swear words on public television, if used moderately, and we
don't censor much at all. That's another layer to us Swedes; as much as we'd
like to think that we are on a middle road, we often come with a shy and silent
outwards appearance and then when we're feeling comfortable (or as it goes for
everyone, when we're drunk)we let loose, and we do it completely.

I can't speak much of that though as I have no experience of it myself (the
nightlife at clubs etc.) but I think our humour can represent this unleashed
form of Swedes very well too. Our humour is often rough and ironical with a mean
touch. Perhaps a result of our want to praise and use (or abuse) our democratic
right for freedom of speech.

We are a proud people, partly hidden by our modesty but seen in our effort to
better the world and we try to do so by leading by example. We are a proud
democracy as well. Make no mistake of that. Just because our participation in
elections isn't very high doesn't mean that we don't want to care for our
country's freedom and it certainly doesn't reflect our pride in our nation.

This is shown by the fact that our National Day became a public holiday as
recently as 2005 and it is now slowly growing in popularity even though it will
probably take a good many of years before it develops the same traditions that
other holidays have in our country. I'm mainly thinking of our Midsummer Eve,
which is the celebration of summer solstice and I believe it to be one of
Sweden's biggest holidays.

It is celebrated in late June and marks the slow turning of seasons; the night
is the lightest of the year and it also said to be a magical night. A magic from
which the many myths and stories concerning Midsummer emanates from.

And there are plenty of beliefs, but perhaps the most common one and still
'practised' is that if a girl picks 7 different flowers during the evening and
then sleeps with them under her pillow, she will dream about her future husband.

As most holidays in Sweden Midsummer also has a Christian background; it was
originally a day to honour John the Baptist. It has over time however evolved
into something that everyone can participate in, no matter which religion you
belong to. Although in the last couple of years it has taken a turn for the
worse. Midsummer Eve has become one of the worst nights of the year in regards
to youth drunkenness.

Midsummer Eve is preceded by Walpurgis Night on April 30, a celebration of the
spring done by lighting large bonfires and singing songs about the spring. The
most famous song is "Längtan till Landet" or most commonly known as "Vintern
rasat ut", the former is loosely translated to something like "The longing for
the countryside". Unfortunately, Walpurgis Night is also plagued by the dizzying
amount of alcohol consumed, especially by teenagers. This is something which has
been recognized in recent years and is now fought more widely than before.

As always though, Swedes tend to be a bit late in our awakening and we are
frequently surprised at our own shortcomings. As demonstrated rather comically
by the fact that chaos erupts always, every year, when the first snow falls. You
would have thought we would have learned to expect it by now but we continue to
be shocked by it, whether it comes in September or December.

Less comically were our actions during the Tsunami catastrophe when our
government was heavily criticised for their inaction. Private travelling
companies moved faster to help the victims than the government could write
authorisation much less give such a thing to various state run organizations who
wanted to help.

Investigations are still being made to try and realize what went wrong and how
they can improve. More than two years after and with a completely new government
in place we still can't admit that we messed up entirely and need to improve,
and that fast. Bureaucracy may be good for some things but this time it has so
far served no one.

We will soon be so caught up in our investigations that we will be just as taken
by the next catastrophe as we were by the other ones.

Not all surprises are bad though, as the well known Swedish author of many
chronicles, Johan Hakelius, describes in one of his articles. This particular
one is named "To be Swedish is to be surprised". Since it all is in Swedish,
I'll try and summarize it somewhat.

He has figured out something that is truly Swedish. It isn't any of the things
I've described above, it isn't to talk about the dry weather or to compliment
someone with the phrase "How un-Swedish of you" (his examples) and it certainly
isn't polar bears on the street.

It is about Swedes' tendency to be surprised about something that turned out to
be nice. Say you're hosting a small tea-party for a few friends and it was just
hard to get them to come and be enthusiastic about it in the first place.
They're afraid it's gonna be as dull as a politician doing his usual monotonous
speech, because that is the impression society has given us about tea-parties.
Tea-parties are *supposed* to be boring, end of story.

However, this one turns out to be a success; people laugh, tell stories and have
a good time all around, just like every other party you've held has been like.
And yet they're all reluctant to come to the next one. Why? Because Swedes never
learn and so when we run into each other in the mall the next day we are still
surprised at the good time we had the night before.

We say to each other "We really did have a good time yesterday, didn't we?!" our
emphasis lies on the first part of really and the questioning remark afterwards
indicates our surprise.

We don't say it as a fact, as if we had expected to have a good time and that
those expectations were met, but rather since we thought we would spend the
evening trying to stay awake we are taken aback a little by the fact that it was
the complete opposite. He, the author, ends his article with the conclusion that
it really is a wonder Swedes get together and meet at all. A very perceptive
thought wouldn't you say?

 It is an interesting observation made by Johan Hakelius though, one that I
think spot on describes a typical Swede. We're a bit shy and withdrawn, but with
the power to let go completely and when we do, we're shocked by it.

Or see it this way, Sweden; surprised at our own niceness.

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