The Federation Tribune - May 2008

[Chief Editor Frontier Fleet]

                  ==== The Federation Tribune ====
                         ==== May 2008====

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Chief Editor's Notes:
By Rob Verlinden
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Hello readers! Welcome to a packed issue of the Federation Tribune.
Are you curios about the posting statistics or last month's status reports? Do
you want to discover if Chickenman can solve the big mystery of where his
sandals are? Just stick with us and read on.
Additionally Rob Versteegt describes his experiences during all Odyssey missions
and the remarkable things that happened. This might well be the last newspaper
with articles by both Versteegt brothers. Ben Versteegt, he plays Atlantis FO
Velden,  announces his departure from Frontier Fleet in the last article of this
edition. It's sad to see him go. Thank you for all you did for us.

This month:
USS Calhoun Status Report, April 2008. By Adrien Rodd.
USS Odyssey Status Report, April 2008. By Rob Versteegt.
USS Valkyrie Status Report, April 2008. By Rick Clogston.
USS Atlantis Status Report, April 2008. By David Susman.
SF Academy Status Report, April 2008. By Rick Clogston.
Crew News, April & May 2008. By Rob Verlinden.
Posting Statistics, April 2008. By Rob Verlinden.
Extraordinary Posts. By David Susman and Rob Verlinden.
STFF Extras: Odyssey Mission Commentaries. By Rob Versteegt.
My farewell to Frontier Fleet. By Ben Versteegt.

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USS Calhoun Status Report
April 2008
By Adrien Rodd
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EPISODE: #31, "The Relief of Becker IV" (2.05)

STARDATE: 2394.02.11
LOCATION: Becker system, outside Federation space

The alien embassies on the planet have been destroyed by rebels to protest
against the destruction of villages and the virtual enslavement of villagers
by Ferengi, Cardassian and Orion businessmen. What started out as a mission
of negotiation has turned into an operation of search and rescue to find
survivors in the wreckage. And the Romulan warships in orbit seem poised to
exact revenge on the Beckan world. . .

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USS Odyssey Status Report
April 2008
By Rob Versteegt
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Mission # 18: "Wrath of the Gods"

Stardate: 2394.03.13
Location: Crashed on Planet M-667, over a lightyear from Starbase 157.

The Odyssey: crashed.
The crew: Injured.
The situation: hopeless.
Chance at immediate rescue: None.

As the Odyssey crew tried to deal with being crashed at an unknown planet
with a pre-warp civilisation, members of the Trajan settlement of the
Griznian Empire saddled up, and went to look for the 'gift of the gods',
as they called the object falling out of the sky. At around the same time
as the Odyssey crew started their meeting to discuss the situation, the
native villagers, soldiers and priest arrived at a mountain top where they
could see their 'gift' laying there. Smoke was clearing up, and they could
easily see the shape of the Starfleet ship. . . wondering who, or what, was
inside. Perhaps the gods themselves?

Captain Jalando and the crew of the Odyssey, unaware of the fact that
their presence was discovered, decided that some reconnaissance was in
order. Not only to see if the prime directive was already broken. . . but
also to find the Romulan ship, which most likely had crashed too.

But it is only a matter of time before the Starfleet officers and the
natives meet. . . will the Odyssey crew be able to uphold the prime
directive, or will the villagers find a way to use the 'gift from the gods'
to win their war?

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USS Valkyrie Status Report
April 2008
By Rick Clogston
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It's been one of those quiet, in-between-missions kind of months for the
intrepid crew of the Ship of Misfits.  To say that nothing was happenning,
however, would be a gross misjudgement.

Ensign Belinia was found sleeping in the Arboretum on Pandora Station.  That in
itself was not exactly a heinous crime, but when awakened and questioned by
Pandora's STC, Lt. Hanya Jaal, he was unable to explain himself.  It would seem
there's more to this than meets the eye.

A couple of new crew members are also getting settled in, namely the new ACMO
and Counsellor.  Ensign Setar is dealing with doing the Chief Medical Officer's
job without knowing if it will soon be hers or not.  Ensign Rose is getting hit
with all kinds of things from her new patients.  Both are holding up under their
Valkyrie-level baptisms in fire.

Emile and Anita Schofield (and their soon-to-be-born daughter) finally got away
for a patiently-waited-for honeymoon.  A nice relaxing month on Risa.  Sure,
right, yeah.  No, this is the Schofields we're talking about here.  So their
transport loses containment in its warp core or something and they find
themselves in a poorly-equipped escape pod crash-landing on an unaffiliated
world in the middle of a civil war.

On the other hand, some people are going well.  Doctor MacKenzie returned with
the idea of requesting a transfer to Earth, but her plans changed.  She ran into
First Officer PaRel, who suggested that they get married instead.  Happily, she
said yes.  It is said that Captain Denebris will perform the ceremony sometime
after 2393.01.01.  Stay tuned.

Among the other things that took place were an incursion into unauthorized area
by Max Schofield, civilian dog; a dinner between the Captain and Lt. Davis; and
an unexplained visit from the World's Greatest Crime Fighter, Chickenman.

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USS Atlantis Status Report
April 2008
By David Susman
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Episode 10 - Shell Game

Stardate: 2393.12.06
Location: In orbit of Tui Malila/The surface of Tui
Malila/The suface of Tui Malila-B.

The Ambassador has initiated contact with the miners
and colonists and set up a meeting to take place on
the Atlantis.  Her attaché's concern for the
Ambassador's health has brought Doctor O'Gallagher to
the conference room for an exam.

The Away mission to Tui Malila-B has entered a wreck
near a magnetic anomaly, and have discovered dangerous
cargo.  They have retreated to the Elbe and beamed two
members, Bugling and Dawson, into the mystery ship.

The Engineering department is faced with faulty
supplies and a cranky Quartermaster.  The CEO, LT
Montgomery and Ensign Paiyel have discovered an alloy
is being degraded rapidly possibly due to the lunar
anomaly.

A group of miners attempted to seize the crew of the
Boryhas which crashed into the swamps.  The crew were
rescued however the "swamp monsters" seem to be
attacking the miners.

An alien ship dropped out of warp in orbit of Tui
Malila.  The Captain, who looks like a bipedal turtle,
demanded the removal of the 'mammals' from the Yakkin
colony world.

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Starfleet Academy Status Report
April 2008
By Rick Clogston
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It was another productive month for the Academy.  We welcomed 12 new signups,
six of whom were accepted.  There are currently eight cadets undergoing
training, and there were four graduates this month.  They are:

Ensign Rhadya Saar (Trill/Betazoid) - J. Alexandra - ASTC, USS Atlantis
Ensign Kar'off (Kreetassan) - Zev Roodenberg - ASTC, USS Calhoun
Ensign Savek (Klingon/Vulcan) - Tessa Niles - ACMO, USS Calhoun
Ensign Loella Myrrin (Human) - Ramone West - ACONN, USS Atlantis

The Academy is the beginning of the adventure for everyone who joins Frontier
Fleet.  And, for many, it is also the end.  It is up to me, the Commandant, to
screen the new signups and decide whether or not someone starts off well enough
to warrant further training.  There are no set standards, simply a judgement
call.

There are also no set standards for instructing a new Cadet and preparing them
for admission into the fleet.  This also is a judgement call on the part of the
instructor, and they are the one with the final say regarding a Cadet's
readiness for graduation.  I know each of our instructors, and have at various
times written with each of them.  I trust their judgement in these matters
implicitly, and time and time again that trust has proven to be well-placed.

But as instructors, each of us works without a net.  We are largely unaware of
how our colleagues perform their jobs, and I feel that this is a matter that
needs to be addressed.  Not in any formal way, and not as a criticism, but as a
means of informing each other of what we've learned through experience.  We each
write our own textbooks, as it were, and it's only logical that we should share
this knowledge.  It also would be good to air any questions we might have, or
expose any potential blind spots we may detect in our own field of vision.

My instructor character is a Joined Trill named Dorvan Lar, who is a Lieutenant
and a former operations officer during his time out in the field.  I sometimes
find it frustrating that I've never gotten to do any character development, but
the focus of his existence is to train a new, raw cadet in the ways of Frontier
Fleet.  I'm afraid when I thought him up I didn't really think about the fact
that he wasn't going to post with anyone for any great length of time.  Most of
the bio I wrote, which I'm rather proud of btw, is completely useless to his
task, but c'est la vie.

In training, I concentrate mostly on making sure the cadet knows and uses the
standard posting format.  I don't worry over much about their basic writing
skills such as spelling, punctuation, and the like unless they're really, really
bad.  This game includes a great many people for whom English is a second
language, and I refuse to nit-pick over such minor considerations.  I admire
anyone who makes the effort to learn another language, and envy anyone who has
the ability.  For the most part everybody who actually makes it into the fleet
communicates clearly enough.

I believe that the other important factors are that the cadet is creative enough
to keep a story line going, and interested enough to reply regularly.  Many
times I've had a cadet that I was sure from their first post knew everything
they needed to know, but I kept them going for a few more posts to make sure
they didn't run out of gas and fade away.

The thing that I've found most difficult to deal with is when I have a cadet who
writes well and picks up the format, but simply stops responding.  I often
wonder if it's something I've done that makes them lose interest, but most
likely it is simply that they find it's not as much fun as they might have
imagined.

As far as posting goes, I tend to start them all off in roughly the same manner.
I have a couple of scenarios that I use as a basis for getting started, although
I try and come up with new ones every so often.  I think the cadet can tell if
they're getting canned meat.  Lately, the story line I use after the initial
meeting is one of a trip to Wales to meet an old mentor who is headmaster of a
school.  They get there with the expectation of meeting the students of a
military academy, but find themselves walking into a hostage situation.  A
Ferengi and a few Naussicans have come for something that this mentor of Lt.
Lar's has.  I build the story bit by bit, and I try and leave an open door at
the end of a post.  If the Cadet takes the story in a different direction I let
them, to see what they do with it.  Rarely do we ever get to the conclusion of a
mission before I'm sure whether or not they are ready for graduation, or to be
dropped.

I would like to impose on the other instructors to please, if you could, write a
little piece on your instructor character and how you go about training cadets.
I would like to include one in each status report for the next few months, as a
means of us communicating with each other.  I know I have gained from the
experience any time I get a glimpse into the processes of another instructor,
and I feel it has helped me improve.  I would also appreciate any criticisms any
of you might have in regards to what I've written.  This goes for you on the
Command list as well.

Sorry to be so long-winded, but I think the more we can learn from each other,
the better we all will be.  Hopefully, I can print something that somebody else
writes next month.  I am anxious to see what any, and hopefully all, of you have
to say.

RAdm. Charles David Clark, Commandant, Starfleet Academy

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Crew News
April 2008
By Rob Verlinden
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A very big welcome to our newest characters in Frontier Fleet:
Ensign Rhadya Saar (Trill/Betazoid) - J. Alexandra - ASTC, USS Atlantis
Ensign Loella Myrrin (Human) - Ramone West - ACONN, USS Atlantis
Ensign Kar'off (Kreetassan) - Zev Roodenberg - ASTC, USS Calhoun
Ensign Savek (Klingon/Vulcan) - Tessa Niles - ACMO, USS Calhoun

Unfortunately one character was removed due to inactivity this month.
OPS Lt.jg Donald Gee, played by Jim Yee is no longer with us.

This is the place to announce that Ben Versteegt, who plays Atlantis' FO, has
decided to resign from Frontier Fleet. In the last article of this newspaper he
says farewell. Let us say farewell to him.
Goodbye, Ben. You have contributed a lot to Frontier Fleet. We will never forget
Commander Paul Velden, Lt. Tessa Elan, Instructor Miranda Winter and Hologram
Glitch. You were the philosopher in our midst. We wish you good luck with
everything.

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Posting Statistics
April 2008
By Rob Verlinden
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Calhoun players (8, active 7):
      Adrien Rodd 24
      Kelley MacKinnon 13
      Mark O'Bannon 2
      Benjamin Ditch 27
      William Raymer 4
      William West 13
      Zev Roodenburg 6

USS Odyssey players (8, active 7):
      Rob Versteegt 16 (Ody 11, Atly 4, Panda 1)
      Martin Miller 2
      Daniel Balding 3
      Rob Verlinden 6
      Guido Dorssers 1
      Sussie Andersson 4 (Ody 2, Panda 2)
      Jonathan Hardy 1

USS Valkyrie players (12, active 10):
      Dennis Church 4 (Valk 3, Ody 1)
      Rick Clogston 12
      Abby Leib 1
      Ann Montague 4
      Ruben Hilbers 12
      Kelly Power 2
      Melissa McIntire 3
      John Gibson 1
      Katie Crockett 10
      Emily Pesicka 2

USS Atlantis players (10, active 8):
      David Susman 39 (Atly 25, Cal 6, Ody 5, Valk 1, Panda 2)
      Ben Versteegt 7
      Bram Peeters 8 (Atly 7, Panda 1)
      Dawn Johnson 3
      Merijn Donders 14
      Chantal Sellers 13 (Atly 9, Ody 4)
      Jim Pierre 1
      J. Alexandra 2

Total FF players (38, active 32):
      posts 256 (last month 343)

Top posters April 2008:
      1. David Susman 39
      2. Benjamin Ditch 27
      3. Adrien Rodd 24

Dutystations:
      1. Calhoun 91
      2. Atlantis 72
      3. Valkyrie 51
      4. Odyssey 36
      5. Pandora 6

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Extraordinary Posts
By David Susman and Rob Verlinden
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This month David celebrated the festival of Pesach (Passover) and the massive
amount of flatbread he ate must have had some effect on his brains, because he
spontaneously started writing silly posts. Not just regular silly posts, which
he normally writes, but amazingly funny silly posts.

He posted one Chickenman post to every list in Frontier Fleet. I considered
publishing them all in full, but I didn't want to make the newspaper too long
(and too silly). So I'm just giving you 5 links to 5 brilliantly funny
Chickenman posts. Warning: Don't laugh your head off.

http://www.frontierfleet.com/members/archives/ussatlantis/2008-April/004006.html
http://www.frontierfleet.com/members/archives/usscalhoun/2008-April/010501.html
http://www.frontierfleet.com/members/archives/ussodyssey/2008-April/006928.html
http://www.frontierfleet.com/members/archives/ussvalkyrie/2008-April/006232.html
http://www.frontierfleet.com/members/archives/pandora/2008-April/006499.html

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STFF Extras: Odyssey Mission Commentaries
By Rob Versteegt
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After putting the Odyssey missions on the forum, I began to remember certain
details about the missions. What went wrong, what was absolutely not planned,
what is still one of my best posts ever, etc. I thought it'd be nice to -like on
a DVD- have a commentary by the player of CO Jeff Jalando. . . aka, me!
Since I didn't join the Odyssey until mission 7, I don't have memories of what
happened at the first few missions. However, I do remember stories others told
me. . .
Remember, you can go to the Story page of the Odyssey to read the mission
summaries, or go to the forum to see a very small summary.

==

Mission 1: Alternate Enemies.
Now isn't this exciting: the Odyssey's first mission. It's interesting to see
that the Odyssey is introduced by the ship that is already known: the USS
Calhoun. Once the Odyssey was rescued by the Calhoun in the Calhoun's mission,
the Odyssey starts its first mission to rescue another ship in the alternate
universe. Nicely done!

Mission 2: Ghosts from Zoldur.
My first thought when I read the summary, was: "Ooookay?" 'Zoldur', or actually
'Zolder' which you pronounce in the same way, means 'attic' in Dutch. Ghosts in
the attic. . . right. And also. . . evil energy creatures? Those evil energy
creatures did return at a Pandora Station mission once, I believe. I'm not sure
about that. I love continuity though.

And of course the security officers which were created here. Bassy and Adrian,
obviously named after a duo in a children's program here in the Netherlands:
Bassie and Adriaan. Poor Bassy gets killed by the energy creatures.

Mission 3: Escape from Alc'Traz
Another great name. Alc'Traz. Oh, memorable event here: holograms of the knights
of the round table appeared all over the Odyssey. Apparently people were more
silly back then. :P (I really should do something similar on Pandora. . .)

Mission 4: Holo-Evil
I've heard *so* much about this mission. First joint mission with Pandora
Station. In fact, the very first mission Pandora Station ever had! Virt, the
Artificial Intelligence, is just so cool, especially when he's evil. <G> I
remember posts by Dennis (playing CO Denebris now), in which his character
looked back at this mission. I loved it.

Mission 5: Hazardous Science.
I don't remember people telling me about this mission. I do know the Odyssey
rescued fish-like aliens, and that the Breen were involved. But that's only
because I read the summaries in the story page. I wonder why nobody told me
about it. Though. . . with fish-like aliens, I'm not surprised they didn't. :)

Mission 6: New Amsterdam Colony.
I love this mission. It was before I had joined Frontier Fleet. . . although
Ben, my brother, had. As ACEO Ensign Paul Velden, this was his first mission.
And mine too, since I read every post as well. Poor Ben. . . frustrated because
the transporters just wouldn't work.
A memorable event in this mission: an earthquake, killing off several inactive
Valkyrie members. The infamous Brandon posted that one. People are still talking
about that post, today. Wonderful.

Mission 7: Possessed
This was my first mission on board the Odyssey, with a SPC: Ensign Alan Nerell.
Ben also brought his SPC on board. Alan's sister: Tessa. I remember the
reporting for duty: Alan and Tessa entering the powerless ship, wondering where
to go. They then met up with Helfrump, they went outside in shuttles again to
see what the damage was, but they were captured by the Klingons. I was so evil
as to let Alan be injured, and the Klingons not caring. Muahahaha. I've always
been evil to my characters. Poor them.
And well. . . the mission happened in the Delphic Expanse. As we all know now,
that was gotten rid of at the end of Enterprise's third season. But we didn't
know that at the time, since those episodes hadn't been aired back then! :)
After this mission was Captain Bennek's birthday party. However, it was also
Christmas in real life. So. . . we paid a visit to the holodeck, and found
ourselves at the North Pole. As this turns out, this would be one of *many*
times Christmas would be celebrated at the oddest in-game times. Also, this
would be one of many times that Alan Nerell faced the freezing cold, too. . .

Mission 8: The Pabloyan Conflict
My second mission on the Odyssey. Pabloyas Prime was at *war*, and Bennek and
his team beamed down. Bad idea of course, although that did give the other
characters something to do as well. I remember reading posts by Dave (Dennis'
brother, who was on the Ody back then) and Ben, which were just magnificent. I
loved the fact that they had to go undercover to find the Captain.
And who could forget the Breen! Yes, they seemed to be sponsoring this war or
something like that, and they didn't like the Odyssey in orbit. That was quite a
fantastic battle. Well written. In fact, It was so great that I could even
imagine it. Great writing, people!
Oh, and of course, in this mission I could let Alan fly recklessly in a Delta
Flyer. woo!

Mission 9: Panic on the Titanic.
At a party at Rob (CO back then)'s place, he, Guido and Ben were talking about
the upcoming Odyssey mission. They were all so very excited about it. And
naturally, they wouldn't tell me. This was the mission they had been talking
about, though. And it was a great mission, albeit a bit silly. :P People are
still referring to this mission today: it's the mission where Paul Velden
crashed the Odyssey into a comet. For some reason, the superstition that Velden
is a comet-magnet, started here. . .

Mission 10: It's only a dream.
This is one of my favourite Odyssey missions so far. It's not because it's such
an original storyline, or because it was Ben who thought up this mission. . .
but it was of the nature of the mission. Everyone's in a dream: which means
everything can happen. From Klingons in bikini ("I have the spatula!") to
walking over the Yellow Brick Road. It might look silly, and it was, at times.
But there was some *excellent* character development. After all, everyone could
see each others nightmares: they became intimately familiar with everyone else's
greatest fears. It was wonderful to torment. . . I mean, explore one's character
like that. :)

Mission 11: The Music Festival.
Another fabulous mission: also one of my favourites that I've participated in.
The very *topic* of this mission -music- is something that is very difficult to
describe in a written setting. After all, you cannot *hear* the music when
writing words, right?
Wrong. You can *describe* the music. It was a challenge: another way of writing.
And I loved it.
The storyline was great too. The Odyssey was sent out to prevent a murder
attempt. . . and they failed! Imagine that: the crew failed. The murder was
committed, and they couldn't catch the murderer, because she committed suicide.
This mission shows not only massive amounts of creativity, but also the fact
that even in the 24th century, we're not always successful.

Mission 12: Odyssey Inbound (Fleetwide Mission)
Ah yes, the transwarp mission. The Odyssey, along with all other ships in the
Frontier Fleet, received transwarp. These were turbulent times for Frontier
Fleet, both in- and out of game. Nevertheless, we pulled through, and got out a
fleetwide mission. It was great to see all Captains interacting with each other,
but I did feel as if the ships themselves should have interacted a bit more.
There were some small details: Pandora Station detecting that the Atlantis was
under fire, and stuff like that.
Where the rest of the fleet seemed to have another plot as well, during this
mission, the Odyssey didn't. The main mission here was that the Odyssey couldn't
drop out of transwarp. When it did, nearly all systems were damaged, and there
were other dangers lurking. An interesting plot, although personally not one of
my favourites. It *was* one for the history books though, and would be
remembered in later Ody missions as "The first time the Odyssey used Transwarp,
where it nearly got destroyed". Perhaps it's ironic that it was the Odyssey crew
who later were the first to abandon transwarp. . .

Mission 13: Romulan Refugees
Romulans! I love Romulans. So delightfully treacherous. This mission though, was
pretty straight-forward. Rescue Romulan Refugees while avoiding to be destroyed
by another Romulan vessel. Although then there were spies and counterspies. . .
and suddenly we found ourselves in an integrate web of lies and treachery. Who
to trust? Who not to trust?
An interesting fact: one of the counterspies has come back in mission 18: "Wrath
of the Gods".

Mission 14: Somewhere Only We Know
This was the first mission with me as FO of the Odyssey. Since I had been FO of
Pandora Station, but the station were to become SPC-only, I had to find another
place. The Odyssey sounded just fine. Plus, they needed a First Officer, since
Dennis (Denebris) had accepted the CO position of the Valkyrie. I didn't leave
Pandora without a fight though: I let Jalando be ordered to the Odyssey, where
he didn't feel at home at first.
During this mission Captain Bennek and a team beamed down to Andor, leaving
Jalando -unwilling to be here, thrust in this position- in charge of the
Odyssey, having to battle and outwit a pirate leader. Wonderfully written, if I
do say so myself. Plus, it showed Jalando that the Odyssey *could* become a home
for him.
On a sad note. . . this was also the last mission where Bennek was Captain of
the Odyssey. It marked the end of an era for the Ody. No more Rob Verlinden as
Captain.

Mission 15: Vanishing Point
So. . . Jalando was made Captain, and once again a Rob was CO of the Ody. Martin
was made FO with his character Leon Nerfertii. During this mission, thousands of
people simply vanished. I loved the moral and religious implications here:
should the Odyssey interfere or not? Could this be the natural evolution of
these people, to simply vanish? Could there really be a god-like entity watching
over them, taking those people to 'heaven'? And when this happened to the
Odyssey people as well, how to respond? Could the Odyssey fight a 'god'?
I also loved the side-plots that sprung up. Odyssey personnel had to make sure
the problems in the cities were minimised. For Alan Nerell and his sister, Tessa
Elan, that meant being sent to a frozen wasteland to repair power generators.
The village there had trouble with Roweg beasts. Pretty soon, Alan and Tessa
were on the run from these Roweg beasts. Alan drove the snowmobile, while Tessa
fired at the pursuing creatures. When they crashed in the snow, caught in an
avalanche, they thought they would die. . .
It was *such* a great subplot. One of the best, in my opinion. I loved to write
that.

Mission 16: Tested Loyalties.
Since Martin left as FO of the Odyssey, another FO was located: Jake Hanlon,
formerly playing STC Lorvok on the Calhoun. It was interesting to have a new
face as FO: not only did Jake give different replies. . . but his character was
rather mysterious.
This mission, in my opinion, didn't become what it could have been. When
designing this mission, I had hoped for more tension. After all, the Klingons
vs. the Federation, after decades of peace! And granted, there was quite some
tension. . . but I believe it never felt as if this would indeed be a new war.
Perhaps that was because I focussed on playing characters on the Orion ship,
where Jalando and the Klingon captain, K'vathe, were imprisoned. It certainly
was an interesting mission to play, though. Filled with painful, touching and
wonderful moments.

Mission 17: Only Time Will Tell
Ah yes. . . this is another personal favourite of mine. Time travel. I always
wanted to do a timetravel mission. But not to the past. . . that had been done
before. So. . . why not to the future? And while we're at it. . . why not let
the future give us some terrible information which would severely influence the
past/present?
So it was decided. The Odyssey would go into the future, meet their future
selves or friends/family of their future selves, and receive the news that they
had to stop using transwarp, because one day that would start a war. And voila.
. . you have the ingredients for a great mission. Add to that some *remarkable*
guest starts, fascinating and emotional characters and a *lot* of enthusiasm,
and you have one of the most active missions the Odyssey has ever had.
That is. . . at the beginning of the mission. When it was nearly over, the
posting rate had dropped again. But well, that was to be expected.
Personally, this gave me an opportunity to lift a veil about what I had planned
for Jalando. He has a daughter in the future. Which meant that he had to have
met a wife pretty soon. The funny thing is: I didn't even know who this person
would be, where or how he'd meet him, etc, when this mission was going on.
Apparently Jalando surprised even me with this development.
It was wonderful to see what has happened in the future with all those Frontier
Fleet characters which we all know so well. Who could have imagined that Paul
Velden would marry Tessa Elan? And then get divorced again? Or how about
Commodore Denebris, capable of destroying the Odyssey without losing any sleep?
At the end of this mission, it was clear to us all -also to the council- that we
couldn't ignore what happened here. Contrary to several Star Trek episodes, we
didn't find a solution in this mission. What happened here had an effect on the
entire fleet: no more transwarp. It also had an affect on several characters:
Jalando found himself travelling all over the galaxy after this mission, to give
people letters, or talk to others to change their way of life. FO PaRel and CMO
MacKenzie of the Valkyrie for example. Jalando travelled to them, trying to tell
them to stay together, get married. These post-mission JPs were wonderful.
This mission would certainly always be one of my favourites. There was so much
character development. . . it was wonderful.

Mission 18: Wrath of the Gods. (Current mission)
Ah yes, we've arrived at the last mission: Wrath of the Gods. The Odyssey
responds to a Romulan distress call, scan the surface of the planet, and. . .
they crash! It was great to post the crash: to describe the details of what
happened. Plus of course, developing the culture that has seen the fireball in
the sky fall down. With these people now moving to the Odyssey, can be the Prime
Directive be maintained?
Oh, and you've got to love Rob Verlinden's post about the counterspy on this
planet. He's named the people of the nation where the Romulans crashed, the
Bethesdans. I laughed out loud when I read that. . . :D

Well, that's about it for this 'behind the scenes' of the Odyssey missions. I
hope you've enjoyed it. I know I certainly did. I'm hoping for many more
missions in the future!

Oh, and if you want to see the USS Odyssey credits. . . head over to youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7pP5rYco1U

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My farewell to Frontier Fleet
By Ben Versteegt
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A little over five years ago, I filled in a join form for some PBeM-RPG called
Frontier Fleet. I was terribly eager to join, seeing in Frontier Fleet the
chance to write, tell stories and improve on my English. I started out with a
Human character who grew up on Vulcan after his parents had died in the Dominion
War. This character, whom I had given the name of Paul Velden, was struggling
with his emotions while using his logic to overcome the greatest of engineering
challenges. I was pretty pleased with myself, because now I had created a
character, literally out of thin air and using nothing but my imagination, and I
couldn't wait for Paul to have adventures and grow into a fully fledged
character.

He grew all right. He's risen to the rank of Commander and holds the position of
First Officer on the Starship Atlantis. He no longer tries to hide his emotions
or push them away using his logic, but he has become very much at ease with his
feelings and at ease with himself. His confidence has grown considerably, as
have his leadership skills. He used to be an emotional wreck -- now he's a
steady, confident leader who is not afraid to display emotions. He has faced
insurmountable odds and has escaped the clutches of death numerous times, mostly
because I didn't want him to die just yet.

When I stared out with the insecure cadet that Paul Velden was, I had no idea
that he would wind up as First Officer of a ship that at that time didn't even
exist yet (except perhaps in the scary, dark depths of Merijn's mind). Little
did I know when I made him forget to press Instructor Djarov's door chime that
he would grow out to be such a big part of my Frontier Fleet life. I had no idea
what I was getting myself into, but I'm glad that I went through with it.

I've had a great time here, but now it's time to go. As most of you know (or
have guessed) by now, I'm leaving Frontier Fleet. After the Atlantis leaves Tui
Malila for yet another well-earned period of rest and relaxation, I'm resigning
my commission as a Starfleet officer (boy does it feel weird to say that).
Velden will be transferred to another ship, and that will be the end of it. The
reasons for my departure are simple: for one thing, I don't have enough time to
post actively anymore. Real life swallows up a growing amount of my time, and
that's not necessarily a bad thing. I have to move on. I'm close to graduation,
and I want to give my Master's thesis my undivided attention. And I kind of feel
I could do with a little more free time on my hands. Frontier Fleet has been a
tremendous amount of fun, but I'm slowly beginning to realise that there are
other kinds of fun, too.

Who knows, maybe I'll come back some day. The urge to write stories, which drove
me to Frontier Fleet in the first place, has never died. For five years it has
been the driving force behind every post I've written. There will certainly be a
gap where Frontier Fleet once used to be, and I'll try to fill it with writing
stories of my own. But someday, sometime, the urge to write stories with you
guys might be too strong, and I'll return to Frontier Fleet. Not just yet, but
someday... Who knows.

Through this newspaper article, I would like to thank you, the players of
Frontier Fleet, for writing stories with me for the last five years. It's been a
memorable experience, one which helped me become the person that I am today. I
would like to thank several persons in particular, such as David, Merijn, Rob,
Dennis, Bram, Rob, Adrien, Guido, and others (you know who you are) for helping
me through rough spots and being there for me when I needed you the most. In and
out of game, I consider you my friends.

This is it, I suppose. Goodbye. Or rather, see you later. Have fun in Frontier
Fleet, everyone. Good health to all, and happy posting.

Hailing frequencies closed, Captain.

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