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AstroMacGuffin

A crucial mission

To: Admiral Capstone

Subject: Draft - Recruitment for Project [keyword is classified]

Good afternoon, Admiral. Below is the script for the mission recruitment feeler you requested. I hope it "strides the border between informative and vague" as per your orders.

Also, as requested, here is the list of command officers from the fifth Security:NX Committee review:

Cmdr Suvat - current posting, of the Seattle
Lt Cmdr Talat Pash - current posting, VC of Security on the Masamune
Cmdr (Dr) Altu Spiroken - CMO of the Nebula
Lt Edwin Goff - the science officer, currently serving security on the Enterprise
Lt Holt Chesel - an ops officer on the Cmdr Data
Ens Eric M. Haskell - the EMH of the Sarajevo

Of course, the committee approved the assignment of Lt Cmdr (Eng) Aline Summerfield and Lt Matthew Masterson.

The Security Directors are drawing up additional names to put through review, in case any of the above do not accept the mission.

The recruitment message follows:

Dear [Rank] [Surname],

You are receiving this message because you have been selected by your commanding officer and Starfleet Security as a top-notch candidate who can handle the utmost pressure, with the utmost professionalism. You are under no obligation to accept, or even to inquire about the nature of this mission, but you are under orders to keep this communication secret according to standard Starfleet Security "Eyes Only" protocols.

Now that the war with the Dominion has ended and Voyager has completed its frankly astonishing mission in the Delta Quadrant, the Federation is at a vulnerable point. Although our defensive capabilities are back to pre-wartime levels, a great many changes took place throughout the galaxy over the course of the past two decades, and Starfleet must not be complacent. As witnessed when the Founders attacked, or when the Borg first entered the Alpha quadrant, what we don't know can annihilate us.

We have passed into an age where the conventional technologies of our best-known allies and rivals are no longer the pinnacle of our time. Even after war, Earth faces continuing threats from powers utterly impossible to oppose with present know-how.

Starfleet has commissioned a long-range mission with multiple goals, all of which are top secret and extremely dangerous. This is not a suicide mission, and Starfleet has no intention of losing hundreds of fine professionals - nevertheless, your ship will face threats completely unknown to the Federation. The crew must be ready to employ science, diplomacy, and force with equal readiness and effectiveness, in order for this mission to succeed.

Thank you for your exemplary service to the Federation. Please direct all inquiries to Admiral Capstone, Kumari Shipyards, Andoria.


(( The rest of this post is out of character.

Hello! This is going to be a very loose RPG where we just tell a story. Each player needs to meet a few criteria:

- Have a pretty good knowledge of Star Trek.
- Able to post twice a week e.g at least every 3 days or so.
- Be ready to play a very curious and honorable Federation do-gooder.

Play style will consist of:
- Each character is a bridge officer on an experimental new starship, beginning with its shakedown cruise.
- I'd prefer the first officer (a Vulcan) be played by a site moderator or someone with great standing, since part of that role is coordinating everyone else.
- The ship's Captain is an NPC.
- The ship will be isolated from known space. It is not a Voyager rip-off story - they just have a very, very long-range mission.
- No stats or dice. This will be about using creative, Trek-style (or creative-but-works-for-Trek) decisions and details. Yeah, that means some Treknobabble.
- Time scale will vary wildly to suit whether there's an active scene or downtime, so there will be turn-style combat as well as room for “over the following week, I...” scenes.
- Pre-gen characters. In order to guarantee there's enough play style variety and a wide enough range of skills, I've written short character bios already. Each character has unique, major advantages of one kind or another.

Here are the player characters to choose from. Please choose one that you're qualified to play Some of these officers naturally have “behind the scenes” information attached that I can only expose when the character is chosen.

Cmdr Suvat – First officer
Vulcan male, age 67
Credentials:
T'Pol Graduate of Innovation Excellence (Vulcan Science Academy, 12 years)
Montgomery Scott Graduate (Starfleet Academy, 4 years)
Starfleet Corps of Engineers (various assignments, 9 years)
Chief Engineer, U.S.S. Seattle (4 years)
First Officer, U.S.S. Seattle (2 years)
Special Skills: Unified Field Theory
Suvat's first doctoral thesis, “Preventing Transporter Accidents,” led to the invention of four new safety sensors for Federation transporters and a robust overhaul of transporter software. His second, “Soren's Ribbon,” was the first to produce equipment useful for detecting and analyzing a naturally-occurring subspace fissure at safe distances. During his Starfleet career, Suvat has used this unique talent to advance the framework of next-generation propulsion theory like few others alive today.
Command Review: “Me senior staff had a saying e'en before Suvat became my first mate: They'd say, 'Suvat's won the war.' The Dominion ne'er counted on a man the like of him to work in the belly of a warship; and as most of us already know, Suvat may be the only reason we finally pushed the front lines and held the Alpha quadrant. His contributions to broad-field warp stability aside, his cool head and his side projects made Sovat a constant source of strength to the twelfth fleet. He may be Vulcan, but he's Scottish by me. May God and Starfleet bless the lad wherever he goes.” C.O., U.S.S. Seattle, 2375

Lt Cmdr Talat Pash
Chief of Security, 2nd Officer
Andorian female, age 35
Credentials:
Andorian Guard Security, S.S. Bev'Maru (5 years)
Police Captain, Kent State University (3 years)
Asst. Director, Lake Erie Penal Facility (2 years)
Starfleet Command School (3 years, graduated Lt. (j.g.))
Vice-Chief of Security, U.S.S. Masamune (4 years)
Additional Skills:
Hostage negotiation
Penal facility management

Lt Cmdr (Eng) Aline Summerfield
Human female, age 45
Credentials:
Montgomery Scott Graduate (Starfleet Academy, 4 years)
Starfleet Corps of Engineers (various assignments, 8 years)
NX Project: Nebula - Propulsion Team (5 years, team leader 2 years)
Special Skills: Next-Generation Propulsion
Summerfield's engine overhaul led to sustainably breaking the warp 9.9 barrier. Unlike previous team leaders who kept the 9.9 project alive through seasons of expensive failure, Summerfield did not destroy even a single test engine, and only one test crew was ever truly put in harm's way.
Additional Skills: Aline successfully raised twin children while juggling a Starfleet career.

Cmdr (Dr) Altu Spiroken
Chief Medical Officer, Fourth Officer
Mixed Race male: Betazoid-Aenar-Andorian, age 41
Credentials:
M.D. (Betazed Med-Sciences Board, 6 years)
I.S.Ph.D. (Starfleet Medical, 4 years)
Jupiter Resident, I.M.E. (2 years)
Jupiter Fellow, I.M.E. (5 years)
C.M.O., U.S.S. Nebula (5 years)
Special Skills: High-level Psionic
Telepathy: 10/0 with open and latent telepaths, 10/0 with latent empaths. 3,000 km unaided range.
Empathy: 6/0 Humanoid / 2/0 Other
Psychokinetics: Using pure intuition: 80-90% with A+ degree of psi-dexterity.
Much lower levels peaking at 4% registered with objects seen and known, but A- level psi-dex.
“Psi-agnosis”: 83% Humanoids / 55% Other: A unique ability, Dr. Spiroken can produce mental and physical diagnoses without the use of technology. Starfleet Medical reports this talent has been studied in-depth during his time on Jupiter Station: compared to relevant medical technology, Spiroken showed 83% or better rates of completeness and never gave an incorrect diagnosis, when psi-agnosing humanoids for everything from an impending stroke or a torn ligament, to infections, software conflicts, and various diseases of the mind. Completeness dropped to 56% when examining Medusans, and 54% with artificial life forms. The talent may be linked to his uniquely-dominant Aenar gene traits combining with Betazoid empathic tendencies.
Command Review: “Two years ago, when the Nebula was operating AWACS support on the Romulan and Cardassian borders, Doctor Spiroken stole our ship's runabout, against my direct orders, and turned it into his own warp-powered field ambulance. Because he did, he was able to remove the wounded from harm's way; as Dominion forces disabled starships, he transported the infirmed to safety, freeing up those starships' crews to get back to the fight. I, and seventeen other captains whose ships he helped save, fought to nullify his official reprimand and won.” C.O., U.S.S. Nebula, 2375

Lt Matthew Masterson
Senior Helmsman, Fifth Officer
Human male, age 32
Credentials:
Starfleet Officer Candidate Scholarship (3 years, graduated Ensign)
Captain of Red Squadron, which won the Academy Air Show of 2366
NX Project: Galaxy – Test Crew Delta, Helm
Ambassador Refit Project – Test Crew Alpha, Helm
NX Project: Defiant – Test Crew Alpha, Senior Helm
Earned Lt. (j.g.) and the Starfleet Valor Cross, 2368
Defiant Refit Project – Test Crew Alpha, Second Officer
NX Project: Steamrunner – Test Crew Alpha, First Officer
NX Project: Nebula – Test Crew Alpha, First Officer
Additional Skills: Command experience
Mastersen has proven on several occasions, most notably during all of the NX-Defiant's warp trial fiascos, that he is capable of seizing and saving ship and crew under extraordinary pressure.

Lt Edwin Goff - Reserved
Lt Holt Chesel
Senior Operations Officer, Seventh Officer
Bolean male
Special Needs: Bolean
Lt. Chesel must work Bolean shift patterns; 2 hours on, 3 hours off, for medical reasons.
Credentials:
Starfleet Corps of Engineers (2 years, no tour)
Starfleet Academy Officer School (3 years, graduated Ensign)
Operations Officer, U.S.S. Sao Paulo (1 year)
Operations Officer, Argus Array (3 years)
Earned Lt. (j.g.), 2374
Operations Officer, U.S.S. Cmdr. Data (1 year)
Earned full Lt., and the Starfleet Valor Cross, 2376
Additional Skills:
Diplomat: Since attending Officer School, Chesel has maintained an active diplomatic life. He oversaw the evacuation of Nu'Nawlins during the Dominion War, preventing the probable loss of more than 600 expatriated Federation colonists there.

Ens Eric M. Haskell
Operations Officer, Eighth Officer
EMH-1 (Hologram)
Emancipated 2374
Credentials:
EMH, U.S.S. Sarajevo (318 hours active service)
Commander Data Scholarship Graduate (Starfleet Academy, 2 years)
Additional Skills: Emergency Medical Hologram
Ens. Manson is a fully trained interspecies physician.
Starfleet Historical Enthusiast

Enjoy! Please get in touch. I'm posting this on at least two forums, but I will make sure the plots diverge enough to prevent cheating Wink


))

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Null

Lt Edwin Goff
Chief Science Officer, Sixth Officer
Human male, age 29
Credentials:
Starfleet Academy Officer Graduate (6 years, Ens.)
I.S.E. Tour (3 years, I.K.V. Ch'Mek)
Awarded the Silver Bat'L'eth by General Ketar, 2374
Blood Son, House of Ketar
Starfleet Security (2 years, U.S.S. Enterprise)
Command Review: “I commend Edwin Goff, son of Wagner, for bravery on the bridge of the Ch'Mek at the Sixth Battle of Corsus. The Breen who captured us were not afraid of a lone Human who they could beat and torture while the C'Mek's hold was full of angry Klingons seeking a chance to find Sto-vo-kor. Mister Goff brought the ninth fleet swooping from the stars with a hidden signal, disabled the security fields, and defeated ten Breen who stood on the bridge with his bare hands! Then he drank blood wine, and feasted with his fellow warriors. More than sixty Breen were killed or captured upon the decks of my ship that day! It was glorious!!”

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AstroMacGuffin

((Great - one down, seven to go! If we get at least four we can do a couple of scenes prior to boarding the ship.

Another note about the play style.

When I present problems to you and you decide that your character is going to try and solve them, write your RP approach to attempting to solve the problem, and then trail off at a point where I can tell you what the result was. For example, if Dr. Spiroken's player was psiagnosing someone, he might end his post like:

...watches tensely, two nurses flanking him, medical tricorder in hand, as the transporter effect fades and Crewman Rougetunic materializes on the bio-bed.

"Computer, erect a level two stasis field around the surgical bay." The computer chirps its acknowledgement, and the field pulses into existence behind the trio.

"Now," Dr. Spiroken says, handing his tricorder to the nurse on the left, "Let's see what's happened, shall we..." [Some gimmick that says you're activating the psiagnosis] which reveals...

...and then the player trails off and I PM them the answer. The player can then RP reporting the matter to the bridge in public RP. On the other hand, I might at that time say it reveals nothing, or only a vague clue - at which point that character continues problem solving steps.))

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AstroMacGuffin

((
Cool As a "Starfleet Historical Enthusiast" you might have to spend some time on Memory Alpha in order to make sure you're not flubbing stuff too hard Do you have a problem making it a part of your RP, looking up relevant topics on Memory Alpha to share insights (in an overly-chipper, please-like-me-I'm-a-hologram kind of way) ?
))

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AstroMacGuffin

((
Send in the roflcopters I realized after I posted that, I should have clarified even better- I'm not going to make "fictional reality checks" your character's main ability. He's kind of a generalist, talents-wise. Medical, operations, science and command experience, in that order of expertise... plus being a hologram. He is, of course, confined to areas with holo-emitters at game start. However, since holographic emancipation, emitters and the ability to move between them have become a matter of "public accessibility" the same as would be made for a visiting alien. Most of the ship for this mission will be fitted with emitters.

Null and Dethharpist, would you please PM your replies to Adm. Capstone to me? And if you want to write RP scenes dealing with your current crewmates (after all, you're considering changing postings) then feel encouraged to write those here.
))

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AstroMacGuffin

((

REVISED see below.

You're thinking of Data, from Picard's Enterprise. Yeah he was the template for the EMH style character, they even did a "does he have rights" episode for both of them.

Here's starter articles for you.

If your character were to be found in a biology book, this would be your family of bioform: THIS IS THE PART THAT CHANGED
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Photonic_life

This is slightly more specific:
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Hologram

And this would be your exact species:
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/EMH

You will want to read the synopsis of this episode, it wraps up almost everything you need to know about the "Emancipated" bit in your character's bio.
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Author,_Author

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Null

I dont understand what you mean by this.

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AstroMacGuffin

((Sure. In the OP there was an email being talked about that was going to eventually be sent to you by Starfleet Command. Your character has now received that email, and should consider replying. Please reply to me privately via PM with that one.

If your character is thinking about accepting a new assignment, he should think about discussing this with his crewmates, his superiors, his captain, etc. This could be role played here in the forum.))

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AstroMacGuffin

(( Oh really, a major nerd, on an RPG site, wow that's a first ))

I'm afraid you've got a few wrong impressions, let me sort it out for you.
Basically correct. The EMH is computer software of a special kind. A sentient (self-aware life form) hologram is extremely complex by Star Trek standards and not something their standard equipment can just whiff off. More on that below. Yes, you are hard light, but you can mentally adjust your "hardness" from zero (pass thru stuff) to as strong as a ship-board force field (although at risk to yourself - again, more later) ))

((Not really. The Ops job is basically a computer operator, your routine duties are to turn on and off power or access to various systems. It's boring work honestly, until the science comes into play or there's a transporter emergency, or something is wrong with the ship's operation, etc etc. You're kind of a liason, in other words, and the guy with all the ship's on/off buttons. Your senior officer is another character that hasn't been claimed yet, the Senior Operations Officer.))

((You're not "psychic with the ship" like some ship-board AIs would be. This has to do with Trek technology limits, it would just eat up too much computer power to give you real-time access like that all of the time. It could be done in special circumstances, however. As to "do mostly anything anyone else can do" yep, that's true. You're a normal Starfleet officer, just a different species. In all ways - legally, psychologically, even to some people spiritually - an EMH is a kind of Human, being descended from humans, programmed to think and feel like them, etc.))

((You're not confined to the holodeck, nor do you work there. When EMHs were invented, sickbays were equipped with full holo-emitter systems. In case the fleshy doctors were downed or overloaded, the EMH was able to take control of sickbay or play a full role in sickbay. The character's already been online long enough to become fully sentient and is now online about as much as a Human is awake. On his current posting, instead of quarters, your character is assigned a special computer that simulates a holodeck but without the actual hologram - a sort of virtual reality for you to call home, located in the computer core.))

((On the ship where he currently serves, Haskell is able to manifest in every part of the ship because it is a relatively small ship. As a bridge officer, EMH, and full member of the crew, you can expect access to the bridge and related rooms, sickbay, galleys, engineering, and areas critical to your job like transporter rooms, the computer core... but I don't want to give away too many details about the ship you're going to be transferred to for our game, yet.))

((By the way-- the double parenthesis thing is a RP thing meaning you are speaking out of character. It isn't just for doubling up where you would normally use a single parenthesis. Do you need a link to a crash course on how to RPG on a forum? I think this site has one.))

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AstroMacGuffin

((While we get organized, pretend this is a cutscene intro ))

Captain Simon raised a hand, then realized the trio of Admirals might not respond well to him slapping it down on the table for emphasis. Instead, he lowered it, staring hard first at Kline, then Janeway, and finally Capstone. “What you're asking me to do is frankly unethi--”

“I suggest you be very careful how you deal with the next several minutes of this conversation, because if you think you hated that, you ain't seen nothin' yet.”

Simon held up a hand to be called upon, face taciturn. Capstone nodded to him. Simon spoke: “Why am I being ordered to take command of the Olympus, sir? Just explain that to me first.”

Kline and Janeway looked at each other, then to Capstone, who said: “Captain, frankly it's been very difficult to find a posting for you at all. Your service since leaving the Marines and joining Starfleet has been beyond exemplary, but since your promotion to Captain, it's as if there's no challenge big enough. We've offered you the Singleton, the Akron, the Excelsior and the Defiant, Tom. You don't want command of a Starbase, you don't want to go straight back to the front lines, hell, Tom, what do you want? What turns you on? What's it going to take to make you see that fourth pip when you look in the mirror every day?”

Captain Simon allowed this to soak in silently.

Admiral Janeway spoke. “This mission will require intensive scientific exploration. Your crew will be scrutinizing the universe,” she emphasized with her hand, “testing theories Federation scientists have been refining for more than two centuries. But if you sent...” She made a dismissive motion across the table, laughing to Kline, “well, someone like me,” she said. “Or any other typical Starfleet career Captain,” she added, then concluded: “You'd have a suicide mission. A crew of scientific zealots lost on the outer edge of the galaxy, possibly in desperate situations, clinging to every unknown substance like it was a religious icon of salvation.”

Simon blinked at Janeway's frankness, but didn't quite grasp the upshot. “Meaning?”

Kline summed up: “We believe you have the discipline to command this operation by utilizing the opportunities and the expertise of your crew, without being seduced by what you're trying to achieve.”

“Ah,” the Captain said, sitting back. “Right. Back to the crew.”

Janeway crossed herself, and was about to speak.

Capstone interrupted. “You'll tell your crew what they need to know, when they need to know it.”

“Eventually, they're going to need to know everything,” Simon retorted.

“And that's when you'll tell them,” Admiral Capstone said. “Eventually.”

The Captain sat back, trying to shrug it all in. After blinking at the table for a moment, he said, “This is going to be the longest shakedown mission in Starfleet history.”

Capstone nodded, genuinely amused. Kline added, “With any luck – any luck at all, even a tiny little bit of luck – your crew will return in a blaze of glory, maybe in as little as five years.”

“Now,” Janeway added, “Don't curse the man!”

“Heh,” Captain Simon responded, “the curse, do you mean about the five years part, or the blaze of glory part?”

That time, none of the Admirals was amused.

Simon took in a deep breath. “Alright. Show me this roster of yours.”

(( ooc post

>.> It's your private holodeck, enjoy
Nope. A sentient hologram - even inside a dedicated holomatrix and especially outside of one - pushes the computer hard enough already, which is why it's mostly isolated as a separate system. Integration is very limited. Meanwhile, one extra copy of him running would significantly reduce computing power. In short, nope.

You aren't Data. You don't have superhuman speed, nor superhuman smarts, nor really superhuman much of anything aside from the ability to be punched, stabbed, or attacked in any physical way and receive no harm whatsoever. So, when Haskell works, he works, thinks, and acts like a normal human with pretty normal abilities. His skills and personality are just encoded in software instead of DNA.

Now - that said - if you can make Haskell into the occasional plot device, which sounds likely - cool Human characters become "plot devices" when something screws them up psychologically or mutates them... a software-person is going to have episodes like that too Go look up the episode "A Fistful of Datas" for a laugh. (Keep in mind they were dumbed down, not sentient.)

))

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