Newsletter/Winter 2006

Newsletter for November 2006, Star Trek: Freedom

To see the old newsletter, visit The Archive

News from the Front

• USS Nimitz:

For a Friend: Much of the crew of the USS Nimitz have unoffically risked both thier lives and thier careers to rescue Dru Tagon the Brikar from being executed in an brutal prison facility staffed by Doenitz Loyalists. They must punch through force shields, disable the computer system, cause mayhem, and succeed in finding and rescuing the Brikar. Can they do it and escape unscathed? Will their Klingons allies remain trustworthy? Will every last telepath go nuts and compromise the mission?

• USS Boudicca:

Reflections of Van Helsing and the Dragon, Available Light: A murder has happened on board the USS Boudicca and a saboteur is on the loose. The ship is being attacked and is about to be boarded by hostiles of the Doenitz persuasion, while trying to rescue a shuttle being chased by both the Ferengi and the USS Exeter. Crewmembers are hurriedly preparing thier defenses; some have been caught in Sickbay. Can a ragtag team made up of young officers Richard 'Rick' Blaine, Shayhiloosh, Carft Kea, Doctors Kaitlyn Mackenzie and Jahlen, and Jorsad Ari protect Sickbay? Will the Fallen Angels and Death Dealer Marines repel the main assaults successfully?

• USS Spectre:

The Sword of Damocles: After the hostile engagement of the two Zulu Alpha attack vessels, the USS Spectre crew have recovered & brought aboard a mysterious Ferengi Daimon from the surface of Tranome Sar. Apparently reliable information imparted by him has now revealed that the Presidents most likely location is the disbanded Romulan penitentiary on the surface of Carraya IV.

After arriving in the Carraya system, the USS Spectre has now established low polar orbit above the fourth planet & is maintaining her cloak. An away team led by Lieutenant Brian Rogers is currently on the surface searching for President Rondar Nell with the intentions of returning him safely to federation space. Factions loyal to Admiral Doenitz however are now homing in fast on their current location with only one mandate, to assassinate Nell before he can be recovered.

Elsewhere, Captain Marco Ryan, the renegade commander of the Zulu Alpha Two has joined forces with the commander of the Romulan warbird DihVael, a ruse having been carefully orchestrated by him to convince Commander Talok that Romulus itself is about to be attacked & annihilated by the cloaked federation vessel they are hunting.

The USS Hood has now been dispatched to patrol the Federation side of the Neutral zone under pretence of carrying out scientific studies upon a rare binary emergence. She has covert orders however to assist the USS Spectre in any way shape or form.

• USS Dennison:

Supernatural: In the midst of training new crewmembers and preparing them for tactical scenarios in the holodeck, the ship encounters a spacial anomaly. Commander West must take command as Captain Madison Davis, along with a few others, have become trapped inside the holodeck. With the program taking on malfunctions, they are trapped in several different time periods...not to mention the safeties are off, so they must be careful. Meanwhile, the crew taking on the anomaly has to find a way to bring it down before it tears the ship apart. Will the crew survive the anomaly? Can the other escape the holodeck before it's too late? Stayed tuned into the Dennison channel for more updates!

• USS Hades:

In the Hands of an Angry God: Answers to the questions posed in the initial beam down of the USS Hades landing parties to the surface of the planet Beta Seranis III have now been answered. The pool of water was infused with selenium and a by-product of the Gateway, a powerful alien machine maintained by the Hyrangu Megselif. The pyramid was a storehouse cloaked by the same technology Megselif uses to cloak his domain beneath the surface and accidently stumbled upon by one of the away teams. Megselif himself allowed his domain to be found after finishing his investigations of the fascinating silicon based life form called Maraht the Horta. Search parties found the Horta in good condition and Megselif himself to be an hospitable host. One other item of interst found on the planet was the remains of a space ship that had crashed some two years ago and of alien origin. The craft was one belonging formerly to the Myenru.

Three days have now passed and as the USS Hades left the orbit of Beta Seranis III they noted an incoming fleet of significant size, the ships were similar to the one found on the surface and after evasive manuevers were unproductive the command ship finally answered a hail from the USS Hades and threatened the destruction of the ship if immediate surrender was not forthcoming, a strange energy signature was noted by sensors on the enemy command ship Dreadmonger and after Saleke's refusal to surrender they launched an unusual weapon, a perfected Genesis Torpedo. It was such a device which was used to terraform Beta Seranis III. The missile was detroyed before it could reach the USS Hades but it was damaged as it escaped into the asteroid field, a gambit now being used by Captain Saleke however may confuse the Myenru and allow the crew time to make repairs... and ready themselves for a terrible battle.

• USS Champlain:

Less than two weeks into her maiden voyage, the USS Champlain secured a strategically important space station, Deep Space 5, for the 52nd Fleet, and successfully concluded a battle with the Wyvern, one of Admiral Doenitz’ vessels. Having put all interruptions aside, she is now engaged in her primary mission… the exploration of “Worlds Once Lost”.

The Earth colony on Ivor Prime disappeared some thirty years ago, without a trace. No bodies, nothing. For reasons yet unknown to the Champlain’s crew, investigations of the incident have been few, and yielded scant results. On Stardate: 2407.03.06, Day 11 of the Champlain’s first voyage, Captain Edward Wolfe personally led an away team to the planet’s surface, to attempt to solve the mystery.

So far, a secret underground lab has been discovered. It contains a mysterious artifact, which the team members suspect to be an Iconian gateway. However, the colonists have also been found, trapped in some kind of bodiless dimension, not on another planet’s surface as was reportedly the common destination for such gateways. Due to a faulty reactor, the gateway was accidentally powered up, and Captain Wolfe was taken into that dimension as well, and is presently trapped with the colonists.

Will the crack, ever-growing away team on Ivor Prime succeed in rescuing their Captain, freeing the colonists, and getting back to the Champlain in time for a coffee break before the 11 o’clock news? Stay tuned to find out.

• USS Paladin:

The USS Paladin and the First Battle Group have just saved thousands of lives at Beta Aqauri III. They were able to stop Doenitz followers from killing off an entire planet of people with an engineered virus. The First Battle Group was also successful with ship to ship combat against part of Doenitz fleet.

But the Paladin and First Battle Group duty must continue. There has been an increase amount of activity along the Romulan Neutral Zone. It is believed that they may be trying to gain a tactical advantage against the federation while it is in a civil war. The First Battle Group mission is to patrol the Romulan Neutral Zone.

Star Trek: Beyond the Frontier Note Date Change

by herbalsheila

This documentary by the above title will air on the History Channel February 19, 2007 at 9:00 pm ET/PT. Check your local listings for viewing.

Hosted by the legendary Leonard Nimoy, with original interviews that includes Patrick Stewart, Kate Mulgrew, and Avery Brooks, among others, this documentary promises an inside look at the Star Trek phenomenon. It will also discuss the impact the Star Trek franchise has had on its many fans.

This historic documentary will also encompass behind the scenes interviews and allow the public a close up view with those responsible for making the Star Trek universe look so realistic, comprising everyone from set directors and propmakers, actors and make up artists, writers and production crews. Without them, the many series and movies of Star Trek would never have captured the imagination of so many people worldwide.

The documentary will also include footage of the CBS Paramount’s first ever official auction. This auction, emanating from Christies Auction House in New York was shown as a live webcast on the official website of the History Channel, http://www.History.com in early October 2006.

Also on with the main documentary is another documentary on "Star Tech Tech" as well as a William Shatner special "How William Shatner Changed the World."

Please watch this everyone. It is the reason why we have this great community to begin with and should be insiteful into what Gene Rodenberry, nicknamed ‘the Great Bird of the Galaxy,’ had in mind when creating Star Trek.

Top 10 Questions

Top Questions for any member to answer Top Ten things you never knew about.

Q1

Who do you think is the most unusual character currently in play and why?

Sheila's characters are always an eye opener, I really enjoying reading the detail that she puts into them - Anthony

Definitely. I had never heard of the Horta until I read about her character. --VulcanTrekkie45

First & foremost, the Horta. When I first saw that a player was going to be bringing to life such an unusual character from TOS, I wasn`t sure what to make of it or how it could be done. I do think Sheila has done an excellent job in it`s realization though. - Alan Reading

Well, obviously Sheila's Horta, but, when I first joined Freedom, there used to be a lot more unusual characters about. I seem to recall some sort of unisex character that was played by Al Muir, if I recall. The character bio picture kind of freaked me out. And also, there is a lot of alternative characters in the Freedom universe, I think Jeremy's Lee character has about three different versions of himself running around. I will say this though (and I may be saying too much) when Sheila's application came through the mailer with the Horta character, and she started posting in the forums, I told more than one person in private conversations that I thought this would be some kind of nutter, and I didn't think it could be pulled off, but since Sheila is still here and people don't complain about you, I can only assume that she has. Way to go, Sheila! -- Kevin Schram

Q2

Why is it that more people on Star Trek Freedom do not access the STF Wikipedia?

Time is a factor and their connection as well, if you have dial up internet, you don't want to waste too much time waiting for the pages to load when you want to be getting on checking your mail and going to the main site to check something out. This gets worse if you are paying as you go or have a limited account. Also, does everyone know how to use the wiki and do they all know what it can do? Send a NRPG to your ship and let them all know how to use the wiki... do it now! - Anthony

I think part of the problem is that the Wiki tends to be redundant to some of our folk. For example, the ‘News from the Front’ section here might also be covered the Forum boards, under their ship’s thread. The main site has a place for both character and player bios… perhaps many have already said all they care to about themselves and their characters there, and thus see no need to repeat themselves on the Wiki. Indeed, the Wiki allows us to include much greater detail… but perhaps the majority don’t want to go into greater detail than they already have on the site bios, the Forum already provides us with a place to share our art, interesting links, jokes, and in general, each other’s online company.

Articles on races, technologies, and other Star Trek-related issues of that kind might suffer from the same difficulty. We already have a database on the site… perhaps it could indeed use some updating, but it’s there. And websites like Memory Alpha, etc, already exist with extensive, well-written articles on all manner of Trek stuff.

Thus, I would say that if we want more of our folk to visit the Wiki, then it needs a good ‘hook’ or two… cool stuff that can’t be found somewhere else in a shorter, easier-to-find form. Any ideas? -GrannyGM

I agree. There is a lot of time that is consumed in doing the wiki articles. It took me a few months to do my first article completely. -- VulcanTrekkie45

• I think I was the one of the first users (if not the first) to really dig my teeth into the wiki. I think Spencer from the Paladin had started one article and Anthony had made a few placeholder pages. In those early days, I tried to promote the Wiki everywhere I could, specially the Star Trek Freedom chat room, and no body really seemed to care as much has I did. Everybody seems to be pressed for time these days, and I think, like it was said above, a lot of the information on the Wiki is redundant. Plus, back then, the Wiki syntax was really confusing to mostly everybody. I think it'll get more and more popular. I even suggested to a few people that we should even make placeholder pages for important characters where the player is too busy to make a page for them. -- Kevin Schram

Q3

What do you think is the best part of Star Trek Freedom and why?

The community of players from around the world, with so many different people, cultures and races, somehow, we've all come together to this website and game to write about Star Trek fiction - Anthony

THe fact that it unites people from around the world because we all have something in common with each other. It's invigorating to see that there can exist unity in such a divided world. --VulcanTrekkie45

Yeah, what he just said... Lol Alan Reading

Q4

What would you like to see in the Newsletter each time around?

More articles about the players of the game, interests and so on - Anthony

I especially like the questionnaire. The fleet reports are interesting as well. -- VulcanTrekkie45

Just about everyone has there own areas of expertise. It might be nice to see articles written by people who are very knowledgable about certain areas. I know we have folks who are engineering guru's, some who are weapons experts and some who are very knowledgeble on certain races and civilizations. These could make some great featured articles on a periodical basis. -Ken

Q5

Are you happy with the major domo mailer system for Star Trek Freedom?

Yes, given what else is out there, its the best - Anthony

Admittedly, the mailer is great when it works. But it sure was awful when it broke down. I hope that won't happen anymore. -herbalsheila

I think it works fine, most of the time... Better the devil you know I guess. Alan Reading

I remember once, when I was a wet Ensign on Geneva, the mailers went down, and our 2O/Acting CO, Jeff (now Champlain's CO) personally e-mailed everybody and we all joined this Yahoo! Newsgroup he had set up for emergencies so we could keep posting with the mailers down. It had been set up by him some time in advance, and so I kind had this feeling of 'retreating' into the bomb shelter. Of course, before anybody could post, the mailers were back up. Oh well. :( - Kevin Schram

Q6

What would you like to see more of on the Star Trek Freedom website?

Updated articles. Some of the pages are 6 years old. The database could use a total renovation - Anthony

Definitely. The database is the worst, but I haven't looked there in a while. Maybe we could dump everything in the database into the wiki? Then it would be more easily updated as the game progresses. -- VulcanTrekkie45

What about an interview with a member? This was kinda like the Q&A was suppose to do... - Anthony

I agree the database needs help. In fact I have taken it upon myself to start doing a series of technical readouts, specifically on starships as I have a passion for that kind of thing. ~Ken

Q7

What is your favorite piece of hand held equipment for your Star Trek Freedom character?

Tricorder, it can do anything! - Anthony

Tricorder, or a phaser. -- VulcanTrekkie45

I think those personal PADDs are pretty cool. Maraht carries one with him most of the time. His last poem he was working on, "Ode to Quartz" was on a PADD. But they can also be used to transport files, like a memory stick or jump drive, or they can be used to access starship controls. -herbalsheila

Q8

Which ship/crew is the best in the 52nd Fleet and why?

No chance I am touching that one, they are all great! - Anthony

Why, the USS Champlain, of course! A big, beautiful Galaxy class with a third nacelle… she’s got grace and muscle. Her primary mission of exploration, rather than battle per se, is classic Trek. Her crew is enthusiastic, creative, highly diversified, and expertly led by a strong, involved Captain. Her high posting rate tells the story; first or second in the fleet several months running with no sacrifice of quality, even with a smaller player base than most other ships. Great people, playing interesting characters on a ship that is a direct descendant of legendary Enterprise. What more could one ask? -GrannyGM

The USS Hades is the best ship, I think. We have a group of laid back players that are great writers, have a really good sense of humor, and are wonderful story tellers. Captain 'Sally' is the coolest! -herbalsheila

The USS Spectre of course, she`s the James Bond of the fleet, stealthy, indefatigable, could even have been equipped by 'Q' himself (the bond one not John De lancie), ok, so she`s a little outgunned but she sure makes up for it in pure mystery & spunk. The crew is a good crew & as for the CO, well I can`t comment on that one cos that would be me - Alan Reading

Why, you know it's the USS Dennison. An Indefatigable class ship and a one of a kind, she carries the big guns with multivector assult mode. *Notices Alan stole my word 'indefatigable.'* (Don't worry, I'll get you back for that Alan.) The ship has a great posting crew, always unfolding with great storylines and imagination added to the touch. -Stacey

Oh come now! The USS Nimitz. It's not about the ship, the firepower or even the technical wizardry. It's all about the crew and the talented people who write for that crew. The characters are complicated, multi-faceted and extremely driven. The posting rates alone are out of this world. The storylines are character driven and the level of drama combined with action leaves you out of breath and wondering what's going to happen next. The Nimitz is a wild ride and the harder you hold on the faster and wilder she goes! ~Ken

I see you've all left THE best till last! The USS Boudicca IS the best; the best ship, the best missions, the best crew, the best CO ... (OK Jeremy you can stop sitting on me now, I wrote it already!!!) Gotta love the old girl, and she'll have the looks to match now she's getting a whole new image made for her ;) - Liz

Q9

Do you think the holidays will keep people from posting or will many have more free time to play with time off for the holidays?

They will for me, but its summer over here and I have a lot of time off until the end of January - Anthony

Time will tell, or rather....Time did tell. Lol Alan Reading

Q10

Who do you often end up posting with or replying to on your ship?

I try to post with everyone, esp newer players - Anthony

I do to, but there will always be those that reply instantly thus ensuring a high post rate with that person, Robbie Gray is generally the one most likely to respond the quickest. Alan Reading

Depending upon the character I play and what ship I'm on would better determine that answer. Because I have so many and mainly rely on my Captain, I'd say that I try to include everyone in posting. Like Tony said above, especially the new players. -Stacey

Frank Rogers and David Cherrington are both joys to work with. Al Muir is also a lot of fun to work with but with his responsibilities it's not often that you can work with him on joint posts. ~Ken

Warp Drive Theory

by Anthony

The Matter/Antimatter Reaction Assembly

The warp drive systems on all ships is essentially the same, it contains three major components: The Reaction Chamber, Power Transfer Conduits and the Warp Nacelles. Energy provided by these systems also provides power for secondary systems, such as shields and the computer core.

The Matter/Antimatter Reaction Assembly (M/ARA), also known inaccurately as the Warp Core, consists of four major systems, Reaction Injectors, Magnetic Constriction Segments, the Chamber and the Power Transfer Conduits.

Modern Federation warp engines are fuelled by the reaction of deuterium and antideuterium, mediated through an assembly of dilithium crystals, which are nonreactive with antimatter when subjected to high-frequency electromagnetic fields. This reaction produces highly energetic plasma, called electro-plasma, which is channelled by magnetic conduits through the electro-plasma system (EPS). The warp plasma is funnelled to plasma injectors into a series of field coils, usually located in remote warp nacelles, which generate the desired warp field.

Transporters

By Alan Reading

Ever wondered how the transporters actually work, well wonder no more, here are some general details & a little journey through a typical transport sequence.

The normal operating range of a transporter is up to 40000km, although this varies in relation to payload & relative velocity of the material being transported. Emergency Evac transporters, carried onboard most starships have a typical range of 15000km depending on power available.

The transporters cannot function whilst shields are raised or while traveling at warp, unless the target beamdown point is moving at precisely the same velocity as the source transporter.

A typical beamout sequence is as follows. Once the material or person to be transported is in place on the pad, the transporter chief begins an automated diagnostic on all relevant transporter systems to ensure that everything is operating within normal parameters. These include the primary energizing coils, the phase transition coils, the molecular imaging scanners, the pattern buffer, the biofilter, & the emitter arrays & targeting scanners on the outside of the ship.

The destination coordinates are input directly by the transporter operator or relayed via the target location, the transport begins once the system indicates a state of readiness at both source & destination & activation of the transport sequence has been initiated.

Confinement now takes place - The Annular Confinement Beam creates a spatial matrix from the primary energizing coils above the subject to be transported, a secondary inner field is available as a back up safety feature to prevent an energy discharge if the ACB is disrupted.

Scanning - Four redundant molecular imaging scanners in the overhead pads create a memory file of each persons quantum state, this pattern is then stored in the ships computer as a retrievable transporter trace & an entry in the transporter log records the actual beamout.

Disassembly - The phase transition coils in the lower pads initiate a widebeam, quark manipulation field to begin the actual disassembly of the subject being transported by partially unbinding their energy at the subatomic level. Once this has been recorded, each subjects matter stream is then held in the pattern buffer until the Doppler shifts between ship & destination have been determined by the relevant transporter subsystems.

Pattern buffer - The pattern buffer is a superconducting tokamak device which holds the pattern in suspension until beamout. One pattern buffer serves two transporter chambers but as with every stage of the beamout process, a back up is assigned for emergency shunting if needed.

Beam out - Once beamout is secured, the Annular Confinement Beam directs each patterns matter stream to the emitter array on the hull of the ship & thence on towards the target coordinates. A booster set of coils & scanners then work in reverse within the ACB to reassemble each pattern into it`s original form at the beamdown point within five seconds of the cycle being initiated.

Because no special receiver equipment is necessary for beamout, a transport destination may be another point on the same ship, another ship or a planetary location. In adverse conditions however, a destination sites transporter can be used to enhance reception if the need arises.

This of course is a brief foray into the realms of the transporters, Stay tuned for a further, in depth analysis for publication at a later date perhaps.

Website Secrets

To help yourself more in game play especially if you are playing a science, medical, marine or engineering officer, access the database section on the main page for those things to obtain a wealth of information. Can't find the name of an element or particle? Need to know more about warp engines or cloaking devices? How about how to use that new medical instrument? Here is where to find out about all that and more including alien races, shuttlecraft, probes and torpedoes. http://www.startrekfreedom.com/database/database.html

Words of Wisdom

I thought I would change this for anyone to leave anything they have learned about life - Anthony

On Being the Best: In observing people and life I have come to a specific conclusion. Being considered 'the best' at anything is not nearly as important as me doing my personal best. Being considered 'the best' by everyone else is a matter of consensus of opinion, and that will invariably change. Doing 'my best' is what matters to me, since I will know and remember what I have accomplished for the rest of my life. -herbalsheila

On Second Chances: How many of us are there who have never made mistakes… made bad first impressions… offended someone without meaning to? If we are too quick to judge, we often cheat ourselves out of the wonderful contributions to our lives that those we have turned away could have offered, if only presented an olive branch, and given a second chance. -GrannyGM

Quality over Quantity: It shouldn't be about how many posts you are able to complete in a month. It should be about the quality of your work, the depth of your writing and characters and finally the contribution you make overall to a running storyline. Fifty posts in a month does not mean much if they are riddled with errors, inconsistancies and impossibilities. -Ken