STSF Precip

I hope they did not auction off those beautiful Starship Models that hung over Quark's bar. I would certainly miss those. Nonetheless I am very happy about this great news..and do realize it will take some time for this all to come together. -Precip "Ship Freak"

A fine discussion here regarding Romulan Techonology and the Romulans themselves. Please do continue.. -Precip

Mitar was on his bed watching a relaxing underwater Terran Coral Reef on the holowall in his quarters. Bolarus did not have Coral Reefs, let alone the dazzling aquatic life forms that visually cruised by on the holowall. Some in groups, some all by themselves. It was something to behold. Ideal to get one's mind off the current Mission and to ease the tension in his mind. Precip had decided that to keep things going at peak efficiency on the bridge...tactical officers would rotate positions to get adequate rest during this dangerous mission. Precip also put in orders for general security teams to rotate rest periods as well. McFly was at Tactical at the moment..monitoring the cloak and our adversaries. They had already detected a Romulan Vessel uncloaked in the Neutral Zone...by treaty an act of war. Mitar thought that was strange the Romulans would be trying to provoke a response, for surely it WOULD draw a Federation Response. No it wouldn't. Mitar corrected himself...the Federation Council wanted Manticore to get to Romulus undetected..and creating a conflict in the Neutral Zone would jeopradize the mission. In about a week's time Manticore will arrive at Romulus to complete this ...in Precip's mind...provoking mission. Precip glanced again at the fish as they swam by on the holowall..noting the absence of any predators, the fish seemed quite relaxed. Oh how he wished the Romulans would remain so the next week..unaware of the threat that was trespassing in their space. Suddenly, he then imagined a giant piece of meat dropped into the scene he was watching totally eliminating the relaxing scene and replacing it with one of danger.. Those Great White Sharks the humans were so impressed about on Earth, closing in for the kill. "Computer deactivate holowall"..Precip ordered the computer. Mitar shook his head and propped his head on a pillow. He transformed a nice tranquil scene in to free for all in his head. This mission was starting to get the best of him. It was to early in the game for that. "Time to get some sleep...while I can"

It was the first mission Mitar had ever prepared a message for his family in the event of his death. He delivered it as discreetly as possible to Inspector General Morris as to not undermine the crew's already delicate morale for this mission. Precip knew Manticore had been sent on dangerous missions before...but this one was the first where he knew ahead of time there was a good chance they would not becoming back. Arrayed before on his desk lied Manticore's technical specs in the form of about six or seven PADDs. He had to find something...something about this ship that could get them out of where Inspector Morris had ordered them..The Romulan Homeworld. Although he had no proof of the fact, Precip was convinced the Romulan Tal Shiar, their intelligence wing, was well aware of the capabilities of the Manticore. They had run into her before, well actually the first USS Manticore...this being the second one. Mitar had to chuckle briefly about whose idea it was to rename a Space Tug Manticore with a suffix letter A...that would get someone's attention allright. It seemed to undermine the elaborate move years ago to "fake" the end of the Manticore mission. Not what he would of done. Mitar shook his head...he was digressing. Getting to Romulus he felt would probably be the least dangerous part of the mission...Manticore had a dandy of a cloaking device..illegal of course by the treaty of Algeron with the Romulans. No..delivering her payload and getting out would be the toughest. The Romulans would swarm over Manticore with their powerful D`deridex class Warbirds..each larger than Manticore herself..in an attempt to destroy her before she delivered what the Romulans would be expecting Manticore to be carrying..her planet killing (PK) tactical module. Precip downed his second cup of caf in twenty minutes. How the in the world would we be able to deploy the mysterious dorsal module Manticore was carrying without it being blown to bits soon after it was free of Manticore. Had the Inspector General really thought this one out? Did he even bother to place himself in the position of the Romulans? Distrust.. Precip shook his head again at his habitual reaction to Black Ops command and went back to thinking of a way out of Romulus. The payload could be delivered in a faulty orbit...as not to decend into the planet itself in the heat of battle (and Bolius what a battle it was going to be). That would be plausible. The Romulans might even do what the Inspector General wanted in that case...Grab the module for study..it would be an intelligence windfall. Okay...Now...How do they get away? The past had shown Manticore was capable of a brief burst of incredible speed with her dual Matter Antimmatter Warp Cores supplying extra power to her warp engines...just enough time to clear the blast radius. But in this case, Manticore had to not just escape the Romulus system..but the entire Star Emprie itself. She couldn't fight her way out Mitar concluded the brutal truth..she had to run...faster than she had ever done before. But how? Mitar grabbed an basic Engineering PADD..she only had the standard warp nacelles a Nebula Class Vessel carries. How would they get away? His inability to answer that question led him to write the letter to his family. He couldn't think of a way get the ship home without the Romulans tearing her apart lightyears before she could cross the Federation border. Slugging it out with the Romulan Fleet in a fighting retreat...to him escape was impossible. Precip dropped a science PADD he was holding on his desk..Stood and headed for the bridge. Time was up. He hoped Morris would remember to deliver that PADD.

Meritorious Achievement Award Mitar's eyes blurred after reviewing another replacment crewmember's file. Where was he....around 50 or so. Precip had only found one officer he was unsure about with prior reprimands for fighting with a superior officer over a plasma conduit replacment job. How ironic.. Early in the day Precip confronted Captain Sovak on the bridge on his order's to recall the remaining crew from leave and ready the Manticore for departure in less than a week. "I should of known better than that...just like that Ensign and his plasma conduit." Precip muttered, reclining slighly in his chair. He indireclty questioned the judgement of his CO infront of everyone on the bridge instead of taking it to the Ready Room which he should of done. There he would of found out that Captain Sovak had brought up the issue of Manticore's operational effectiveness after sustaining so many casualties to the INDIA team leader. Had his distrust of Special Ops Command bled down to his Captain Sovak? Apparently it had. Distrust.. Precip sipped some Caf briefly before returning to his line of thought. Sovak was one of Manticore's crew and was not some emotionless robot that many Vulcans are thought to be by less enlightened races. or individuals. They were considerate...they chose not to show the way humans or other species did. "Of course he thought of the need or replacements you idiot" Precip thought. Mitar's realized his disturst of Starfleet and it's Black Operations leadership had to be his achilles heel if he ever were up for command. Rightfully so. After all Jaffe had put his crewmates through, Precip just couldnt forgive and forget. He went so far even to construct that Special Ops Hardware to deal with Jaffe on his own terms. She had to be stopped and stopped ....fortunately she was by another power. But, it just didnt go away. Precip had ordered Lt. Commander Faldek to unleash his Intelligence gathering skills on the innocent looking Team INDIA and their PADDs as if they were planted seeds of destuction on the freshly rebuilt Manticore. Precip just couldn't stop his pattern of thinking this way. Maybe it was a good thing though.. But what he did with Sovak on the Bridge...was like the new crewmember's file on his viewscreen which insticntively knew was wrong. With a sigh, Precip forwarded the issue to Commander Garnoopy, who would be this crewmans commanding officer..citing a concern with the chain of command. Looking around to make certain noone was in the bay Mitar then rubbed his tired eyes..."If I continue to be the way I am the distrust of the Chain of command could be my undoing here as well. The Logical conclusion was ..He needed help.

Jami.. I am shocked beyond words you said that :rolleyes: BTW..Nice job parking the frakin' yacht. Some rich kid needs boating lessons. -Precip

Regret. Regrets about many things filled Precip's mind. He could recall the young Ensign back at the Starfleet Embassy on Bolarus voice cracking as he said.."There's been an accident on Manticore, I have no further details.." Precip's second family was in some kind of trouble now while he was on Bolarus with his Family mourning his father's death. He was regretfully late and missed the funeral due to the Negen Prime mission. Now he regretted not being on board Manticore...he could of done something..couldn't he? It pained him even more to say goodbye to his mother, who until the funeral at the farm; Precip hadn't seen in five years. Starfleet did that to families. Precip's was no exception. Leaving his grieving mother was....a different pain Mitar had ever felt. But he explained to her..."Mother my other family is in trouble right now I have to go.." It then was too quick of an departure to the Starfleet Facility after those words. Precip regretted. Too Quick. The Bolian's thought's refocused on piloting one of Manticore's generic Type-Six Shuttlecraft..Torrent..towards the shuttle dock of Manticore's Automated Repair station which loomed ahead out his forward cockpit. It was like a huge hand upside down...fingers extended holding nothing. Manticore was not there. He had gunned the Torrent as fast as a Type-Six Shuttle could go to the only Black Ops Repair facility Precip knew about. He had sqwaked the proper identification codes so the Starbase's highly automated system would allow him entry. He had never heard of anyone getting blasted by this station...but then again he didn't know everything about Manticore's history let alone this orbital dock. As Mitar landed and powered down the Torrent in the large Shuttlebay on the dorsal part of the docking facility, he was worried. Where the blazes was Manticore sent...so far that he could arrive her before she did? Just what was considered an "accident" to a Black Ops ship with a top notch crew? Accident was to big of word for Precip right now. Mitar soon found himself in the Orbital Dock's lounge over looking the empty mooring claws that would hold Manticore..regretting both his families on Bolarus and Manticore. He never told them everything there was to know about Mitar Precip. He just wasn't the most sociable officer on the ship, nor the ideal Bolian Son his mother needed right now. Regret and Concern filled his mind again.

Yes! Two blimp hangars still exist at the old Tustin MCAS in Orange County just about 25 miles from LA. -Precip

I suppose if one can successfully reimagine the Galactica, from "the new" BSG....one can take that example and do the following with the NCC -1701 for the new Star Trek Movie. I suppose. -Precip "Can't wait till next Summer"

A Gallery of the Movie stills is now available at http://www.startrekmovie.com -Precip

I think I'll echo a few posters here when I say perhaps I can forgive some hard pills to swallow...errrr...bridge! And wait until I see the movie till I make my final judgement. But one think I will forecast with certaintity...I will be very upset if they toss canon out the window just for good or a refreshed pop look. Precip Errr...Wait! Are those Galactica like AA canons firing on the Kelvin Saucer section! ;) Precip

The bridge just doesnt look like the ancestor of other Federation Starships......are we looking at a simulator perhaps or worst revisionist history? Precip

Cadets...and Grads alike... I apologize for my absence in the Late Saturday Night Academy. I knew Kbear was not going to be present due to work and wouldn't you know my PC has decided to act slow and a bit uncooperative. Tonight I was able to find the blasted Trojan via McAfee....but too late to sim with you all. Again my apologies for my troubles causing problems. -Precip

Congratulations from Kbear and Myself to Benedict Pollasski for graduating the Kbear and Precip Show Saturday Late Night Academy! May you have a bright and fun future in STSF, Benedict Pollasski!! STSF Precip

From what I recall from Earthquake texts, the Mississippi River reversed directions briefly when the New Madrid Fault had it's last big rupture. I do certianly hope the good citizens of Memphis and other nearby cities build their buildings with Earthquakes in mind. -Precip

I was watching BSG the other night, and the Cylons (bad guys) had a meeting in a room. The room had a number 1701D. Those guys at BSG just wont stop propping Star Trek. Precip 5.2 Earthquake Eh? I read something about the type of ground in that part of the country allows for the P and S waves to travel farther than they would in a typical California Quake of similar magnitude. Perhaps that's why Chicago was referenced in media reports. Down here in SoCal we are so overdue for a 5+ Earthquake its amazing. -Precip

Thanks Folks! -Precip

Thanks for the heads up Fred! Suprised the word "Frak" was not on the list...but heh they made the list. It was great. Precip

My favorite is the Akira Class Starship the latest in a lineage including the Nebula and Miranda Classes. I still think they "borrowed" Ideas from the Akira for the NX-01 Enterprise....as some have dubbed "Akira-prise" Precip "Starship Freak and Academy Host"

I love BSG and would not be upset if they ended the show after 22 more episodes. I'd rather them end on a high note a show with excellent reviews...and not stretch something out just for syndication purposes which Trek did. We've seen about the best battle scenes they can throw at us when Pegasus was around, also the best written material (early season three) since the show started. I LOVE the fact Galactica looks like it's going to fall apart from all the knocks it's taken. I think it reflects the ship's journey's end being soon. Precip

Deep Space Nine took off with the Dominion War Story Arc in my opinion. The action really increased as well as the character intrigue (primarily secondary characters....FoundersDukat, Martok, and the Cardassian Tailor/Spy Garek). Now it seems most drama shows employ story arcs as opposed to stand alone epis..IE: Stargate, Battlestar Galactica to name two. DS9 of course was hardly the orignator in using the concept of story arcs..Babylon 5 employed them too. -Precip

This image has been brought to you tonight by Photoshop. Need a train to derail? Use Photoshop! -Precip

Happy Birthday Moi Capitan! Many Mints and Donuts to You!!!! -Precip

Obi Wan has taught you well? Oh My...LOL!!! -Precip

Stormtrooper: The Death Star Plans are not in the Depend Undergarments......