Kallah Ramson

I was trying to come up with a uniform for Starfleet fighter pilots, and it went from there. In attempts to validate my insanity I thought I'd share what I've done. The variants try to incorperate the Starfleet arrowhead into the overall pattern. The Pilot variant may clash a bit with the curved pattern but squared shoulder patches. I like the casual variant because it reminds me of the short sleaved tunic McCoy use to wear. The formal variant uses the arrowhead design in the body and shoulders. I also made these because I was very unimpressed with the last commonly seen Starfleet uniforms. Too dark and really losing touch with the old color coded style. Seems time for a uniform update, though if the next movie is set in Pre-TOS it will be sometime before we get a proper updated wardrobe.

We've brought this subject up before. What, When, and Where for an International Sim Some people seemed interested in having a more Euro-centric scheduled sim but there was no host willing to lead the effort and it went nowhere. We have a number of players outside the Americas who simply deal with the odd schedule. You might want to check out the message board sim based off the Excalibur sim.

An orchestra of noise echoed throughout the flight decks as they never had before. The port and starboard prep decks were filled with Gamma squads conversion to the Crispin-Stealth system. The stealth modules lay neatly waiting attachment with a new one being quickly added to the rows as they came from the replication/fabrication department. They had learned much with the first fighter to be outfitted with the device that Kallah once flew. It was still slow going as each system had to be configured for the limitations placed on them for everything to work properly. Crispin's dream of a ground up design would have been much more desirable... but they had to work with what they had. The loud humming of loader units coming from farther up as runabouts Towy and Usk were having their roll bars equipped served as the bass line to the symphony of sound. The ever unstable drumline was coming from the landing bays where Alpha Squad was being patched up from their last sortie. Filling out the band was the sounds of testing scanners going over runabout Severn and Beta Squad's new sensor suites. This is where Kallah was heading. The deck crews nodded with smiles to Lt. Ramson. Of all the tasks suddenly handed out by the C.A.G., this one was at least routine. The extra shielding and buffering to handle the extremes of electromagnetic "hell" about to be experienced wasn't but that too was going well. The lead techie approached Kallah. "System integration complete. Beefing the safety systems up should be done within the hour. We should also have the networking between the runabout and fighters done by then." "Good work. Please have the paperwork ready for the pilots. Beta squad comes off their sleep shift in 3 hours and mission brief will be in 4. As soon as you're done here assist the other crews. I want at least 2 wings of Gamma Squad and a runnabout ready to launch if we need them. Then, get some rest yourselves." Kallah smiled as she turned towards the exit ramp. She took a moment to sense the mental state of her crews. With all she had thrown at them they were remarkably focuses and unphased. There were still questions in their minds about this mission that had brought them so far from home. There were the lingering grudges and anger at the loss of Epsilon Squad. Added to all that a young C.A.G. throwing double shifts onto them, she had expected more glares and irritation. She felt none of that. As she stepped to the ramp gate leading off the flight deck she saw why. Some self appointed motivational officer had posted a picture at most of the entrances and exits. Kallah nodded and headed to get herself ready for the upcoming mission. A photo of an empty cradle spoke clearer than any speech or words of encouragement she or any other could give.

Lt. Ramson stepped quickly into the mission briefing room where her pilots and crew were just filing in. Alpha squad followed closely behind, still wearing their flight suits having landed just moments ago. Kallah set her own helmet under the podium and turned to see that everyone was here. "Our attempt to rescue the child were unsuccessful but we have gained more intelligence on the Boganarty technology and tactics." She pulled up a summery of the battle onto the main display. "Alpha squad engaged in precision strikes on the ships aft port quarter. This should have dropped their shields within several minutes... but it didn't." The summery slid over to a side panel and detailed scans of their target ship faded into view. "Lesson one: these people are wreckless and insane. Review of scans show we dropped their port shield to 23% after three passes. They then ramped up their generator output 5 times any conceivable safety limits." Energy patterns overlaying the ship began to glow brightly around the mentioned sections. "Further scans show this ruptured 2 EPS lines in that area and flooded the aft section with radiation." More visual patterns representing the spreading radiation, EPS explosions, and other data washed across the ship schematic. "You will notices several green indicators in the aft section. Those would be of the crew. There seems to be no regard for individual safety." Kallah took a moment to let the furrowed brows of the gathered pilots and deckcrews settle. "Five minutes more into the engagement and the port shield generators failed completely. But still, the port section WAS shielded. Lesson Two: They may not think long term but they do think quick. Scans now show that they extended their starboard and dorsal shields over our target area. This allowed them the time to reach their reenforcements before we could eliminate their shielding. They also dropped their aft cargo section and escaped in a command module which we could not outrun. Again, scans show this module overtaxed it's engines to achieve this speed." The main display board went blank. "Now we must prepare for the next engagement. The facts are, through all of their tricks and extreme measures we are the better equipped and trained force. Their targeting systems are sloppy and rely on wide dispersal to score hits. They so far seem to prefer heavy damage output to range. They are brawlers and thugs in style... if not more." Kallah smiled. "Here is the plan. We will begin throwing out our own tricks. This is why I've called the deckcrew in here as well. Starting as soon as this briefing is over Gamma squad will be outfitted with the Crispin-Stealth system. Pilots, read up on it. It's limitations are clear but it's potential in this situation is as equally clear. Deckcrews, have those fighters ready as soon as possible. This is asking a lot. And, I have more to ask. Two runnabouts will be equipped with the optional torp roll bar and loaded with long range strike missiles. They're role will be to harass targets from well outside their own firing ranges. Runnabout pilots are ordered to engage at distance but flee any close combat unless otherwise instructed. Epsilon and Zeta squads will likewise be loaded with long range torpedoes as well as a mixture of other ordinances. Your jobs is to be ready for anything. If I need a gravimetric charge I want you to have it ready for us. If I need the kitchen sink...have it!" Looking once more across the faces of her assembled crew, "We will face this enemy with our training and resolve at it's fullest. When the beast roars... put an arrow in it's mouth. When the thug grapples your comrade... but a knife in it's back. When the berserkers charge... let the shield wall hold firm. We are one force united in a singular purpose and chaos can not stand against such." "Dismissed."

Star Trek is starting to turn into steam punk because it's ideas about how technology will work and interact with people is becoming so outdated. We have now in this early part of the 21st century most of the technology presented as state of the art 23rd. A new series would need to exist in a future where the Federation has made an alliance with the Borg or part of the Borg which has returned to the way they were first portrayed (they only assimilated technology and grew their own young to fill the drone ranks). Externally applied (and removable) Borg parts would then be used to mentally control most systems. Slipstream and transwarp drives would then be used to open up the whole galaxy for exploration. Voyager races then could be re-explored while not leaving old ones behind and the Dominion's full force could become a real threat as well as probably an enemy from outside the Milky Way. And I don't think such a setup would overly shrink the galaxy. Space is still REALLY big. I think TOS originally had a large part of the galaxy reachable but it understood that didn't mean every star and planet between here and there had been explored. Man had circumnavigated the globe well before they had even a clue what most of the continental interiors of the Americas or Africa had in store. Likewise we could reach from one edge of the galaxy to the next in a years travel and bypass countless stars and planets. If we could step to any planet we wanted as easy as stepping out of our front door it would still take several lifetimes to explore the galaxy. Actually, a set up like this would make for a good social commentary on globalization.

I can forgive such things if the rest of the story is worth it. Great example, the fan series New Voyages had an episode where about the same thing that ticked me off in that book happened. A Romulan weapon goes wild and throws Sulu through time and space and safely drops him on some random planet's surface. But, the rest of the story was good, the action good, dialog good, and I was willing to forgive this one oversight. The exact same thing in the book Requiem was just insulting to my intelligence because there wasn't anything else that made it worth the leap in believability.

The action on the alien space station was totally predictable. While I know it would otherwise kinda kill the drama (as well as the primary character) but I can't stand it when some malfunctioning alien device just happens to throw someone across the universe or time and neatly plant them safely on a planets surface. It was a weak excuse to get Picard onto Cestus III (when he just HAPPENED to already be enroute to meet up with some Gorn). I could not see the characters saying much of their dialog. The Gorn were plain reptile aliens with what little snippets of their culture being based solely on what you'd expect from a Saturday morning cartoon about big talking lizards (ThunderLizards Ho!!!). And the ending just made me want to burn the book...which might explain why I can't find it right now. What did Picard learn about the Gorn? Punching one in the throat is a good way to say hello. BAH!!!!! All that said, I admit it has been many years since I've read it and I've probably blown some of this out of proportion. I still think it was not a good story.

The novelization of The Wrath of Khan was good. All other ST books I've read have just made me mad. I can't remember many of the titles but one TNG book involving Picard traveling back in time to Cestus III and being involved with the attack by the Gorn...HORRID!!! The Rihannsu books I'm working my way through but so far I've not been overly impressed. Much of anything else I don't get very far before wanting to rewrite the thing myself. But, I have that problem with alot of what I read.

If you mean watching new episodes of TOS coming out as a new series... I already am watching that. The Fan Series; Star Trek: New Voyages (or as it's called now Phase II) is exactly that, with new people playing Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the rest. It hasn't been bad and in fact the guy who produces it and plays Kirk in it has a bit part in the new movie.

That type of set up works well with separated groups. The EU can work because the people are separated by language and culture. Pre-Civil war America worked to a point because of distance and travel limitations. That is what works so well for the UFP, distance and limitation of travel. Now, in the UFP's future where perhaps a Dominion style transporter systems is established allowing planet to planet transport and suddenly cultures are being faced with one another on a regular and large scale the system would be in for some troubles. Oddly enough I just read something about an animated Star Trek series in VERY early development that takes place in the future after a Second Earth/Romulan War and where a third party set off Omega bombs making large areas of space impassible and splitting the Federation in two. First it sounds interesting because it matches the split in the Roman Empire into East and West and Second it ticks me off because we already did the Omega bomb idea on Aegis some 10 years ago. In our plot a rouge Captain went insane and decided the only way to stop the Dominion War was to turn the Federation/Cardassian boarder into an impassible subspace void using Omega Bombs.

I would say the Federation is more like pre-Civil War America or the US under the Articles of Confederation. A Confederacy probably describes the UFP better than a Federation...but the name holds some stigma (especially in TOS' first run in the 60's). The TOS episode "The Cloud Minder's" is a nice hidden gem of insight into the working of the Federation. Planets are independent but must give aid to other Federation worlds. Their internal matters are still very much their own to deal with but they could ask assistance from Federation agencies. They're level of openness or isolation was theirs to dictate. Personally, I'd ignore the Federal level of things and worry about my own planet and work within it's government.

Something else that might be interesting to explore is the creation of the Klingons as a warrior race. That may seem an odd statement but hear me out. First, we know the Klingons are into revisionist history so just cause they boast of a proud warrior tradition doesn't mean it's exactly as they said. Second, a key part of "The Undiscovered Country" was that with the Praxis Accident the Klingon Empire could no longer financially maintain their military at the level they were at. I propose that this means that the Klingons conscripted army is being dismissed in exchange for fewer but better trained warriors. The Imperial navy will largely be handed over or sold to individual "Houses" that can support the upkeep of this new limited but more effective army and navy. This would have led to the Houses struggling and mobilizing armies against themselves for power that we saw so much of in TNG. Propaganda would then start to tout the "Klingon Warrior" as a model for everyone to strive for. Because simply, they need well trained warriors that will fight for honor...rather than a paycheck. So what we have are Klingons that had some warrior traditions but nothing all consuming (we see some of this in TOS:"Day of the Dove") but most Klingon soldiers are drafted bullies with some Imperial ideology saying they are better than everyone else. (We see this in "Trouble With Tribbles", also very akin to how Cardassians were portrayed, and all boils down to basically being Nazis). But without the ability to finance such a large standing army the Klingons shift their culture to a well trained enlisted and warrior cast, now relying on quality over quantity. There are several aspects of this that could be delved into. One would be what we saw in the movies with the leading generals and cultural purists resisting ANY changes to their way of life. Another more interesting thing would be the plight of the common soldier now being told to find another job. Historically this could be seen as the opposite of a major cultural change of the Roman Empire. Our idea today is that the poor always get sent off to die in wars. Historically the poor were not allowed to go to war. Only citizens of some standing could join the army. This was in part cause they were the only ones who could afford the equipment but it also kept to spoils of war for the wealthy. It also kept the poor from gaining fame and political power. When the Roman army was opened up to everyone (The Marian Reforms) common people had a chance to advance in society and non-citizens suddenly had a way to become the much sought after "Roman Citizen". Back to the Klingons, they're standing army is now being told to go away and all the "glory" is being saved for the "Warriors". The common Klingon who can't afford training or equipment now has little chance to advance himself. (See the history of General Mar'tog for how some of that can play out). The ruling "Warrior" elite will gain more and more power as the lowly unemployed soldiers lose their power and most likely many of their rights, or atleast their ability to demand any rights. Klingon culture becomes stratified and devolves into Nobles, Knights, Surfs, and little in between and few hopes of moving between levels of society. All this could mean we should see soldier demonstrations demanding backpay and retirement benefits. Not just the generals but the common soldier thinking war with the Federation would be a better choice. The old "House" structure reforming and testing out it's power and searching for a pecking order. Basic Klingon culture shifting from TOS to TNG examples with harsh and painful conflicts between the two. Generally...social disorder on a massive scale. Standing orders from Starfleet Command.... if the Klingons during this time of social upheaval turn into space hippies.... shoot on sight.

In history ships in foreign ports would have a "pilot" assigned from the local port authority to guide them through the unfamiliar shores. If the Klingons assigned such a guide, that would open up a door for casual exploration of the Klingon persona. They would still be a Klingon officer and not actually be in the chain of command so you don't break with canon about Worf being the first Klingon in Starfleet. They would serve somewhat of the function as Nelix on Voyager. Also gives some tension and drama as security has to deal with a Klingon onboard and the two sides slowly learning to trust each other.

In the virtual world of Second Life I am building a STSF recruiting center. I've not listed it in the public search or anything so currently it's only visible to those who just happen to be flying by it. I want to make sure before I do anything else that there's not any reason I shouldn't be taking this upon my own initiative. It's a simple information center which links to the main STSF page. Anyone who has SL can see what I've done here. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ebirah/102/182/126/ It's nothing grand, simply has the logo and a picture or something for each sim. I want to have something giving the sim schedules and maybe a brief overview of simming. Also, a notecard giving info on each sim would be nice. But anyways, general thoughts on this?

New random update. I've built a number of sets to play around with. At the STSF recruiting site there's a teleport up to the ship. It's still under construction but I've done enough to be happy to show it now. I've got a bridge, Conference room, sickbay, main engineering, lounge, and TR. I'm pondering what other areas to focus on next but mainly I need to do some decorating and work on scripts. Doors work but no TL or TR. I've got some temp bypasses for the TL and TR....but expect a nice drop when you try to TR off the ship, hehe. Anyway, look around and such. Maybe some "test sims" can be run on it just to see how feasible our style of simming can be done in SL.

Red Dwarf and Hitchhikers Guide aren't Star Trek spoofs. Galaxy Quest spoofs aspects of Star Trek but stands on it's own very nicely. Star Wreck and Stone Trek are flat out spoofs. Star Wreck: The Pirkening is what Star Trek would be if everyone was drunk, insane, and Finnish. Stone Trek is when the Star Trek and Flintstones Universe collide. Both of these can be found on the web along with tons of other true spoofs.

There was a Caitian, or at least a cat like creature in the Federation Council scene of one of the TOS movies and timeline wise TAS was between TOS and TOS movie so for this poll I'd say Caits, Edoans, and whatever those bird creatures were can be called TOS.

TOS Aliens: Minaran, Catullan, Orian, Gorn, "TOS Romulans"(Not Rihannsu or Megabrow TNG'ers). I do tend towards the aliens that haven't been covered much so I can do what I want with their culture with little fear of them ever being mentioned again. My primary character is a mixed race. 1/2 Minaran, 1/4 Orian, 1/8 Vulcan, 1/8 Human. ::shrug:: It's what ya get when you let sim characters breed. I've made bios for TNG one off race characters before but never fully developed or found a place for them. They've included Rutian and Barzan.

Too many races. Make it categories. "Humanoid(Earth and others)", "TOS Aliens", "TNG Aliens", "Non-Fed Aliens", "Self Created", "Mentioned only once alians", "I've never met another one as a player race before", and such.

That's a case of telepaths from a typically non-telepathic species. It's another case dealing with telepaths from a telepathic race and culture. "Leashing" these telepaths would be saying the one culture's values are greater than the others. Are the non-telepath's rights to privacy greater than the telepath's rights to expected information. They should be equal. Luckily most telepaths Star Trek has come across have been peaceful and willing to wave their own rights.

Yes. Is it ethical to tell the telepathic officers to "turn their senses off"? Is it ethical to have and use better vision, hearing, taste or smell than another race? Personally, the telepath should be allowed to be a telepath. From that point of view the abilities are not being exploited.

Starfleet at it's core is an exploratory organization. After 100 years of peace on Earth to the time of Enterprise the military trappings left in Earth Starfleet were simple holdovers on an organizational basis. It would be like saying we follow a pagan religion because we use so many pagan deity names in our calender. Earth's Starfleet thus started out purely as an organization for exploration. It's early experience taught it to defend itself and I'm sure it developed a solid military branch after the Earth-Romulan War but it's beginnings and core were not military. Even the more militaristic TOS made it clear they were out there exploring first, defending second, and there really was no third option. Otherwise I agree with Corizon...kinda. There were a number of other points actually but that led into a longer post which I just backspaced over cause it got rather off subject which I seem to be doing again as well as creating a run on sentence of nominal length and minimal usefulness to the subject at hand.

Those are not my banlines, you dropped onto my neighbors plot.

SL scripting isn't that hard. I've made a number of things and as long as I've got a bottle of Advil close by I can figure most of the coding out in time. NPCs are nearly impossible without having a second computer to run a secondary account. What can be done is script an object to work like a puppet. You say something on a channel that can't be heard by everyone else, the object listens to that channel and simply repeats everything it hears. With that the GM can say something and it looks to everyone else the Computer, or Com, or whatever the object is named is talking. As for computer being too slow there is one thing that can help. If you turn down the draw distance you can increase performance. Since most sets would be interior ship rooms you can turn the draw rate ALL the way down. With the latest viewer you can turn down a lot of other features. But yes, having a top of the line machine is needed for a headache free experience. Land wouldn't have to be a problem. I have around 4600 square meters of land and am looking at another 1500. With what I have built now I can still set up a couple of "sets" I've built in the past. As mentioned I've built a couple of sets before. Here's one. It's what I envisioned the original Aegis command center looking like. I do agree something like Red Star would be great. Just another place to socialize is always nice. And, if the sim was a starbase type (which would be easier since it would use less random sets and such) the social and sim aspects could be merged. AegisCC_001Small.bmp

Just an update: In the almost 3 months since I made the little STSF info center in SecondLife I've had 35 clicks from 31 users on the link that brings up the STSF website. I don't know how that compares with linkthroughs from other sites to us but doesn't sound bad especially since I've advertised the info center nowhere else in SecondLife except the standard search feature. Currently the "traffic" meter for the info center is 34. I have never understood how they calculate that or what it really means. The next step if anyone is interested in advertising in SecondLife is to rent a sign in some of the existing Star Trek fan areas. The Aeon Sandbox rents their signs for L$100 a week (that's about 40 cents at current exchange rates). Again, any thoughts?