Brian Graham

That was one thing that dissappointed me in Bridge Commander, that even that game focused too much on conflict for my taste. That and how the members of the bridge crew would suggest the course of action to take instead of letting me tell them. But, I guess it's kind of difficult to make the Star Trek game that I would like, where you actually get to scan and interact with instruments and figure out things with the plot instead of just being led along by the storyline that's been programmed into it.

Chief Security Officer's Personal Log Lt. Brian Graham Reporting USS Excalibur Stardate 200503.18 Brian sat in one of the chairs in his quarters. He had moved the chair right up the window and now sat with his feet propped up, seeming to be totally fixated on the starfield that appeared outside the portal. It had been a relieving day, seeing as how the Excalibur had arrived just in time to save the awayteam from suffocating to death. He wasn't ungrateful, but he had wondered why throughout history, Starfleet vessels always seemed to show up at the last minute. It was only a passing thought though. After having been practically walked to sickbay, Brian had layed down on one of the bio-beds and awaited his examination that would hopefully declare him fit to return to duty. He had been the last one to get tested, mostly because he had told the medical staff to examine him last. One reason was, obviously, concern for the other members of the awayteam, but another part of it was that he didn't like having a crowd around listening to the outcome of his medical examination. He wasn't sure if it was a pride thing or what, but he was sure that he didn't like his medical situation to be revealed to more people than necessary. Funny thing was, it turned out there wasn't anything too wrong with him. Oxygen deprivation, but all of the awayteam had experienced it. So, they let him go. Brian had walked to his quarters. He had actually had a desire to run as soon as the doors to sickbay had closed behind him. He didn't though, even though it would have felt good after having been confined to a suit and survival tent for the past several days. So instead, he just took the laid-back approach and had arrived at his quarters. He had taken a shower, dressed in his non-Starfleet uniform outfit and had sat down to eat dinner. A real meal, well a real replicated meal, but still more real than the rations he had been subsisting on. He had felt a little indulgent so had the replicator prepare some ribs, heavy with sauce. He doubted the medical staff would approve of a meal like this, so it was a good thing he hadn't told them. Brian also remembered the promise he had made himself back on the asteroid and had the computer go through the music that he had stored. So, there he was in his quarters, listening to music at the maximum allowable limit imposed by the Excalibur's regulations (good thing too, he would have been embarrassed arresting himself for noise violation) and ate. After finishing, he was definitely happy he had decided to eat in his quarters. No one could take him seriously if they had seen him in this state. Ribs, he didn't care who you were, you couldn't stay clean eating them and anyone who said they could was a liar. Brian was a mess, but since he could replicate as many towels as he wanted, clean-up was an easy job. Then he had moved to where he was now, sitting in his chair looking out his window, counting the hours until the awayteam's debriefing was scheduled to occur.

Chief Security Officer's Personal Log Lt. Brian Graham Reporting USS Excalibur Stardate 200503.11 Brian Graham lay on the hard surface of the Starfleet survival tent. Not sleeping, just laying there because he had fallen a crate but hadn't bothered to get up. He was kind of down, thinking of how the mission could end. Well, he knew how he wanted it to end, but the universe didn't cater to its inhabitants, otherwise he'd have beachside property on Casperia Prime (not Risa, everyone goes to Risa: too crowded), his own personal holodeck, a wife, two sons, and a pool of latinum. Instead, Brian was on a secluded rock, no house, no wife, no kids, no holodeck, and a quadrant away from Casperia Prime. Arh, that would be a boring life anyway. His own personal Alamo would make a more interesting report, albeit more depressing. He knew the end came for everybody, but didn't expect it to happen like this. Then again, it hardly ever happened like anybody expected, not that anyone wanted an end in the first place. He knew from Federation history that security officers weren't the longest lived in Starfleet, but had still concentrated in the division at the Academy regardless of the statistics. Because of the possibility, he had previously recorded several messages to his parents, something that everybody had done. Due to this, Brian didn't see any reason to record another one. He's rather them see him in the recording, with a clean uniform with a starship bulkhead in the background instead of his present state. Space madness was another thing he had been thinking about. Crispin had mentioned it earlier in the mission, and Brian had thoroughly convinced himself that he wouldn't fall prey to that. The situation was dire, but some things helped keep one sane. One thing that had kept Brian fixated in reality was how he would be seen by history. Death of an awayteam due to space madness was not a preferable entry for his Starfleet file. He'd rather sit here and go quietly, be found by Excalibur, and be loaded into a torpedo and sent into space than be found alive with death surrounding him, court martial, dishonorable discharge from Starfleet, life on a Federation penal colony, not to mention his conscience tormenting him the rest of his life. No sir, if the worst happened and Excalibur didn't show up in time, they'd find him here, in his uniform, communicator badge on. Pity he couldn't be standing at attention when they found him but when you're dead, standing is out of the question. Alright, that's enough with the negative thoughts Brian decided. The only problem is there wasn't anything to do. His shift didn't begin for another six hours, Crispin was working on the listening post, Elaine was in the med-tent, and McKnight had taken a walk. Not the best way to ration the oxygen supply but McKnight knew the situation and would probably be back soon. Brian had just woken up a half-hour ago and didn't want to go back to sleep, doubted if he could either. But, that was one way to conserve air. He considered his options, came up empty, set his chronometer to go off in five and a half hours, treated himself to a half-pack of standard rations, and settled down to sleep to dream of, who knows, he'd never been able to control his subconscious. Whatever showed up, he'd take.

Chief Security Officer's Personal Log Lt. Brian Graham Reporting USS Excalibur Stardate 200503.04 Oh man, does the scenery around here ever change? Obviously not, the awayteam had spent some time on the asteroid, busily setting up the listening post. The Excalibur on the other hand was gone, not gone gone, just not around. Complications with the cloaking device had forced them to leave prematurely, while the awayteam stayed behind to complete the mission. Supplies had been sent over, but the bad thing about supplies were that they were finite, and the only way to get more was to be rescued. Brian had been constantly trying to keep himself busy on the listening post, at least when he was on duty. Lt. Xavier had expressly forbidden putting in overtime, which Brian saw the logic in, since more work meant more oxygen usage. It might get the listening post done faster, but since no one knew when rescue was due to arrive, using up all of the oxygen wasn't a good idea. The one thing that bothered Brian the most was being away from Excalibur. He had grown up in an era of starships, marvels of construction that could explore galaxies, heck sometimes other time periods, and had dreamed of serving aboard one. With his graduation from the Academy, that dream had become a reality, and Excalibur had been his first starship home. He had heard some display displeasure of starship life, being cramped up in a small vessel, having no real permanent location, just somewhere in space. Brian had never thought of it that way. Planets may be bigger, but when you were on a planet, you were just there. Starships let you see other places, and really see them, not just view them on a LCARS monitor. Awayteams were where the action was, but Brian found himself remembering the small things about starships that were familiar and appealed to him. The constant, faint, hum of the engines, the way the deckplates vibrated when the warp drive kicked in, the split second between when the starship moved and the inertial dampeners kicked in, the sounds the door made when they opened and closed, the sounds of an LCARS console and its visual layout. And there were things you could do on a starship that you couldn't necessarily do here. His music was one thing. After his shift, his favorite thing was being able to go to his quarters and work, but be able to play his oldies whenever he wanted. Alas, Billy Joel, ELO, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Johhny Cash, Frankie Valli, Gene Pitney, and all the others were back on Excalibur. All the hits were still in his head, and he'd mentally sing them to himself, but it wasn't the same. One of the first things he'd do after their rescue and the debriefing would be to play the list all the way through. It may take three hours, but it was therapeutic. Heck, Brian doubted a counselor could do much better. The one thing that he was constantly reminded of was movement, too. The EVA suits, although imperative to have in this environment, restricted movement and visibility. Brian wished he could get some exercise, but the suit made it almost impossible. Even running didn't go over very well, and the last thing he needed was to trip and compromise the suit's integrity, that would make a fine obituary. Death too, that thought came up every once and awhile, and Brian made every effort to silence it whenever it presented itself. Security Chiefs had to display no signs of discomfort or weakness. Brian wasn't sure if it was a rule, but he had noticed that it seemed to be, so he just went along with it. He kept it all in his head, but he also didn't let it affect him or what he was doing. His rank reminded him to keep in control. He had to be an example to Chen, the Delgado, and McKnight. He knew they could handle the situation and didn’t really need to be concerned with setting an example, but he didn't want to give one opportunity for indecision or fear one his part to affect them, possibly letting them give in to seeing the situation as hopeless. Xavier was a different story, his situation was worse. As leader of the awayteam he had to make the decisions and give the impression that he had no doubts. Heck he probably didn't have any; he had enough experience in life to know how to handle any situation. Brian stole a look up, half expecting to see Excalibur decloak and hear the chirp of the communication channel, or feel the initialization of a transporter field. Nothing, and Brian knew better, silently cursing himself. Wishful thinking didn’t get anyone anywhere and Brian knew better than that. He headed off to the tent he had been assigned to get something to eat and then get some sleep before getting back to work on the listening post.

BOO! Get that guy off the stage! Just busting your chops there Commodore, it was a pretty good joke actually.

Looks great, took me all weekend to download though. :lol:

Hey, fun fact. That also makes a quote from DS9's "Valient" completely irrelevant. Oh well, the guy was only a cadet.

This could go back to what I was saying earlier about being comfortable with the canonocity of an object, in this case a ship. From the series-es we've become pretty familiar with Klingon vessels, Romulan vessels, and a few Starfleet vessels. we know how they work, what they can do, what their layout is for the most part. I personally would love to see some Steamrunner's, Norway's, Sabre's, and the like, but the most we have seen of them is in the backround of a large fleet formation. We know they are there, but the series hasn't established any real facts about them yet, except maybe the bare statistics.

Maybe another thing is that dealing with foreign ships with foreign governments requires more to make up and invent then a regular TOS,TNG-era sim since there may not be a lot of canon info to go on. I don't know if that's a real reason but I rely on canon info for the most part, but I guess I am just wierd that way.

Chief Security Officer’s Duty Log Lieutenant Brian Graham Reporting USS Excalibur Stardate 200502.04 Brian took a quick moment to survey the bridge of the Excalibur, something hat he didn’t get to do as often as he liked. At almost every console a Starfleet officer was positioned and going through data, checking systems, making sure everything was working efficiently. Brian had been doing the same. Phaser emitters were standing by, waiting to unleash their deadly energy with the minor touch of his hand on the correct button. Torpedo casings were below deck, waiting to be injected with a small portion of anti-matter and then let fly at a target. Shields were fully charged, ready to repel attacks when activated. Security officers throughout the ship were ready to mobilize at the slightest hint of an unscheduled transport. Starfleet wasn’t a military organization, but it would stand and deliver when called. It was times like this when Brian wanted to be in an EV suit, just far enough so he could see Excalibur in flight. Starships had always been a passion for him as a child, and that was one of the things that convinced him to join Starfleet, to get the opportunity to be part of one, instead of just having models of them on a shelf. He’d had those too, dozens of them, different classes from different eras, most of them collected from childhood. He still had them actually; the shelves of his quarters were filled with them, but no one else on the ship knew about them. It was kind of odd, something so important to his character but never shared, just part of the line he walked between distance and association. Everywhere else on the Bridge Brian could see other officer’s hunched over their respective consoles as well. Chen was just off to his right at science, looking at the sensor readouts, of course. Xavier was over near the ship’s main operations and status display, no doubt coordinating the power systems. Commander Neo, Yeoman Perfect, Admiral Day, all in their respective chairs, doing their duty. Professionals all around him, Brian hoped he functioned in that capacity too. Right now the Excalibur was on her way to set up a listening post which would hopefully yield some clue as to the whereabouts of the Hundred. But to set the thing up, that meant Excalibur had to make her way to the operation area alone. The final frontier, nothing but your ship and whatever else might be out there watching you. It kind of sounded like a film they might play at a Starfleet enlistment station; they did that kind of stuff centuries ago, so maybe they still did. Irregardless, Brian was wired, anticipation mostly, but there was some fear there too. He always got like this, but he tried to hide it as best he could. You’re not supposed to be eager for a fight, but that was the feeling that Brian used to describe it. He wasn’t a violent person, with some score to settle with the universe, it was just the drama about it. That’s when true character presented itself, no time to second guess yourself, reflect, plan, hindsight, anything like that. You had an instinct, based on your training and experience, and you went with it, no middle ground, do or don’t. It was the plain black and white to it, no gray area, which fascinated Brian the most, he just couldn’t shake it, and it was part of him. Simplicity, but coordination, how everyone worked independently, but also together, to make the starship more than just a machine, but almost an entity that functioned, “lived” even. Maybe that’s why officer’s got into fights, risking their records, sometimes their lives depending on who you picked a fight with, over the reputation of a mass of duranium and conduits.

Ok, so now all we need is a map in globe-format.

I'd like to change mine to "Excalibur's Juke Box Hero" Thanks!

=/\=STARFLEET PERSONNEL FILE=/\= Awards and Commendations --Starfleet Academy Nova Squadron Flight Patch Awarded by Admiral Telnara Selphi, Starfleet Academy --Service Strip for Admirable Conduct (3 earned) Awarded by Admiral Wayne Day, USS Excalibur --Starfleet Good Conduct Medal (6 earned) Awarded by Admiral Wayne Day, USS Excalibur --Starfleet Good Conduct Medal, with Clusters Awarded by Admiral Wayne Day, USS Excalibur --Excalibur Starburst of Excellence Awarded by Excalibur Command Staff Awarded for the 2005 Star-year

::looks at the TV:: Hey, who turned on PBS? Heh heh, just busting your chops Commander!

I like the pic, but I thought Delphins didn't have legs.

=/\=Starfleet Psychological Profile=/\= Brian Graham ------------------------------------------------------- Brian Graham has exhibited several characteristics, some becoming of a Starfleet officer, some possible less so. On the positive side, Brian is very dedicated to his duty, sometimes bordering on being a workaholic. This sometimes causes a problem for him, as he likes organization and orderliness. When things go wrong, or seem to get backed up, Brian's work-stress increases to moderate levels. He tries to create and be part of a perfectly working department, however, such a feat is almost impossible to accomplish. He tries to create a balance with interaction with his fellow officers as well. Not wanting the reputation of a drill sargent, but also wanting a professionaly functioning department, Brian has put himself on a thin line that can be difficult to tread consistantly. Socially, Brian is also two sided. While friendly with those he is familiar with and already has built up a repitoire, he does not take well to large gatherings made up mostly of strangers. He doesn't have a clinical phobia of such settings, however they are not his preffered environment, which he has described as being too confused and unpredictable. Interacting with such ones follows this same course. Jovial and comical around his friends, Brian does fine. Stangers, however, leads him to awkward silences and small talk, both of which he hates. His preferred method is a small group setting made up of those he knows and does not know. While focusing speaking attention on those he is familiar with, Brian observes the conversations of those he knows less as they particiapte in the group, and then can engage them in conversation when he knows about them enough. Interaction with fellow officers is usually one sided. Brian attempts to be respectful to his superior officers at all times. Branded at the Acedemy as "too serious" by his fellow cadets, this also led to less contact with other cadets in social settings, since Brian thought they weren't taking thier Academy-time seriously. Brian attributes most of his suprior offcer dynamics to his father's constant reminders of respect and propriety, which have stayed with him throughout his Starfleet career. Brian also has a negative aspect of keeping up appearances, which he has almost perfected to an art. Never wanting to seem indecisive or mistaken, Brian will sometimes take the longer, more difficult route so as not to appear helpless. He will ask for help when he needs it, showing he can work with other officers, but he cannot stand looking foolish while on duty. What we have is someone who is almost totally double-sided, but tries to balance them in a way that will work the best, which sadly, cannot happen 100% of the time. UPDATE: Stardate 200603.21 From previous experience, it would seem unlikely for Brian to become more unattached from others, though he has exhibited this on numerous occassions in the last few months. This could probably be traced to the near disaster and loss of the Morningstar during the Defense of camelot Station in the Gamma Quadrant. Although the ship survived, it sustained heavy casualties, some among the senior staff. From that point forward, Brian seems to have become more attached to duty, and less attached to others, keeping most conversation to a business-like tone and mostly-business in content. This episode of detachment may be a defense mechanism for him to compensate with the loss of established relationships, and a barrier to forming more. Although not having any adverse affects as duty is concerned, this condition is not particularly socially healthy and should be closely monitored.

Woo-hoo!!

Here's my list: I like: Galaxy, this class is basically my favorite Nebula, Akira, Norway, and Soverign. I don't like: Constellation, Intrepid, or Defiant

"Hired goons?" Arg, it's an old line from the Simpsons that has no real significance but what you said in the last post triggered the flashback so I thought I would just write about it.

Hmm, maybe I should double security... J/k NDak, have fun on the station.

Aww, how come I always have to be the guy to get struck down with Force Lightning for even mentioning Trek?

It' sounds like something from "Seinfeld"

They both kind of sound like something a Jem'Hadar would say.

I thought it was pretty catchy, but I haven't heard it enough to hate it...yet.

HA! I say the same thing. Anyway, yeah, all the above is good stuff to do. See you aboard the Excalibur!