We're not closing down, for the reasons choie states. Or did you just want to pause the game until you're back from Down Under, general?
ETA: Hmm. I now see that the game thread is locked - don't know why! I certainly didn't do it, or ask that it be done. I've PM'd CIAS.
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 07 Feb 2017 at 10:07 AM.
It was probably me by accident. I blame phone posting with all the fiddly options too close together.
Have fun in Oz-land G_U
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Ah, good, thanks, CIAS - I see it's unlocked again.
Dang that was one helluva fast battle! I composed the bulk of that Nia post while you were posting, EH, but had to change the end on preview. As you can see I was expecting... something more like the end of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.Or, to use another movie metaphor, it's like, Luke's in that X-wing, about to press the button using the Force, but then the entire Rebel fleet bursts forward to get their shots down the conveniently exposed shaft first. So Luke flies to safety and just watches Biggs & Co. blow up the Death Star.
Thank God for the cavalry I guess!
I am good with the thread being open. I thought we were just wrapping it up at that point, and was aok with it since my posting will be weird through Friday.
But now, since it was an oops, onward!
Waaaait... what abilities is he talking about? He shouldn't know about her empathy stuff yet, should he? Although if he were more curious he might find some interesting stuff. Unless you mean the Elasian tears...Originally posted by CIAS
I just realized Kylah will be in Sickbay with Collins.
Tear based powers...nothing more, nothing less. She's always said she has them but as a half Elasian how true that is, is another matter. Well at least for Rangin to investigate.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Interesting article on why Kirk's shirt colors and Spock's skin colors varied so widely in TOS: http://www.startrek.com/article/shirts-and-skins-in-tos
That is interesting, thanks! Cool, and the differences make sense.
I'm curious, though, about those four pictures used for comparison at the bottom. Specifically, #2:
Because the text says that "No.2 was captured just after a transporter effect and, again, the command tunics are yellow and the flesh tones have shifted to magenta."
But Kirk's tunic is definitely green, not gold. He's noticeably different from the others, even though Theiss supposedly wanted the command folks in green.
So... is Kirk intended to look different vs. the yellow-shirted folks? Makes total sense if true, but then it's curious that the rest of the article implies that there are no gold outfits at all, just a weird lighting/film effect. Still a conundrum!
Last edited by choie; 19 Feb 2017 at 02:21 AM.
BTW--I know Nia is incorrect in her memories about her having told Security to let people go. She implied it, but she only said it specifically to Graham. It's intentional to show her state of mind.
Just wanted to mention it to avoid a "Nia remembers that she didn't tell Three Crows to free the guests" exposition.
Thanks very very much to CIAS for getting the good ship Mellophant back out of drydock!
Hear, hear!
Hi there! Hope everyone's okay and those of us in the Eastern half of the U.S. are relatively unharmed from any blizzards. NYC got off pretty lightly, which is lucky for me.
Sorry for my delay in getting back to the Nia portion. I'm gonna be leaving for a two week exodus to Oregon and back for a writing workshop/retreat, so I've had tons to do. Also, heads up, I'll be traveling there and back by train, and unfortunately the Amtrak line from Chicago to Oregon (intriguingly called the Empire Builder--Lewis & Clark and Manifest Destiny ahoy!) doesn't include Wifi. I'll be bringing along a mobile hotspot, but we pass through some pretty remote areas and connectivity might be dicey. So toward the end of this week I might have some issues getting back here.
Not too much snow here so far, fortunately. Hope you have a good trip, choie! Sounds like fun. Oregon is a beautiful state.
Whoa no wifi on the train? That's crazy, especially since I consider train a great way to travel in general...
Apologies for being AWOL a couple of days, was under the weather (our weather, not east coast weather which would be a much more severe thing...!)
Sorry all, was at the London Book Fair and a few other events. Catching up now.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
That concludes the Yorktown's mission to Sigma Iotia II. Thank you all for returning with me to the Chicago Gangland planet!
As in previous missions, I incorporated five names drawn from the sf/fantasy works of a noted author, as well as sprinkling some ST in-jokes into the mix. Anyone catch 'em?
Early in the next mission, you'll have a chance to say goodbye to Lt. JG Jeremi Collins and, by extension, the late anyrose, whom we all miss. Please give some thought as to what your character will say to Collins as she leaves the Yorktown for a new assignment.
For now, let's take a week off. If you think of anyone who might like to join the crew, please let me know via PM. A new player or two would be most welcome; we could use a new doctor or engineer character, in particular.
No takers...?
Oh fuckaduck, I posted this whole response and then the page refreshed. DAMMIT.
Anyway I know no one who likes Trek enough to write about it except you guys, alas. I suppose WES or any of the other earlier folks are unable to return?
Just wanted to add a huge thanks to you, EH, for organizing and running this mission, despite the extraordinary circumstances and challenges, most especially and poignantly the illness and loss of our dear Naomi / Lt. Collins. Each of us has had significant personal upheavals too, which meant we weren't always in top form for participating in the game. But speaking personally--and as you can tell as you look at the massive stretches of space my Nia/Kylah posts take up--I really treasure this game as a distraction and creative outlet. So thank you, EH, and to CIAS and general_urko for being such great teammates.
If we're allowed to post a wish for the future (maybe not the upcoming mission but later on), I know there's lots of unfinished business between our characters and some NPCs, and lots of backstory to mine (incl. the Orion Syndicate that links Rangin/Graham--an otherwise unlikely pair!) and I'm hoping for a good mix of a mission that mixes the professional and personal. So much juicy stuff that can be marbled in with a seeingly external plot!
Those are my favorite episodes of Trek. Like... two Riker episodes, the one where his past on the Potemkin reveals an attempt to create a cloaking device, and where we learn a double was accidentally created and abandoned down on a planet; also, Data's past with Lore or in "Silicon Avatar" where his memories of the destroyed colony become integral to the guest character du jour. Or of course anything on DS9 with Garak/Bashir/Kira and their various twisty pasts). All our characters have stuff like that so it'll be cool if one day those chickens come home to roost!
Anyhoo, just a hope for the future! I'm sure the next mission's already planned. Greetings from very temporarily sunny Hood River, Oregon. (VERY temporarily sunny. It's really surprised me that the image of Oregon as being constantly gloomy has been no exaggeration. Even days that start out looking pretty bright end up overcast and drizzly.) Gorgeous land here, though. And yet I miss NYC too. Been a long two weeks. Hope everyone's doing okay!
Great post choie and likewise thanks so much EH...
Glad to!
The five were the names of the CAG members, all drawn from my favorite Ray Bradbury stories:
Morris - "Zero Hour"
Wilder - "The Settlers" in The Martian Chronicles
Hadley - "The Veldt" in The Illustrated Man
Erickson - "The Scythe"
Stendahl - "Usher II"
The in-jokes were:
* the navigator, Leventhal, gets only one line, "Approaching Sigma Iotia II, Captain," exactly as Chekov did in "A Piece of the Action"
* the entry code for the CAG safe house is the original episode's initials and first broadcast date, "PA011268"
* the drunk hobo with a milk bottle, just like in "City on the Edge of Forever"
* the nightclub is called the Paramount, just like the longtime owner of the ST franchise
* the Yorktown's next port of call, mentioned in the final post, is Beta Antares IV, which Kirk said was where Fizzbin came from
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 31 Mar 2017 at 01:55 PM.
The next mission is up: http://www.mellophant.com/forums/sho...ot-Marala-quot
Back and feeling refreshed.*Spring has sprung etc. etc
Looking forward to getting started again and catching up with everyone.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Welcome back, CIAS!
Over the past few weeks I've invited more than a dozen Trekkers I know (some only via email or as friends-of-a-friend) to join the game, but no luck. So we'll proceed with three players. general, as both choie and CIAS already have secondary characters, you may wish to develop one of your own. We could use a doctor or an engineer, in particular. PM me if you're interested; if you'd rather not, no worries.
Yay the site's temporarily working for more than two seconds together! Whoever the host is, they're clearly run by Pakleds.
Ooh I agree w/you, EH--general_urko, if you have the inclination, you should definitely double-up! It's fun to create the Ids to our main characters' tightly wound Superegos (or at least relatively opposite personality types).
It's probably just because I'm binge-watching Silicon Valley (everyone should be watching this, it is brilliant), but I'm suddenly imagining a Gilfoyle type of character--ridiculously genius at tech, amoral, seemingly antisocial but funny as hell. He'd make a great albeit scary Starfleet engineer.
Now I kinda need Martin Starr to be in the new Trek series.
Urgh Ninja'd for the second time in one day
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Heh sorry about that--at least I was online while there was still editing time to delete the Kylah post and move it after Ajay's stuff. Also, cool that Rangin's sister gets name-checked in the mission title--that's big!!!
EH, any recs on how we should play the time-jump issue regarding the thwarted Kylah/Rangin interaction? Also I guess Nia/Graham got cut off at the knees (or some other body parts) too.
No worries. As I think I've suggested before, you can always write brief flashbacks if the game thread moves beyond the point where you'd intended your character to be.
I have to go out of town and may have spotty Internet access - let's take a break through Sun. night. Thanks.
You may not see this if you have spotty access, but just in case... hope you're going away for a fun reason! Have a safe trip, EH.
Yes, thanks, a long weekend with some high school friends in rural Vermont. Good to be back home, though.
Kudos for the Fizzbin reference, CIAS - cashing in, indeed! Heh.
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Fizzbin
https://fanlore.org/wiki/Fizzbin:_History_%26_Rules
http://www.trekcc.org/forum/viewtopi...=4949&start=15
Soooooooo are we gonna dive already?
Seriously, I feel like the game is waiting for us to say... something... because the exposition is just treading water rather than moving us forward (e.g. Park's line of dialogue). So we must be missing some clue but I'll be danged if I know what it is! Maybe we need a bigger cluebrick to hit us in the head, EH?
Last edited by choie; 22 May 2017 at 01:25 AM.
Sorry. Consistent with the rules, I try to give everyone two days to respond after any post of mine. That doesn't always happen, and I try to walk that fine line between moving the game forward too abruptly and letting it linger in one place too long.
I know, I can imagine it's a tough call! Thanks for giving everyone a chance, and yay that we're finally gonna hit the ground running, so to speak.
For the record, CIAS has let me know, to my great regret, that he will be leaving Mellophant permanently. I'm inclined to have his character, Ens. Rangin, be transferred to another Starfleet ship or base.
General, would you like me to retcon Marala into being someone whom Graham knows and cares about? A cousin, former lover, childhood friend...?
Bummer
Transfer makes sense to me.
I should be able to manage a 2nd character at this point and devote some time to figuring out "who" per previous discussion.
wrt Marala, sure - I will PM you EH with some ideas about what would be generative from the perspective of "being Graham" so you can choose what best fits into your fiendish plans...er, I mean plot ideas...
Got your PM and have replied - thanks, general.
I am also happy to report that a new player, recruited by choie (many thanks!), may be joining us shortly.
Hi. I'm Anthony. My username is anthonydlangford and i have been recruited to join up. i'm excited to be here. This seems like a lot of fun.
I think i'm to post my bio here, so here it is:
CHARACTER NAME: Dr. Nathaniel Bennett
CURRENT RANK: Lieutenant
USERNAME: anthonydlangford
CURRENT ASSIGNMENT: Assistant Chief Medical Officer, USS Yorktown, NCC-1717
ATTRIBUTES:
Charisma 7
Dexterity 10
Endurance 8
Intellect 10
Luck 8
Psi 2
Strength 9
SPECIES: Human
RACIAL/ETHNIC SUBGROUP, IF ANY: Multi-racial. His father is African-American; his mother is Caucasian
AGE: 32
SEX: Male
HOMEWORLD: Earth
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Nathaniel has caramel-colored skin, close-cropped black hair, and green eyes that he got from his mother. His eyes darken a few shades when he gets annoyed or angry, which seems to happen often. He is 6’1’, has a lanky, slender build and unremarkable looks other than his eyes. He is in very good shape and enjoys exercise and participating in sports.
PERSONALITY PROFILE: Growing up in Boulder, Colo., Nathaniel was always in the shadow of his twin brother, Noah. Nathaniel loved his brother and they were close, but their father, Starfleet Adm. Lucas Bennett, seemed to pit them against each other and Nathaniel always seemed to come out on the losing side. He and his brother were fraternal twins and it was Noah who had the looks, muscular build and driving desire to be a Starfleet hero like his father. Nathaniel simply didn’t, but was intrigued by medicine from an early age, mostly because of the example of his mother, a civilian surgical nurse. She died suddenly of illness when the boys were 14. Lucas, who spent a lot of time away from the family on starships, building his reputation as a highly capable, even brilliant Starfleet officer, sent the twins to a military academy in Buenos Aires after his wife's death. Throwing himself into his career, the admiral has had very little time for his children since, perhaps because they reminded him too much - especially Nathaniel - of the wife he’d lost.
After they graduated from military school, Noah immediately enlisted in Starfleet, while Nathaniel went to medical school, completed his residency on Cochrane VII and became a doctor. Nathaniel became a gifted surgeon, gaining the knowledge to care for a wide variety of species.
Four years ago, Nathaniel, by that time a lieutenant junior grade and a staff surgeon at the large Fleet Hospital at Starbase 12, was to meet with his father and brother for a family vacation on Arcadia. Unwilling just then to see his father again, he made a lame excuse not to go. During the Admiral and Noah's trip, their shuttle was mysteriously attacked and then crash-landed on an uncharted world. Noah was badly injured and died before help could arrive. Who carried out the attack, and the reason, remain unknown, despite a Starfleet investigation. The Admiral, who had been knocked unconscious but only lightly injured, blamed Nathaniel for Noah’s death, strongly implying that, if he’d been there, he could have helped. Nathaniel had to agree, deeply regretting that he hadn’t been there to save the one person who truly needed him and who loved him more than anything. Grief-stricken and wracked by guilt, Nathaniel left Starfleet and lost contact with everyone in his life.
A few years later, Nathaniel reapplied and was reinstated in Starfleet. He soon applied for a surgical post on the USS Yorktown, winning the assignment with a little behind-the-scenes help from his British cousin, Lt. Cecilia Bennett. Nathaniel and Cecilia were close as children and she was glad to help him get the job, even though he was somewhat vague about why he sought it.
He is blunt, painfully so at times, which can also be off-putting, not that he cares. As a highly skilled surgeon with a not-inconsiderable reputation, he does have a bit of a God complex and is, if anything, even more driven than before. This has sometimes brought him into conflict with his superior officers, especially if he thinks their orders are not best-suited for his patients or those potentially in harm's way.
SPOUSE, SIGNIFICANT OTHER OR NEXT OF KIN, IF ANY: Nathaniel is gay. With his single-minded focus on his career, he was for many years too busy to build any lasting relationships. That didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy sex, as someone with his drive, reputation and intensity was appealing to many, and he had a string of lovers. He would be interested in a man until he wasn’t, but he never let anyone get too close, and never, ever let anything get in the way of his career. He's only ever had one serious relationship and its one he doesn't like to talk about.
HOBBIES OR INTERESTS: As part of his competitive nature, Nathaniel enjoys sporting activities of all kinds, particularly handball, soccer, volleyball and water polo - and he doesn’t like to lose.
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND: Graduated from the prestigious Bolivar Military Academy and the University of Colorado Medical School, earning top honors at both. Did not attend Starfleet Academy but completed, also with top marks, the Starfleet Medical Corps short course for physicians directly entering Starfleet service.
SERVICE RECORD: Spent most of his time stationed on Earth and Starbase 12 during his first stint with Starfleet, traveling when his surgical expertise was needed on various Federation planets. Newly assigned to the USS Yorktown.
CAREER GOAL: Right now his career goal seems to be running a top-notch, shipshape surgical unit, but why he rejoined Starfleet and came to the Yorktown after initially leaving Fleet service is something yet to be revealed. He doesn't talk much about where he's been for the past few years. No matter what, though, all he cares about is being a doctor and saving lives. That’s one thing about him that has never changed and, he's sure, never will.
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 23 Jun 2017 at 12:34 PM.
Don't know why this model shows "SS" and not "USS" Yorktown on the upper primary hull: http://www.historicaviation.com/USS-...ctinfo/702295/
OMG, it's a heretofore unknown Nazi ship!
Seriously, is it sad that I kinda want that?*
* The model, that is... not the idea of Federation Nazis! Bad enough we have Section 31 scuttling around.**
** Only philosophically. Dramatically and as a viewer who loves shades of gray in the perfect Federation, I love the idea of Section 31.
Actually, "SS" as a ship prefix has nothing to do with the Nazi SS - it's just never been what a Starfleet vessel would use: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_prefix
LOL, you silly billy, I was joking! I think I've been aware of the "S.S." designation for ships since watching Gilligan's Island or Mister Roberts or basically any ship in media.
Right you are!
It's odd... yesterday I got a notification that Anthony had posted here, but it's still not showing up. Is it just me?
I can see it. Dunno if anyone else can though.
Woohoo, at least I can see this post, Anthony!
Yes, I now see your two posts here in the setup thread, adl. As of yesterday, they didn't appear. Welcome aboard! I'll send you a PM.
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 23 Jun 2017 at 12:32 PM.
Oh! I had to scroll up to see it, I didn't realize it was from that long ago... sorry, Anthony! EH, as a mod, are you able to copy/move the bio to the Character Profiles thread?
Dang, we know Nathaniel's whole life story now! I think I know more about his family than I do about Nia's.
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