posted
I originally tried putting it on Flare Upload, 'cause my iDisk is getting full. But I cleared out all my old backups, so I've got plenty of free space again. Check the new link on the old post.
(Or if you're too lazy to go back to the other page, click here.)
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
So, are we going to have to cite some admirals for dereliction of duty again? (Not you, Shik, the participants.)
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
Apparently.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
I move that we adopt Cardassian rules for any new court martial proceedings. All in favor?
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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In response to Minutiaeman�s scenario, a quick attack would be the best option. The combat forces in the nebula would be recalled (two Predators), and the convoy would stop at Safko, after trading a Kestral for the Avenger at Repka. Then the convoy would stay at Safko, with it�s Kestral escort providing defense, while the other Avenger stationed at Safko joins the strike force, now two Avengers and two Predators. The strike force would quickly proceed to the target. The Penxi may get disgruntled about this, but it is not their territory, so they have no real jurisdiction over it. As a concession to their proximity, they would be informed of the attack via subspace communications before it takes place, but NOT before they would have time to send a message to the pirate outpost.
Part b:
It must have been a pretty powerful pirate force that got past the Klingon escorts to damage their ships. I am worried that they decided to take advantage of the Klingon�s haste to get to the planet, and thus divided the Klingons forces in the initial attack, planning to return to attack the weakened forces. The two Predators and one Oberth in the nebula should really be dispatched to not only assist, but to escort the Klingon stragglers. The Klingons belligerency complicates the situation, since they might think that the Federation ship�s might pass knowledge of the stragglers location to the pirates. Nevertheless, this would only be of great importance if pirates actually attacked, and then Federation ships would fight the pirates Thus, the Oberth and two Predators will escort the Klingon stragglers through the rest of the nebula, with the Oberth there to provide early warning. If the Klingons are not comfortable with a close escort, they would remain further away, but still with close response time.
As for the Klingons accusations of foul play, there probably isn�t much we can do, other then inform them that the destruction of piracy is one of the Federation�s main goals in this sector. Afterall, they just killed several of our civilians, and that can�t be a ruse since you know how disgruntled the Federations gets when its citizens get killed.
Part c:
There really is not much we can do here. There are plenty of other good agricultural areas on this planet (unless it has REALLY weird weather) for the colony to be built. In fact, the Klingon colony is likely to be less prosperous since it is built in an area best for agriculture, so perhaps we now have an advantage in the colonization race.
On the other hand, the fact that the Klingons built on the exact spot the Federation wanted to spells trouble. They must somehow have known where we were planning to build the colony, since if they had optimized their choice for mining, they would have built somewhere else. This indicates that they have a source of information within the Federation. An undercover investigation of this should take place as soon as possible.
Part d:
DSU Qiao Feng is obviously really stupid. We have no authority to remove the Klingons at all, so I would give him a stern lecture.
This guy is probably incompetent, why else would he mention family ancestry in non-casual conversation? If he actually does have a bad record, I want him removed from this sector as quickly as possible. The best way to do this would be to search his record for the no doubt many inadequacies and make the recommendation to the colonization administration. Hopefully it isn�t headed by one of his illustrious family members...
At the very least, he is not to be given any weapons control for the colony�s defenses due to his temper and high belligerency. Starfleet personnel will handle any defenses, though the colonists will certainly be consulted.
Part e:
It is good that the planets see fit to take an active role in the defenses, but they are going about it in the wrong way. Border patrol, as Minutiaeman mentioned, is not the best way for dealing with pirates, especially since they might have a secret base within Federation territory, making the border patrol COMPLETELY useless. Also, if they operate independently, the overall defense will be less efficient, since Starfleet and the local forces may duplicate effort.
The planets will be approached, and it would be suggested that they form some patrol groups to patrol the shipping lanes, or even create civilian convoys composed of civilian ships that are not in the Starfleet-protected convoy.
There would be no need to mention the rumors when talking to the planets. A simple persuasive approach would be suitable, emphasizing that Starfleet may have failed to provide adequate defense in the past, but now there�s a new commander around...
Part f:
These are perfectly reasonable things for him to look up. After all, he is the colony administrator (for now...). The totalitarian agriculture is a bit weird, and it would be contrary to Federation principles to implement such a thing. However, it COULD simply be his hobby.
There is no need to confront him about any of this things, but I am still suspicious that he might be partially working for the Klingons, especially with their apparent knowledge of the colony�s location. The investigation would certainly cover Qiao, and his communications would be watched. I wonder if the Klingons are planning on some totalitarian agriculture? One would think their agriculture is already like that, though...
Another possibility is that he is not working for the Klingons, but secretly wants to implement totalitarian agriculture himself. Due to colonial rights, it might be difficult to stop him if he gets going, so hopefully there is some way to emphasize ecological friendliness in the colony...
Addendum on colony location: I chose the colony locations based on my limited knowledge of climate. It seemed that the equator was too hot, but that the temperature gradiant was large, so I didn't want to be too far from the equator. The colony location are near water, but not directly on the coast, so they should get decent rainfall (they are not in mountain range shadows), be fairly temperate, and have mild weather. One is coastal, and the other is near a lake.
P.S. Minutiaeman, wasn�t the Federation colony supposed to contain 5,000 people?
posted
Yeah well, if I know anything about colonization from Terran history, it's that there's always a huge rush of people eager to get in on the hot frontier action. Plus, Humans breed like rabbits, so there's gonna be a bunch more very quickly.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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quote: Your intelligence officer presents you with a rare opportunity: detailed readouts and information of a mid-size raider stronghold and some of its associated craft, located in the unclaimed/uninhabited system near Safko. He's confident that the intel accurately describes the base's defenses and the approximate numbers (and sizes) of the ships in the system. There's an estimated 5 frigate types (Paris-class equivalent) and probably ten small raiders (runabout equivalent). The base itself has defenses equivalent to a basic Federation outpost (think the second-hand reports about Caleb IV). Given your fleet's assets, you have a chance to take this outlier bunch on and send them packing. As a bonus, this base was the probable jump-off point for the recent raid on Safko.
However, there's some political ambiguity to consider. Although the system is officially unclaimed, it's close enough to Penxi-held space that they may consider it part of their territory. And considering the close ties between the raiders and the Penxi (whether it's actual state-sponsored piracy or the Penxi just looking the other way), an assault on the base may have greater political repercussions. So... to attack, or not to attack? Justify.
Starfleet and the Federation cannot sit idly by while "pirates" raid Federation colonies. Ignoring the situation will only encourage it to continue. The Penxi need to realize the Federation is here to stay and Starfleet is not to be trifiled with. Otherwise, they will seek to dominate the entire sector.
To that end, the suspected pirate base of operations needs to be eliminated. Loss of life is not the primary objective to this strike; but, rather, the elimination of a base of operations as a launching point for attacks against the Federation. Secondary objective would be potentially eliminating pirate ships, but this may be beyond our scope at this time.
Therefore, an inventive strike will be conducted without sacrificing any Starfleet vessels from their regular patrol routes.
The tug USS Al Rashid (NCC-3802) will arrive in system as secretly as possible. A suitable asteroid of sufficient size and mass will be sent on an intercept trajectory with the suspected pirate base. An object moving at .25c (full impulse) can traverse the distance from Sol�s asteroid field to Earth in roughly 64 minutes.
If the Enterprise couldn�t destroy or deflect the asteroid that approached Miramanee�s planet, then the 5 pirate vessels won�t be able to stop this one.
If detected right away, the hour before impact may be sufficient time to evacuate the base, but the base would be a total loss.
The asteroid doesn�t need to be huge. At most the devastation would reach a Tunguska level event. This would have negligible overall impact on the planet�s ecosystem.
We will, of course, contact the Penxi government one hour before impact to inform them that we have uncovered a clandestine pirate base operating outside their sphere of influence and that we are in the process of eliminating said base. We are committed to keeping this sector peaceful for all citizens, including the Penxi.
Part 2:
Ships responding to aid the Klingons:
USS India (NCC-1479) USS Skua (NCC-1396) USS Nernst (NCC-893) USS Pelecyornis (NCC-1414) USS Kite (NCC-1422) USS Roc (NCC-1416)
The Skua & Pelecyornis will escort the main colony fleet while the Kite & Roc will escort the wounded D-18s. The India & Nernst will position themselves between the two fleets, with the Nernst using her sensors to scan for any more hostiles.
Meanwhile, we will assuage the Klingons, and Plis�Qen that we had nothing to do with the attack. In fact, our colonies and ships have been attacked recently too. Starfleet is not in the habit of conducting cowardly attacks. Besides, our two peoples are at peace and I�m firmly behind the Organian vision of a united future.
Part 3:
My initial recommendation for the colony assumed the Klingons were already in place. I recommended we take position on the opposite side of the planet. I still hold to that recommendation. It�s a big planet with plenty of quality spots.
Further, we would contact the Klingons and welcome them to the neighborhood. If they have any needs, please feel free to ask or stop by for a visit, as we are always happy to entertain our neighbors. Further, we would repeatedly and "over the to" commend them of their choice of colony location. The hope, of course, being to make them suspicious of the location and maybe move elsewhere.
Meanwhile, a full investigation would be launched as to how the Klingons knew where we were going to establish the colony. The planet is big and the odds of them settling where we were is so remote that it�s obvious they had help. The leak needs found and plugged.
Part 4:
We will assure and placate Qiao Feng that we are doing everything in our power to resolve the situation. We would highlight the problems and drawbacks with the Klingons choice of settlement, and magnify the favorable conditions of the new site we picked. I would keep giving Qiao the runaround and doubletalk, hoping the problem will fade away. The Klingons are there, they are staying and we can�t remove them.
Part 5: Ahh. A Minuteman operation. Interesting. We would definitely keep an eye on the situation and try to find out all we could, even as far as inserting our own operatives within their program. We would want to find out where they were getting supplies, ships, and personnel. What plans do they have for the patrol and securing of the boarder?
Officially we would discourage such activities and highlight the fact that Starfleet is handling the situation and has increased the boarder patrol already.
Part 6: As long as the plans aren�t classified Starfleet documents, then where is the harm? Personally, I still suspect a spy somewhere in the operations. To that end, false information would be planted within the computer files to help ferret out the suspect.
Officially and formally I would never mention the false files and act as though they don�t exist.
Let Qiao go play all he wants�.
Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Herb... a "rogue" astroid reminds me of the episode in ST VOY called Rise. Isn't that a bit... well extreme?
-------------------- "It speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow, it's not all going to be over with a big splash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans." -Gene Roddenberry about Star Trek
Registered: May 1999
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posted
Wasn't that the episode with Neelex and the space elevator/orbital tether?
I was going for unique and different. When I first thought of the idea, I wanted somthing that may, on the surface, appear natural. Something Starfleet could deny doing.
Then I thought: No, credit should be taken or else there is no point.
My back up plan would have been for a ship to show up and fire drones at the base. Think cruise missles in space.
Registered: Feb 2004
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Exactly how could Starfleet deny being behind the sudden acceleration of an asteroid to .25 lightspeed? Regardless of the results, that's a darn unlikely occurrence under natural circumstances.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
The next question wil come...soon. I find myself in quite the financial quandary: my now ex-employer bounced a paycheck on me, which has totally fucked me. I've been spending the past week looking for new work plus dealing with trying to get my money while fending off creditors. Tomorrow I go see an attorney & the police. So.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
Hmmm........ This certainly looks like an interesting little game..... unfortunately it seems I'm a bit late to actually join in plus I don't actually know all that much about the ships of the old series (I only seem to remember the constitution and miranda classes and the little tug tender from the 25th anniversary pc game).
BTW, what kind of program do you use to make those nifty little maps Minutiae?
-------------------- condemnant quod non intellegunt
Registered: Sep 2006
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posted
It's not too late to join, just start from the beginning and take your time catching up!
As for not knowing the designs, the Connie and the Miranda are the only canon designs, so we're all filling in with non-canon designs. So for the fleet that you request, you can pick any ships you want (within reason) as long as you can justify their use.
As for the maps, I use Macromedia Fireworks MX.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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