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wdarkk posted:I played through this recently and I could have sworn there was some kind of energy effect over her as she was impaled on the claw.
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Jul 20, 2021 03:26
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It's definitely possible to kill a Founder with energy - they did it in DS9 by tossing it onto the Defiant's turbocharged warp core (yes, onto not into don't ask me). The HurQ can produce energy from their claws and have several thousand years' worth of incentive to figure out how to kill a Founder. I'd buy it.
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Jul 20, 2021 06:40
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Dalris Othaine posted:It's definitely possible to kill a Founder with energy - they did it in DS9 by tossing it onto the Defiant's turbocharged warp core (yes, onto not into don't ask me). The HurQ can produce energy from their claws and have several thousand years' worth of incentive to figure out how to kill a Founder. I'd buy it. Mirror Odo got blown up by a single disrupter blast. They're hardly invulnerable.
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Jul 20, 2021 07:29
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Finished the summer event today, new space boat.
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Jul 20, 2021 22:56
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Third street saints IN SPACE!
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Jul 21, 2021 14:47
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argosaxelcaos posted:Third street saints IN SPACE! Missing Cockney boss tho
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Jul 21, 2021 21:43
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The End Days Captain's Log, IKS Jat'layn I am no stranger to desperate battles. They've been something of a feature of my career, all the way back to the day when I took a decrepit bird of prey against a Galaxy class battleship after thirty minutes in command. Mars. Qo'noS. Gre'thor. Lae'nae III. Qo'noS again. New Romulus. Qo'noS a third time. Earth. Procyon. Bajor. I have a trunk full of medals touting my prowess in battle, so many of those battles against very long odds. I've survived, despite many close calls. My cloned legs attest to that. There have been casualties. So many casualties. I've always been able to tell myself that they - we - knew the risks. That our sacrifice was worthwhile. I am not sure I can say that about the battle ahead of me now. The Dominion's reckoning is at hand. The Hur'q swarm moves on the current hiding place of the Great Link, a planet called Empersa. If Empersa falls, so does the Dominion. I would call that justice. The Dominion is an empire built on genocide and slavery, no matter what Odo claims. They tried to exterminate my people before we ever reached the stars, and loosed the Hur'q upon us. I would shed no tears if the Hur'q devoured Empersa down to the bedrock. Yet, Empersa represents our best hope of defeating the Hur'q. Doctor Bashir has come up with a way, he believes, to pacify the Hur'q. With data provided by Odo and Lorissa, Bashir has synthesized a ketracel replacement for the fungus critical to Hur'q neural physiology, and developed schematics to allow any replicator to make it. Given how tightly centralized Hur'q command/control/communications systems are, he believes that if we can board a Hur'q command ship, we'll be able to distribute this cure to the swarm. Given the size of the swarm moving on Empersa, this represents our best chance to cure the majority of the Hur'q. I am not one for gambling, and there are far too many conditionals in that plan for my liking. More fundamentally, I do not believe the Dominion deserves to be saved. Not after all that it has done. The changelings claim that they became an empire because solids feared and hated them. If so, they've chosen to make that fear and hatred entirely justified. The answer to a bully is not to become a bigger bully, that merely perpetuates the cycle of abuse. Your pain only means something insofar as what that pain motivates you to do. Loss is not a claims check, suffering is not a birthright to pity. The worth and morality of these things are measured by what you chose to do with them. If your reaction to harm done upon you is to become harmful yourself, then you have only vindicated those who harmed you. Even so, I have agreed to this plan all the same. Why, I cannot bring myself to say. But... I am tired of this chair. I am tired of fighting battles for stained causes. If the Alliance wishes to number the Dominion among their ranks then that is their privilege. I owe them no more loyalty than I do the Klingon Empire.   Garak, now would be a good time to turn off your Hur'q beacon. I turned it off yesterday. Perhaps the Hur'q harbor quite the grudge against your people. We need to clear a path to the planet. Let's get to it, people.   Additional warp signatures inbound. More Hur'q? Federation, and... Tzenkethi?   Sorry we're late to the party, Jat'layn. We walk the path of redemption! All ships, open fire!  We're clear, thank you. Doctor Bashir, are you ready? It's as ready as possible, Captain. The program and sample compound are ready for delivery to a Hur'q C3 system. That... was the easy part. And have you determined what kind of command system you'll need to deliver it to? A centralized system with fleet level override authority. Systems of that caliber are only found on Hur'q dreadnoughts. The best protected ships in their fleet. Lovely. There's a dreadnought moving towards the planet as we speak. We can disable and board it. Jat'layn acknowledges, moving to intercept.   Jat'layn to fleet, dreadnought disabled and screens are clear for the moment. We have our window, but the ship's going to be crawling with Hur'q. Make sure your away teams are ready for a fight. I'm sending my best. Dukan'Rex will lead a Jem'hadar boarding team, and Lorissa will assist Doctor Bashir. Halstak, Petra, you're up. Bashir may need your help. Acknowledged. You never take us anywhere nice, do you? Don't take it personally, Petra. She never takes anyone anywhere nice.  Security alarms are going off throughout the ship. They know we're here. We expected this. Victory is life!  (I hope you really, really love fighting Hur'q, because that's what this mission comes down to. One corridor after another filled with Hur'q, mostly Guardians and Overseers so they're constantly respawning hordes of Drantzuli. Luckily you have enough NPC help that it's not too bad, but to be blunt: this mission is incredibly dull. This entire story arc has problems with gameplay relying too much on holding out against timed waves of Hur'q, on the ground and in space.)   (Incidentally, Bashir and Lorissa are both very helpful throughout this part of the mission. Lorissa is loaded up with healing abilities she'll use on your away team and the other NPCs, who can't actually die. Bashir is a buffbot who prioritizes injecting the PC and your away team with drugs to make you fight better. Dukan'Rex and his buddies just shoot stuff.)    That's the dreadnought's computer core dead ahead. Away team, clear it out.   Well done, General. We'll take it from here. Lorissa, are you ready? Ready. Dukan, General, keep us covered.   (Remember what I said about timed waves of Hur'q? This is a solid five to ten minutes of endless Hur'q, fortunately not in enough numbers to pose a serious threat.)  (a shot from off-screen explodes the bag)           And not a moment too soon. Please tell me you brought more than one sample for distribution to the Hur'q systems. About that... Bashir to Command. We have a problem. More than one. Hur'q reinforcements are inbound. The rest of you, figure something out. My team will return to our ship and buy you time. 'Figure something out'? Is that a Klingon motivational speech? I'm a starship captain, not a doctor. You're a pair of genetically engineered scientists. Valid.  So, business as usual? Business as usual.  Tila, what's it looking like? Not the worst I've ever seen, but I'm only saying that because of the Iconians. poo poo. You speak for us all, my friend. Wait, I have another ship coming in. It's... Ferengi?   The Ferengi cavalry? I thought I'd seen everything... Oh, the best is yet to come. Say hello to my dangerous friends!   Today, a new Torchbearer will do the same! Worf, son of Mogh! Warriors of the Empire, today we battle the enemies of our ancestors! Today, we bring the war to the Hur'q!   Who are we? Chopped liver? I've never felt so unappreciated in my life. Anyone want to tell him a Klingon warship's been at the center of this war the whole time? And he's invoking the memory of T'Kuvma? The madman who almost destroyed the Empire? Can we worry about this later?   Orbit is clear for the moment, but the situation on the surface is dire. The Hur'q have landed numerous ground troops, and we don't have enough Jem'hadar to protect all approaches to the Great Link. I'm beaming down with my ship's ground complement to the weakest point in our defenses. We shall join you! For the Empire! For Kahless! As will we. Not that anyone asked us, but I think we should get down there as well. Understood, sir. We'll keep covering that dreadnought. Halstak, do you think he can do it? By all predictable factors, no. However, even the Collective acknowledges the power of random and unaccounted for factors as a margin in the likely success or failure of projected endeavors. In other words, good luck everyone. We've beaten the odds before. Random and unaccounted for factors willing, we will again.    Kahless, give us light to see! Will he hide from us always? Never! I thought you better than this nonsense, General. You're talking like one of the greatest mistakes in the history of the Empire. Strange words from a woman whom Kahless called a friend, T'Kara. Worf, and my wife, called you a friend as well. T'Kuvma was a vainglorious fool who almost brought the Empire to ruin, the very worst of the Empire's excesses. General Martok, consider my debt to your house paid. Odo, status? Do you really have to ask? This is what I get for being polite. That means she's starting to like you, Ambassador. Klingons.   (It's another straight corridor filled with Hur'q, but this one has an extra annoying twist: the map is constantly shaking with cosmetic explosions going off everywhere, presumably supposed to be from artillery or orbital bombardment.)  Well, we've made it. I hope you have a plan, Odo. Doctor Bashir and Lorissa are still on the dreadnought. We buy them time. Random and unaccounted for factors it is. I beg your pardon? An inside joke, Ambassador. A very bleak one. Here they come!(Who's ready for another timed survival mission against waves of Hur'q?)     Running low on power for my weapon! We all are! Take weapons from the dead if you have to!   I'm clear! Odo to Dukan, we can't hold this position much longer!         Captain! I'll live. Wait... The Hur'q! They've stopped firing?     Everyone, hold fire! All of you! General T'Kara? Are you sure about this? I am.   It... did it work? I believe Dukan'Rex realized that his own body, in the form of the white, contained the ketracel components I needed to cure the Hur'q. He extracted what we needed... at the cost of his own life. Once the Hur'q came to their senses, they ordered an immediate cease-fire. They're withdrawing from the system as we speak. We won? I wouldn't say that. But it is over. Bah! Peace? Just when the battle was getting fun. Do what you will, General Martok. I'm tired of fighting. T'Kara to Jat'layn, four to beam up. Take us back to Deep Space Nine. I'm sorry, Odo, but there was nothing I could do for him. The process of extracting the ketracel was too devastating. I know he meant a lot to you, Odo. I'm... sorry. This entire war was a tragedy that never should have happened. He gave his life to end that war. I couldn't be more proud of him. I... I just wish I'd opened my eyes sooner. I've heard other Klingons speak before of Jem'hadar capable of honor. I barely knew this man, but I believe he was one of those Jem'hadar. That he was, General T'Kara. That he was. As a condition of the cease-fire and the Dominion's provisional membership in the Alliance, we're beginning plans to free all Jem'hadar from their dependency on the white and eliminating the programming in the Jem'hadar and Vorta for them to worship us as gods. Any race that wishes to leave the Dominion will be free to do so. We're still working on what will become of the Dominion's government, but this tyranny, however well intentioned some might say it is, will have to end. I don't know what the Dominion of the future is going to look like, but it's going to be very different. I wish you good luck in that, Founder. But I have not forgiven your Dominion for its crimes. I understand, General, and you're not alone. This is our burden to bear, and it will be for a long, long time to come. Also, Lorissa was asking for you. She's in the temple with Nerys and the Kai. Hello, General. I have... interesting news. I am starting to get very tired of 'interesting news,' Lorissa. Hah, it's nothing like that. When I came to speak with Captain Kira, she was meditating on the Orb you found in our space. The Orb of Peace, the Bajorans call it. The Orb... spoke to me. I'm not sure how else to describe it. An Orb of the Prophets, speaking to a Vorta? Kira and Opaka have been trying to help me make sense of it. I don't believe it was a coincidence that we found the Orb of Peace on a moon fought over by warring tribes, nor that a Klingon of all people would herald its return. You're a curious herald of peace, General T'Kara, but your record speaks for itself. I believe it's an omen from the Prophets. A message of hope in trying times. Now we have peace with the Hur'q and the Dominion, and the Orb has spoken to a Vorta. Also not a coincidence, I believe. Perhaps, Kai. Perhaps. As for me, Starfleet is reshuffling personnel assignments in this region of space. I've been offered, and I've accepted, command of Deep Space Nine for the foreseeable future. This isn't going to be a quiet region of space for a long time to come. As for the Founder...? One thing at a time. I understand why he did what he did, but I still don't know if I can forgive him. One thing at a time.  We'll be here until my ship is repaired. Fortunately, we have exclusive rights to the holosims of that battle, which will cover the costs of repairs and then some! It's good to be the Grand Nagus. You do you, Ferengi. Speaking of which, if you ever decide to make a holobiography of your career, I think it would be quite profitable! I'll make you a very generous offer for the rights, and cut you in on a share of the profits! Say, twenty percent? No. Eh, at least a spy bug I planted on Odo's ship caught the look on his face when we came to the rescue. Some things, you just can't put a price on. You sound almost principled, uncle! Rule of Acquisition number 75. Home is where the heart is, but the stars are made of latinum. As for me, the Chimera's been assigned to peacekeeping duties in the Gamma Quadrant. Would you mind not getting involved in another galaxy-shattering war for a while, T'Kara? At least not until I'm done drinking! Thank you again, General. The path of redemption is a difficult one to walk, but knowing that our crusade was another changeling plot has... stilled the discontent within the Coalition. My crew and I have been accepted back into the fleet, and the Autarch wishes to make amends to the Alliance. Interesting times for the Tzenkethi. The fallout of your discoveries will continue for a long time to come, I think. You've reshaped the galaxy - again, as I hear it. I'll drink to that! Our fleet never would have left the Empire's space if not for those Ferengi! We live in an age of legends new and old! Perhaps, General. But leave me out of it.  Good to see you again, General! The war may be over, but there's plenty of work to be done! My people will be working with the Hur'q to restore the ecosystem of their homeworld, along with Doctor Bashir's efforts. Such a terrible tragedy this all has been. But now, thanks in no small part to you, the path to peace is open. Open for us all, actually. The Alliance has offered the Cardassian Union membership, and we've accepted. Things are going to get very busy around here, and I'm looking forward to it. Thank you, T'Kara, for all that you've done.  Ah, General. We're working with the Dominion and Hur'q to establish a new neutral zone in the Gamma Quadrant while the Hur'q recover and rebuild. It's going to be a long, hard road ahead for the Gamma Quadrant, but Odo and the rest of the Great Link have been very cooperative. For now, at any rate. The Gamma Quadrant is going to be very volatile for a long time yet. I'm optimistic, but I suspect that ending this war will prove to have been the easy part. General. Chancellor. General Martok's actions have set a degree of tumult into motion within the Empire. Igniting a new Beacon of Kahless, recovering the Sword, another great victory to his tally. I was there. I am aware of these things. Then you know I need to know where you stand. I stand where I always have, Chancellor. Apart from you, the Great Houses, and whatever self-destructive stupidity is about to course through the Empire's veins. Think very carefully about what you're about to do, T'Kara of Chuch'SuS. Who's going to stop me? You? You're nothing but the Chancellor of the Klingon Empire. Whatever is about to happen in the Empire, leave me out of it. You have made a singularly unwise choice, T'Kara. That is not for you to decide. You have no power over me, J'mpok.  Careful, our masking system isn't designed to get too close to this many ships. Temporal waveforms stabilizing, forwarding to your console. What do you think? Close enough, Commander. Close enough.
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Jul 24, 2021 18:37
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A Star To Follow Brigadier General T'Kara of Chuch'SuS: Klingon Engineering Officer Shortly after the end of the Hur'q War, Chancellor J'mpok finally succeeded in eliminating T'Kara as a destabilizing element of Imperial politics. Promoting her to the rank of Lieutenant General, J'mpok assigned T'Kara as the Klingon Empire's official ambassador to Iconia. Intended as a punishment duty, T'Kara would hold this position for more than a century. Revered by the Iconians as The Other, and respected by the Federation, Dominion, and Romulan Republic, T'Kara soon became the chief representative of the galactic powers to the Iconian Protectorate, and in the fullness of time her work would in some ways prove even more important and influential on galactic history than her deeds as a starship captain. The popular stereotype of a heroic starship captain may be a man or woman stubbornly insistent on commanding a ship and holding promotion to a desk in contempt, but speaking as someone who knew her personally, T'Kara was never one to keep to tradition. The highly classified nature of much of her command history helped seal her ultimate legacy as a diplomat and peacekeeper rather than a warrior. T'Kara was notoriously secretive about her personal life after her posting to Iconia. The identity of her wife, and other parent of her children, she kept very private for most of her life, spurring tabloids across the galaxy to posit supposed liaisons and torrid affairs with the Klingon war hero for decades to come. Women across the galaxy were linked to the famously taciturn general, from the plausible to the less so, from Captain Miral Paris of Starfleet to Captain Kuumarke of Lukar to Lorissa of the Dominion to name a few. Credible evidence for any of these supposed affairs is much harder to come by, at least until her formal resignation from the Empire's service on the one hundredth anniversary of the end of the Iconian War, and I have chosen to respect her privacy on the matter. Though none of T'Kara's family pursued a military career, in the Klingon Defense Force, maverick young officers with a disdain for politics soon became disparagingly known as belonging to House T'Kara. T'Kara herself would live a remarkably long time despite her unstable biology, a lifespan closer to that of her Vulcan father, but her ultimate fate remains shrouded in mystery. Six years ago, the Klingon Defense Force recalled T'Kara from her retirement on Iconia one last time to command the Empire's first ship fitted with a coaxial warp drive for intergalactic travel. Crewed only by T'Kara and a handful of volunteers, the IKS Durgath engaged its drives... and was never heard from again. Despite the best efforts of the galactic powers, the fate of the IKS Durgath and its crew remains a mystery to this day.  Commander Derius Telenth, Ferasan Engineering Officer The years following the end of the Hur'q War were quiet ones for Derius Telenth. Her career as a starship captain herself soon turned to command of one of the Klingon Empire's first dedicated science vessels and a mission to survey stellar systems and phenomena on the edge of the galaxy, and she spent almost twenty years somehow managing to not die or get flung across the cosmos from the anomalies and ancient relics she discovered. Her career was not glorious by Klingon standards, but Derius was happy with how things panned out. The nature of a science vessel's job meant no shortage of excitement and danger, and she told me that she considered the work honest and rewarding. She had done her time shaping the galaxy, and once told me over a game of tonga that her career had never been quite the same after the Iconian War. For which, she added, she was quite thankful. For some people, changing the fate of the galaxy forever just one time is more than enough. In time, Derius would be called home to Ferasa when the Imperial War College established a full branch campus on the Ferasans' adoptive homeworld. Accepting a promotion to general, Derius took up a position as an instructor and eventually commandant of the Ferasan branch of the War College. During this final phase of her career she became a prolific writer of her experiences during the Iconian and Hur'q conflicts while doting on her grandchildren. Derius' collected memoirs, "Stalking the Stellar Jungle: An Officer's Account of the Third Federation War Through the Hur'q War," remain required reading at the Ferasan branch of the War College for officer candidates.  Commander Gronth, Gorn Science Officer With the end of the Hur'q War, Gronth chose to follow T'Kara to Iconia as one of the Alliance's scientific liaisons working with the Iconians to reestablish their homeworld and was shortly thereafter joined by his wife, Princess Telael. A notable xenoecologist in her own right, Telael and Gronth soon established themselves as key researchers during the reconstruction of Iconia and close friends of the Iconians. In time, Gronth would earn his doctorate and rise to become the head of the joint Alliance-Iconian research institute and the first Gorn to guest lecture at the Vulcan Science Academy. In particular, Gronth established his scientific legacy through his work reverse-engineering and even improving on Iconian portal technology, combining the Iconians' intuitive understanding of spatial manipulation with the Alliance's breadth of experience to launch radical leaps forward in the galaxy's understanding of space travel, even if it would be a long time yet before anyone succeeded in adapting Gronth's theories to practical use. The coaxial warp drive that has become the standard for intergalactic travel is based in part on Gronth's theories. The next person to refine those theories was none other than Gronth's only son. Perhaps it was only fitting that Gronth, too, was aboard the IKS Durgath on the ship's maiden voyage and subsequent disappearance. Even as an elderly Klingon matriarch and a wizened Gorn scientist, T'Kara and Gronth slipped back into an easy banter like no time at all had passed since the last time they had served together.  Lieutenant Commander Tila Otek, Cardassian Tactical Officer For Tila, the end of the Hur'q War meant first a long shore leave on Cardassia. It was, she told me, an affirmation of who she was and why she did what she had. Atara was the name of a woman who'd lived her life in service to a short-sighted, self-destructive cause. Tila was someone she could be proud of. Her little brother, as it turned out, had been accepted into Starfleet Academy and discovered a love for helping other people in difficult situations. Tila alternated between muffling laughter and beaming with pride at the idea of her little brother entering the program for would-be ship's counselors in Starfleet. As for Tila herself, however, she was always more restless than that, and the end of her shore leave coincided with a promotion to Commander and posting as first officer to the carrier IKS Kri'stak. We all expected great things from Tila, I think, which made what happened all the more tragic. Just two weeks after Tila's posting to the Kri'stak, the Mirror Iconians began their invasion of our universe and the Kri'stak was one of the first ships on the scene. When her captain was killed early in the counterattack, Tila assumed command of the Kri'stak and sailed the ship into the Iconian dimensional portal and through it into the moon-sized power plant and gateway complex the Mirror Iconians had built. The surviving engineers on the Kri'stak triggered a deliberate subspace overload of the ship's warp core, and the resulting explosion completely destroyed the complex and with it the entire invasion before it had even properly begun. Tila Otek was captain of a starship for twenty minutes and saved millions, perhaps billions, of lives. The IKS Otek is the first warship of the Klingon Empire to be named after a Cardassian officer.  Commander Petra Nilsdottir, Federation Engineering Officer Petra returned home to Luna after the war's end, concluding her time in the exchange program with the Klingon Empire. I'm still not sure what exactly she had hoped to find on a Klingon ship, as rabidly partisan as she was for the Federation at first she'd thoroughly lost that attitude in short order. Aoede told me that she's not sure Petra herself knew. Starfleet likes to charge its officers with seeking out new life and new civilizations, but in my experience an often better task is to see what you think you already know with new eyes. Or perhaps the captain simply had an effect on her. I have my suspicions. Following a brief detachment to the Alliance Collaborative Starship Design Program, Petra joined Gronth and T'Kara on Iconia a few years after the Hur'q War ended. In Petra's case, she arrived as an official representative of the Starfleet Corps of Engineering to help the Iconians in their work. An olive branch, as she put it, from the Federation to a former enemy. Something she said twenty years after arriving on Iconia still echoes in my head: as a starship engineer, her duty was to repair things, keep things running smoothly. A fine and important task, but Iconia gave her the chance to truly help build something new. I asked her why she didn't stay with the Alliance, and she answered that she'd grown tired of working with weapons and shields. Iconia gave her a chance to be a part of healing and building anew. I think the quiet life suited Petra, as did the family she started on the new world she helped build. Not all heroes are sung. Some are simply good people who try to make the world a better place. But never let it be said that I won't hum a little ditty in honor of a friend.  Lieutenant Commander Tylos Cassandor, Romulan Tactical Officer With the war's end, Tylos made a long-overdue return to New Romulus, this time to stay. Such were the demands of the Romulan Republic that even a grandfather of his veteran years was not permitted a quiet retirement, but Tylos was never called on to fire a disruptor again. The Tal Shiar political officer turned security chief found his final career behind a desk at the Republic Intelligence Service first as a senior analyst in the bureau's counter-intelligence division, then in time the bureau's director and a close advisor to Proconsul D'Tan. At a diplomatic dinner with Councilor Garak of the Cardassian Union, twenty years after the end of the Hur'q War, Tylos observed that overseeing an intelligence service, and earning the trust of the Republic and his counterpart agencies despite his original employ in the Tal Shiar, did more to turn his hair gray than any number of years or pitched battles he'd fought. Earn that trust Tylos certainly did, and under his leadership the RIS became a - relatively - trusted government agency, which he eventually handed down to his handpicked successor. Tylos retired happily to his family's homestead on New Romulus and discovered a passion for gardening late in life. Perhaps in honor of his old shipmates, Tylos made a challenge of growing plants from many different worlds side by side, and did so well at it that I've heard rumors of Starfleet Academy consulting with him on groundskeeping. When I asked him if there was any truth to the rumors, the elderly Romulan simply shrugged and said his orders were what they'd always been. We'd all believed he was Tal Shiar, and were so proud of figuring out his secret that we'd never stopped to consider if that might be a lie or a smokescreen for a deeper secret, he said with a wry smile. I'm still not sure if he was joking.  Lieutenant Commander Halstak Chalan, Liberated Borg Science Officer Halstak chose to remain behind at Deep Space Nine after the war, joining Doctor Julian Bashir in the Hur'q Diplomatic Initiative's medical contingent. With the rest of the Initiative, Halstak would spend the next thirty years working to cure the Hur'q of their madness and restore the sanity and civilization they had lost. While his decision meant a complete end to his career with the Klingon Defense Force - those who willingly chose to work alongside the Hur'q and help them recover were universally blacklisted by the forever hidebound High Command - Halstak never regretted his decision. There are many kinds of slavery, he told me, and the Borg and Dominion simply inflicted different versions of the same crime. Even after the ketracel fungus was restored to Havas-Kul, Halstak stayed to work with the Initiative in the Gamma Quadrant. Even then, the strangest was yet to come. During his time as part of the Alliance embassy on Havas-Kul, Halstak made the acquaintance of Thexan Lor, one of the first Jem'hadar to be cloned without a dependency on the White and given the freedom to pursue a non-military career if he so desired. The young Jem'hadar had chosen to study in the sciences, and eventually came to Havas-Kul to collaborate with Hur'q researchers on advanced geochemistry projects. Halstak, himself getting on in years by that time, and the elderly (by their standards) Jem'hadar scientist struck up not only an unlikely friendship, but fell in love and married, the first instance in history of a Jem'hadar man capable of such emotions. A bewildered but very self-satisfied Councilor Odo subsequently remarked that efforts to liberate the Jem'hadar had hit a significant milestone.  Lieutenant Aoede Turan, Risan Tactical Officer Aoede's return home to Risa after the war's end marked the conclusion of the KDF's experiment with shipboard counselors. No matter what the results were, having the project associated with as controversial a figure in the Empire as T'Kara of Chuch'SuS meant the end of the venture. Aoede took it in stride as she had everything else in her career, and resumed her career with the Risan Naval Militia without missing a beat. Even starting a family, with an Edo man she met on shore leave after the war, barely slowed her down. Eight years later, she received command of her first ship, the RXS Diplomacy By Other Means. That Aoede's career as a starship captain was mostly quiet and unremarkable was not for lack of trying on her part, the Risan government was forever reluctant to second a militia ship and the most famed (this being a relative term) Risan military officer of her time to the Alliance. Quiet and unremarkable, that is, until the Borg assault on Ferenginar, which saw Captain Turan organize a scratch fleet of pirates and armed civilian vessels to help the liquidators hold the line. Despite grievous losses, the flotilla supported Ferengi defenses long enough for Alliance reinforcements to arrive, a battle that soon entered the realm of legend for the so-called minor powers of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. For a Risan to receive decorations from Starfleet for their valor in battle was unusual but not unheard of. For the Klingon Empire and Romulan Republic to do the same, was a first in galactic history. It's always the ones you least expect, T'Kara noted to me at the awards ceremony. Tila's career didn't surprise her. Petra's didn't. Derius' and Gronth's didn't. Somehow, though, she'd missed the potential of the youngest member of her command crew.   Captain K'Gan, Klingon Tactical Officer I'd never personally met the man when I was actively serving with the Empire, but a record of my old captain's senior officers wouldn't be complete without the man who'd been with her at the very beginning. K'Gan and T'Kara may have parted ways before T'Kara's career truly took off, but K'Gan never lost his respect for his former commander. K'Gan ultimately spent the majority of his career in the Delta Quadrant, commanding one of the few Imperial ships permanently assigned to that distant region of space. What most captains would have taken as exile, K'Gan instead saw as a chance to make a mark of his own on history, which he did with great enthusiasm. Besides a formidable record of battle against the Malon, Viidians, and Vaadwuar remnants, K'Gan worked hard to establish a positive rapport with the Hirogen friendly to the Delta Alliance. As the de facto senior Klingon military representative to the Delta Alliance, K'Gan ultimately did much to seal the Hirogen - most of them - as coalition members of the Delta Alliance. K'Gan was an enthusiastic hunter in his own right, and earned the respect of the Hirogen by their own standards. While the man was horrified when I suggested during our interview that his former captain's peacemaking ways had rubbed off on him, I can't help but suspect that the rather uniquely bare knuckle style of Klingon diplomacy actually contributed quite a lot to the civilized galaxy's survival during the war years. K'Gan's position in the Delta Quadrant also thankfully insulated him from all that eventually transpired in the Empire, eventually leading to his own promotion to flag rank and in time assignment as the Alliance's supreme military authority in the Delta Quadrant. At the time of writing, K'Gan's eldest son is the first Alliance exchange officer with a Hirogen warship, and has declared that he will surpass his father's trophy collection or die trying.  Lieutenant Commander Nelen Exil, Voth Science Officer As for me, I formally left active duty with the Klingon Defense Force after the end of hostilities with the Hur'q. A Voth can live for a long time, and I was the first of my people to travel beyond the Solanae Dyson Sphere into the Alpha Quadrant - or at least the first since our prehistoric exile, if the rumors were to be believed. I'd gotten a chance to visit some of the core worlds on shore leave before, but there were countless more I wanted to see. The Khitomer Alliance was happy to give my travels official backing as a diplomatic initiative, in the hopes that perhaps I could talk sense into some of my brethren, and I spent year after year walking under alien skies, speaking with people my own had never imagined, and writing my thoughts. I was an archaeologist, once, told what I would discover and what conclusions I would reach by inquisitors who knew nothing of science and cared even less. To have the freedom to explore was a gift my own people had denied me. The big question of my peoples' origin, I still have no answer to. Could we have originated on Earth? Possibly. The biochemistry does match. Sixty five million years is a long time, though, and has a way of burying history. I've twice been offered an opportunity to physically travel back in time to see for myself, but I think I've had enough meddling with history. I'd much rather write it, and I was witness to more than I would have ever dreamed possible. I earned more nightmares than I ever would have imagined, too. It's a beautiful, wonderful, terrible, horrific galaxy we live in. I haven't seen many face it all without flinching. Not even the Captain. Oh, I know she put on a brave, stoic face for all of us. That was always her style, to never let friends or foe see her sweat. I like to think I knew her better than that, by the end. We all did. But there are some things you just don't say. That's the magic of the big chair. A blessing and a curse and everything in between. I know the Captain's been declared missing in action, presumed dead. I personally disagree. She was my friend, and she's certainly too stubborn to let something as mundane as a technological accident kill her. Missing, perhaps, but not lost. "Sailing the Sea of Suns: A Voth's Journey through the Far Side of the Galaxy" - by Nelen Exil, Imperial Institute of Science Press, printed 2519 This concludes Star Trek Online! I owe a huge thanks to Moon Slayer for starting this thread, and to him and Coq au Nandos for allowing me to be a part of the journey! Also a special shout to Siegkrow for starting and running the discord! Everyone else, thanks for watching! I'll be doing a retrospective post later with my overall feelings about the game and the LP.
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Jul 24, 2021 18:38
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This was an amazing LP. While I'm sad to see it end here, I literally can't see a way to handle the hot mess that is the Discovery/Picard content with any sort of narrative throughline to the previous content.
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Jul 24, 2021 19:03
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If anyone want to talk about that content, they could treat it as a new season.
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Jul 24, 2021 19:53
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You all deserve a standing godsdamned ovation. It's been an amazing ride, and I'm going to miss this - and T'kara - a lot. Bloody well done.
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Jul 24, 2021 21:27
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It's been a wild ride, and I'm glad to have been a small part of it.
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Jul 24, 2021 22:25
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All I can say is that it's been a long road, getting from there to here...
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Jul 24, 2021 22:38
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TLM3101 posted:You all deserve a standing godsdamned ovation. It's been an amazing ride, and I'm going to miss this - and T'kara - a lot. Bloody well done. Agreed. This was amazing to read. Everyone here made the hot mess of STO into an amazing Star Trek graphic novel.
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Jul 24, 2021 23:05
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It's been great reading this and seeing how the game has changed since I stopped playing it at the launch of Delta Rising. Shame it's stopping, but while I'm rather tepid on Discovery and Picard I have no real interest in seeing how Cryptic tries to tie that stuff into STO (poorly, I imagine).
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Jul 25, 2021 01:18
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A huge congratulations to Cyth for making it over the finish line! And of course to Moon Slayer for starting this insane project in the first place. A Malthis epilogue is about half drafted in my Google Docs. Hoping to get it out this week.
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Jul 25, 2021 01:41
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Thanks for the ride. Just imagine, T'kara out among the galaxies telling everyone how much they suck.
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Jul 25, 2021 05:12
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Synthbuttrange posted:Thanks for the ride. Swtor crossover when? T'kara needs to meet Mort and depair together at the level of intelligence of the average sentient A huge congratulation to everyone involved for the quality of their writing, and for toughing it out to the end!  It's been a hell of a ride, and transformed the disjointed narrative of a cryptic mmo into a really nice graphic novel. The epilogues are just the cherry on top. argosaxelcaos fucked around with this message at 11:04 on Jul 25, 2021 |
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Jul 25, 2021 11:02
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So, Star Trek Online and this LP. I don't think Moon Slayer, Coq au Nandos, or Bootcha would be offended if I said that this LP has been a complete mess. In some ways that's only appropriate, given that STO is just as much of a mess. STO is a weird, buggy, grotesquely unbalanced, poorly explained P2W game made by, from what I can tell, a tiny development team only funded by CBS as cheap advertising for Picard and Discovery. It's a barely functional house of cards built on an engine meant for a superhero MMO, and frankly has never been good. It's also a game with severe issues in its writing - I chose to end the LP on a high note for the story, because after the Gamma Quadrant arc the game takes an abrupt right turn into time traveling As writing experiences go, T'Kara and company have been one of the more frustrating experiences I've ever had, because my expectations for her and the environment she existed in kept changing. No offense meant to Moon Slayer or Coq au Nandos, but I initially thought I was writing her and her officers as a side story, exploring some low-profile content as an aside to the thread's main event with a clear ending. Then I was asked to bring them back. Then I was asked to bring them back for crossovers and becoming a semi-regular part of the LP. Then they became the protagonists. The context and purpose of the writing kept changing, and characters and dynamics I created for one purpose kept getting turned on their head and, at times, discarded or simply forgotten. Hi, temporal crew! The temporal captain was an Undine, by the way. This is also why T'Kara ultimately never had a stable love interest. A major character dynamic like that needs to be tightly interwoven with the plot and how the characters are being used, and that kept changing on me over and over again. Towards the end, I was also straight up burning out on this game and trying to weave all the game's stories together. And yet, this was all also quite a lot of fun. Space combat in STO still scratches an itch I've satisfied in no other game, and for all that I completely loathe modern Trek (Lower Decks is all right), STO somehow keeps me coming back on the regular. Low key, probably my favorite character to write in this LP was Halstak for playing around with the idea that being assimilated by the Borg made him a better person than he was before. I'm glad people enjoyed T'Kara, but she's honestly kind of stereotypical for me as my writing goes. She's a vein of character I have written, and continue to write, a lot. Fun, but in my books she was ultimately a fairly rote exercise, notable more for the sheer amount of writing I did than anything particularly interesting I did with her. See again how the framework and expectations of the LP, and the Klingon cast, kept changing on me. STO is not a good game. But I wrung some fun out of it all the same. As for the future, this LP has completely disabused me of ever LPing another MMO. Tempting as Guild Wars 2 or The Old Republic might be, that is a much bigger commitment than I am willing to make. I do have plans for a future LP, something much more relaxed and laid back and without war crimes or genocide, but I'm going to take at least a couple of weeks off before plunging into another LP project. I'm always open to feedback, and I'm glad folks enjoyed the project despite it all. 
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Jul 25, 2021 12:49
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Be that as it may, ST has always been stronger as a franchise when it focuses on the interpersonal relationships that develop, and it's been a great pleasure do read all that banter. Thank you.
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Jul 26, 2021 16:02
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kw0134 posted:Be that as it may, ST has always been stronger as a franchise when it focuses on the interpersonal relationships that develop, and it's been a great pleasure do read all that banter. Thank you. Agreed; as much as we like to think that a grand narrative or overarching theme would be enough for a story, oftimes it's the characters in that story who make it interesting and alive. T'Kara and her crew was that for this LP, especially considering Cryptic's own grasp on their narrative.
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Jul 27, 2021 13:08
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For what it's worth, I know Coq intends to do an epilogue for Malthis, and I've asked Moon Slayer if he has any interest in coming back to do an epilogue for Nyroh and Sekah and their crews. As it is, if anyone does want to show off the remaining story in the game I'll be happy to pass the torch on. I just cannot see T'Kara being a part of what happens next in the story, under any circumstances. I'm drawing up plans for my next LP, but it's probably going to be much less narrative than this one's been.
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Jul 27, 2021 13:10
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Everyone above me has already said it, but I'll add myself to the chorus. This was an absolute joy to read. Thank you for all your creative work.
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Jul 28, 2021 14:33
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Epilogue: Malthis Deep Space K-13 In orbit of 20 Draconis b Draconis Sector, Alpha Quadrant  : Station log, stardate 47634.44The galaxy moves in mysterious ways. When I took command of K-13, refitting the station to basic functionality was looking like a project that would take years. Thanks to the war with the Hur’q, we’ve moved up the list of priorities. As of today, K-13 is not only fully operational, but fully upgraded, as well. We’re still small, but we’ll give a good accounting of ourselves if we ever need to.  Of course, the moment I signed off on the final status report, word comes back through the wormhole. T’Kara, naturally, has put a stop to the entire war. That’s, what, three galactic conflicts she’s stopped with her mere presence? Four, if we’re counting that whole time war thing.  Without the looming threat of a swarm of starving insectoids, at least my job gets a bit easier. K-13’s crew are mostly all thawed out now, but they’ll have a hell of a job getting acclimated to the time they’ve wound up in - especially without one of Daniels’ handy time knowledge brain dump gadgets. We’ll be getting them up to speed the old fashioned way. I’m also hoping we’ll soon be hosting our first real guests - a scientific mission of Lukari, who will be looking at the potential to ‘reboot’ the ecosystem of the planet we’re orbiting. Apparently they’re good with protomatter, which doesn’t mean anything to most of our crew. My old pals Chekov and Scotty? They know different. We’ll be as ready as we can be for either the planet exploding or the dead returning to life.  Rinna’s been asking about the status of our old crew, so I figure now’s as good a time as any to put that together.  Kiltru Alaarem is still the Captain of the Dyson. Last I heard, he was headed back to the Delta Quadrant to investigate some of the lingering temporal weirdness around what used to be the Krenim temporal research facility.  Without even realising it, Timinn’s become one of the most important engineers in the fleet. Her work integrating the tech of the Dyson, plus her refit of the Verity, have suddenly become extremely important as Starfleet tries to bounce back from the losses we took during the Iconian War. To say nothing of the Hur’q. I’ve heard reports that a fleet of older starships have recently been recovered from a defunct shipyard back in the Beta Quadrant. If so, Timinn’s going to have a lot of work on her hands.  Grey's still serving on the Dyson as well, hoping to connect more with the Borg Cooperative now that the immediate thread of the Vaadwaur is over and done with. She still 'streams' for an audience in the future. I would never dream of telling her, but with Chekov's help I've made sure her records have found an engaged audience up in the 29th century, where she's basically worshipped as a badass space adventure goddess.  K’atya surprised all of us by leaving the Dyson at the start of the Hur’q conflict and joining Starfleet’s new Gamma Quadrant task force. I understand she served with distinction aboard the Defiant during the battle at Empersa - and did something with Captain Kira’s deflector dish that turned one of those Hur’q hive carriers into what can only be described as ‘random mathematical debris’. Yet another court martial/decoration coin toss to add to her record, I guess.    Agent Gor of Starfleet Intelligence, I have recently learned, never existed. She certainly didn’t serve increasing levels of distinction and pure effectiveness on no less than five starships alongside me. Officially, nobody knows how vital data was extracted from a locked down Vaadwaur homeworld, giving the Alliance a way to win the war with a minimum of bloodshed.  In an entirely unrelated observation, Starfleet is absolutely confident that none of its personnel were involved in organising a recent Ferengi-led mission involving the last Iconian fleet, a swarm of Hur’q, a series of explosions and the theft of an item of some sentimental value to General Martok. We can only speculate where the agent known as Grub might be now, but I know she’ll be there whenever the Federation needs her.  Talleon and Gi Uv are losses I’m still coming to terms with. According to Starfleet Psychological, not a single serving officer participating in the Iconian War made it through without losing someone. It’s a staggering loss. For Gi, and for Talleon, I’m going to pass on the way they both saw the universe to our new arrivals in the 25th century. Perhaps one day, one of them will pull a barrel roll in a heavy cruiser, or punch a Tholian. On that day, my debt to them will be paid.  As for Rinna, she’s found yet another new uniform to wear as part of the newly-named Khitomer Allied Fleet Service. I’ve still got my doubts that this thing will take off - at least one potential future I’ve seen suggests the Federation will eventually subsume the entire Alliance, which must make T’Kara shudder. But for right now, it’s a great chance for a Romulan hero to make her mark on a new service. And I have to admit, she makes the uniform work for her. I keep trying to think of a neat way to wrap all of this up, but it kind of escapes me. It occurred to me recently that whatever happens from here, my real journey began and ended at K-13. And honestly, I’m good with that. These people are my people, and together we’re going to try and make our little corner of the galaxy a better, safer place. Hell, we might even seek out and explore some strange new worlds while we’re at it.  Kiltru dropped in with the Dyson before he headed back out there, and he wasn’t travelling alone. It turns out someone at the Museum of Historic Starships heard about our situation, and someone must have found the right person to talk to.  It's a big universe, and I'm looking forward to seeing it. Oh, and Daniels? If you're reading this - I quit.
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Jul 31, 2021 01:23
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A well-deserved rest for Malthis and company. Thank you for inviting me to be a part of this!
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Jul 31, 2021 16:10
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This was a clusterfuck, and I enjoyed every update of it. Congrats all!
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Aug 5, 2021 00:57
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Huge thanks to everyone who read and/or contributed to this weird, broken LP of a dumb, broken game!
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Aug 8, 2021 15:43
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Oh, it's over? I'm still reading (over halfway in) and very much enjoying this LP. Star Trek Online seems like one of those games that I love reading about but would probably hate to actually play. Many thanks to everyone involved in this!
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Aug 18, 2021 09:39
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