Independence Fleet Newsletter

May 2002

--------------------------------------------------

COs, in case you haven't gotten this through your
ship's mailing list, here's the May Newsletter.
Cut/paste this into an e-mail for your ship if it
didn't get through directly.

If it didn't get through to your ship list, just add
on the admiralty account (IDFleet_Admiralty@y...)
as internet only (no e-mail!) and we can get it to you
directly next time.

________________________________________

- Opening
- Fleet Expansion
- USS Defiance
- Awards
- Mission Features
- Riddle
- My favorite episode...
- Interview
- Book of the Month
- Movie of the Month
- News Briefs
- Did you know?
- Closing


OPENING

Well, this _could_ be the longest fleet newsletter
ever! I'll hafta check on that. In any event, it is
filled with all sorts of good stuff! We have lots of
exciting news and several totally new sections that I
hope you'll enjoy. Feed back is welcome! E-mail me
at Seldon11988@y...


VAdm Robert Seldon
(Jacob)

CO: USS Washington
Dir: Defense Response Force
Chief of IndFleet Operations


FLEET EXPANSION

The USS Goliad (formerly the USS Chesapeake) and the
USS Minerva (formerly the USS Potomac), by decision of
their captains and crews, both joined Independence
Fleet effective officially May 1st.

The USS Chesapeake launched Jan 1st, 2002 and had a
very successful January with 71 posts. After leaving
the fleet in early February the ship was re-christened
the USS Goliad, though she retained the same registry
number, NCC-18907.

Capt. Edwards, played by Shane, is excited about
re-joining the fleet. He called IDF "a good fleet"
and said that "to most of us [on the Goliad], IDF is
home."

The Potomac, the DRF's first expansion ship, launched
in late August and, like the Chesapeake, served in IDF
through January. She became an independent SIM after
that and was replaced by the Athena class USS Minerva,
NCC-36181. Cmdr. Be'Karlsa, the ship's XO, said that
"I feel that the ship performed better in the fleet,
although we [were] not doing badly [as an independent
SIM]."

Both ships once again operate in the Defense
Response Force. Due to the name changes and extended
absences from the fleet, the posting numbers and
records for the preceeding ships (the Chesapeake and
Potomac) will not carry over to the Goliad and
Minerva, which are registered as new ships in the
fleet. The Goliad will now bear the registry number
NCC-18907-A.

I am personally very excited about both captains and
their crews deciding to re-join IndFleet. Krol,
Edwards and several from their crews previously served
on the Washington (and several have a second character
on the W). Both ships have a lot of talent and a lot
to offer Independence Fleet.

These are the only two ships to join the fleet by
transfer and not by first creation.

Everyone, please join my fellow COs and I in welcoming
the two newest ships to Independence Fleet!


-- Why the Minerva joined IDF, by Capt. Krol

On May 01, 2002, the U.S.S. Minerva made the
decision to enter Independence Fleet once again. We
had originally been chartered by the fleet as the
U.S.S. Potomac, but when the fleet split up and
Admiral West left, the Potomac decided to become
completely independent.

This decision was due to a
conflict of loyalties on the part of her Captain,
Krol, son of K'Targ. He had previously served under
both Admirals West and Seldon and found himself in a
deadlock during this massive conflict of interests.

The Potomac became independent and survived one
mission, before being destroyed and replaced with the
Minerva. After the Minerva's establishment, the ship
and her crew played one mission before asking to
rejoin the fleet.

The decision to rejoin the fleet came from
Captain Krol's observation, shared by some of his
command crew, that without the structure of a fleet to
help certain members, the posting rate on the Minerva
was experiencing a heavy drop. With this observation,
Krol decided that the Minerva needed a fleet once
again.

On reflection, Krol decided that there was no
fleet in which he would rather participate than
Independence Fleet with his many member-friends that
were still serving there. So he humbly requested of
Admirals Seldon and Star to rejoin the fleet. They
accepted his request after some deliberation and now
the posting rate is experiencing a slow, but steady
increase from the all-time low at which it resided
when the ship was not in the fleet. FRQX.


-- Why the Goliad joined IDF, by Shane (Capt. Edwards)

Hey Everybody,

Normally in the IDF newsletter, a lot of people speak
using their character names. Today, I am not speaking
at Captain Shawn Edwards. Rather I am coming to you as
Shane West. In early February, I made a large mistake
on my part. I separated the, then, USS Chesapeake from
IDF. The Avalon, now known as the Camelot, made the
split as well. We joined two other independent SIMs to
create Neo-Utopia Fleet, later changing the name to
Nova Fleet. My reason for leaving was to create a
truly new and innovative role-play experience. In a
partial way to become an Admiral. Yes, I admit it,
admiralty was something I wanted, but as is evident in
many ways, someone should be truly ready for something
like that. I was voted to be the C-in-C of this new
fleet, but it was something that I wasn’t ready for.
There were many times in which I had to sacrifice the
fleet for my SIM and vice-versa. That just wasn’t
right.

Even though the new C-in-C of NF is on the Goliad, I
will be perfectly honest. I did not like the direction
that it was going. I think CD (Commander Davidson of
the Goliad) said it best one day after school when he
said, “The idea was good, but the people behind it
couldn’t implement it.” CD was perfectly right, and I
blame myself. I could not rise to the occasion. One
big reason was that I had to convince myself that I
was doing the right thing. In something like that, you
HAVE to be sure and completely confident in what you
are doing. This is shown by my almost instantaneous
decision to come back to IDF.

Since we left IDF, posting was horrible. No one
posted, I had problem after problem; be with
personnel, bad CO’s, dead ships, or some other
political thing that should never have come up. This
is supposed to be a Role Playing Game, not the U.S.
Senate. My SIM, and more importantly, my crew needs a
good SIMMING fleet. One that can give us the support
that we need. One that will not allow for any
political conundrum. One that can help further the
role-playing experience. This is where IDF comes in.

Since I have rejoined IDF, posting numbers have
increased significantly. Most of us came from IDF and
learned to SIM here, me included. IDF is our SIMMING
home and will always remain so. I understand that my
leaving was the catalyst for the big IDF split. In one
way, I feel that I should feel sorry for that. But,
considering the problems that were going on, I think
it might have been for the best for the longevity of
IDF.

I would just like to thank Jacob (Seldon) and Alan
(Star) for allowing my crew and I to rejoin the fleet
we have come to know as home. But let me go on the
record as saying that I DO NOT wish any ill will on
the Nova Fleet. I wish them all the luck in the world
in their endeavor. It just wasn’t for me, and I have
to do what I feel is best for my crew and my SIM.

-Shane West aka

Captain Shawn Edwards
Commanding Officer
USS Goliad NCC-18907-A

(Formerly)

Fleet Admiral Shawn Edwards
CO: USS Goliad NCC-18907
Dir: Taskforce 01 (Defense Response)
C-in-C: Nova Fleet


USS DEFIANCE

With the addition of the Goliad and the Minerva the
Defense Response Force numbered 5 ships briefly, tying
the normally larger DSE in size for the first time.
However, the DRF's USS Defiance was released from
service in Independence Fleet on May 13th after
another month of struggling.

Since her launch in the Defense Response Force the
Defiance had seen steadily declining activity. At the
time of the ship's release, it has been two weeks
since the ship's last post on April 30th. During the
whole month of April only 6 members of the Defiance's
crew posted, producing a total of 21 posts during that
month. Activity in the group had nearly completely
ceased.

The USS Defiance launched on Feb. 24th, 2002 under the
command of Capt. Samuel Meriod, played by James. James
previously SIMed on the USS Washington as several
characters, most notably Lewis Concorde.

James' record on the Washington was exemplary. He won
the fleet's Funniest Post Award in February for his
#749 and received numerous other award nominations and
honorable mentions. On the Washington, he was 4 times
honored in the category of best post for his
excellent writing skills. He also was recognized for
Funniest Post, Most Posts, and MVP.

The Defiance's most active month was March, in which
the group produced 42 posts. James has announced his
intention to return to the Washington as Jace Meriod,
one of his previous characters. Seldon and the rest
of the W's crew looks forward to having him back!


AWARDS

Each month, Independence Fleet recogizes excellence in
several categories. In our talented organization,
anyone nominated for an award can be proud of their
effort. Here are our deserving winners from April!

- Best Post

After 10 months of service and 1,137 posts, the USS
Washington finally has a Best Post award to display.
The W's XO, Capt. James "Rook" Mirtoh brings home the
award for his well-written Post #1055. The post is
direct, has good characterizations, and moves the
story forward by getting crewmembers out of a tight
jam. The Washington's Best Postlessness was ended
despite excellent posts written by other talented
writers like the George W. Bush's Jasson Asuka and the
Patriot's Dan Finnigan. Mirtoh had twice before been
nominated in this category.

- Funniest Post

Another of the Patriot's quality writers, Ens. Matt
Gelfand, becomes only the 5th person to win the
Fleet's Funniest Post award this month. His Post #266
is very amusing, using humor in what would normally be
written as a tense situation. Gelfand was also the
Pat's Most Improved Nominee and, with 14 posts, the
ship's most active member for April as well. Too bad
that comm-finder was just the demo version.

- Most Posts

The most prolific poster of April comes from the USS
Excalibur, Ens. Ingoldo. Ingoldo posted 21 times
during the month, beating the next most postous person
by 2 posts. Ingoldo was also nominated by Capt.
McCloud for Best Post and for MVP.

- Rookie of the Month

This award is always exciting as it represents growth
in the fleet and an influx of new talent. Of the
numerous people that joined IDF in April, the
Washington's John Sunfeather, who is the ship's
yeoman, was found to be the best. Despite joining the
W over halfway through the month, on April 17th,
Sunfeather posted 5 times. In addition to creating a
very interesting biography and character, he
incorporates other crewmembers into his well-written
posts with great regularity. According to Seldon,
Sunfeather "is a great addition to the W's crew!"

- Recruitment

Despite several new members to the fleet in April, the
field of Recruiter candidates was, surprising, small.
The award goes to the W's Capt. Mirtoh in the end.
Rook was once before nominated as the Washington's
best recruiter. The ship had not before won the
recruitment award. Mirtoh and the Washington's CEO,
Reggie "Big" Johnson, are not tied at 5 awards as the
fleet's two most decorated officers. The Washington
now has an award winner in each of the 7 categories.

- MVP

"If anyone deserves the MVP award for April, it's Mr.
Asuka," said Adm Star confidently as he nominated his
XO for the honor. With 18.5 posts, Jasson Asuka "as
he usually does. . . had a good mix of good,
plot-advancing posts and entertaining, light-hearted
ones between missions. He even co-wrote a very funny
joint-post with another crewmember towards the end of
the month." Asuka, along with being a great writer,
has also taken on a leadership role on the GWB. He
has helped new crewmembers improve their posting
techniques and gain confidence. "Without Asuka's
great posting, in both quality and quantity, and his
encouragement and help with the other crewmembers, the
Bush would have gone absolutely no where during
April," says Star. "He was our MVP." And the fleet
agrees.


MISSION FEATURES

Here's what some of the fleet's other ships are up to
right now!

Submitted by Capt. Dragonneti of the USS Patriot

The Patriot is assigned to vist the planets of Grek
and Gren. They are two planets located right next to
each other, who have been involved in a war for many
many years. The Patriot's goal is to help the planets
solve their differences in a nice and orderly manner.
Everything goes as plan until the two teams (one for
each planet) get lost in a maze of who is who and what
belongs to what. Soon, a breakthrough is made and Lt.
Cougar Walking discovers that the races are originally
the same, but after DNA changing have completely
separated themselves from each other. The Patriot's
current mission: to stop the conflicts and bring them
back together by presenting their history to them by
using some of the ancient rituals.

Submitted by Capt. Edwards of the USS Goliad

On a mission to Verius IV, the USS Goliad was engaged
in combat with a number of Breen ships without any
sort of provocation. The ship was in danger of being
destroyed. In a last ditch effort to save his crew,
FAdm Edwards fired two Transphasic Torpedoes, which
destroyed the two Breen ships, but the Goliad was
caught in the explosion leading to her destruction. As
per Starfleet regulations, the CO, Fleet Admiral Shawn
James Edwards was court-martialed. Among those being
charged in the court-martial are her Chief Security
Officer and Second Executive Officer, Lt. Cmdr. Sorcha
Hagan, her Strategic Operations Officer, Lt. (jg)
Robert Windecamp, and her Tactical Officer, Ens.
Ska’Ren. But, as is shown in the Star Trek Universe,
the court-martial doesn’t go as planned. There is a
great deal of intrigue, backstabbing, and questions of
loyalty has these officer put their careers on the
line to defend their action. A very special guest is
making an appearance in this mission as a character
witness and moral support, Vice-Admiral Robert Seldon
who was Edwards’ mentor and former CO. What will
happen with this court-martial? In the word of Captain
Edwards, it’s in the hands of the valiant crew of the
former USS Goliad.

Submitted by Capt. Krol of the USS Minerva

The Minerva is assigned to a diplomatic mission
in Romulan Space. The Romulan Praetor's daughter fell
in love with a Starfleet Officer during the Dominion
War and they want to marry. The Praetor, in a
surprising act of open-mindedness, has agreed to the
wedding and has also offered overtures to peace
agreements. The Minerva is assigned to escort both
the groom and a Federation Ambassador to Romulus for
the proceedings. After a brief test of Captain Krol's
resolve, two Warbirds are assigned to escort the ship
to Romulus. However, a saboteur aboard the Minerva
attempts to destroy the ship by releasing the
containment fields on the antimatter storage pods.
After a brief phaser fight in the room containing the
pods, the saboteur, apparently a Jem'Hadar warrior, is
apprehended. The antimatter pods, however, cannot be
saved and must be ejected from the ship. The Minerva
is now on a limited fuel supply until the antimatter
can be restocked...

Submitted by Adm. Star of the USS George W. Bush

While on a routine patrol through space, three space
pirates, Buster, Franko, and Pops, beam aboard the
Bush, undetected. They quickly take control of the
bridge and then transport 250 soldiers from their
cloaked freighter. In no time the George W. Bush is
theirs. The entire crew is rounded up and taken to
the brig. No longer needing their own ship, the
pirates destroy it with a barrage of torpedoes from
the Bush. Buster and company are working for someone
known as the "Big Head." Their mission is the capture
a federation starship and bring it back to him. The
crew has tried several attempts to escape and regain
control of the ship, but all have been unsuccessful
thus far. We've met several other pirates as well,
LeRoy and BillyBob to name a few. Will we be able to
save the ship before it gets in the hands of the Big
Head?

Submitted by Capt. McCloud of the USS Excalibur

The USS Excalibur is sent to the Ocalma Nebula to
check out some strange signals. After finding a lost
crewman, they in counter a strange asteroid, from
which a "morse code" signal is being sent out. Ship's
enter the asteroid and are identified as Dominion
Ship's. What the crew and Captain McCloud don't know
is that these people are from a parallel universe. The
same universe that Captain James Kirk and his crew
encountered. The ISS Excalibur, whose Captain is
Alayne Tolbin, who killed her McCloud to gain control
of the ship, and is now looking to kill another
McCloud, with the help of Commander Tolbin. Unless
McCloud and his crew can figure out what's happening
in time.

Submitted by VAdm Seldon of the USS Washington

Fresh from a mission involving the Romulans in which
Galactic war was averted only by some quick thinking
and good restraint, the Washington heads back to her
home port, Starbase 12, for refitting and shore leave.
Many crewmembers plan on enjoying holodeck time,
seeing the sites on the system's planets, or on doing
work at the base. Hopefully, the crew won't burn down
any large, pristine forests like last time.


MONTHLY RIDDLE

- Answer to last month's riddle...

The evil Dr. Westgate let out his vile laugh once
more. "You all shall die!" he snarled through his
terrible smile.

Before you knew it, there was only one second left!
The sweat was pouring down your face. It was obvious
that neither your CO or XO knew the answer, it was
completely up to you. Suddenly the answer came to
you! Without thinking, you began to shout, "White!
My cap's white!"

Westgate's evil grin quickly faded to a blank look of
defeat. "No, no! It's not possible! You're just not
that clever!"

"That I am," you quickly replied back. "Actually, it
was quite elementary, my dear Dr. Westgate. The fact
that my XO behind me couldn't figure out what cap he
was wearing was the key. I saw that my CO had a black
cap on in front of me. If I also had a back cap, my
XO would have immediately known he had a white cap and
would have shouted it out. My CO must have been
wearing a different colored cap that me, that's why my
XO couldn't decide what he was wearing. So my cap is
white!" You then removed your cap and low and behold
is was white.

Westgate was furious. "Well, I'm going to kill you
all anyway!"

Before he could react a security detail from your ship
beamed down and arrested Dr. Westgate and his men.
You, your CO, and XO then transported back up to the
ship. You've captured another dangerous villian. Now
you can continue the battle for truth, justice, and
the American way for one more day.

- This Month's riddle...

"One of these 10 crates of latinum strips is from Nok,
the Ferengi felon, and is filled with fakes," said
Johnny Johnson, the manager of the First Bank of Mars.
"But we're not sure which one!"

This would be a tough assignment, you think, as you
look at the different crates of latinum in the bank's
vault. But your captain is counting on you to keep
the bank from being defrauded and going bust.

"Is there any physical difference between the fake
strips and the real ones?" asks your ship's chief of
security.

Johnson nods his head, "Yes, yes there is." Pointing
to the nearest crate he explains, "The real strips
each weigh exactly 10 grams each. The fake ones weigh
only 9 grams each."

"Well, this seems easy enough to solve then," you say
confidently as you step forward. "Lets just weigh a
strip from each crate and toss out the ones from the
crate of the strip that weighs 9 grams."

Johnson shakes his head, "No, no, no. It's not that
simple. Our scale isn't working properly," he says
uncomfortably. "Uh... we can only make _one_
weighing and then the scale will become inoperable."

(Golly, it's no wonder this bank is in financial
trouble,) you think. "Well, then, we'll just need to
hail the ship and get our engineer down here to fix
this thing!" you announce.

"No need," says your ship's security officer. "You
see, we'll only need to make one weighing."

"Oh?" says Johnny Johnson. "How is that?"

* * *

So, how are you going to determine which of the 10
crates contains the fake latinum if you can only use
the scale to make one measurement? The answer will be
posted in the next issue!


MY FAVORITE EPISODE OF TREK...

"Our Man Bashir" -- DS9

Dr Bashir spends time in the Holodeck during this
episode where he takes on the role of a Secret Agent &
his mission is to save the world from a bad guy that
has set up a bomb that would take out a large area.
During this episode several of the other main
characters get into the program also in taking on the
roles of others.

This is one of my favorite episodes of Deep Space Nine
since it shows Dr Bashir doing something other than
basically doing something medical related all the
time. He gets to do something that shows another side
of his ability. Even if it is in a holodeck program.

... Capt. Josie O'Neal, USS Pioneer


INTERVIEW WITH ENS. JACK STORM

Interviewer: We're joined today by Ens. Storm of the
USS George W. Bush. Thank you for taking time out of
your busy schedule to speak with us, Ens.

Storm: alright

Interviewer: Can you tell us a little about what is
happening aboard the Bush right now?

Storm: right now were fighting for our lives against
an unknown alien species there is only a few of us on
board....the others are on a planet

Interviewer: How is your character fitting into this
mission?

Storm: communications specialist has it's high points
in starting trouble

Storm: i mean......i get all the messages first

Storm: but on this mission i believe i got us into
trouble by hailing the vessel and asking it why it was
firing on us

Interviewer: Oh?

Storm: yeah

Storm: after i tried hailing it, the ship disabled our
shield generator

Interviewer: Your character, Jack Storm, was recently
"killed off," wasn't he. Could you tell us a little
about that?

Storm: yeah it was kind of odd.....i was killed and
then i was brought back because i had told the ships
captain that i was gonna start posting more

Storm: my death was being blown to little bits

Interviewer: Yes, we have a clip from that Post,
#159. Let's take a look at it.

Storm: oh no you have the clip

* * *

The shuttle lands on the planet Gigantimous. Storm and
Cabot exit the shuttle and start walking towards the
capital city.

Storm: "Now we get to kick some Gigantimous butt!"

Cabot: "I like to kick butt!"

Star: =/\=Remember, your mission is to _infiltrate_,
not _attack_.=/\=

Storm: =/\=Right, Cap'n!=/\=

Star: =/\=Star out.=/\=

Cabot: "Let's go kick some butt anyway!"

Storm: "Yeah!"

::Storm and Cabot run out into the street, blasting
their phaser rifles all over the place, killing
innocent Gigantugans.::

Cabot: "This is awesome, Jack!"

Storm: "It sure is, Garmie!"

The police appear and start firing, they hit Cabot.

Cabot: "Ahhhh! I'm hit!" ::falls to the ground::

Storm: ::Looks around, then runs away::

* * *

{Outside the Hospital}

Storm: ::runs into buidling, fires back at the police
chasing him:: "You'll never catch me and I'm going to
rescue my friend!"

Police #2: "Give up now and you will be extradicted
back to your government."

Storm: "No way, fag!" ::continues firing back at
police from inside the front doors::

* * *

{Entrance to Hospital}

Storm: "You'll never get me, pigs!" ::fires another
shot out the building::

Suddenly, hospital guards appear from behind Cooper;
he now has police on one side and the gaurds on the
other!

Gaurd #1: "Freeze!"

Storm: ::turns to fire at the gaurds::

Gaurds: ::all 12 of them fire their weapons at Storm::

Police: ::all 6 of them fire their weapons at Storm::

Storm: ::getting all blasted to bit by high powered
phasers and bullets:: "Ahhhh, nooo!!!" ::is shaking
violently, parts of him are flying off and squirts of
blood are going everywhere. The bluttets are ravaging
his body:: "Nooooo!!!"

Gaurd #1: "Cease fire!" ::gaurds stop::

Police #2: "Cease fire!" ::police stop::

Storm: ::his mangled and devastated body falls back
into a garbage disposal:: "Mommy?" ::the garbage
disposal has been activated!"

The two large metal walls collapse onto Storm,
crushing his already destroyed body. The metal walls
open back up. Storm's body is smashed into the rest of
the trash. Blood and body parts are scattered about
the top of the garbage disposal, with the rest of
Storm all smashed up inside

Gaurd #11: ::looking at Storm's remains:: "He's dead."

* * *

Interviewer: Were you told in advance that your
character was going to be killed off? And what was
your reaction when you read the post?

Storm: i was kaughing histerically at my death

Storm: and no i was not told in adavance

Interviewer: Did you find it to be a fitting end for
Ens. Jack Storm?

Storm: for the time being yes

Interviewer: Do you know how your crewmates reacted to
the post?

Storm: but when i die and actually end the character
of ens. jack storm.....i would like to do it
honorabble and go down fighting....like up against the
klingons or the borg or something

Storm: and no i dont know there reaction to the post

Interviewer: Well, as you said, Ens. Storm later
returned to the SIM. Let's take a look at a clip from
that post.

* * *

A shuttle approaches the ship (this seems to be the
mission for shuttles to drop off new crewmen while
we're chasing this evil alien ship). It's identity is
revealed and it beams a passenger
over to the Bush.

{Transporter Room}

Storm: ::materializes::

Trent: "Ensign Jack Storm! I thought you were dead!"

Storm: ::steps off of the transporter padd:: "Well, I
almost was." ::gives her a really cool guy, sexy
look:: "It was a real dangerous assignment." ::runs
his hand through his hair:: "Star Fleet made up a
story about mine and Cabot's death so no one would
know about our true mission. It was top-top secret."
::nods::

Trent: ::the two walk out of the transporter room and
continue down the
corridor as the converse:: "Then is Cabot... alive
too?"

Storm: "No." ::deep pause:: "Our mission was to clean
the Starbase 47
latrines. Star Fleet brass was looking for the fleet's
next great janitors. They thought Cabot and I had what
it took."

Trent: "That doesn't sound dangerous?"

Storm: "We both contracted bacterial infections from
our cleaning duties. Cabot..." ::struggles to speak::
"Cabot didn't make it."

Trent: ::is in tears::

Storm: ::getting teary-eyed:: "I was relieved of
latrine duties and sent back here." ::pauses:: "So
what's our status?"

* * *

Storm: oiy

Storm: how did you get these

Interviewer: They're in the USS George W. Bush
archive at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/USSGeorgeWBush/messages/.
Posts #159 and #183.

Storm: oh yeah

Interviewer: Were you involved in writing the post in
which your character returns to the ship?

Storm: no

Interviewer: What sort of reaction did you have to
your return post?

Storm: they made me lie to the other crew
members.....it was horrible cause i hate lieing....but
it was an ok return]

Storm: i really dont care about making me lie to the
other crew members

Interviewer: How has your character been able to
interact with other crewmembers since his return?

Interviewer: And how did his return work into the
story?

Storm: well......i am the communications specialitst
dont forget and i have to try and get us out of this
mess before the ship is destroyed

Interviewer: Do you think you'll ever write a post
that elaborates on Storm's top secret adventures?

Storm: nah not really

Storm: if they are to be kept secret then I say let
them stay secret

Interviewer: What are your views on writting out
crewmembers from the storyline?
Storm: what do you mean by that?

Interviewer: In what way should departing SIM members
have their characters written out?

Storm: i'm really not sure

Storm: listen i have to go

Interviewer: Alright. Well, that's all the time we
have alloted for the interview. Thank you very much
for speaking with us.

Storm: it's been great talking to you

-- Since that interview was taken last month, Jack
Storm has been promoted to Lieutenant, J.G. aboard the
George W. Bush. He continues as communications
specialist and was nominated for Most Improved for
April by GWB CO Adm Star.


BOOK OF THE MONTH

-- "The Stars, Like Dust" by Isaac Asimov (231 pages)

"The Stars, Like Dust" is the first of Asimov's 3
(very) loosly connected "Empire Novels." It takes
place several thousand years in the future when the
Earth is just one of countless planets inhabited by
people. Like many of Asimov's books, it covers
several different genres: science fiction, action, and
mystery among others.

The book starts shortly after Biron Farril's father,
the Rancher of Widemos, has been killed. Biron very
quickly finds that someone is now out to murder him as
well. Not knowing what is going on, he flees Earth
and tries to contact some of his father's friends for
help.

Little does he know that the Empire of Tyrann, a
ruthless and expanding kingdom, is, somehow, behind
these events. Biron has fallen into galactic politics
and his actions will determine the course of future
history.

Events in TSLD are always quick and rarely drag. The
plot is quite interesting, with several good sub-plots
thrown in for good measure. There is plenty of
intrigue in the story for even non-science fiction
fans to thoroughly enjoy the book.

- "The Stars, Like Dust" was, reportedly, Asimov's
least favorite of all his (many, many) novels. This
reviewer is fond of it, however. The novel first
appeared in the January, February and March 1951
issues of Galaxy under the title "Tyrann", and was
published in book form by Doubleday in March.


MOVIE OF THE MONTH

-- "Galaxy Quest" (1999, PG, 102 minutes)

Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) is an actor who played
Commander Peter Quincy Taggart on "Galaxy Quest," a
cheesy 80's sci-fi show with very commited fans
(called "Questrians"). Now, he and the rest of the
show's cast are has-beens who don't really like each
other and can only make a spare buck by going to
Galaxy Quest Conventions. It looks like their careers
are over.

However, the original transmissions of the television
show are picked up by Thermians, a race of naive
aliens who take the episodes as being "historic
documents." They build a real version of the
Protector, the ship in the show, and go to earth to
recruit Nesmith and the rest of the cast to save their
race from Sarris, an evil warlord. Nesmith and the
other Galaxy Quest stars have no choice but to play
their roles one more time. But Sarris is not a nice
alien.

"Galaxy Quest" (the movie, not the fictional show) is
a lot of fun to see. Star Trek fans, especially, will
appreicate many of the numerous jokes and references
to Trek. Once you've seen Episode II, drop by your
friendly local Blockbuster to rent "Galaxy Quest."

-- There are numerous references to Star Trek in
"Galaxy Quest":

- The rock monster is a mock tribute to William
Shatner, who desperately wanted to put rock monsters
in the climax of STAR TREK V, but had to cut them out
of his script for budgetary reasons.
- At one point, the crew are eating aboard the ship
and are told that the food has been prepared based on
their regional cuisine. The commander comments that
the steak tastes like Iowa Beef. This seems like a
subtle reference to the fact that Captain Kirk is from
Iowa.
- Also, the NSEA Protector's serial number is NTE 3120
-- NTE being short for Not The Enterprise.


NEWS BRIEFS

- The USS Goliad, NCC-18907-A, and the USS Minerva,
NCC-36181, joined IDF on May 1st. The Goliad
previously served from Jan 1st - Jan 31st 2002 as the
USS Chesapeake, NCC-18907 and the Minerva previously
served as the USS Potomac, NCC-23512, from August 29th
2001 - Jan 31st 2002.

- Felicity "Slash" Dragonetti, formerly of the USS
Defiance, was made Captain of the USS Patriot
officially May 1st. Capt. Dick Sprague was previously
the interim CO. Dragonetti has updated and re-done
the Patriot's site, making it much more informative
and improving the layout.

- The USS Washington's XO, Capt. James "Rook" Mirtoh,
is made IDF's first Fleet Captain. This fleet-wide
position is generally held by the most capable non-CO
fleetmember and exists to temporarily lead ships if
their CO is unable to do so for any period of time.

- The USS Horatio Nelson, NCC-19958, launched on April
22nd under the command of Capt. James "Brit"
Britanicus, a former member of the Washington's crew.
The ship managed an impressive 27 posts in the
fraction of a month she was in operation. The Nelson
serves in the DRF and her website is linked to the
fleet main page.

- After only 4 months, ID Fleet has eclipsed its
posting total from last year. We had 2,105 posts sent
through the fleet during 2001 (July-December). There
have been 2,141 posts sent this year through the end
of April. That puts us on pace to finish the year
with 6,423 -- a total we will almost certainly crush
with our current growth.

- Admiral Star's new high score on the "Police Force"
pinball game is over 70 million points! He currently
holds all of the top scores on the game.


DID YOU KNOW?

This is a new section, we're adding to the newsletter.
Each month, we'll bring up something that you may or
may not know but will probably find useful.

For the inaugural column, did you know that
Independence Fleet keeps very detailed records of ship
posting stats and all fleet award winners?

Since January, the fleet has given out 64 individual
posting awards and 10 posting titles. All the winners
-- and much, much more are recorded on the Fleet
Website's awards page!

https://www.angelfire.com/trek/independencefleet/awards/awards.html

Be sure to check it out!


CLOSING

Well, I hope you've enjoyed it all! I've had a lot of
fun working with the numerous people who've
contributed to the newsletter (a lot of what you've
read isn't mine, if you haven't noticed).

Thanks to all the COs for writing up mission
summaries, to Storm for being our interviewee, to Star
for coming up with the Book, Movie, and Riddle of the
month sections (and writing this month's riddle
answer), and to O'Neal for writing about her favorite
(well, one of her favorite) Trek episodes. If you
don't like the newsletter... blame them!

Oh, incidentally, this _is_ the longest IndFleet
newsletter. Ever.

Until next month!


VAdm Robert Seldon
(Jacob)

CO: USS Washington
Dir: Defense Response Force
Chief of IndFleet Operations