/||\          ----------------------------------------------
      / || \              UCIP Starfleet Command, Eighth Fleet
     /  ||  \                  U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
  .-/   ||   \-.       Fleet Captain Tebrun Lora Kor,  Commanding
  ./    ||    \.     ----------------------------------------------
  .-_-. || .-_-.                  Simulation  Teaser
   -_  \||/  _-.                  -[ SD 240204.01 ]-

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/ Simulation Teaser                                                       |
/ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ 

 Every Starfleet ship had its own traditions.  U.S.S. Vanguard's were
 just a little more informal than most.  Following the Second Battle
 for Pitstop 3, Rear Admiral Todd Marshall, commanding U.S.S.
 Vanguard, invited all interested Starfleet personnel to participate
 in one of Vanguard's.

 Vanguard had a 600-seat movie theater, and every Sunday night aboard
 Vanguard was movie night.  This Sunday was a double feature, both
 films from Earth: Ray Bradbury's 1953 "It Came From Outer Space" in
 the original 3-D (Marshall had replicated 650 pairs of 3-D glasses,
 some in sizes custom fit for key Task Group officers) followed by Sam
 Raimi II's excellent 2026 version of "Flash Gordon."

 The Vanguard skipper's taste in movies wasn't exactly highbrow.

 Most of the Starfleet personnel in Pitstop didn't mind, though. 
 There was an enormous sense of relief aboard the ships.  They'd taken
 the worst that the Pfhor could throw at them and driven them back,
 hadn't they?  True, every ship was showing evidence of battle damage,
 Fearless worst of all, but every ship had made it through and the
 Pfhor had been forced into retreat.  A little bit of celebrating was
 in order.

 Fleet Captain Tebrun Lora Kor was savvy enough that he didn't argue
 with this sentiment.  Most of Coro's crew that participated headed
 for the transporter.  Lora Kor loaded a case of Guinness into Kelaka
 and took the gig over himself along with a small group that, like
 himself, had personal or medical reasons not to take the transporter.

 A little silly fun was definitely called for.

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

 =.\= Meanwhile, in the Reor System =.\=

 Celebrations were widespread on Reorsa, on the Meyer colonies, and
 throughout many of the allied systems.  Nearly everyone assumed that
 a tremendous victory had been gained and that the Pfhor would surely
 reconsider their territorial ambitions.  After all, they'd tried to
 annex Pitstop twice and been spanked both times, hadn't they?

 Brian Aldur and Charlie Theron weren't celebrating, though.  They
 were worrying.  In public, they were cheerful and confident, telling
 anyone who asked that yes, the Pfhor had been driven back and if they
 attacked again, yes they'd be driven back again.  Sooner or later,
 they'd realize that the allied systems would not be so easily ridden
 over.  Brian Aldur and Charles Theron were Admirals, and because they
 were Admirals, they did their worrying in private.

 There was a lot to worry about.  Nearly ever combat ship available to
 them had been severely damaged sometime in the recent past.  U.S.S.
 Fearless had very nearly been destroyed in Pitstop; it had taken 36
 hours to tow her back to Reor for repairs.  King Lan DuLac was still
 badly damaged, under repair along with half of his battle group in
 Artemis.  U.S.S. Odyssey was flying again, but she was nowhere near
 whole -- her crew would be months doing interior damage control and
 cosmetic fitting out.  Other than U.S.S. Stirling, in fact, the
 biggest undamaged ship the allies could field was a frigate -- U.S.S.
 Renegade -- currently holding the Gateway system.

 There was much to worry about, and Theron and Aldur sat in Stirling's
 Flag Plot going over it.  Damage reports from the 26 capital ships
 available to the two men was at the top of the display.

 "Well, at least Defiant 01 got off the ground in Reorsa a couple of
 days ago," Theron said at last.  "I'm told she'll be ready for a crew
 in 60 days.  The University is rushing the current class through
 training on her systems, so a crew will be ready on time," he said.

 Aldur nodded.  Both men knew that they could probably build ships
 faster than they could crew them right now.  Defiant-class destroyer
 escorts had a big advantage in this area: for a crew size of 50 or
 less, they had a field strength approaching a full destroyer with a
 crew six times bigger.  The shipyard on Reorsa and the matching
 facility on Meyer were now completely dedicated to the production of
 the small ships, with an expected production of two from each yard
 per year, four total.  Defiant 01 had been launched from the
 shipyard on Reorsa, up to Onyx.  Defiant 02 would launch from Meyer
 up to a new MRF under construction by the Camelynians in orbit of
 Meyer III.

 "I believe we should name her Reorsa," Aldur said.  "This Defiant
 series should be named for the things the crews are fighting for.  We
 can call the next one Meyer."

 Theron paused, then shook his head.  When he spoke, his voice was
 quiet and firm.  "Brian, I've been giving this a lot of thought," he
 said.  "Naming the Defiants after the allied systems is noble but
 trust me -- the crews know what they're fighting for," he said. 
 "Destiny already speaks to our nobility.  And don't get me wrong,
 it's a good name... fitting, even.  But you're living on Reorsa right
 now.  You know the planet's mood."  Aldur's expression tightened very
 slightly... but he nodded.  The planet and its inhabitants were
 taking an almost savage glee from the Pfhor's recent setbacks. 
 Theron, pressing his advantage, continued.  "You know as well as I do
 it won't be as easy as we've had it so far.  We've gotten lucky, but
 it won't last," he said.  "We need names that will inspire these
 crews.  Make it clear we won't be giving up."

 Theron removed a folded slip of paper from the breast pocket of the
 Reorsan uniform jacket and passed it to Aldur.  Aldur opened it to
 find eight or ten different words -- names, he realized.  Nearly all
 of the possibilities were not names that Starfleet would have used. 
 They were a little too... single-minded for Starfleet's taste.  But
 of the possibilities, most were crossed or even scribbled out; only
 one name remained.  In capital letters.  Underlined twice.

 AVENGER.

 Brian Aldur read it, read it again, then nodded, almost reluctantly. 
 He passed the little slip of paper back to Theron.  "Let's go with
 it," he said at last.

\_________________________________________________________________________
\ End Simulation Teaser                                                   |
 ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ

 Crew Roster:
    Commanding Officer:        FCapt. Tebrun Lora Kor    (Jester)
    Executive Officer:         Cmdr. William Daren       (Daren)
    Marine Commandant:         Col. Jeremy Ironside      (Fraser)
    Command Liaison:           Cmdr. Savant              (Savant)
    Chief of Operations:       Cmdr. Olme Tlaloco        (Tlaloco)
    Chief Tactical Officer:    LCdr. Sieven Drexler      (Brad)
    Assistant Tactical:        Lt. Kyle Marcy            (Marcy)
    Chief Flight Operations:   Lt. JG Ananda Wilk        (Baralu)
    Intelligence Officer:      Lt. Kariasa Ma'Aru        (Kari)
    Chief Science Officer:     Lt. JG Kathleen Hammond   (Kath)
    Company Commander:         MCpt. Jacob Prescot       (Shadow-FjP)
    Wing Leader:               1Lt. Craig Serrold        (Aggie)
    Chief Engineer:            Cmdr. Zunite Oswald       (Sonya)
    Assistant Engineer:        LCdr. Jack C. Farley      (CCC)
    Assistant Engineer:        Lt. Aramis Skylooker      (LewisSharp)
    Systems Specialist:        Lt. JG Caring-Thoughts    (Alffred)
    Chief Medical Officer:     Lt. Jason Thompson        (Thompson)
    Civilian:                  Alados ha-Soron           (McC)

 On Extended Leave of Absense:
    Wing Leader:               2Lt. Andrew Stylus        (JadeFalcon)

 Positions Available:
    None!

------
Jester

Fleet Captain Tebrun Lora Kor
Commodore Selectee
Commanding, U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/