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|\\\\\ Starfleet Command, Eighth Fleet (OOC)
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_--~ ~~/ Defenders Task Group 85.3, "Whitestone"
/~ _-~~~' Embarked on U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
('-//////-// Rear Admiral Tebrun Lora Kor, Commanding
////// }}-) -----------------------------------------
/////~ Simulation Teaser
_///~ Stardate 240304.12
`
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/ Simulation Teaser |
/ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
<http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/simtrans/reports/coro417c-t.html
and
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/simtrans/reports/coro505a-t.html
and
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/simtrans/reports/coro513a-t.html
and
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/simtrans/reports/coro605b-t.html
and
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/simtrans/reports/coro702b-t.html
and ends with tonight's teaser. God speed, Joe Fisher.>>
"Look up at the sky! Look up at the bright star of Xanadu, where
Alph, the sacred river once ran to a sunless sea! Oh, you admire the
genius of its builders, the grace of Alexandria, the convenience of
the Catapult. Her reactors supply almost unlimited power, her guns
defend the night sky of Reor'sa, she is a living symbol of all we
have accomplished.
"But I would give anything -- anything! -- to have Xanadu's builders
slain before they had ever drawn breath. For had Xanadu not been
built, would the eye of the enemy have ever turned to look upon us?
I think not.
"And all the men and women and braids that we have been forced to
sacrifice would be with us still, living and loving and giving us
their strength and courage... instead of being forced to expend that
strength, that courage, to right a wrong not done by us. They throw
themselves into the very teeth of Hell for us! For a mistake not made
by them, not made by us, not even yet made.
"We have sacrificed so much! May it not be in vain, may the tears be
sealed, and may man's folly never bring this curse down upon us
again."
-- Excerpt from SACRIFICE NOT OURS,
the collected memoirs of Joseph Fisher
(Captain, Alliance Defenders, retired)
----------------
=/.= June 4, 2431 -- Churchill Downs, Reor'sa =/.=
"That's right, Annie... just so. The Odyssey is out there... and
someday, they'll find the Tear, the big one, and they'll mend it.
And then the little tears and the bigger ones will never come again."
For a long time after this, Annie was quiet, considering his
grandfather's words. When she spoke again, Annie's final question was
one that Captain Joseph Fisher, Defenders Starfleet (Retired) was
damned impressed with. Few full-grown adults, even those born and
bred on Reor'sa, thought to ask that final critical question when
faced with the hard facts of life in M64.
"Grandpa Joe?" she asked. "What causes the tears?"
Fisher's head swung up. "We did, honey. Or rather, humans living in
the Milky Way. You see, Xanadu should never have been built. It was
a colossal mistake... but it's a mistake that we have to let happen."
The little girl's face screwed up. "What do you mean, grandpa?" she
asked, and Joe Fisher had to remind himself that his grand-daughter
wasn't 25. She was 12. 12 going on 25 perhaps, but still 12 years
old and not even yet a woman. Still, there were some truths that had
to be faced. Some follies that could never be forgiven, but had to be
passed from generation to generation, atoning each time and praying
that they'd never come again.
Lorene, Annie's mother, tried to stop Joe again, but again a look
silenced her. Joe Fisher would not be stopped. {{Annie,}} he
thought, {{if you ever find yourself standing upon the ground where
the idea of Xanadu was born, salt the earth and kneel there in prayer
that the human race never does something quite that stupid again.}}
But Joe Fisher wasn't about to say these words to a little girl,
either.
"Sweetheart," he said instead, kneeling in front of her, almost
squatting between the seats as he took her hands in his, "when Xanadu
was built, it brought the Borg down upon the builders. You know the
Borg?" he asked, and she nodded. "But that wasn't even the worst
part. The worst part was that building Xanadu caused the tears. The
very act of building it began tearing the universe apart. Xanadu and
other places like it twisted up the universe so bad that we had to
send the Odyssey -- send all of those people -- so that maybe,
someday, it could be fixed."
"So... the Odyssey will fix it?" she asked. And now, more than ever,
she looked her age, a 12-year-old girl looking for a grown-up to make
it all better.
"They'll fix it, sweetie," Fisher assured her, his eyes welling up.
"They'll fix it."
And now one more question... always with Annie there was another
question!
"Grandpa Joe, why didn't you go with them?" And Fisher had to smile
at the inherent faith in that question... the belief that grandfathers
could solve all problems, fix all breaks, heal all wounds. He smiled
and wiped at his eyes, letting go of one of Annie's hands briefly to
do it.
"Well for one thing, honey, if I had, you wouldn't be here!" he said,
smiling up at her, taking her hands again. "The people that went on
the Odyssey had to sacrifice everything in their lives to go...
everything that mattered, anyway. One man -- Brian Aldur -- said that
he practically had to give up his soul, or go find it again, or
something." His eyes clouded again. "My best friend, Lee Everett,
Lee's with them. He and I were born the same year, graduated the
University at the same age, served on Churchill together."
For a long moment, Fisher didn't speak, looking up into Annie's
face... but his gaze was far away. "Lee Everett and I were born in
the same year, but for people on the Odyssey, time and change no
longer have any meaning." He refocused on Annie's face. "We were
both born in 2363, by the old calendar. I'm 68 years old, Annie. But
Lee, wherever Lee is... why, Lee's still 41, and he'll be 41 forever.
He gave up everything to go. Everything!"
He sighed, and finally, Joe Fisher looked away from his grand-daughter.
"I couldn't go on the Odyssey because I saw the curse that those that
took it would live," he said, "and I couldn't ask myself -- or your
grandmother! -- to live forever with them, even to save the universe.
They've given up everything for us! And I couldn't go with them."
And finally, finally, Joe Fisher let himself cry for the hundreds of
people who had given so much and whom he would never see again, and
his daughter and grand-daughter held him while he did.
\_______________________________________________________________________
\ End Simulation Teaser |
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
Defenders Task Group 85.3, "Whitestone" Staff:
Commanding, TG 85.3: RADM Tebrun Lora Kor (Jester)
S-1, Group Adjutant: Capt. Sieven Drexler (Brad)
S-2, Group Intelligence: Capt. Jarod Bentall (Alffred)
S-3, Group Logistics: Capt. Savant (Savant)
Commanding, M64 Ground: Brig. Jeremy Ironside (Fraser)
U.S.S. Coronado Crew Roster:
Commanding Officer: Como. William Daren (Chris)
Executive Officer: Cmdr. Velorna Tal (Aggie)
Chief Flight Operations: LCdr. Maiko D'Rall (Farrell)
Command Yeoman: PO/1 Zachery Prentiss (Prill)
Civilian Liaison: Zunite Oswald (Sonya)
Battalion Commander: LCol. Jacob Prescot (Prescot)
Flight Leader: 2Lt. Edward Somansky (Somansky)
Flight Leader: 2Lt. Amy Dillon (AlexJenson)
Chief Tactical Officer: Lt. (JG) Derek Canterbury (Spuzzum)
Chief Engineer: Cmdr. Jack C. Farley (CCC)
Assistant Engineer: LCdr. Aramis Skylooker (LewisSharp)
Assistant Engineer: Ens. Brandon Gannsen (Lefty)
Chief Science Officer: Lt. Anna Brooks (Kari)
Chief Medical Officer: LCdr. Rachel Kennedy (Santiago)
On Extended Leave of Absence:
None!
Positions Available:
Watch Tactical Officer: (---)
Assistant Medical: (---)
------
Jester
Rear Admiral Tebrun Lora Kor
Commanding, Defenders Task Group 85.3, "Whitestone"
embarked on U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/