Federation News Service

We have been waiting for the new Featured Episode arc for a year. The fleet – Federation News Service, supplier of embedded journalists to Starfleet – was logging in more and more, getting ready to do whatever would be asked of us. Fleet mates were watching the relevant Deep Space 9 episodes. We were totally there. We even specified uniforms of the day (four variations) so we’d be dressed appropriately. Because while the poor, doomed residents of Deep Space 9 didn’t know what was going to happen – we did. ...

Who are “the 2800”? They are the 2,800 ships in the Dominion fleet that was swallowed up in the wormhole by the Prophets during a crucial point in the Dominion War. Their elimination gave starbase Deep Space 9 time to complete mining the mouth of the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant, and was the turning point to a long, protracted war. Now, they’ve apparently returned to continue the war. This weekend, Saturday, February 12th, the Klingon Empire and the Federation will reluctantly join forces once again to battle the foe that nearly destroyed the Federation once before. ...

Cutting the Cord After last week’s epic episode, “Coliseum”, those of us at the Federation News Service were intrigued to see just how they could possibly top that nod back to the high point of the Star Trek franchise – the very beginning. Maybe they could have stayed in a retro mood, and maybe it would have been better if they had. “Cut the Cord”, the finale of the “Cloaked Intentions” arc, instead took its cues from “Star Trek Nemesis”, the movie that finally killed the Star Trek franchise. Nonetheless, it was still a fun, if literally on rails, experience. ...

In the first episode of “Cloaked Intentions”, the third Feature Episode arc, we visited a semi-abandoned, giant space station called “The Vault” deep within the Romulan neutral zone. There, we met Obisek, a Reman rebelling against the half-human Romulan empress Sela and her scattered empire of refugees. In the second episode, “Mine Enemy”, we followed Obisek’s suspicions to a hidden Tal Shiar (Romulan intelligence agency) base deep within a mining colony inhabited by the rock-like Horta. ...

This one's for Longasc This post is just about my two Star Trek Online characters, the Andorian science captain Tipa D’zoph, and my old-style Klingon tactical captain, Krontar. Hot on the heels of fellow Federation News Service editor Blue Kae, Tipa D’zoph was appointed Ambassador-at-Large to the scattered races that rim the Alpha Quadrant, and speaks with the voice of the Federation in these matters. I have not been working seriously on the ambassadorship for several months, even though I’ve gotten close, mostly because grinds BORE me. The occasional first contact mission, worth double the normal diplomacy XP, are fun, BUT… the exploration missions that require you to go scan flowers that look like Greek columns or to run through abandoned bases piecing together log entries from computer consoles just don’t do it for me. ...

One lowly shuttle stands between the broken Romulan Star Empire and the rebellion of their ex-slaves, the goblinoid Remans, as their private war threatens to draw the Alpha Quadrant into a conflict that could destroy worlds. More worlds. The Romulans are still feeling a little sore that Spock didn’t save Romulus, even though he PINKY PROMISED! Before I get into the interrupted adventures of the Federation News Service, Cryptic made a teaser for the arc, “Cloaked Intentions”. You will believe Star Trek is still on the air! ...

skirmish: a minor or preliminary conflict or dispute. It is said that four thousand throats may be cut in one night by a running man. The same can be said of a Bird of Prey under warp when the disruptor beams run hot. Hot as the blood of a warrior; hot of the blood of your enemies filling your cupped hands. Hot enough to tear a rip through the fabric of space itself and show what peers from it the heart of a true warrior. ...

I could while away the watches, Berating Ensign Hodges But that would cause a scene Oh I’d be the pride of Starfleet – Among captains, I’d be elite If I only had a Breen…. Oh, I could tell you why we ejected the warp cores, We wanted an extra week on Risa’s sunny shores And so we beamed straight down for more I might find at my court martial, that I will serve a partial ...

In last week’s episode, “Cold Call”, we were introduced to the Deferans, a race that believes in balance in all things. They, for instance, see no reason to side with either the Klingon Empire or the Federation, and consider both allies against the Breen. Searching for ancient Preserver technology, the Breen found evidence on the Deferan homeworld; and found as well, a non-violent, pliable civilization that they could exploit for their own, cold-hearted purposes. ...