Departure

[tomcat]

The Columbia broke free at last from the gases that made up the Paulson Nebula. Immediately on the bridge, systems that had been hampered by the nebula's distortions came back to normal status and the crew breathed a sigh of relief. Pushkin looked to Darkan and with a nod from his commander, increased the ship's speed to Warp factor 6.5. Starbase 157 was in the heart of the Acamar sector, which was also home to New Providence, and at the new speed the Columbia should reach it within 4 to 5 days. The elegant miranda-class vessel slipped through the void of space in silence.

Upon arrival at the starbase, Darkan would turn over his charges to the base administration and the vessel would load up any needed supplies before it would again continue on its mission. The captain wondered what would become of the pirates that he had restrained in his brig as well as housed in the hangar bay. The Federation had no affiliation with the Hydraens other than trade... it looked like the whole thing would be a diplomatic mess and Darkan was pleased he did not have to deal with it.

They had been lucky... nearly fifteen weeks trying to pass out of the confines of Federation space, and now they were here. The Neutral Zone was before them and their sensors could detect both allies and enemies alike. Still cloaked, the captain gave the signal for them to advance into the neutral lane and bring them home at last. Those that he answered to would be interested in knowing that the Prax Tanimae that had been infiltrated into the Federation starbase command had been compromised. They may also be interested in the scans that had been taken of the Federation light cruiser that had attacked their agent's ship. In either case, he thought it a task well done... his crew had once more outperformed their counterparts.

OOC: Thus I bring another ST episode to a close, albeit somewhat anti-climactic. That seems to happen with my ST games. I envision a challenging and sometimes cryptic story arc and they build up and then deflate like a balloon... kind of a bummer. Maybe it is the difficulty of story telling in a genre where technology is advanced to the point that most things are possible. I don't know... still, I will be introducing Episode 6 - The Wedge very soon. I hope you all stick with the story as I continue to grow my skill at ST story-tellin'.

[GandalfOfBorg]

OOC: No, no I think its fine... there isn't much to denoument where Star Trek is concerned.  Take the typical end to an episode or movie, there is a few words between some main characters about the lesson learned from the episode or movie and then the ship warps out to the next mission .. cut to credits.  In Star Trek, its all about the tension and drama of getting to the climax and then a quick finish.  I can't wait for the next episode.

[tomcat]

Hey Matt,

Thanks for the kind words man! To be honest, the ST narrator in me needed a bit of an ego boost. 'Hanging around' on the boards with so many other good story-tellers and players, sometimes you wonder if your work is making the grade. Your post tells me that you guys enjoy coming to this site to be part of the stories that we weave.

Thanks again.

Doug

PS - this next episode I am gonna have to do a little homework on to make sure I am close to ST canon in regards to universal relations between Klingons, Romulans and the Fed.

[GandalfOfBorg]

OOC: No problem   Get that feeling all the time when writing for the zines and running my own games

[sdrotar]

OOC: No, no I think its fine... there isn't much to denoument where Star Trek is concerned.  Take the typical end to an episode or movie, there is a few words between some main characters about the lesson learned from the episode or movie and then the ship warps out to the next mission .. cut to credits.  In Star Trek, its all about the tension and drama of getting to the climax and then a quick finish.  I can't wait for the next episode.

I completely agree.
The technology does play a role that's challenging for the GM, but GoB's right on the money.
Star Trek's more about wrapping it up and getting on to the next assignment - so I wouldn't worry about anything.

As a matter of fact, your "Prax Tanimae" arc is more along the lines of how long-term things are successful in Trek. Deep Space Nine was really the only Trek show with any significant interwoven themes, and they worked primarily because they weren't the crux of every story... they just lurked in the background.

I think you're doing that, and I'm excited to see where it'll go.