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Monthly Awards: March 2022

Posted on April 16, 2022 | by Rook Mirtoh | Leave a Comment

Congratulations to our March award winners below.

Best Post (Single Author)

Lieutenant Aiko Kato
Flight Control Officer
USS Washington

Lt. Kato wins for the second month in a row and the fifth time in six months–incredible! This is a lovely post, with vivid descriptions of both emotion and the environment. Well done!

Best Post (Joint Post)

Lt. Cmdr. Michael Murphy & Capt. Jackson Adams & Lt. Seth Munro & Lt. T’Ponga Shemara
CRO / CO / CMO / CEO
USS Montana

For “A Doubtful Friend Is Worse Than A Certain Enemy”

This one is interesting, with a sense of anticipation from the crew as they meet the Klingons, many of them for the first time.

Funniest Post

Commander Samantha Howard
Chief Medical Officer
USS Washington

For “The Sounds of Silence”

Rest, finally! We all can relate.

Genesis

Captain Shran dh’Klar
Commanding Officer
USS Washington

For “Mission Diverted”

Short and sweet, allowing the crew to do the writing. I like it!

MVP

Lieutenant Raelyn Mckenzie
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Wayfarer

Lt. Mckenzie really stepped up into the Second Officer spot. She is always quick to participate, offer suggestions, and help others by opening up opportunities for fellow writers.

Most Posts

Commander Finchley Kerr
Chief Strategic Operations Officer
USS Sunfire

For writing 15 posts.

Most Improved

Lieutenant Niali Korial
Chief Medical Officer
USS Sunfire

Lt. Korial’s writing has advanced to the point where she’s one of the top contributors to the sim. Her posts are always imaginative and open doors for others.

Rookie of the Month

Lieutenant Seth Munro
Chief Medical Officer
USS Montana

The Montana’s new CMO hit the group running. His posts are funny, interesing, and revelant all at the same time.

Recruitment

Lt. Cmdr. Dean House and Lt. Cmdr. Sandra “Phantom” Risa
XO / ACEO
USS Sunfire

Each player recruited a new member to the Sunfire. Excellent work!

1/4 of 2022 is now in the books!

Ship Reports

Posted on April 1, 2022 | by Ken Gillis | Leave a Comment

Edit: This post was part of the 2022 April Fools’ Day gag.

The previous administration ran a pretty loose ship. Our ships aren’t posting enough, and that’s a problem!

Effective immediately, all Commanding Officers must turn in weekly reports, directly to the admiralty. Failure to do so will result in harsh disciplinary action from the JAG.

The Trial of Charles Star

Posted on March 31, 2022 | by Ken Gillis | Leave a Comment

Edit: This post was part of the 2022 April Fools’ Day gag.

Charges

The Defendant, Charles Star, is charged with the following crimes:

Mutiny and Sedition
Theft of a Starship
Disreputable Behavior
Verbal Abuse
Unauthorized Shuttle Parking in Disabled Shuttlebay
Harassment
Discrimination
Sabotage of a Starship
False Statements
Dematerialization of a Beagle
Hacking
Crude Behavior
Terrorism

Facts of the Case

Charles Star was removed from command at 11:59 PM EST, March 31st, 2022. Charges were brought by Grand Admiral Ken Gillis.

The Defendant was contacted by carrier pigeon to appear. Since the pigeon did not arrive, the assumption was made that the Defendant was waiving his right to a trial by a tribunal and confessing to all above crimes.

Ruling

Presiding over the case were Judge Advocate General Joseph Carroll, Commodore Meadows, and Admiral Satie.

By unanimous vote, the tribunal has declared Charles Star GUILTY of ALL CHARGES prescribed above.

Sentence

Charles Star is hereby stripped of all rank, awards, and honors, and shall further be BANISHED from Imperial Defense Fleet for ALL TIME.

Change in Leadership/Rebranding

Posted on March 31, 2022 | by Ken Gillis | Leave a Comment

Edit: This post was part of the 2022 April Fools’ Day gag.

Today is a momentous day in the history of IDF! We are evolving beyond the organization we created over 20 years ago, and making way into a more glorious future! As of today, IDF will no longer stand for Independence Fleet (poor acronym anyway, where’s the D? In the middle of the first word?). No, it will now stand for:

Imperial Defense Fleet

Imperial Defense Fleet will be boasting a command structure, effective immediately! First of all, Charles Star is no longer in command of IDF. Star is stripped of all rank and privileges of his station.

In his place, I have taken command, as Grand Admiral. I will bring a new era of glory to IDF.

Joining me is Admiral Joseph Carroll, who will be taking up his new position as Magistrate in our newly formed Judge Advocate General Corps.

More to come as the day progresses.

Long Live IDF! Long Live the Empire!

Monthly Awards: February 2022

Posted on March 14, 2022 | by Rook Mirtoh | Leave a Comment

With month two of 2022 in the books, let’s present our February awards:

Best Post (Single Author)

Lieutenant Aiko Kato
Flight Control Officer
USS Washington

For “Alpha Shift”

I love this post! It’s simple, just a crewmember getting ready for her shift, but the detail about sharing a bunk and all that goes into getting ready for a shift on the bridge is compelling. Well done!

Best Post (Joint Post)

Capt. Shran dh’Klar & Lt. Deanna Celes & Cmdr. Samantha Howard & Lt. Shoniara T’ghann Dex & Lt. Callie Raven-Grayson & Lt. Seth Travis & Petty Officer 1st Class Amethyst Reece
CO / OO / CMO / ACMO / CC / CDO / CA
USS Washington

For “The Stuff of Dreams”

This was a really tough choice as there were three absolutely outstanding nominations. However, this one rose to the top due to its unique writing style of switching back and forth between Dex’s dream and the happenings in Sickbay. The incredible descriptive detail of Dex’s visions made me feel like I was actually there.

Funniest Post

Lieutenant Aurora Vali & Lieutenant Niali Korial
Chief Counselor / Chief Medical Officer
USS Sunfire

For “Apologies”

Awkward, right down to the OOC argument at the end!

Genesis

Captain Dick Sprague
Commanding Officer
USS Albion

For “The Good Ole’ Boys”

This one could have been nominated for funniest post! However, it lays out the mission parameters just fine and really gets the crew going. Well done!

MVP

Lieutenant Rania Bhatti
Chief Counselor
USS Wayfarer

Since coming aboard Lt Bhatti has consistent produced top notch quality writing in all of her posts. Her creativity has been a boon of inspiration for the rest of the crew as well.

Most Posts

Lieutenant Shoniara T’ghann Dex
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Washington

For writing 11 posts.

Most Improved

Lieutenant Callie Raven-Grayson
Chief Counselor
USS Washington

The Washington’s Counselor has done remarkable work for her own character development as well as creating opportunities for her crewmates.

Rookie of the Month

2nd Lieutenant Emily Janeway
Marine
USS Albion

The Albion’s newest Marine hit the ground running in her first ever month of simming with 3 posts, each one better than the one before, she’s really getting the swing of things.

Recruitment

None this month.

Thanks again for the great simming last month!

Awards Time: 2022

Posted on March 5, 2022 | by Charles Star | 1 Comment

It’s been 20 months since we last presented individual major awards. In that time, our fleet has seen a lot of growth and set the bar high in a number of areas. It’s also been just over two years since we launched our new website and URL. Bottom line, it’s high time to recognize a few of the individuals who helped make all of this happen.

I’m also very proud to announce the creation of the Special Commendation Medal, which will be awarded for achievement above and beyond the call of duty at the crewmember level. With that in mind, I hereby issue the following seven citations:

Special Commendation Medal

Awarded to Lieutenant Aurora Vali of the USS Sunfire for outstanding role playing. She is the epitome of the quiet, reliable, and drama free achiever. A true team player, she is considerate of others, puts forth great ideas to the command, and introduces excellent plot twists for others to use–she does all the little things that others often don’t see.

Awarded to Lieutenant Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell of the USS Sunfire for outstanding writing. A role playing force of nature, she’s already second all-time with 20.43 total awards and one of the greatest simmers in IDF’s history. Durnell continues to produce posts of such high quality that one could mistake them for production level Trek.

Awarded to Commander Jonathan Grayson of the USS Washington for outstanding role playing leadership. He’s been the Executive Officer of the Washington for several years now, understanding the nuances of the Captain’s guidance and balancing it with a great pulse on the crew. He’s an excellent mentor, coordinator, and writer to boot.

Command Excellence Medal

Awarded to Captain Dick Sprague for commanding 10 different IDF sims, including the USS Chuck Norris and USS Albion. Sprague not only holds the record for most commands, but also the most Genesis Awards (11). In addition, he ranks third all-time among sim COs for total posts (3,198). A thoroughly unconventional CO, his sims are always unique.

Awarded to Captain Rhenora Kaylen for commanding the USS Sunfire and USS Liberty. Arguably the greatest sim Commanding Officer in IDF history, her outstanding games have garnered community wide recognition, including the 2010 Simming Prize. Incredibly, she also ranks first all-time among COs in both total posts (8,195) and posting titles (39).

Distinguished Service Medal

Awarded to Rear Admiral James “Rook” Mirtoh for serving as Director of Personnel from February 2020 through today. He has efficiently ensured that IDF regularly recognizes its crewmembers for their excellence in role playing, a feature not seen in many other fleets. He is always fair and his efforts showcase the best IDF has to offer.

Awarded to Admiral Ken Gillis for serving as Chief of Technology and Fleet Executive Officer from July 2020 through today. Not only does he expertly manage the fleet’s entire technology stack, but his wisdom and guidance in other areas of fleet operations have proven invaluable. He is the best fleet XO in simming, hands down.

Monthly Awards: January 2022

Posted on February 27, 2022 | by Rook Mirtoh | Leave a Comment

I apologize for the delay on getting the January awards out. I promise it was Admiral Star’s fault! Regardless, here are your January winners.

Admiral Star edit: Unfortunately, that’s true.

Best Post (Single Author)

Lieutenant Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell
Computer Systems Specialist
USS Sunfire

For “Can you see me daddy?”

Wow! A fantastic piece of writing! It kept me super engaged and was emotionally fulfilling to boot. Well done!

Best Post (Joint Post)

Captain Akeno Misaki & Lieutenant Ileah & Lieutenant Raelyn Mckenzie & Lieutenant JG Torvin Anor
CO / Yeoman / CSTO / CEO
USS Wayfarer

For “Junior Emerges”

A very nice post with tense writing with a pleasing cliffhanger. Well done again!

Funniest Post

Ensign Laurel Zatara
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Albion

For “Get out of there! Get out!”

Not a laugh out loud post, but funny given the context.

Genesis

Captain Shran dh’Klar
Commanding Officer
USS Washington

For “A Needed Rest”

You don’t see a lot of detailed posts like this kicking off shore leave. I like it!

MVP

Ensign Laurel Zatara
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Albion

Ens. Zatara joined during January and immediately finished second on the ship in posting. Even better than that, her posts were always excellent, driving the plot forward while giving other players a chance to get in on the action, and best of all, they were usually pretty funny–which is par for the course on the Albion.

Most Posts

Lieutenant Shoniara T’ghann Dex
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Washington

For writing 25 posts.

Most Improved

Lieutenant JG Torvin Anor
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Wayfarer

Lt. jg. Torvin joined the Wayfarer as an engineering officer and was initially mainly in the background. However, after the recent mission he really stepped up and into place of a CEO both in and out of character. He is a pleasure to write with.

Rookie of the Month

None this month.

Recruitment

None this month.

Thanks for a great start to 2022. Keep the excellent posting coming!

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Posted on February 22, 2022 | by Charles Star | Leave a Comment

Much is being made about today. After all, it is 2-22-22. Or 22-2-22, depending on where you’re from. To top it all, it’s even a Tuesday! If you’ve been around IDF long enough, you know we also like neat dates. Here are just a few that come to mind:

The previous USS Sunfire launched on 10/10/10
The second USS Pioneer launched on 2/14/11 (Valentine’s Day): The original Pioneer was known as “The Love Boat” due to its relationship centered posts & stories
The USS Chuck Norris launched on 1/2/12
IDF’s new website launched on 2/29/20 (who doesn’t like a Leap Day?)

Some of our current games were launched on dates to honor prior games

The USS Sunfire in July 2020 to honor IDF’s 7/4/2001
The USS Liberty in August 2020 to honor the original USS Liberty’s 8/1/2001
The USS Albion on 2/16/2021 to honor the original Utopia Fleet USS Sunfire’s 2/16/2000

February Command Updates

Posted on January 27, 2022 | by Charles Star | Leave a Comment

Two changes of command to report:

Captain Emmalyn Marcus has resigned as Commanding Officer of the USS Montana and will be replaced by Captain Jackson Adams. We thank Captain Marcus for all of the hard work and great simming since April 2021.
As a result, Captain Adams’s other character, Captain John Wells, will be resigning as Commanding Officer of the USS Eminence and will be replaced by Captain Alex Shepard. We thank Captain Wells for all the hard work and great simming since June 2021.

Captain Adams and Captain Shepard will both assume command on February 1st. Congratulations and best of luck, Captains!

My Favorite Trek: Dean House

Posted on January 18, 2022 | by Heather Meadows | 2 Comments

In our continued series of My Favorite Trek, I have had the delight of interviewing Dean House of the USS Sunfire. Let’s have a look at the starship Sunfire’s Chief Tactical Officer, currently Acting Executive Officer.

Name: Dean House (aka Angelus)
Rank: Commander
Sim: USS Sunfire
Position: Chief Tactical Officer
Other Characters: N/A

Favorite Star Trek episode? “Lower Decks” Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 7, Episode 15
Why? It’s something that always hit just right. We always know, any of the shows have the main characters and most of the time show cases them. Even though there’s always extras. However, that episode was something that was needed. While the ending was definitely sad. The writing as excellent. Show casing what the ones that actually keep things going do. Their internal struggles, their insecurities. What they want to strive to be. It was a hard choice between this one or “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” but “Lower Decks” wins hands down.
Favorite Star Trek series? Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Why? While I was introduced to TOS in syndicate by my mother, and grandmother. TNG was really more of what I came into when I was a little older and it definitely helped me to work through awkwardness in middle school. Associating more with Wesley Crusher than the other characters. Or maybe Data a little. I’m aware that he gets a bad rap but that’s not really the characters fault really.
Favorite Star Trek film? Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Why? There’s a lot of controversy over this one. It doesn’t have the greatest writing. The directing was okay. Nothing to write home about. The best thing about it I look at is its underlying message trying to be relayed. Or at least in my opinion. It’s not about Sybok trying to find Sha’kar’ri(or God.) I mean yes, that’s part of the plot. I always have believed it’s all about family. The relationships, the turmoil that they’ve all endured. Life, death, life. How through no matter what, they are always a family and always will be. Family isn’t about blood. Even when Bones always gets mad at Spock and says “You green blooded…in human…(enter explicative here.) We don’t choose our family; we are brought together. That’s the real premise of the movie. In my opinion.
Favorite Star Trek Captain? Always and will always be Kirk.

What year did you start simming? 1995.
What sim was it? USS Cortez, Email based in UCIP.
What keeps you simming today? Stories, the people, the relationships formed between strangers with a common love for a genre. Seeing what else people come up with.
Favorite non-simming hobby? [I]Have to go with Video Games. Though I’d love to get back into modeling (plastic ships and the like.)
Favorite non-Trek series? Supernatural.
Favorite non-Trek film? I have to go with Evolution (2001, David Duchovny) because it was the last movie that I got to go to an actual theatre to with my grandmother and she absolutely loved it, and so do I.
Favorite book (fiction or non)? Both fiction and non-fiction.
Favorite video game? [The] Final Fantasy Series and Resident Evil Series
Favorite musician or band? Non-committal.
Favorite superhero? Superman.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Telepathy.
Favorite sport? [I’m] not big into sports, but I guess….Hockey.
Favorite team? The Dallas Cowboys.
Favorite food? My Deanwiches.
Coke or Pepsi? Pepsi.
Lennon or McCartney? [I] Don’t particularly care either way
Favorite James Bond actor? Sir Sean Connery.
Star Trek or Star Wars? Both, for different reasons. Star Trek has more of the base of equality and what this world, universe should be. While Star Wars has lightsabers and I love flying and space combat (lol).

Rank the Trek TV shows from best to worst. TNG / TOS / ENT / DSN / VOY / PIC / DSC
Rank the Trek movies from best to worst. TFF / TWOK / TVH / TUC / TSFS / FC / G / N / I / TMP / ST (2009) / ID / B
Was this too many questions? No.

Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to get to know you better. We now have a nice insight into the sort of Star Trek that you like. Good luck and safe voyages with the USS Sunfire.