#WritingContest




Lieutenant Kieran was on the radar of the Na'kuhl temporal rebellion for a little while now, they had intended to remove him from their timeline before his rise to admiralty and leading to the disruption and halt their attack on the temporal treaty signing.
 
This time they did not want Starfleet Intelligence or temporal investigations to get wind of their plan, so they decided to use a proxy to take out the threat.
 
Here steps in Lorax, a Rogue Jem'Hadar bounty hunter who’s Ketracell white got replaced with a thirst for blood, well, and Credits.
 


Star date 177284.70.

21:59

The captain and rest of the bridge crew had gone to bed for the night upon the U.S.S. Tempus Maelstrom and the night crew, led by lieutenant Kieran, were sweeping the area for some new type of radiation call "Trick 162" apparently something very old and very dangerous
 
"This is such a waste of our talents." murmured Ensign Sek, a fellow Breen crewmember who was manning the tactical station on the night shift.

"Agreed, however this is what command wants, so this is what command gets." Kieran sighed as he booped a few pads in a sarcastic fashion.

"Well then, Sector 68 complete. I'm getting caffeine, any other takers?" Kieran Pipped up to the rest of the bridge crew.

"Ooh. Tea for me please." stated Leigha from the engineering station
 
"neat be back in a bit." he quipped and started to walk away.
 
"Raktajino. Extra sweet." shouted Sek which made the Lieutenant stop in his tracks and face him.
 
"uuuh-Sure. wait...How?" 
 
"Emergency induction port." Sek responded with a deathly serious stare.
 
"I don't even-" Kieran muttered under his breath as he walked toward the nearest replicator.
 

 
Then suddenly the lights started to flicker overhead, startling Kieran out of his daydream at the replicator.
 
"Uh oh...Not good."
 
Then suddenly there was a shrilling scream that emanated from the bridge.
 
It sent his blood cold.
 
He left the drinks alone and ran back towards the bridge
 
The doors parted to reveal his fellow crewmates slumped over their consoles and a new figure stood in the middle of the scathed bridge.
 
A tall bulky Jem’Hadar stood tall and menacing on the bridge, cracking a smile when he saw who had just entered.
 
"Must be my lucky day...I didn’t even have to come hunt you down. Which is a shame, I do love it when the cute humans beg."
 
"Are you going to beg for your life little human?" asked the Jem’Hadar
 
Blood cold.
 
Body full of adrenalin.
 
Kieran panicked and was trying to look around for the phasers located on the bridge, spotting one behind the tactical station, he launched himself towards it.
 
Only to be met halfway and a strong large hand wrapped around his neck and pulled upwards off the ground.
 
"Mmm, not so fast Starfleet." The Merc tutted
 
"I respect your spunk, but you are no match for me little one."
 
Lorax gripped tighter around the lieutenants neck.
 
Kieran's vision started to turn black and all he could see was the face of the Jem’Hadar.
 


All of a sudden, the sound of another transporter signal blared behind the two of them.

Kieran could not see behind the bulk of the Jem’Hadar but he could hear the screech of a plasma pistol being fired and then abruptly hitting the floor as his would be assassin dropped him, and then landed on top after being stunned heavily.

The lieutenant was disorientated at the sudden change but could hear a raspy voice.

"I'm sorry Lorax...there can be No trace...Admiral Voleron to the R.V. Destiny...be ready to transport me back when i have set the ships core to overload."


The human suddenly jumped when a heavy pistol was thrust into his hand
 
He first looked down to his hand, which was now holding a modified Polaron pistol that resembled the old Jem'Hadar pistols form the dominion war back in 2375.
Then continuing down, he saw the Mercenary on top of him, but staring back at him with a seriously pissed off expression on his face, but also a second pistol in his hands, though the pistol looked significantly more ergonomic compared to the humans tiny hands.

"On my signal, shoot the backstabbing Na'kuhl scum." he whispered gruff and low.

Kieran barely nodded back, or, he tried to, the lieutenant is still a little purple after the lack of oxygen to his brain.

They waited till his back was turned at a console then shouted.

"NOW!"

^{*PEW pew scchhhhhh*}

and they both watched as the Na’kuhl’s shields dropped, a temporal copy emerged, and they shot again
 
*PEW pew scchhhhhh**PEW pew scchhhhhh**PEW pew scchhhhhh*
 
One final pained scream was let out as the admiral disintegrated into tiny little nano particles of space dust.
 
One equipped with a vengeful smile
 
the other, one of fear and disgust.
 
Silence stood in the air for a few minutes
 
 
"Sooooo, What are you doing tonight?" asked the human, who is starting to regain his normal colour.
 
"What?" gruffly asked the Jem'hadar.
 
"Uh. nothing." Sheepishly replied the lieutennant, red flush on his face, but this time, he cant claim it was the red alert lighting which did it.
 

Beavis: Hey, Butt-Head. What is a black hole? 
Butt-Head: So like, a black hole is like, this giant bunghole in outer space. It's like, it sucks up the whole universe, and then it's like, it grinds it up and sends it all to Hell or something.

— Beavis and Butt-Head, 20th Century Philosophers

“Warning: The Calixtus will cross the event horizon in 3 minutes.”

The voice of the ship’s computer was eerily calm considering that the Calixtus was being drawn toward the maw of a black hole. That was one of the problems with computers. They were great at calculating how long you had left to live, but they really sucked at getting sufficiently upset about it. The crew was beginning to panic, people were screaming, sobbing, or praying, and the computer just kept droning on emotionlessly at regular intervals about how long it would be until everyone was torn to microscopic shreds and swallowed up by one of the most unforgiving forces in the known universe.

Captain Gwydion Sebastian was not immune to the draw of mindless hysteria, given the current situation, but he knew he had to keep himself together. If he were to surrender to the urge to roll into a fetal position and start rocking back and forth, as he was sorely tempted to do, nobody was getting out of this alive. Of course, their chances of survival were already damned near zero, but Sebastian intended to at least die with a little dignity, not that there would be anyone left to know it had happened.

Sebastian pressed a button on his captain’s chair. Realizing his hands were shaking so badly that he’d just accidentally ordered a replicated mocha latte rather than open communications with engineering as he’d intended, he tapped another. Normally he’d consider it a happy accident, but this was no time for caffeine.

“Status report?” Nice, Sebastian thought. That didn’t sound at all like I’m seconds away from crapping my pants. Score one for Starfleet officer training.

The voice of Lieutenant Adeline Rowman replied over a speaker. “It’s not good, sir. Warp coils are offline. Impulse drives are offline. Shields are offline. Pretty much everything is offline, sir.”

“I’m aware of the situation, Lieutenant,” Sebastian shot back. “I was hoping you might have some good news.”

“Oh, I do,” Rowman replied, and Sebastian felt a small glimmer of hope. “Remember that strange canister we picked up on Regulus V?”

Sebastian remembered. It was a small, metallic object of unknown origin, at least several centuries old, which they had found half-buried in a hillside. The Science team had been poking at it for weeks trying to figure out what it was. Could the alien artifact somehow by the key to their survival? “Yes, I recall. Can you use it to get the drives running again?”

“Sir?” Rowman sounded puzzled.

“The ancient otherworldly technology,” Sebastian explained, trying not to sound exasperated. “Isn’t that just the sort of thing you engineering types combine with incomprehensible technobabble to save ships like ours from certain doom?”

“It’s a beer can, Captain." Sebastian heard a sound that that could be described as gulpy. "Still fizzy, though.”

Sebastian closed to comm channel.

“Warning: The Calixtus will cross the event horizon in 2 minutes.”

Again, the computer was calm and emotionless, without a shred of concern or empathy. Sebastian knew the computer would be watching the last moments of the Calixtus’ crew through the myriad of security cameras positioned throughout the ship, and he was starting to think she might be enjoying it. Something had struck him as not quite right about the computer ever since that time “It’s Raining Men” had started inexplicably playing on the ship’s intercom after that shuttle exploded during atmospheric entry over Icarus IX.

Sebastian turned to his Science Officer, Commander Hovik. With any luck, the Vulcan would be thinking clearly when Sebastian’s human mind could not, and Hovik’s flawless logic would find a way to save the ship and its crew.

“Hovik, is there any way we can escape this black hole?”, Sebastian asked. “Maybe you can reverse gravity somehow with the deflectors? Skirt the edge of the event horizon and slingshot us past the black hole? Surely, that logical Vulcan mind of yours must see some way out of this.”

Hovik scowled. “You’re a complete idiot, aren’t you, Captain? First off, the event horizon is the least of our worries right now. Before we hit that, we’ll run straight into the black hole’s accretion disk. Do you know what that is, Captain? No, wait, of course you don’t. Let me explain it in tiny little words your underdeveloped brain can understand.

“You know how a black hole sucks in all of the matter that comes near it, causing it to spiral toward the center like…” Hovik paused for a moment, trying to come up with an analogy Sebastian would undertstand, “…like a rubber ducky circling around the drain in a bubble bath your mommy filled up for you? Well, that rubber ducky is the accretion disk, except that it’s billions of rubber duckies and they’re spinning around at speeds you’d never comprehend, so they’re crashing into each other and heating up to the temperatures of tiny little suns. Essentially, we’re drifting into a cosmic food processor, and before we get anywhere near the event horizon we’re going to be burnt to a crisp and ground into interstellar pesto.

“Oh, and one other thing, Captain.” Hovik was shouting now, and pointing at his forehead. “See these? These are ridges, you over-promoted imbecile. I’m not a Vulcan. I’m a Romulan. Live short and suffer, you incompetent waste of bridge space!”

So much for calm Vulcan wisdom and rationality. Sebastian made a mental note to raid Hovik’s liquor cabinet if he survived this. Oh, and maybe look for a new Science Officer after getting his hands on the ale stash.

“Warning: The Calixtus will cross the event horizon in 1 minute.”

Silently, Sebastian began to pray. He prayed to God. He prayed to the Prophets. He prayed to Apollo, Q, and a couple of pah-wraiths. Hey, it never hurts to cover all your bases. He prayed to Zeus, Osiris, Andraste and Quetzalcoatl before working his way down the list to Thor, Loki, Iron Man and Captain America.

“Warning: The Calixtus will cross the event horizon in 30 seconds.”

Sebastian thought of all the things he’d never accomplished in his life. He wasn’t sure he’d ever truly been in love. He hadn’t ever managed to work off that winter weight and have a proper six-pack to show off when wearing his silver Speedo on Risa. He’d never slept with an Orion go-go boy. He’d never tasted a Kelpien’s threat ganglia.

“Warning: The Calixtus will cross the event horizon in 10 seconds. 9… 8… 7…“

Sebastian took one last look around the bridge. He would miss his valiant crew. Well, most of them. That Vulcan had turned out to be kind of a dick.

“6… 5… 4…”

Sebastian’s life was flashing before his eyes. He was back on the farm with his uncle and aunt as a young man. The twin suns overhead burned down on him mercilessly as he haggled with some small hooded creatures for a pair of droids to help out on the moisture farm. No, wait, that was someone else’s life flashing before his eyes. Don’t cross the streams, he reminded himself.

“3… 2… 1…”

Suddenly, the image on the viewscreen changed. Gone was the large, menacing black hole which had been growing ever-larger as they approached, and replacing it was a nearly blank screen showing the vast emptiness of space. On closer inspection, Sebastian could still see the black hole -- or, rather, see other things near where it was, since black holes are very hard to see in space, being black and all. It was now far off in the distance ahead of the Calixtus, judging from the swirl of detritus orbiting what appeared (or, rather, didn't appear... they're really quite black) to be a big ball of nothing. It was far enough away, in fact, that the ship seemed to be outside its gravitational pull.

Sebastian wasn't sure what had happened until he'd taken a moment to look around the bridge. Many of the crew seemed to be running in place, and occasionally teleporting forward for small distances as if they'd been transported. Hovik was repeatedly running face-first into a wall. Sebastian hoped it hurt. A lot.

That's when Sebastian finally understood. Just before crossing the event horizon, The Calixtus had clearly travelled into a lag anomaly. He'd experienced the phenomenon thousands of times before in his travels across the galaxy, and the associated effect physicists referred to as "rubber-banding," which could suddenly cause your ship to jump large distances instantaneously, typically in the direction you least wanted to go.

Lag anomalies were invisible and ships could travel into one at any time without warning. Typically, it happened at the most annoying time possible, such as when Sebastian was being attacked by a Klingon fleet or when he really had to pee and it was several light-years to the nearest space station. This time, however, the lag had saved his life.

#talesoutoftime #writingcontest

SGN members: Spring is upon us and Stonewall Fleet's annual #SpringSwing weekend event is only weeks away!  Leading up to the big event, (more details of which will soon follow), we're excited to announce our FIRST #WritingContest of 2018! 

Running now through May 6th, 2018, we're inviting all members of SGN to submit a story of their in-game character from their favorite game!  The theme of this writing contest is "Tales out of Time", which could be anything from a story about time travel, to an anthology of your character as they age or something entirely unique and creative that incorporates the theme!

We'll share every submission with the entire community for them to enjoy, but we'll also be looking for the top three entries that excel in three criteria that we'll detail below.  This contest is open to all members of the Stonewall community, regardless of which games you play!  We're so very eager for you, Stonewall's amazing writing talents, to once again share your talent and creativity with us and your community!




To participate in Stonewall's "Tales out of Time" writing contest, you must post your entry here, in this thread, before day's end on May 6th, 2018.  Please use the #WritingContest hashtag in your entries.  Your posted entry must comply with these additional rules to be eligible:

1.  Your story must in some way relate to one of your in-game characters, their friends, group or crew
2.  Your story must be written in English (so the judges can understand it)
3.  Your story must be your own original work (plagiarism will result in disqualification)
4.  Don't make your story novel length; we need to be able to read it in a single sitting!
5.  The content of your story must not be edited after the submission deadline

Only one entry per community member, please.  While we encourage you to include graphics to supplement your Tale out of Time, only the written narrative portion of your entry will be judged.

This contest, we'll be looking for the THREE stand-out tales among all of the entries.  As we've done in the past, a panel of three judges will individually rate each of the entries in the categories of creativity, detail and impact.  The average of all three judge's rankings of an entry will produce the final score against which, the other entries will be ranked!  The categories are explained in more detail below:

• Creativity: To what degree is the content original or unique?
• Detail: To what degree are elements of the story explained in more intricate detail, rather than simply being stated as fact?
• Impact: To what degree does the story resonate with the reader for a more lasting impact?

The winning contest entries will be recognized on our Facebook and Twitter social media feeds. We'll also be giving away a participation prize of two Stonewall Credits to all those who enter!  The prize packs are as follows:

First place:

1. 5 Stonewall Credits, AND, your choice of either:
2. 2,500 Zen in Star Trek Online, OR
3. $20.00 Steam Digital Gift card, OR
4. $20.00 ThinkGeek Digital Gift card

Second place:

1. 4 Stonewall Credits, AND your choice of either:
2. 1,000 Zen in Star Trek Online OR
3. $10.00 Steam Digital Gift card

Third place:

1. 3 Stonewall Credits!

*Stonewall credits can be saved and/or redeemed for in-game merchandise through the Stonewall Credits Store.

Good luck to all participants!  We can't wait to read your entries!

https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/DaxOzBoy/

The Creators of Ashes of Creation is offering their followers the chance to be apart of their alpha zero testing group but doing the following things which put you into a raffle system to be picked.

By subscribing to their YouTube channel, Twitch Channel, Twitter Channel and their Facebook group you increases your chance of being picked.

Yay! Very cool idea! We will take some time off, let our work do from some of our 200 employers, and will take a trip to you guys with our golden helicopter. Please make sure the landing deck is ready and a Fleet Captain Cabin is reserved for us! Also, make some room in the deep freeze coz we will bring 100 lobsters as a gift for you! Lets celebrate #StonewallAtSea!

This message was sent on April 1st. It took some time to be validated through our crypto-department.

Happy April Fools Day / April 1st!

Did someone this morning run into church, shouting "Jesus is alive and outside" and the congregation followed you? (Just so you could say "April, April"?

I know, i can be naughty.

Good Idea with the trip, though. Lets make something real ,)

Guys and Girls!

If some1 plays World of Warships (server: WOWS EU) - please join our LGBT+ fleet: DADT (fleet marker) 'Didn't Ask Didnt Tell (Everything) - LGBT'

Or simply find me (dodowars2818) or Brian Wall (Caius_Aurelianus)

Well... is suspect at some point Belorussian game producers will force us to change fleet name (Belarus have same "no homosexual propaganda" as Russia), but until then... :P 

"How The Big Boys Do Battle"
admiral Norbank

2018 marks Stonewall's 10th anniversary, and we here in the leadership wanted to do something extravagant to commemorate this special occasion!  As many of you already know, a large group of past and present Stonewall members meet annually at the Star Trek convention in Las Vegas.  Building on the idea of a large, community get-together and on a pitch set forth by Geo, one of our former Fleet Captains, we're excited to announce that we've worked tirelessly with Atlantys Cruise Lines these last few months, to bring you: #StonewallAtSea!"  Join us and many of your Stonewall friends later this year on our 10th anniversary cruise!  See all of the cost and booking details below.  Hope to see you on the sea!




Departure & Arrival

• Cruise departs from San Diego, California on October 14th, 2018
• Cruise returns to port at San Diego, California on October 21st, 2018
• Total trip duration: 8 days (7 nights)

Ports of Call

• Mazatlan (Oct 16th)
• Cabo San Lucas (Oct 17th)
• Puerto Vallarta (Oct 19th)

Cost of Trip
We've negotiated a low round-trip cruise fare of $450.00 per person, based on a minimum 25 person booking.  This includes room, food, and drink (non-alcoholic) while on-board the vessel.  Please note: this does NOT include travel expenses to and from the point of departure in San Diego.




Since we here in Stonewall leadership are all so very excited to announce that we're finally able to make "Stonewall at Sea" a reality, we've made sure to go above and beyond in planning an entire, week-long Stonewall party experience!  Several of Stonewall's officers have already confirmed their attendance, and have graciously planned to host activities and events during the course of the sail.  Check out a few of the things we have in store for you below:

·············································

Admiral Gareth Hosts: Opening Ceremonies for Stonewall at Sea & Cabin Party We've booked the Sea Queen conference room for dinner on the first night of our voyage, as the venue for our Grande Opening Ceremonies.  Admiral Gareth will be the Master of Ceremonies for this formal meal and mixer, where, after piping in the head Officer and Fleet Captain tables on Welsh bagpipes, he'll lead an evening of drinks, dancing and entertainment to follow.  We'll soon provide instructions in this thread on how to reserve your seat for this event. A cabin party will follow the formal festivities with games including: Cards Against Humanity, Drunken Pin the Tail on the Donk-gay, and Wet Twister.  The theme of the party will be nautical attire, which could be anything from Speedos adorned with an anchor to a full naval outfit.  Come dressed in the best outfit for your chance to win Stonewall Credits!

    

·············································

Admiral Jacien Hosts: A Half Day of Activities and Events On the second day of sail, Admiral Jacien will be hosting his typical line-up of unique fleet events.  He's still working out the details, but is expecting to run a real life "Lost Admiral" event.  Fleet Admiral NicholasJohn will have gone missing amidst some sort of suspenseful, murder/mystery-esque back-story and it'll be up to all of you Stonewallers to find him, whether he be in one of the ship's 12 pools, the fitness centre, the buffet, the engine room, or in his quarters, playing Stellaris.  Also in the planning is a real-life Grand Melee Tournament, only this one will utilize pool noodle swords as your armament.  Note: your armor may only be common, Mark IX speedos or thongs and no personal traits such as "extra slippery" or "heightened arousal" may be slotted.  The afternoon will likely conclude with Gareth's pub quiz, if we know our Admiral Jacien's event line-ups at all.

  

·············································

Fleet Admiral NicholasJohn Hosts: A Community Meeting and Presentation On the fourth day of the excursion, Fleet Admiral Nick will be inviting all Stonewallers to attend a community meeting, where he'll be fielding common questions from the membership, including: how to post pictures in the forums, whether Stonewall will be expanding into the popular game of the month, and whether he'll add your personally requested channel to Discord, among other pre-screened questions from planted members of the audience.  Nick will also be providing a presentation on the commonly requested features for the fleet website and a timeline for their implementation, spanning the next three years. After the meeting, Nick has organized an "Open Air Cinema" event, where we'll be gathering to watch one of his favorite scary horror movie flicks from a pool-side VIP section on a giant, inflatable movie screen (weather permitting).  Latch on to your favorite fleet member to keep from screaming during the jumpy parts!

      

·············································

Lord Admiral Zander Hosts: Code of Conduct Review, Closing Ceremonies & Dance Party On the final day of sail following breakfast, Admiral Zander will host a brief, morning session on inter-personal communication and informal conflict resolution.  Together, we will move on to explore the lesser known intricacies of the code of conduct, followed by a mock trial, so that members understand exactly how Code of Conduct breaches are handled.  This will undoubtedly be a very informative session for all those who can find the time to attend. But it won't be all dry material: as we make our way back to port and conclude our first ever "Stonewall at Sea", we'll plug in our laptops and login to Star Trek Online for a virtual dance party at Club 47, to be followed by a closing ceremony and remarks to be broadcast in fleet chat and on our Twitch stream.  Be sure to bring your party poppers and blow-ticklers to help us wrap up this amazing vacation!

These are just some of the amazing events that we're eager to share with you.  If you have any of your own ideas for group activities during the trip or while at any of our ports of call, please reply to this thread with your suggestions using the hashtag #StonewallAtSea and we will do everything we can to make them happen.  While it's unlikely that the cruise will sell out, it's important to book early so that we have a firm grasp of the final numbers well in advance to ensure that we meet our 25 person minimum to qualify for the discounted group rate.  From all of us here at Stonewall, we hope to see you at sea!

I like to watch campy old TV shows while having dinner, and what two better fit that description than Trek TOS and Batman with Adam West? Having recently finished the Batman series and noticing a few Trek actors, I went digging for any more Bat-Trek crossover talent I could find. Two were on the 60s TV show and two were in animated voice-over form:

• Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand) played Neila, one of King Tut's gang who was infatuated with Batman.
• Roger Carmel (Harcourt Fenton Mudd) played Col. Gumm, a villain whose gimmick involved stamps. This episode also featured a bonus guest star: Bruce Lee as Kato, the Green Hornet's sidekick.
• Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura) provided the voice-over for the undead priestess Thoth Khepera in Batman: TAS.
• William Shatner (Capt. Kirk) provided the voice-over for Harvey Dent/Two-Face in the animated movie Batman vs. Two-Face, along with the voices of Adam West as Batman, Burt Ward as Robin and Julie Newmar as Catwoman. Fittingly, this was Adam West's last role.

Check out the pics (I hope this works the way I expect) at this link. Anyone know of any others?

Quote by TLara

I think we knew already some more DS9 characters, perhaps they are some of the 10:

Worf/Michael Dorn is a pretty obvious add to that list since his toon is already in-game and he was main cast on the show.

I'm hoping for Grand Nagus Rom and the real Leeta (not holo or mirror), and would also love for Weyoun/Jeffrey Combs to be involved in the Jem'hadar faction.

Quote by Bren

Quote by caijamin

So looking forward to Quark. I wish they'd open up Ferenginar and turn it into a massive ground market zone.

Oh yes please! I'd love that, seriously. 

Oomox for everyone

Quote by caijamin

So looking forward to Quark. I wish they'd open up Ferenginar and turn it into a massive ground market zone.

Oh yes please! I'd love that, seriously. 

So looking forward to Quark. I wish they'd open up Ferenginar and turn it into a massive ground market zone.

@Ted Hembach, true, but i'm hoping for some new voices as well.

I think we knew already some more DS9 characters, perhaps they are some of the 10:

Leeta:Chase Masterson

Nog:Aron Eisenberg

Greetings Fleetie Darlings!

Cryptic dropped some very exciting news this morning about the next new expansion to STO, Victory is Life!

http://www.stonewallgaming.net/photos/124384

This expansion centers around the new brewing conflict between the Alliance and the Hur'q with the involvement of the Dominion. It also seems that it will be taking place mostly in the Gamma Quadrant. They've announced that 10 actors from DS9 will be reprising their roles for this expansion and have announced the first four:

Nana Visitor: Kira Nerys

Odo: Rene Auberjenois

Martok: JG Hertzler

Quark: Armin Shimmerman

There will also be a new playable faction: The Jem'Hadar!

I played this many years ago. Probably around 2005 I think. I'm surprised that it's still around.

Love all the quotes and eastereggs, Ted! I see we have a real fan at work there! Looking so much forward to that event!