XO's Report Sept '22

Posted on 02 Oct 2022 @ 6:41pm by Commander Calliope Zahn

OC's XO September '22 EotM Report

Active crew: 9
total word count: 55,080
OF Post count: 110
12.24 posts/ player

POST TRACKER SPREADSHEET
For members and guests and readers to help track the timeline of unfolding posts. NOTE the missions are organized by tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet

OBSIDIAN COMMAND DISCORD SERVER

XO'S GENERAL SUMMARY:

- The USS Pathfinder continues to search for the last known whereabouts of an enigmatic enemy vessel and discovers a strange water-filled space station, possibly belonging to a previously unknown aquatic species. Aboard the ship Security refines plans to slow down any boarding parties; Engineering works on a prototype weapon; young Officers face up to the responsibilities of leadership and crewmembers get to know each other better on and off duty. The Captain tasks the XO to lead an Away Team to the station. Medical plans for dealing with future casualties and raises concerns for possible mishaps befalling the Away Team in an aquatic environment.

- Aboard the Station, Admiral Sepandiyar repositions his fleet resources and reassigns leading figures as necessary, giving Capt. Hawthorn the honor of filling his seat aboard the USS Alexander, which will serve as a mobile base of operations for the 9th Fleet. CMC HaiRoa hits the ground running, working on strengthening station defenses. The lengthy Yellow Alert on OC means some curfews and limits to commerce, as well as directing a mass influx of civilians and non essential personnel who will be quartered on the station while the fleet positions ships for a threat they won't let anyone in on the details about. Newly arrived entrepreneurs like Yishara Val and Brek try to get more information as they prepare to open for business. A new Vulcan security chief is in town, and begins to gain his bearings and make introductions.

- Meanwhile on Loki III, Ibn Sharjar continues to conduct business and find curiosities to explore, not the least of which is a cafe that should be on anyone's travel itinerary, assuming anyone would willingly vacation on Loki III...

- Also of note, a backstory thread details an encounter with some Breen raiders earlier in the careers of HaiRoa and Zahn.


OOC UPDATES:

INCREDIBLE MONTH- OC had our highest OF post count: 110, breaking our March ‘21 high point of 100! We also saw two of our largest word count posts in the same month. We had a lot of character building and story development as well as great interactivity OOC on our Discord as well. Excellent participation and the addition of three new writers! Things really came alive this month.

Departures:
- Paul has stepped down from writing on OC, due to limitations of personal time for now. His support in kick starting the sim with us was invaluable and we will continue to enjoy seeing Paul around the fleet. Generously, he has left Quinn to us as a continuing character due to the level of connections the character has in the sim.

Arrivals:
- Spiral has joined us as a Civilian Art Dealer named Brek.
- Emu had joined us as a Civilian Restaurateur named Yishara Val
- Aaron has joined the sim as Sikan, our new Chief Security Officer of Obsidian Command

-Notably, several other players have shown interest in OC. Two have been crafting applications. Hopefully we will see more in October!

- No new Discord ads were run in the month of September. A new October ad campaign is in the works.

- If it ain't broke, don’t fix it! The site has remained pretty much the same, except for some wiki updates. Polar/Steiner has been cataloging our recurring npcs on a wiki page for reference
Planet Obsidian NPC Catalogue


AWARD NOTES
The following awards and recognitions will be logged and/or published

Spiral:
Meritorious Newcomer - Spiral joins us with a beloved character, Brek, whom the writer is exploring on Obsidian Command as a Civilian, formerly a Starfleet diplomat, but now striking out to seek his fortune as an art dealer. Brek brings a new point of view and is a push and pull of classic Ferengi themes, some of which he embraces and others which he bucks against. Well introduced, this character has us waiting for more.

Aaron:
Meritorious Newcomer - Aaron joins us as Sikan, a Vulcan who has a particular interest in criminal psychology and a focus in the study of hitting people artistically (...Martial Arts). His initial posts are both cerebral and clever as he begins his new role of Chief of Security. These first posts are already beginning to illustrate links between the character and the wider world, drawing wonderful narrative connections in hi-definition, particularly in the detailed metaphor between the testing of the acuity of his martial arts training and his present assessment of the security situations confronting the station he must help to keep safe.

Post Spotlight: Logic in Strategy (to be summarized and added to OF news for future feature)

Polar:
NPC Award - Atif Ibn Sharjar is custom fit to take the reader along on Loki III. Through his exploits and adventures in trade, we get to see new locations and meet new characters and uncover the secrets otherwise hidden from us off-worlders.

Community Engagement- Polar has reinvigorated the sim with conversation and communication, being active not just in the group discord where he encourages others and goofs off with us, but also personally reaching out to players and prospective players, answering questions, and creating an open door to bring them into the storytelling arena.

Post Spotlight: Ibn Sharjar: The Cafe Ra Hetjan (to be summarized and added to OF news for future feature)

Sep:
Diversity Ribbon- In a fictional world where it might be easy to water down our global heritages and create an average amalgamation of ‘human’, Sep maintains distinctive human characters, particularly surrounding their earth related roots and shares his love of ethnic expression. He has a high level of detail and respect in his portrayals with PCs and NPCs alike. There is nowhere a human lands in any of his posts where the spice of cultural variety isn’t at least sprinkled. If anything, Sep uses the fictional window into alienness and turns it back on Sol for us to reconnect with ourselves.

Nikki:
Valentines Day - For How the Heart Works: A short and tender post, Calliope laying in the arms of her true-love and husband, musing on their relationship, her life, and their future. Excellent piece of romantic writing!


FLYING SOLO CHALLENGE
The reward for this challenge is literally just bragging rights for a month to the winner! Meanwhile everyone gets to enjoy a friendly competition helping with the motivation to post, and the chance to read more of each other's awesome stories!

An explosion of amazing work, September's solo entries counted for a significant proportion of overall writing on OC! Lots of players participated in not just generating word count, but in generating some really fantastic reading that will drive new creative threads both relating to plot and character storytelling. Not one ounce of fluff to be seen!

Nikki might have overdone it, just a little, but she took the title from Sep. Polar gave a little boost to the chase, and Aaron, Spiral, and Sara made respectable shows on the board.

Nikki 9,050
Sep 5,257
Polar 4,284
Aaron 3,217
Spiral 2,717
Sara 1,770

GRAND TOTAL SOLO WORD COUNT - 26,295



RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGN:

We invite everyone who wants to help recruit to consider inviting a friend!

We love getting ideas people have for unique characters (pitch it to us!) and the station needs lots of personnel in all of the departments (Stardock ain't small...!) But if asked, I presently think the station needs the following the most:

-Tower Control Officer - akin to a tower controller at an airport- would primarily work from the Operations Center and be concerned with comings and goings. Would be a Flight Control Officer, but work in Tandem with Operations. Would work well as an Officer or an experienced Enlisted Character

-Flight Control Officer - managing shuttle flights and manning helm on the Pathfinder

- Chief of Science - Somebody to techno babble some serious trek pseudo science and to oversee the many areas of research in the department. Application should be a senior officer of the rank of LT or higher, with a personal backstory to support the application.

-Science Officer - generalists or different specialties would be very welcome!

-Chief Engineer - Primarily the Chief Engineer would be responsible for the Stations' Reactors (power generation) and for the Maintenance of all the stations systems. The CEO would work closely with Operations and with the other departments tasked to the systems being maintained (ie- Shields and Tactical, Sensors and Science etc). The CEO may be called on to see to other technologies, such as the radiation shielding system over Loki III or to advise on alien tech of interest. As OC is a very key station in the 9th Fleet and a stardock class, applications should reflect a highly experienced and reliable character of the rank of Lt Commander, with a written biographical history to support the rank.

-Engineering Officer - station eng is primarily like a facilities engineer role, maintaining the power generation and upkeep of the station, but also can include other endeavors such as tech research, ship repairs, and technology in the Loki System and on away missions. Should work closely with Operations and applicable specialists from other depts when tech is involved

-Fighter jockeys. Come fly with us. Lots of boring escort duty and the occasional dust up or mission to run. Looking for Wing Commanders of smaller units and a Group Commander for the overall fighter complement to the station.

-Enlisted Personnel! Lots of opportunities in every department!

-Civilian Affairs Director - A role suitable for a civilian which the Fleet would hire to work for them in managing the affairs and concerns of the civilian population. Would be responsible for communication between the fleet and the civilian population and for helping to ensure the interests, needs, and safety of the population are tended to.

-Civilians! All sorts! Much needed!


If a prospective player has some questions about applying, please do not hesitate to join us in our discord and ask away!
OBSIDIAN COMMAND DISCORD SERVER


POST SUMMARIES, September '22

Lunch and Introductions
Steiner and Zahn meet and get to know each other. Steiner recommends the steak. (Polar, Nikki)

Yellow Means Slow
Sylvie visits Yishara and has a petition concerning the operating restrictions, if you can sign please. Vahl’s debut post (Emu, Nikki)

They Took Their Time to Find Nothing
Brek is greeted aboard OC by the customary Customs. Brek's debut post (Spiral)

House Calls
When Calliope neglects to show up in Medical, Medical comes to Calliope. (Sara, Nikki)

Making Ready
Wagner turns on the lights in Pathfinder's sickbay. (Sara)

Security Action Plan - Part Four
Steiner asks Engineering for a favor and endures some verbal disparagement from Quinn. (Polar, Nikki)

Timeless Treasure
Brek is impatient with the help as they construct his new gallery and offer him unsolicited critique on his floor plan and choice of sales. (Spiral)

They Shall Not Pass
HaiRoa, Vey, and Rochambeau start working on a station defensive plan of action using all resources to hand. (Polar, Sep)

Mixed Review
Ensign Wiser delivers performance results to his peers. Some are harder to dole out than others. (Nikki)

Simple Observation & Logic
Sikan and Pumpkin arrive on OC and adjust to the new quarters and new offices. Pumpkin is not a fan of change. Sikan's Debut Post (Aaron)

Science Find
The Pathfinder picks up a space station on sensors. It's full of salt water. They prepare an away team for a swim. Key A-Plot (Sep, Polar, Sara, Nikki)

Cold comfort pt 1: Seven Seventeen
HaiRoa reminisces about a mission aboard an old supply station 15 yrs earlier. Backstory Thread (Polar, Nikki)

Proud Mary
HaiRoa gets a team together to re-re-engineer a mining-robot-turned-pirate-attack-droid into a defensive asset for the station. Do you smell something burning? (Polar)

FMS: Information, Wards & Guardians
Back at the Marshals' office, a tip comes in and arrangements need to be made for the 'Baker Street Irregulars' (Polar)

The Competition
When Brek introduces himself to the owner of Surrat Gallery, he plies his diplomatic tact and his Ferengi business sense. (Spiral, Nikki)

Cold Comfort pt 2: Drop Ins
As an ion storm rolls in, so does uninvited company. Backstory thread (Polar, Nikki)

Nyasha
Brek returns to his own Gallery to select a digital hostess. He has measures in place to retain all of his beans.(Spiral)

Ibn Sharjar: The Cafe Ra Hetjan
Atif makes a stop at a local cafe, enjoys some native comestibles, arranges some business deals, and is asked a favor by a lovely lady... (Polar)

Panic Planning
Dr. Wagner eavesdrops on her department planning for contingencies. Some are cooler headed than others. (Sara)

How the Heart Works
Calliope dreams awake for a while. (Nikki)

Cold Comfort pt 3: Come Out, Come Out
After a while of trying to hide from the Breen raiding party, our heroes make an ill fated break for it in search of a little heat. Backstory thread (Polar, Nikki)

A Change in the Wind
In the shuffle to set up defenses in the region, Markus Hawthorn is pulled out of his leave of absence for a big assignment. So much for expanding the model ship collection. (Sep)

Black Thoughts
Tobias Hirsh has seen some things. (Nikki)

Cold Comfort pt 4: Time Out
Zahn and HaiRoa reassess and come back to the problem with... somewhat clearer heads. (Polar, Nikki)

Who Investigates the Investigators?
Sikan inquires as to the practicality of Security operating a patrol vessel and plans to ride along. (Aaron, Nikki)

The Logic in Strategy
Sikan draws an apt parallel between a memory of his martial arts test and the nature of OC- a close circle to defend from a variety of surrounding challengers. (Aaron)

Field Tripping
Field Tripping - A'Koja Dea has a new crew for the afternoon. (Nikki)

P.F.D.
Medical considers the challenges unique to dealing with injury in the field, when the field is full of salt water. (Sara)

Stars on the Water
Wiser records a message for his pop, just in case he buys the farm. (Nikki)

Category: General News

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