[Announce] A New Chapter in The First Era

[Robert]

Friends and Co-writers,

It's been quite an exciting year for TFE!  The armistice was broken and 
the Earth-Romulan War erupted again, culminating to a multi-faceted 
series of offensives including the Battle of Charon.  Shortly 
afterwards, the Human-Vulcan-Andorian coalition regrouped and 
galvanized.  Thus was the idea of the United Federation of Planets 
formed, a treaty signed, and ceremonies and celebrations ensued.  Truly 
a New Chapter in The First Era!

Now we push forth as we feel out this new alliance.  Will it work?  The 
easy answer is obviously, "Yes, of course it did!"  But that's spoken 
from volumes of years in the future, when we enjoy the fruits of the 
labor shouldered by those who were there.  And who was there to bear the 
burden of the future?  That's us.  This "Federation" we have is brand 
new, still novel, and sheer idealism won't be able to hold it up for 
long.  Things will get shaky, things will get political, things will get 
pushed and pulled and old grudges will mix with new threats.  A hundred 
years from now things will be better, things will be good.  But that's a 
long way away.  And we've got some work to do.

Buckle up.

I want to take a moment to say that I remain quite pleased to be a 
member of this SIM Group.  A lot of people stepped up to help craft this 
organization last year, and they seem to be eager to continue this year. 
  With such enthusiastic and talented people behind us driving the 
group, and such creative and intelligent people in front of us writing 
the stories, this is by far my favorite thing on the internet.  That 
said, I'm more than happy to close with some awards:

To commemorate the fleet-wide plot that concluded the Earth-Romulan 
War(s), the Fleet Command Staff presents the Earth Victory Campaign 
Ribbon to every writer/player who had a hand in any SIM's plot during 
the conflict.  A description and image can be found on the Awards page 
of the TFE website:
http://www.firstera.net/policy_awards.htm

And I will leave you with the following TFE memorandum recognizing 
specific individuals, and written by our Fleet Operations Commander, Kate.

Thank you all,
Robert
"Adm Thomas Garroway"

----------


// Priority One :: SubSpace Communication //

FROM: Galaxy Fleet Command, Starfleet Headquarters, San Francisco, Earth

REPRESENTED BY: Admiral Thomas Garroway, Commodore Adrienne Sheppard

TO: USS Challenger-NCC-04 - Capt Sasha Spearling, Commanding Officer
USS Yorktown-NCC-05 - Force Commander Da'nak Ca'daar, Commanding Officer
USS Meridian-NCC-06 - Capt John Finney, Commanding Officer
USS Intrepid-NCC-07 - Capt Ethan Armstrong, Commanding Officer

DATE: 2 January 2162

~~~

It is with great pride and appreciate that we, Admiral Thomas Garroway 
and Commodore Adrienne Sheppard, publically honor the following 
individuals for their outstanding accomplishments and unswerving 
commitment to The United Earth Government and Starfleet, their friends 
and allies.  Their actions and decisions under the most extremely 
dangerous and difficult of conditions have served to preserve our 
freedom.  These actions have also served to solidify the very foundation 
of a new and unprecedented alliance among our galactic allies.  The 
United Federation of Planets has been formulated and the first steps 
toward ratification of that alliance are well into motion.

To the Commanding Officers of the above mentioned splendid Starships of 
the Fleet, we proud to present The United Earth Declaration of Valour 
and Gallantry.

Capt Sasha Spearling of the USS Challenger, and Capt Roger Finney of the 
USS Meridian, accept these Declarations of Valour and Gallantry in 
recognition of your courage and determination in the face of the Battle 
of Cheron, in bringing the Fleet entrusted to your joint leadership to a 
definitive victory over our enemies.  Know that this is Earth's highest 
award of valour for service under combat conditions.  Thank you for your 
service to this planet and her people.

Force Commander Da'nak Ca'daar of the USS Yorktown, and Capt Ethan 
Armstrong of the USS Intrepid, accept these Declarations of Valour and 
Gallantry in recognition of your courage and determination in the face 
of the Battle of Xantia, in destroying the Romulan shipyard and its 
potential harm it represented.  Know that this is Earth's highest award 
of valour for service under combat conditions.  Thank you for your 
service to this planet and her people.

It also gives us great pleasure to award the following individuals with 
the (Out of Character) Captain Michael Thompson Memorial Award:

• Anna - aka Capt Sasha Spearling, USS Challenger; LtCmdr (Dr) Regina 
Antonini, Counselor, Forrest Outpost
• Chris - aka Capt Ethan Armstrong, USS Intrepid
• Mark - aka Lt Cmdr Katrina Merrick, CEO, USS Intrepid

The Captain Michael Thompson Memorial Award recognizes outstanding 
contributions and achievements that reflect great credit on the values 
of Star Trek, TFE and role-play, in this case, the development of a plot 
that affects the entire organization.  This award was formerly known and 
awarded as the Michael West Memorial Award, but was renamed after the 
OOC death of the player behind Captain Michael Thompson, CO of the NX-05 
Yorktown, and is generally awarded to one member of TFE every three 
months.  In this case however, it is presented to each of these 
individuals at the end of our extended Founding of the Federation plot.

Anna, Chris and Mark each put a massive amount of work and love into 
inventing, organizing and executing the events which have transpired to 
bring about the transition from the Archer era to the birth of the 
United Federation of Planets.  This included inventing characters, 
researching canon aspects of the ceremonies and technology, insuring 
continuity among the various elements of the story, and bringing that 
story to life in a most creative and dramatic way through posting of the 
festive Ceremonies, and the technological upgrades logs. 
Congratulations to Anna, Chris and Mark.

It gives us great pleasure to award the following individuals with the 
(Out of Character) Starfleet Medal of Command:

• Anna - aka Capt Sasha Spearling, USS Challenger; LtCmdr (Dr) Regina 
Antonini, Counselor, Forrest Outpost
• Chris - aka Capt Ethan Armstrong, USS Intrepid
• Mark - aka Lt Cmdr Katrina Merrick, CEO, USS Intrepid
• Leo - aka Force Cmdr Da'nak Ca'daar, Capt, USS Yorktown; Lt Carter 
Austin, CSO, New Darwin Colony
• Smith - aka Cmdr Sean Walker, XO, Forrest Outpost; LtCmdr Rebekah 
Shepard, CAO, New Darwin Colony
• Kate - aka Dr Emily Garroway, CMO, USS Intrepid; Dr Jia Cassidy, CMO, 
Forrest Outpost; Capt Michah Oliver, New Darwin Colony
• Liz - aka Dr Liza Rowe, CMO, USS Challenger
• Steve - aka Dr Stile Corbett, CMO, USS Meridian

The Medal of Command is awarded to any writer/player, distinguished by 
In Character co-coordinating and Out of Character organizing of any 
operation involving two or more simulations.

Anna and Chris are selected for their outstanding research, coordination 
and orchestration of the major events of the TFE Galaxy Fleet "Founding 
of the Federation" including the Ceremony itself and the Solar New 
Network Broadcast of the events.  It was more than a masterful job, it 
was a project of love for this genre, and all its highest standards were 
reflected in their work.

Mark and Leo are recognized for their enormous contribution to the 
research and development, as well as the publication of the newest 
upgrades in weapon and technology for the newly classified starships, 
the NCC series (formerly known as the NX).  Their series of posts 
detailing those changes were beautifully presented in the context of a 
high command level staff meeting.  Again, it has been a labor of love 
demonstrating the high standards of Starfleet and Star Trek.

Smith is recognized for his long association with the development of the 
TFE Daedalus design starship, including extensive research and drafting 
of the hull design, and culminating in posts of the 'secret' Warp 7 test 
flights of the proto-type ship.  It should be noted that all the writers 
worked together to coordinate their respective posts to insure 
continuity of timing and technology.

Kate, Liz and Steve are recognized for their research and initiative in 
orchestrating the postings of the Chief Medical Officers' Consortium, 
detailing the needs and possibilities for upgrades in the medical 
departments of the newly upgraded NCC series starships.

Chris, Anna and Kate are also hereby recognized for outstanding Out of 
Character service to the Organization in the review and updating of the 
Fleet's SIM Guide, which is near completion and will become the primary 
document setting forth the tenants, canons and instructions of 
Starfleet: The First Era SIM Group.

These awards are distributed by the order of the Commanders of the 
Fleet, Admiral Thomas Garroway, Starfleet Commander, and Commodore 
Adrienne Sheppard, Fleet Operations Commander, on behalf of the entire 
TFE Galaxy Fleet.  Thanks is also due to every member of TFE who logged 
during this Romulan War Campaign, and to every SIM Commander who led 
their crew into battle.  It was a superior multi-sim campaign that is a 
triumph for Starfleet: The First Era, the Ships of the Line, her 
Colonies and Outposts.

Congratulations to all!

With Respect and Admiration,

Admiral Thomas Garroway
Starfleet Commander

Commodore Adrienne Sheppard
Fleet Operations Commander