Deep Space 2 Newsletter Stardate: 200012.01

Year IV, Issue III


* Admiral's log

A new era has begon on earth, thanks to the discovery of the principle of the space-time capsule...For the first time in human history is humanity able to travel to the farest borders of the universe, to stars and planets, millions of lightyears away...

Commander Grek


Hi all,

In a few months things can evolve rapidly. The Keuleers family is rebuilding their house. What did you expect with the birth of their fifth child... Our Chief Designer Jan Roel and his wife Catherine were blessed with a beautiful daughter, named Emma. Luke Davis has resigned his position as Chief of Communications of the Starfleet Sector. And on top of this...on November 17, DS2 Chief of Operations Joeri Verschaeve has introduced a new ship to the Deep Space 2 fleet: the USS Gagarin.

The Deep Space 2 Marines have their own website now and have written their first fictional story: The USS Octavianus Missions (2564-2567), which is also published in this newsletter. More about all that below.

According a lot of people the 21st century begins on January 1, 2001. Due to this change in century and due to the already more than 3 years of Deep Space 2 activity, DS2 command has decided it was time to design and print new DS2 membership cards. Most of the DS2 members have already received their new cards. If you have not, please contact the CO immediately and kick his...

In addition, on November 9, 2000, the official DS2 Marines website has been activated on the www. Check them out at: http://users.skynet.be/sky94962/ds2mar/.

So this is the last DS2 Newsletter of the century. May I take this opportunity to whish you all an excellent ending of the 20th century and may you live happily in the upcoming 21st century.


VFADM Arthur, CO Deep Space 2

* Contact Address

CO Deep Space 2:
Arthur van Rhee, Tessenderloseweg 149, 2431 Laakdal, Belgium
Email: arthur.van.rhee@skynet.be

* Date next meeting

Next meeting has been planned on: April 1, 2001.

* UFP News

Message from Arthur van Rhee, Vice Commander Starfleet - UFP
November 6, 2000

To: All Starfleet - UFP Personnel

From: VFADM Arthur van Rhee, Vice Commander Starfleet - UFP

As some of you already know VADM Luke Davis had to resign from his position as Chief of Communications due to his real life job.

First of all I want to thank Luke for his excellent work, in his department, always being present and especially creating and maintaining the Starfleet - UFP Internet Domain. Through the past few years, Luke has done a huge task.

By the aproval of FADM Hugh Brower, Commander Starfleet, Bob Jennifer, CO USS Alles, has been assigned to replace Luke as Chief of Communications.

Bob can be reached by email at:

bobejen@yahoo.com

Bob is hereby promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral which goes whith his new position.

Congratulations Bob.

Thank you all,

* Diplomatic News

The USS Belgica, Chapter of STARFLEET International, has organised the first European STARFLEET Barbecue (Region 9) on August 26. Geert Van Nieuwenhove and Arthur van Rhee attended. Pictures of the European STARFLEET Barbecue are available on the DS2 website in the section "pictures".

The USS Belgica is doing absolutely great. Geert Van Nieuwenhove and Arthur van Rhee attended to a meeting of the USS Belgica on November 12. There will probably be more of these visits in the future.

The USS Alice Cooper, sister UFP chapter of Deep Space 2, has joined the DS2 RPG. As you know story writing and RPG are some of the fundamental basics of Deep Space 2 activities. The Deep Space 2 crew playes an exciting role playing game every month. The crew acts in the role of a fictional character in an adventure. The RPG has now already 29 chapters. You can read all about the DS2 RPG adventures on the RPG site.

* Internet/Compuserve email

Some of the DS2 members have been off line for some time: Chief of Sciences Wim Keuleers and Chief Medical Officer Helena Straetman (rebuilding and moving in and around their house), Wim and Helena have already returned on line but Chief Engineer Louis van Rhee (major computer problems) has not. Please have them in your thoughts as some of them are real internet addicts.

Chief of Operations Joeri Verschaeve has a new email address: joepri@pandora.be.

* Community Service Info

World Wildlife Fund

 More and more members of Deep Space 2 are also in the support of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF):

Known worldwide by its panda logo, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is dedicated to protecting the world's wildlife and wildlands. The largest privately supported international conservation organization in the world, WWF has more than 1 million members in the U.S. alone. Since its inception in 1961, WWF has invested in over 13,100 projects in 157 countries.

WWF directs its conservation efforts toward three global goals: protecting endangered spaces, saving endangered species, and addressing global threats. From working to save the giant panda, tiger, and rhino to helping establish and manage parks and reserves worldwide, WWF has been a conservation leader for more than 39 years.

http://www.wwf.org


(Marianne Loogen)

* Away Team Missions

Report Gen Con Benelux 2000
September 23-24, 2000

Brabanthallen, Diezekade 2, 5222 AK 's Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands

Guests:

Kenny Baker: Played R2-D2 in Star Wars

Garrick Hagon: Played in Star Wars Biggs Darklighter, Luke Skywalker's old friend and a lot more.

Paul Blake: Famous actor: Played in Star Wars the role of Greedo the Rodian who was shot by Han Solo (Harrison Ford) in the famous bar-room scene.

Michael Carter: Writer producer of "Return of the Jedi" among many other movies

Ken Colley: Played in over 30 movies and played Admiral Piett in Star Wars (The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi)

John Avon: Illustrator-painter. He worked on covers of a lot of books and got into the world of "Magic".

Todd Lockwood: Award winning Fantasy Illustrator

The doors of the Brabanthallen opened at 10.00 on Saterday, September 23. There was already a huge crowd of visitors. I estimate there were about two thousand visitors on Saterday. There were lots of stands with all kinds of Star Wars, Star Trek, Magic and other fantasy stuff, like videos, card games, board games, and much more. The Gen Con was spread out in three halls and especially for the children there was a Pokemon stand where they could be introduced to the Pokemon card game. Special Pokemon gym leaders had been assigned to teach and guide the Pokemon players. In the main play hall, there were the serious competitions: Star Trek CCG, Star Wars, Magic, and more competitions on high level: Benelux championship, European Championship. More than a hundred tables for these competitions following each other. It was very busy at the stands where the actors and graphical artists signed their pictures. But they all took their time to talk to the fans while signing. There wasn't much of security but the entire signing process happened very relaxed. We all had a great time and as this is the third Gen Con, I can say that this one was even better than last year, so I am absolutely sure we'll be there again next year.

Arthur van Rhee
CO DS2

Pictures of the Gen-Con 2000 have been uploaded on the DS2 website in the section "DS2 Pictures"


(Nadine Peeters)

* Articles written by the Crew

*The Deep Space 2 SETI Project

The DS2 SETI number of packages has increased up to the number 944. Four computers took 1.63 years of CPU time to handle these packages. For more information please visit the SETI@HOME website:

http://www.setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/

To find the group of Deep Space 2 on the SETI@Home website, follow the following instructions:

1.Log in at the SETI@Home website.
2.Follow the link to GROUPS
3.In the SEARCH BOX: fill in : ds2
4.Click on SEARCH


(Wim Keuleers)


*DS2 Marines Information:

The official DS2 Marines website has been activated on the www. Check them out at: http://users.skynet.be/sky94962/ds2mar/. Suggestions and comments are most welcome. The DS2 Marines are our story writers. The first story is already published...

The USS Octavianus Missions (2564-2567)

USS Octavianus: Specifications



Introduction

December 14, 2564. The frigate USS Octavianus, Assault-Class has left spacedock for her first trip out of the solar system, under command of Captain Jack London. It is a huge change transfering from a Picker-Class vessel to an Assault-Class starship. Although basicly a ship is a ship, the Assault-Class vessel has better defensive systems and weapons to cause serious damage and destruction. On top of that, the Assault-Class starship is equiped with two brand new Alpha 3 engines. It is clear that time has catched up on the evolution of three dimensional way of thinking and High Command could not neglect this technology, especially because the close by empires, produced this kind of technology as well, or just bought it, or even stole it.

Senior Staff of the USS Octavianus:



The First USS Octavianus Mission: Escort The USS Everest

It has been a long time of waiting and supervising the build up of the Assault-Class USS Octavianus. But finally the ship was ready to go. Being the nineteenth ship of her class the Octavianus, Command engineers had learned a lot about this ship and inprovements had been made successfully. This ship was almost the most perfect ship of her class. After a first stop at Station 612, Captain Jack London assembled his senior staff for the first time. He was an older human male, experienced, but also a bit blunt at times, especially during battle. Although the Octavianus was a brand new ship, part of the crew had served together for almost nine years. Most of the senior staff officers knew each other for even more than 15 years. The USS Octavianus was a frigate, with an extended complement of science officers aboard. But they all still had to settle in and Captain London explained to his staff that the first mission was to warm up this ship and crew. Even First Officer, Commander Louise Vasquez could only agree. She had been with Jack London for 12 years, checking on everything he did, and questionning his every action. That was what the Captain liked best, someone who stepped on his toes once in a while. The USS Octavianus had to escort the USS Everest, a freighter going to Alpha 352 for the pickup of ore. Head Quarters Command found an escort necessary as two freighters had been attacked by a few pirate ships in only one month. Although both freighters had returned to Station 612, both of them had been damaged and some of the crewmembers had been injured. No explanation could be given about these pirates. No data was available.

December 15, 2564, Captain Jack London: Personal Log

One hour ago the USS Octavianus has joined the USS Everest at Station 612. The Octavianus will escort the Everest to Alpha 352. Although I don't expect to much trouble, we can't be careful enough on this mission. I have ordered Commander Louise Vasquez to organise some red alert drills among the way. I took the time to make a tour of this new USS Octavianus as well. Of course I knew the Assault-Class ship years before, but this is the real thing. My staff is already used to me for years and that takes it a little bit easier on all of us. We have to get acquainted with these new kind of systems. A starship is a starship, but the jump from Picker-Class to Assault-Class isn't something to be taken lightly. The ship's crew on the USS Octavianus is almost two times as big as on the Picker-Class. In a way I am grateful to Head Quarters Command to get this mission to get to know this ship a little better. Alpha 3 systems are nothing to joke about. If we would have been send to the Beta Quadrant to investigate some of the temporal anomalies, that mission would have taken a bit longer than usual. Anyway, I am happy to have a new ship and I am sure that the staff thinks the same way. I have full trust in Chief Engineer Lieutenant Helena Wartborski who served with us before and who had the chance to assist me with the final touch of this ship when it was constructed so she had the time to learn and knows her stuff.

End Log

The voyage to Alpha 352 would take sixteen days. This seemed a lot but Lieutenant Commander Udo Bernstein new that that would just be enough to clean the ship. With two freighters damaged and out, the USS Everest had to step in. The last cargo of the Everest were rare plants from Giluna III, and the cargo bays of the ship had to be cleaned extensively. Bernstein, although at rank a Lieutenant Commander was in command of the freighter USS Everest. He knew that the ore from Alpha 352 could not be mixed with anything else. These sixteen days were going to be days of hard work in three shifts. Berstein had not hidden his happyness about the company of a starship. He had been informed about the attacks on freighters on this route during the last month. With a starship in his shadow, he felt a lot safer. One of the freighters attacked some time ago was the USS Coral, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Josephine Weathers. Josephine had been in the same year at the Academy as Bernstein. Luckily there were no fatal casualties. Both officers probably regretted now that they had chosen for the more easy way of space travel. Berstein would have liked a heavily armed vessel right now, but he had made his choice and now it was to late. That was also the main reason why he was very happy to have Captain Jack London escorting the Everest. Captain London's ship was a frigate, which should not be messed with, certainly not by a few pirate fighter ships.

The first three days of the journey everyone on the USS Octavianus settled in. Most of the systems had been running diagnostics and especially the weapon systems were tested thoroughly. There was probably nothing going to happen, but Captain London wanted things done. He wanted his ship and crew ready. He had contact with Lieutenant Commander Bernstein only a few times, just to tell him what to do when they would be attacked. A battle plan had been formed but two days later the crew of the USS Octavianus still seemed to spend more time having parties and sports tournements than they ever would. That was the perfect time for a red alert drill. The results of this drill were not very good. When captain London got his senior staff together for debriefing, they all knew what was the matter. This crew was taking this mission a bit to easy. Nobody was really convinced that a freighter would be attacked by some pirates, if it was escorted by a heavily armed frigate. Time for some more drills had come and the crew realised that the Captain meant business. They also realised that they'd better be ready as maybe during this mission nothing might happen, but next mission could be an entirely different thing. The morale was excellent when the Octavianus and the Everest arrived at Alpha 352. New drill records had been broken and the Octavianus crew had spend a lot of time running battle simulations and not for parties. Even the scientists under expert leadership of Lieutenant Cora Droman, started to have fun and tried to beat security trying to be more creative and faster, but until now the Security Division had not been beaten. After all, they were the professionals and Chief of Security Lieutenant Commander John Texas was a tough devil.

Loading the USS Everest had taken only one full day. A Command frigate was responsable for defending the mine on Alpha 352 and the Octavianus crew could take this day for relaxation. In the mean time Captain London reviewed the last reports and tried to find a flaud in the battleplans. Some of these plans he and his staff had been using for years and always had had success. Sixteen days was not enough to drill completely new battleplans so he would use them. Now that a fully loaded freighter would return the possibility of an attack was getting more real but although these pirates had only a few ships, precautions had to be taken. It still was not clear why the freighters were attacked.

December 31, 2564 Captain Jack London: Personal Log

The USS Everest has been loaded and we are back heading to Station 612 for the delivery of the ore. I don't know what to expect, but if any pirate gives us any trouble we will show them what this ship is capable of. The crew and I are getting familiar with the USS Darwin and I am very proud that I can still have the same confidence in my senior staff than I had over the past years. Commander Louise Vasquez showed again her ability to command and deligate. She is ready to command her own ship, but there is a lot of competition from other First Officers. She knows that. Maybe in the next round she will get a chance. It's funny really. Now that we have our new ship, she is still under my command. Oh sure, she received a promotion from Lieutenant Commander to Commander, but it could be interpreted as this promotion only came with this bigger ship. And, oh Lord, this ship is indeed much bigger than we are used to. I must say though that there are rumors that two hundred years ago, ships were really huge. Ships of a thousand meters long... Our largest battleship is almost two hundred meters long and has four decks. I don't believe that there were once bigger ships than that, but it is nice to dream about, especially on the last evening of a new year. Tonight we will all celebrate new year on the surface of Alpha 352. The mining facility has an excellent restaurant and a great bar.

End Log

The new year party on Alpha 352, celebrating 2565, was a big hit, but during the first day of the new year, Captain London kept his crew busy with drills and simulations, mostly for security, operations and the engineers. Head aches were no reason not be fit and fast. Every officer and crewman had to be able to do anything in any circomstances. That was Captain London's policy. The almost fifteen scientists aboard took some time to read the latest reports and publications, but were also involved in some of the drills. To much drills were not good, but some of them were an excellent exercise. During the next sixteen days this crew would be ready for any fight. Captain London had planned to reduce the number of drills after this mission. The crew had to be alert if needed. It proved to be effective. After only four days sensors detected three small ships manned by two persons following the Octavianus and the Everest. Chief of Security Lieutenant Commander John Texas didn't want to risk the Everest by investigating these bogeys. Captain London agreed. As long as those ships didn't do anything wrong, there was no need to intervene. Besides this could be a distraction to lure the Octavianus away from the Everest. Captain London knew his orders: do not fire until fired upon. As long as nothing happened and the Everest would arrive safely at Station 612, the mission would be a success. That was the only thing that mattered. Tension increased when another three bogeys appeared directly on the route of the Octavianus and Everest. These three ships were at least one day away, but it became clear that without support of a starship, these pirates wanted to get their hands on the cargo of the USS Everest. Captain London was not provoked by the presence of these three more bogeys. But when another four bogeys were detected, Captain London called ordered yellow alert. This was getting serious. He contacted Head Quarters Command about the situation and just in case the battleship USS Denver was dispatched from Station 612 for assistance. The Denver would arrive in three days at maximum speed. But the crews of the Octavianus and Everest kept being nervous. Apparently the pirats had detected the USS Denver or had intercepted communications between the Octavianus and Head Quarters Command. They decided to make their move. They realised that if they could take out or dissable that starship, the freighter would be theirs.

Red alert !

They came from all sides, but the USS Octavianus was ready. The only thing the Octavianus crew hoped for, was that the pirates would not use projectile weapons. The USS Octavianus had defensive systems against those weapons, but the USS Everest had not. And if the Everest should be hit by projectile weapons like torpedos or missiles, the repairs would take at least a few days. Being a full day on yellow alert, the step up to red alert was easier. Captain London asked the approaching bogeys for their identification, but there was no reply. Scanning the vessels revealed that these pirates would not be a threat to the Octavianus, but the Everest could be damaged seriously in a battle. It was still not clear what these pirates wanted. It had to be clear to them that they could never get their hands on the cargo of the USS Everest. The Octavianus moved closer to the Everest to protect her. It seemed that the pirates had expected that maneuver and attacked from all sides, doing some damage to the Everest in their first wave. If this kind of attack would continue, the Everest could even be destroyed, before the Octavianus would have destroyed all the enemy ships. Captain London had no choice as to move the Octavianus away from the Everest to give his ship the necessary space to maneuver. He did this movement as soon as the second wave of the pirates came closer. The Octavianus moved and fired all weapons. Only one out of ten pirate ships were destroyed and one was almost completely disabled. Captain London send out a warning message to the other pirates that if they would attack again, they would be fired upon as well. The pirates didn't seem to care and a third attack wave was already on its way. But the Octavianus intercepted a group of four pirate ships before they were in range to fire on the Everest. The four ships were destroyed without any further warning. The entire senior staff of the USS Octavianus knew their Captain very well. Captain London would not give a second warning in battle. He just didn't. But the other pirate ships were now free to engage the USS Everest. The Everest took some damage, but the Octavianus returned in time. At this moment the remaining pirate Captains must have realised that this was a lost cause and they ran at maximum speed away from the Everest and Octavianus. The USS Octavianus joined the USS Everest again and it was time to evaluate the damage. There was no cargo lost, there were no wounded, but the Everest had some serious damage. Captain London send over a team of engineers to the Everest to help with repairs. The Octavianus herself had no damage at all. The Octavianus shielding effeciency had dropped to 72%, but that was something only a few engineers could handle. Head Quarters Command was informed and Captain London was sure this attack would be of serious concern to Head Quarters Command. The next trips of the freighters going to Alpha 352, would include escorting starships. There was no doubt about it.

January 16, 2565 Captain Jack London: Personal Log

We have arrived at Station 612. The USS Denver had joined us the last two days of the journey and nothing significant happened. Apparently the pirates had learned a lesson. Lieutenant Commander Bernstein thanked me for the useful company. He complemented me for that great maneuver attacking the pirates in stead of stay put and wait until the pirates could have damaged his ship permanently. Staying with the Everest would indeed have lead to a possible disaster. The pirates would have been able to attack from all sides and the we had to shoot them down one by one. The other pirate ships could have done serious damage to the Everest that way. I explained to Bernstein, like he pointed out, there was not much of a choice. It had become clear now that these pirates were not planning to steal cargo, but destory it. The ore was only used as a mean of trade with the Caladians and the Caladians were very very very peaceful, not even technological advanced as we are. I complemented the crew for their excellent performance during this mission. The exercises and drills had proven to be very effective. The mistery of why these pirates attacked our freighters is something that Head Quarters Command has to find out. That is not going to be our concern. The next mission is awaiting.

End Log

* UFP/DS2 Internet Links

Deep Space 2 Official Homepage
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/stbel/ds2.htm

Homepage STBEL-L Free Mailing List
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/stbel

United Federated Planets
http://www.ufphq.com

United Federated Planets: Starfleet Command Sector
http://www.ufpsf.com


The Deep Space Newsletter is a publication of Deep Space 2. The next issue can be expected on April 1, 2001.


You can find more information about publications produced by the United Federated Planets, for example "Subspace", on the UFP website: http://www.ufphq.com
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