To Boldly Go... (a Starfleet quest)

Leila Hann · Feb 1, 2017

Iron Wolf said:
In any case I wouldn't say it's crazy to put Thuir in the SBZ but it's certainly like, extremely provocative. If you're considering voting for that/have voted for that and at all voted for the option previously asking for three years of prep from the president -- those two positions are at odds. Thuir in the SBZ would almost certainly tip us closer to war with them and the Cardassians.

If that's what you want (looking at you @Leila Hann ) then sure, go for it. But it might mean fighting them before we have time to really hit our stride shipbuilding-wise.

You misjudge me.

For one, Thuir is unlikely to want to deal with the Sydraxians again, and there are plenty of other jobs he can do. For another, our intel suggests that the Sydraxians don't really care that much about Thuir or the desecrated grove anymore, at this point they're fighting because they like war and we're a convenient enemy (and because their masters on Cardassia reward them for it). If we want to crush the Sydraxians, we should just do it.

Besides that though, our Gretaran outreach has yielded unexpectedly good results with getting us in touch with Sydraxian dissidents. I may be a hawk, but I'm also a pragmatist, and resolving the Sydraxian situation without (or, more likely, with less) military expense means we'll be that much better equipped to fight the REAL war with Cardassia.

Anyway,

[X][FERASA] Commodore Gorac Crogan
[X][SBZ] Captain Langa Mbeki

A political smooth operator who also knows how to get his hands dirty for the Syndicate. A diplomat and explorer with nerves of steel for the Sydraxians.

Jrin · Feb 1, 2017

[X][FERASA] Captain Tomas Meyer
[X][SBZ] Commodore Gorac Crogan

kyuden · Feb 1, 2017

[X][FERASA] Commodore Gorac Crogan
[X][SBZ] Captain Langa Mbeki

Iron Wolf · Feb 1, 2017

lbmaian said:
Low rule-abiding doesn't necessarily mean "cowboying up", especially since we're talking about a sector commander, not a captain potentially ignoring ROEs in the field.

More a larger comment than a direct response: What rules-abiding means has always been sort of vague, with lots of people coming away with different interpretations in the debate about the Syndicate posting (myself included, obviously). I interpret it to mean more likely to ignore ROE, but your explanation also makes sense.

@OneirosTheWriter any comments?

Leila Hann said:
You misjudge me.

I'd rate my judgement 50% right [war with Cardassians over Sydraxians]! Which is 100% right if you round up!

Leila Hann said:
I may be a hawk,

#LeilaForVega

Nix · Feb 1, 2017

OneirosTheWriter said:
Commodore Michel Thuir
Current Posting: Operations Officer, Starfleet Tactical Field Command
Rule-Abiding: Medium
Aggression: High
Nerve: High
Diplomacy: Low
Politics: Medium
An officer who has been proven in dangerous situations, with experience in command during the Biophage, and who has completed a Five Year Mission.

Why'd his stats change so much in just a year?

OneirosTheWriter said:
[ ][FLT] Commodore Michel Thuir
Current Posting: Pending
Rule-Abiding: Medium
Aggression: High
Nerve: Medium
Diplomacy: Medium
Politics: High

The previous stats seem to fit what we know about the man much better (though the high aggression seems odd in either case). In particular the low diplomacy seem to completely disqualify him for any sector command or any other position that might involve diplomacy. At least I can't see myself ever voting for someone with low diplomacy for such a position if there is any viable alternative at all.

Blackshard · Feb 1, 2017

[X][FERASA] Commodore Gorac Crogan
[X][SBZ] Captain Langa Mbeki

Gnarker · Feb 1, 2017

[X][FERASA] Commodore Gorac Crogan
[X][SBZ] Captain Langa Mbeki

Theunderbolt · Feb 1, 2017

[X][FERASA] Commodore Gorac Crogan
[X][SBZ] Captain Langa Mbeki

aeqnai · Feb 1, 2017

[X][FERASA] Commodore Gorac Crogan
[X][SBZ] Captain Langa Mbeki

Tentative vote... though I confess, I do feel bad about pulling Mbeki out of the Explorer Corps. Were it not for the inexorable tide of this vote, and the lack of good options so far as I can figure, I'd save him for Odyssey, where his crew's ended up.

fitzgerald · Feb 1, 2017

[X][FERASA] Captain Tomas Meyer
[X][SBZ] Commodore Gorac Crogan

al103 · Feb 1, 2017

Nix said:
Why'd his stats change so much in just a year?

Judging by changes something made him to stop giving a single fuck about most of annoying things... now what that was...

Gravitas Hunt · Feb 1, 2017

To me, it seems like Meyer and Crogan are ideal, with their generally high Diplomacy/Politics, but then the question remains which way to place them. I also like the idea of putting Mbeki back with his crew on Odyssesy.

I'd lean towards placing Meyer in the Ferasa sector, where his lower aggression is not really an issue, since we have the Syndicate Task Force dealing with basically anything that might need that sort of thing. Hence:

[X][FERASA] Tomas Meyer
[X][SBZ] Gorac Crogan

Simon_Jester · Feb 1, 2017

[X][FERASA] Captain Tomas Meyer
[X][SBZ] Commodore Gorac Crogan

Crogan is almost certainly our best candidate. If Thuir's stats hadn't decayed I'd consider him about as good- but unsuitable for the Sydraxian border for personal reasons. I don't want some Sydraxian deciding that getting Thuir's head, personally, is worth blowing up a peace negotiation. Plus, Thuir's stats have decayed as noted- and if he's got some problem going on, I'm not sure I want him somewhere tense and likely to explode.

Crogan would ALSO be a good choice for Ferasa, but that doesn't make him the right choice for Ferasa, because we have no one as good to put on the SBZ.

Ferasa is important but it isn't critical. The bulk of the work of beating the Syndicate is being covered by Uhura, Eaton, and T'Lorel, who have a good squadron to work with and lots of assets at their disposal.

However, I don't want to hand it over to someone like Chad or Mbeki (low Politics). Meyer is a GOOD candidate here. His only weakness is lack of aggression, and that is amply covered by the high aggressiveness of the actual anti-Syndicate task force leadership. Plus the sector is held down mainly by the Caitians, who are among the more fiery of our member races.

...

So basically, my point is that while Crogan would be a great choice wherever we put him, we should put him where we need that greatness the most (the SBZ). Then we need to pick a competent political commodore for Ferasa sector. Chad and Mbeki are not great choices for that, Thuir is a terrible choice. Meyer is an excellent choice.

Briefvoice said:
[][SBZ] Commodore Michel Thuir

We need a man with Thuir's unique blend of nerve and caution on the Sydraxian border zone. He can keep things from getting too hot for as long as possible, and if it does blow up he won't hestiate to do what is necessary. The Sydraxian Border Zone is considered a combat command and (along with the Syndicate operations) the nearest thing we have to a war right now. So you have to ask, which of these candidates should be in charge of a war? I pick Thuir.

If we send Thuir to the border zone, we will assuredly have a war for him to fight in very short order. Remember his role in the start of this entire trouble!

The Sydraxians may or may not be willing to end the war just because we somehow make amends for the perceived insult. But there are still plenty of Sydraxians, I have no doubt, that are mad over the insult. It only takes one group of fanatically religious Sydraxians trying to wipe out the stain on their sacred grove to blow up peace negotiations in an attempt to get at Thuir.

OneirosTheWriter · Feb 1, 2017

Nix said:
Why'd his stats change so much in just a year?

The previous stats seem to fit what we know about the man much better (though the high aggression seems odd in either case). In particular the low diplomacy seem to completely disqualify him for any sector command or any other position that might involve diplomacy. At least I can't see myself ever voting for someone with low diplomacy for such a position if there is any viable alternative at all.

Presumably because I was in a less optimistic frame of mind today

I'll consider whether to stick to the older profile in a moment.

Random Member · Feb 1, 2017

[X][FERASA] Captain Tomas Meyer
[X][SBZ] Commodore Gorac Crogan

Really want that High Diplomacy in the SBZ.

aeqnai · Feb 1, 2017

[X][FERASA] Captain Tomas Meyer
[X][SBZ] Commodore Gorac Crogan

...fuck it.

I want Mbeki back on the conn of an Excelsior, Qdamnit.

OneirosTheWriter · Feb 1, 2017

Okay, Michel Thuir has been given the altered, previous profile.

Forgothrax · Feb 1, 2017

[X][FERASA] Captain Tomas Meyer
[X][SBZ] Commodore Gorac Crogan

Simon_Jester · Feb 1, 2017

OneirosTheWriter said:
Presumably because I was in a less optimistic frame of mind today

I'll consider whether to stick to the older profile in a moment.

[Checks the stats]

Huh.

Personally, if I were eyeballing his statline. I'd go with something like:

Rule-Abiding: Medium
Aggression: Medium
Nerve: High
Diplomacy: Medium
Politics: Medium

Very balanced, no outstanding weaknesses, few outstanding strengths except one: his implacable Nerve. Remember, the defining moment of Thuir's career was Ulith III. And while the thread joked grimly about the Challorn Protocol... It was nerve that Thuir exhibited in an exemplary fashion over Ulith III, not aggression. Because he had to recognize there was nothing left to save. That the risk was so great that an away team could not realistically do anything other than die horribly, that even the prospect of (as usual) learning what had happened to Ulith III did not justify that risk.

An aggressive commander might well have sent an away team down to take their chances, figuring that it was worth a gamble to extract high reward from the outpost (knowledge) at the price of high risk.

A politically adept or an especially rule-abiding commander might have thought to call Starfleet Command before wiping away the biophage-infected outpost in a spread of torpedoes.

But at Ulith III, we didn't have an especially aggressive officer, or a political officer or a by-the-book officer. No, we had an officer with nerve.

Honestly, if I had to point to a single TBG character to exemplify the virtue of "nerve," I would point to Thuir. He's got "look to the stars as they are, never blinking" down pat. Eaton and MacAdams have blinked, now and then. Even Nash blinks once in a while. Maybe T'Lorel and Straak don't blink, but they're Vulcans; it's hard to tell.

Thuir... I really don't feel like he does, at least not in the depths of the storm.

Thebigpieman · Feb 1, 2017

Simon_Jester said:
Thuir... I really don't feel like he does, at least not in the depths of the storm.

Thuir blinks to get the water out of his eyes for convenience sake and nothing more.

Aeondrac · Feb 1, 2017

[X][FERASA] Commodore Gorac Crogan
[X][SBZ] Captain Langa Mbeki

Leila Hann · Feb 1, 2017

Thebigpieman said:
Thuir blinks to get the water out of his eyes for convenience sake and nothing more.

T'Lorel simply glares at the descending raindrops, and they fear to come closer.

Simon_Jester · Feb 1, 2017

Mhm...

T'Lorel stares down the raindrops.

Nash dances between the raindrops, then seduces the local news channel's weather reporter.

Eaton sensibly stays inside, sipping tea, then comes out and appreciates the fogginess as a homey reminder of Jolly Old England.

Saavik lurches in out of the rain, somehow having managed to soak up more than her own body weight in water, but the mission got done. Somehow.

And Straak?

Straak brought an umbrella. It was the logical thing to do, you see.

Muer'ci · Feb 1, 2017

[X][FERASA] Captain Tomas Meyer
[X][SBZ] Commodore Gorac Crogan

Tally, please?

UberJJK · Feb 1, 2017

Vote Tally : Sci-Fi - To Boldly Go... (a Starfleet quest) | Page 1039 | Sufficient Velocity
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Task: FERASA

[X][FERASA] Commodore Gorac Crogan
No. of Votes: 17