Chen an augment what
Pretty clearly inspired by Dr. Bashir from Deep Space Nine, only a century or so early.

Sousa apparently made Vice Admiral at something like 45 years old (she was on sabbatical at 50 when the game began, and not part of Roger's inner circle, as evidenced by her being a candidate for his replacement, so she probably made Vice Admiral either prior to his Admiralty or early on but then fell into dispute with him). If Chen, the next youngest person to make Vice Admiral (at 57) is an augment, what does that say about Sousa?
That Sousa's augmentation doesn't extend to "superior ability breeds superior ambition" levels? Sousa was good at getting promoted; we know she hit captain at an age comparable to that of Kirk.

By the way, the stuff about Sulu being a master of primitive firearms, swords, judo, and botany is all canon (according to Memory Alpha).
We see him with his plants in several TOS episodes, brandishing his sword in The Naked Time, and using his judo skills in Star Trek III ("And don't call me 'Tiny!' ") Don't know where the primitive firearms thing comes from- maybe he helped Kirk identify muskets during A Private Little War?

When I reviewed some of the old Biophage posts, I realized that T'Faer is actually a huge jerk who everybody only tolerates because she's brilliant and gets things done.
It would certainly explain how she ends up running Logistics. There are actually some advantages to the head of Logistics being a jerk as long as they follow orders and don't fail their duties.

There is a surprising amount of Starfleet Intel coming up through the ranks ... and Sulu is almost honorary SI.

The Deep State runs deep.
Well, of the vice admirals with roles in Starfleet Intelligence, we have... Linderley, Sotak, ch'Tharvasse, and maybe Sulu.

Linderley really shouldn't count because of course the vice admiral who runs Intelligence has an intelligence background; he's only on the list because we just happened to make Intelligence a vice admiral billet. That leaves about three out of nine other vice admirals who we're counting as SI or honorary SI.

I think that's just a function of Starfleet Intelligence being bureaucratically large; I wouldn't be surprised if it actually has a total number of staff and officers comparable to a significant fraction of the starfaring fleet, and probably larger than, say, Tactical.

E: Like I said though, this is a lot of speculation since we don't know A) Sousa's political leanings, or B ) What seats are 'safe' or 'typical' Expansionist seats, C) What polling is saying, for parties at large and Sousa personally, D) How Expansionist or other party's internal structure looks like and how they select candidates, and E) How people in 2315 feel about 'parachute' candidates, in the event Sousa ran in New Seoul. There could be a strong norm among voters to choose 'local' candidates. It might be even stronger on colonies, where potential councilors may have literally built the place, versus some asshole outsider.
Not disagreeing with any of your analysis. However, I will note regarding this last point that it seems likely that the Councilors for major colony planets (and for that matter the homeworld) also represent a large number of minor colonies in the same general vicinity, so "not from here" seems resultingly less likely to be as decisive as all that, I'd think.

That said, I'd expect Sousa to show up after starting a second career in politics- that is, spending time devoting herself to it full time. Note how Rogers is getting back in the game roughly 15-20 years after stepping down from office, and after taking an intermediate step by running for mayor of a colony city that is viewed as a stepping-stone to the planetary Council seat. Sousa would have an easier road into political office because her name isn't mud, but she still might do something similar.
 
That said, I'd expect Sousa to show up after starting a second career in politics- that is, spending time devoting herself to it full time. Note how Rogers is getting back in the game roughly 15-20 years after stepping down from office, and after taking an intermediate step by running for mayor of a colony city that is viewed as a stepping-stone to the planetary Council seat. Sousa would have an easier road into political office because her name isn't mud, but she still might do something similar.
Yeah, that's my feeling too. But the presented scenario was if she could make a run by 2318. She'd be more likely to succeed if she waited, though.
 
We see him with his plants in several TOS episodes, brandishing his sword in The Naked Time, and using his judo skills in Star Trek III ("And don't call me 'Tiny!' ") Don't know where the primitive firearms thing comes from- maybe he helped Kirk identify muskets during A Private Little War?

Shore Leave. He always wanted a revolver, and the planet gave him one, so he started shooting it off.

EDIT: Re: Sousa.

I'd expect Mars honestly. I'd expect Mars for the simple reason that Mars has become a major Starfleet posting in the last decade or so with the creation and continual expansion of UPFY facilities and the Martians are probably well-disposed to Starfleet because of it. That's likely helped Rodgers, but it would help Sousa more. If Rodgers ever seems to have a serious shot at the seat, expect some other party to court Sousa to challenge him for Mars.
 
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I'd expect Mars honestly. I'd expect Mars for the simple reason that Mars has become a major Starfleet posting in the last decade or so with the creation and continual expansion of UPFY facilities and the Martians are probably well-disposed to Starfleet because of it. That's likely helped Rodgers, but it would help Sousa more. If Rodgers ever seems to have a serious shot at the seat, expect some other party to court Sousa to challenge him for Mars.
I considered Mars as well, but I assume it's a Development stronghold, particularly with UP. She'd be a good bet to flip it, but I think it'd require more than a couple years of groundwork.

That said

ADMIRAL BOWL 2318 SOUSA v ROGERS
 
I considered Mars as well, but I assume it's a Development stronghold, particularly with UP.

I figure UP isn't a particularly Development thing, though. Like...Amarki getting a new nacelle facility, or the auxiliary yard, those are definitely Development things. But Expansionists like explorer production, and UPFY is the facility that builds the most explorers as well as the yard that has produced the majority of our Explorer Corps ships. It'd still be high on the list for expansions regardless of the party in power.
 
Shore Leave. He always wanted a revolver, and the planet gave him one, so he started shooting it off.

EDIT: Re: Sousa.

I'd expect Mars honestly. I'd expect Mars for the simple reason that Mars has become a major Starfleet posting in the last decade or so with the creation and continual expansion of UPFY facilities and the Martians are probably well-disposed to Starfleet because of it. That's likely helped Rodgers, but it would help Sousa more. If Rodgers ever seems to have a serious shot at the seat, expect some other party to court Sousa to challenge him for Mars.
I considered Mars as well, but I assume it's a Development stronghold, particularly with UP. She'd be a good bet to flip it, but I think it'd require more than a couple years of groundwork.

That said

ADMIRAL BOWL 2318 SOUSA v ROGERS
I figure UP isn't a particularly Development thing, though. Like...Amarki getting a new nacelle facility, or the auxiliary yard, those are definitely Development things. But Expansionists like explorer production, and UPFY is the facility that builds the most explorers as well as the yard that has produced the majority of our Explorer Corps ships. It'd still be high on the list for expansions regardless of the party in power.
Most significantly Sousa helped Kahurangi lobby for Utopia Planitia, personally oversaw the construction as Shipyard Operations Vice Admiral, and then lobbied for further expansion as Commander of Starfleet, so she's arguably the person who has her name tied to Utopia Planitia the closest (other contenders would be Kahurangi, Chen, former President sh'Arrath and perhaps whoever was Councilor for Mars back in 2304).
 
Chen an augment what

(No, seriously. I really liked her, to the point of considering pushing her for Commander of Starfleet instead of Sulu, and now... I feel like you have ripped that out from under me).
 
Chen an augment what

(No, seriously. I really liked her, to the point of considering pushing her for Commander of Starfleet instead of Sulu, and now... I feel like you have ripped that out from under me).

I'd still vote for her, though not until after Sulu. (I think she'll stick around based on TIR, assuming a 4 or 5 year Sulu term.)
 
I imagine that Sousa probably wants a break. Her tenure has been crisis after crisis. I would expect 6 years to run for office rather than 2.

Worth noting that if Kahurangi has any political ambitions we'd probably start hearing about them about now too. She's just re-entered the public sphere with her diplomatic work and as one of the primary and the most prominent diplomat to House Tatresis.
 
If Kahurangi wanted a seat she could likely run on any world not just human ones and win. She has to be an extremely popular head of Starfleet both in general and inside Srarfleet.
 
Well, the Romulans being able to instantly torpedo her career kinda forces me to be leery about her.

I dunno. The Romulans trying to torpedo her career - successfully or otherwise - could be an interesting plot, assuming they ever have reason to attempt it.

Also, if I'm understanding the summary correctly this isn't really like Bashir who was keeping his nature a secret. I don't think Chen knows that she's an augment, which puts her in a different category. Then add in the facts that in TBG aliens in Starfleet are actually more than window dressing, and that several of our affiliates use genetic augmentation fairly liberally, and I'm not sure if it even COULD be as much of a problem as it was for Bashir.

If anything, this getting out would jeopardize Chen's standing with the human government, not with Starfleet or the Federation as a whole.


EDIT: holy fuck I just realized what humanity's hat is. We're "that ridiculously bioconservative race, who are also explorers I guess." Or perhaps even "that one race that gets curious and excited about anything new, but remains incredibly bioconservative due to some historical disasters."
 
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It really wasn't the kind of thing that should just be thrown in about a well-established character at such a late stage, at least without considerably more buildup. They actually gave us a lot of warning about Bashir in hindsight, starting with his holosuite program being a place where Julian Bashir could be Julian Bashir not dumbed down.
 
It really wasn't the kind of thing that should just be thrown in about a well-established character at such a late stage, at least without considerably more buildup. They actually gave us a lot of warning about Bashir in hindsight, starting with his holosuite program being a place where Julian Bashir could be Julian Bashir not dumbed down.

How much characterization has Chen actually gotten? I confess, I didn't read some of the early omakes from before I joined the quest.
 
Captain's Log - 2315.Q4.M1
Captain's Log, USS Voshov, Stardate 25976.3 - Captain Demora Sulu

For the first time in a decade, since Commodore ka'Sharren's fateful trip to Romulus, Starfleet vessels are forging a path inside Romulan space. After talks on Athos V, the Romulan Senate as authorised consisting of ourselves, the Cloudburst and Inspire to patrol the Romulan side of the neutral zone, as their own forces are too spread thin with conflict with the Klingons to successfully do so. A small Romulan task force, under an Admiral Velim, with one Daljerra and three Birds of Prey, will join us for the sweep.

-

Subspace Communique to Task Force 6, Gabriel Border Zone
From: USS Voshov, Captain Sulu

Commodore ka'Sharren, pardon the intrusion. I thought you should know a Romulan Admiral Velim passed on her regards.

-

Captain's Log, USS S'harien, Stardate 25977.4 - Captain T'Rinta

After concluding our quantum torpedo experiments, we have returned to Federation space, en route to Starbase 4 for specialist maintenance following the experiments. While there, we shall work with the Tellarite Academy of Mineral Sciences to learn more about potential packing substances for the torpedoes.

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Captain's Log, USS Docana, Stardate 25977.9

A major summit for the peace talks of the Arcadian War will be held on Delta Vega, with representatives from mainly the Ked Paddah, Gaeni, and other affiliates. This is a crucial step. Even though the Arcadian Empire is in no position to really discuss terms, we need to get all of our side all on the same page as far as conciliatory or punitive measures go.

Together with the Dryad, we will be collecting delegates for the summit, and the FDS is counting on us to ensure that there are no conflicts en route.

-

Captain's Log, USS Lightning, Stardate 25978.4

After receiving a distress call from the Betazoid colony ship Seed of Stars, we rushed to their aid, just in time to dispatch engineers and avert a potentially catastrophic build up on their port warp plasma injectors. It was a very near-run thing, however. As my ship's Counsellor on the bridge said when we approached, 'That is a lot of terrified people.'

[Ship saved, +10pp]

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Captain's Log, USS Salnas, Stardate 25978.7

A science team studying unusual planetary rings in the Straits of Themis reported an emergency, a failure of rad shielding to ninety percent of their base. They were effectively cooped up in their own mess hall with only a few hazard suits to even attempt repairs. The Salnas was able to identify the radiative feedback that was disabling their shielding and bring it back online, and render aid to those effected without loss of life.

[Gain +10rp]

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Captain's Log, USS S'harien, Stardate 25978.9

Our plans have been altered, with a report that a mutiny is occurring on a Caitian cargo ship. We are heading there at emergency warp.

From my recollections, there was another similar mutiny recently. I will have to investigate.

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Captain's Log, USS Vigour, Stardate 25979.1

A peculiar harmonic resonance in the fourth moon of Kapir VI was noticed during a periodic long-range sweep by Starbase 4. Together with the USS Lion on their first proper mission since returning, we have come to investigate, and found that the resonance was formed by a type of tritanium ore in a helical pattern that covers most of the moon. While we do not wish to disturb this natural phenomenon, we have located notable deposits that are safe to extract.

[Gain +35br]

-

Captain's Log, USS Docana, Stardate 25791.4

It has taken considerable acts of diplomacy, but we have managed to talk through a dispute that arose between the Gaen and Ked Paddah Ambassadors, over the relative prudence of warp nacelle structures.

That was surprisingly painful, but I was able to connect with the two Ambassador and get them back on the same page before arriving at the Vulcan system.

[Gain +10pp, open path to further event this quarter]


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Captain's Log, USS Voshov, Stardate 25791.6

I think we have located the source of the renewed infection from a combination of Romulan information about the known movements of the IRW Redclaw and a phased tachyon sensor sweep run in between ourselves and the Inspire.

The wreckage of the SS Skegal was found on the surface of a barren rock. Solves that question at least. We have successfully irradiated the wreck. There were signs that the captain of the Redclaw had been attempting to do the samewhen his ship became infected. Exactly what it was that went wrong is unknown though.

In any event, with the initial vector recognised, and the rest of our sweep clear, will be escorted back towards the Neutral Zone, with the appreciation of the Romulan Senate.

[Gain +10pp]

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Captain's Log, USS Selaya, Stardate 25791.8

While mapping systems on the fringes of Rigellian space, we encountered a peculiar geological formation, a sort of weblike encrusting that connected a series of asteroids. It appears that the thick dust cloud accompanying the asteroid belt was reacting to stellar wind, becoming charged and accreting minerals from the surrounding cloud.

[Gain +15sr]

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Captain's Log, USS S'harien, Stardate 25792.5

We have rescued the loyal crew members who were largely confined to the brig. I must confess, when the leader of the mutiny informed me that I had no right to interfere as they were a sovereign starship now, I was so confused by the logic that I nearly failed to act in time. As it was, we were able to bypass the shields after we made contact with a loyalist loose within the ship. After that it was a relatively simple process to secure the ship.

Under examination, it appears that there was a criminal movement among the Caitian Merchant Marine. We are sending an alert to the authorities on Ferasa.

[Gain +5pp, save Cargo Ship]

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Subspace Communique, to USS Voshov, Captain Sulu
From: Task Force 6, Gabriel Border Zone

Appreciated, Captain, give her my regards in return. If she ever wants another spar, tell her to send me a message, care of Starbase 11.

-
 
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