Personal Log: Ben Versteegt

NRPG: 'BOTF' stands for 'Birth of the Federation'. It's a Star Trek game by Microprose, and it's one of the best games ever. I've recently dug it up again, wiped off the dust and installed it, and it's working great.

In BOTF, you control one of five empires: the Federation, the Klingons, the Cardassians, the Ferengi or the Romulans. The goal is to dominate most of the galaxy, either through alliances or through conquest. Of course, conquest is more fun. :-P In this game, you have to manage your empire's economy, keep your people happy, put them to work, create ships, explore the galaxy, fight battles or make peace, etc. There's a lot to do, and it's a fun strategy game to play.

It occurred to me that, since I'm leading my ships into dangerous battles, it would be fun to write a post of sorts from the perspectives of one of the commanding officers of those vessels. And that's exactly what I did. I play the Romulans, and I'm at war with the Klingons, Federation and the Ferengi. The Cardassians are, at this point in the game, already wiped out or conquered. Despite all this, things are looking up for me, but only if I can defend my borders. Well, I noticed that the Klingons were preparing an attack force, so I took the fight to them and destroyed their ships. The following log is made by the Commander of the Shadowfly, a Destroyer-type Romulan vessel, who took her ship into a great battle at my orders. This fight actually happened in-game.

If I have time, I'd like to continue to write these little logs from the viewpoint of these characters under my command. The possibilities are virtually endless... Not only ship captains, but also intelligence officers, ambassadors, outpost commanders, civil leaders and the praetor himself would all probably have a lot to say about the way I'm running this empire. ;-)

RPG:

RNS Shadowfly, Romulan destroyer,
Commander Ranala's personal log.

The word of the Romulan victory over the Ferengi in the Endar system reached us even as we pushed our engines to take us to a victory of our own. Extensive scans had confirmed that the Andor system hosted a fleet of Klingon ships as well as an outpost; clearly they were amassing a force large enough to launch an all-out attack on the border worlds of our great empire. We -- a fleet of four destroyers, two scout ships and two battle cruisers -- had been ordered to take the fight to the Klingons instead.

Although I knew that our cloaking devices would render us invisible to the Klingons' sensors, I could not help but wonder what casualties this battle might have in store for us... And what surprises. The news of the easy victory over the Ferengi ships came at a decisive time, right before our battle, and I welcomed it. The crew was visibly elated, and spirits were high. The Klingons would not know what hit them, we told each other. Some even speculated that this would be over so soon the Klingons wouldn't be able to fire a single shot. But I've learned in my time as the commander of the Shadowfly that if there's one thing you shouldn't do, it's underestimating the Klingons.

When we dropped out of warp, under cloak, we found their fleet mobilised and their weapons running hot. They knew we were coming. While they couldn't scan through our cloak, they weren't going to make it easy for us. I still do not know how or why they had seen us coming. It was possible that one of our ships' warp fields was out of balance and triggered a reading on their sensors. Whatever the cause, they were waiting for us.

Taking care of the outpost wasn't going to be such a big problem; I could have flown towards it and single-handedly destroyed it myself if it wasn't for the other Klingon ships; one of our intelligence operatives inside the Klingon empire had hidden an explosive device on the inner hull of the outpost during the station's construction, and the device had been triggered a few hours before the battle, when the Klingons nearly found it. This had weakened the outpost severely, and its hull integrity was down to 36%. Its shields, weapons and sensors were, however, still functioning.

What worried me most at the time were the two battle cruisers the Klingons had waiting for us. They would co-ordinate the battle, much like the battleships on our side, and they would put their great firepower to destructive use. I figured that if we were fast enough, we could surprise the Klingons and take out their battlecruisers before they could even fire a shot.

The fleet commander agreed with me, and ordered our two battle cruisers to focus their fire solely on their Klingon counterparts. The fast attack group -- among which, of course, was the Shadowfly -- was ordered to charge the four destroyer-type light cruisers the Klingons had waiting for us. We were not to attack the outpost on our first run and instead concentrate all our fire on the more manoeuvrable destroyers.

When the fleet commander gave the word, I ordered the Shadowfly into battle. The moment we dropped cloak, my tactical officer fired a series of torpedoes to maximise the damage to the enemy, while my helmsman sped at full impulse to our targets. We had fired an entire round of torpedoes and were halfway through our plasma beam batteries before the Klingons noticed that we were there -- apparently they hadn't been so prepared after all.

During the first fifteen seconds of the battle, we had already obliterated two Klingon destroyers and crippled one other. Our two battle cruisers had dealt with the Klingon battleships easily -- I could see the burning wreck of one of those cruisers as my helmsman came about for another pass, and for a moment I felt I could relax again.

All that changed, however, when two B'Rel class birds of prey decloaked directly in front of us and fired an impressive array of torpedoes and disruptor blasts at the fast attack portion of our fleet. The Shadowfly was damaged severely -- having taken the brunt of the attack, our shields were down and our life support was running at minimal power. I found myself on the floor of the Bridge as explosions and fires had their way with the consoles around me. My helmsman had fallen to the floor as well, and I crawled towards him, determined to help him back on his feet. But the light in his eyes had left him; he was dead.

I'll never forget how sick I suddenly felt at that moment. The look on his lifeless face was one of pain; he had broken his neck when he fell to the ground. I had the urge to run away and hide in the darkest corner I could find, to try to forget what had happened. But I couldn't. There was still a battle going on, and a mission to complete. The Shadowfly was certainly damaged, but not down for the count... Not by a long shot.

I jumped into the pilot's seat and practically willed the Shadowfly to move again. I got the engines to start, and flew us in an attack vector towards the nearest Klingon ship; it was a destroyer, with its shields still half intact. My weapons officer fired the Shadowfly's impressive arsenal of torpedoes at our enemy, after which I circled around, picking on the Klingon destroyer with our secondary phaser batteries. The Klingon moved to pursue, and sensors indicated that he was shunting auxiliary power to his weapons -- if he hit us, we wouldn't have survived. Fortunately for us, one of our battle cruisers interfered and blasted the Klingon ship to dust.

When I regained my bearings, I found that the outpost had been destroyed, as had all but one of the Klingon ship. The remaining vessel, one of the birds of prey, was frantically evading weapons fire, and was actually doing an impressive job at it. The ship managed to activate its warp engines and fled the battlefield. For a Klingon, such is a fate worse than death. I think the fleet commander meant to let him go, just to infuriate the Klingons.

All in all, our mission was a success. The Klingon fleet and outpost had been destroyed, and an invasion had been prevented. However, the damage to the Shadowfly is extensive, and we will require a few days of repair at the nearest starbase. I've lost good members of my crew, and the doctor says that three more crewmembers have injuries that might yet cost them their lives. As Commander of this vessel, it is difficult to deal with these losses. I am not looking forward to writing letters to the families of the deceased members of my crew.

I must say, however, that another death has shocked me even more on a personal level. The Klingons managed to destroy one of our ships during the battle; a scout, the RNS Firecrow. The Firecrow's first officer was subcommander Nellik... Tapan Nellik. He and I went through the Naval Academy together, and I'll never forget his jokes, his bravery, and most of all, his dedication. Tapan is... was... a unique officer, and an extra-ordinary person. I will miss him. It's funny... You never notice a person as much as when he's not coming back. I always took his presence and his jokes for granted... But in death, he is much more noticeably present than he was in life.

We have to win this war, and we have to win it soon. The Klingons, the Ferengi, and now the Federation... They're all against us now. I, for one, am going to do what I can to make sure this war ends in a Romulan victory... And if, in the meantime, I can have revenge for what the Klingons did to Tapan, so much the better.

Computer, end log.

Categories: BOTF