E.S.F.
Email Star Fleet

Introduction File

 Greetings. This file should tell you the basics of E.S.F.'s timeframe
 and format, and should help you know where to start as an ESF player.

 E.S.F. is set beginning in the year 2400. It is set in the Star Trek
 universe, but several things have happened since the end of "The
 Next Generation":
 
 1. There was a Klingon-Cardassian war in the early 2370s (as 
     detailed in "Deep Space Nine"). Shortly after this war, the
     Dominion assumed control of Cardassia, but was driven out 
     by a revolt in the mid-2380s. Since then, there has been no
     known Dominion activity in the Alpha Quadrant.
 2. There was a Federation-Klingon war in the late 2370s and 
     early 2380s.
 3. There was a Federation-Romulan war in the late 2380s.
 4. There was a still-unresolved Klingon-Romulan conflict in the
     late 2390s.
 5. The Maquis staged a massive offensive in 2397, known as 
     the "Independence Day" offensive (it began on July 4), 
     resulting in their near-total victory over Cardassia, 
     and they are now independent, with the exception of 
     sporadic Cardassian raids into the DMZ.
 6. Bajor has joined the Federation as a member.
 7. A short conflict with the Borg in the early 2390s has 
     stimulated a massive military buildup on the part of the 
     Federation.

A couple things have even happened since the beginnings of ESF:
 1. Since the beginnings of E.S.F. on SD 000210, a possible 
     Romulan-Cardassian alliance has become a concern of 
     StarFleet Command.
 2. StarFleet has discovered a second wormhole, constructed by 
     the same aliens responsible for the Bajoran Wormhole.
     This wormhole leads from the Wolf 359 Battlefield to a
     desolate sector of the Delta Quadrant; a StarFleet outpost
     has already been placed there, as of SD 000620, when 
     Seventh Fleet was formed and based there.

 Also, several new technologies are being incorporated into 
 starships, such as a dimensional warp drive, which can send a
 ship all the way across Federation space in a week. However, 
 it can cause neurological harm with extended use (constant 
 exposure can kill in about five days, but effects are not 
 cumalative over repeated uses and wear off in a matter of hours),
 as well as being a "point-and-shoot" system (no course changes, 
 as sensors and navigation are disabled). Also, it only has one
 speed setting, rated at about six to seven times faster 
 than Warp 9.99.

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 E.S.F. is recruiting officers for senior staff positions on 
 its starships. You will begin as a Cadet, Fourth Class, about 
 to take your final exams and graduate from StarFleet Academy. 

 Once you pass your exams, you will recieve your diploma and 
 commission, and will be dispatched to one of ESF's seven 
 fleet command bases, where you will meet with the fleet
 commander. There you will be assigned to a fleet and a 
 starship or starbase for duty.

 As of this writing, these are the postings available to active 
  player-characters:

  FIFTH FLEET
 * StarBase LoneStar, the StarBase which serves as base for 
    Fifth Fleet, as well as most of the upper echelons of
    StarFleet Command
 * USS WILLIAM WALLACE (NCC-91017), a Stennis class Fighter Carrier
 * USS FELICITY KING (NCC-85503), a Pasteur class Medical Ship

  SEVENTH FLEET
 * StarBase Last Frontier, StarFleet's Delta Quadrant outpost, 
    which is also the base for Seventh Fleet.
 * USS LOS ANGELES (NX-90000), a Los Angeles class Heavy Cruiser 
 * USS PATHFINDER (NCC-74661), an Intrepid class Fast Frigate

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 There are many positions available in StarFleet, but these are 
 the nine senior staff positions available on most ships and bases:

CO     Commanding Officer, usually called "the Captain"
XO     Executive Officer, or "First Officer"
OPS    Operations Officer, or "Second Officer"
CEO    Chief Engineering Officer
CSO    Chief Security Officer
CMO    Chief Medical Officer
CNS    Counselor
CSciO  Chief Science Officer
CFO    Chief Flight Officer, or "Helm"

 Other positions may be available at certain posts (Most 
 notably, CWC, or Combat Wing Commander, on fighter carriers,
 or SOO, Strategic Operations Officer, on most StarBases). A
 few of the standard posts are combined or eliminated on
 smaller ships (for example, OPS and CFO or CEO and CSciO are
 often combined, and occasionally CMO and CNS).

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So, how do I join up?
 
 Well, it's easy. First, you need a reliable Email address for 
 your use. ESF is played entirely by Email. There are several 
 ways to get an Email address if you don't have one; Juno 
 (www.juno.com) and Hotmail (www.hotmail.com) are among those 
 that provide free Email services (though, it is to be understood
 that this is not intended as any type of advertisement or
 endorsement of these services over any other). Most colleges
 also offer free or reduced rate Email services to students
 and faculty. 

 Second, you need a character. A name, species, and gender is 
 enough to start out, but by the time you finish your Academy
 finals, you'll need a full biography, usually about one to 
 two pages, preferably in the format shown here: (Notes in 
 parenthesis are explanatory, and are not part of the format.)

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Official StarFleet Service Record
 (Rank) (Name)
 (Post)

Full Name: (Formal name first, followed by familiar. For standard 
 Terran names, this is backward, so use a comma in between)

Species:
Gender:
Birthdate and Birthplace:
 
Physical Description: (Height; Mass; Eye, Skin, and Hair Colors; 
 Age; anything unusual. If a category is irrelevant, i.e. your 
 character has no hair, leave it out or say so. Metric, please...)

Family: (Any known living family, and parents are a must, even 
 if they're dead, unless for some reason they don't have any or 
 don't know who they are.)

Personal Traits: (Personality stuff, like their hobbies, 
 obsessions, dislikes, etc.) 

Personal Skills: (Used for job assignment, should be relevant 
 to what you want to do. Normally includes Academy specialty 
 and any special degrees or certifications. This would include 
 M.D.'s, Ph.D.'s, and pilot's training, for example.)

Service Record:
 (So far, all you'll have is date of graduation, so I'll take 
 the opportunity to explain how ESF stardates work. We use a 
 six digit system, divided into three pairs. The first is the 
 last two digits of the year. The second pair is the month, in
 two-digit format, and the last pair is the day. For example, 
 July 1, 2400, would be 000701. 1997 is 2400 in game time, and 
 the day and month are the same. You will often see StarDates 
 written with the prefix SD. This is encouraged, but not required.)

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 Then, send your character's name, species, and gender, along with
 your name and Email address, to CinC-SFA and/or CinC-ESF. 
 Procedures and necessary addresses for this are listed in our
 "How to Join" file (listed as 'joining.txt' in this directory)
 as they often change more often than this file is updated.

 Any questions not answered here should be directed to Charles 
 Jencks, at CAJencks@juno.com, the founder of ESF and the current
 Fleet Admiral, as well as author of this document. 

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c. July 4, 1997 Charles Jencks, for ESF Command