The Admiral's Log: My Journey Through 'Star Trek: Online' - Part III

Written by John Edward Betancourt

My Third Command: U.S.S. Biffle – NCC-93000

​I think it’s safe to assume that just about every single gamer out there, comes to a point where they realize, they’re taking a particular game that they play, far more serious than they should. At least, I know I’m guilty of that. Sometimes, a particular game in Madden gets a tad more heated in my mind than it should, and well…with Star Trek being my favorite franchise of all time, you know damn well I was taking Star Trek: Online pretty frickin’ serious, that’s for sure. In fact, I was so hell bent on being the finest Starfleet officer I could be, there were a few moments there where I was taking more time than necessary to choose the right Trek related answer during a mission to make sure I got it right.
 
So, in order to keep a game like that fun, you in turn have to be a little goofy with it and be reminded of the fact that said game is here to bring you joy, not hours upon hours of seriousness and well, that’s the focus of today’s edition of The Admiral’s Log, letting loose within the confines of the game. Now, as I ventured back to Earth Space Dock with the crew of the Majestic, with a promotion to Commander waiting for me upon my return, I decided it was high time to get a little silly with my third command, or rather, as silly as one can get in this game for one big reason really. Because this was the last time I was going to be a junior officer so to speak, since my next promotion would take me to Captain, and considering the fact that Picard was my hero growing up…you respect that uniform and rank to the fullest, so now was the time to be a doofus. 
 
Which meant that shortly after I received my third pip on my uniform, I jaunted down toward Starship selection and took the time to do things a little differently. Because rather than hunt down a ship I always wanted to fly, now seemed like a good time to try something new and whilst perusing the vast amounts of ships available to me, I stumbled upon the Cheyenne class, a ship series that I’m fairly certain I’ve seen floating about Star Trek lore, and one that I’ve never flown before so why not choose that one and upon selecting it, well I realized it needed a fun name, something that would make me chuckle every time I saw its name pop up on screen, so at the suggestion of one of my absolute closest and bestest friends, Shae, I named my third vessel the U.S.S. Biffle and well, it worked, I had a hearty laugh when someone said its name during a mission and knowing a giant star ship with that name emblazoned on its hull was traversing the galaxy also added a little silliness to the experience as well.
 
However, while it was nice to let loose, there were some important Trek related moments that came about during my tenure as skipper of the Biffle, the kind that flat out take your breath away. Because not only did I get to meet the always scheming Sela from Star Trek: The Next Generation, once again portrayed by Denise Crosby, an encounter with her led to something that every Trek fan dreams of…an epic space battle. Granted, I’d taken ships into combat numerous times in this game already, but those massive battles, like the ones we all saw on Deep Space Nine when the Dominion War got underway, had yet to show up in this game, so when I saw an armada of Starfleet ships join me in combat over Vulcan, I knew I was in for a treat and that kind of combat was as awesome as I expected it to be and little did I know, that it would merely be a taste of things to come, and there would be bigger battles like that waiting for me down the line.
 
But alas, as is the case in the early days of my Starfleet career, this command would be brief as well, and at long last, a lifelong nerdy dream was about to be fulfilled because I was about to be promoted to Captain, a huge deal for me, and with that promotion would come the realization of another nerdy dream in the ship I was about to fly. But, I’m getting ahead of myself and I need to tip my cap in respect for this particular command. Because the Biffle ended up being a joy to helm, simply because she was actually quite efficient in combat as I came to learn, something I wasn’t sure of when I selected her, and she got us through some important missions as well, and while it was a shame to say farewell to her, I will always look upon my command of the Biffle fondly, because it was truly a lot of fun. Until next time.   

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