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

Written by John Edward Betancourt

My Fifth Command: U.S.S. Galactica – NCC-1775-A

​Of the many wise words that Captain James T. Kirk offered up over the course of his illustrious Starfleet career, some of his final ones are on my mind today. I’m paraphrasing horribly, but in essence, I will never forget when Kirk told Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Generations that Picard should do everything and anything to stay in the Captain’s Chair, even going as far as to decline a promotion if one was offered to him because it could potentially keep him from making a difference and well, Kirk’s advice makes sense to this day. After all, we saw how he struggled with the role of Admiral, and how it took a demotion to bring true happiness his way again and well, that sage advice is on my mind today because when it comes to my fictional career in Starfleet in Star Trek Online, I was at a crossroads.
 
Because my time as Captain of the Challenger was coming to a close for one reason and one reason alone, it was time for another promotion and there was only one rank awaiting me at this point, Admiral, and that made me nervous. Because at this point in time, I did not have a clue if that promotion meant that I was going to be offered a desk job at Starfleet Command and somehow live vicariously through my crew from afar and as we warped back to Earth Space Dock, my mind was racing at what the potential succession plan was going to look for like for my crew and how on earth this game was going to remain fun from the confines of a desk.
 
But as soon as I put on my new Rear Admiral pips (which now allows for the title of this blog to fit perfectly), and slightly modified my uniform to look a touch more regal, because I wasn’t shedding that white top just yet, I waited too long to earn it, I came to discover, that with a war on, and other threats growing against the United Federation of Planets, Starfleet didn’t have the luxury of putting me behind a desk. I was going to be a field Admiral, and handle important matters on the frontlines and well, I was over the moon over the fact that I was still going to be in that chair and calling the shots, so after promoting my longest tenured officers to Commander as a reward for sticking with me, the time came at last to select my new vessel and once again, another boyhood dream came true.
 
For there is only one other class of starship that I admire, and that’s the Sovereign class, because I fell in love with the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-E when she first appeared in First Contact and with my new rank came the ability to fly that class of vessel, and I didn’t even think twice in selecting that one, but this time around, I figured it was high time to exercise a little Admiral’s prerogative with this particular ship, and build my own vessel-centric legacy. So, the originally named U.S.S. Lexington received a quick name change to become the U.S.S. Galactica NCC-1775-A, because why not? It only seemed right to resurrect the namesake of the first vessel I ever commanded as a Lieutenant for my first posting as Admiral and I won’t lie, there was something supremely cool about taking the Galactica-A out of Space Dock for her first missions because well, to quote/paraphrase Captain Kirk once again, it felt like my crew had come home. 
 
But what mattered more, is that some incredible adventures came forth during my time as the skipper of this vessel, I mean come on, I got to fight the Borg while sitting in that chair, which was both cool and terrifying and of all the ships I had commanded to date, she was the scrappiest of them all, living up the tough nature this class of ship displayed on film and well, I grew quite fond of this vessel, and since Admiralty was where I was staying from here on out, she was with me as I went from Rear Admiral to Vice Admiral, wherein I changed the uniform once again to all black with red and gold trim since I was one rank away from the top rank available in the game, Fleet Admiral and well, the arrival of the 1775-A in my own personal storyline, means that the Admiral’s Log is going to shift in design and tone going forward.
 
Because by being attached to one ship for so long, I won’t be able to fan boy over a new vessel in the foreseeable future, instead I can only discuss the awe of what I encountered out there in the void and that’s what we are going to dive into next as I reflect upon some of the magnificent missions the crew and I took part in and the wonder we found during said missions, like when I got my first real taste of the majesty of Deep Space Nine, or the sprawling story that came about when we ventured to the Delta Quadrant and most importantly, the power and wonder of the Iconian War, which featured some damn fine writing and some stunning episodes, and first up, is a look back at all of the surprises that came my way when I ventured to an out of the way space station, named Deep Space Nine. Until next time. 

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