A Burning Building

The date: August 1^st, 2014.

The time: 7 AM SLT.

The place: Aeon sim.

It was a day like many others. There were some people building in the sandbox, several guests were shooting at each other in the weapons sandbox, and otherwise everything was quiet. But it wouldn't be for long. All of a sudden, the monorail station and the base of the Aeon tower caught fire! What had happened? Had there been explosions? And... was that Sophie, now trapped behind the flames?

It quickly turned out to be part of an OTS: Final Class scenario. Lt.jg T'Lara Ek'Tal, our (acting) Academy Commandant, wanted to once again experience a Final Class, first-hand. So, she asked me (Commodore RoBobby McMillan) to give such a class.

That meant, of course, that this scenario was big. Very big. But people could have expected that, since previous Final Classes hosted by myself, included the collapse of the immense Jenga tower, the crash of the MRU, and much, much more.

 

I'm pleased to say Lieutenant Ek'Tal passed with flying colours. Well done! Of course, no-one had expected anything differently.

There will be another OTS: Final Class this saturday, august 2^nd, at 11 AM SLT. Feel free to attend, for once again, I have something big in mind. For that, we'll need people. Lots and lots of people... Hope to see you there!

RoB

(PS: oh, don't worry: the fires were quickly put out, and security had been informed of the class. A big 'thank you' to everyone who participated!)

An explosive Final Class

Katie Zwilling needed to take the OTS Final Class, in order for her to graduate and become an Ensign. And so, she came to me. Now as you all know, I've come up with many original and interesting Final Classes, and today was no exception. Poor Katie...

I started the class with a statement. "I will get right down to business: there is a bomb in GFC!" Well, that got her attention. It was up to Cadet Zwilling to get a team, find the bomb and disarm it if possible. Oh, and it was on a timer: it'd explode in 15 minutes. Not a lot of time...

 

Now the bomb was in Galaxy, but Cadet Zwilling didn't know that. So she hurried out of the classroom to collect her team. As she sent them off throughout the sims, the bomb kept on ticking...

 

Finally, she and her team found the bomb. There were only a few minutes remaining... what to do? There was no way to disarm it. There wasn't much time for talking either. Finally Cadet Zwilling made the choice: Richardjrn Weatherwax was a hologram, made out of photons and forcefields. If his matrix could be reprogrammed to function as a forcefield to contain this bomb's blast, GFC might be saved!

 

At literally the last second, the modifications were complete. Congratulations Cadet Zwilling, you saved GFC *and* passed the OTS Final Class! Well done!

Tune in next time, for another evil, thrilling, funny or any other kind of OTS Final Class!

Christmas Party

The holidays have arrived! You would think that all members of GFC are taking it easy, resting in the sandbox after working very hard. But no... there are always those who push on. Take Cadet Monkeyman Firethorn for instance. Not only had he taken most of the Officer Training School classes in record time, he also requested an impromptu OTS Final Class on Christmas Eve!

So, I gave it to him. Spirit of Christmas, and all. His task: to organise a Christmas Party in the Fifth Pip. He only had a little over an hour...

Monkeyman did a great job!

And he pulled it off! Many people came to help, and under Monkeyman's leadership, a great party was started. When he left, we continued until the late hours... well, late for me, that was. But it was worth it! Great party indeed.

Merry Christmas and other assorted holidays, folks! Hope you have a few good days! :D

FADM Bixby helped out as well!

Isn't that some nice decorating?

People were having fun!

Monkeyman and Isobel, after Monkeyman had heard he passed the Final Class!

Merry Christmas!

Ze DJ, who become sillier and sillier as the night progressed... the sweater says it all, right?

OTS Final Class

Yes, it's back. Well, it's been back a while, but today was the first real OTS Final Class since it was discarded a long time ago. In short, the OTS Final Class is the last class Officer Training School cadets have to take, in order to apply for graduation. And it's not your standard class either: there's no pre-written notecard for instructors to copy/paste, no hour of just listening and asking or answering questions for the cadets... no written test at the end.

No, the OTS Final Class can best be described as GFC's version of the Kobyashi Maru, even though you *can* win in the Final Class. It's a test to see how much the Cadets have learned after taking all the other OTS classes. To actually let them experience what it's like to be in command. Because theory is one thing, but being able to put that theory in practice, is quite different.

Every Final Class is different. A different situation, different people, different decisions needing to be made. But one thing always remains the same: the cadets are in charge, and need to bring the situation to a good end. Or well, as good as possible. Examples of previous Final Classes are a giant Jenga tower falling down in the sandbox, causing cadets to rescue those trapped... a shuttle spiralling out of control that needs to be halted, or even a visitor needing to be shown around the sims.

Today's Final Class was for Cadets Six of Nine and Seven of Nine. Both ex-Borg, both eager to show what they were capable of. They were given an an assignment that was easy for them: building a model of the sandbox, and show how it could be more Trek-like.

 

They immediately started, and were making good progress... until all of a sudden, two shady characters appeared and kidnapped their instructor! It was up to the two surprised Cadets to assemble a small team to rescue him!

 

That didn't go all that well. Long story short, they came in, guns blazing, which caused the two bad guys to shoot their hostage! A firefight ensued, which stunned or killed both villains. It didn't matter though. Captain RoBobby McMillan was dead. Not even modified nanoprobes could revive him.

 
But this was just part of the OTS Final Class. With the surprise-RP part over, the Cadets went to the classroom, only to be joined later by me. Thankfully, it was just RP... phew. Still, the Cadets had experienced feelings and situations that would happen during non-RP situations too.

In the debriefing, both Cadets showed a keen insight in what had happened, what had gone right and what should have gone better. They understood what this class was all about, and what being a lead was all about. This class taught them valuable lessons to use in future situations... not just roleplay situations. This understanding was what mattered, not the outcome of the RP. So, both Six of Nine and Seven of Nine passed this OTS Final Class.

Congratulations to both of them! Now it's off to graduation, so that they take their rightful place amongst the officers of GFC!

As for the rest of you Cadets... there'll be a new, different, OTS Final Class next friday, 10.30 AM SLT. Hope to see you then!

(And thanks to Debbydo, Richardjrn, MJ and Dave for helping out! :D)