Onboarding Page

This page aims to aid new and old writers to situate themselves with their characters aboard the Theurgy, giving background and information about things that your character ought to be aware of. To begin with, however, you need to pick a way through which your character is introduced in Star Trek: Theurgy, so do that first, before browsing through the information that grants situational awareness. If you feel like you are missing something on this page, please don't hesitate to PM the GM on the forum with your request. Happy reading!

Story Entry-Points

Right now, as of Episode 2 in Season 2, your character could enter the story these different ways:

Option 01: Thawed from stasis on the USS Theurgy

If your created character is originally assigned to the titular USS Theurgy, it is recommended that your character has been in stasis since before Episode 01, and only now could be resuscitated after getting the medical attention he/she needed. Your character would then have been injured during the flight from Earth and Starfleet and put into a stasis pod to preserve his/her life. Whatever position your character held before their injury, that position might not be available any more, which would lead to them serving in an vacant position instead. Many possibilities with this option.

Option 02: From the IKS Vask'at

Another method of joining the story, is that your character is somehow affiliated with the Director of Covert Operations in Starfleet Intelligence, namely Rear Admiral Joseph Nerva Anderson. Perhaps your character used to be a Starfleet Intelligence operative? Perhaps Anderson was a friend of you character's mother or father? In any case, Anderson has personally contacted and convinced your character to join the Theurgy crew, having great faith in you because of this previous affiliation that you conjure in your character background story. Your character was contacted by Anderson via a heavily encrypted subspace transmission from Earth on March 15th, 2381, after he'd verified that the crew of the Theurgy weren't the traitors the Infested in Starfleet Command claimed them to be.

Admiral Anderson has sent your character to the Theurgy to fill crew vacancies. They were picked up by a Klingon ship, the IKS Vask'at, near the border and taken to meet with the Theurgy.

Your character will board the Theurgy from the Vask'at in Chapter 3. Again, please note that regardless the wanted position applied for during character creation, your character would not be assigned to such a position prior to transfer. This needs to be handled In-Character.

Option 03: From Romulus

In Chapter 5, an away team aboard the USS Allegiant has traveled to the Romulan homeworld, Romulus, in an attempt to free Praetor Tal'aura from the Infested's control and avert the brewing war with the Federation. While there, they will have opportunities to meet with others in the capital city of Ki Baratan.

Optional story prompts for joining:

No One Left Behind | Chapter 5 - Local-based allies and some Theurgy crewmen are caught and detained in the Citadel for supposed questioning (read torturous interrogation) by the Tal'Shiar Internal Security department.
Old Friends Die Hard | Chapter 5 - While on Romulus, the Theurgy crew makes contact with a self-declared agent for reunification representing a third-party elected leader who offers assistance if Theurgy, representing the Federation, promises to give some.

Your character will board the Theurgy when the away team returns from Romulus. Please also note that regardless the position applied for during character creation, your character would not be assigned to such a position prior to arrival. This needs to be handled In-Character.

Your First Steps Aboard the Theurgy

So your character takes his or her first steps off the transporter pad on the story's titular ship, through the airlock, or woken up in post-surgery in sickbay. Here are some observations that could be made over the coming few hours or days serving aboard the USS Theurgy.

Current Mission Status

Unless the situation has been made clear by reading the Story Archive - which is recommended since the contents there is what your character would be able to read in reports about the mission so far - the situation is as follows. In late November of 2380, the Theurgy crew learned that the people in Starfleet Command and large parts of the admiralty has been compromised. Being under the influence of parasites that makes the hosts loyal to a cosmic entity known only as the Nameless Darkness, Starfleet Command caught on to how they were being investigated by the Theurgy crew.

Prior to the Theurgy being able to present any findings to the Federation, Starfleet Command gave the order to destroy the Theurgy - citing that the A.I. of the ship had gained sentience and that the crew was holographic replicas of the real officers. With the haste under which these orders were issued, however, the facts presented were disparate in the way that some iterations claimed that it was Captain Ives whom had defected to the Romulans during the peace talks at Romulus, and that s/he had used the A.I. kill the members of the crew that weren't loyal to hir. The confusion surrounding this was brief, the official statement being that it didn't matter either way. Task Force Archeron was formed to pursue the Theurgy and destroy it at all cost, since the cutting edge technology of the Theurgy couldn't be handed over to the Romulans. Moreover, all subspace communication with the Theurgy was prohibited at the penalty of treason since the A.I. of the ship could spread to more starships through a subspace comms link, and the reach of the artificial entity had to be contained so that it wouldn't spread through the Federation Network. Starfleet raised filters for incoming and outgoing network traffic based on new security policies regarding the threat of the Theurgy, and the ship was effectively cut off from all databases.

Since November of 2380, the Theurgy has been on the run from Starfleet, and as of Interregnum 01-02 of Season 2, six months have passed since that fateful day. All the while, the Federation News Network has peddled Starfleet Command's doctored facts about the actions of the Theurgy crew, shifting the public opinion entirely to their advantage. The thorough smear-campaign has been a constant presence in media channels, and whatever the crew has done in order to protect and spread the truth about Starfleet Command has been suppressed or twisted into a narrative fitting the Infested - which is the name given to parasitically infested. The motives of the Infested are somewhat shrouded, but whenever contact is made with them, they claim that intelligent life is a mistake. A spreading wound that needs to be treated. At the same time, they speak of how the current existence is to be 'consumed by the dark'. For more information about the Infested, click this link.

The Theurgy is currently orbiting Qo'noS, after having aided High Chancellor Martok to subdue House Mo'Kai - the leader of which failing to usurp the position as Chancellor. Thus, the Theurgy crew has found an ally in the Klingon Empire, but it might be too late to prevent an intergalactic war. Praetor Tal'Aura of the Romulan Star Empire has detonated a thalaron bomb in Paris, Earth, almost killing the Federation President and the entirety of the Federation Council, not to mention millions of innocent citizens. In doing so, she has declared war against the Federation, citing that Starfleet has armed her political opponent in the Romulan Civil War. Starfleet Command, in turn, had laid that blame at the feet of the Theurgy, saying they are responsible for colluding with Romulans. With the Praetor being one of the Infested, just like Starfleet Command, the two are working together to fan the flames of war. The Praetor has ignored the ban on thalaron weaponry and ordered her fleets to destroy Empress Donatra, her opponent in the civil war, who is currently fleeing with her fleet towards the Klingon border. Hopefully, Chancellor Martok and the Theurgy can find an ally in her.

Once the repairs of the Theurgy are finished, the mission to stop a new intergalactic war and expose the Infested will begin anew.

Where are my quarters?

The Quartermaster's office is on Deck 10, Vector 01. Chief Petty Officer Abraham Savali is the Chief Quartermaster who served aboard the Theurgy in 2381. He was the quartermaster in charge of Vector 01, the "Helmet" and there were presumably two other quartermasters serving aboard the Theurgy, one for each stardrive vector, in the event of extended MVAM missions. Otherwise, these officers would be handling the shifts where Savali wasn't on duty. Among other things, the duty of the Quartermaster is to assign quarters to new officers, or issue new accommodations to officers that are promoted or demoted. You can either write a scene in which your character is assigned quarters - be it at your character's prompt or someone contacting the Quartermaster on your character's behalf - or you let all of this tedious work happen "off screen". Optionally, you can add a note where your character's quarters are at in a Special Notes section on your character page, unless you can keep track of it yourself.

When picking a deck for your character's quarters, take a look at the Deck layout of the Theurgy and what makes most sense for their duties. As for what kind of quarters your character is entitled to, it is determined by rank. Please see the below images (and don't mind the Easter Eggs hidden in them!).

Captain's Quarters & VIP Quarters
Departmental Head Quarters
Senior Officers' Quarters
Junior Officers' Quarters
Shared NCO Quarters
Shared Enlisted Quarters

If you write a civilian, your character is normally allotted the Junior Officer Quarters.

What now? How do I find writing partners?

We are an open and friendly community, so any of the following methods are good starting points:

Check the Mentor Program section of the Joining the Crew page, and see if one of the available Mentors could write with you.
Look up different characters on the Crew Manifest that you would like to have your character interact with somehow. If you click the [Show] button, you can see who writes that character.
If you have an idea for a scene, but no one to write with, you can also post in the Main OOC thread or the Interregnum 01-02 OOC Thread (but don't spam both of them).
You can also use our Discord Server (the link is in the top menu of the forum after you've completed the joining process). There, you have a writing-requests channel. There is also the conference-room channel.
Check out the Story Prompts page as well, if you are looking for ideas.

Departmental Situation

The links below will take you to your character's departmental wiki page, which is subject to updates on a running basis. There, you can find info directly relating to your character's department. As for which characters are running each Department, you can find them listed on the Crew Manifest. In order to see which writer the Department Head belongs to, click the [Show] button next to the character entry.

It is encouraged that you reach out to that writer and set up character introductions into the Department if so needed, but it is not mandatory if you have other plans for how you plan on introducing your character into the story. It is recommended that you PM the Department Head writer on the forum since not all writers are active on our Discord server. Don't be concerned about doing so either, since they just happen to write a superior officer In-Character. Out-of-Character, they are the same as you, without any elevated status. This is a writing site, and not a shoe-horned excuse of a rank system that extends into RL, so just relax and write them a line to see if they are available for a thread.

Department Pages:

Disparate Crew Origins

If the original Theurgy crew serving aboard the ship still have the majority in numbers, it is not by much. This is a part of the experience of serving aboard the Theurgy for your character, since the people s/he meet may have come from another ship entirely, and under extreme circumstances. If nothing else, it ought to be food for conversation. Here is the list of original Theurgy crew characters.

Over the course of the mission, the Theurgy´s ranks have been replenished with officers from these different ships or locations:

USS Harbinger
Of the total accommodation of 500 officers and crew on an Akira-class ship, ca 300 of them transferred to the Theurgy, the rest either having been KIA or serving as a skeleton crew aboard the Harbinger before its destruction. Here is the list of characters, some of which are still actively played, and here are the dramatic events under which the Harbinger officers came to serve on the Theurgy: Episode 03: Unconquerable Soul - Part 3 (Season 1).

Black Opal
All 20 officers serving aboard the Black Opal weapon research facility came to serve aboard the Theurgy after a Romulan ship attacked it, and the Theurgy crew saved their lives. Check the Black Opal link for more information. The most prominent of the characters from the Black Opal was Jennifer Dewitt, who ended up staying behind in Breen space to keep the Confederacy out of the war.

Starbase 84
A handful of characters came aboard the Theurgy during the Battle of Starbase 84. Either they fled from the fighting and ended up on shuttles that docked with the Theurgy, or they ended up on the ship when the USS Resolve evacuated all its remaining crew to our titular ship. Here is the list of characters, some of which are still actively played, and here are the dramatic events under which these characters came to serve on the Theurgy: Episode 04: Simulcast (Season 1).

USS Resolve
Of the total accommodation of 350 officers and crew on a Luna-class ship, ca 290 of them transferred to the Theurgy, the rest having been KIA along the voyage back home or in the Battle of Starbase 84. Here is the list of characters, some of which are still actively played, and here are the dramatic events under which these characters came to serve on the Theurgy: Episode 04: Simulcast (Season 1).

USS Endeavour
When the Borg attacked the USS Endeavour, only 100 of the 750 officers and crew made it to the escape pods, and only forty of them got away from being assimilated. As of March 2381, the knowledge of the Endeavour´s destruction had yet to reach the Federation because Captain Ian Hawthorne on Starbase 84 made sure that their last known position was deleted from the Federation's navigation logs. Only twenty of the remaining officers made it on to the Theurgy in the end, be it via surviving the torment at the hands of the Savi or finding the Theurgy inside the Azure Nebula. Here is the list of characters, and you can find more information here about these events: Battle of the Apertures.

USS Cayuga
The Cayuga was attacked by a Borg cube but managed to get away and hide for repairs in the densest parts of sirillium clouds in the Azure Nebula. After the Theurgy found the Cayuga, they undertook the mission to stop the Borg invasion together. Through these chaotic events, a handful of officers ended up on the Theurgy, either by choice or happenstance. After the Borg invasion was halted, the Captain and crew of the Cayuga were taken prisoner by Starfleet and sent of to a prison colony awaiting trial under trumped up charges. Hearsay has it that they managed to escape from the transport, however, whereabouts currently unknown in the story. Here is the list of characters, and you can find more information here about these events: Battle of the Apertures.

USS Bellerophon
When Vector 1 of the Theurgy faced off against Task Force Archeron in a cat and mouse battle in the Azure Nebula, Acting Captain Carrigan Trent was pushed a little bit too far in his emotionally compromised state. He gave the order to fire against the Bellerophon when her shields were already compromised instead of using the clear and present opportunity to leave the battlefield. The result was catastrophic, and although lifeboats were recovered by the Theurgy, the majority of the Bellerophon’s 150 officers and crew were lost in the tragedy. In total, after Jennifer Dewitt relieved Trent from command, the Theurgy managed to save 40 souls in total. One of them later murdered Carrigan Trent during the time at Aldea, having lost his pregnant wife when the Bellerophon was destroyed. Here is the list of actively played characters that made it aboard, and you can find more information here about these events: Battle of the Apertures.

Aldea
Most of the characters that came to Aldea to serve on the Theurgy has some kind of affiliation with Admiral Anderson, or "King" as he is known to most aboard the ship. Barring a select few exceptions, including these characters, Anderson is known by his codename so that the Infested might not learn who he is. He is the Director of Covert Operations in Starfleet Intelligence after all, and if the Infested somehow learned he is working with the Theurgy, he would be compromised and likely end up dead. It was also King who managed to convince the Captain of the USS Oneida about the legitimacy of the Theurgy´s mission. Here is the list of actively played characters that arrived at Aldea, but in total - including NPCs - roughly 40 crewmembers were added to the Theurgy´s crew.

Episode 01: Advent of War & the USS Oneida
During Advent of War, the first Episode of Season 2, a few characters made it aboard the Theurgy, and they can be found here. Read the character pages to see how they specifically joined the crew. Most of the new crew complement, however, came from officers aboard the USS Oneida, and they can be found here. In total, about 30 of the Oneida´s crew transferred to the Theurgy. Worth mentioning is also that the Oneida has a codename, and it is "Freedom Sentinel". The codename was used to identify the ship as an ally after Admiral Anderson - codename King - convinced Captain Jesse Jackson and his Senior Staff to join the Theurgy´s mission. King has also used the same codename for other contacts that know the truth about Starfleet Command. Among them, Ambassador Elim Garak.

Qo'noS
After the Theurgy arrived at the Klingon home world, it is yet unknown how many characters will come to join the Theurgy crew while it was in orbit. So far, they either joined the crew at the behest of Admiral Anderson - codename King - or they were at Qo'noS by the time the Theurgy came to aid Chancellor Martok to keep his position as leader of the Klingon Empire. The list of characters can be found here.

Quantum Slipstream Drive & the Savi

Image: Echtand qi Versant, the Voice, leader of the Savi rebellion against the Scion High Council.

During the events surrounding the Battle of the Apertures (check link in case you are unfamiliar with this), a number of Theurgy crewmembers were abducted by the Savi (this link is also recommended reading). The abductees, with the help from the Savi named Echtand qi Versant - also known as the Voice - managed to escape their labs aboard the Versant and helped the Voice mutiny against the Scion Admiral that was in command of the ship. The Scions, similar to the Augments in how they were enhanced, were the ruling caste of the Savi, and with their extended lifespan, they manipulated the original Savi (also called the Antecedents, or Antes) into becoming the equivalent of ignorant slaves by making them follow gradually changing Savi laws - called the Code. The Voice, with the help from the Theurgy abductees, learned what the Scions had done to the Code, and therefore ignited the mutiny on the Versant and rebellion of the Antecedents in the entire Savi Flotilla. Long story short is that during the time the Theurgy underwent its repairs and refit at Aldea, the Voice made contact with the Theurgy crew and wished to make an alliance.

The terms of the alliance, is that the Theurgy is to aid the Savi with unique intel that Doctor Nicander can provide through his Farsight ability - using his connection with the Nameless Darkness to spy on the ongoings in the Savi High Council. With the Doctor's ability to see through the eyes of other Infested, he alone can deduce what the Scions will be doing next in the civil war of the Flotilla. Of course Nicander doesn't know that the intel he's providing is aiding the Voice, instead thinking that the interest in the Scion High Council is strictly to keep an eye on the Savi so that they don't attack the Theurgy again. If Nicander would know he is spying for the Voice and the rebel Savi, the Infested in the Scion High Council would know about it since they can also see through his eyes.

In exchange, the Voice offered a Quantum Slipstream Drive for the Theurgy, and it is currently installed in Main Engineering. The conditions are strict, however, in that the detailed knowledge about the Savi that the Theurgy might have gained from the ordeal in the Azure Nebula is not to be documented so that their existence might become common knowledge. It is a high priority for the Savi to remain incognito, for lack of a better term, so that their research and expansion of their Archive can continue without outside involvement. To aid the Theurgy in getting their QSD to work even when using an - according to the Savi - inefficient warp drive, they also sent a delegation of 20 Savi engineers to assist with that aboard the Theurgy in the short term. Since Savi can't breathe regular oxygen, the members of this delegation had their lungs replaced with artificial ones, and the delegation is also overseeing the Theurgy crew's conduct in keeping the existence of the Savi and their level of technological advancement on a strict need-to-know basis. When Martok came aboard the Theurgy with 200 Klingon companions during Episode 01: Advent of War, they weren't even told the name of the alien species that were seen in the corridors around Main Engineering. Ives simply told Martok that they wished to be left alone, that the speed through which the Theurgy could reach Qo'noS might and mightn't have had something to do with their involvement, and that they are aiding in the mission to thwart the Infested. The main takeaway from this is that all Theurgy crewmembers are to abide to an NDA in regard to the Savi, and not divulge their existance to anyone not serving aboard the ship.

Furthermore, as another part of the alliance, the Voice has agreed to deploy Theurgy shuttles from the Erudite - another Savi ship - and with that ability, the Theurgy was able to stop the Breen and the Andorians from mobilising for war.

As opposed to what the Federation News Network (FNN) has been saying...

At every turn of the story, the Infested have twisted the narrative around the unfolding events - painting the Theurgy as the villain. Here are just a few examples of the lies your character might have been told in Starfleet briefings or on the news, and what really happened. It should serve as a starting-point for how he or she might have perceived the Theurgy prior to coming aboard the ship and learning what really happened.

"The Theurgy´s murder rampage through the Alpha Quadrant!"

Lie: When caught spying for the Romulans at Starfleet Headquarters, the Theurgy showed no mercy towards the noble crews that sought to stop them. With no compunction, the cold and calculating A.I. decimated all ships, killing thousands of loyal Starfleet officers, be it at the orders of Captain Ives or on its own accord. Either way, he Theurgy showed no quarter, and here are bodies to prove that the Theurgy must be destroyed at all costs. Whatever real crewmembers that still serve aboard the renegade ship are traitors, and all friends or kin of the original crew can rest assured that whomever they knew aboard the Theurgy has either been replaced by a hologram or been brainwashed by Jien Ives.
Truth: At every turn, the Theurgy tried in vain to prevent the loss of lives aboard the starships that attacked it, be it through hails or merely disabling the pursuing vessels. Your character can review the tactical logs amassed over the past six months and make their own judgement of this. The Theurgy crew has been forced to defend themselves in order to not let the truth about Starfleet Command get lost, leaving the Infested unopposed. Something which, by accident or since the threat posed by the Infested must be the mission priority, has led to loss of innocent lives, yet not even remotely at the numbers which Starfleet Command and the FNN has presented.

"The Theurgy attacked Starbase 84!"

Lie: Unprovoked, the Theurgy fired upon Starbase 84 and sent murderous boarding parties inside it, with the sole ambition to use the starbase's Romulan defence signalling system, sending a simulcast to the whole Federation in which Captain Ives challenged the doctrine of the Prime Directive, calling it an unjust discrimination towards civilisations that had yet to reach warp capability. While the Prime Directive is a necessity, it might seem unfair to some, but no such concerns should warrant treason! Even worse, once the simulcast was sent, the Theurgy deployed a shuttle to blast its way inside the recreational dome of the starbase, for the sole purpose of igniting its warp core and killing as many as possible. After that, faced with Starfleets finest in the form of Task Force Archeron - led by the heroic Admiral Sankolov - the Theurgy was forced to flee into the Azure Nebula. We shall always remember the brave officers aboard the Orcus and the Chester, who paid with their lives to defend the innocent.

Truth: The approach towards the starbase was meant to be undetected, entering transporter range in grey mode in order to deploy boarding parties armed with TR-120 rifles, which contained tranquiliser darts just to avoid phaser fire being detected on internal sensors. The starbase went to Red Alert, however, and the Theurgy had been detected. Starbase 84 fired first, after which the Theurgy fired to disable the starbase's tactical sensor suite and its phaser emitters. The boarding parties were compromised, so they resorted to defending themselves with their back-up phasers set to stun. The simulcast that was sent was supposed to contain a different recording entirely, presenting the evidence about Starfleet Command. Instead, the message had been switched out before the mission, containing a falsified recording where Ives challenged the Federation instead, cementing the image that the Theurgy had defected to the Romulans. The message has been altered by a former Trill host of the Rez symbiont - Jona Rez - in the interest to keep the truth from provoking public unrest and the Federation turning on itself. The shuttle that breached Starbase 84's recreational dome belonged to the USS Resolve, and it was piloted by its Captain, whom in anger over the fate of his ship sought to kill Captain Ian Hawthorne - one of the Infested. When his shuttle was fired upon, it was loosing altitude, and in order to conserve the blast from the failing warp core, he crashed it inside the command tower inside the dome - sparing innocent lives from the detonation as best as he might. Both the Orcus and the Chester were subject to defensive efforts to protect the truth. It is also worth mentioning that the Theurgy fled into the Azure Nebula instead of crossing the Romulan Neutral Zone, which had been a far better alternative if they were Romulan defectors.

"Just to escape anew, the Theurgy destroyed the Azure Nebula!"

Lie: When cornered inside the Azure Nebula, fleeing from Task Force Archeron, the Theurgy must have developed a new kind of weapon with the aid of it's A.I. It was a weapon of such yield that it not only ignited the sirillium clouds dispersed through the nebula, but the weapon tore all of subspace asunder in the blast. The Azure Nebula ignited in an explosion even brighter than a supernova, with the light due to be visible across the entire galaxy for decades to come. Since subspace was ruptured, warp travel has become impossible in the vicinity of the Azure Nebula, stranding millions of people and five inhabited planets. The farthest the shockwave reached was the Nimbus System. With subspace communication non-viable, it prevents any distress calls from reaching anyone outside the blast radius. It may take decades, centuries, for some affected colonies to leave their ruins behind, if they even survived. There is no way to know. Fortunately enough, what remained of Task Force Archeron managed to outrun the shockwave, and Admiral Sankolov managed to apprehend Captain Ives's former First Officer - Anya Ziegler - who was shipped off to a penal colony awaiting trial together with her closest companions. Claiming anything in order to lessen the sentence, the criminals claim to have been fighting Borg cubes - of all things - but Task Force Archeron detected no Borg activity inside the nebula.

Truth: Prior to the Theurgy's arrival, three Borg cubes had discovered a subspace aperture within Borg space that led to the Azure Nebula. The USS Endeavour was destroyed, its distress call reaching Captain Ian Hawthorne personally before the Battle of Starbase 84. The Infested suppressed the fate of the Endeavour, not telling anyone about the distress call. The USS Cayuga, under Anya Zeigler's command, sustained heavy damage from one Cube and fled deeper into the Azure Nebula - the radiation preventing any further communication. Only the Theurgy managed to heed the Cayuga’s distress call. Faced with the prospect of an all-out Borg invasion, the Theurgy set the course towards the heart of the Azure Nebula and the aperture that led to Borg space. To seal the aperture, the Theurgy was forced to use what the Borg termed “Particle 010”, but what the Federation knew as the “Omega Molecule”. The Omega detonation instantly destroyed the cluster of subspace tunnels, including the one which the Theurgy used to escape the nebula. Hundreds of Borg cubes that were already flying through were destroyed as the aperture leading to Borg space collapsed. All remaining Klingon ships could escape in time and the Cayuga made it as well, successfully outrunning the blast and warning the remains of Task Force Archeron in time. Despite the cost, the victory saved hundreds of billions of lives throughout the Alpha and Beta Quadrants and permanently closed off the Borg from entering Federation space through such means again. Anya Ziegler and her loyal crew were apprehended nonetheless, but has since managed to escape from the prison transport. For more info, see Battle of the Apertures.

"It is the Theurgy´s fault that the Romulans bombed Paris!"

Lie: For months, the Theurgy has been supplying classified information about coordinates to Empress Donatra, the Praetor's rival in the Romulan Civil War. Specifically, coordinates to Starfleet depots spread along the RNZ, which has armed Donatra's fleets with the Federation's most high-end weaponry. By doing so, regardless of reassurances from Starfleet Command that the Theurgy is a rogue ship acting on its own, it aggravated the Praetor to the point where she bombed Paris, declaring war against the Federation in the belief that Starfleet had picked Donatra's side in the conflict.

Truth: It was Captain Ian Hawthorne, the Commanding Officer of Starbase 84 and one of the Infested, who sold the coordinates to one of Donatra's rogue Captains, in the interest of framing the Theurgy and creating the excuse for the Infested Praetor to attack the Federation. The Infested followed through with this plot after the Borg Invasion was halted, and they had to resort to other plans. Captain Hawthorne's dealings with the Romulans were exposed by the crew of the USS Resolve just prior to the Battle of Starbase 84, and one of the depots that were victim to this development was the Black Opal.

FAQ Section

Here are some common questions that you have yet to ask, but may have been on your mind. If not, they might come up at some point, so here are the answers:

"What are the Infested, really?"

The answer will be framed in the context of a new character learning about the enemy from someone aboard the Theurgy, be it as described in reports or explained verbally. The sources for the intel is a mix between observations and accounts left by an Infested by the name Sonja Acreth, and Doctor Nicander, who's mind has been reclaimed from the parasite that still resides inside him. Of course, there are some of the crew that doesn't quite trust that he is himself again, and may even argue that the intel gained from him should be subject to suspicion. This, even though Doctor Nicander has preformed many feats and aided the mission since then. The Doctor is held in the brig, and those who still victim-blame him out of hatred towards the enemy claims he has given assistance to the ship and the crew merely for the sake of self-preservation. So, depending on whom your character speaks with, they might hear different attitudes when it comes to the Theurgy´s former Chief Medical Officer in the brig.

In any case, what is known so far about the Infested can be found here, and the page will be updated if new findings emerge: The Infested

"Do the parasites have anything to do with the bluegills in the novel-verse, seen in the TNG episode 'Conspiracy'?"

No, like it's stated on the Star Trek: Theurgy Canon page, the blue gills does not exist in the Theurgyverse. The parasites that control the Infested are something entirely else. The blue gills neither exist nor do they have any kind of resemblance or relation to the parasites in this story of ours. In other words, the TNG episode named "Conspiracy" never happened, since we have used that premise and made something more out of it. These parasites do not appear on tricorders, for instance, which would have prevented the development in Conspiracy from ever happening, realistically.

"What is the deal with Doctor Nicander in the brig? Are there two of them now?"

Image: Prime universe Doctor Nicander, in the brig of the Theurgy.

The original Chief Medical Officer of the Theurgy, Dr. Lucan cin Nicander, turned out to be one of the Infested during the events in the Azure Nebula, in the end of Season 1. A cannon is mounted outside the forcefield of his holding cell, and it's a a transphasic light cannon. It emits a wavelength of light that repress the parasite's hold on the mind of an Infested host. Since his true nature was revealed and his sanity was restored to him, the Doctor has aided the mission, with his research and by volunteering usage of his connection to the dimension from which the parasites come. This, to learn what their next target might be.

Image: Alternate universe Nicander, working with the Infested Scions.

Using his abilities during the mission so far, Doctor Nicander had managed to save the middle section of the Theurgy when it fought Chancellor Martok in the Azure Nebula. There was an Infested on the bridge of the IKC Rotarran, and seeing through her eyes, the Doctor could espy the Rotarran´s shield harmonics, which allowed the Theurgy crew to deal a hard enough blow against the Klingon ship to allow for a tactical retreat. Nicander was also able to present the solution to use the Omega Device in the Azure Nebula, which he'd gleaned through his connection as well, and it presented the Theurgy the opportunity to seal the apertures which the Borg Invasion was coming through. He even volunteered to stay behind and detonate the device, keen on redemption because of what he had done under the influence of his parasite, but Captain Ives picked another volunteer - Wenn Cinn - since Nicander wasn't trusted with the device. Furthermore, Nicander also made the suggestion to use anyonic subspace particle emitters in the airlocks and the transporter systems to kill any other Infested coming aboard the ship. Moreover, just before the Theurgy reached Qo'noS, his insight helped keep the Breen from joining the coming war, and he could help determine whom among the Klingon High Council was also in Infested. All of this, from his voluntary confinement in the brig. Yet still, out of fear, some of the crew distrust him at every turn, even though whatever atrocities he's done before he'd done under the influence of the parasite.

The other Nicander, now present in the story, crossed over from a parallel timeline, in which the Theurgy never managed to stop the Niga virus outbreak aboard during Episode 01: Outbreak (Season 1). This Doctor was first encountered by Liam Herrold and Eun Sae Ji when a transporter malfunction in which the anyonic phase protocol misplaced them into this alternate timeline. The two officers were returned to the ship by reverting the transporter sequence and its faulty anyonic sub-system, leaving that Doctor where he was to begin with. The breach between the timelines, however, was caught on sensors, and the Doctor used the readings to - eventually - cross over to the present timeline when the Theurgy had reached Qo'noS. After killing several officers and using the onboard confusion of the battle with House Mo'Kai to his advantage, the alternate Nicander ejected himself from the ship with an escape pod, and using his connection to the Infested among the Scions of the Savi, they picked him with a cloaked saucer before the Theurgy crew could retrieve the escape pod. His current whereabouts are unknown, but he is believed to remain with the Infested among the Savi.

"What happens if you call Thea a 'warship'?"

The Ship A.I. does not enjoy being called a warship, finding the label unflattering since - while capable for battle - she does not like being reduced to a crude tool for war. She was built for the purpose of exploration, diplomacy and also being a presence of deterrence given her battle capabilities. If someone would call her a warship, she won't take kindly to it, and judge the speaker on the basis of their ignorance.

Rumours would have it, however, that she might make everyday life aboard the ship miserable for such a person. This, whenever they might use a replicator, a turbolift or a sonic shower...

"Before Doctor Nicander, there was another Infested in the Brig named Sonja Acreth. What happened to her?"

Image: Ensign Sonja Acreth.

At first, Sonja Acreth was an Ensign aboard the USS Harbinger, and she was later held in the brig after her true nature was discovered. As an Infested, she was the first of her kind that the Theurgy crew could interrogate. During these hearings, the picture of what the enemy was capable of became clearer. During the Battle of Starbase 84, with the help from Doctor Nicander while he was still under parasitic control, she escaped her cell and managed to reach Sarresh Morali's Temporal Observatory Lab. There, she create a temporal breach into the distant past, which took her to the uncharted planet Niga in the Mahéwa System. Going there, she brought a small stasis unit containing the Niga virus. By seeding the planet with the virus, she created a new temporal cycle, in which the Theurgy would again suffer the outbreak of the virus aboard the ship once it reached the planet in the future. Doctor Nicander was not caught helping Acreth escape, and the blame was directed towards Doctor Maya, whom had been under Nicander's control. Doctor Maya was later cleared, and she is presently on secondment in the KDF, helping the Klingons understand the nature of the enemy.

"Wait, the Niga planet was destroyed, so how come strains of the Niga virus are still out there?"

The Niga virus is not a natural phenomenon. It was developed at a secret research facility named Azurite Station. It's first iteration, which was rather benign compared to the final version, was accidentally developed by Doctor Zephyr Praise. While the findings made her shut down the project in the belief that the research would end with that, the Infested continued her work in her absence. The Theurgy sent an away team to Azurite Station once the ship reached Qo'noS, but the reports of the outcome of that mission has yet to become common knowledge of the ship. (OOC: Mission still ongoing on the forum)

The second reason why the Niga virus might still be a threat is because of the second Doctor Nicander that crossed over from another timeline wherein the Niga virus spread across the Galaxy. Carrying the virus, the second Nicander may have worked with the Scions of the Savi to synthesise more of it. Already, another Theurgy away team has been forced to contain the outbreak of the virus in a Klingon colony, where the Infested utilised a brewery to try and spread the contamination.

"So, Savi. Tall aliens. Kay, but Antecedents and Scions? The Scion High Council? The Scion Directive? The Savi Rebels? WTF?"

Most information can be found on this page: Savi

The Savi were of two castes. After the Scion gene was implemented into their genome, the original Savi came to be called the Antecedents (or Antes), which were the male and the female Savi. The second caste was the Scions, which were a genetically tailored ruling caste of Savi. The Scions were hermaphrodites, possessing both sets of reproductive organs, and considered superior in all genetic aspects over males and females. They were always given roles of import in the Flotilla. The Flotilla of the Savi was spread all over the Galaxy, yet considering the distances in space, the presence of their ships - while cloaked and unnoticed - was very rare. They were seldom gathered in clusters, yet remained in communication over the vast distances on a regular basis. As of 2381, there were 137 Savi ships in the Flotilla, yet the four Precept ships - named the Erudite, the Versant, the Ubiquitous & the Panacea were the flagships of the Flotilla. Because of the declining birth-rates of the Savi, hundreds of ships have been left behind over the past centuries, hidden for some time in the future when they would grow in numbers once more.

The first Scion was born in 2274, and the Scion Directive was implemented by the High Council, which gradually - over decades - warped the Code and the conduct of the Savi to favour the ambitions to evolve their species. The amount of unrest in reaction to this was minimal among the Antes since all Savi had stopped questioning the Code, which was the law. The Code existed to protect them all and their Archive, and breaching what was stated in the Code was highly punishable even before the Scion Directive. The new ruling caste of the Flotilla used their longer lifespans and their patience to make the Antecedents oblivious to the changing of their culture. Slowly, they became slaves by cultural conversion. At some point before 2381, it is theorised that a select number of Scions decided to let themselves be infected by the same parasites that had taken over Starfleet Command, perhaps believing this was their next evolutionary step. These were members of the Scion High Council, among them Semathal qi Versant, the Admiral of the Precept-ship Versant. Yet in March of 2381, with the aid of abducted crew from the Theurgy and the Endeavour, the Antecedents learned about how the Scion Directive had put a veil over their eyes by changing the Code, perverting their identity of a peaceful species, and a civil war broke out in the Flotilla. It was incited by a High Class Ante by the name Echtand qi Versant, who held the position as The Voice on the Versant. As of April of 2381, the Voice still led the Savi rebels and fight the ships of the Flotilla that remain loyal to the Scion High Council, and he formed an alliance with the Theurgy to thwart their common foe - The Infested - only on different frontlines.

"What? Was Thea turned into a human woman by something called the Ishtar entity? Is that why her A.I. is unique? But what is the Synthesis Code then?"

At an early point during the mission, an omnipotent alien entity turned Thea's holographic projection into an organic human female. The experience had a profound impact on the A.I:s personality matrix. She was given the opportunity to experience reality like an organic would, in all respects. From the manner in which she formed thoughts and memory engrams, to the input of a human nervous system - feeling everything like an organic might. The memories of that event may have turned into data in Thea's memory banks, but as she loaded them up, the experience was perfectly clear to her. It allowed her to bridge whatever blind spots she held for the human experience, and evolved her personality matrix to a point where she could make connections and summon data in a manner that no computer scientist would be able to let her do through positronic programming. Since then, she has received upgrades that allow her to mimic the physical experience she had. Primarily, through her mobile emitter, which grants her projection an upgraded sensory mapping.

The Savi abducted Thea, even ripping her positronic brain out of the Theurgy, and over the course of the following days, they studied her unique A.I. in order to replicate it's matrix. What they derived from the research was named the Synthesis Code. When the Theurgy abductees escaped the Savi dreadnought, Thea used the Synthesis Code to upgrade V-Nine, and the surgical android found herself evolving beyond her original programming over the course of the following weeks and months. As of April of 2381, The android served in Main Sickbay of the Theurgy.