by Ellemir Maven
“On Stardate 100215, Colonel Guy Maloy and his expeditionary team stepped out of an Iconian Gateway onto an unknown planet, soon to be identified as being deep inside the Gamma Quadrant.” – UFS LCARS
Fast forward to the current day (211124), and the Federation has a significant presence in the Gamma Quadrant, based in the Astraios star system and adjacent to the mysterious Takaar Nebula. UF Starfleet activity is focused on the colony and on the state-of-the-art Helenic-class space station SS Astraios. A fleet supports the station, led by the Galaxy-class battleship, the USS Neil Armstrong.
OOCly, Astraios Colony and SS Astraios are located in the 3D metaverse known as “3rd Rock Grid.” 3RG is an open sim and inhabitants may travel the hypergrid to other open sims – a feature that is distinct from the closed environment provided by Linden Labs.
Come and experience life at the farthest-flung UF Starfleet colony. Come roleplay with us—or come over for a tour. It won’t cost you anything but a bit of time, and we have Gamma Quadrant space cookies!
Here’s how you can visit:
- Download a version of the Firestorm (or your choice of viewer) that supports Open Sim.
- Visit www.3rdrockgrid.com, and create a new user account. For simplicity, it’s suggested that your name on the 3rd Rock grid be the same as your Second Life account.
- Using your new Open Sim compatible viewer, log in to the 3rd Rock grid with your new account.
- You will log on at the 3rd Rock “new avatar” store and get yourself a basic male or female avatar and some free clothes.
- If you’ve contacted us to let you know you’re coming, we’ll transport you to the Astraios, set you up with a free mesh body (male or female) and your uniform.
If you want to pop by, Astraios crew is usually present about one hour before our scheduled mission time of 1300 hours Pacific Time (1pm) on Sundays, and people are always around for the weekly Starfleet Boogie event every Tuesday at noon Pacific Time.
When you arrive, you will discover the Astraios complex is massive: 16 regions sewn together without boundary crossings (a 4 x 4 varregion) that supports a land-based colony on Astraios Prime and the SS Astraios space station – the largest single-hulled object on any grid including Second Life. Additional satellite sims are customized for away missions.
Are you looking for some good roleplay? Do your Tactical Officer fingers start to twitch when you see our satellite defense network? You are welcome to ridealong and observe or participate in a Trek-inspired mission. These roleplays take place aboard SS Astraios, aboard the USS Armstrong, at Astraios Colony, and at various other locations, as the scenario dictates.
If you have questions about UF Starfleet Astraios Colony, and you currently have an avatar in Second Life or 3rd Rock Grid, feel free to contact Captain Kem Vala (KemVala in Second Life), Lieutenant Commander Alia Soulstar, or Ensign Ellemir Maven (EllemirMaven in SL). We can also be contacted through the UFS Forum or the UF Starfleet Discord channel. Live long, and prosper.
