--- 44:7:35 ---
--- Aboard the CRS Windstorm, Officers' Quarters ---


Breached duty.
Corrupted by the easy, tempting target.
Beaten to the real goal, the gem that could have been ours.
Objectives not completed.

Expression dark and thoughts focused, Admiral Licah Fox gazed starkly into the distance while slowly rereading the communique, a debriefing from a top-secret operation he'd learned about five minutes ago. A well-planned strike at stealing information had gone foul, a golden opportunity to gain an advantage lost, and the fleet was now worse off than before the strike. Not only hadn't the strike team managed to get the information, they lost some members who might even at this minute be gradually succumbing to cruel methods of interrogation, a possibility that had led Rebel Squadrons officers to redeploy the unit elsewhere to prevent its ambush.

And it came down, in a way, to a seriousness about the mission … misplaced in a belligerence about individual ability. Licah sighed. It had come to him to propose a solution for the problem.

“They should remember LeBron,” he said aloud to himself, thinking of the notorious commando LeBron James, who was able to defeat any single enemy that confronted him, but when faced with a determined opposing strike team, invariably froze and retreated as soon as he could. Hoping in his eventual success, the RS had invested much in him, only to be disappointed as he failed to secure a single ring from a complete campaign. He quickly became the symbol of a soldier who was, in the end, completely and utterly for himself and not his unit, even if blinded to it by his own ambition.

Licah didn't enjoy being in this mood, though he appreciated it for achieving concrete results. He couldn't focus on anything except how to fix the current situation ... what step to take next. The strike force team, though brave, had failed in its mission, and Licah knew it was because they had become accustomed to brashness and overconfidence in themselves. The words Corrupted by the easy, tempting target flashed through his mind again, and though knowledge of the hyperbole of the reporting officer tempered the words, still something had to be done about what had happened.

And then Licah knew.

They've got to train on something with an eventual goal. A training session where they will have rivals, but can avoid them if they want to. But something where they have to blast those rivals if they get ahead. One where the Goal is important above self-glory, where the goal is self-glory, but only in the pursuit of the ultimate mission.

He flashed back to his childhood, a time spent often in front of a holoscreen, with little animated characters, each of them trying to reach a goal first. He knew. This is what they need. This is what the whole fleet needs. Let's give everyone a refresher on what it means to devote yourself to a goal.

The Operations Officer spun around, his head suddenly clear, and headed to the communications center to give orders to the rest of the Rebel Squadrons.

It was training time, and the computers were going to be serving up Super Mario Kart.

---

-- OOC --
Welcome to the August 2011 gaming event from the Operations Office. This month, the game is Super Mario Kart (SNES), using the Kaillera program, which allows SNES (and other emulators) to play against each other. To participate, you'll use the Super Mario Kart game file and save file (SRM).

Guidelines and instructions follow. Please contact Licah with any questions.

1) Games should be played using the RS Kaillera server. If you haven't used it before, view our Kaillera set-up guide. Install Snes9K, the updated kailleraclient.dll, and the two Super Mario Kart game and save files. The save file should be loaded according to the loading saved games guide. Once you've set everything up, open Snes9K and select File > Play Kaillera Game, using the setup guide to access the RS server.

2) Games should be played against one other player. Choose 2P GAME > MARIOKART GP. The rest of the choices are up to you. One complete game is a whole set of five races (e.g. "Mushroom Cup").

3) After the final race, one player should take a screenshot of the final results table, i.e. the STANDINGS screen with FINAL in the upper right, listing the final scores for all players (e.g. "45"). That player can then complete a multiplayer report of the game.

Any Super Mario Kart reports that follow the above guidelines will earn double points. This holds for all of August, and you may play as many times as you like. Games played during the Inter-Club Gaming Event will earn triple points! Visit #outerrim anytime on Saturdays (August 13, 20, and 27) and sign up using !signup SMK. Play one round and return for more!

In case you weren't aware: all Super Nintendo (and other Kaillera-supported consoles, such as N64 and NES) games count towards Multiplayer points and can be reported using either the Duration or Individual Match systems. Play two hours of SNES with a RS friend and earn 4 points each!

In service to the RS,

":)
Admiral Licah Fox
Rebel Squadrons Operations Office