Star Traks: Silverado

Author

Star Traks: Silverado is written by Brendan Shust.

Series Synopsis

A group of eccentric Starfleet officers are forced to serve together on an obsolete, salvaged vessel. Honestly, if you want to know more, read the stories. Or the season summaries, I suppose.

Series Status

Season 4 is currently posting. Future stories are planned.

Season Summary

Season 1 - Captain Stafford and crew find themselves stuck on an ancient, outdated wreck of a ship. After enduring an accidental trip to the past, a game of wits against an evil construction crew and a hellishly twisted virtual reality, they finally get underway. Early missions include evicting a crowd of hillbillies from another salvaged vessel and chasing down the pirate K'Eleese after her attack on Waystation. Following this, Silverado was sent on an exploratory mission to unknown space. A minor plumbing accident along the way left the ship dead in the water for several weeks, until Stafford and [[Simon Jeffery|Jeffery] finally triumphed over the evil delivery company's call center. The ship was briefly taken over by a very sexy race known as the Senousians. From them, they learned of the evil Matrian Empire. The final stories of the season detailed a Matrian plot against Silverado and the crew's efforts to overcome it.

Season 2 - Still recovering from the aftermath of Season 2, Stafford and crew briefly return to Waystation before undergoing a detailed refit at Deneria Dry Dock. Missions in Season 2 included mishaps with an Infinite Probability Drive, a holographic Road-Runner chase, Star Wars brainwashing and a trip to visit crazy old K'Eleese on Tantalus V. Events in Season 2 also included a visit with T'Parief's family, leading to the season finale in which T'Parief's father teamed up with K'Eleese to build an army of mutant aliens in a parallel universe. A terrifying, horrible universe containing perfectly competent versions of the Silverado crew. Many new characters were introduced in this season, including the Hazardous Team.

Season 3 - The events of Season 2 left a void on the ship. The remaining crew-members work to resolve their differences while Jeffery and Sylvia travel to several different Operation Salvage ships. A series of kidnapping attempts against Sylvia force her to go undercover. Mid-season, the ship is sent on a mission to the mystery planet of Deloria II. Attacked by the forces of Lord Stalart, the crew evacuates the ship and finds themselves scattered across the planet. Different stories of Season 3 detailed the efforts of the crew to reunite, defeat Stalart and make their way off the planet. They succeed, and it seemed for a moment like everything would be OK. But Commander Noonan's sudden resignation leads to complete chaos as different officers bicker over who should become the new First Officer.

Season 4 - In progress. Go read it.

Major Characters

Captain Christoper Stafford
Commander Matthew Noonan
Lt. Commander Simon Jeffery
Lt. Commander* T'Parief
Dr. Noel Wowryk
Lt. Jane 5-B
Lt. San Jall
Ensign Trish Yanick
Sylvia

NOTE: Character ranks as of Season 1.

Minor Characters

The Hazardous Team:

Lieutenant* David Stern
Ensign Dar'ugal
Ensign* Rengs Aris
Ensign Simmons
Ensign* Marsden
Crewman Kreklor

The Night Shift:

Ensign* Travis Pye
Ensign Craig Burke
Ensign* Day
Lieutenant* Quintaine
Ensign Bith

Around the Ship:

Counselor Eva Yvonnokoff
Crewman Bartholomew Gibson
Crewman Seth Shwaluk
Crewman Keith Roscoe
Nurse Leslie Kerry
Nurse Veeneman
Steve Steiger
Mary
Becky
Samantha

Series Notes

When he discovered the Star Traks Nexus during his first year in college, Brendan Shust thought he'd stumbled on an old, discarded website. Within a few weeks though, new [[Star Traks: the Vexed Generation|Vexed Generation stories had started posting and new Waystation wasn't far off. Thrilled as he was to learn that the Nexus was up and running, it was still a close to two years before Brendan contacted Alan Decker and Anthony Butler to rave about how much he loved the stories. Shortly afterwards, he decided to write a single story for the Alternate Traks page. He created characters that were mild caricatures of himself, friends from high school and co-workers. The concept of Silverado as an old, recommissioned vessel was actually inspired by the movie Down Periscope, in which Kelsey Grammer commands the ancient USS Stingray. The name Silverado comes from Brendan's beloved old Chevy Silverado, which he sold shortly before moving to Toronto. The first story, Old Ships, New Beginnings was posted on February 14th, 2004.

While the original plan for Star Traks: Silverado involved only one story, positive feedback from the Traks authors and from readers led to a second story, then a third. When the third story turned into the the Ship of Dreams? two-parter, Brendan knew he had a series. During Season One, Silverado stories were posted on both the Alternate Traks page and on a separate website. With the launch of Season Two on April 16th, 2005, Silverado moved permanently into a newly redesigned website and was granted 'Official Series Status'. Silverado has been a part of the Star Traks Nexus ever since.