Part of the Independence Fleet, the USS Excalibur, was officially launched
April 1st, 2002. Her first post came just before that, on March 19th, by her CO
Captain Steven McCloud. The McCloud character first appeared in the Fleet, in
December of 2001, when the USS Patriot was launched.
From March 19th to the end the Excalibur's crew of 9 posted 54 times. Her First
Officer, Commander Alayne Tolbin won the Fleet MVP award. In April, the first full
month in the fleet,the crew compliment grew to 11 and the Excalibur's crew posted
106 times finishing second in the fleet. April also saw the emergence of Ingoldo,
the Exaclibur's Chief Science Officer. Ingoldo won the Fleet's Most Posts award
for the first time, but certainly not the last. Ingoldo will go on to become one
of the Excalibur's best crewmen and one of the fleet's best simmers.
May saw the Excalibur's posting total dip below 100. With 97 posts, the X finished
third for the month. Ingoldo won the Fleet's MVP award. This would be the last time
the Excalibur's post total goes below 100 in 2002.
June saw the Excalibur win the Fleet Posting Title for the first time with
145 posts. June also saw the crew pickup four fleet awards. Cmdr. Tolbin won for
recruitment, the new CMO, Dr. Paula Fredricks, won Most Improved and was nominated for
MVP, and the New CEO, McGregor Blaine, won rookie of the month. Ingoldo picked up his
second award for most posts. Things were starting to come together for McCloud and the
Excalibur.
In July the crew broke their first fleet record only to have it broken again by another
ship. The fleet posting record for a month was 176 set by the USS Avalon
under the Command of Captain Sutak in January 2002. The Excalibur posted 178 posts in
July breaking the Avalon's record, but Vice Admiral Seldon and the USS Washington set a
new record with 201 posts, leaving the X to a second place finish again. Ingoldo won the
Most Posts Award for the third time.
August was the best month yet for the X. The ship and crew set another record for posting
with 234, only to be beat out by the USS Liberty, under the Command of Captain Ace Dacade,
by 3 posts. The Liberty would hold the record for a month. Lt. Dusty Redroi would start
to emerge as another as another of the Excalibur's best, winning the Most Improved Award
for August.
In September, the X won her second Fleet Posting Title with 154 posts. It was also another
good month for Ingoldo. Not only did he pick up his fourth award for Most Posts, but got
the nod for Fleet MVP. Captain Steven McCloud is promoted to Commodore.
October was a milestone month for the Excalibur and crew. On October 6th, 6 months, 2 weeks,
2 days and 20 hours after the first post, Commodore McCloud writes the 1000th for the ship.
To this point in time, the X is only the second ship to reach 1000 posts, but in the fastest
time. The ship and crew won their third Fleet Posting Title, (2 in a row) and set a new fleet
record for posts in a month with 284. Lt. Scott McCoy won Best Character Post. It would be
the first time a member of the X's crew wins an award for a post. Lt. Dusty Redroi won the
Most Posts Award, and Lt. McGregor Blaine won the Recruitment Award and Fleet MVP Award.
All in all, October was an outstanding month for McCloud and the Excalibur.
November started out like any other month on the X, but would end with a new Fleet record
for posts in a month. 364 posts set the new mark, but even that number would only stand
for a month. 364 also gave the X her fourth Fleet Posting Title, her third in a row.
Lt. Cmdr. Dusty Redroi would set a new individaul posting mark with 64 posts in a month and
win the Most Posts Award for the second time. Lt. Cmdr. McGregor Blaine won Best Character
Post, the second such award for the X, and new comer Ens. Ravyn Martinez won the Fleet Rookie
of the Mouth Award.
In December, with the holidays coming up, posting was down , but well above the Fleet
average. With 179 quantity may have been down, but quality was up. For the first time two
crewmen won for posts that they wrote. Dr. Paula Fredricks won the Best Story Post and
LT. Cmdr. Dusty Redroi won the Funniest Post Award. Lt. McCoy also won the Fleet Most Improved
Award. 2002 came to an end, with the USS Excalibur becoming one of the most dominate ships
in the Independence Fleet.
On June 8th 2003 the Excalibur recorded her 2600th post. It was submitted by Commander Ingoldo. On June 22nd, Rear-Admiral Steven McCloud left the Fleet and Commander Alayne Tolbin was promoted to Captain of the Excalibur.
