Dauntless:Eighth Mission - Phoenix into the Flames

Captain's Logs

Captain Mike Wong

Stardate 20905.11

Captain's Log, Stardate 20905.11

Captain Tsing Mao Wong, Commanding Officer, USS Dauntless recording.

The chaos of the days preceding the launch of Dauntless has given way to the relative calm of being back in space and on a shake down cruise.

Thanks to the efforts of Commander Julia Nielson in her Engineering role, refit and repair activities were completed ahead of schedule and most importantly to me in a trustworthy manner.

She subsequently accepted the position of First Officer for which I am grateful. Words alone cannot express the confidence I have in this woman and to have her sitting to my right is most reassuring.

In getting to know my Department Heads a couple of individuals have given me cause for concern. I know they are qualified officers however and am proceeding under the assumption that difficulties so far are the result of personality differences that we will work themselves out as our mission progresses and we all get to know one another better.

Dauntless proceeds on course and schedule for the Cardassian border where we will patrol and continue the shake down process.

Despite the gloom the war brings to our future, I have every confidence Dauntless and her crew will rise to any challenge.

End log.

Stardate 20905.25

Captain's Log, Stardate 20905.25

Captain Tsing Mao Wong, Commanding Officer USS Dauntless recording.

Having arrived without incident at the Federation Cardassian border, Dauntless and her crew have continued the shake down and acclimation process. Drills have gone well and the crew, after some initial bumps have come together nicely.

Dauntless received a distress call from the runabout Pegasus out of the USS Copernicus. The Copernicus is on an rescue mission to the planet Tekna which is experiencing some sort of catastrophic geological upheaval putting her entire population in jeopardy.

Apparently Copernicus dispatched her runabout to the scene to begin studying the problem while she went about trying to round up ships for a massive evacuation effort.

Evidence suggests Pegasus was attacked by two Galor class Cardassian warships while in orbit of Tekna and well within Federation space.

Upon arrival Dauntless found the disabled runabout had been boarded by Cardassian troops. Both the Federation crew and the Cardiassians have been moved safely to Dauntless where our medical department is treating injuries and the Cardiassians have been placed in custody.

The apparent leader of the Cardassians is one Malek, who has refused to explain their actions or to proceed peacefully back to his own space. Faced with verbal threats and their weapons being targeted on Dauntless as well as demands that the Pegasus be released to them, I have attempted unsuccessfully to deescalate the situation peacefully.

Dauntless will take the offensive and disable the Cardassian weapons and shields, at which time I will see if Malek is more receptive to talking.

The plight of the inhabitants of Tekna is not forgotten, and I have tasked our science department with studying the phenomenon which threatens them and hopefully devising a means of halting the impending disaster. Should this prove impossible then we well work with Copernicus and the ships she has conscripted into the effort of rescuing as many of the population as we can.

End log.

Stardate 20907.03

Captain’s Log, Stardate 20907.03

Captain Tsing Mao Wong, Commanding Officer USS Dauntless recording.

Much has happened since my last log entry, I will try to catch things up now, as there is a small window of time as we set our part in the rescue of Tekna in motion.

Our offensive strike did manage to overcome Malek’s ship and we thought the second Cardassian as well. Locked in a fatal embrace by Malek’s tractor beam Dauntless was quite nearly pulling along with the mad man into the local sun.

The second Cardassian vessel used this distraction to rescue their crewmates from Malek’s ship, all hands but one that is, Malek himself.

The surviving intruder wasted no time in retreating to their side of the border leaving Dauntless victorious, yet bloodied. Numerous injuries were reported, particularly one, Tactical Midshipman Lamb who was manning his post on the bridge when his console exploded under the Cardassian assault. The young man was gravely injured; as much as I wanted to tend his injuries myself, I have to keep my new role in mind. I have every faith in Dauntless’ medical staff.

Shortly after the Cardassian encounter we were met and offered assistance by the Federation Medical Vessel Covenant. Among her personnel, beaming to Dauntless to help was Lt Tara ch’Thane whom I had appointed as CMO of the Enterprise prior to my transfer to Dauntless. Being well acquainted with her medical prowess I welcomed her aboard, and look forward to learning how she ended up on Covenant to begin with.

USS Copernicus has recently returned to orbit of Tekna after mustering a makeshift rescue fleet from the nearest transport waystation. The Pegasus and her crew have been repatriated, but our crews continue to work in concert to solve the mystery of Tekna and hopefully halt the planet’s seeming self-destruction. That failing we will evacuate as many of the inhabitants as possible to the waystation.

To hedge our bets a little I plan to commence evacuation shortly once the away team led by my First Officer Commander Julia Nielson has made a preliminary study of the situation on the ground.

End log.

Stardate 20907.03

Personal Log, Stardate 20907.03 Captain Tsing Mao Wong recording.

My transition from First Officer to Commanding Officer has occurred much like the move from CMO to First Officer. In a blur with hardly time to take a breath. It’s one thing being responsible for the health and well being of the population of a starship as a doctor, quite another as a member of the command staff and then finally THE CO.

I no longer have to respond to incidents of illness or injury affected from one to hundreds, even thousands of crew. I have to make the decisions that put an entire starship crew into harm’s way for the good of the Federation, and figure a way to get us back out again.

I know the job has never and will never be easy for a man of conscious, observing Admiral Thrawn over the years as his physician… I could tell the stress things put on his body and mind. Things he would minimize or dismiss if confronted, but real nonetheless. Having had the most basic of tastes of this kind of responsibility has given even grater appreciation and admiration for the man, if such is possible

I do know that my job is made easier by a surreptitious meeting that occurred on the bridge of my new command on one morning. Engineering Lieutenant Commander Julia Nielson was incapacitated on the deck as I walked off the turbolift. Her heart in ventricular fibrillation. God only knows how long she had been in the condition, for by delivering primordial thumps to her own chest she was keeping herself alive. She even stood a slightly better than zero chance of saving herself had her heart converted with one of her self-applied thumps alone.

As chance would have it, I successfully intervened and managed to restore her heart to a life sustaining rhythm myself.

It was shortly after this incident that we discovered the cause of the incident that nearly took her life was the improper instillation of electronic components on the bridge. I must admit I lost my temper and let loose on the group of engineer’s. But, ••••, they almost killed Julia and by trying to pass off more of their shoddy workmanship could have put my entire crew in danger. The dangers in space are great enough; I will NOT suffer carelessness from any member of my crew, or in this case anyone having anything to do with the repair and maintenance of my ship.

Julia it turned out, along with many members of the team were unaware of the improprieties taking place. Once I realized this, I did allow those members of the engineering team to continue work on Dauntless, those others… I hope find themselves working on pay toilets on Feringinar.

Once the refit of Dauntless was complete, under the direction of Commander Nielson I could no longer procrastinate the selection of my First Officer. After interviewing a number of candidates, and dismissing the lot, as narcissistic, self serving, brown nosing •••••••• whose only concern was a center seat of their own, no matter the risk or cost to Star Fleet or their crews, I realized the best choice I could have hoped for was on the bridge installing the stain resistant auto heating/cooling seat cover on the command chair on the bridge.

Having reviewed Lieutenant Commander Nielson’s service record, especially the events pertaining to the loss of Sierra-18 and the killing of the Clone of Captain Valiant, I realized how much this young woman had been through in her relatively short career. I also had witnessed first hand her work ethic and unwavering loyalty to her crewmates and dedication to her duties.

Despite my making a fool of myself owing to my lack of the interpersonal social graces, she agreed to the position and a promotion to full Commander. She has not looked back, and I thank the Gods every day for bringing her onto the Dauntless bridge when they did. I know I can trust Jules to take care of Dauntless and her crew in the even I am unable, and that is a tremendous load off any Commanding Officer’s mind.

After leaving space dock our shakedown cruise proceeded without incident other than the discovery that some of my senior staff have rather… eccentric personalities that will take some getting used to. To be fair of course they no doubt feel the same about me. They are obviously qualified officers to be here in the first place. Any extra efforts on mine or the First Officer’s parts to for this unique group of individuals into a cohesive team will be unhesitatingly expended and result in nothing but good for the ship and crew at large.

After having never directly fought Cardassian’s I find their modus operandi not unlike Klingon or even Romulan warcraft. We will keep a close eye on the border while we deal with Tekna and her problems. Should the Cardassian Union decide to march against the Federation, it is likely the conflict will begin here. Appropriate warnings will be relayed to Star Fleet Command, and Dauntless and Copernicus will make that first stand if necessary.

The Medical ship USS Covenant rendezvoused with us shortly after the skirmish. Among the medical personnel, she sent to help our staff was Lieutenant Tara ch’Thane a colleague and crewmate from the Enterprise. I am VERY surprised and happy to find her here and look forward to the story of how she ended up taking LOA from Enterprise and ending up on a medical ship on the Cardassasin/Federation border.

I am happy to see her for more personal reasons too…but the mission will surly demand the lion’s share of my time, as well as hers for as long as she decides to stay on Dauntless to help.

End this log entry…

Stardate 20908.22

Captain's Log Stardate 20908.22

Tsing Mao Wong, Commanding Officer USS Dauntless recording.

The situation on Tekna rapidly deteriorated as Copernicus and Dauntless commenced rescue operations in earnest.

Away teams and inhabitants were attacked by what I can best describe as living fire bombs, reptilian creatures that seemed to shoot forth from within fissures in the planet itself and upon landing in populated areas kill as many people they could - women and children were not spared. They then ran into flammable structures to set them ablaze. Attempts by armed away team members and fighters/shuttles to destroy them before they reached vulnerable targets was moderately successful.

Dauntless away teams incurred multiple casualties including my First Officer and Chief Engineer. I have yet to receive a complete crew causality list. My log will be updated to include any others. I have no first hand knowledge of how the Copernicus's crews fared, but plan to meet with her Command Staff at first opportunity to compare notes and offer... or request whatever aid is needed.

Thanks to the Medical vessel Covenant additional medical staff boarded Dauntless to help deal with the influx of injured inhabitants and crew.

Doctor Tara ch'Thane, whom I had promoted to CMO of the Enterprise as I departed that ship for Dauntless was among them. At this point the fact that she is here is most welcome although by what circumstance she came to be here, I have yet to learn. I have a feeling it's not a happy one however.

The self destruction of Tekna escalated to a point that I felt it prudent to recall our surface away teams.

The observation was made that only the inhabited areas of the planet were being subjected to the hellish destruction made me wonder.

Was Tekna doing this intentionally? Was the planet or some unknown part of the planet sentient? Could we communicate with it and reason with it? A probe was modified to withstand the head and pressure within the core and launched.

Unfortunately before this hypothesis could be investigated further, the destruction reached a crescendo all of the inhabitants who were not evacuated to orbit perished. Over four million lives.

Objectively Dauntless and Copernicus did all they could our crews put themselves in harms way and tried their absolute best.

Speaking for Dauntless, it is my duty to accept full responsibility for the overall failure of this mission.

I would like to go on the record as accepting responsibility for any fault to be found with Copernicus's' actions as well. As the Senior Officer on site the overall operational responsibility is mine alone.

Attached to this log for First Battle Group Commander Admiral Wueste, is my resignation from Star Fleet. I have further recommended that Commander Nielson be elevated to the rank of Captain and given command of Dauntless as soon as convenient for the Admiral.

End log.

Stardate 20908.23

Personal log: Captain Tsing Mao Wong recording.

Stardate 20908.23

Having had my hand repaired by Tara, and returning the favor I'm going to the bridge where a CO belongs in time of crisis.

I don't know if I would have done better with a strictly military mission, there was the Cardassian element and now the new worry of increased aggression from them...

While repairing Tara's hand I did realize one thing... that's what I'm best at. I'd rather save one life at a time then watch millions lost.

End log.

Stardate 20909.14

Captain’s Log, Stardate 20909.14, 1553 hours.

Dauntless has docked at Star Base Alpha in orbit of Earth. Due to the Romulan war having ended the ship’s internal power systems and warp core will be taken off line for maintenance and upgrades. Power and life support umbilical’s are in the process of being connected and should be completed within the hour at which time I will disembark for a debriefing with Admiral Linden.

The crew has been released for shore leave and I have completed my last inspection of the ship and signed off on above mentioned maintenance repair and upgrade work orders. Commander Nielson has assured me of the competency of the shipyard-engineering officer who will oversee this work.

Mission Summary

Our shakedown cruise turned into quite a different affair when Dauntless received a distress call from the runabout Pegasus in orbit of the planet Tekna just on our side of the Federation/Cardassian border. The demonstration of an innovative shield technology by Ensign Kane was interrupted but will be continued at the earliest possible time.

Once the runabout was retaken, Dauntless found herself facing a pair of Cardassian battleships that had encroached into Federation Space, attacked, and boarded the Pegasus for reasons still under investigation. We were forced to engage in combat and destroyed the lead Cardassian vessel. The second ship retreated to Cardassian space after rescuing the crew of the lead ship, save for her commander. Our Tactical department under the leadership of Lieutenant Wright preformed admirably. Midshipman Lamb was grievously injured during the battle but following the ministrations of the medical department under CMO Hawkens and ACMO Rice has recovered. During his absence from the bridge, Lamb was replaced by Midshipman Eaden at the helm.

Captured Cardassian soldiers have alluded to the involvement of the Obsidian Order and their interest in the raw materials within Tekna. Interrogation by Dauntless Security personnel including: LCdr Vaughn, Lt[JG] Ankar, and Midshipman Li produced more questions than answers. We are faced with the possibility that the Cardassian forces we encountered were an advance guard made up at least partially of Obsidian Order agents. Unfortunately, the suicide of the captured soldiers prevents us from learning any more. I will recommend increased vigilance at the Cardassian border nonetheless.

The USS Copernicus returned after recruiting as many ships from the nearest waystation to Tekna to aid in the emergency evacuation of the planet. Sudden violent geological forces had begun to threaten the inhabitants. While science teams from both ships studied the problem, other teams including our own away team led by Commander Nielson sought to coordinate evacuation efforts on the surface.

Among those vessels arriving to assist was the USS Covenant a medical ship bearing personnel and material reinforcement. Surprisingly Doctor Tara ch’Thane was aboard Covenant having taken a leave of absence from Star Fleet. She agreed to remain aboard Dauntless and provided invaluable medical to our crew and Tekna evacuees alike.

Bizarre unprecedented phenomena were document that included flaming reptilian creatures seeming being launched from volcanic fissures within Tekna. The creatures targeted buildings and unfortunately people as well. Please see CMO’s report for official casualty reports for Dauntless and the unfortunate loss of Lt Rice.

The supertanker New Skies, a vessel that answered the call for assistance in the evacuation proved to be less than a Good Samaritan. Her Captain, one Misty O’Donnell, after taking on as many refugees as her ship could hold- demanded a ransom for their safe transport to the waystation. She was not amenable to negotiation and therefore the decision was made to commandeer the New Skies by force.

Boarding teams made up of Dauntless security and marine personnel boarded and successfully assumed control of the tanker. Commander Stack assumed command of the vessel for the trip to the waystation and did an outstanding job. Lt. Komoscov, also a member of the boarding party was seriously injured, but I am pleased to report has recovered with the ministrations of our excellent medical staff.

Our science department worked feverishly to isolate the origin of the violent geological upheavals on Tekna, unfortunately the breakthrough came too late to save the majority of the inhabitants. I want to stress however that after Lieutenant Thaine was taken ill, Midshipmen Stadi, and Tilar supported by their counterparts on Copernicus did confirm that the planet Tekna possesses some sort of senescence and acted in a deliberate manner to purge itself of the mining colonies and colonists. There is need for further study of Tekna I believe, both to determine how science it is and to try to communicate if possible with it. In the meantime, I have placed quarantine beacons in orbit warning off any who may try to venture onto the surface.

End and archive log.

Crew Logs

First Officer

Cdr Julia Nielson

Stardate 20905.21

First Officer's Log, Stardate 20905.21 Commander Julia Nielson recording...

The Dauntless left space dock with no hitches, except for the lack of a Chief Engineer. However, that problem was rectified by promoting one of the officers currently on board, one Lieutenant Vladimir Komoscov. At this point he's been quite the competent engineer, though admittedly I haven't had the chance to really see the man in action. I've been trying my hardest not to meddle down in engineering other than instances to do with the Dauntless' refit.

Our current mission has brought us out to the Cardassian border to run a basic shakedown and patrol. Captain Wong and I took the opportunity to run a handful of ship-wide drills, and the crew has performed as to be expected of Star Fleet personnel. The reports I've gotten back from the department heads has shown similar results: this crew is ready for anything that might come our way. Though with a shakedown cruise, I'm not expecting much to actually come our way.

Computer, end log.

Stardate 20905.21

Personal Log, Stardate 20905.21 Commander Julia Nielson recording...

It's been a rocky few weeks, to say the least. I feel like I can't quite catch my breath with how quickly everything has been moving. I feel like I've gone from being accused of a crime; to finding out my crew has already gone to retake Sierra and I can't go with them; to transferring to the Corps; to nearly dieing; being promoted to Commander and First Officer of the Dauntless; to... well... here I am. It's been a whirlwind to say the least.

For the most part I think I've handled it well, but only because of the people who've helped me. I just keep thinking back to Jaden's words, and to know that I have just one friend in this insane universe is comforting. To find Ben and Elliot Rice assigned to the Daunty has only been a bonus for me. And the fact that Ben is actually alive is a relief. I'm still haunted somewhat by the images of his death, of everything that happened on Sierra-18. But even if it's just two friendly faces in a sea of strangers... its well... comforting.

And then there's Captain Wong. He's... interesting. The first time I met him had he was saving my life, and then a moment he lashed out at the engineers for nearly killing me. To say that his temper is frightening would be an understatement. Given the situation I don't blame him though. Stupid mistakes cost lives. At any rate, despite the rage you could tell he only had the crew's best interests at heart. This was not only proven then, but also now through his everyday interactions with the crew. He values his crew's opinions, but it seems when it comes down to it he's not afraid to make the best decision for the crew. Through later interactions with him, Captain Wong has turned out to be quite laid back, and even though its only been a few days that we've worked together, I get he feeling he'll be a good CO. I attributed his reaction before to merely be stress, but its something to be weary about.

My initial impression of the Dauntless crew is... mixed, at best. There are certain members who I have no doubt are great officers. There are others who... I get the feeling the Captain and I will be fighting with tooth and nail. While I've always been someone who is opposed to fighting, I joined the Fleet knowing that there was the possibility to take up arms and fight. Yet there are those on board who don't seem to understand that. No matter what kind of alternatives there are, sometimes the only one who can choose is to take up arms. I just worry the day when we get in a situation where an offensive strategy is the only choice, but we hesitate because someone needs to voice their opinion...

At least when it came to engineering, you either fixed something or you didn't.

At any rate, that's what a shakedown cruise is for. To find out if the ship is ready to run proper missions, and to find out of the crew is able to work together. Here's hoping all it takes is a bit of elbow grease to make the Dauntless one of the best ships in the Fleet.

Computer, end log.

Stardate 20909.14

Personal Log, Stardate 20909.14 Commander Julia Nielson recording...

This mission has been miserable. Just when I thought things might get better, that the Dauntless might give me a fresh start from everything that had happened, our easy shakedown cruise turned into a nightmare.

We received a distress call from a Fleet runabout Pegasus. Upon arrival we found several Cardassian vessels attacking the runabout, which was for reasons we weren’t able to determine. We succeeded in chasing the Cardassians off, however in the process one of the Cardassian captains decided to nearly self destruct his ship with hundreds of civilian vessels in the area. In an attempt to push the vessel a safe distance away, the captain locked his tractor beam to the Daunty and attempted to pull us into the Teknan sun with him. With some quick thinking we managed to free ourselves before we too were pulled into the star. Luckily our sensors detected mass transports prior to the destruction of the Cardassian ship. It is our assumption that the ship’s captain was the only casualty.

That wasn’t the end of it.

The Runabout Pegasus was near the Cardassian border because it was answering a distress call from the planet Tekna. The planet was experiencing massive amounts of seismic activity, to the extent that one of their colonies was swallowed up between two of its tectonic plate. Mass evacuations were taking place, and the Pegasus crew were there to investigate the cause of the quakes in hopes of stopping it while the USS Copernicus attempted to recruit ships from a nearby waystation to help with evacuations.

I lead an away team down to the planet and found… nothing but destruction. It was.. it was devastating what the planet had been through, what the people had suffered. Just when I think I’ve hit rock bottom, something like this happens and I sink lower.

We weren’t really able to help the people of Tekna. With the convoy the Cop managed to wrangle up, we saved … only a fraction of the population. With no notice, catastrophic quakes hit the entire planet all at once. It was all the ship could do to pull up the away teams and grab whoever they could before all people, buildings, flora and fauna in the colony areas was swallowed up… we… we..

(a short pause ensues)

Maybe I’m really not cut out for this after all…..

The hopelessness of not being able to do anything to help someone, to help an entire planet, is too overwhelming. I did what I could…we did what we could, but it wasn’t enough.

I keep trying to tell myself that I should have done more but …

This is getting to add up to be too much. The war, the Romulans invading, the Valiant case, now this.. I’m not sure if bad luck follows me or if maybe my Mom was right, maybe I am a failure and that all of this, everything that has happened, is all my fault. It’s a heavy feeling that has been strangling me this past few months. It’s the reason why I’ve been working out so hard every night in the gym until my body aches and then staying up for hours on end reading until my mind is equally tired. Only then can I sleep.

Despite that I don’t get a goodnight’s sleep. Sometimes if I’m lucky the nightmares won’t come, but… chances are few.

At any rate, the war is over. I managed to dig through some Star Fleet files and found that Sierra-18 has been retaken… such a huge relief! It’s helped to get me out of the funk a little bit. I do think a trip to Sierra-18 is in order when shore leave hits. I need to see for myself that everybody is okay.

I think… a long soak in a hot bath is in order.

Computer, end log.

Security

LCdr Benjamin Vaughn

Stardate 20905.01

Personal Log, Stardate 20905.01 Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Vaughn Chief of Security, USS Dauntless

With all that has happened in my time with Star Fleet, I never expected to be assigned as Chief of Security to a battle cruiser. To say it feels like an honour is an understatement, this is one of only two such vessels in Star Fleet, and I trust I can keep to the high standards that such a position requires.

Another plus is that I have received a promotion, this time to Lieutenant Commander. Another unexpected surprise is that our FO is none other that Julie Nielson, the former CEO of Sierra 18. It has made me feel good to see her, to know that she made it from the station. I know that seeing me here has probably given her a shock, but I will speak to her soon to let her know what happened to me prior to the Romulans capture of the station.

I'm also pleased to see my good friend Elliot Rice has been promoted to full Lieutenant, and that our young Ensign Alex Ankar has been made a Lieutenant Junior Grade, I'm glad for him as he's come a long way since his time as a Middie.

(There is a slight chuckle.)

Not only a promotion he's received, as it seems that Mr Ankar and a certain Midshipman Baker are possibly becoming an item. I could be wrong, but I did see them both together in the Drunken Tribble on SBA having dinner together. I wish them both well if this is the case.

(The sound of a com beeping in the background and an muffled announcement.)

It appears that I have been called to a DH's meeting by the Captain. Wonder what mission we are heading for this time?

End Log

Stardate 20909.08

Personal Log, Stardate 20909.08 Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Vaughn Chief of Security, USS Dauntless

Somehow I think that Star Fleet had lost the plot! I mean, take our last mission. To save the population of Tekna from the planet's self destruction. Over four million souls - with two vessels and a collection of Tankers and freighters from a nearby waystation. It struck me as hopeless, though we managed to save I understand over 12,000. It grieves me, that the rest were lost when the planet succumbed to its own destruction.

To cap it all, just after we arrived we were attacked by two Cardassian warships, which had previously boarded one of the Copernicus' runabouts and killed a Security officer for no apparent reason. They were eventually beaten off after one was destroyed by Tekna's sun, leaving us with four, very stubborn pisoners.

Hopefully, SBA's Security can glean something out of them one we hand them over. Also, one of the Tanker Captains went rogue on us demanding PAYMENT up front. Or she would kill the Teknans on her ship. I know we are trained to deal with no-win situations, but to lose that many has come as a hard blow to the crew and our Captain took it really hard.

On a lighter note, we are now heading back to SBA with the few refugees we had saved. Things seem to getting back to normal and Lt [JG] Rafael Dega has started up his holodeck training scenarios again. I'm hoping with the experience of Tekna my Security personnel and those Marines selected will pass muster - Lt [JG] Ankar and his team seem to be coming along nicely as is the newbie, Mid Li Nadia - I'm sure they will, but time will tell.

Still no news from Katie Maplin, I understood from Elliot that she had been transferred to the Philly with Callum Hicks. So far I've not been able to contact her and I hope the foreboding welling up inside me is not to come true.

End log.

Stardate 20909.16

Personal Log, Stardate 20909.16 Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Vaughn Chief of Security, USS Dauntless

(The sound of heavy breathing as if after a jogging session.)

This is an adendum to my previous log. DAMN IT!

( A pause, and deep breaths! )

Those stubborn Cardassian's have ALL committed suicide. Needless to say a full investigation will now take place as to how they managed to get explosives aboard.

For them to do this means either. One, they were so brainwashed into believing they were to suffer severe torture. Or, two. That something big is definately brewing over the Cardassian border! I do hope that Star Fleet will be keeping a really close eye on this region of space.

We have support busy cleaning up the mess in the brig. I suppose at least it kept those Mercenaries quiet from the tanker, New Sky. There was NOT a peep of complaint from any of them, even when they transferred to the Waystation.

( A long sigh! )

Now I had better get cleaned up before I report to the Captain on this incident.

End log.

Lt [JG] Alex Ankar

Stardate 20909.17

Personal Log, Stardate 20909.17 Lieutenant Junior Grade Alex Ankar recording.

This last mission has done nothing but confuse me. There are some pretty big questions in the universe: Why are we here? Will there ever be peace amongst all races? Who ate the last butter biscuit?

But let's stop and start asking some more 'here-and-now' questions, because I am really struggling to see how we can help anyone at all if this is the best we can do! Just the thought of having to save millions of people from a planet tearing itself apart with only a handful of ships is rediculous...I saw it with my own eyes - the destruction and death that was down there...why couldn't we save them? Was this meant to be some sick and twisted Kobayashi Maru test?

And in case we hadn't been thrown hard enough to the ground by that, the Cardassians decide to turn up and kick us while we were down there. We managed to fight them off, but the prisoners we captured did not succumb quite so easily... I was assigned to help LCdr Vaughn interrogate the bastards after they boarded a Star Fleet runabout.

(There is a tut and a short pause.)

I mean...why would anyone do that? The only information I got from the prisoner I was working on was that more of them were coming...but from where? And why? ...I couldn't face going back into that brig after leaving the New Skies...I was terrified I might just jump in there and punch the guy...

(There is a pause.)

Maybe this is what it's really like. We can only do our best. I feel so lost and hurt and tired right now and there is nothing I can do. The ship seems so small now...like I'm trapped in my own life.

(There is a pause and movement is heard.)

Right. Enough of this wallowing, I'm going to the 10 Forward party and I'm going to enjoy myself. I'm going to pick up on this later...I'm too tired to come to terms with myself right now. I wonder how Ben got on with those bloody Cardassians?

End log.

Engineering

Lt Vladimir Komoscov

Stardate 20905.13

Komoscov, Vladimir Gregory Lieutenant USS Dauntless (BC-1553)

Personal Log, SD 20905.13:

Dauntless: incapable of being intimidated or discouraged; fearless in the eyes of danger. In my experience, anyone who is deemed “fearless” is not brave, but a crazy fool. In combat, people live and people die. I have grown to accept death, in fact I welcome it. I have seen many faces in my travels; at the Academy, on the Enterprise, everywhere I go, I see fear running in everyone's eyes, and when I see people who say “I'm not scared,” is going to be killed. Here on the Dauntless, I'll be in more direct combat then the Enterprise against a foe. Even though it is in the Engineering room, I do not have to pull the trigger, some Tactical officer will. He however doesn't have the misfortune to put a face to his kill, I have. I have seen more than enough death in my life, both caused by me and/or by others.

In my past, I have had to protect my Country from modern struggles of crimes that still exist. Piracy, robbery, drug runs, human trafficking, extremist groups, terrorists and riots. I have been known to be feared even amongst my own men, being exposed to fire so my friends can advance without much incident, the list of my actions goes a long way. Sadly, everybody has their breaking point, and I have reached mine more than once, yet I keep on fighting, keep on killing, keep on being the one giving power to those who can kill. I hoped that being a Combat Engineer would ease my burden of having to kill, yet it doesn't stop. I have went to Star Fleet to stop killing, but to explore and adventure, yet now I understand that I will never be out of a combat situation, which makes me more than qualified to work well under pressure, in the face of death itself.

I have been asked, “Why are we fighting this war? Why can't we leave the Romulans to deal with their Civil War? Why has Star Fleet become a combat arm and not an exploration arm of the Federation?”

To the first question; I have only given them one answer, “Thank the Romulans.” I was there at 157, I saw the Romulans attack the Star Base, I saw it all, I know what happened. We were attacked, and we gave the Romulans what they wanted, a War.

To the third, Star Fleet is the military arm of the Federation. Without Star Fleet, the Federation would not exist at all. We would have been assimilated by the Borg, or taken over by either the Romulan Star Empire or the Klingon Empire, or worse, the Breen or Dominion. In fact, having the right and privilege to say what ever they want about the Federation is enough saying that Star Fleet is doing their job.

To the second, I can only say this. This war brings out the best and the worst not of a country, but of an idea, an idea of what the Enterprise under Captains Kirk and Picard spent years doing. To seek out new life and new civilizations, and the Democratic Romulan Republic is that new civilization. A people who want to look forward to intergalactic peace must be ready to fight and die for it. The idea of living in a government that does not look to it's past to control the present, but to look at the past to help build a better future. Things are no better nor worse then what it is currently, there is no normal life or sad life, there's just life, we live it as best we can with what we've got.

There were two questions I was asked by a Private about to go to the front. What are the rules of war? And how did I deal with it? There are only two rules and one way of dealing with it.

Rule number one is people are going to die.

Rule number two is... Star Fleet can't change rule number one.

And the best way to deal with it is to accept the fact I'm already dead, it makes dying not that scary anymore.

End log.

Stardate 20907.11

Komoscov, Vladimir Gregory Lieutenant Chief Engineer, USS Dauntless (BC-1553) Personal Log: SD 20907.11

During the shakedown cruise, every function of the Dauntless was tested and retested, all under the orders of the Commanding Officer. The First Officer also had a master checklist of all of the functions and drills that would take place and made sure that each department reported in. There was one department however that always works overtime without exception, Engineering. Engineering had Tactical systems, Science equipment, Medical scanners, Fighters and Security Cameras to manage and take care of. All of this made me a very busy man. Even during my off duty, I still had many occasions where I suddenly found myself on duty in dealing with reports, as well as other Department Heads, in making sure that the First Officer would have something good to tell the Captain. At first, I figured that I would be spending time with the Chief Science Officer, considering that Engineering and Science go hand in hand, especially with many of the core classes being the same. However, reality took over as the real person who I would be dealing with for probably the whole assignment became known: the First Officer.

Julia is an interesting person, in fact I found out that she is also an Engineering Officer. Upon learning this, I realized that A LOT of things between her and I were expected. Even without knowing that, I find myself becoming rather annoyed by her presence. Just by having her show up to Main Engineering, and my office, I find myself imagining how a young child would have to give a class presentation on that one Earth book, See Spot Run. Granted, I understand that being the First Officer means understanding what the crew is doing, but she doesn't need to ask me after every major test run how the warp core is doing, status on the ship, her wanting reports every 5 minutes (in reality it was every half hour, but it felt like every 5 minutes), and other things that annoy me. When we were in the power transfer bus, I felt like I wanted to cause my own death. She wouldn't stop with the small talk. Granted with me being silent most of the time, I am not surprised that she would feel that one of us should be talking. It really reached an interesting level when we both reached for the Multipurpose Gravitonic Effector. I don't know what was going through her mind, but I just wanted to get the job done, and noting that she had very smooth hands for an Engineer, it must be a woman thing.

That isn't the only time I have seen her, there were times where I would be doing workouts and I would catch her just entering the gym, other times I would catch her just leaving. I have no idea what's wrong with the woman, only that what ever she is doing in there doesn't show itself the following morning. Granted there have been times where she has caught my eye, mainly because she is so...cheerful all of the time, that it seems there isn't anything that phases her. I'm willing to gamble that she must have been one of those little girls who had a loving father and mother who took ballet lessons and possibly music lessons. The kind of childhood where she was always the smiling girl and that she probably spent time with her mother and talked about boys while her mom was combing her hair to make her look all pretty for school, and that when she was in the Academy she was Winter Ball Queen. In a way, I'm surprised that she became a First Officer, she seems like the kind of person who wouldn't hurt a fly, but instead hurt a man hurting a fly. It is sort of funny in a way. Julia is a smiling, cheerful little girl and I'm a Klingon Barbarian, and yet we're working side by side with each other...

Joy to the world, irony has come!

End log.

Mid Chris Kane

Stardate 20909.17

Personal Log, Stardate 20909.17 Midshipman Chris Kane recording.

We are finally on our way back to Starbase Alpha after attempting to rescue the population of the Planet Tekna.

We were only able to save a handful of people, but in the conditions in which the planet was in, I think we did pretty well. The planet itself was in chaos, with great big flaming lizards. Maybe the planets own hounds.

Reminds me of an old 20th Century cartoon we watched in history class once. 'The Simpsons' I think. With a Mr. burns being a villainous character in the show, and usually saying, "Release the hounds."

In my own personal opinion I could say, the planet was this Mr. Burns.

The Cardassians were partly responsible with Dauntless not being able to save more people. By interferring with our rescue efforts. What was it to acheive?

(There was a slight pause in the log with the sound of tapping on a desk.)

Unless that was there plan all along, to delay us in rescuing the Teknans because they wanted the planet to demolish itself. Could it of happened once before in the past, and the Cardassians recorded it?

I will have to investigate further but first to re-establish my holodeck program before the party. And to debrief the command staff. But after that to the 10F party.

End Log.

Science

Lt Tala Thaine

Stardate 20905.10

Personal Log Stardate 20905.10

Lt Tala Thane recording.

I can barely believe my resignation was refused and I've been forced into serving on a ship of war. They've certainly picked the captain for it. Wong is so steeped in the military aspect of Fleet life that he seems totally incapable of seeing beyond that. It saddens me to know that Star Fleet, once the instrument of peace and exploration, has become little more than a battle fleet.

The Romulan civil disruption is a totally expected response to the growing movement for a democratic Romulan government, and the rebels do require the protection of the Federation, so I do understand the need for some military action. But Wong talks about protecting the Federation as though we were involved in a full scale war with the Romulans... and as though the crew of the Drake were incapable of handling ourselves in a battle situation.

I suppose he completely ignored the performance of our crew in the last battle, and the vital part the Drake played.

Our new first officer likewise seems too engrossed in the military. I worry she could be worse than Crawford, who at least had her own opinions. Nielson seems totally incapable of doing anything but parroting the captain. I hope I'm wrong about her.

Of course we have some of the newer members of the Drake crew who've been involved in some interesting situations, youngsters who can't wait to put their fingers on the trigger. It makes me wonder what the other older crew members are thinking about all this. Of course, when they signed on, they signed on to a ship in the exploration group... a group that no longer exists.

There are times I wish I'd developed a thicker skin during my time with Prthh, but I was little more than a child back then, and thought that the whole world revolved around him... and his work. Perhaps the Vedigs spoiled me in teaching me that there were other ways to live besides by deception, violence, and subterfuge. Perhaps that's all the Federation is becoming. That thought frightens me, because if that is true, we are no better than the Romulans whom we fight.

Life here on the Dauntless is too dangerous. I run the risk of losing myself too many ways: Of becoming the heartless military machine that Wong seems to want to cultivate... of falling prey to the Klingon side of me... and then there's Thomas, who presents the ultimate danger to the Halanan side of me.

I wish I could believe in the Prophets. I wish I could believe they would help me, guide me, but my faith is no greater than it was when I left Bajor all those years ago. I wonder what my place is... or even if I have one.

The only comfort I have after missing the shuttle to Bajor is that we're going in that direction anyway, somewhere along the Cardassian border for our shake-down cruise.

I just... I don't trust it. I mean... I have this horrible feeling that something is going to go wrong again. It seems we don't go anywhere without killing someone or blowing something up. I wish I could just believe that we'll do the shakedown cruise, return to star base, and that I'll be able to simply walk off this ship and return to civilian life.

I hope I'm wrong.

Medical

Lt Korbon Hawkens

Stardate 20909.18

Stardate 20909.18 Chief Medical Officer’s Log– Lt. Korbon Hawkens

The sheer magnitude of the Teknan situation left Sickbay overwhelmed and under staffed. With all shifts working in makeshift triage centers throughout the ship, we managed to treat most of the wounded. This mission pushed us, and this facility, to the limits of our abilities. I’m just thankful that we were able to treat as many as we did. All in all, the medical staff performed admirably.

Kaitlyn Montgomery has requested a transfer. She was a good nurse, and an even better friend. Unfortunately, problems in my personal life crossed over into the professional realm, resulting in a rather nasty one-sided exchange between the two of us. I’m not sure what her departure will do for morale, but with everything else that’s gone on lately, I doubt it could get any lower. I fully understand her desire to leave the Dauntless, and I wish her the best in her new endeavors.

With Tekna at our backs, I think it’s time that the crew gets a little R&R. I know I could sure stand some vacation time.

End Log.

Chief Medical Officer’s log – Addendum:

I’m thinking I may have to get someone from engineering to come and take a look at the door to my office. It seems a bit slower to open since it was disassembled and reassembled.

LCdr Thomas Stack

Stardate 20909.17

Personal Log – SD 20909.17 LCdr Thomas Eugene Stack - Counsellor USS Dauntless

I was very suspicions of this new command crew when we stated on the USS Dauntless. Cdr Nielson and Captain Wong seem very much the typical Star Fleet officers. And I must admit perhaps I went a little overboard with my initial comments to them at the first senior staff meeting. But the way this crew had been treated by Star Fleet after the sudden transfer of Admiral Treborn, and Cdr Crawford I feel was provocation enough.

I certainly hold Star Fleet responsible for the 5 million deaths on Tekna and they placed this crew in a no win situation. The crew , under the circumstances performed admirably in my view. They witnessed the total destruction of 5 million souls and it is only natural they now carry the guilt of not saving them. Even though this is a false guilt. Transfers of top brass and decommissioning of ships in my book do not come before people no matter what planet or species they belong. To withdraw the USS Drake from the rescue mission to Tekna when timing was of the utmost, only to replace it with the Dauntless some time latter was criminal to say the least. Although under these circumstance I do not consider that the mission was a failure.

I still have not had time to talk to the Captain and I will reserve my judgement, but for the Captain to walk off the bridge at a crucial moment of the mission with no explanation and lock himself away in the ready room, for what ever reason, needs explanation. And it better be a good one. If the FO does not file a report to Star Fleet, I certainly will.

The destruction of Tekna and the apparent failure of the mission have hit the crew hard. I have had a number of counselling appointments of people suffering false guilt. If I have the opportunity at the promotions party, I will say something to the crew, hopefully in the Captain’s presence, which will put this whole mission in perspective. I'll tell them my fish story.

The first attempt to take the New Sky was foolish and ill advised, in my opinion and I said as much at the time. It nearly cost the lives of several members of the crew. Diplomacy should have been our first option. But the command team listened to our resident Klingon, who by all the unofficial reports I have heard, by his action on the New Sky, has some sort of death wish. Wouldn’t I like to get him into a counselling room, but I’m sure that will never happen.

A highlight of the mission for me was taking charge of the operation on the New Sky, and commanding the New Sky back to the way station. We saved another 12000 Teknians. I can not praise the team I commanded enough. Although I had some misgivings at first, they worked as a team and I could see that the Dauntless crew, despite all the adversity and disruption prior to and during this mission, under good leadership can work well as a team.

But sadly I have to say that if things do not improve on the ship soon I will be requesting a transfer.

( A long sigh could be hear before the end of the recording.)

End log.

Lt Elliot Rice

20905.06

Personal Log Stardate 20905.06 Lieutenant Elliot Rice recording.

In the end, we weren't on Starbase Alpha for very long. I spent most of that time in my temporary quarters on the starbase, researching various medical things. I don't feel like I've retained much of the data I came across though. I guess my mind was on other things.

We had a decommissioning ceremony in the Drake's Ten Forward. It was reasonably brief, thankfully. I don't think any of us were in the mood to dwell on the loss of the Drake. It was a nice enough ceremony, I guess, as far as these things go. Very formal. I don't really like that sort of thing but at least it didn't drag on for too long. I would've liked it if Rear Admiral Treborn had been invited or if someone from the Drake had been given the opportunity to say a few words but I guess it doesn't matter. I don't think the decommissioning ceremony is where any of the crew said their real goodbyes to the Drake. Vice Admiral Linden was there, that was a nice mark of respect. Anyway, Captain Wong did a good job. He's from the Enterprise which is a pretty impressive pedigree so I'm hopeful that he'll turn out to be a great Commanding Officer. We're lucky we got someone like him, I suspect.

I also discovered at the ceremony that our new First Officer is somebody I've served with before, Commander Julia Nielson. She was the Chief Engineer on Sierra-18. I always liked her a lot. I mean, I guess we don't know each other all that well on a personal level but she's always struck me as a really charming woman. I'm glad we've got a First Officer who's so approachable, I think that's important. She's a seriously capable officer too, nobody ever had a bad word to say about her back on the station. We really lucked out when she was assigned here.

There was another ceremony on the Dauntless straight after the decommissioning. This one was to officially transfer command to Captain Wong. It wasn't so weighted down in formality as the other ceremony so I liked it a little better. A few of the crew were given promotions during it. Ben Vaughn was promoted to Lieutenant Commander, I'm happy to say. Alex Ankar got promoted too, and so did our Counselor and Chief Science Officer. And me. I'm a full Lieutenant now. That hasn't really sunk in yet. I mean, I'm happy about it, and honoured, of course I am. I just feel very conflicted right now.

But that's going to have to stop, at least for the time being. I've decided that I'll stay here until the end of the war. When that time comes, however long it takes, I'll re-evaluate then. Maybe I'll transfer or maybe I'll resign. Maybe I'll even choose to stay here permanently, I don't know. But for right now, it doesn't matter. I'm here, I'm the Assistant CMO, and I owe it to Korbon and Ben and... well, every single person on this ship, to do the very best job I can. And that means I need to at least try to be positive. I can't keep dragging my feet around this ship. I'm just going to be miserable here if I don't make an effort.

So, I'm going to go check out Sickbay now, and I'm going to do it with a smile on my face. I'll try, at least.

End log.

Marines

1Lt Richard Guarnere

20908.27

Stardate: 20908.27

Marine Commander 1st Lieutenant Guarnere reporting.

How do I start this report, my last posting was on a planet in the Romulan neutral zone carrying a weapon everywhere I went and fighting practically every few hours for my preservation, now I am in command of a detachment of Marine’s aboard a starship, how things change extreamly quickly.

It was lucky that I made it at all; the transport that transported me from Earth was running behind schedule and when it finally docked at the starbase, I ended up running just to make it onboard before they detached.

The group of Marines are a nice bunch of people, they know when to have a laugh and when to be professional which is the way it should be and knowing that down time is especially needed in times of ......... difficulty.

Now, following the shakedown cruise which went kind of ok, I set up numerous Marine training programs using the holodecks and areas of the ship, there were also joint training scenario with the security department to get the two departments working as one when it is needed.

After the final bit of the shakedown and the training, we received a distress call from a federation runabout that was being attacked by Cardassians, following sorting out that issue; we stayed to assist in the evacuation of the planet Tenka.

My Marine’s were used to assist in putting up bunk-beds in the cargo bay to house the evacuees and then the two Marine who have full medical experience were utilised to assist the medical teams with the major injuries.

This next bit is going to be hard to say, however during this time period there was an accident which put me out of action for an unspecified period of time, it seemed that an unbalanced crate fell from the top of the stack and hit me on the upper back and neck, causing major damage which needed emergency surgery.

During this time Staff Sergeant Syntranos was the lead Marine for a small party that was sent aboard a tanker to sort out an issue, then when I was out of danger, the command crew ordered another detachment to be sent over this group was commander by Master Sergeant Star.

When I get further information on the activities of the Marine detachment I will make a supplemental log entry.

End log.