Dauntless Mission 01: "Misadventures in the Asteroid Field"

This mission starts just after the Battle Cruiser Dauntless arrives at StarBase 1 with Cdr Thrawn (an ex-CEO) as Captain, filling the void of the previous acting Captain and the majority of his Engineering post-fabrication crew who were killed on StarBase 209 at the outbreak of the war. Cdr Thrawn pays a visit to the San Francisco Shipyards and meets with the Commander of Star Fleet Engineering Corps and his staff to discuss the Dauntless and the fate of the Yoritomo. He requests that the ship is fully upgraded from prototype to fully operational Avenger Class Battle Cruiser, and in addition suggests several modifications that could be made to the ship to increase its mission capability, based on his experience as a CEO. The modifications are started by the shipyards, with the intention that they will be completed by the ship’s Engineering section.

Cdr Thrawn decides to take the ship out for some trials. It was meant to simply be a shakedown cruise to recalibrate and adjust all the main ships systems so that they would function together in the optimum fashion – an essential procedure to ready a ship for war. It was very successful; and they managed to slightly exceed their rated design maximum warp speed and there were not too many problems with the ancillary systems.

On our return towards StarBase 1 they fortuitously intercepted a message encrypted in a probable Romulan from the asteroid belt at the periphery of the solar system, and chose to investigate. This gave them the opportunity to test out their away team skills in zero atmosphere, and to present the new FO with a real mission. What they discovered was an alleged crash-landed Federation shuttle but something didn’t seem right with the setup and the three humanoids. After a complete medical their suspicions were confirmed – they were actually genetically altered Romulans posing as Humans, spying on the Sol System and relaying fleet movements to the enemy.

All in all a very good test of the ships capabilities…..

Captain's Logs

Cmdr Matthew Thrawn

Stardate 20202.17

Stardate 20202.17
This is my first log of the Dauntless. After arriving at the remains of Starbase209 aboard the Advanced Heavy Cruiser Avenger, the Dauntless arrived with a partial crew after escaping from the StarBase before it was destroyed by the Romulan Task force. Though inquires are no doubt going to be undertaken, her temporary Captain Chief Crockett showed initiative and resolve above the call of duty and is therefore recommended for a commendation.

I have already started building my command staff. First officer is Lt Rayne, someone I have known and served with for some time and in whom I have total confidence. Ltjg Rylus - Acting CEO; Lt Lorien – Counsellor; Cdr Knight – CSO, LtCol Avon – MARCO and COS. Others to follow.

Currently we are enroute to Starbase-1 for crew and stores replenishment, in the company of the Avenger under Capt. Longbow, with Capt. Dax as First Officer.

I am allocating Lt Gynstal the task of documenting exactly what my ship is capable of and what additional modifications are required to bring her up to the same standard to the Avenger. From information passed to me from Earth Shipyards it is now clear that she was the prototype for the advanced Avenger design and whilst she is a clear advance on the standard Heavy Cruiser design, I want to bring her up to the new standard as soon as possible, as well as exploring some thoughts of my own.

Stardate 2020.25

Stardate 20202.25
In the company of the USS Avenger we have arrived at StarBase-1 without further incident - which is just as well because with effectively less than one heavy cruiser crew spread across the two ships, I am not convinced that we could have taken on a determined attack by Romulan forces with a respectable probability of success without the element of surprise on our side.

We are currently taking on supplies and awaiting new members of crew before departing to undertake our first true mission of this war. The foundations of a strong crew are there. The remnants of the original Dauntless crew, the Yoritomo crew who transferred over, and supplemented by members of SB209 who have decided to stay with us, the ships crew have knitted together well.

Whilst the crew enjoy some well deserved R&R and try to come to terms with what has happened to us and the Yoritomo, we will also be starting the process of completing the upgrades from prototype status to that of a fully enhanced Avenger class. There is a lot of work ahead but I am sure that Fleet Command will not send a Heavy Cruiser on low priority missions. Star Fleet needs to use her workhorses to stop the tide of war encroaching more and more upon our territory and I think that sooner than some of our crew may think, we will be thrown into battle once more, and then we will have the opportunity to truly show the enemy what we are made of.

Stardate 20203.05

Stardate 20203.05
The Dauntless is now on her way back to the StarBase to commence taking on her crew and continue with loading stores and supplies. During the last few days she had been modified at the Shipyards, and is now sporting a pair of larger shuttle bay doors. Internally, modifications to increase the shuttle bay capacity are ongoing but as of yet uncompleted. This will be the major task for the Engineering Department. We have also taken delivery of the final upgrade packages for our sensors and weaponry systems which still need installing into the ships systems, though the exterior work has all been included. All in all, a superb performance by the Shipyard Engineering teams.

Whilst a welcome respite from the carnage of war, I am hoping that the crew have made full use of their time at the StarBase to get some rest and relaxation. I am sure that we will be flung into the conflict in the very near future. Saying all that, I am sure that once re-assembled the crew will perform any task asked of them admirably and effectively.

Stardate 20203.12

Stardate 20203.12
Whilst the last of our crew and equipment is assembled, I have decided to take the ship out for a mini-shakedown cruise to test the systems under emergency conditions, before we return to the StarBase, take receipt of the crew/equipment and thereafter depart on our next mission.

Our main secondary task of the next few weeks will be to incorporate the unfinished internal upgrades that can now be paired up with the external systems added during the modification work at the shipyards. This will transform us from the prototype into a fully-fledged enhanced avenger class cruiser, though as it is - we are still more powerful than a standard avenger class. Any Romulan attempting to take a swipe at us would be more than surprised.

But I must admit that I am eager to commence the next mission; hopefully to start to stabilise the new front-line before commencing the fight back. Only time will tell.

Stardate 20203.18

Stardate 20203.18
Well I am happy to report that the emergency warp tests went very well for our first attempt, managing to slightly exceed our rated maximum after some impromptu re-calibration. As we get to know the ships characteristics I am sure Ltjg Rylus and her team will improve on that. The Science group are also starting work on incorporating the new sensor packages into our systems. I have also appointed Ltjg Blake as my CMO and have agreed for Cadet Yves, daughter of one of my science officers, to undertake on-the-job training as part of her academy training, initially in the counsellor/sickbay area.

During the shakedown cruise we fortuitously intercepted a message encrypted in a probable Romulan code. Though we do not know what the message says, we have traced the point of origin to a crashed Federation runabout on a asteroid in the Terran System asteroid belt. LCdr Rayne is leading an away team to investigate further, but the proximity of the site makes the location an ideal spot to observe on Federation ships entering and departing the system. Hopefully we will get some answers as to why a Federation craft is transmitting in a probable Romulan code during hostilities.

Currently we remain positive that they have not detected our presence – only time will tell.

Stardate 20203.27

Stardate 20203.27
It appears that the away team was successful in their mission and we have successfully captured the shuttlecraft and its crew from the asteroid below. I say captured and not rescued because something certainly doesn’t sound right about this whole affair and as we are at war I prefer to edge on the side of caution. The crew will be examined in sickbay under heavy guard just in case.

As soon as the shuttlecraft is aboard with their belongings we aim to set course for Starbase1 to receive our new orders, and to pick up the rest of our crew and equipment which has been compiled for us during our absence.

Stardate 20204.04

Stardate 20204.04
Our initial hunch has now been confirmed. The three supposedly human survivors from a crashed shuttlecraft have turned out to be three genetically altered Romulan spies, sending back fleet movement data to the Romulans. It is gratifying that our sickbay managed to determine the information as it directly resulted in an extremely thorough examination of their equipment which led to the discovery of their transmitter, concealed in a very novel way. I plan to turn them over to Star Fleet Intelligence/Security once I have reported into the Fleet Commander to determine our next mission and make my report.

During our stay here in StarBase-1, which I hope will not be for long, I am expecting to collect the rest of my crew and the special equipment I requested.

I must admit that whilst the shakedown cruise went better than I expected, capturing the 3 spies was at best fortuitous on our part. If we hadn’t passed through their transmission beam we would not have discovered them. Just goes to show that our enemy is just as cunning as his reputation. We must be careful of underestimating him in the weeks and months ahead….

Stardate 20204.11

Stardate 20204.11
Well, what a day. I have been briefed on our next mission, the first proper mission for the new crew of the Dauntless. Once we have departed the Starbase I aim to call a department heads meeting to inform them all of the details. In addition I have a new advisor for this mission – LCdr Garellian an intelligence expert who I am sure will prove a valuable addition to the crew.

We also need to speed up the modifications to the hanger bay and the torpedo launchers, as I am sure that where we are heading we will need them working perfectly. The sensors and shielding enhancements have already been completed. In addition we are scheduled once we arrive at our destination to disembark a Long-Range Recon Patrol (LRRP) behind enemy lines

We will shortly be handing our 2 adult and 1 child Romulan spies to Star Fleet security commander Blake who no doubt will try and obtain the reasons behind their mission. Then following the embarkation of out 3 companies of marines, our new fighter, shuttle and dropship units, we will be departing in a little under 3 hours time.

Personally I am eager to set off – to do our bit to start the fight back against the forces of evil….