Intrepid:First Mission - Best Cold
| Best Cold | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ship: | USS Intrepid, CA-1708 | ||
| Commanding Officer: | Captain Gabriel Archer | ||
| Stardate: | 21201.01 - 21210.01 | ||
| Mission Timeline | |||
| Previous Mission: | Current Mission: | Next Mission: | |
| Mission 0 | Mission 2 | ||
Contents
Mission Summary
Stardate 21210.01
I am writing this after my meetings with the Admirals. The reason being that up until now, I wasn’t sure how much I was allowed to reveal in my official log. My crew and I have thought our selves to have died during the final events of this mission. But somehow, and without a clear explanation we have made it out alive. The mystery may be explored or even researched further in the future. But at this time, we are at war and it will have to wait. For now, I am glad we are alive. It all started as a simple investigation mission to where the Space Station Sierra Eighteen used to be. However, shortly after arriving we were examining what looked like a large chunk of the one of the Asteroids that made up Sierra, when we discovered that it was in fact a group of Shards that was disguised as the asteroid. We engaged the shards, and the USS Intrepid’s powerful weapons made short work of the enemy while sustaining minimal damage. None the less, my Chief Science Officer came up with an idea to deal with the shards by using a modified tractor beam to emit a high yield anti-graviton beam.
That was when things got interesting. The effect of the beam on the shards caused them all to explode at once and in turn, the shock wave caused by the explosion knocked out our sensors. Sitting blind in the middle of a battle was a sobering experience. We had no idea at first if the shards have been destroyed completely or not. We were expecting the attack, the final punch, to happen any second now and all we could do was sit and wait while the damage control teams worked on restoring our sensors. The few “look outs” posted at strategic locations on the ship looking out of windows, reported not seeing anything suspicious. That, and the fact that the attack we expected never came allowed us to assume that the danger has passed, at least for now. But we were mistaken.
The first thing we noticed was our inability to communicate with anyone or anything. Our initial reaction was to attribute it to the networks being down. But when our messages began to bounce back to us we began to suspect that something was wrong. Then our speed was limited to 1/5 Impulse, despite the fact that we could not detect anything wrong with our engines. However, our power reserves were being mysteriously drained. Finally, the sensors came on-line and to our horror we discovered that we were sitting in the middle of a fleet of 10 Shard Capital ships! For the second time since this mission started we felt that this was to be the end. But then again, the attack never came. In fact, the other ships seemed to be stuck in the same quick sand situation as we were, and they showed no more appetite for battle than we. While we were still debating the situation, two more ships appeared, one of them was a Shard Capital Ship. On the other hand, the second was an identical ship to USS Intrepid, down to the name spelled on its hull.
These events only served to add more questions to the ones we already had than answers. Every few minutes a shift would happen and more copies of the two ships will appear. We concluded that the time between shifts was declining and it will eventually become so fast that it won’t enable us to function anymore. We would be lost forever in the flux of space and time we found ourselves in. Racing against time itself, we made a number of attempts to get out of this pocket we were stuck in. But the power and the reduced speed prevented us from succeeding. To add to the gravity of the situation, an evolved strain of the cold virus was spreading aboard the ship, and Doctor Thrace estimated that it was only a matter of time before everyone fell to this lethal disease. The medical department was able to make a connection between the pocket we were in and the mutation of the virus but no cure was found.
The crew came up with a number of ideas included a static warp field to counter the power drain, a modulation of the shields to try and prevent further duplication. We finally noticed a buildup of Chroniton particles on our hull as well as on the hull of one of the Capital ships closest to our location. As far as we could tell, those particles were absent from the other ships. This fact lead us to theorise that the other Capital ship with the Chroniton particles on its hull was the original, and all the others were copies created while it was trapped in the pocket of space-time. It was out of desperation that a crazy idea was born. Lieutenant Reese, our Chief Science Officer suggested that if the Intrepid were to produce an Anyon pulse from the deflector dish it would dissipate the Chronitons. A pulse strong enough to engulf both the Intrepid and the Capital ship would be enough to wash both vessels from any Chronitons particles and thus depriving the pocket of space-time of its two original power sources. The trick was that a pulse of such magnitude would push the ship into the dangerous grounds of a possible warp core breach.
The truth was I had no other option. Time was running out, and the decision was made. We took all possible precaution and the green light was given. There was the bright white light of the pulse followed by alarms sounding all over the ship, consoles exploding, people screaming and then it all went dark. No one knows what exactly happened next. The crew woke up from as if from a coma and the ship’s instruments indicated the variance in the time we spent inside the pocket and the time that passed in our universe. There was no damage to the ship and no trace of the mutated virus. However, one Shard Capital ship was sitting right in front of us in space. Not sure how effected they were by the pulse or the transition, I gave the order to open fire. Our torpedoes passed by the location where the Shard ship was sitting a second too late. They had escaped the battle. One theory was that they thought the pocket was our doing and they didn’t want to fall in it again. Another was that they had suffered damage and were not battle worthy. But in reality, we will never really know why they chose to escape instead of making a stand. Us on the other hand, we were just glad to be alive at this point. We set a course back to Star Base Alpha at best possible speed and began our journey home.
Despite standing at the edge of an abyss and staring death in the eyes, the crew had showed exceptional courage and resourcefulness that exceeded all expectations. It is an honor to serve among such an excellent group of people.
Logs
Below are the log entries for the mission, grouped by who wrote them and sorted by Stardate.
Captain's Logs
Captain Gabriel Archer
Stardate 21202.14
Captain’s log.
The Intrepid has been ordered to further investigate the events that lead to the destruction of Space Station Sierra Eighteen. We are to attempt to find clues as to where did these aliens came from, how their weapons work, and how they were able to jump into the system so quickly. In the meantime, my senior staff are getting familiar with the new ship and crew assigned to us.
Personally, I am quite pleased with what I have seen so far of the Intrepid. She is a fine ship, suitable for long range missions in hostile or uncharted territory. Her balanced configuration makes her able to serve as an intrepid exploration vessel or a fearless warship. It come as no surprise the high possibility that both roles will be required in order to achieve the goals of our current mission...
End Log
Stardate 21205.12
The hunter has become the hunted. We came to the previous location of Sierra Eighteen looking for Shards and clues and now we are trapped in some sort of a time/space phase. So far, all our attempts to break free had failed. To make matters worse, an enemy capital ship, nick-named the Donut, is also trapped in here, and multiple copies of both ships are being created every few minutes...
This is getting tiresome. In fact, we realized that if we don't find a way to get out of here soon, we won't be able to function anymore due to the frequency at which new copies of the two ships are being created. Our best guess is that the phenomena is feeding off our own power in order to create and maintain the phases... I may have to make a very drastic choice soon. But I am hoping it won't come to that...
End Log
Crew Logs
Lt [JG] Burke
Stardate 21201.15
Chief Tactical Officer's Log Stardate 21201.15 Lieutenant Junior Grade Leanne Burke recording:
Today hasn't been the best of days for us. We lost the station. We were on preparedness for a Dominion attack, but what we got was a bunch of shard looking things. The majority of the command staff were aboard the Thomas Jefferson as well.
We all fought valiantly to defend our home. Alas, we defeated the enemy seconds too late. We're currently recovering our remaining escape pod via the available ship, Titan and Yeager.
Starfleet has ordered an immediate return to Earth. This doesn't make any sense with the invasion we're on the recording end of. Whoever, or whatever I should say, is attacking us will end up paying in the end. We don't take acts like this laying down. I just hope my assignment won't be on this small ship though.
May we all be protected in our future and see our loved ones and friends one more time.
End log.
LCdr Read
Chief Security Officer's log Stardate 21202.21
The captain has assigned me to lead an away team to collect two engineers from outpost 132 which we had previously thought lost. I would have liked to stay on board the ship longer, but we cannot ignore a distress call.
I hope the animosity between Darmar and Gem'lia isn't going to be an issue. This is my first away mission under Captain Archer's command and I don't want personality clashes putting us at a disadvantage if we should engage the shards we'll need to work as they appear to.....as one unit.
End log
Chief Security Officer's log: Stardate 21207.03
Further to my last report the situation between two of my team has not improved. To be fair to the issue seems to be 80/20 on the part of Darmar. I also detect a certain resentment of my authority. When I return to the Intrepid I will need to go through Lt Darmar's files and see if there are any previous issues of insubordination or animosity to other crew members. I am also concerned at her level of recklessness - a check on holodeck training records will also be required. Until then lets hope things settle down.
End log
Lt[JG] Thrace
Chief Medical Officer's log: Stardate 21207.10
We overcame the shards yet again. We picked up an airborne virus that went through the ventilation systems. The entire crew was effected. Symptoms included headaches, nausea, confusion. The crew held up well and continued duties. Counselor T'Nes passed out from a headache. I suppose it was her Vulcan heritage that made the symptoms worse in her physiology. Antibodies were released into the ventilation systems and the crew returned to normal. I will update after sickbay clears out again. We have some refugees that need tended to.
End Log.
Lt[JG] Rejal
[Engineering Officers Log Lieutenant Junior Grade Gilora Rejal Stardate 21207.17
We made it, I'm not sure how. I'm not sure why, but we got away from the shards. There technology is advanced, no one can deny that. What I wouldn't give to get my hands on some of it close up, first hand.
I can't believe with all the enemies the Federation has face in the last decade or so that we weren't better prepared. Given what we have had to deal with battling the Borg along should have helped us with the shards.
I just hope that we haven't come across an enemy that we can't match or eventually best. I think that we might be able to use some of the lesson we learned against the Borg to defeat the shards.
End Log.
