Intrepid:Second Mission - The Best Defense

Mission Summary

Stardate 21303.28

Using spatial coordinates gathered from sensor data of recent Inquisition activity around the Tellarite Homeworld, Command has determined that Inquisition forces are coming from somewhere within the Badlands. The gravimetric distortion field and plasma storms of the badlands made it impossible to investigate using long range sensors alone. As a result it was decided to send a ship to search the badlands. That ship was the USS Intrepid.

Recent information brought back from the Gamma Quadrant by USS Sheridan and USS Gettysburg has also revealed a potential weapon against the invaders. Star Fleet’s finest, working around the clock, have developed an extremely experimental interpretation of the weapon. Unfortunately there was no way to test it, except in actual deployment. It was decided that the mission to the badlands is just such an opportunity. The weapon was intended to disrupt the power systems of the larger “donut” ships. It must remain in continuous operation, with the beam remaining in contact with the Krynar mother ship in order for it to be effective. The system disruptions it causes though was intended to provide the opportunity for conventional weapons (phasers/torpedoes) to actually get through and damage the ships. The weapon itself cannot destroy a ship, but it makes it possible for other weapons to do so. It would work best with several ships firing it at the same time, with support craft in place to do the actual attack, but Star Fleet only has the one proto-type. USS Intrepid and USS Dover (Capt. Jill Knight, Commanding) were selected for this assignment. USS Intrepid would receive the proto-type weapon and USS Dover was assigned to provide support. Our orders were to travel to the badlands and investigate any activity by the invaders. The Intrepid was to take the lead on this, with Dover remaining outside the distortion field in open space to allow for a communications and sensor relay back to Command and also to stand ready to provide support. It took the Intrepid’s crew with help from a team of Starfleet corps of engineers, virtually the entire trip to the find a way to balance the power requirements of the weapon in such a way that its very operational status doesn’t shut down half the ship’s systems. Holodeck programs were used to simulate the battle as well as to prepare the crew for possible outcomes including boarding action.

Upon arrival at the badlands, Intrepid entered to investigate and Dover remained outside the distortion field to provide support. After investigating for a little time, The Intrepid stumbled upon a major inquisition staging area. Hidden amidst the plasma storms and gravitic distortions, dozens of “donuts” and hundreds of thousands of “shards” have set up shop. The inhospitable environment of the badlands seemed to suit the invaders just fine, in fact the gravitic anomalies seemed to benefit the alien ships. Even still, they did not seem to detect the Intrepid, indicating a possible negative impact to their sensors from the badlands.

The heavy cruiser Intrepid was able to get into position and fired the weapon at one of the donuts. Sensor interference prevented the other inquisition ships from fully mobilizing against Intrepid. However, the mothership's own escort, a number of shard ships moved to intercept. They were met with phaser fire from the heavy cruiser at first before the Dover joined the battle and engaged the shards. Once within firing range, the weapon had to remain in continuous operation to have the effect. However, after a time it started to destabilize the donut’s power systems. After we opened fire with phasers and torpedoes, the donut was severely damage and drifted into a plasma storm. With the donuts shields disrupted by the Intrepid beam, the plasma storm and an associated gravimetric wavefront, in conjunction with the Intrepid’s weapons fire, destroyed the inquisition ship. As the donut explodes, the Intrepid’s proto-type weapon, which has been pushed towards overload the entire time, finally did overload, heavily damaged the Intrepid and disabled many of her systems. Luckily for Intrepid, rather than attack, the other inquisition ships withdrew, opening dozens of the subspace portals they used for long range travel. All the Intrepid was able to do is conduct as many scans of the enemy as we could.

Once the inquisition ships have withdrawn, The USS Dover engaged her tractor beam and towed the injured Intrepid home for a well deserved repair and refit.

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 21209.25

Captain Gabriel Archer Recording:

After having some down time to rest and recharge at Star Base Alpha, the USS Intrepid is off to her second mission under my command. First, Starfleet had managed to track some of the invasion forces in the Tellarite System back to their point of origin. it is believed to be perhaps a major staging area for their push into Federation systems. However, this staging area is deep within the badlands. We could theories that the gravitational distortions of the displacement fields and plasma storms that make up the badlands have a beneficial effect for the invaders, they may help straighten the gravity based power systems they utilize and it also operates as a perfect way to block our sensors from tracking them. The net effect is that Starfleet can't confirm these theories remotely, and they needed to have someone in the field to investigate this in person. That's where the Intrepid come in.

As for the second part of the mission, we are to test a design of a Dominion weapon that the Gettysburg and Sheridan have acquired from the Delta Quadrant. It is some sort of an energy beam that, when directly striking one of the Inquisition dreadnoughts, destabilizes their power systems such that conventional weapons can effectively be used against them. The beam itself doesn't seem to destroy them, but it makes it possible for phasers and torpedoes to do damage. A prototype is being installed aboard the Intrepid as we speak and we will be testing it in the Badlands if we encounter any Krynor shards or capital ships.

Support to the Intrepid for this mission will be provided by the escort USS Jefferson and the frigate USS Dover. In addition to a team from Starfleet Corps of Engineers who will be completing the installation of the weapon on route to the Badlands.

I realize the risk I will be placing the ship and crew in by taking this mission. But if this works, we may be able to bring a swift end to this costly and bloody war, and by doing so, we will be saving countless lives and sparing entire worlds from an impending annihilation. This mission has to succeed. No matter the cost.

End Log

Stardate 21211.15

Captain Gabriel Archer Recording:

I finally met the Captain of the USS Dover, the lovely Jill Knight. To my surprise she ended up being a friend I had back at the academy, except that I knew her as Jill Carsen which was her name before she took the name of her late husband. After doing some catching up, we discussed the mission and the roles of our respective ships in it.

At the moment we are cruising in formation at Warp six on our way to the Badlands. My engineers are telling me that it is not safe to go any faster while installing the weapon and after our last mission, I have no intention of putting the ship in an unnecessary danger. That said, we are running performance simulations on the weapon and the response time of the various departments in case of trouble. So far, so good.

End Log

Stardate 21212.22

Captain Gabriel Archer Recording:

Everything checks out, the ship and crew are operating at peek efficiency. All except my first officer. Commander Kaiser has just informed me that he was diagnosed with a rare terminal illness and that he has only a few days left to live. Considering what he lost at the battle of Sierra Eighteen, he insisted that he continues to be on duty for the remainder of this mission, while promising that the he will step down at the first sign of discomfort. Against my better judgment, I reluctantly have granted his request. None the less, I will be keeping a close eye on him, and my second officer, Commander Jackson will be ready to take over Kaiser's responsibilities in case the need to do so arises. It is my hope that such a day will never come, and Doctor Thrace is currently doing everything in her power to find a cure to Kaiser's condition. I have never been known to be a spiritual man. None the less, I find myself praying with all my heart for a miracle to happen. After all, there is little else I can do...

On the other hand, the mission is progressing well. Our two-ship task force had arrived at the Badlands and we immediately began a search for our target. After overcoming a few obstacles we were able to locate a tunnel in the plasma clouds that lead to an opening. We found a hive of Krynar ships lurking inside and they seemed to either not notice or simply ignore our presence. With Dover standing by at a safe distance. The Intrepid has locked on to the nearest Krynar mother ship and we are preparing to open fire. I am confidant that the prototype weapon will work. Yet, I can't even start to fathom the fallout of it not working as intended.

Failure is simply NOT an option.

End Log

Stardate 21303.01

Captain Gabriel Archer Recording:

We have Victory! The prototype weapon hit the Krynar mother ship and it allowed our conventional weapons to be effective. While dodging a group of Shards, the Intrepid opened fire on their capital ship and destroyed it. We had to maintain the beam from the prototype weapon throughout the battle, and despite the intervention of the USS Dover who engaged and defeated the shards, our systems started shutting down. The prototype weapon had taken its toll on the ship's power and the Dover had to tractor us back to base. The interesting thing was, that after the destruction of the capital ship, the rest of the Krynar fleet escaped. They out numbered and out gun our small task force, yet they opted to run away.

It seems to me that as a military mentality, the Krynar dislike the unknown. While they enjoy having the upper hand and a sure victory, it is very likely that they will retreat in the face of uncertain odds or when they are at any disadvantage.

For now, I will submit my full report to Star Fleet and go assist my crew in making repairs. They have done an outstanding job, and they have earned an extended shore leave for their effort. I could not have asked for a better group of people to command.

I am truly honored to serve among them.

End Log

Crew Logs

Lt Jordan Thrace

Star date 21210.18

Commander Kaiser has some sort of disease that we are not aware of. It is not listed in the Star Fleet Medical Directory. This is going to take a lot of work to figure out what's wrong. I'm worried for his life, but PO2 Ren and I are going to fix this. I will NOT lose our First Officer on my watch... not going to happen. I believe it has something to do during his time as a POW in the Romulan War, but I need to talk to him in order to get details on what happened to him during his time there. This will not be a fun conversation. I better get back to work.

End Log.

LCdr Kyle DeWitt

Star Date 21212.21

Chief Tactical Officer's log Stardate 21212.21 Lieutenant Commander Kyle DeWitt recording:

If this mission were up to me, I would've cancelled it the second the simulation showed that the Intrepid and her crew wouldn't survive as shown by the holodeck simulation. We were able to get a select few shots in to cause damage, but in the grand scheme of things we were completely overrun by the shards. It's not something a single ship can take on it's own. We're too outmatched for a group of our size, as I don't think the Dover is going to bring much to the playing field.

I have a feeling of distrust towards Lieutenant McCormick. During, and after, the simulation he didn't show the first signs in willingness to help us prepare for our task. Is he a spook that we don't know of? The possiblity is there, and considering we're on the brink of war, if we haven't finally statred it, the idea of him being one wouldn't surprise me.

Our trip through the Badlands has brought us near our enemy. A Krynar mothership looms directly in front of us. For some reason unknown to us they haven't attack us yet. Is this area of space affecting them worse than it is us? Or are they deciding to leave us alone as they figure we can be easily neutralized at the moment? Everything is out in the greyest of all areas as we don't know what to expect. The Krynar have proven themselves formidable in every encounter in their wake of destruction? The play, hail mary. Hopefully our receiver can catch the pass and make it to the end zone.

End log.

LCdr Kyle DeWitt

Star Date 21301.14

Chief Tactical Officer's Log Stardate 21301.14 Lieutenant Commander Kyle DeWitt recording:

It looks like this just might work. Our initial attempt at firing our new weapon didn't go according to plan considering I overestimated it's firing range, but now we've got the Krynar in our sights. The downside now happens to be that the shards have unleashed their assault. This is beginning to feel like the simulation all over again, and that's unacceptable.

Even as we lost our element of surprise we continued to hold our own. The main concern, until the Krynar mothership shields had a gap in them we could use, is to prevent the attack ship from gaining up on our aft phaser bank. I'm actually surprised that our computer was able to get close enough to true Krynar tactics. If only we knew the schematics of their ships, we'd be able to win this war no sweat.

I've sent information regarding an anomaly that's originating from our deflector weapon to mission specialist Zandalar. Hopefully, as this two meter gap in the Krynar's shielding expands we'll be able to use this unexpected occurrence to our advantage. If it can't do anything for us I'll still wait for Gabe's order to use our conventional weapons on the enemy. Their shields have been penetrated and regardless of what damage we could inflict it needs to be done.

End log.

Lt Toon Jer-Na

Star Date 21301.23

Chief Science Officer's Log Stardate 21301.22 Lieutenant Toon Jer-Na recording:

I am happy to report that the science department aboard the Intrepid continues to run smoothly in the absence of her former chief science officer, Lieutenant Daniel Reese. Many of the team leaders continue to have difficulty adjusting to the change in leadership, as Mr. Reese was very well liked. The concerns of these officers, which have been made clear in several complaints to both myself and Captain Archer, are not entirely unfounded. My inexperience in serving aboard starships, as well as my peculiar area of expertise, have presented unique challenges to the department, but ones I feel have provided wonderful opportunities to the officers serving under my command. Already many duties which were once handled by Mr. Reese directly have been delegated to other officers, which is providing them with invaluable experience both in their individual fields of study and in leadership in general. Some have already begun to see the advantages to this arrangement, while others continue to view me as little more than an ineffectual administrator. I am proud to report, however, that the latter view is becoming less and less common, and the complaints lodged against my leadership have lowered to only moderate levels.

In the wake of a large number of illnesses within the science department (which we have traced back to the Botany department), I have enacted several changes to our regular duty roster to allow for more flexibility should an officer find himself in sickbay. I have placed myself on call for bridge duty during alpha and beta shifts, which while not the most comfortable of positions for someone of my stature, will help to alleviate any fears that I am a "science lab bound recluse" as several of my officers have stated in their reports. Perhaps an increased visibility will improve my image among the crew and help further stymie the flow of complaints which have found their way increasingly across the desk of Captain Archer.

End log.

LCdr Jay Read

Star Date 21302.07

Chief Security officers Log: Stardate 21302.08

The battle against the Krynar had been won - I'm happy to report my security team have come through it with minor injuries only, well at least physical injuries that is, I am not sure how the recent conflict will affect Lt Darmar, only time will tell. For that matter I will be taking a closer at myself and my feelings toward the Krynar. I am a little concerned that I took such pleasure from the death of those we fought against. I have never before had such a strong sense of vengence.

Sierra 18 is gone - and gone for good, no amount of killing can bring it back, nor the friends and colleagues we lost there, but for a short time, whilst the batte ensued. I felt the presence of those lost souls - and those photon bursts were for and on behalf of them.

Lt Jordan Thrace

Star Date 21302.10

Chief Medical Officer's log Stardate: 21302.10

Kaiser is still not cured. I don't know if he will live. I know he wants to ask Glau to marry him, but I don't know if he will get to do it. This worries me. I have to fix him. I have to.

I know there were a few injured with the war with the Krynar, but not too bad. Mainly minor things, bumps, bruises.

We need to mandate psych evaluations for the crew at this point. I think we're all about to go crazy. Many of us lost everything on Sierra 18- our things, friends, family..... our home. The Intrepid only goes so far. Nobody is comfortable here yet. It isn't home.

I have to go get to work on this cure for Kaiser. Time is not on our side.

End log.

PO2 Ren

Stardate 21302.28

Personal Log Stardate: 21302.28

First mission and we survived it...I survived it. Surprised by that to be honest. We were pushed to the forefront of the war...beyond it in fact. Like sacrificial lambs to the slaughter. Yet here we are, returning home when most would think such a feat impossible.

I am just a simple Medic. A Petty Officer at that. Like a lesser race in an unequal world. I am not told much and I don’t expect to be. I am happy in my little corner of the Starship. I am happy in my duties and my position. I do it well. But something tells me this assignment on the Intrepid is going to push my limits. I cannot tolerate violence, conflict...yet I chose this, I chose to put myself in a place where few would tread...what more can I expect? I suppose the real question is – does the benefits continue to outweigh?

My CMO seems nice enough. A lot nicer then I am used to. Still I am finding it hard to obtain my niche in this crew. Far from formal its obvious they have been together a while, been through a lot. It may take time...and perhaps a little more effort then I am used to, on my part.

Now we have docked at Star Base Alpha, I can stretch my legs, see the sights and reflect on where exactly it is I am heading.

LCdr Kyle DeWitt

Star Date 21302.28

Chief Tactical Officer's log Stardate 21302.28 Lieutenant Commander Kyle DeWitt recording:

Victory has finally been achieved. The Intrepid, with some assistance from the Dover, has eliminated the first Krynar capital ship of the war. This achievement didn't come without great sacrifice, I'm afraid. While the deflector weapon was successful it had the drawback of affecting our power systems. Our shields collapsed allowing the shards easy access to inflict damage.

Our return trip to Star Base Alpha has been uneventful. While we could've maintained minimal warp power, Captain Archer had the Dover transport us to base. It's a little humiliating in part to our great accomplishment, but I think it can be slightly overlooked this time.

Over the past several months I've been training for my StratOps certification, to help supplement the team onboard. With Star Fleet finally giving me the green light, I'll report to the Academy after the ship is securely docked. I had been under the impression that I'd return to my regular position on the Intrepid following this brief stint, but it seems like there's new plans in the works. Once a Lieutenant Commander Chesit reports in, I will be relieved of my Department Head position.

I honestly can't say I'm surprised. Ever since the Pegasus incident it seems that Star Fleet is going out of their way to keep me off a ship. It's not as if I'm questioning Commander Kaiser's orders like I did Azernal, or questioning his judgment. Once we get to Earth I'm not sure what to expect anymore. However, if I have my way this won't be the last they hear of me wanting to be returned to the Intrepid. In any form. End Log

Cdr Dietrich Kaiser

Star Date 21303.14

First Officer's Log Stardate 21303.14

During a recent mission into the Briar Patch, the Doctor discovered that I had some sort of side effects from my time as a Prisoner of War. A little treat left by the Romulans. During an attack on the Krynar with a new weapon I collapsed on the bridge. Fortunately Doctor Thrace was able to save my life but I'll require treatments for the rest of my life. I am glad to hear that our attack was successful and we were able to take out a Krynar mothership. There is still no word on the fate of my parents.

End Log.