Philadelphia Mission: "Attack on the Borg Megasphere" - Stardate 22001.01

The old girl is brought out of a semi-active retirement for one last hurrah against an old foe: the Borg.

Captain's Logs

Capt Aitrus Colso

Stardate 22001.08

Captain’s Log, USS Philadelphia Stardate 22001.08 Captain Aitrus Colso, recording

This has got to be one of the weirdest missions I’ve ever been briefed on, and that’s including the time we had to help move a space whale out of a warzone three years ago. But despite the oddity, it's actually happened.

The Borg are back.

I was so taken aback when Commander Braggins told us about it, I missed a bit of what she said. I was suddenly a green ensign again, back in the dark in the science labs and scared out of my mind. The Borg had struck and put an effective end to the Romulan War, and the freshly-minted ensign that I was got stuck, having barely made it to the ship he was assigned to.

At least this time, I can help do something about it. I’m not the useless, terrified scientist this time. And I have a fine crew to help me, as well. As of this recording, I’m sitting in my ready room, waiting on the fleet to arrive at the - and they should’ve found a better name for this - the Megasphere. Commander Dellinshir and I have already held our own briefing and given the crew their assignments, and now we’re in that weird phase of waiting for the inevitable.

I want to make a note before we get there, however, that this is one of the finest crews I’ve ever served with. Lieutenant Commander Sorrena in Engineering has kept her department humming, despite trying to keep one of the oldest ships in the fleet running, and Silran has come up with some fairly ingenious solutions to how to keep this ship relevant despite the likely mismatch between us and any probably enemy vessels we’ll encounter.

No matter what happens, I’m proud to be serving here alongside them, and hope that we can finally do what we evidently failed to do back, all those years ago.

End Log.

Stardate 22003.11

Captain’s Log, USS Philadelphia Stardate 22003.11 Captain Aitrus Colso, Recording…

This will be my final recording as the captain of the USS Philadelphia. Given the ferocity of the battle, I’m honestly a little surprised that I’m even able to record it, but… but then I’m just glad that I can.

Before I go further, I want to recognize the bravery of my science team. Despite being given the opportunity to remain at Pioneer, they decided to a man to remain aboard and help. The fact that all but two of them are dead now just underscores the bravery of their choice. I’ve recommended them all for the Gold Star, though I haven’t heard from Admiral Thrawn yet.

I also recommended Commander Minnale Dellinshir for a Gold Star as well. He… I wish only that I’d had time to get to know him more. Three years was not enough, but it was all that the universe gave. I’ve not spoken yet to his family, subspace having been clogged with messages in the past few days, but I’ve scheduled time to visit Pacifica in person, to deliver his effects and to speak to them. They deserve that much.

Of course, other medals have been recommended; I am extremely proud of my crew. The attack was… it was terrifying, to say the least. No briefing could have conveyed just the scale of what we were having to deal with. Just the picket fleet it deployed outnumbered us three or four to one. But we pressed on anyway.

Our first encounter was assisting the Copernicus with an attack. The science vessel was beset by a pair of probes, and we came to assist them. The Copernicus isn’t exactly a pushover, but its still no heavy cruiser or battleship. They weren’t entirely pleased with our assistance, her captain seemingly too proud to accept the help, whether it was actually needed or not. We were successful, though, keeping the Copernicus healthy at the cost of one of our torpedo tubes.

From there, we came to work with Ozaki, and mostly worked with them for the rest of the battle. Tag-teaming with our fellow frigate made for an effective team, letting us take on enemies we couldn’t handle on our own. Of course that didn’t matter much, as the Megasphere itself unleashed its own fury and nearly destroyed the Enterprise in a single shot.

It was crazy. I’ve never seen that much damage so quickly. I thought we were all doomed at that point, but then the sphere didn’t fire again. It appeared that it wasn’t able to use the weapon very often, fortunately, and we upped our chances by - ironically - closing with the probes once more and engaging them at close range. Captain Crawford formed the survivors up into a dagger-like formation, and we plunged at the heart of the enemy.

Of course, when the sphere did shoot again, the formation meant that most of us were disabled in one hit. It was a miracle that it didn’t hit Philadelphia, Ozaki, or Artemis, as we were all dodging at the moment. We managed to punch through the other side of the fleet at the same time as the infiltration teams on the sphere itself managed to finally succeed, and blew a kilometer-wide hole in the massive vessel. We were ordered to attack, and we did so.

Again, I want to commend my staff. We went into that attack with no expectation of surviving, and none of my officers panicked or fled. The youngest were obviously terrified, but they stayed the course just as well as the veterans.

In the end, we managed to destroy the sphere, somewhat. It cracked like an egg, and hatched two monstrosities. Two Borg Doomsday Machines came out, planet killers each. In the Megasphere’s breakup, we were struck by a piece of debris, at least the size of a runabout. It shattered one of our warp nacelles, and impacted the hull in the primary science labs and in the command quarters, having split after the initial impact.

Having conducted extensive surveys alongside staff from the USS Scott, the Philadelphia has been deemed unsalvageable. While she could be repaired, the age of the ship and extensiveness of the damage is just… its no longer worth it. She’s had a hard life, but the old girl’s time has finally come. Sorrena argued and fought with them over it, but even she’s given up, finally. It would just be too much work.

I’ve been told we’ll be getting a new ship, though I haven’t been told which one or when. Just that once we get back to Pioneer, we’ll be transported to Starbase Alpha, and be on shore leave for the time being. Several of my crew will be in hospital for the time being, as well, and I’m sure quite a bit of counselling will also be needed.

As for me, I forsee several long, long nights, talking about our options with Samantha. After this, it may take a once in a lifetime opportunity to stay in the fleet. I want… I need to serve and help, and I know that something like this is a strange, uncommon event. But I am not a warrior, I’m a scientist. We’ll have to see what the future holds.

But for now… it won’t hold the Philadelphia. I will miss the old girl, but I’m pleased that Star Fleet has announced that the name will be carried on to a new ship. But that will be for a new captain and a new crew.

We’re due to depart for Pioneer in two hours, at which point I will be relieved of command, and the ship will be towed to a scrapyard. I’m going to walk her halls one last time, and say my goodbyes. It has been a pleasure and an honor to be her captain. Good night, and godspeed.

End log.