Saeihr-hveith Mission 01: "Ressurection"

The Shadowhawk is launched on its shakedown cruise and immediately encounters problems. The ship's warp drive isn't running smoothly, and a mysterious intruder has Force Protection combing the decks. Once those initial problems are solved, the ship is called to the frontlines as the Federation declares war on the Shiar. The battle goes well until the Shadowhawk finds itself collapsing into the quantum singularity that powers its engines and then suddenly is returned in time to a point before the fateful blow had been delivered.

Logs

Ohrainir s'Leih (Captain's Log)

Saeihr-hveith 20804.16

Having officially assumed command of the RIS Shadowhawk on Saeihr-hveith 20804.06, I am now finalizing preparations for our launch on Saeihr-hveith 20804.22. Most of the crew has boarded, and the engineers and maintenance workers of the ch'Havram Shipyards are finishing last minute work to ready this vessel for its ultimate destiny in battle. I feel extremely fortunate to have been chosen to command the Shadowhawk. Far more experienced officers were passed over when they offered me the position, but yet I was chosen above them to be given my first command as leih of the finest and most advanced vessel in the Galae s'Shiar. I hold it as a testament to the hard work I've put in over the years, and to the connections I've made. One should never underestimate the power of making alliances.

I only wish that I was given a more experienced crew. Aside from myself and my ih'hwi'saehne, the majority of the crew have had little or no actual experience. I understand that the rapid expansion of the galae has caused a similar situation on other vessels, but one would think that the enriovir who command this section of the galae would deem it prudent to provide its newest and most advanced ship with a tested crew. Instead, they've given me children. I doubt that they would want to waste the time and effort spent on building the Shadowhawk, or otherwise I'd say someone was dooming me to failure. I have enough enemies who would jump at the chance to humiliate me in front of my superiors. I will not fail though. I will succeed. Either that, or I will die. Those are the only two choices available to me.

I've met several of the erei'Ereinir that have been assigned to me. They seem an eager group, as were we all fresh out of the Phi'lasasam, and very naive. Some show promise, and I look forward to seeing how they progress. Others though, one in particular, I'd just assume leave behind. I'm counting on my ih'hwi'saehne to help turn all of them into competent officers. Arrain Khaiell has no actual command experience, but he's taught at the Phi'lasasam, and he knows how to work with young people. He has the skills and patience I don't in dealing with dyypanir. That's why I chose him specifically over more experienced officers. I'm sure he'll prove a valuable asset to me in the coming months.

That we will see battle is certain, and I've been promised that the Shadowhawk will be on the front lines. With the Lloann'mhrahel increasingly becoming more aggressive towards us, and the need to finally excise the cancer of the ra'faicol that has plagued us on Ecurai, the time is drawing near to rid ourselves of those who wish to destroy us. We've been neglecting both too long. If the Shiar is going to survive, we must secure our future now, before it's too late. I only hope we have time to train this young crew properly before we're thrust into combat. It could come at any day.

End Log.

Saeihr-hveith 20804.28

Only a few minutes into our shakedown cruise, and less than a light year from the shipyards, we find ourselves at a full stop, waiting for our warp engines to be repaired. Fluctuations in the warp drive’s power relays forced a restart of the engines, and now repair of those same fluctuations will cost us more time. I’m unsure at the moment why the fluctuations weren’t repaired before the restart. I’m sure though that it boils down to having inexperienced crewmembers. That’s all the more reason to run drill after drill on this cruise. I’ve got to turn these dyypanir into real soldiers, and quickly, or else we’ll never survive the coming conflict.

The Arifv Dheno is also experiencing the effects of a possible systems malfunction. An anomalous lifesign reading in the Hifvai’rhe has them chasing down what’s probably a sensor ghost. Still, we can’t be for sure. With the Shadowhawk being the most advanced vessel in the galae, we’re a prime target for espionage and sabotage. Hopefully, it’s nothing though. I have much better things to do than to execute spies. There’s too much paperwork involved. I swear, the Galae s’Shiar is getting more bureaucratic each day. When I was an erei’Erein, we just simply shot them and dumped the bodies out an airlock, if there were any bodies left. These days, you have to fill out three forms before you can even put the corpse into an airlock. It has something to do with health and safety, or so they say. I think it more has to do with job security. Some veruul in an administrative office wants to justify his position by giving himself work to do.

I’m still waiting to put this ship to its test. So far, we’ve only used the impulse engines. The warp drive, weapons and tactical systems need to be tested. We can’t do anything at the moment though until the warp drive has been repaired. Once it’s fully back online, we’ll begin the next series of tests. I’m not going to spare anything in pushing this ship to its limits. I want to know how it’s going to perform. I need to learn its every fault and flaw before we go into battle, and so does the crew. I’ll accept nothing less than perfection and victory. This ship has to live up to its expectations. If it doesn’t, we’ll all suffer.

I have the feeling we’ll be called into action very soon. Intelligence reports suggest that the Ra’faicolsu are massing ships along their declared border, and if that’s true, then the Lloannen’galae will not be far away. It sickens me how any Rihannsu could turn to the Lloann’mrhahel for support. That just shows how desperate and depraved they are, denying their very own species to play lackey to the Hevammsu. If it were up to me, I’d slaughter them all. They aren’t fit to call themselves Rihannsu.

End Log

Saeihr-hveith 20805.10

Warp engines are back online, and the Shadowhawk is underway once again. No sooner though had we set course for the Imperial Scrapyards to perform tactical training than we were ordered to report to Enriov Tei in Task Force 87 along the border region where the Shiar, the ra'faicol-held territory, the Lloann'mhrahel and the Klling'hann Nneikha meet. Forces of the Galae s'Shiar are gathering there in response to a buildup of ra'faicol, Klivam, and Lloannen'galae ships in the area. War has been expected for some time now, and it appears that if it's ever going to happen, it will happen now. The Lloannen'galae continue to push us into a corner, and rumors that they've begun giving aid to the ra'faicolsu have only increased tensions. I feel confident that the Shadowhawk will see battle within the coming weeks. I only hope this crew is ready for it.

I've instructed Arrain Khaiell to begin a series of drills that will help our young dyypanir gain at least a modicum of experience before we engage in actual battle. We can't expect them to be perfect, but we can try to mold them into the best crew they can be. Some of them show great promise, and I hope that they can manage to impress me. I don't like to lose, and I'm not ready to die yet.

Currently, the crew is dealing with a possible intruder situation. It appears that some sort of "aehallh*" has been reported on the ship, coinciding with a set of sensor anomalies. All departments are working on the situation, and I'm glad to see that they've begun to learn the value of cooperation. So far, one crew member has been possibly injured by the aehallh, though we can't assume that it's hostile. I hope that whatever it is can be captured soon, as we can't afford to waste anymore time on it. We need to concentrate on our battle-preparedness.

End Log

*aehallh: ghost/monster

Saeihr-hveith 20806.03

The intruder situation has been resolved. The "aehallh" we'd been hunting turned out to be a subspace entity that had somehow been trapped on our ship due to a malfunctioning unit of the warp drive system. What the creature was doing on our ship in the first place is unknown. Its only attempts to communicate were to gain help. Once the problem unit was replaced, it disappeared, and we've yet to see it again, though I'm not writing it off for good. I won't be too surprised if it appears again. Further investigation of the incident is warranted.

During the time that we were dealing with the creature, we also detected a ra'faicol vessel crossing into Rihan space. The ship was identified as a cargo vessel, the Akhiy'saeihr, carrying medical supplies. Its leih, Erei'Riov D'Nel, had defected to the ra'faicol two years ago. He refused to surrender his ship, and we fired upon it, taking out its engines and shields. My original plans were to take the vessel for the Shiar and the crew as prisoners, but orders from Enriov Tei changed that. I've pulled off the boarding parties I sent over, and the Shadowhawk is now proceeding to join Task Force 87 as quickly as possible. An earlier message from Tei announced that the war we'd been anticipating had begun. The Lloannen'galae had violated our space once again, and the Galae s'Shiar had responded appropriately. In childlike retaliation, the Lloann'mrhahel president issued a declaration of war. Tei finally has what he's been wanting.

I know that we're headed into battle once we arrive in Sector 228. My concern is taking an untested crew and ship into that situation, but I have no choice. We arrive in a few hours, and the Shadowhawk will have to prove its worth, ready or not. I've worked with the crew enough already to learn that some of them are at least competent to do their jobs efficiently. A few of them show great promise, but all of them are green. I can't expect them to act in the same manner as an experienced officer. It will be difficult to know how they'll react under stress. None of them have ever experienced battle before, and it can be quite different than a Phi'lasasam training exercise. When the people next to you are dying for real, and fire is threatening to consume everything and burn all the oxygen in the room, with no safety crew standing by or no escape mechanism available, as there is in the Phi'lasasam, it can cause inexperienced officers to panic. I've seen it before, and I'm sure I'll see it again. I just hope that if it occurs it doesn't put the ship in any further danger.

Eng Log.

Saeihr-hveith 20807.14

The Shadowhawk has survived its first test in battle, though perhaps only by the intervention of fate. Upon our arrival at Sector 228, we joined Task Force 87 and were assigned the responsibility of eliminating a Lloannen'galae heavy cruiser. Within the hour, we led a group of escort vessels across the border and engaged the enemy in combat. The crew did well for their first taste of battle, however they did make mistakes. Nveid, though he shows great promise, wasn't as familiar with Lloannen'galae battle tactics as a more seasoned officer would be, and it cost us some initial damage. We lost forward shield strength and about 100 yards of our lower midsection. A subsequent fire threatened to cause even more damage, and getting damage reports from the crew was like pulling teeth. They should know now though that I want immediate information. I'm sure our next experience in battle will see the crew more efficient. They've had a taste of what it's really like, and they've learned lessons that the Phi'lasasam can't teach them.

What happened next in the battle is somewhat unclear. There are two divergent timelines caused by a unique anomaly. The destruction of two Rihan vessels, including Enriov Tei's flagship, resulted in the formation of unstable black holes that combined together. The Shadowhawk avoided these anomalies while it made another attack run on our opponent. Using our support vessels as distractions, we decloaked above the Lloannen'galae heavy cruiser and delivered a fatal blow to their ship. A warp core breach was detected on their vessel, and we were forced to put distance between us and them. Our warp drive was damaged by enemy fire during the attack though, and we could only push forward at impulse. An explosion caused by the fire in the lower midsection along with running at full impulse put excess stress on our structural integrity, and it resulted in the breakup of our main hull, which resulted in our quantum singularity collapsing. The last any of the crew remember, we were being pulled into the singularity. Time began to slow down, and the physical world began to distort. We were destroyed, but then somehow we were returned in time to the point before we made our last attack. According to reports from other ships, the Shadowhawk created a third black hole. The current theory is that all three black holes merged and then collapsed in on themselves, creating a time distortion. Whatever the cause, we were given a second chance, and we took it.

We refrained from making another attack on the Lloannen'galae heavy cruiser for fear of repeating the events that led to our destruction, and though it cost the lives of several crewmembers, we vented the area of the lower midsection that was on fire, to prevent the explosion that had destroyed our ship in the alternate timeline. The attack was then called off by Enriov Tei, and we began to retreat back across the border. Apparently the entire task force was spooked. Along the way, the Shadowhawk rescued the crew of a scout vessel, which also included survivors of the RIS Erth. Enriov Tei too came aboard the Shadowhawk, temporarily using this vessel as his flagship during the retreat, as his own vessel was destroyed. We set course for Hdrael 41 and have recently arrived.

The proposed goal of the attack had been to capture Starbase 157, and though we did not do that, we succeeded in what Tei revealed to be the actual goal, to provide a distraction for other fleet activities. While the Lloann'mrhahel was focused on Sector 228, the Galae s'Shiar and the Tal'Shiar managed to capture other strategic areas less well defended, so in essence, even though we lost, we won.

Regretfully, Arrain Khaiell was killed in the battle. Though I did not know him very well, he showed great skill in his position, and I am saddened at his loss. Being left without a first officer on the voyage to Hdrael 41, I appointed the ranking officer of the rescued crew from the Erth, Arrain Domaere, as acting Ih'hwi'saehne. She seems to be rather efficient at her duties, and I am considering making her appointment permanent. I've also been working towards appointing senior officers. I intend for us to have a normal command structure when we launch after repairs. The "training cruise" is over, and the crew is ready to take on their responsibilities as true officers of the Galae s'Shiar.

Eng Log.

Ohrainir s'Saevha (Crew Logs)

Arrain Domaere

Saeihr-hveith 20807.15

I have had little time since being thrust into the position of first officer. As always in a new situation, it is vital to know the persons involved. Being first officer, understanding the crew is paramount, however, I often find that people are on their best behavior when dealing with a superior officer, and that really understanding the individuals takes time.

In the mean while, I've pulled the records of the more prominent from among the crew, those who have, for better or worst, stepped up and taken responsibility during the events on the Shadowhawk so far. There is a great deal of conflict in the ship which seems to be resolving, based on the limited records I do have of the recent events.

More interesting to me is the background records of the crew, which are more than disturbing.

Neivd, the Daise'amnhhei'saehne who had wanted to order background checks on myself and the other refugees, has himself a stained record. Although he has performed well in the estimation of his crew mates, he is from a reunionist family.

Rehu, also a Amnhhei'saehner, is not terribly noteworthy, but is proficient at helm.

I'Dartha, the newly appointed Daise'dheno'saehne is a bit of a dichotomy. On one hand he is not from a noble family, on the other, he has shown himself to be hard working and dependable throughout his academy days and appointment on the Shadowhawk.

Nei'rrh, a Dheno'saehne, is another from a reunionist family. Yet she turned them in to the Tal Shair. I'm not sure whether that's the sign of true devotion to the Shair or lack of loyalty to her family. The reports on her are extremely mixed. She had begun as shift leader, then left her post. There may be mitigating circumstances, yet it cannot be tollerated.

Taris, another Dheno'saehne, he is from a noble family and has an excellent record. I am not terribly sure why it is not he who is Daise'dheno'saehne. It will be interesting to see if there is some fatal flaw of character which has kept him from positions of authority on the ship.

s'Iewaain, Daise'etrehafwe'saehne, Half Hevam! her mother was a Lloannen'galae officer. Although we have many half breeds in our Galae, there are often times when they are proven unreliable, living some sort of longing for what they perceive is their "missing half" So far s'Iewaain has shown every sign of rejection of the Lloannen'galae, but it will be important to be vigilant with this one.

S'Hrrex, Etrehafwe'saehne. Poor student, perhaps lazy. His grades were awful until just before graduation. That he graduated at all shows that he has the ability. The question will be how to keep him motivated.

S'Ten, Daise'hiifve'afwe'saehne. Good family, but brother is a reunionist living on Ecurai.

What is going on with so many crewmen so close to rebels on this ship? Is this a long term security risk?

Salieh, Hiifve'afwe'saehne, also from a rebel / reunionist family. She left the Galea after the death of her husband and loss of her child. Does this show a weakness in her loyalties?

S'Van,Daise'vriafwen'saehne, from an excellent family, excellent record at the academy. His parents also served in the Ministry of Science, showing a family propensity for inquiry. Looking at the record, he seems to be the single most promising officer on the ship... barring the Leih of course.

R'Mor, Vriafwen'saehne. There is evidence that he was forced into the Galae in exchange for his family's freedom after they were sold into servitude. The s'Tei clan have been making moves for power in the Senate, the placement of R'Mor on the Shair's finest and newest ship becomes suspicious in that light.

After reviewing the records it seems to me to be extraordinary that this crew should have held together as well as they did. I am uncertain why such an untrained crew would be sent into battle on this new, fine ship. Obviously there is more afoot in the Shair than I am aware of.

In any case, it now falls to me to try to figure out what 'worked' and 'didn't work' in the previous battle. To that end, I'll be calling a meeting in the conference room for all department heads to hear their assessment of the situation.

I am uncertain whether I will get a more unvarnished story if the Leih is not present, but I dare not disinclude her, having already determined that she prefers to be aware of each minute detail of her ship.

erei'Erein Nveid

Saeihr-hveith 20804.28

[This ohrain was input from tactical console hwi* on the Hwaveyiir.

Begin Recording]

My time thus far on the Shadowhawk has been every bit of unexpected. I was initially shocked by being appointed as a amnhhei'saehne onboard a vessel such as the Shadowhawk and my shock had just continued to grow since stepping onboard.

I was able to take a tour of the Shadowhawk with erei'Riov V'Tana the leih of the vessel. V'Tana seems to be a very capable leader and I am excited to continue to serve under her command.

Not long after being stationed on the Shadowhawk there was a dedication ceremony in the shuttlebay. Like everything else I have so far experienced this event left me with unexpected feelings and emotions. I finally feel like I am a part of something and not just on the outside looking in. I can finally say bed aoi to my past and make a name for myself, create my own identity and not live in the shame of my parents any more.

It seems unexpected is the theme of this log. I was given the mnhei'sahe** to fly the Shadowhawk out of space dock for the first time ever. khlinae arhem ch'Rihan the departure went successful.

Disgustingly the entire time has not been all praise worthy. As I write this log we are at a full stop due to a problem with the avaihh'etrehh***. I know that the arifv etrehafwe will soon fix the issue, but they cannot do it quick enough in my opinion, as I am anxious to to test this mighty vessel.

End Log.

hwi* - One. mnhei'sahe** exteme honor. avaihh'etrehh*** - Warp Drive.

Saeihr-hveith 20807.11

Second Officer's log

It does not appear that a dull moment is possible on the Shadowhawk. Especially when the Shiar is at war.

The Shadowhawk never fully got to have a shakedown cruise before being called into battle. Luckily I was able to test and ensure the targeting scanners were aligned when we attacked a small vessel from the Galae s'Ra'faicol.

However, before we could truly show the vessel the power that the Shadowhawk carried we were called else where by Enriov Tei. During this journey I was called into erei'Riov V'Tana's nniehv'rhe where she, to my extreme pleasure, promoted me to Daise'amnhhei'saehne as well as Ih'kre'saehne.

Shorly after that the Shadowhaw was engaged in battle where we managed to get in some nice licks to the Lloannen'galae vessels, though we managed to take quite a bit of damage ourselves. While I wish I could blame this all on the inexperience of the crew here on the Shadowhawk, I am afraid I must also consider the skills and resolve of the Lloannen'galae officers ...

As the battle was winding down the Shadowhawk found itself home to several guest. Not only did we rescue a scout that was carrying two crews on it, but Enriov Tei himself along with his personal security and advisers beamed aboard the Shadowhawk where they are currently sitting a few feet away from me.

I do not know what is in store for the Shadowhawk next. I am curious to see if Enriov Tei continues to make the Shadowhawk his flagship. One thing is for certain whether he does or not. I need to help erei'Riov V'Tana shepherd the crew of the Shadowhawk, especially with the death of our Ih'hwi'saehne.

Fehill Ohrain
(End Log)

erei'Erein I'Dartha

Saeihr-hveith 20807.11

This is my first log since joining the Shadowhawk. After arriving as a mere Dheno’saehne I have now been promoted to Daise’dheno’saehne, I am still somewhat shocked to have received such an honour from the erie’Riov on the Hwaveyiir.

Things have progressed so fast after first arriving on the ship; we dealt with an alien visitor on our shakedown cruise. Followed, by the announcement of War between the Lloann’mhrahel, traitorous Ra’faicol and our glorious Shiar. Although we are raw recruits assigned straight from the Phi’lasasam, I think we have proved our worth to some extent.

I am somewhat worried about erie’Erien Nei’rrh, she suffered serious burns after bravely trying to rescue a ke’rhin during the battle on deck 32, I have not seen her since that incident as duties have kept me from visiting the Hifvai’rhe and seeing how she is doing. However, I have it from Maenek S’Ten that she is on the mend, when I have finished completing the task set by the Leih here, I shall drop into the Hifvai’rhe on the way to the Hwaveyiir.

Regarding the battle, I have a feeling we suffered somewhat as the Fleet Commander, enRiov Tei is on the Shadowhawk. I’ve heard that his flagship was destroyed and that he has transferred his command to here for the time being. I hope that we will return the favour to the Lloannen’galae by destroying more of their ships in battle.

I’m not sure about erie’Erien Taris at this time. He seems to keep himself to himself, as the superior of the Arifv Dheno, I will have to work on getting the personnel’s trust and more importantly, respect. Time will tell.

Fehill Ohrain
(End Log)

erei'Erein Nei'rrh

Saeihr-hveith 20807.13

This has probably been the stupidest thing I've done in my life. Everything I've done here is wrong. No one likes me, and I've accomplished nothing but rescuing a dead man.

I did resolve the earlier issue with the onboard subspace holes... completely by myself. The Arifv Vriafwen and Arifv Etrehafwe were particularly useless.

Then we go into battle, and there I am still up on the bridge... Shift Leader... me! Now there isn't a lot to do for security during a battle unless we're boarding or being boarded, so what do I do? I run down and try to help rescue people from the fires on the lower deck when the veruul Amnhhei'saehne lets the Lloannen'galae hit us.

Why why why?

I know I'm a lot more clever than any of them, but now I'm at the bottom of the pecking order here. My face isn't going to help anything. The only person who's ever nice to me here is I'Dartha, and now he's Daise'dheno'saehne instead of me. I should have been Daise'dheno'saehne, but I suppose the Leih doesn't want someone scarred as hideously as I am in the position.

At least it isn't Taris.... So I guess things could be worse.

I'm not sure I'll return to the ship after shore leave. If I jump ship, I'll be tracked down and thrown in gaehl or worse. The problem is, I don't know if I can fight any longer. But as happy as I think they'd be to let me leave, they're more likely to just make me allkha, then I'll end up in the lower decks with the ryak'na. I think they all forget sometimes that I am emotae. I deserve better than I've gotten here!

I just really want to go somewhere where no one has to look at me, where I don't see the disgust on their faces, or the pity, which is even worse. I want to be alone. I want to be dead. That may happen yet.

I wish I could find some peace, but even the meditation lamp D'ina taught me to use has been no comfort. As if I should turn to thhaei stuff anyway.

erei’Erein S’Ten

Saeihr-hveith 20804.07

I can’t believe this ship. It’s incredible. Certainly one of the finest in the fleet, I’m so lucky to have been posted here right out of the Academy. Of course knowing my mother, luck probably had nothing to do with it.

I wish father and Tafv could see me in my uniform. I hope that they’d be proud of me because I chose to become a doctor and surgeon. Mother said that they would be because I’m still a warrior at heart.

Arriving in my quarters, I had a very nice note from my mother attached to the best gift ever. She gave me my father's Galae s'Shiar ceremonial dagger. It is so beautiful. Even though I was little, I can still remember him wearing it.

I heard that a few of my classmates from the academy are also posted aboard. It would be good to see them… even if some of them know about Terrh. Mother says that we have to forget about him. I still don’t know how my own brother could dishonor our family that way. Bed aoi (goodbye forever), Terrh

I must send mother a message before reporting in. I hear the erei'Riov is a real susse-thrai. I hope not.

End Log.

Saeihr-hveith 20807.17

We have arrived at Hdrael 41, bloodied but still in one piece.

How many ships go into battle on their maiden voyage? How many people get a second chance at life after dying? And, how many officer’s fresh out of the Imperial Academy get promoted to Daise'hiifve'afwe'saehne?

The routine shakedown cruise of the RIS Shadowhawk was anything but routine.

Several hours after leaving aeleir*, war was declared on the Lloann'mhrahel and we were ordered to join the taskforce that would eventually attack the Lloannen'galae Aeleir'khaelfa** 157 just across the Stelai Ler'lloann.

The battle was in our favor until large black holes started to form around the battle area destroying every starship in its path. The Shadowhawk was one of those ships.

I can’t explain it, but the battle caused a temporal rift and we emerged back in the timeline just before the Shadowhawk was destroyed.

Most of the crew including myself experienced a sense of our previous destruction and we were able to prevent it from happening again, but it also forced our withdrawal from the battle.

Unfortunately, those killed before we emerged back into that timeline remained dead, including Ih’hwi’saehne Arrain Khaiell.

Before arriving at Hdrael 41, erei'Riov V'Tana promoted me to Daise'hiifve'afwe'saehne.

No one was more surprised than me. I don’t know all the reasons for my promotion, but obviously the erei'Riov has confidence in my abilities.

All of this, in such a short time is almost overwhelming. But I can’t be overwhelmed, there is too much at stake.

Fehill Ohrain
(End Log)

*Spacedock, **Starbase