Sheridan Mission 14: "Enemy of My Enemy"

The USS Sheridan is dispatched to assist Gettysburg in her investigation of the Bajoran System after its destruction. The decision is made to travel through the wormhole into the Gamma Quadrant.

While travelling through the wormhole, a sensor ghost is detected and upon exiting into the gamma quadrant a sensor sweep detects the debris field of the Dominion outpost. Whilst surveying the debris field, the “sensor ghost” is revealed to be one of the Shard ships – a scout. This is destroyed by the combined efforts of the Gettysburg and Sheridan but we find ourselves suddenly present by hundreds of Shard fighters who proceed to attack both ships.

Managing to break through this and whilst trying to return through the wormhole one of the huge motherships appears and launches another 1000 fighters, both ships are damaged and things look bad until a Dominion fleet appears and using a new weapons disables the donut ships shields so that they can inflict actual damage on the huge vessel.

Eventually, the mothership destroys the mystery weapons and the Shard disappear leaving both Federation ships and the remaining Dominion vessels. A brief discussion takes place and the Dominion flagship, crewed by Vorta sends some info across then leaves after stating he will talk to his superiors in the hope that some sort of dialogue will be started between both sides.

The Gettysburg and Sheridan then returned to the Alpha Quadrant and finally arrived at Starbase Alpha where all information they have gathered was passed onto Starfleet Command.

Captain's Logs

Cdr Benjamin Vaughn

Stardate 21202.27

Captain’s log, Stardate 21202.27 Commander Benjamin Vaughn recording

Things have panned out well since the mission to Telbar. The Sheridan received much-needed repairs at Starbase Alpha and thanks to Admiral’s Linden and Wueste we were placed at the top of the Engineering teams schedules.

There has been the usual change round of crews as always happens after returning to base. We have received new crewmembers and some transfers to other areas of Starfleet. The only regret on my part was the sudden loss of Crewman Recruit Holland during the final phase of the Telbar mission. He had done a stirling job as Lieutenant Sothrick’s report stated and I just hope the family get some emotional relief from my letter.

The ceremony for those lost at Bajor went well, thanks to the efforts made by Lieutenant Sothrick and the members of the support crew. I have commending him in his organisational skills.

Our current mission, which involves us joining with the Gettysburg in the decimated Bajor System, is tall order. We have been assigned the incredibly dangerous job of trying to gain more information on The Shard. It seems, by all reports that they appear to be very advanced and capable of destroying whatever we throw at them. Still, we shall have to persevere and see what the future holds on that score.

My own concerns are for this ship and its crew. After outlining the mission objectives I was somewhat surprised that only Lieutenant’s Boorman and Simmons seemed to be concerned over the issues. I can understand the good Doctor’s concerns but as Commander of this ship I have my orders to do whatever needs to be done, to get the job done. I just hope that it doesn’t prove to be as risky as I feel it will be.

End log

Stardate 21209.13

Captain’s log, Stardate 21209.13 Commander Benjamin Vaughn recording

This mission has been one of the most deadly that I have been involved in. Once we had reached the rendezvous with the Gettysburg and had a brief meeting aboard the battle cruiser the order was given to travel through the wormhole into the Gamma Quadrant. As we journeyed through the wormhole it became apparent that the Shard or inquisitors were tracking us as an anomaly was picked up on our sensors.

Arriving in the Gamma Quadrant, this ‘sensor ghost’ turned out to be some kind of Shard scout vessel. Using the combined might of both ships were managed to destroy the craft using a combined chroniton/graviton beam. Detecting the debris field from the Dominion’s outpost that had been stationed in the area the Gettysburg took some of the shard vessels wreckage aboard and conducted their own investigations. I for one would be interested in what their research found.

We were then engaged in hit and run combat with around 800 shard fighters that had just appeared out of nowhere. These craft were smaller and faster than the scout we had destroyed earlier and it’s a possibility that these invaders are using some sort of temporal transportation. Our conventional weapons easily destroyed these smaller craft and we received some damage in return and we headed for the wormhole to escape the onslaughts.

That was when the huge donut shaped mothership appeared out of nowhere ahead of us, blocking our escape. The combined chroniton/graviton beams failed to pierce this ships shields and we continued to be battered by the fighters and were holding our own until the mothership launched another 1000 such craft. We managed to manoeuvre away from them but were still under fierce attacks.

Both ships suffered more damage and the Sheridan had a nacelle damaged and several hull breaches. However, due to the cleverness and ingenuity of our engineers and tactical people they managed to link our shuttles to provide extra power. At this point a Dominion fleet of 12 vessels appeared and ignoring us began an attack on the fighters and mothership.

From what we could make out through our sensors they have a weapon of unknown qualities that seems to break through the motherships shielding, enabling their conventional weapons to damage the ships hull. Once this happened there was a brief but deadly firefight in which they lost around three or so vessels the Shard suddenly broke off and disappeared.

There was a brief dialogue with the Dominion commander, Ryel who did pass on some basic info on their weapon but he did leave things open for further negotiations once he spoke with his superiors. One thing the crew and I noted, was the lack of any Jem’Hadar, all the crew we saw were Vorta. He did mention that this weapon was the result of great loss to them. So it makes me wonder if this had something to do with the Jem’Hadar being missing? Once the Dominion left were returned to the Alpha Quadrant and made our way to Starbase Alpha where we are now docked and received repairs etc. On another note, I wish to praise the Sheridan’s crew for their intuition and perseverance, which kept us from being overwhelmed by these insidious, aliens.

On another note, just before our return there was an incident between Lieutenant Blade and an altercation ion the shuttlebay between him and an engineer. I also understand that Ensign Byron was involved and that Security is still in the middle of an investigation into the matter. Byron was confined to the brig and I allowed Blade to remain at his post on the bridge. It seems to me that, though he has the makings of a good officer, he seems to have an inability to conform to anyone in authority that question or offers any critique about him.

Due to this apparent small problem, I feel that having him appear before an official ‘tribunal’ of myself, Alex, his department head and the Chief of Security could cause him more traumas than is necessary. Regards Byron I find this all highly unusual in that he always struck me as someone who refrained from such actions. Until Alex and myself have seen the official security report on the matter I will wait until then on a decision.

The crew and myself are now looking forward to some shore leave, though how long that will be for is another matter.

End log.

Crew Logs

First Officer

Cdr Alex Ankar

Stardate 21209.12

First Officer's Log, Stardate 21209.12 Commander Alex Ankar recording

Normally I get a chance to complete a couple of logs on-mission but with little extra to report up to our trip into Dominion territory and with neither us nor the Gettysburg getting so much as a heartbeat's rest once we made contact with the Shard, it's been a mission where strong reliance has been placed on the crew's ability to operate under extreme conditions for extended periods of time. I understand that Commander Vaughn is particularly pleased with the ship's performance and, as a whole, I would definitely agree.

Once we'd received orders to travel through the wormhole we were confronted by the primary challenge of the mission - facing the Inquisitors themselves. Detailed diagrams of their physcial makeup can no doubt be gathered from the logs made by sensor scans, but suffice to say that the enemy was highly technologically advanced, possessed powerful weaponry and were, for all intents and purposes, in considerably greater number and of far superior defensive capabilities than any present Star Fleet outfit. It became very clear after taking serious damage in our attempts to withdraw back through the wormhole, particularly when we were faced with one of the seemingly invulnerable ring shaped motherships, that the Inquisitor's ease in destroying Bajor came as a much smaller surprise considering their strength.

Despite the best efforts of both crews, including some excellent work in reconfiguring weapons to be more effective against our attackers and the constant assistance from our hard working medical and repair teams, the Sheridan and Gettysburg were heavily damaged. A Dominion fleet intervened and I must confess that part of me believes that is one of the reasons why we managed to survive at all. We were left alone by the Shard vessels once the Jem'Hadar battleships started an attack of their own, treating us to a display of their own firepower and demonstrating a clear knowledge of the enemy's vessels based on previous entanglements with them.

Once the battle ended with the Shard presumably withdrawing (we never officially saw any complete destruction of the mothership) the Dominion cagily exchanged small pockets of information that they had gathered about the Inquisition forces. As a result it would seem that our trip out to see the work of this terrifying enemy did not simply result in two Star Fleet vessels badly needing repair - instead we know a bit more about our enemy than we did before and have seen them first hand and learnt new techniques and manoeuvres that could assist future encounters. Whether that amounts to something worth the lives lost and damage caused throughout the mission is yet to be seen.

There was one incident that did cause a fair bit of fuss and shone a negative light on a couple of our officers. Security is still working on its full investigation so I'm not one hundred percent certain what happened yet, but I can say that Lieutenant Blade attacked a fellow crewmate in the Shuttlebay whilst they were working on using the shuttles as an extra power source - he claims in order to stop them from attacking Ensign Byron. However, it was Ensign Byron that was ordered to the brig and Blade returned to the bridge. It was there that he showed what I can only interpret as continued signs of his apparent inability to deal any kind of authority questioning or criticizing him.

I suspect that Commander Vaughn may wish to gather the Tactical officer in front of him and myself, his department head and the Chief of Security. However, having put some thought into it, we need to approach Lieutenant Blade in a slightly different direction perhaps. By encroaching further and higher levels of authority upon him after such an incident, we may just invoke the same kind of responses we've been getting before - outbursts that are overly emotional, highly defensive and often unnecessary, reinforcing my understanding that Blade himself is simply a good officer with an unusual attitude.

As for Byron, I know him perhaps half as well, but still would not expect him to act in a way that would confine him to the brig. Until I find out more from Security, there's little else I can say about the matter.

We are now on the way back to Star Base Alpha for some much needed rest and repairs.

[End log.]

Tactical

CTO LT JG Jason Simmons

Stardate 21203.29

Chief Tactical Officer's log, Stardate 21203.29 Lieutenant JG Simmons recording

I must say, the last couple of hours have been pretty eventful. We arrived at our rendezvous with the Gettysburg as planned. However, upon our arrival, it became apparent that something was wrong.

We were unable to reach the Gettysburg through normal communications. But, thanks to the excellent cooperation between the Engineering, Science and Tactical departments, we were able to establish Morse code and messages through chroniton waves between the two vessels. Commanders Vaughn and Ankar have gone over to the Gettysburg for a meeting with its Commanding Officer, Captain Fitchel.

I am pleased to log the promotion of Mr. Blade to Lieutenant Junior Grade. I wasn't sure how things would go with him after the incident at Alpha, but he has proven to me that he can, in fact, be a Starfleet Officer. This has lead me to offer him the position as my Assistant Chief Tactical Officer, which he has accepted.

I must return to the Bridge. I know once the meeting between Fitchel and our Command Officers has concluded, there will probably be a lot of back and forth between the vessels. I am looking forward to meeting the Getty's CTO, Lieutenant Maxwell, and working with him.

End log.

Stardate 21209.10

Chief Tactical Officer's log, Stardate 21209.10 Lieutenant JG Jason Simmons recording

To say that I'm glad the mission has come to a close would be an understatement. I'm just getting relieved from duty after the fact and find myself in my office. There are a few things that need to be taken care of before I can call it quits for the day.

The mission was going well until the Shard showed up. The crews of the Gettysburg and Sheridan did a fine job at holding off the assault, though both ships took significant damage. It looked like we might have held them off, until a mothership arrived with reinforcements and blocked the wormhole.

We only held off long enough to prepare a jump away from the wormhole deeper into the Gamma Quadrant. But before we could make the jump, an unexpected third party intervened in our favor in the form of Dominion ships. They put up quite a fight, and revealed a new weapon capable of penetrating the Shard shields.

That victory was brought to an end when the Shard disabled the new weapon. Though they had sustained enough damage to warrant a retreat by my observations. The leader of our unlikely allies, Ryel, a Vorta, bid us farewell after exchanging minor tech data in regards to fighting the Shard.

On a side note, during a point where we had to divert power from the shuttlebay, my ACTO and several others were involved in an altercation that resulted in two injuries and the placement of Ensign Byron in the Brig. There is to be further investigation into this, and I'm sure there will be a meeting involving myself, Lieutenant Sothrick, and our CO and FO to question Lt Blade fully.

The where and when is unknown to me at this point, but I know it'll be soon. While I had the moment, I decided to fill out the post-mission log. Now to finish some paperwork.

End log

Lt JG Johnny Blade

Stardate 21209.11

Personal Log, Stardate 21209.11 Lieutenant [JG] Johnny Blade recording.

Well, we were lucky to make it out of that one alive. We took a beating from the Shard. I honestly don't see how we held the ship together. Maybe our new foes were just toying with us. Maybe it was all just a sick and twisted game they were playing. I surely hope we took some of their best shots... So this is where I'm supposed to talk about what happened in the shuttlebay right? I'm not gonna lie, it made me very happy to see Byron stand up for himself.

(The sound of a shot a glass hitting the table rings out in the recording)

Jeff Anderon is an ignorant scoundrel! I disapprove of his very existence. I considered ending it myself on several occasions but self-control got the better of me.

These pips on my collar are heavy. After what happened in the shuttlebay I beginning to question why I am even here.

I sit here and wait for my comm badge to go off. It will be Commander Vaughn's voice. I will go to his ready room and Commander Ankar will be there waiting. I'm tempted to hand over my side arm, and turn in my pips. Is this all really worth it? There are plenty of other officers that can do this job much better than me...

End log