| Stardate: 92293.2 | Addendum Submitted: CMDR North |
ALLCON,
Please find enclosed my addendum on the events at the Terix blockade, as the provisional commanding officer of the U.S.S. Atlantis.
It is necessary to state that my understanding of our orders on the Terix blockade was to prevent third party interference in the Terix civil war. This most specifically references keeping unauthorized vessels from approaching the system, but gives no direction in terms of what we are to do if a third party is discovered, cloaked, already inside the system, presumably present before the blockade was even erected.
Considering Argo's diligent presence at the blockade for multiple days with no sense of the hidden fleet, I genuinely cannot determine who, if anyone, could be held responsible for this oversight.
Captain DePoe's accounting of the events that followed generally matches my recollection of events, so I will forego excessive repetition. I only have a few items to add in this summary.
1) While I am not privy to the thoughts of the commanders of the vessels that broke formation early, I can only assume their insubordinate actions were prompted by the confirmation of Mirhassa's involvement in the Terix war, as we all watched and listened to the Mirhassa commander accept orders from Terix commander Tal'Aura.
2) In review of intelligence reports of the situation at Terix, there is no accounting that I can find for Terix's surprisingly large cloaked fleet that ended up doing so much damage to the insubordinate Starfleet vessels. (I acknowledge that it is possible that I am simply missing the relevant report.) Of course, I cannot assume that this knowledge would have made any difference to the officers who chose what they did, but it is aggravating to have so severely underestimated the potential threat. Should things continue to stay so tense, eighteen vessels no longer seems adequate for maintaining a blockade, especially if the established Terix navy continues to be displeased with our presence.
3) I acknowledge that I did willfully disobey orders to remain in formation, as I felt the priority of the mission had shifted from non-inteference to assisting the original insubordinate ships from an assaulting force far more massive than they could have anticipated. As with the other infringing commanding officers, I have submitted to voluntary confinement aboard DS13 to await further instruction and/or penalty.
Separately, I intend to follow up with the appropriate Starfleet divisions with a recommendation that future Starfleet protocol regarding system blockades be adjusted to account for invading parties that are already present at time of order. If we can do anything to not chance this ambiguity ever again, let's do it.
//SIGNED//
CMDR North, Alleya
CO, U.S.S. Atlantis (provisional)
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//ATTACHMENT// AAR-TERIX-DEPOE
//ATTACHMENT// AAR-TERIX-QUINT
//ATTACHMENT// AAR-TERIX-SAVAGE
//ATTACHMENT// AAR-TERIX-VARLEY
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Officers Involved in Action:
CAPT DePoe, Steven; U.S.S. Leyte Gulf
CAPT Quint, Emery; U.S.S. Paladin
CAPT Savage, Alexander; U.S.S. Mystic (lost)
CAPT Varley, Lauren; U.S.S. Sagan
CMDR North, Alleya; U.S.S. Atlantis