| SUBMITTED: Stardate 93938.8 | FILED BY: CAPT K. Se'Lai | SECURITY: Level 2 - Confidential |
LOCATION: Alpha-7192 Sector
MISSION: Locate and recover possible Gainsborough shuttlecraft
OUTCOME: Shuttlecraft recovered along with the bodies of three former Gainsborough crew members.
KEY PERSONNEL:
CAPT Keelah Se'Lai (USS Valley Forge)
CAPT Andrej Timoreev (USS Attar)
CAPT Benjamin Rosewood (USS Knight Templar)
CAPT Lunya Vel (USS Kitty Hawk)
CMDR Lovoran J'Tak Tholoan (RRW Lurret)
LCDR Jung Eunbi
LCDR Keliaya
LTJG Roxanne Harrington
CDT Ashley Terik
CDT Rumiho Mitsuki
NARRATIVE: Following the successful negotiations with a species contacted by U.S.S. Lexington and subsequent deciphering of the provided astrogation charts; U.S.S. Valley Forge and accompanying task force proceeded to the calculated coordinates to commence a priority search for the indicated shuttlecraft.
Upon arrival at the designated system the task force deployed into a wide search pattern. It did not take long to locate and confirm the identity of a Starfleet shuttlecraft in low orbit of a gas giant within the system. Scans indicated no life sustaining atmosphere on any of the planetary bodies or their moons, though they did confirm functional life support within the shuttle. The craft's proximity to the gas giant and a surrounding asteroid field meant that scans were limited by background radiation, though utilizing the more advanced sensor equipment on board the Kitty Hawk and Attar - coupled with LCDR Eunbi's empathic abilities - we were able to confirm the presence of lifeforms on board.
Since attempts at direct communication with the shuttlecraft proved fruitless, the decision was made to beam the craft directly into one of the Valley Forge's hangar bays to expedite the recovery of personnel. Though this proved successful, the shuttle occupants seemed surprisingly defensive and reacted by releasing plasma from their nacelles. No injury or damage was suffered by this as the area was promptly secured and the plasma vented through the main hangar doors. With little alternative presenting to us, the decision was made to then beam the occupants directly to sickbay that they may receive emergency triage.
Thankfully, we took the precaution of posting security to sickbay prior to this as the shuttle occupants promptly opened fire on the medical staff. Reinforcements were promptly dispatched and made available from the rest of the task force, though not required in full as the situation was contained with no serious injury or fatality from our crew. Following these events we were apprised that the shuttle occupants were in fact a pair of Nausicans and an Yridian - clearly not from the Gainsborough. Whilst they were treated for their injuries and transferred to the brig, engineering teams set to work on assessing the shuttlecraft and accessing it's systems; it quickly became apparent that the occupants we found were attempting to scavenge the craft.
This was reinforced promptly by the appearance of a vessel from the higher orbit of the gas giant - which had seemingly been using a cloak until it chose to reveal to us. The vessel was of no known configuration, but distinct elements of multiple origins were detected, giving the impression of a vessel compiled largely - if not entirely - of components from salvaged ships. The vessel hailed our task force first and presented on screen with an intentionally distorted visual image; the person behind which seemed to be the commander.
Delicate negotiations ensued as the commander informed us that individuals we had recovered from the shuttle were in fact members of his crew and he clearly wanted them back. Whilst little to no doubt remains in the mind of all present commanding officers within our task force that these were clearly pirates, I made the decision to attempt peaceful negotiation as it soon transpired that they had recovered the bodies of the shuttle's original occupants. Though this was all regrettably on the word of the scavengers commander, our limited passive scan data and LCDR Eunbi's empathic perceptions seemed to reinforce his claims.
Though the individual with which we spoke seemed highly unbalanced [suggested to be a form a bipolar from our counselors perceptions], we were able to reach an accord and he sent out an old Ferengi shuttle containing three bodies who matched the description provided of the shuttle occupants they found. We moved promptly to recover the bodies and upon verifying them as Starfleet personnel, we transferred our prisoners to the Ferengi shuttle and allowed the scavengers to disembark.
Whilst this was a less than ideal outcome; the scavengers remain open - at least on the surface - to ongoing trade with Starfleet in this region and have agreed to contact us on a provided comms. frequency should they encounter any further Starfleet salvage in the region; though what price they may ask for it to be returned is beyond this officers ability to guess at this time.
After securing the system; the task force remained in place to conduct a thorough survey of the region while engineering teams on board the Valley Forge worked to access the navigational information and logs from the recovered shuttlecraft. Medical teams on board also began their assessments of the three recovered personnel.
RECOMMENDATIONS: Highest priority is being given to the recovery of information from the shuttlecraft as the location is not consistent with that of the previously recovered escape pod from the same vessel; all relevant data is being returned to DS13 as it comes in with the hopes that an explanation can be determined. It is our belief at this time that either one of the two recovered craft had it's position artificially altered, or there is some further unknown mechanic to the wormhole technology than first believed.
The families of the recovered personnel must be informed of our findings; if Captain Lazard remains otherwise engaged with work on the new Gainsborough, then I will personally see to this.
Our task force should be redeployed in accordance with updated standing orders; Valley Forge will continue to follow leads from the original long range probes in line with our search vectors or until a new lead presents.
OOC: This is from the recent Valley Forge episode: Conflict of Interest If I've unintentionally misrepresented your character's actions, misspelled their names, got their rank incorrect, et cetera, please send me a PM over enjin and I'll make the necessary edits.