| SUBMITTED: Stardate 94015.1 | FILED BY: CAPT A. A. Timoreev, U.S.S. Attar | SECURITY: Level 2 - Confidential |
LOCATION: Doza Sector
MISSION: Contact with potential informers for the recovery of information regarding survivors from the U.S.S. Gainsbourough
OUTCOME: Ambush made by members affiliated to Branded Lady group; no informations obtained
KEY PERSONNEL:
CAPT S. Bishop
CAPT A. Nimitz
CAPT A. Timoreev
CDR Lovoran J'Tak Tholoan
CMDR C. Wilson
LCDR J. Eunbi
LCDR Keliaya
ENS Katherine Yalul
ENS Kirstine Yalul
NARRATIVE: On Stardate 94013.5 the U.S.S. Valley Forge, with the personnel listed above, left Deep Space 13 to reach the coordinates provided by a message, plausibly sent by a group of scavenger already met during the SAR effort in the nearby sectors. The message stated that information was recovered about survivors of the U.S.S. Gainsbourough. It should be noted that the message specifically requested for Capt. Se'Lai presence, along the Valley Forge, with no escort.
Once destination was reached, the Valley Forge met with a ship, recognized as belonging to the scavengers. As per procedure, communication was established: however, the scavenger captain proved to be elusive in his statements; the reason for this became apparent when a freighter suddenly appeared on the Valley Forge sensors. The freighter was equipped with a modified deflector, using EereE technology, which it used to block the Valley Forge engines. Immediately after, three Nausicaan frigates and an Orion Corsair-class carrier emerged, beginning a concentrated attack against the Valley Forge.
Being outnumbered, the decision was taken by Capt. Se'Lai to proceed with ship separation, in order to ease the pressue on the Valley Forge: at the same time, attempts were made to send a distress signal to DS13, but the Orion carrier was jamming all communications. Attempts to go to warp proved equally fruitless, while more ships were sent against the Starfleet vessel.
Movement allowance was restored thanks to a suggestion by Ens. Yalul to use the deflector dish to generate a gravitational pulse against the freighter. Thus, while Capt. Nimitz took command of the Valley Forge battle bridge, Capt. Se'Lai ordered to move the vessel toward the system star.
Despite the increasing pressure by enemy vessels, the Battle Section was able to destroy most of the enemy interceptors before being disabled; the Orion carrier was subsequently destroyed when Capt. Se'Lai purposedly ignited a solar flare. This happened few moments after Capt. Timoreev and Ens. Yalul had been able to send a distress signal to DS13 using a modified probe which temporarily blinded the enemy jammers.
The fight continued until a communication was received from the enemy flagship, the Amarie. The woman who talked to us was quickly identified as the Branded Lady, and she explained the motives of the attack under the pretension of Starfleet "harming the family" of her organization members. She also stated that they didn't destroy the Valley Forge for the sole purpose of avoiding an escalation with Starfleet. However, the Branded Lady declared that, in response for Starfleet "screwing" with her, she will give orders to her organization to search for the Gainsbourough survivors, ensuring they will never return back to their homes.
Then, she left the system with the surviving vessels. Few moments later, reinforcements from DS13, led by the U.S.S. Freeman, entered the system. Attempts at capturing a disabled enemy frigate failed when the same self-destructed.
Consequently, the Valley Forge and all other vessels withdrew to DS13.
RECOMMENDATION: It is the opinion of the author of this report that what happened is a clear demonstration that we need to reconsider our standing in the involved sectors: attacks against Starfleet vessels cannot be tolerated anymore, if we wish to protect Federation assets and the safety of both Starfleet and civilian personnel in the area. The Branded Lady clearly showed to be a dangerous and unstable element, with substantial resources at her disposal, and an hostile attitude toward Starfleet and the Federation. In this regard, her statement of unwillingness to escalate a conflict against Starfleet cannot be taken into consideration.
The threat against the Gainsbourough survivors are consistent, and must be taken seriously. As such, I suggest Command to take every measure to speed up SAR effort in order to find them before the Branded Lady does. Also, it is my opinion that operations should be organized in order to surgically attack the Branded Lady organization, crippling its capabilities and resources, and that intelligence gathering about the organization itself needs to be increased. A show of force may be needed, if we wish to ensure the safety of our vessels out there.
Also, it looks clear that the Branded Lady has extensive support among local, lesser, organizations. Thus, increased caution should be exercised when dealing with scavengers and other people operating far from legal jurisdictions.
OOC: This is from the Valley Forge episode: Flying with the Salvege. 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.