| SUBMITTED: Stardate 94480.6 | FILED BY: CAPT Beylara Ailes | SECURITY: Level 1 - Open |
LOCATION: Give the location of the event. Kelterre Sector, beginning Waydis system, then moved to Taychon eddy.
MISSION: In search of Nova Strider mitochrondrial DNA for stable reference point.
OUTCOME: No eggshells were found at two previously known sites, instead, used tracking information to continue to live speciment, "Olly." DNA samples were obtained from two live individuals.
KEY PERSONNEL:
CAPT Ailes, Beylara
CAPT Lyn, Isadora
CAPT Foraker, Mishke
CMDR t'Xereth, Thue
CMDR Caspius
LCDR Holliday, Jennifer
LCDR deCapulet, Viamonta
LT t'Feiahn, Nalah
LT Gaelthas, Gilbert
CAPT Lyn, Isadora
CAPT Foraker, Mishke
CMDR t'Xereth, Thue
CMDR Caspius
LCDR Holliday, Jennifer
LCDR deCapulet, Viamonta
LT t'Feiahn, Nalah
LT Gaelthas, Gilbert
NARRATIVE: Initial briefing was conducted in the conference room on Deep Space 13's promenade. After establishing history and protocols, team departed to the U.S.S. William Ockham.
The ship was granted permission to enter Waydis space and made for the Tachyon eddy mention in the previous report, in which they tagged the live individual, named "Olly." Once the eddy was reached, the Ockham entered the slipstream and made her way to the first of the mentioned laying site locations.
Site A (as it was designated) was described by the away team as dusty and inhospitable. The away team consisted of Commander Thue, Commander Caspius, Captain Foraker, and Doctor deCapulet. They discovered no eggshells or any evidence of nesting by the Nova Striders. While not useful to the mission, it is scientifically relevant in that it implied that they do not return to nesting sites.
The team assigned to the planet designated Site B consisted of Captain Lyn, Doctor Holliday, Lieutenant Gaelthas and Lieutenant t'Feiahn. They also did not find any eggshells on their planet, strengthening the hypothesis that nesting locations are not reused.
It is, as a note, a possibility, this is the wrong time of year for breeding season. Any eggshells that remained may have been devoured by local scavengers, if there are any, or degraded by the environment, in between nesting seasons.
Returning to the mission itself: Instead of continuing on to a third nesting site, I chose to move us on to the tracked, living individual, designated "Olly." We were able to locate the tracking device and catch up to the creature inside a gaseous nebula. Olly was a part of a pod, although was visibly different from its podmates, lighter in color and much larger.
A third away team was organized, consisting of myself, Captain Lyn, Lieutenant t'Feiahn, and Lieutenant Gaelthas. After collecting more sampling equipment and donning EV suits, we transported to the back of Olly. Scans confirmed that its shell was massive, and thick, the outer layer of which was mineralized calcium carbonate. Lieutenant t'Feiahn was able to find some secondary shell material and took samples, but Captain Lyn suggested we utilise our phasers and acids in the MALDI method and gradually soften and ablate the shell material until we could reach the flesh beneath.
After consideration, I deemed the risk of infection minimal and danger to the creature itself low enough that we would not be risking it in our efforts and approved the plan. We took several samples from various locations across it's body, including some of the vented areas, which seemed thinner. Olly did not seem to react to our intrusions.
After completion, we repeated the process with a second, more normal-appearing Nova Strider. It went smoothly. We also tagged that individual and designated it "Roberto," or "Bobby" for short.
Afterwards, we delivered our samples to the labs on the Ockham and Commander Thue, and set course for return to Deep Space 13.
RECOMMENDATION: Recommend that command permit the science officers to analyze the genetic data and apply it to the unhatched Nova Striders to correct modifications made in order to restore them to original state for viability of hatching.
If more information is desired for conservation purposes, recommend that there be a team dispatched to research the nesting habits of the Nova Striders. Their numbers seem small and it may become important to be able to track their nesting sites.
OOC: This was a mission from Katriel's Eggsamination storyline, and thank you to Kat for running it! We got to play on a Nova Strider! If I have made a mistake with anything or have gotten anyone's name wrong (anything like that), please let me know so I can make a correction. Please refer to the Eggshell and DNA Search mission brief for original details on the mission, if necessary.