| SUBMITTED: Stardate 95619.5 | FILED BY: CAPT S. Bishop | SECURITY: Level 1 - Open |
LOCATION: "Purgatory" System, Alpha 7190 Sector.
MISSION: Exploration of the Alpha 7190 Sector.
OUTCOME: Species called Molin discovered, agreed to help find missing ship. Ship found in orbit of a planet called Purgatory. Crew transported to planet against their will to prevent escape. All crew returned to Endeavour after negotiation with entity.
KEY PERSONNEL:
CAPT S. Bishop
CAPT A. Derenzis
CAPT I. Lyn
CMDR A. Samaras
LCDR V. deCapulet
1LT G. Valencia
LT S. Valore
ENS M. Tonorr
AMB N. Perim
NARRATIVE: During a patrol of the Alpha 7190 Sector, the Endeavour encountered a flotilla of Mole-like species called the "Molin", who became nomadic after the Nelaraan Empire destroyed their planet Molinor due to the Molin's unwillingness to join the Nelaraan Empire. First Contact was made by the reporting officer and discussions were led by Ambassador Perim. After a peaceful exchange of information, the Molin Prime Mole requested that we look for a Molin scout ship that went missing. Ambassador Perim agreed on behalf of the Captain, and the Endeavour set off towards the planet called "Purgatory" as the last known location of the scout ship. A Molin map that we received from the data transfer is attached, as it includes locations marked:
Spoiler: Molin MapShow
Upon entering the system, scans revealed an M Class planet with no life nor infrastructure, and various ships (including the Molin ship) in orbit. However, when visual contact was made, half the bridge crew reported no ships in orbit, whilst the other half reported that they could see the ships. Suddenly, the Endeavour suffered a total power failure and began to be pulled into the planet itself due to the planet's gravity. Due to the loss of power, warp containment was also lost, and the order to abandon ship was ordered, despite most officers' assessments that all the events here were illusionary and not true. There was some confusion on the bridge but this was quickly rectified. All officers save the Captain and the First Officer were to abandon ship, whilst Captain Derenzis would lead a team of First Lieutenant Valencia and Lieutenant Junior Grade Valore to Main Engineering to try to ascertain the damage to the Warp Core.
From this moment onwards, the narrative recounts the events that were witnessed by the reporting officer.
The Endeavour had entered orbit around the planet during the analysis of the missing ships and though the order to leave orbit was given, the power failure occurred after the Endeavour began to move out of orbit, causing the orbit to be broken and the Endeavour caught in the gravity of the planet. Commander Samaras took the Engineering station whilst the reporting officer took the helm, trying to manually slow the Endeavour's decent so that the ship would land mostly intact. Our efforts failed and the Endeavour crashed into the planet at a steep angle, killing both myself and Commander Samaras. What was noted that warp containment was not lost, which it should have done as the Endeavour entered the atmosphere of the planet.
The next memory this officer has is waking up in a cave. Commander Samaras was with this officer, and both of us were uninjured. Stepping out of the cave, we noticed that we were in an underground city of sorts, with caves lining the wall. Exploration of the nearby cave identified two more people, both Endeavour crew; Commander T'Lyra and Crewman Jim Fogrie. Both were equally surprised at seeing us, believing they had died on the Endeavour. The manner of their deaths were interesting; Commander T'Lyra said that she was killed by the warp core breach, which exploded as she was trying to manually eject it, whilst Crewman Fogrie stated that he died during a Thalmerite explosion, caused by the container transporting the material turned on and ignited it. Both explanations were confusing as, mentioned before, there was no warp breach before the Endeavour crashed, and there was no evidence of a power surge to ignite the Thalmerite container. Commander Samaras concluded that the manners of our deaths were forced to bring us to this underground city.
Further exploration of the city and the caves revealed a whole range of housing at various levels of occupancy, suggesting that there had been people living there, and fairly recently. A large cemetery of differing styles of graves gave validation to that fact, as well as informing us that there were a number of different cultures or religions buried in the graveyard as there was no uniform style between them, the graves differing by grave patches.
It was then that we found more crew members in the caves surrounding us. All gave different versions of their deaths, from crashing on the planet surface in the escape pods, to being killed by some sort of ghost "girl". Two of these crewmembers were Lieutenant Junior Grade Valore and Ensign Tonorr. The pair of them told us that they were killed by the ghost girl. They informed us that they had been tracking a girl called "Sarah" to an overground city with Captains Derenzis and Lyn, and First Lieutenant Valencia.
Further exploration of the caves revealed a water source, as well as more crew members; at this point, all crew members had been accounted for with the exception of the two Captains and the First Lieutenant above. With more than enough manpower now, we began to search the underground city for clues and for food, systematically searching each house. It was in one of these houses that we found an old man who had been there for over fifty years. Upon questioning, we were told that he had come to the system to look for the mysterious entity that had been exiled here, when he was taken and transported to the city. He said that there was no method of escape.
Also found in one of the caves were the two Molin crew we were sent to look for. One Molin had evidence of bite marks on its corpse, whilst the other had seemingly committed suicide.
With the city being explored, it was noticed that the walls were emitting a strange kind of heat, getting hotter as it moved in a certain direction. With Lieutenant Valore and Ensign Tonorr, we went to investigate the source of the heat. We were able to track this to a large boulder which we were able to move after some effort; behind was a corridor where we stumbled upon Captain Derenzis and First Lieutenant Valencia.
This confirmed our suspicions that we had not died and that we had been transported to the underground city upon our perceived deaths. In the corridor, we found the device that had transported us, though it was not the source of the power drain. This came from another room where we found a stasis chamber holding a young girl and an elderly man sitting on a chair, wired to the consoles nearby. It was revealed that this man was part of a race called the Rypha who had lost a Great War over 28 million years ago, and that he had taken his mortally wounded daughter and fled to exile to the edge of the known galaxy (at that time). He created a world in which his daughter could live and tried to keep it from discovery by capturing all who entered the system and forcing them to live in captivity so that they would not disclose the location of the system, or it's secret.
Attempts to negotiate our release failed until we empathised with the entity's predicament and his love for his daughter. Upon probing my brain, the entity realised that our willingness to assist him in his efforts to remain undisturbed were genuine and he let us return back to the Endeavour. After departing the system, a series of warning buoys were placed around the system to warn anyone who entered the system that they would be captured by this being. This done, we set a course for the Molin flotilla to inform them of what happened to their people.
RECOMMENDATION: As mentioned above, a series of warning buoys have been deployed around the system to warn any ships from entering the system, warning them of capture if they entered. I believe that the entity and his daughter should not be disturbed further.
Successful contact has been made with the Molin and continued diplomatic dialogue should continue between us and the Molin species. Ambassador Perim is to be thanked for her role in laying down this foundation.
With the information that the Molin have given us, I believe we should use it as a springboard to understand the neighbouring sectors better.
Finally, I would like to pass on First Lieutenant Valenica's recommendation of a commendation for the leadership demonstrated by Captain Derenzis during the time on the planet surface. According to the First Lieutenant, the Captain's leadership helped to discover the secret of Purgatory and secure a means of escape.
OOC: This is the AAR for the event chain "Purgatory". If I made any mistakes, let me know and I'll endeavour to correct them! Event logs are available on request.