AAR: Aut Venator Aut Venatus

Subspace Network Reports
,
1
Stardate:
100685.9
Filed By:
Lieutenant Wind-People, Ansha
Clearance:

LOCATION Aldebaran Sector

MISSION The USS Dragon is dispatched to respond to a distress signal from the bulk ore freighter SS Ontagwa Sun (Registry UFP, BF-929921). Unknown hostile lifeform (UHL) Intrusion with casualties was reported.

OUTCOME Surviving crew rescued, UHL identified as Adjaellian Tardigrade, captured and repatriated to home planet Adjaellia Prime, 9 Dead (4 Ontagwa Crew, 5 Starfleet ), 6 Wounded (3 Ontagwa Crew, 3 Starfleet ).

KEY PERSONNEL

  • Starfleet Personnel, USS Dragon (NCC-93887-A)
    • CAPT Drake Tungsten, CO, Human (M)
    • CMDR Evette LaSalle, XO, Human (F)
    • LT Kiarah Fra’Seer, CSO, Caitian (F)
    • LT Ansha Wind-People, CTO, Wind-People (F)
    • LTJG Arron Danes, Away Team Alpha Lead, Human (M)
    • LTJG Kurok, Away Team Beta Lead, Vulcan (M), Deceased
    • ENS L’GoQah “Gus” Mendelson, Away Team Gamma Lead, Human/Klingon (F)
  • Civilian, Merchant Crew, SS Ontagwa Sun (BF-929921)
    • Peter J. Bulloch, CO, (Retired Starfleet, CMDR), Human (M)
    • Gibick, First Mate, (Retired Starfleet, LCDR), Tellarite (M)
    • Quatta Nal-Quatta, CSO, (Retired Starfleet, LT), Bolian (M)
    • Theresa “Trish” Anderson, ENG, Human (F)
    • Reetnae O’Tar, MD, Rigelian (M)
  • Other
    • Speaker of the Wind People Collective, Wind People

    • NARRATIVE
    Listed below are sections from the report written by Yeoman LTJG Mark Dressler as a SITREP prior to the deployment of away teams, along with the narrative of events once Starfleet teams were aboard the SS Ontagwa Sun, and finally a personnel casualty report has been included.

    • The SS Ontagwa Sun (Registry UFP, BF-929921) description.
      • The ship is an El Burro class bulk heavy ore freighter. It was built at the Andoria Prime Shipyards in 2377. The freighter was purpose built to both handle radioactive and otherwise toxic cargo, as well as repel attacks from pirates in response to the growing threat in Beta Quadrant of Syndicate related Piracy.
      • Increased shielding in storage holds increased the durability of the craft in the event of an attack, as well gave added protection to the crew on the vessel. As a result of this shielding, external scans were ineffective and transporter activity into the shielded areas was impossible.
      • The ship’s security system ran independent of main control systems that were controlled from the bridge to prevent internal subterfuge. Internal sensors provided monitoring of all compartments and holds.
      • The ship was independently owned and operated by a group of former Starfleet officers.
        • Peter J. Bulloch, CMDR, Retired.
        • Pibick, LCDR, Retired
        • Quatta Nal-Quatta, LT, Inactive Reserves
        • These officers served together, along with the Ontagwa Sun’s medical officer, Dr O’Tar (LCDR), onboard the USS Sangsah (NCC-80022), which was lost in battle, Iconian War, Stardate 91705.4
        • Capt Bulloch has an exemplary safety record and his crew’s satisfaction is considered high. He was selected for a program which allows members of the Wind People collective to work in the greater galaxy under the watchful eye of certain people.
      • Events from distress signal up to deployment.
        • At approximately 100680.0: the first causality was discovered by Chief Engineer Anderson.
          • The first crewmember in question, CA Meg Wind-People was torn into through her armored EVA suit, and left partially digested.
          • Meg Wind-People was newly hired, and had been assigned to flush and purge a holding tank for unprocessed mining waste.
          • The acidic fluid that partially digested her, caused her cells to die off even if not affected directly by the acid.
          • As per her will, her ballistospores were to be collected but none were present.
        • At 100680.15, Starfleet, DS 13, received a distress signal via commercial subspace channels from the heavy ore freighter, SS Ontagwa Sun, regarding a possible UHL that had killed a crew member.
        • At approximately 100680.2 , UHL is encountered in the frieghter’s cargo bay, where a cargo handler named Ta’Gar “wrestles” the UHL, allowing 5 other crew members to escape the cargo bay. He is killed in the process.
        • The ship's EPS is damaged in the process which causes a loss of lighting and some life support throughout the ship.
        • At approximately 100680.21, Capt Bulloch orders all crew to proceed to the bridge immediately and the bridge to be locked down.
        • At approximately 100680.21, Capt Bulloch, along with 4 crew, FM Gibick, CSO Quatta, Ricky Means, Chuck Harrison, and Anton Lassane proceed to the ships Security Control to patch internal security feeds to the bridge.
        • At approximately 100680.22, The party encountered the UHL, or what they describe as a large, possibly gray, mass, with six clawed legs, an eyeless face, a snout from which tendrils that undulated, and as per Captain Bulloch “it was as large as a rhino at a zoo”.
          • The party’s weapons, which consists of a Type II phaser pistol, 2 Klingon disruptor pistols, and a civilian issue plasma pulsewave rifle, have no visible effects.
          • Quatta is severely injured and Means is killed.
          • Security control is damaged.
          • The party retreats through two 10 cm blast doors which are destroyed by the UHL.
          • The party finally gets to a third blast door that is in need of repair and makes a very loud screeching sound as it closes. UHL retreats into the interior of the ship.
        • At approximately 100680.75 FM Gibick disobeys this order as Dr O’Tar is in need of supplies to treat CSO Quatta and PO3 Harrison. At approximately 100680.8, Gibick is killed, presumably by UHL.
        • At approximately 100681.0 FM a sitrep call to the USS Dragon was placed.
          • The Speaker of the Wind People Collective expressed an unusual amount of apprehension, which according to LT Wind-People, was present in their sharing (exchanging feelings and sensations by touch). He admitted the chief reason for his presence was not to retrieve anything of Meg Wind-People, but rather that the something about the case was bothering him, though he was unable to assemble the collected memories of sensations and feelings concerning this case. He requested LT Wind-People go to the ship, collect the sensations around being there and possibly concerning the UHL, then return and share with him to help him assemble the memories into a coherent pattern.
        • Composition of Away Teams
          • Command
            • CMDR Evette LaSalle, Op Lead
            • LT Kiarah Fra’Seer, Sec Lead
            • LT Ansha Wind-People, Specialist
          • Away Team Alpha
            • LTJG Arron Danes, Team Lead
            • ENS Leslie Tanner, ENG, Human (F)
            • CPO Pu’Mok, SO, Pakled (F)
            • PO2 Annoka Ko, SO, Andorian (F)
            • PO3 Loa Shi Chin, SO, Human (M)
            • PO3 Shokka, SO, Benzite (M)
            • PO2 Mark Parrell, Med, Human (M)
          • Away Team Beta
            • LTJG Kurok, Team Lead, Deceased
            • LTJG Vindel Garris, ENG, Human (M), Deceased
            • CPO Derrick Mitcher, SO, Human (M), Deceased
            • PO2 Ivana Nolovich, SO, Human (F), Wounded
            • PO3 Rider Sterns, SO, Human (F), Deceased
            • PO3 Drak, SO, Pakled (F), Deceased
            • PO3 T’Vakka Oolana, Med, Orion (F), Wounded
          • Away Team Gamma
            • ENS Gus Mendelson, Team Lead
            • CPO Richmond Parker-Theones, ENG, Human (M)
            • CPO Samus O’Leary, SO, Human (F)
            • PO1 Torro Leki, SO, Rigelian (F)
            • PO2 Ahkmed Al-Baghdadi, SO, Human (M)
            • PO3 Nicolas Kowalski, SO, Human (M)
            • PO3 Victoria M’Butto, MED, Human (F)
        • Events Onboard ship
          • At 100683.7, Teams were deployed as follows
            • Alpha team on Deck 1 (Crew Quarters, Mess, Entrance to Cargo Bay)
            • Beta team on Deck 2 (CnC, Ward Rooms, Medical)
            • Gamma team on Deck 3 (Lower holds, Engineering)
            • Command to Bridge to rendezvous with Capt Bulloch.
          • CMDR LaSalle gave the order for teams to begin a search pattern, to maintain radio contact (the duty to maintain was assigned to LT Wind-People, and to be ready to evac by transporter at the first sign of danger.
          • Capt Bulloch followed with Command Team as the only lock system still functional was biometric and set to his lifesign.
          • At 100683.75, Command Team found malfunctioning door then found remains of First Mate Pibick, who showed no signs of corrosive substances used in his death as with Crew M. Wind-People.
          • At 100683.76, LT Wind-People receives a message from Team Beta, “It’s right here” is said and that is all. Team Beta no longer responds. Transponders show their location to be on the mess decks near the ingress to the cargo bay.
          • The decision to have teams close in on UHL at a distance and not provoke it now that its location is known, then Command Team with Capt Bulloch would proceed to Security control.
          • At 100683.8 The Command Team arrives at Security Control to patch feed to tricorder and is successful.
          • In discussion with Capt Bulloch it was discovered that the ship had just visited Adjaellia Prime to drop off supplies, and to pick up ore as well as mining waste. Bulloch claims UHL did not come in from cargo doors or ore hoppers. LT Wind-People then ask how waste was loaded in the Tank 5, the curt answer being “a big hose”.
          • At 100683.82, PO3 Oolana of Beta Team verbally requests immediate Med Evac for herself and PO2 Nolovich after rendezvous with Alpha Team just beyond mess decks. Her commlink was lost in melee as was that of PO2 Nolovich. The two are transported directly to Dragon’s Med Bay.
            • Both are in stable condition
          • At 100683.85, Command Team links up with Alpha Team and perimeter is set. Visual confirmation by Command Team of UHL.
          • At 100683.88, LT Kiarah orders plasma flame throwers up front and fire teams behind, and then orders the teams converge in an effort to flank the UHL. UHL is briefly stunned but begins to charge at a LT Wind-People, who is pushed out of the UHL pounce by LT Kiarah. The UHL then dodges a grenade and lands on LT Wind-People. LT Wind People fires her emergency EVA thrusters throwing her into the locker and mess decks where she is transported to the USS Dragon.
            • LT Wind-People’s injuries were most superficial, though a coating of the UHL’s bile, which is suspected of being toxic and corrosive, was covering her damaged EVA suit. She was immediately stripped of her EVA suit and decontaminated. As a preventative measure, an antidote was given and her wounds were treated on the spot. She was released to meet with the command team at CIC.
          • CMDR LaSalle gives order to evacuate. All teams retreat to unshielded areas and are transported safely to the USS Dragon.
        • Post Mission Debrief and Solution
          • Once LT Wind-People and The Speaker have a chance the share, the Speaker realizes he has encountered the UHL and has seen it kill a Wind People, then devour it’s spores which are produced on a Wind People fungal Colony’s death, whether voluntary or not.
          • Further discussion and visual evidence suggests this is a species related to Earth’s Tardigrade, though substantially larger and more powerful. It most likely came from the Northern, icey regions of Adjeallia Prime and feasted on Wind People that strayed too far from the Grove of the Sweet Wood, a primeval forest that was the Wind People’s ancestral home. (NOTE: It was destroyed sometime around Stardate 76686 by Jannessen Yashal Mining Co.)
          • It is suspected that the Adjaellian Tardigrade was kept at bay from the Grove by the calls of a large avion identified as the Adjaellious Raptor Narrisaetia or Narrisa Raptor. This protected the Wind People, but also prevented their full knowledge of the Adjaellian Tardigrade, given the more visceral way in which they share how they perceive reality with each other without having been able to communicate directly until recently.
          • The fear is that if an Adjaellian Tardigrade were to somehow make its way to Risa and the new home of the Wind People, particularly in light of the new Spawning Facility that has been built to help increase spore to fruit efficiency, then the Wind People could be wiped out.
          • The desire to destroy the craft is strong, though it could not be determined that this would destroy the Adjaellian Tardigrade, ultimately the decision is made to tow the SS Ontagwa Sun back to Adjaellia Prime, drive the Adjaellian Tardigrade off the ship at Jackman’s Glacier which is North of the spot that was once the Grove of the Sweet Wood.
          • At 100685.0 the USS Dragon arrived at Adjaellia Prime. By 100685.5 the Adjaellian Tardigrade was driven off the freighter with the help of the amplified audio recording of the malfunctioning blast door’s screeching noise.
          • By 100687, operation was declared over.
        • Casualties
          • Casualties, Starfleet
            • Deceased
              • LTJG Kurok, Team Beta Lead
              • LTJG Vindel Garris, Team Beta Engineer
              • CPO Derrick Mitcher, Team Beta Asst Lead
              • PO3 Rider Sterns, Team Beta Gunner/Scanner
              • PO3 Drak, Team Beta Gunner
            • Wounded
              • LT Ansha Wind-People, Command Team, (Chemical Burns and Possible Poisoning, Lacerations, Treated at Transporter Pad and Released)
              • PO2 Ivana Nolovich, Team Beta Heavy Gunner, (Lacerations, Blunt Force Trauma, Concussion, Amputation of LT Arm below elbow)
              • PO3 T’Vakka Oolana, Team Beta Medic, (Lacerations, Blunt Force Trauma)
          • Casualties, Civilian
            • Deceased
              • Gibick
              • Richard Means, Security, Human (M)
              • Ta’Gar, Rigger, Pakled (M)
              • Meg Wind-People, Crewman Apprentice, Wind-People (F)
            • Wounded
              • Quatta Nal-Quatta, (Amputation of RT Arm)
              • Charles “Chuck” Harrison, Security, Human (M), (Lacerations, Blunt Force Trauma)
              • Gregor Deitrick, Rigger, Human (M), (Lacerations, Blunt Force Trauma)
        Rescued and uninjured civilians are listed in Attachments

        RECOMMENDATION

        • The concern was raised by the Speaker, that if one of these species of Tardigrades were to somehow arrive at Risa and get to the New Collective and the newly established Wind People Spawning Facility on the Isle of the Sweet Wood, it is recommended that a deterrent system be built. Since the call of an avian species, Narrisa Raptor, native to Adjaellia Prime, home of the Wind People species, acts as a repellent to these Adjaellia Tardigrades, a system involving lifesign detect that would trigger audio broadcast of this species’ call.
        • All ships involved with resupply, waste removal, ore loading, must be extra vigilant with xeno-invasive species such as this. After consultation and review, Adjaellian Tardigrade is suspected to have been a size small enough to be taken into the ship’s mining waste holding tank hose, which was not protected against possible lifeform intrusion. Permissible shielding, increased sensor arrays, etc should be installed in all shielded waste tanks.
        • A review of telemetry, video, and audio, as well as affidavit testimony will follow regarding how our away teams can improve performance in situations such as this. There is no evidence to suggest blame concerning the tragic loss of 5 Starfleet personnel. Nonetheless, if an improvement in tactics can be found it should be sought.
        ​ RECOGNITION
        • LT Kiarah Fra’Seer’s leadership and tactical acumen on the ground during this mission as well as her knowledge during planning were key to a successful outcome.
        • PO3 T’Vakka Oolana, Beta Team’s Medic, though seriously injured, and at her own peril, pulled PO2 Ivana Nolovich to safety, hiding both herself and Nolovich underneath a table. She then stabilized both herself and PO2 Nolovich, and proceeded to search for other wounded, then establish contact with Alpha Team and the USS Dragon for medical evac.
        • LTJG Vindel Garris, Team Beta’s Engineer, held off the Adjaellian Tardigrade in hand to hand combat, ultimately losing his life. This bought PO3 Oolana time to rescue PO2 Nolovich.

        OOC
        Chapter 1, Short Story, A Captain’s Burden
        Chapter 2, transcript of sitrep call
        Chapter 3, Sitrep Summary
        Chapter 4, In Game Transcript
        Epilogue, Short Story

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