AAR: Destruction of 'Icepick' Squadron

anncarise_ · April 11, 2018, 12:00am

SUBMITTED:
Stardate 94276.6

FILED BY:
Lieutenant B'Atar

SECURITY:
Level 2 - Confidential

LOCATION: Crossroads Station and Unexplored System

MISSION: Search and destroy for elite Breen raider squadron / Neutralize crystals in Ventraxian possession

OUTCOME: Complete elimination of Icepick Squadron. Also destroyed rogue Tzenkethi force and Hur'q bugs on Ventraxian ship. Loss of Ventraxian 4^th Interceptor squadron. And we found out who was behind the Guardian.

KEY PERSONNEL:

NARRATIVE: On stardate 94129.4, we set out to hunt down Icepick Squadron after the Breen's elite raider group attacked our mercenary outpost (see this report for more details on that mission). Our trail led us to the neutral station Crossroads Terminal but ended there as we could detect no sign of Breen presence on the station or any indication of where they went. Using the San'leth's Breen modifications and the suit of Breen armour we looted, I attempted to masquerade as a fellow Breen looking for the squadron, but the station was admirably true to its privacy rules and would not divulge any information on the raiders, even to other Breen warships.

We were unable to complete our mission but received new orders to sort out other business on Crossroads Terminal. Apparently while we were fighting the Breen we missed a massive battle above Bajor where some ships claimed to be related to the Hur'q showed up. They were related to some bugs that hatched out of crystals found on numerous worlds across the quadrant, and the Ventraxians had just found a few of these crystals and were bringing them to the station for trade.

Our new objective was to neutralize these crystals. By the time we got to the Ventraxian ship the bugs had already hatched from the crystals and were starting to overrun the ship. They were tough and numerous- surprisingly hard to kill for things that didn't use weapons or armour, but they relied too much on swarm tactics. We cleared out the Ventraxian ship and one of the surviving officers on board gave us some useful contact information out of gratitude, including a source of quantum torpedoes and the merchant they were initially going to trade the crystals with.

The source of quantum torpedoes was none other than the Ferengi D'Krova. We struck a deal with her for not only the torpedoes, but her ship had also caught on to the Breen's warp trail when they first left, allowing us to complete our initial mission. We managed to set up relations with the other merchant too, an alien called Nyta Trask who was responsible for making the Guardian. She wasn't too happy that we blew it up, but she's willing to talk to our quartermaster about doing business with us.

At this point a group of Tzenkethi began attacking the station. They had picked up the bugs and wanted to destroy Crossroads Terminal to clean out the infestation. We tried to tell them that we had already killed all the bugs, but these Tzenkethi were either suicidal, braindead or really really brave and picked a fight with the station. Crossroads Terminal offered payment to anyone who helped take down the Tzenkethi and pretty much all the mercs and pirates there joined in. Egzo and I entered the fight as well since we weren't going to miss a chance to shoot Tzenkethi and get paid for all the fun.

Once the Tzenkethi were dealt with we followed the lead D'Krova sold us to an uncharted system where we indeed found a Breen trail and the remains of a Ventraxian squadron. We tried to retrieve one of the ships but our attempts to tractor it only damaged it more. In the end we sent Mysti's drone Chirrups on board where it retrieved the computer core, but the rest of the ship was lost. The core's information revealed that the Breen had a staging base in the system and also used a big ship that could carry docked raiders.

We proceeded to the base which was guarded by a few turrets and some fighters. Icepick Squadron wasn't home so we devised a plan to hack the defenses, using San'leth's Breen modifications to fool their IFFs so we could deploy the Thana Vaneri's techs to the turrets. Meanwhile, Kodon and the Hor'Cha crew rigged up some probes to emit false ship readings to confuse the Breen.

When Icepick Squadron arrived they were in for a surprise. They put up a good fight at first, as expected from a group with their reputation, and the big battleship even got a few hits in on the Thana. With the probes distracting the fighters from the base and their turrets suddenly turning on them, the battle was clearly going in our favour and soon the surviving ships decided to retreat. We managed to destroy some before they could run away and the Daramar came back just in time to intercept the fleeing battleship. Having nowhere to run now, the rest of the Breen decided to die honourably rather than be captured and self-destructed their ships while shutting off their suits so that we had no chance of interrogating them for information.

RECOMMENDATION: We should salvage what we can from the new Breen raiders. Although the people in Icepick Squadron was no doubt a major reason for its successes, the raiders are still a new design and we will want to learn as much about them as we can in case we have to face them on the field again.

Following up with Nyta Trask would also be a good idea. Business deals aren't my strong suit, but if the Guardian technology is nice enough to interest a Great House (and presumably the High Council too since Kor'goth wanted to gift it to them), it could be worth having trade relations with its programmer in case she has anything else of interest to the Empire.

This is all the paperwork for this mission.

//SIGNED//

Sogh B'Atar
I.K.S. San'leth

OOC: This is the outcome of the Crossroads Terminal and Cold Trail series of events. 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.