AAR: Investigating the Source

Subspace Network Reports
1
Stardate:
101682.1
Filed By:
CAPT Nimitz. A.H
Clearance:

LOCATION Itrin Sector

MISSION Investigate the homeworld of pre-warp Saurianoids discovered by the USS Mariner.

OUTCOME One survivor found and recovered.

KEY PERSONNEL

  • CAPT A. Nimitz
  • CAPT K. Zohl
  • LCDR M. Nasi
  • LCDR R. Greene
  • LT Thyzee
  • ENS Vemok

NARRATIVE Upon orders from Rear Admiral Bishop, the Asimov was sent to backtrack the Saurianoids ark’s passage to its homeworld. Upon arrival, it was discovered that the Saurianoids homeworld was indeed impacted by the asteroid they feared just over ten years ago. The Asimov ran several deep scans of the surface for any signs of survivors or underground structures.

One structure still had an active fission reactor running with in a bunker lined with lead and boron, creating a shield effect that blocked scans. An away team went down to investigate the source. Upon arriving the team discovered a bunker with the door slightly ajar and the sign that read ‘West Vitrian Nuclear Defense Command.’ The away team also found a security desk.

The team was able to use the security desk to access admin control of the bunker’s database, as well as the internal security cameras. The team discovered a single lone surviving Saurianoid asleep. Contact was made as the one survivor was named Ikzao, a former military police assigned to the bunker. Ikzao had been on his own for some time before making contact with the away team. A shuttle was called down from the Asimov and the away team departed with Ikzao, and the downloaded database from the bunker. Continued efforts to find more survivors was futile as Ikazo was the last living being on the planet.

RECOMMENDATION Ikazo is the last survivor on their homeworld, I recommend any decision regarding the fate of his people that the Mariner discovered include his input, or at the very least we grant him refugee status within the Federation, he lived for nearly ten years on his own inside a bunker, and deserves to have a peaceful life.
​
RECOGNITION All officers involved preformed within expectations.

5 Likes
2
Stardate:
101682.2
Filed By:
CAPT A.H. Nimitz
Clearance:

ADDENDUM On the subject of contact with Ikazo, the lone Saurianoid was the last living member of the species on the planet. He had been living within the Command bunker since the asteroid hit the planet over ten years prior. It was within my judgement that contamination of the Sauranoid culture was not a concern due to the fact there was no one left on the plant except for Ikazo.

It was also of my judgement that Ikazo was in distress as the lone survivor of an entire planet wide disaster, it was our duty to take him back to the Asimov, and there was no moral justification to leave him behind to die.

While it is true that The Mariner did discover the Saurianoid ark, any effort to keep Ikazo unaware of our presence and to take him to the Saurianoids new home after their ark is set down in a new home would expose involvement that could cause more contamination if we had attempted to do so discreetly. Given the fact there are only five living beings in the galaxy that belong to this species, Ikazo must be given a chance to help his people if that is his wish to do so.

4 Likes
3
Stardate:
101705.3
Filed By:
CAPT Zohl, K.
Clearance:

ASSOCIATED LOG ENTRY

From Captain Zohl’s Personal Log. Visible to Command.

Captains Log; Supplemental.

The away team’s discovery of… Ikzao… the lone survivor, weighs on me more than the sterile language of an after-action report can truly capture. So I have not sought to add anything to the formal mission debrief. It’s perfectly accurate afterall.

Rather, I find myself thinking in circles as to the situation observed. To stand in the ruins of one’s civilisation, and to endure not merely days or weeks but years without companionship, is a form of survival that tests the very limits of what a mind can bear.

Ikzao has lived in silence so long that the sudden presence of voices, of light, of possibility, of… uncertainty… is almost childlike in its effect. It is hope reborn, and it is fragile thing.

We take for granted that a cup left on a table will remain as it was when we return to our quarters. Of course it will. Why would it not? Who would move it, if not us? The stillness is expected, and so it does not disturb us. It is only nobody there because there is not supposed to be anybody there.

But how does that compare to a dead world? A place where streets were built for footsteps, yet none fall. Where doors were made to open and close, yet they never shift. Where wind passes through empty markets and nothing ever stirs. A world that should be filled with motion and voices, yet nothing moves… because there is nobody left to move anything. Ikzao has lived in this world for ten long years.

I cannot help but recall my own experience, stranded after a shuttle crash. Ten days, not ten years, and yet the silence nearly broke me. It pressed on every thought until the sound of my own breath became an unwanted reminder of isolation. I endured because rescue came. Ikzao endured because it did not. That distinction humbles me.

For command’s consideration, I urged that Ikzao receive long-term psychological evaluation and treatment, no matter what course is chosen for his people. The risk of collapse is real, though his survival alone marks him as resilient beyond measure. We must not mistake endurance for unbrokenness. He deserves the chance to heal, to rebuild within himself, as much as his species may need to rebuild without him, or face contamination for becoming aware of us. I do not envy command’s choices.

But in this situation, I find a measure of awe. To live when one’s whole world has died, and to still reach outward when the stars finally open to you… that is courage in its purest form.

End Log.

5 Likes