100232.8
DAL Demor, Talar
LOCATION V774 Tau, Aldebaran Sector
MISSION Defend station Deep Space 13 against House Arterius incursion.
OUTCOME Mission successful, House Arterius repelled.
KEY PERSONNEL
- CAPT Draz, Sanara
- CAPT Lyn, Isadora
- CAPT Mirazuni, Ayesha
- CAPT Tungsten, Drake
- CMDR Brex, Saun
- CMDR Tolar, Amathel
- DAL Demor, Talar (CDF)
- LCDR Bryant, Oliver
- LCDR Zital, Serris
- LT tr’Vastam, Shea (RRF)
- CDT Vemok
NARRATIVE While making final preparations for the arrival of the Kessok diplomatic envoy, their delegation made an unexpected and literally explosive entrance into the V774 Tau star system. An antimatter explosion large enough to rock Deep Space 13’s structure from a distance of .8 AU preceded a warning hail from Captain Neb-lus of the damaged Kessok dreadnought Neb-lig, informing us of incoming danger. Several ships were quickly deployed in defensive formation around Deep Space 13: Dauntless, Dragon, Endeavour, Minerva, Saraswati, and the warbird Tebok.
Long-range scans quickly detected thoron particles traveling faster than light in the direction of V774 Tau, which was intuited by this officer as a cover for a stealth approach of a Cardassian insurgent attack fleet, a technique adapted from old Federation dissident groups in the Cardassian demilitarized zone. Stealth reconnaissance by the Tebok confirmed this theory. Twenty-five Groumall-class freighters, eight Galor-class cruisers, four Keldon-class battleships, and what seemed to be a Cardassian-Kessok hybrid vessel – all of which bore the mark of House Arterius. What’s more, the Groumall freighters were loaded to capacity with antimatter explosives. It appeared that House Arterius was prepared to use these freighters to destroy Deep Space 13 with kamikaze attacks.
With the threat of Kessok technology now in play, Lieutenant Commander Zital began distributing modified shield algorithms to better protect against the Kessok’s potent positron-based weaponry, and together with Commander Brex, re-activated a long dormant anti-Azedi defense system to create a buffer between the station and the approaching vessels, forcing them to drop out of warp 1 AU from the station.
The battle group intercepted the enemy forces as they were forced from warp speed, and was able to attack before they could get their bearings. This officer recommended shooting to disable, as each Groumall-class freighter was carrying the equivalent mass of a Nova-class survey ship in antimatter explosives. However, the volatile nature of the freighters’ cargo quickly proved to be a chaotic element in the engagement.
Dragon’s opening lance shot cleanly pierced one of the freighters and caused an explosion large enough to damage several Cardassian and allied ships before they could get out of the blast radius. Minerva surgically disabled another freighter with its quantum field focus phaser while Dauntless and Endeavour kept up the pressure on the heavy cruisers. Saraswati utilized its warp engines and deflector dish to create a graviton sink, an artificial gravity well which created significant drag on the freighters’ strained engines and began to cluster them together. It was at this time the Tebok made a cloaked pass by the clustered freighters and deployed mines. The subsequent chain reaction was almost catastrophic, the magnitude of the explosion causing several minor falls and injuries on Deep Space 13 1 AU away. Nine freighters were destroyed simultaneously by Tebok’s mine, followed shortly after by a torpedo salvo from Minerva that took care of the rest.
Between collateral damage from the antimatter explosions and focused weapon fire from the hybrid vessel and the surviving Keldon heavy cruisers, Dragon sustained a total shield failure and substantial hull damage before the Kessok dreadnought Neb-lig was sufficiently repaired to enter the battle and decisively turn the tide. The remaining Keldons and most of the Galors were destroyed by the Neb-lig. A single disabled Galor was captured, and the hybrid vessel narrowly escaped with significant damage. The undamaged Saraswati engaged in pursuit in hopes of tracking it to House Arterius’ base of operations. The outcome of this search is unknown as of the time of writing this report. Search and rescue Yellowstone runabouts and the Minerva quickly moved to aid the Dragon and tow it to Deep Space 13 for repairs and medical triage. The Neb-lig is currently aiding Deep Space 13 by performing sentry duty and looking out for any additional House Arterius vessels until the situation has calmed enough for their delegation to be seen by leadership.
RECOMMENDATION Keep Deep Space 13 on yellow alert and maintain active long-range scans for 72 hours. War game exercises should be regularly scheduled between both Starfleet vessels and allied powers to develop teamwork skills and improve situational awareness.
RECOGNITION Cadet Vemok demonstrated remarkable calm and restraint under pressure after being foisted into an unpredictable, dynamic, and potentially deadly situation. It is my belief that he should be commended for his performance.
OOC Well, it’s finally done. Thank you to everyone for coming over the various events I’ve run over the last few months! Your regular participation and enthusiasm was a great motivator to keep going and eventually get here. I’ll be taking a break from big arcs and moving over to some more fun, self-contained content following the debut of our new ship on the First Contact Day event.
I may host an epilogue of sorts featuring diplomatic meetings with our new acquaintances in the near future. Stay tuned!