| SUBMITTED: Stardate 94330.4 | FILED BY: LCDR S. al Firawn | SECURITY: Level 1 - Open |
LOCATION: Potter's Field Anomaly, Kelterre Sector
MISSION: Further surveillance of the Potter's Field Anomaly and testing of the "warp shell" countermeasures. Also, to check the surrounding areas for signs of pirate activity.
OUTCOME: "Warp shell" countermeasures effective. Anomaly surveyed and crudely charted through the use of phaser banks. Discovery of at least six (6) derelict vessels. Pictures taken of one such vessel with alien markings (attached). Witness of two (2) raider ships enter the anomaly after disengaging with a fight with the Saratoga.
KEY PERSONNEL:
LCDR Sulayman al Firawn
LCDR Jennifer Holliday
ENS Ann Carter
PO1 Goxdon Ramsax
CDT Rianni Tierno
SUBLT Shiarrael t'Lhoell
NARRATIVE:
The assembled team of specialists listed above reported to the U.S.S. Saratoga which was assigned to further analyse the Potter's Field Anomaly. Previous studies (reports attached below), had managed to develop a countermeasure against the power drain within the anomaly, wherein the warp shell used by ships to go into warp could be created for use as a shielding system on a vessel, without the ship in question having to go into warp.
When the Saratoga dropped out of warp, our scans did not detect any sign of the anomaly, with the area that the anomaly covered looking like normal space. After a short brainstorm of ideas, an away team, lead by myself, boarded the shuttlecraft Stillwater, having already been modified with the aforementioned warp shell. After three separate verifications that the warp shield was activated, the Stillwater entered the anomaly. Our mission time could not exceed 50 minutes, since the power needed to sustain the warp shell could only last 60 minutes.
Upon entering the anomaly, our scans revealed the absence of any kind of particle or emissions in the area, except for a faint metallic signature ahead. Since we were flying blind, the away team brainstormed solutions to our problem. Given that our sensors did not work normally and any energy output faded, we decided to use adapted versions of LIDAR and sonar in order to chart the inside. Our first idea was to fire a photon beam; this provided light over a very small radius and illuminated dark shapes outside. Our sensors struggled to pick up anything meaningful here.
Cadet Tierno's idea was to use a phaser beam, firing at a preprogrammed search pattern she had created on the Saratoga before we boarded the shuttle. The idea was that we would be able to measure the beam lengths instead of using visual cues that came from using the photon beam. The idea was successful in revealing six derelict ships in the anomaly.
During this time, we had also stumbled upon the metallic signature we had detected earlier. This happened to be a vessel of a substantial size, with alien markings. SUBLT Shiarrael managed to take some pictures of these markings.
As our power was low, we decided to finally head back out of the anomaly. As we left the anomaly, we witnessed our power levels once again returning maximum. This is when we happened upon the Saratoga defending a New Circini freighter from three unidentified raiders. The Saratoga promptly destroyed one of these raiders and sent the other two raiders fleeing. These raiders did happen to fire upon our shuttle but did minimal damage. They then disappeared into the anomaly, though it was unsure why they did so, or how they would have survived the power drain; scans of their engines showed no signs of shielding.
After the freighter had safely warped away, the Stillwater docked with the Saratoga, thus ending our mission.
RECOMMENDATION: I recommend that we adapt the warp shell shielding system further; tests were successful, but the power drain could perhaps be further minimised. We should also develop a way to chart the inside of the anomaly effectively by further expanding on Cadet Tierno's idea of phaser beams. Following this, another survey of the anomaly would be more fruitful.
We should also further analyse the pictures of the vessel discovered and identify the alien markings. It may be useful to use a bigger ship that has a bigger power output to go and pull the vessel out for further study.
Lastly, the raiders' use of the anomaly is interesting to say the least. How do they use it without experiencing the power drain? Why are they using it? Was their use intentional or a mistake? These are questions we do not have the answers for at this time.
//ATTACHMENTS//
AAR Map Potter's Field Anomaly.aar
Potter's Field Countermeasures.aar
warpshellpowerlevels.diag
photonvisualmap.img
phasercomputedmap.vis
alienvesselphotos.file
OOC: This is the AAR for Kermit's No Man's Land mission. If I have accidently misrepresented or ommited actions, made errors in spelling, facts e.t.c., or other mistakes that appear when having typed this at 5 in the morning, please let me know and I will correct them!
Thanks Kermit for a great event!