97739.8
LCDR Sedai, Katriel
LOCATION Uncharted star system / planet BN01-A
MISSION n/a: no formal mission. Shuttle passengers were organized to attend annual Starfleet Concept Development & Experimentation Conference on Betazed.
OUTCOME Shuttle Kincardine was attacked en route to Betazed, resulting in a crash landing on uncharted M-Class planet in the Betreka Nebula. Survival of passenger crew was hugely assisted by the discovery of an abandoned facility, until rescue arrived.
KEY PERSONNEL
- CAPT Konieczko, Dmitri
- CAPT Nimitz, Alistair
- CMDR Jarnefelt, Charlotte
- CMDR Kermit, James
- SCDR tr’Nai, Jalme (RR)
- LCDR Sedai, Katriel
- CPT Valencia, Gabriela (MACO)
- LT Shinwa, Tsurugi
- ENS Sovum, Veneela
- CPO Ashodi, Thylan
NARRATIVE As I was a passenger in the rear compartment at the time the Kincardine was attacked, I unfortunately do not have a firsthand account of what occurred. However the various impressions I received led me to understand that we had come under fire by Nausicaan destroyer vessels and were vastly outmatched. They proceeded to tow the Kincardine into the Betreka Nebula, where we had fallen out of warp, but then appeared to become the targets of a third party’s attacks, resulting in our tractor tow becoming disengaged and our eventual plummet to BN01-A’s surface.
In the immediate wake of the crash, the crew worked productively to assess the damage to the shuttle and to determine what salvageable inventory we had. When it became obvious that we would be on the planet indefinitely, I was able to assist by setting up the two available emergency shelters, which were just enough to hold the entire crew and became our primary residence for the next several days. During this time, two scouting expeditions were sent to recon the surrounding area. The first had ENS Sovum along, who critically catalogued native flora FL003, a succulent which became instrumental in keeping the crew adequately hydrated for a not insignificant part of our stay.
I have to register some discomfort with the way things proceeded from the third day onwards. It is probable that due to the extreme stress of the situation (we were down to almost nothing in water reserves and SCDR Jalme’s deteriorating state was another major concern) was a significant factor in the crew’s increasingly poor communication capacities. I made a point to ask for clarification on formally deciding on the chain of command, hoping that this would cut down on the amount of verbal disagreement that was preventing us from being truly productive. When CAPT Konieczko assumed command as a result, he authorized the second, longer scouting expedition (CAPT Nimitz, CPT Valencia) to recon the nearby mountain region, estimated a day’s walk away.
With the discovery of FL003 and with a lack of other methods for being productive, CAPT Konieczko authorized a small expedition for myself and ENS Sovum to harvest FL003 for crew consumption later. We were able to significantly improve our effective water reserves as a result, though it was not as good as having actual water access. On this same expedition, we were able to observe and catalogue some large native fauna, one of which was an FA04 ‘reptile’ pack. This discovery was distressing and urgent enough that we reported back to camp immediately to update the others. CAPT Konieczko and CMDR Kermit’s priorities shifted significantly with this information and I attempted to make sure our supplies would be ready and easy to move if evacuation of the base camp became necessary. The scouting party had also communicated to let us know of a discovery: next to the mountain was a crater with a lake and what appeared to be an abandoned facility. CAPT Konieczko gave authorization to investigate.
Unfortunately, evacuation of the camp did eventually become necessary. We had some advanced warning that a reptile pack was nearby, but due to the complete lack of visibility at the time of their attack (dead of night, perhaps some six hours before sunrise), it genuinely felt like we had little to no real chance of defense against five fully grown apex predators. CMDR Kermit sustained a serious injury from one reptile which we managed to defeat, around the same time that CAPT Konieczko gave the order to abandon camp. The rest of the pack seemed to lose interest in us as we retreated as far from the camp as possible. We were safely away when the reptiles most likely ran afoul of the shuttle’s warp core, which had been previously extricated from the shuttle housing to utilize as a power source, and caused a visible explosion from our location. With the basecamp most likely totally decimated, we had no alternative options other than to continue towards the mountain crater to join the scouting party.
This gave rise to the most contentious part of this mission as SCDR Jalme who, I must admit, had demonstrated almost supernatural tenacity thus far with his injuries and had been maneuvering with crutches during our retreat, claimed to be too exhausted to continue onward. In the ensuing argument between himself and CAPT Konieczko, I believe the stress and adrenaline from recent events had caught up with everyone and CAPT Konieczko made the decision to phaser stun SCDR Jalme, if only to affect his cooperation. This turn of events was not well received by everyone present, but we continued onward with CAPT Konieczko carrying the SCDR over his shoulder until CMDR Kermit’s injuries caused him to faint.
At this point, I volunteered to stay behind with the injured members in the interests of no longer impeding the progress and productivity of the whole crew. CAPT Konieczko was resistant at first, but I persuaded him that the sooner the majority of the crew could reach the facility, the sooner they would be able to put together the resources to return and retrieve us in a more efficient/effective manner, and I had sufficient medical training to take care of two invalids in the meantime. CAPT Konieczko ultimately agreed.
I prioritized finding a nearby rock formation that would allow myself, CMDR Kermit, and SCDR Jalme to at least get out of the sun, and was able to craft a sunshade to further assist. The next couple of days passed relatively uneventfully. Though we made the unfortunate discovery that the temperature of the rainfall was blisteringly hot, we were sufficiently under cover that no harm came to any of us and we had more than sufficient resources to tide us over until we were retrieved via a restored alien vehicle by the crew members who had reached the facility.
With all crew members safe and alive at the facility, things seemed to progress much more smoothly after that. CMDR Jarnefelt and ENS Sovum were able to complete SCDR Jalme’s surgery and our consumable supplies were further bolstered by the facility’s overgrown greenhouse and a new edible flora found by the lakeside (FL008), as well as the lake water which proved to be safe to drink. I primarily assisted with keeping our food stocks high, as well as cleaning the facility’s solar panels, which allowed for utilizing more of the facility’s capabilities simultaneously. CMDR Kermit committed considerable effort to examining the facility’s communications tower and ultimately determined how to commandeer it and successfully broadcast a distress signal via subspace.
There were two additional major incidents during this time, up until our rescue. ENS Sovum was severely injured in a reptile attack when she ventured to the lake to gather food stocks and it had started to rain; CAPT Konieczko, CAPT Nimitz and I all went with makeshift rain covers to retrieve her safely, though she had sustained third degree burns by then. SCDR Jalme had also made significant progress in building a UT matrix for the facility inhabitants’ language and in doing so, we discovered the existence of a communications and sensors-blocking field enclosing the whole facility, including CMDR Kermit’s distress call. CPO Ashodi, LT Shinwa and I went to locate three separate ‘relays’ on the rim of the crater and managed to shut them down, confirming afterwards that the distress beacon could now be heard ‘outside’ the crater as a result.
Gratefully, the signal seemed to be strong enough to be heard by the task force that came and rescued us the next day. For those of us on the planet, the task force did seem to encounter some sort of orbital resistance, but it was ultimately dispatched and the USS Valkyrie kindly gave us several minutes to prepare gather any of our items that we wanted before beaming us aboard.
RECOMMENDATION I cannot claim to have been in very many disaster scenarios, but this most recent experience has demonstrated the devastating impact that crisis stress, profound uncertainty, and intragroup conflict can have on survival chances. I regret to say that I feel luck and fortune have too large a share in the credit of how our crew came to return home safely and feel that future survival training curriculum should increase focus on defining more clear rules for officers to follow and fall back on when their regular skill sets seem to not be readily useful.
I also humbly suggest that BN01 and the planet within be named KOIYA, after the last facility’s permanent resident, accordingly to SCDR Jalme’s research. I have uploaded what scientific records we have compiled to the primary Federation databank for consolidation. (Betreka Nebula-01)
RECOGNITION Though CPT Valencia’s verbal attitude throughout most of the early portion of the crash was mostly abhorrent and, in my opinion, fairly detrimental to unit cohesion and morale, she consistently acted towards the betterment of the crew’s survival, even when her ideas were unpopular. ENS Sovum likewise deserves recognition for her generally level head and openly cooperative attitude, and she often did her best to proactively contribute to the crew’s supplies without explicit direction. Lastly CMDR Kermit’s laser focus on getting a functional distress signal and SCDR Jalme’s research on the facility’s alien language both proved to be instrumental and necessary for our eventual rescue.
OOC hoooly two weeks RP in one AAR, batman. whose stupid idea was this?!?!
Thanks, everyone, for playing. 