Stardate:
99478.8
Filed By:
CAPT Tungsten, D.
Clearance:
LOCATION Citali System, Alpha-7190 Sector
MISSION Invitation was received from the Citali Overseer, though short on details. Presumed to be a diplomatic overture, USS Dragon, USS October, and RRW Virin were dispatched to make contact.
OUTCOME Mission Success. With some unforeseen occurences.
KEY PERSONNEL
- CAPT Tungsten, D.
- CAPT Morton, C.
- CDR Nathes
- CMDR Lasalle, E.
- CMDR Warner, R.
- CMDR Reese, V.
- LT Wind-People, A.
- LT Khet, M.
- LTJG Sovum, V.
NARRATIVE Upon reaching the Citali system, contact was made shortly with the Citali, and we were greeted on the viewscreen by Overseer Nirflim, of the Citali Autonomous Collective. He was quite pleasant with us, and seemed relieved that we were there.
The Overseer would go on to explain that the reason for calling us was that they needed medical assistance. Reviewing the communications logs, his exact words were:
“One of our most storied heroes, a leader of our resistance and a voice behind the formation of our post-invasion government, was gravely injured. She remains unconscious and we have been unable to assist. Had she been fit, she may even have become Overseer in my stead. Her death would be an unimaginable blow to the Citali, and so we are forced to turn to you for aid.”
Of course, we agreed to help, after discussing some logistical items around delivering medical care. At this point, Commander LaSalle led an away team to the surface, with Commander Warner, Lieutenant Khet, and of course Doctor Sovum.
Almost immediately following their departure, an Azedi Dreadnought emerged from a wormhole, which USS Dragon had to execute evasive maneuvers to avoid collision with. The Dreadnought immediately began firing a verteron beam weapon through the edge of our shields towards the planet, as though our shields were not there. They were hailed, and we received this response, which I will also include verbatim from the communications logs for the sake of further analysis:
"Azed will cleanse the unworthy. Return to your hovel and prepare for your end!”
This was delivered audio-only. They continued fire upon the planet, and we found our energy weapons from the Dragon, Virin, and October had no effect but leaving scorch-marks on their hull. Quantum torpedoes were launched at their beam emitters which seemed to make them pause momentarily, and they turned their attention to USS Dragon. The ship sustained a direct hit with their energy weapon, again through shields as though they weren’t there, and damaged several decks in the primary hull, requiring emergency forcefields and bulkheads to contain atmosphere, as well as spreading a great deal of radiation which needed to be neutralized by adjustments in the environmental systems. Commander Reese quickly lept to assist some officers injured on the bridge from the impact, and then manned an Ops station to help coordinate damage control.
It was at this time, that this officer recalled mention of, and reading some of the reports on Project Teleraptor, which had been utilized in the previous conflict with the Confederacy of Azed. Tactical Officer Wind-People carried out the order to load the files on Project Teleraptor and make adjustments accordingly to the deflector, and utilize it at once to stop the attack on our ships, and the planet. Communication was also sent to October and Virin to tell them to load the records and make the same adjustments.
This was executed against the Azedi Dreadnought’s internal wormhole power supply, and it then ceased fire, and seemed completely still.
This officer then opened a channel to them, and told the enemy ship to cease their operation, and leave immediately, never to return, or they would get more of that, and then some. The enemy ship then immediately opened a wormhole, and left.
Meanwhile on the surface, the away team made contact with another Citali, who led them through what appeared to be a physics laboratory to the patient. Commander LaSalle reports this patient was immediately identified by all the away team as an Andorian female, causing much surprise. Doctor Sovum went to work stabilizing an internally bleeding injury that was apparently already patched before by the Citali, but not expertly. She was assisted by Commander Warner. This officer wishes to make clear this is not to demean the Citali at all, as they previously relied on the Ikmore for their medical needs, who they have not been able to contact, let alone reach since the Terran invasion, and their work probably saved the patient’s life, allowing her to live long enough to receive better care.
More seriously, Doctor Sovum reported brain trauma, which she did not have the training or facilities to handle on the planet, so after the patient was stabilized, and the fighting was over in orbit, the patient was taken with us to the Dragon, where the Dragon’s CMO could perform surgery. Even after surgery, the patient was not expected to wake up for weeks, and extent of expected recovery was unknown, very much “wait and see”.
A short message was transmitted in text to the Citali to advise them of this, and that we would take her to Starbase Deep Space 13 for recovery.
Just before departure, Commander Warner addressed those of us on the bridge to say that he checked our patient’s identity, making the situation even more complicated than finding just any Andorian on Citali.
The patient was confirmed to be former Vice Admiral, and Commander of Starfleet’s 38th Fleet, Minari Ashkeph, alias “Justine”. Being that there is an active warrant for her arrest, not least for being reported for being AWOL, Commander Warner’s recommendation for posting guard on her was accepted. His security staff will no doubt continue the same, now that she has been transferred to DS13’s care.
This officer was certainly intrigued, and did find several relevant reports on the matter:
AAR: The Needs of the Many
AAR: Hat Trick
It seems as if “Justine” has been in a nearly identical situation several years ago, having already been AWOL and apprehended, being formerly in Azedi space.
RECOMMENDATION This officer feels that with the hero status “Justine” has among the Citali, it may well be in the Federation’s interest to return her there once she is healed, rather than throwing her in prison. That will likely need to be weighed by the courts, Command, and the Diplomatic Corps, and not this officer, but it should at least be considered.
Assuming a diplomatic debacle does not emerge from this, continued contact with the Citali would no doubt be desired, and we may try to find some solution to their lack of contact with Ikmore. That may look like passenger or freighter ships capable of Warp, but there may also be another and potentially better solution this officer has not yet considered.
​
RECOGNITION The crews of the Dragon, October, and Virin, all performed their duties with distinction. Commander Warner’s diligence in particular would likely have prevented a fugitive from escaping, had she been conscious.
OOC Thanks to Kermit for this event, and having it split between the ship and surface like that was very cool. Fortunately, the log picked up both! Log: The Hero We Deserve It also looks like Nathes filed a report to the Romulan Republic while I was writing this: AAR: The Hero We Deserve
