99327.9
CAPT Tungsten, D.
LOCATION Betreka Nebula
MISSION USS Prometheus had been 36 hours overdue for scheduled check-in, while performing duties in the Betreka Nebula. Mission objective: Search and Rescue.
OUTCOME Success. Prometheus and all crew recovered alive.
KEY PERSONNEL
- CAPT Tungsten, D.
- CAPT Morton, C.
- CAPT De Drowvani Nimitz, T.
- CAPT Meadows, R.
- CMDR Kermit, J.
- CMDR LaSalle, E.
- DAL Demor, T.
- LT Serris, Z.
- LTJG Mekyu, S.
- ENS Kron, S.
- CDT/1 Ban, W.
- CIV T’Vel
NARRATIVE This officer was hurriedly tasked with assembling a group of ships for search and rescue operations, and briefing key personnel on the mission. That being, to search for, confirm the state of, and rescue if needed, USS Prometheus, after they failed scheduled contact.
Dal Demor of the Cardassian Union proved very helpful to have on this mission, voicing some concerns of rogue faction activity in the area, likely comprised of elements of Cardassian groups unsatisfied with treaty restrictions upon the Cardassian military, and seeking a much more proactive approach to dealing with Terran Empire incursions, among other things. It would have been more helpful to have much more of this information beforehand, but the situation as played-out was greatly preferable to going in completely blind. This officer sympathizes to a degree with the Cardassians wanting to keep this information private however long was possible, but more open sharing of information could have prevented the incident in the first place, at least potentially.
As both Sagittarius Squadron normally heads our search and rescue efforts, and USS Mariner’s advanced sensors would be helpful in this effort, it was designated lead ship. With both her Captain and Executive Officer unavailable on other assignment, Commander Evette LaSalle, and Commander James Kermit were granted temporary acting-CO and temporary acting-XO positions for the duration of this mission, respectively.
USS Mariner, October, Scharnhorst, Vincennes, Dragon, and CUV Trager headed out together to the Betreka Nebula. Sensor interference was significant, as expected, though not enough to impair visuals, such as in a Mutara-Class Nebula. All ships formed a search pattern per Mariner’s lead, and began coordinating sensor sweeps. USS Mariner encountered pieces of the discarded ablative armor from USS Prometheus fairly soon, and scans were performed immediately, with samples collected at the end of the mission, in the off-chance they may provide further information.
USS Dragon was first to encounter the Beta and Gamma sections of USS Prometheus by sheer luck of positioning. It was clear that both damage was inflicted on the vessel, and that it had separated for multi-vector attack mode, since the sections were not attached, adrift, and the Alpha section was missing. Scans were performed to determine the type of weapons used, in order to narrow the field of possible attackers. Due to the nebular interference, it could only be narrowed to the type of spiral disruptor weapons used by the Kreetassans, Yridians, and more expectedly, Cardassians.
USS Vincennes, October, and Scharnhorst began to continue searching for the Alpha section, and Vincennes picked up an ion trail, later confirmed to be that of Prometheus’ Alpha section. Before that though, unusual interference was detected in the vicinity, increasing in that direction, and Vincennes began scanning to determine its source. At this point, movement in the nebula of unknown origin was detected, consistent with cloaked ships. Probes were launched to form a tachyon detection grid, and at this point, movement greatly increased in a retreating manner, and cloaked ships were positively detected, but not yet positively identified due to the difficulties in the area. Scans had been made at Dal Demor’s suggestion a little before this for boronite, among other things, but nebular interference prevented a positive scan at a more helpful time. It was at this time that a boronite mine attached to an asteroid detonated, causing severe damage to Vincennes, and light damage to other ships. Injuries were reported on Vincennes, including Captain Meadows, and the Vincennes began to retreat, covered by USS October.
USS Scharnhorst was tasked with proceeding with caution to locate and retrieve the Alpha section of Prometheus. Scharnhorst launched a probe ahead with her IFF signal, to hopefully draw any attackers to the probe. Thankfully, the enemy faction here was more interested in staying hidden, but it was nonetheless a wise precaution in this officer’s opinion, as Mariner was then able to determine the presence of many more of these boronite-enhanced asteroids close enough by with their 800,000km blast radius to do us harm.
USS Scharnhorst was able to locate and tractor the Alpha Section, and Commander LaSalle gave the order for us to complete the primary mission, and have October and Dragon tractor out the Beta and Gamma sections of Prometheus, and return to base.
This officer, and apparently most or all others according to later discussion, agreed with that decision, despite the possibility of pursuit of the cloaked ships by projecting their course, or the pattern of weaponized asteroids suggesting the possible location of a base. Getting our people home was top priority, and we now have better information for a follow-up mission.
At T’vel’s suggestion, a warning beacon was dropped outside the nebula, alerting ships to the apparent presence of mines, and disabled ships. Those residing there are probably very pleased with that action, but it is also extremely prudent to prevent any other ships from being disabled or lost there.
During the debrief aboard DS13, Dal Demor was once again full of very plausible theories on the motivations and goals of those holed up in the nebula, if they are indeed a Cardassian splinter group as we strongly suspect. As it was pointed out their ordinance could cause significant damage to subspace in the area, Commander Kermit rightly pointed out the logistical nightmare that could cause, even if they don’t manage to cross into the “mirror” universe and antagonize the Terran Empire into another conflict.
RECOMMENDATION A follow-up mission to focus on either contacting and dissuading, or neutralizing this faction is highly recommended. The potential consequences of inaction are enormous, in this officer’s opinion.
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RECOGNITION This officer would like to give special recognition to Commanders LaSalle and Kermit, for quickly taking effective command of not only USS Mariner, but the task force. Commander LaSalle was also full of praise for Commander Kermit’s experience and leadership during the mission. Further, however, this officer is extremely pleased with the performance of all ships and crews involved, and feels this mission was an excellent example of teamwork in the Starfleet tradition. This officer, and almost certainly everyone in the fleet as well, sends their hope for a speedy recovery to all those injured on USS Vincennes, and looks forward to seeing it flying with us very soon.
OOC Thank you for this event, @Serris ! Even though I was expecting to join this event in a supporting role rather than having two characters leading it, I thought it was a lot of fun!
Mission Briefing
Log