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TO CMDR sh'Zarath
CC RDML Konieczko, CAPT Derenzis, CMDR Kermit
FROM CAPT Caspius
SUBJ. Project Teleraptor Improvements - U.S.S. Shackleton Requisition Request |
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Commander sh'Zarath,
It appears that I owe you an apology. When I gave you orders to anticipate and address potential countermeasures to our deployment of Project Teleraptor, I neglected to indicate that I am at this point concerned solely with ship-based countermeasures, and not with attempts the Azedi might make to shield their wormholes from collapse.
There are several reasons for this, many of which you are likely yourself now aware:
a. Because of their experiences, the Azedi primarily perceive Teleraptor as an anti-ship weapon, so they are likely to prioritise defences for their ships;
b. Unlike wormholes, ships are already equipped with technology and defensive systems, meaning it is easier to shield them than to shield a wormhole;
c. Because defending a wormhole would require a deflector bubble surrounding the entire aperture, or the creation of some form of permanent wormhole the like of which we have never encountered, defending them would be extremely difficult for the Azedi;
d. et cetera.
Reading your most recent communique, I see that your request for a large ship as a test bed was based around the intention of creating a large wormhole and then attempting to defend it, as the Azedi might do if they were intending to defend a wormhole from Project Teleraptor. For such an effort, only the most advanced ships would have any chance of success, hence your request.
If that had been my intention with the orders I gave you, I would indeed be guilty of having issued you impossible orders. It will take considerable technical advancements over several years, if not much longer, for us to be able to replicate the Azedi wormhole generation technology, let alone to defend such a large object. Your attempt to carry out such a plan was ambitious indeed, and shows immense character in the face of what must have seemed unachieveable expectations.
But, because I am only concerned with ship-based countermeasures, such a ship is not necessary for the theoretical phase (that is, hypothesising how Azedi ships might attempt to shield themselves from our deployment of Project Teleraptor). Early testing of those hypotheses will determine whether or not it is possible to deflect, diffuse, or neutralise the deflector pulse generated by Project Teleraptor, or otherwise shield Azedi vessels from its effects.
If we can develop any viable ship-based method to negate our deployment of Project Teleraptor, the next stage will be to hypothesise how to defeat those countermeasures by modifying Project Teleraptor into a Mk. II deployment, to ensure that we stay ahead of Azedi defenses in the event that we are again attacked. I have been told by an Azedi scientist that they are engaged in efforts to defeat our deployment of Project Teleraptor. Such a claim may be pure bluster, or they may fail to develop any countermeasure--but there is no way to know if they will succeed or fail. So, logic dictates that we must prepare as best we can so that we do not again face a disaster like the one visited on this station last year. At present, diplomatic efforts having failed, Project Teleraptor remains our only way to deter another Azedi attack. We must maintain that deterrant until the Azedi set aside attempts at military conquest--and, it is to be hoped, agree to engage with us on diplomatic terms in a spirit of peace.
//SIGNED//
Captain Caspius
Starbase Commander, Deep Space 13
