((We had a great session yesterday. It was too bad that the people who expressed interest that couldn't make it, but we continue on. Anyone who is still interested in joining us or wants to know what we're about you can see
this thread. I have two more logs Im working on regarding our session, but I wanted to get this one up right away.))
Captains Log Lieutenant Thragin Bladebreaker of the U.S.S. Khazad Day 1 of Vulcan Sector Patrol:
At 1600 hours ESDT, Theta Squadron was called in for a briefing. As the tactical officer I had the unpleasant task of informing my fellow captains that more Orion reinforcements had been reported approaching many of the systems our team had been ordered to patrol. We were given long range scans which showed a massive battlegroup moving through the Vulcan sector towards the Kei and Bhea systems.
Theta Squadron had been assigned a new science officer, Lieutenant Commander Ephraim. As the highest ranking science officer, he got us access to Earth Spacedocks astrometrics lab. Lieutenant Per and he plotted a course which would take us through the Kei system first followed by visiting Beytan V to settle a mining dispute. After that, we would proceed at maximum warp to Bhea where massive shipyards were being built by the Orions in an effort to replace the ships they had lost in the war. Finally, we would loop towards the nearby Pico system in order to make sure there were no raiders at work before continuing on to PJem to where we would drop off Ambassador Sokketh.
After the briefing, I had my concerns about having a Starfleet ambassador on the ship when it was clearly entering a hot zone, but he said that part of his directive to understand the conflicts the Federation faced. Were en route to Wolf 359 to rally with the rest of the squadron and then begin our patrol heading towards the Kei System.
//End Captains Log.
Comments
This Sokketh character is really getting under my skin. I thought Ambassadors were supposed to be all concerned with peace and covering their own asses, but he insists on going into this combat situation with us knowing it is coming. He's being an amenable passenger, however, so I guess I should just stop worrying.
I'm glad to have Lieutenant Commander Ephraim with us. He's in what appears to be a Quasar class science vessel. A few years old, but not as many as this old bucket of bolts. I'm ready to bring the fight to these Orion. I know some of the crew are nervous, but nothing makes a Khazad feel alive like a knockdown, dragout fight!
//End Log
My head of security, Ensign Solil, woke me today when we were a few light years out of the Kei system. Lieutenants Five and Ngirquej had personally done some tweaks to the squadrons engine efficiency and we were arriving an hour sooner than I had expected. What is it about engineers and estimating how long things will take. Thankfully, the Khazads head chef makes an excellent raktajino.
As I walked onto the bridge, I immediately received a hail from the other captains on a secure channel. I transferred it to my ready room, and we went over long range scans. It appeared that a small fleet was inbound to make an attack on a Kei research facility. Then numbers were daunting, but that is why they call us the best. We ended our teleconference and readied our ships for battle. We came out of warp and were hailed by the outpost. They were getting the same info we were and were glad wed arrived. We took up defensive positions just as the first wave of Orion ships came out of warp.
The battle was tough these were definitely battle-hardened, elite troops not like those lowly pirates attacking the Azura last week. Too many times for comfort I had to steer the Khazad away from the main attack group due to the fire we were taking. For many of my bridge officers this was their first real action out of the Academy, but Im sure with a little more training (and perhaps some additional ship upgrades) things will go much more smoothly.
Luckily, we were able to defeat the waves of ships coming to steal the stations research. We fared relatively well. The Khazad took the worst of the fighting, but that could be partially my fault since Ive made some personal modifications to the disruptors, but those old Connies are built like a block of monotanium and Lieutenants Five and Ngirquej have really done some great upgrades.
After defending Kei, we set course for Beytan V. There has been a mining dispute that has slowed the flow of materials to Utopia Planetia, but we also wanted to make sure there were no Orion stragglers about. When we arrived we were lucky to not see any Orion in the area or even on long range scanners. We spoke to the miners and the mine owner and were able to help them come to terms. As I beamed back to the Khazad, I laid in a course for the Bhea system and ordered my crew to get some extra sleep once all the repairs were made. Based on the scans, were going to have our hands full tomorrow.
//End Captains Log.
Confound these researchers! We arrive just in time to save them from an Orion elite battle fleet and the whole time they're saying they are doing "sensitive experiments" and cannot be disturbed. Finally, when we save their sorry hides they barely give us a thank you before sending us on our way! It's a good thing that there were no serious casualties throughout the squadron, or I'd of beamed down there and shown them what it feels like when you are thrown ten feet after taking a full torpedo spread from an Orion Heavy Cruiser!!
I hope tomorrow isn't as bad as I expect. We're likely to lose some people if it is.
//End Log.
We have aquired a new sci officer. Ensign Ausran. She presents an intresting aspect to this ship. She is able to mask our energy signiature to hide us from the enemy. This new skill will provide an intresting aspect to future battles and tactics. I will try to use it effectivly I forsee this being a good recon ability to ensure we are not flying into any ambushes. I'm confident that this connie not only being through many battles before I took over, will be resiliant enough to allow us to leave as quickly as we got there quietly. My Chief Engineer 100 is still holding this ship together with wire and bubble gum. Speaking of which I have ordred all crew member when not on duty to chew bubble gum so 100 has a sufficient supply.
To assist with our assignments the Admiral has authorized us to designate a new fleet with our own resources. This will actually help us out to ensure we don't lose anyone. Before we went on our patrol I spoke with the fleet registration officer and presented our authorization for the fleet to be designated Theta Squadron. The squadron is formed and set up, we have a logo for our uniforms, ship logos are in the works as we speak. I hope to have those completed by our next deployment. This new fleet is a huge responsability I am honored to be able to implament and manage this vehicle for our critical mission. After reviewing the records of the other fleet members it has been determined that while the chain of command is critical our current fleet members will need the full resources of the fleet at any time.
The patrol mission went very well. I was able to retreive all material anomolies for future manufacturing of improved components. If Lt. Ouest is impressed with our abilites with machines is impressive now, wait until I have enough data to spend some time at memory alpha. I will have the fleet ships pushes as far as we can with the data that we have. I have already collected many very rare partical traces as well. In regards with the rare traces, there is a debate on what to do with them. Other believe they would be put to better use by exchanging them with other capts. I do see their point however I could use these particals to create more powerfull equipment for the fleet. I will approach this subject during the next briefing.
I told Lt. Ouest 10 hours for repairs, it'll only take 5. this should give me about 5 good hours of sleep afterword. I anticipate fililng my next log after the Pjem mission
//End Log
Captains Log Lieutenant Thragin Bladebreaker of the U.S.S. Khazad Day 3 of Vulcan Sector Patrol:
At approximately 0900, our squadron detected a total of seven Orion drydocks in the Bhea system. Wed been alerted that there were massive numbers of Orion ships in the area and there had been messages intercepted regarding a drydock facility, but this was more than we were expecting. The crew was nervous, and Im sure the other captains could attest to the same on their ships. We knew we were outgunned, but we also knew that if we didnt strike now and strike hard, the Orions would be able to rebuild the attack group wed just destroyed at Kei within a month.
We dropped out of warp just out of weapons range and planned our attack. We would attempt to spread the Orion battle line so Lieutenants Per and Five could punch through and destroy the drydocks. The problem we faced was the Orions had a massive number of corvettes, cruisers, and battleships. Many times I thought we were going to lose a ship, but after a running battle involving many feints, retreats, and attacks, we destroyed the last drydock. After the battle, I had half my officers and well over a third of my crewmen listed on the injury report. There were no casualties, but Ensign Meelok received a nasty plasma burn and may be out of commission for a week.
Even though we were triumphant, we quickly left the system. We didnt want to be there when the Orion reinforcements arrived, especially considering our battered state. We continued our patrol to the Pico system. There were no reports of enemy activity and barring some very bad luck we would be able to resupply at the asteroid mines and effect repairs on all of our ships. We were lucky the only issue of note was a missing mining vessel. Even though the Khazad had sustained a lot of damage during the battle, we were most able to search for the vessel while the other ships worked on repairs. This Miranda class vessel is earning my respect. We may not have the shields of the Quasar class nor the hull of the Constitution class, but these things are put together so simply that a first year cadet could keep it running with a hyperspanner and some wire. If only it didnt feel like it was stuck together like that when were taking heavy cannon fire from an Orion battleship.
Were still waiting on the other captains to report in, but once weve all affected repairs, well be off to PJem. Last reports from Lieutenant Ngirquej said that his ship would be ready in about ten hours. Im assuming that means six so Im closing this log in order to get some rack time before we need to set out again.
//End Log
Captains Log Lieutenant Thragin Bladebreaker of the U.S.S. Khazad PJem
>>>>>THIS LOG IS MARKED HIGHLY CLASSIFIED. LEVEL TEN CLEARANCE REQUIRED. ENTER VOICE PASS, CAPTAIN.<<<<<
After repairs were implemented with the help of some spare parts from the mining colony on Pico, I ordered a skeleton crew on watch as everyone got some sleep. I knew we should have holed up on Pico for another day in order to rest the crew and maintain some vigilance due to reports of Nausican raiders in the area. Ambassador Sokketh, who up until this point had not been a nuisance of a passenger, insisted we escort him to PJem so he did not miss some astronomical event. I filed my reports with Starfleet and roused the crew.
We arrived at PJem at 0800 hours and were immediately hailed by a Klingon warbird. The captain demanded that I hand over Ambassador Sokketh because he was Undine. I had heard about the Klingons obsession with the Undine of course, but to send a squadron of ships deep into Federation space for a suspected Undine was rather far-fetched. I informed the captain that he was deep behind battle lines and should depart immediately before our reinforcements arrived. The captain refused and we were forced to engage.
The Klingons had what appeared to be an entire fleet detachment cloaked in orbit. Their initial onslaught nearly disabled my ship and Lieutenant Fives, and Lieutenant Ngirquej was dead in space with all systems down and running on emergency power after only a few minutes. We had no choice, but to warp to a safe distance, bring our shields back online, and seal off depressurized sections. The Khazad barely made it. Lieutenant Five and I actually saved the squadron in a way because when we left the site of the battle half of the Klingons followed us. We led them away from the battle before turning back. We returned just in time to contribute to the valiant stand Lieutenant Per and Lieutenant Commander Ephraim had made first defending the Baroda and then transferring shield strength to Lieutenant Ngirquejs ship in order to get her back into the fight. We had just finished the last of the NegVahr warships when the group that went chasing after us realized the sensor ghosts wed sent out were just that and arrived. They were expecting two wounded ships so old their great-grandsires would not have remembered the last time they saw one in action, but they encountered five ships crewed, I can daresay, by some of the hardest working crews in Starfleet.
Even though wed routed the battle group of ships, the ground was still overrun with Klingon platoons. Im sure there were still cloaked vessels around so we had to be careful. We were about to contact Starfleet to request assistance when Ambassador Sokketh broke in and insisted we escort him to the main temple on the surface where we could make a defensive stand to protect the artifacts in the temple. There was a strong disagreement within the squadron, but since the Ambassador had pulled rank and there were people being rounded up on the surface, I didnt have that many problems with his logic.
I set Ensign Six of Eight to repairs and left Ensign Solil in charge on the Khazad while the captains beamed down to the surface. Scans showed the Klingons otherwise engaged with rounding up and detaining the monks so we had a path directly to the temple without much if any resistance. I scouted ahead while the other captains followed. We came upon a couple patrols, but we were able to avoid the majority of the Klingons.
When we finally reached the steps of the temple, we were detected by a patrol who called in for reinforcements. Klingon warriors beamed in and we had quite a fight on our hands. There was a lull in the fighting when I received an urgent message from the Khazad (the other captains from their respective ships received the same message): Ambassador Sokkeths body had been found on Earth. We looked to the Ambassador Sokketh in front of us and he shifted into his Undine form! We attacked in an attempt to subdue it, but more waves of Klingons arrived and he was able to slip away in the fighting. After dealing with the Klingons, we gave chase only to have him beam out when he encountered a massive group of Klingons. The Khazad then reported the arrival of an Undine Dreadnaught. I grabbed some cover and beamed out before the rock I was behind vaporized from disruptor fire.
When I got to the bridge, the sit-rep was not good. Two Undine dreadnaughts were targeting the ship. We couldnt withstand firepower of that magnitude, but luckily we only needed to play defensively because there was another squadron of six ships en route from Earth to apprehend the Undine or at least keep Sokkeths doppelganger from escaping with Federation secrets. We were tasked with keeping the dreadnaughts at PJem. I ordered Ensign Meelok (who had recovered enough to man a bridge station) to route all power to shields as the firefight began. We held on for two minutes and as the last of our shields was ripped away by the heavy plasma beam fire, the fleet detachment arrived and together we were able to destroy the two dreadnaughts.
Scans of the debris provided very interesting results according to Lieutenant Per. All of our data was forwarded to Starfleet. Currently, were being redirected to Earth Spacedock for debriefing by the Admiral. It will be good to be off the front lines for a bit.
//End Log.
While the majority of our mission has been deemed "CLASSIFIED" I can say that LT Bladebreaker lead the squadron admirably.
The Bakula's shields were a pleasant surprise. Hull damage was minimal. It seemed as though the enemy was reluctant to target the old NX Class. I believe that Science Ensign Elom's extensive knowledge of enemy sensors may have something to do with that.
The past number of weeks have been very different from my Academy training. Kinetic damage cannot be simulated as I had anticipated. Some of my personal effects were damaged because they were not firmly secured.
Crew casualties were minimal being mainly limited to bumps and bruises. One of the Engineering Crew is in sickbay with a broken femur. I will visit the crew lounge and sickbay for a few moments. Word is spreading about serious casualties aboard some the other ships in the squadron. Hopefully a couple of days without combat will improve moral.
/End Log