AT/L99 - Crew Log

[Tyra Crawford]

== Crew Log ==

[Lucy Devereaux]

Stardate 22310.04
Lucy Devereaux
Personal Log – Private

Training! Yay! And a ****-ton of studying Cardassian systems and language for this bat**** ‘mission’?! Or at least what Starfleet know of Cardassian systems.

Sure, it’s for a worthy cause. Stop the Cardassians slash the Breen Hegemony from getting their hands on… Wait a minute. They already have the slipstream technology. They mercifully don’t have a clue how to use it. They might guess enough in time, so it’s our job to steal the Callisto back from them, maybe get control this Benamite mining facility and not get killed. I might have missed a step.

Was good training alongside Ben and Jay. Hope we can stick the landing.

Save and encrypt.
End log.

[Aeryn Miller]

Acting Chief of Security's Personal Log

Stardate 22310.05

Lieutenant Aeryn Miller, recording

My official log will come later, but I wanted to get my personal thoughts about this mission out of the way ... just in case. While the circumstances are different and the odds higher than anything that I've encountered so far in my career, I can't help but draw on my past and how it might very well aid me in achieving the objectives that have been set out for us. I'm experiencing the same kind of emotions, but they're nothing compared to what will happen should we fail.

Preventing a war might seem like an impossible task, but I'm confident in my ability to do my part, not to mention the rest of the team, because whatever happens, I know we would have done everything to make this a success, even if it comes at a cost to ourselves rather than thousands, even millions of lives.

I'm also aware that this is the second time we will be bringing back another starship, and against the same people who set a trap for us with the Brittany, but unlike that mission, it's not us versus one galor class ship. Some might call it irony, considering how this started with the break-in at Utopia Planitia, but for me it's a chance to put an end to it once and for all.

Take back what's ours and stop something that's bigger than all of us, and as protocol dictates, I've recorded the necessary letters to be sent to my parents, which wasn't easy but necessary.

End log

[Benjamin Elias]

My name is Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Elias. I am the Chief Engineer of the USS Artemis, and this will likely be the last log I record in that post.

By the time you read this, the Artemis will have launched a classified mission as part of Operation Ursa Major. As part of this, I installed and utilized a stolen cloaking device from a B’Rel-class Bird of Prey in the USS Liberty Bell, NCC-66053-A. 

It was recovered from the K’mich’ta, a ship in the service of sentient traffickers, which was subsequently destroyed. I liberated the ship from them at Pomn on stardate… I honestly can’t remember at the moment. It was over four years ago, prior to the Artemis being commissioned. I was there with my friend, then Ensign Nathan Ramius, when we were both on the Gettysburg, and were caught up in their net. We escaped, managed to rescue several of their captives, and stole the Bird of Prey. We decided to destroy the ship, but I convinced him to recover the cloak before we did so. Ramius did enquire about it eventually, but I told him that I had disassembled it to study its workings, and then dematerialized it bit by bit into the replicator system. By the time he left the ship, he believed that it was long gone.

I got it aboard Gettysburg as a crate of personal effects, and then to Artemis the same way. I would periodically move the crate and relabel it personally to try and avoid it being discovered. Now Lieutenant Commander Cera Morgan, the ship’s quartermaster, did not ask about the contents of the crate, and I never volunteered the information. It is possible that she considered the crate to be full of components for my still, which would also account for me moving it regularly.

As an aside, yes, I have been operating an illegal still on the Artemis, as well as on the Gettysburg and even in my dorm at the Academy. Note for Academy security - do a better job on your dorm searches; several of the wall panels are easy to remove and can hide many things. This is currently where mine is on Artemis as well, in the panel to the right of my replicator in my quarters.

In my own defense, I retained the cloaking device for eventualities just like what this mission has entailed. As a former civilian engineer, I knew better than to discard anything that might prove useful eventually, particularly something as valuable as this. I knew what would happen if it was ever used, or if it was ever discovered, and have been prepared for this. Honestly, I’m mostly surprised I was able to keep it secret this long.

In particular, I would like to note that Captain Tyra Crawford had no knowledge of the cloak’s existence until four days ago, just after we left Deep Space Nine for this mission. She asked for my help and, looking at the problem, I determined this was the best solution. The guilt for this lies on my shoulders, not on hers. She simply decided to utilize the options given, but she had no part in anything that led to her having that option.

That said, after she decided to use the cloak, the two of us were the only ones involved in installing it and preparing it for use. No other member of the Artemis crew, or even the Philadelphia crew, were involved.

I recorded this confession 22310.13, of my own volition.

Computer, please send this to Starfleet JAG offices on Earth, scheduled for receipt three days from the Liberty Bell’s launch. End log.

[Aeryn Miller]

Acting Chief of Security's Personal Log

Stardate 22405.28

Lieutenant Aeryn Miller, recording

Where do I even begin? The mission to the Parhelia System was nothing that I could have ever imagined it would be. In hindsight, we should probably have abandoned that ship the moment we touched down in the Liberty Bell. But we didn't and what happened during our time there, will likely haunt me for a while. It's probably just my subconscious, but I swear that I can still smell singed flesh, my singed flesh, the result of injuries sustained after we encountered a couple of brute Cardassians intent on killing some of the strike team while Captain Crawford and Mid Star took a different route to the computer core.

We knew that there were some Cardassians left on Callisto when we arrived and that they had also beamed hostages away, but it's something I haven't quite got over yet. But we survived and took them out before they could do any more harm, allowing us to proceed to the computer core, and take stock of the situation. Mara was also injured, and we were treated as much as possible, while plans were made for our next course of action, falling back to the original idea of splitting up into teams, while reinforcing the core and ensuring that the prisoners we had managed to knock out and capture didn't wake up and try to escape.

This was all based on the information we received, before the remaining Cardassians effectively abandoned ship, leaving Callisto to burn. We stopped that from happening, especially upon learning that the Cardassians had succeeded in taking the slipstream drive, and all the data about it. To say we weren't happy with those who had given us these orders would be an understatement. We also found out which hostages had been kept until our arrival, and a decision was made to take Callisto back to Federation Space.

We did the best we could with what we had, and the Liberty Bell wasn't the only casualty during our escape. I never got the chance to get to know Ensign D'Mar, but that's life in the Fleet sometimes. I don't know what will happen next, or what ramifications we might face as a result of what we went through. Although I'm grateful that we survived and made it back to DS9 thanks to Artemis and Thunderchild.

Some personal decisions regarding my career will need to be made as well, but for now, I intend to enjoy my shore-leave and, more importantly, spend some quality time with Beka. My official security report will be sent after this.

End log

[Robin Mayfair]

Chief Medical Officer's Log
Stardate 22405.28

I'm going to restrain myself from putting too many of my personal opinions in this report. Starfleet might not appreciate it. I'll attach a separate note if whoever is reading this is for some reason interested.

The crew of the Artemis was ordered to infiltrate the USS Callisto, a captured Starfleet vessel, and prevent the Slipstream Drive from falling into enemy hands. Secondary was to rescue any hostages. We failed on both accounts.

While the initial mission to enter the ship was done without incident, things quickly began to go south. Two members of the team, Lieutenants Miller and Calleja, were injured by disruptor fire and saved only by their armor. Field treatment was sufficient to return both to duty. For details see my medical report. Lieutenant Calleja will require nerve regeneration in her leg due to a glancing shot that missed her armor.

Most of the crew had already been taken to Cardassian space. The remaining hostages were beamed away even as we entered the ship, and investigation found that the Slipstream Drive had been crudely removed and hauled away. Based on reports the drive was thankfully destroyed and most of the hostages rescued by the USS Philadelphia. The Cardassians, aware of our presence, evacuated and attempted to destroy the ship. Captain Crawford made the decision to attempt to salvage the Callisto rather than allow her to be destroyed. Radiation levels aboard the ship rose and treatment was administered, as detailed in my medical report. Note that all surviving members of the away team should be monitored for radiation exposure. This may prove difficult for Captain Crawford, considering her resistance to doctor's examination.

One team member, Jay D'mar, was killed as she attempted repairs on the Callisto's warp drive. Her body was unrecoverable, reduced to plasma instantly. I'm not sure of the details, but they will be in the report of Chief Engineer Elias.

We spent a half day aboard the Callisto as the ship limped away from the Parhelia System before rendezvousing with the Artemis. We are currently being towed back to Deep Space Nine.

Conditions aboard the Callisto were appalling. The remaining engineering crew that had been kept aboard were kept in jammed together in the enlisted quarters, fed only emergency rations, and denied basic sanitation. Please see my uploaded sensor scans and recordings.

During the mission most team members, myself included, showed signs of stress, anger, and frustration. Morale among the team was almost nonexistent. The Captain in particular showed serious stress, though she at no point acted irrationally or endangered the mission.

I'd like to commend Commander Elias for his actions. He was constantly thinking on his feet and was, in my opinion, largely responsible for what little success we had... at the very least making sure we weren't trapped by force fields in the initial phases.

Attached Personal Note:

== Robin's normally soft and kind voice is cold and dripping with contempt in the voice recording ==

The Artemis crew should never have been sent on this mission. We are not a commando unit, not trained in infiltration or recovery, and we were given almost no useful information. Starfleet's intelligence was woefully lacking, and you can use whichever definition of the word you like.

And to make matters worse we discovered afterwards that Starfleet had rescinded the order, meaning we were technically acting without orders. I'm not sure whether the decision was made out of cowardice or a willingness to sell its own officers down the river to prevent a diplomatic incident, but either way it doesn't show competence or morality from Starfleet Command. Only the actions of Captain Braggins of the USS Philadelphia saved the situation, and she was forced to act illegally to do so. Without her the Slipstream Drive would have fallen into Cardassian hands and the remaining Callisto hostages would have been left to rot in a Cardassian prison... or killed.

Right now Starfleet is suffering from extreme manpower shortages and can't afford to treat its people like expendable pawns. I'm not just talking about our team but the crew of the Callisto itself, many of whom are rotting in cardassian jails... and I doubt the Federation will do anything about it but write them off. The fleet still hasn't recovered losses from the Megasphere battle or the Borg takeover several years ago, and incidents like this erode morale even further.

The thing about treating people like pawns is that eventually you run out of pawns.

End log.

[Benjamin Elias]

Chief Engineer's Log, Stardate... Stardate... I don't even know anymore. 22405.... dot something. I have no clue. It's been a crazy week, week and a half. Between the mission and the aftermath, we've done a ton and I'm certain there's stuff that I've forgotten, if I could only remember what it was.

We arrived at the Parhelia system and located the Callisto, which was simultaneously in better and worse shape than what we'd expected. Better, because it was still roughly intact and was accessible (read: not docked at the Nor or out of system). Worse, because my stars, that thing had been beaten to hell and back. It looked like the Cardassians had attempted to repair some of the damage from their last battle, but for the most part it was cosmetic repairs. For example, the hallway we had to take was lined with debris and just rough to traverse, but the forcefields were all working, as were the turbolifts. It was kind of bizarre.

As anticipated, the Cardassians had removed the Slipstream from it and taken it elsewhere, though it took them until just a couple of weeks prior to do so. I presume they were trying to study it in situ first, in case there were any countermeasures or any connections that were critical they didn't know about. They had also removed the specs from the computer, and while it looks like we missed those files we were able to keep them from getting any other classified materials. Score one for the home team, I guess?

Anyway. The biggest problem was that one of the nacelles had been sheared off and replaced, but without a starbase. As a result, the specs were iffy at best. Sure, it was attached, and sure, it could be powered. But it wasn't going to give us much. I tasked Ensign D'Mar with getting us a little more out of it. She tried her best, but didn't give us much more than we would have gotten, though I cannot fault her dedication.

I never intended it, and I don't know if there was anything I could've done different to prevent it, but she went into the nacelle itself to try and shore up the conduit, and when the bridge activated the warp drive... she was just gone. I've never ordered anyone to sacrifice themselves before. I still don't feel like I have, though I can see how I might have phrased my order a little vaguely and made her choose to do it. Even after a week of dwelling on it - because let's face it, that's just the kind of person I am - I can't really understand the why.

I've submitted paperwork to posthumously promote her to Lieutenant Junior Grade, and I'm supposed to meet with her mother tomorrow to deliver her effects. I still don't know what I'm gonna say, particularly as I barely got to know her. But that's tomorrow's problem, I guess.

Back to it. Once we discovered we were alone without support - and also that we'd managed to take out the Nor and the Cardassian presence in Parhelia - things really took off. I spent most of a day trying to repair Callisto's subspace radio before Artemis showed up. Cera was resourceful as ever and knew we were there before we could even call. But then it was getting Callisto prepared for towing, and rigging Artemis to do the job, and then double shifts replacing and fixing all the conduits that didn't quite rupture as Artemis redlined trying to get to us. She may not have blown up, but that kind of thing takes a toll, usually in engineering overtime.

And then we got here to DS9. I'm technically on shore leave, mandated by the good captain, but wanted to finish this up before I did anything else.  You know, there were times this past mission when I didn’t think I was ever going to get to record another… 

Well, crap. That’s what I forgot.

*sound of cabin bell chiming; log terminates*

[Lucy Devereaux]

Stardate 22406.04
Lucy Devereaux
Personal Log – Private

We’re home. We’ve got the Callisto. We needed the Callisto, for a given value of what is left of the Callisto. We don’t have the slipstream drive.

There is nothing I would want to put into an official log.

Captain Crawford had this mission dumped on her by Starfleet Intelligence and when we get out there. No taskforce support! We aced the infiltration. We took the Computer Core. The Away Team certainly did all of that, all I did was tag along. Did help layout the transporter inhibitors and sat at the Science console.

The Cardassians were in the process of scuttling the Callisto when we arrived. They had ripped the slipstream drive out of the Callisto and some other systems.

This log is just a reminder for myself. Not a pleasant one, just in the event I manage to forget what it feels like to be part of a mission that gets screwed over for political sensitivity.

Light at the end of the tunnel. Downtime and decompress. Hope the others are healing.

Save and encrypt.
End log.