Sojourner Action

Posted on Mon Feb 27th, 2012 @ 6:48am by Captain Alexander Gunning

[Recording]
[Log Resumes]

...Upon arrival, the USS Metis was sent ahead to conduct a scan of the area. As the black box transmission from said ship will detail, the force that was in place was not Ritorian. Upon entering the system, we were scanned and hailed by the lead vessel, an adapted version of an Excelsior class stolen from the Galactic South Salvage Yards. It was not possible at the time to ascertain if the current users were the thieves responsible for those thefts.

They identified themselves as Sojourners and had the Regent of Thane on board their vessel who informed us that they intended to secede from the Federation Protectorate. When I requested permission to leave the USS Jackal in the vicinity, the Sojourner vessel moved to hostile action and fired upon us.

Were it not due to the timely arrival of Commander Palmer and the USS Vesta, I might not be alive to dictate this entry. We were outnumbered in every way and we only escaped by the skin of our teeth. The Sojourners have made it clear that they aim to protect the Thane System and when the secession documents are submitted, we can't stop them. It's a Diplomatic Catch Twenty-Two. They chased us out of that system and left us with more than a bloody nose.

Damage reports from the Jackal and Antietam suggest that they will not be out of action for very long. Bones assures Commander Von that if we manage to limp home on limited warp power that he can have the Jackal ready to go again inside a month. The Antietam has taken more superficial damage but this is pending a report from Starfleet Engineering.

The real loss was that of the USS Metis. In all, ten crew members were lost in her destruction. I thank the stars that she only had a skeleton crew on board. She fought hard and she fought well but when it comes down to it, the Nova isn't a fighting class- she was outgunned. Regardless, Lieutenant Commander Prax performed admirably. Her actions in the last moments of the Metis saved many lives. She is to be commended for that.

So what of the future? Our course to Starbase Three-Three-Two will see us back there within four days and I imagine I will be expected to explain why we've lost an entire swathe of territory on my watch. In truth, there isn't much more we could have done. What do you say when you're told by the Regent of a protectorate that he thinks you've done a rubbish job and wants to gift parts of his territory to a bunch of pirates?

Apart from, "Oh, bugger," of course.