0301: Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of War
Chief Medical Officer's Log, Supplemental: The USS PROPHECY, the Federation's only trans- dimensional vessel has just returned from what can only be described as an interesting mission into another dimension.
It all started out innocently enough. The PROPHECY had just returned from yet *another* survival training mission on a planet called ARKESH IV, and was due for some serious R&R time. But, as seems to be a sort of recurring pattern with this crew (and I've been here long enough to notice it), something came up.
I was sitting in my office going over some crew physical evaluations when the current Deputy Head of Starfleet Intelligence, Commodore Teneill Danara-Bennow entered the room. Along with her was a very injured Asazi telepath known as T'Jal, a friend of mine from the past excursion to THUBEN. He was very badly wounded, and after tending to his wounds, I found out the reason for his presence in this dimension; the civil war that the PROPHECY had worked so hard to avoid had started up again, although this time with space and the new home of the telepaths at stake.
At an emergency meeting of the senior staff, Teneill explained everything. She told them about her abduction to THUBEN two years ago, about the sheer hatred that the majority of the Asazi held for the telepaths, which were in the minority as telepathy was a recessive gene in their society. She then went on to explain the PROPHECY's efforts at re-locating all of the telepaths to another planet in the hopes that the bloodshed would end and outlined how T'Gar (High Chancellor of THUBEN) had taken a fleet of ten starships and laid siege to the telepaths new homeworld. At the end of the meeting, assignments were handed out. The dimensional jump was scheduled for that very day.
As the dimensional jump was enacted, a terrible shearing occurred that threw everyone on the ship to the ground. When the dust settled, we found that by some massive stroke of luck we had managed to jump to the Asazi's dimension, but at a terrible price. Lt. Cmdr. Sabrina Rikar, our Chief Science Officer was missing, and the stellar cartography lab had vanished with her.
I still can't believe it happened, looking back on it. Only now have I come to terms with such a deep loss.
Even with the loss of the Science Officer, our mission was clear; we were to end this battle once and for all, by any means necessary. Of course, the PROPHECY in her bruised shape was in absolutely no position to take on a fleet of THUBEN ships, so we set a slow course towards the system whilst anybody with Engineering experience was pulled from other assignments to assist in repairs. With a large number of the current engineering staff in sickbay, Chief Engineer Lt. JG Raycii Jones was being put to the test, one that I feel she passed with flying colours.
Eventually, the PROPHECY arrived at the system of the telepathic colony, only to find a number of THUBEN ships in the area. After a brief communication with T'Gar, the PROPHECY's path to the planet was blocked off by two of the ships and communications was jammed. Just before the blockade had formed, a number of us had transported down to the planet, along with T'Jal.
For me, the first few hours were a time of sorrowful joy, during which I met many old friends and made many new ones. I like the Asazi telepaths, they embody everything that I strive to be in life. Even in the face of this undue persecution they were calm and did not wish to be enemies with their non-telepathic brethren. They truly amazed me.
Not soon after we landed, THUBEN ground forces started attacking the settlement and whomever had made it down to the planet before the blockade was put up, set up defensive installments around the area. During one of the battles, myself and the Chief Security Officer, Lieutenant JG Katlina Potter, were captured and sent to a prison camp, along with one of the other Doctors. During our stint in this camp, I met up with an old ally of the non-telepathic Asazi, the Set'La. These Lizard-like people shared the same views as the Asazi, in that telepaths should not be allowed to live.
Whether it was some type of perverse torture, or whether it was them trying to convince us of their beliefs, an Asazi doctor conducted an experiment on us, under the supervision of the Set'La. This experiment created a link between the three of us that had been captured. It was an interesting feeling, being stuck with two other minds and that at first was really torture. But we needed to figure out a way of getting out of there, and we needed one fast.
Meanwhile, back on board the PROPHECY, an interesting situation had developed. The newly arrived Ensign Avar Dacil, along with his ship, was sent in a ploy to mediate things with the Asazi. It was hoped that this tactic would eventually convince the Asazi to lower their blocking field that stopped transporters and communication. To this end, Dacil dressed himself in standard Eldarian clothing and took Lieutenant Xana Bonviva out in the small craft he owned, where T'Gar was beamed over and a discussion was started. During this discussion, T'Gar was uncooperative and actually went so far as to hurl objects at Xana. In a weird twist of fate, the ship crashed into the surface, knocking T'Gar unconscious upon impact. The ship came across Raycii, who managed to repair the ship enough to save it and send it back along its way.
Meanwhile, back in the holding facility we had engineered an escape plan and executed it, mostly due to the expertise of Lieutenant Potter. We had a sort of falling out close to the end of it, and we found ourselves separated. Katlina met up with Raycii and I myself ended up in another prison, although this time I was called in for questioning. When I got there, I found an old friend of mine, Onari. The man used to be the head of the Chancellor's bodyguard, but in this new regime he had been promoted to the rank of ilRa, first amongst Ras and supreme commander of the Asazi naval forces. We chatted for a long while, and I found out that Onari was an unwilling supporter of T'Gar. I started appealing to his humanitarian side, one, which I knew existed, but the going was difficult. He was deeply conflicted. T'Gar had threatened his family, and all I had to offer him was a moral argument. He said he could not be that selfish.
Back on board the PROPHECY, contact had been made with another major power in the sector, known as the Interstellar Concordium. The ISC was much like the Federation in that it was a galactic gathering of races. They took turns at which race patrolled the sector. It just so happened that a particularly warlike race called the Meridans were set on patrol, and a few of their ships came to the aid of the USS PROPHECY, further adding to the stalemate in the sector.
On the surface, things were starting to look bad for the telepathic Asazi. They had drawn back into a series of caves under the sheer numbers of the THUBEN. There were simply too many of them. The defense force was re-organized by Commodore Teneill Danara-Bennow but it had little effect. The civilians and non-essential personnel were sent through to a safe planet using the personal dimension jumping equipment that the telepaths possessed, and everybody else prepared themselves for a bloody end to a long battle. People were captured, escaped and were re-captured. At one point, things on the surface were so chaotic that nobody knew what the hell was happening!
Up in space, a literal face-off had started between the ships of the THUBEN fleet and the USS PROPHECY and her supporters. Totally unbeknownst to the crew of the PROPHECY, a mutiny of sorts had broken out on the TRN FIRESTORM, the flagship of the THUBEN fleet. The ISC and UFP ships on one side and the TRN ships on the other, with the FIRESTORM right in between! It was like something out of a chess game, or so I was later told.
Just when it seemed like a fight, which would leave none alive was about to break out, both sides received a message from the FIRESTORM...from none other than Onari! He said that this ship was now under control of the telepathic Asazi and their allies, and highly advised the THUBEN fleet to break off attack. With their best ship captured and their leader a traitor, the blue-skinned aliens had no choice but to flee, taking with them their ground troops. High Chancellor T'Gar, along with a small retinue, managed to fight their way off of the FIRESTORM, and was presumed to have escaped once again along with the best Asazi officers and soldiers.
I know that as long as T'Gar is the High Chancellor, there will be no piece for the residents of FIDELIOS, the telepaths colony.
But I am optimistic. They are now part of a strong alliance, and are even considering applying for Federation membership. I am not exactly sure how that would work, since technically they don't exist, since the only ship that has had contact with them does not exist. But, we'll have to wait and see, wont we.
I got a chance to talk to Onari, and I've never seen the man so happy. They were able to send word to THUBEN and his family along with hundreds of people who were unhappy with T'Gar had escaped to FIDELIOS. The Asazi now stand a fighting chance. He also left his eldest son, Movar with me. He is a good boy, and reminds me a lot of how I was at his age. He will be the first Asazi to wear a Starfleet Uniform. Yes, I think things are going to be just fine in that dimension...just fine indeed.
(End Log)