Silent Running
Posted on August 16th, 2011 by Ian Blackthorne

Captain’s Duty Log, 16 August 2390, 1322 hours.

Atlantis has been attacked upon arrival to Refuge station by a cloaked ship of unknown configuration, commanded by a Betazoid that called herself Queen Ashexana of the Free Fleets. Immediately after dropping from warp, Venya Kashar contacted us and tried to warn us away, but during her message, we were hit with a Romulan plasma torpedo while our shields were down, causing the massive system interference associated with that sort of weaponry. We sustained two more direct hits from plasma torpedos, but my tactical officer, Colonel McKnight, was able to launch a quantum torpedo spread toward the attacker as their cloaking device reactivated following the third shot. As no more plasma torpedos were fired, I believe that the salvo damaged their weapon systems.

Our adversary took this opportunity to contact us and gloat, but there was a thin haze of smoke visible on her bridge. She claimed that this region of space is autonomous and does not welcome a Federation presence. Whether that’s true or not isn’t my call to make, but as of now, the Federation recognizes no government in this region. This Ashexana then claimed that she was sparing us to avoid provoking Starfleet’s wrath by destroying a Sovereign-Class starship, and also so that we could convey her unwelcoming message. She then fired a Klingon disruptor without decloaking, striking the secondary hull near the deflector, but the ablative armor absorbed most of that. Due to Colonel McKnight’s daring plan to open the Assault Bay doors, we were able to launch the Sharks, who have been canvassing the area with phaser shots in an attempt to locate the enemy ship.

I was able to use our inertia from having been at full impulse before the attack to take cover in the asteroid field that surrounds Refuge, settling Atlantis into the gravity well created by three large tidally locked asteroids. All non-essential systems that were still functional have been powered down in order to mask our sensor signature as much as possible. Main power is down, auxiliary power is barely functional, warp and impulse drives are both offline, and we still have no shields. Weapons and communcations are operational, but the targeting sensors have failed, and I can not risk potentially giving away our location by contacting Refuge for help. Although our opponent claims to have spared us, for now, we run silent until we can put up a fight. At least the Sharks can bring formidable force to bear should Ashexana show herself in the meantime.

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Captain’s Personal Log, 16 August 2390, 1331 hours.

Bloody hell, caught with my britches down again. Am I losing my edge?