New Alliances (Mercury)
| USS Mercury | ||
|---|---|---|
 INACTIVE STATUS | ||
| ||
Mission Summary
Part 1
- Stardates 238908-238909
Following the conclusion of their mission to explore and stabilize the derelict station, the Mercury stayed on station for the arrival of Starfleet Corps of Engineers (SCE) reps and equipment for the revitalization of the station, and her crew was the first to hear of Starfleet’s intent to make it a deep space station. The crew enjoyed a short leave before being recalled prematurely when Cmdr. Kells received unusual orders to head to Cardassia Prime to retrieve Prianna, a member of the Detapa Council, and her staff, and then to ferry them to Romulan space to give aid to those colonies that had been attacked by Klingons. The crew went above and beyond in preparing for the councilor’s arrival and, once she was aboard, kept her and her staff comfortable and entertained during the trip to Betazed to rendezvous with the USS Apollo.
After the Mercury arrived at Betazed, Captain Andrus Jaxx of the Apollo shared with Cmdr. Kells the nature of the incipient assassination attempt on Councilor Prianna. The rest of the Detapa Council saw her peace mission as a chance to eliminate her and had hired the assassin themselves. However, Capt. Jaxx was taken ill before the two ships reached Starbase 118, and while both ships took on cargo and new personnel, neither could uncover the assassin(s) and his/her plot.
However, just before the ships departed, intel officer Isaac Bale met with Dr. Velana regarding the plot. During their meeting, Velana was critically injured from remnants of the assassin's toxin. She was stabilized in sickbay, and the crew carried on toward the shattered Romulan world. En route, Bale uncovered the assassin — Councilor Prianna’s aide — and managed, in his own way, to eliminate him. Meanwhile, preparations continued for the aid-givers as the Mercury approached the colony.
Part 2
- Stardates 238910-238911
SD 238910: October Surprise
Right before they were to beam down to Councilor Prianna's destination, Captain Kells, the councilor, and an away team were abruptly snatched from the Mercury’s own transporter room. The sudden disappearance was only the beginning as the mysterious abductors vanished from the system almost undetected.
Initial attempts to track the abductors were met with a string of weird and hazardous malfunctions. While LtCmdr. Cain contacted Starfleet HQ, chief engineer Roshanara Rahman and science officer Ian West worked to overcome the malfunctions. After one of Rahman’s engineers Rick Rawden suffered an injury, the source of the malfunctions was discovered to be an artificial entity that had spread itself through the ship’s computer network, making use of the Mercury’s holographic emitters to interact with the crew through an avatar called Efili. The entity seemed to want to learn from the crew.
After the malfunctions ceased, the crew traced the abductors to Vador III. An explosive device detonated inside main engineering just after the Mercury entered the Vador system. The device, which was strapped to the warp core, did substantial damage and inflicted heavy casualties. A second device was safely removed without causing further damage. The culprit is yet to be identified. Acting CO Cain sent acting XO Eyas Wulfantine on the rescue mission using shuttlecraft while the remaining Mercury crew completed emergency repairs and anticipated a Klingon attack.
Meanwhile, beneath Vador III, Kells, Prianna, and the rest found themselves with no hope of escape until Captain Quinn Reynolds appeared outside their cells undercover in the facility. The group, upon discovering from Prianna’s the planet’s inhospitable surface and its history as a secret Cardassian installation, headed deeper underground, searching for the facility’s controls and, hopefully, a way out.
SD 238911: Best Laid Plans
Once the crew of the Mercury determined where the captives had gone, acting CO Arden Cain ordered an away team down to the planet’s interior to rescue them. Things did not go quite as planned: The captives, who had managed to escape with the help of Captain Reynolds, found themselves under psychic attack, and the away team, though they landed all right, soon became embroiled in a firefight with some (very real) Klingons. However, the team managed to recover the captives, along with a young, unknown woman rescued by Lt. Isaac Bale.
Once its company was returned, the Mercury set course for StarBase 118 at warp one, the best it could manage after the sabotage and its battle with a Klingon bird of prey. She returned to 118 without further outside incident. However, Lt. Cmdr. Wulfantine was demoted to lieutenant by Captain Kells following his questionable actions in leading the away team into a firefight. Dr. Velana, Lt. Bale, and Captain Reynolds continued their investigation into the woman and learned that she was a powerful psychic. Dr. Velana began to undergo pon farr.
By month’s end, the Mercury had reached 118, and the crew was released on shore leave.