USS Atlantis Status Report July 2006, by Ben Versteegt.
Stardates:
- 2392.07.12
- 2392.07.13
- 2392.07.14
Locations of the (crew of the) USS Atlantis:
- In Deasian space, approximately 2,7 light years away from the planet Helteka in the Andari system, in the Gamma Quadrant, at a position roughly 1000 light years from the wormhole.
Summary:
- 2392.07.12
Most of the senior crew of the Atlantis had been spread out over the L'tari convoy fleet to assume command over some of the convoy's vessels. Even before going to warp towards the planet Helteka, though, problems started to arise. On the L'tari 3, for instance, designated "Starseeker", a crewmember was murdered over some sort of gem. Ensign Bukov, trying to find out what happened, talked to Deasian crewman Wup, who seemed to know more than he let on.
Other problems were of a different nature: Ensign Wiley, on board the L'tari 5, called "Kiteone", had trouble fighting off the flirting by the ship's Leisure Officer, who wished to be promoted to Senior Quartermaster so she could design new, more stylish uniforms.
On the L'tari 39, called "Nilav" by its commanding officer, Lieutenant Jomorr, the diverse crew was working round the clock to repair the damage sustained during the recent pirate attack. In an attempt to grasp what exactly the L'tari convoy entailed and how many sacrifices the Deasians were willing to make in order to reach Helteka, Jomorr called his FO, Hadan, to explain the meaning of the L'tari.
- 2392.07.13:
On the L'tari 17, or "Jatmey", Doctor Kadar succeeded in capturing a couple of criminal stowaways. Despite the fact that these criminals attacked her, Kadar allowed them to sit in a somewhat comfortable brig, much to the surprise of the crew of the Jatmey.
- 2392.07.14:
The skeleton discovered in a closet on the L'tari 25, "Remember Edan", turned out to be the remains of the very first Captain of the L'tari 25. It was his wish to remain on board after he died, and over the years, the various crews of the ship have come to regard his bones as a lucky charm. His actual place was on the Bridge, and so the skeleton was put back there again. The Captain had returned.
But even The Captain could not prevent the misfortune that was about to strike the L'tari convoy. Only a minute before a scheduled stop, the entire convoy ran into a subspace distortion field, and the warp fields collapsed, stranding the convoy. It turned out that the distortion field was emanating from within the minefield that stretched out in front of the L'tari ships. Going around the minefield at impulse would take hours, so the decision was made to neutralise the subspace distortion field. That would mean to take a ship deep into the minefield, however, and destroy the installation present there, all the while avoiding colliding with mines or getting attacked by pirate ships.
Before the plan could be set in motion, though, explosions occurred all around the convoy ships. The installation within the minefield was firing long-range torpedoes to do as much damage as possible. And indeed, a lot of damage was done to some of the convoy ships. Fortunately, the Atlantis was able to take out several of these torpedoes before they hit, and some mines as well.
Suddenly, the mines and the long-range torpedoes weren't the worst of the convoy's problems, as a huge fleet of pirate ships was seen closing in on the Atlantis and the cargo vessels. The pirates swarmed around the Atlantis mostly, cutting the larger ship off from the rest of the convoy.
While under attack from pirate vessels, Lieutenant Jomorr on board the Nilav came up with a plan: he was going to send a shuttlecraft with explosives on board to the centre of the minefield on automatic pilot. Once there, the shuttle would be detonated and the installation which emitted the distortion field would be destroyed. Unfortunately, this plan went horribly wrong. Pirate ships got sight of the small shuttle and fired at it -- carrying volatile explosives, the shuttle burst up in flames and exploded in the vicinity of the "Remember Edan". Heavily damaged, the L'tari 25 was barely able to establish communications with Lieutenant Jomorr, who immediately offered his help. But now that Lieutenant Montgomery on board the "Edan" has lost consciousness, and now that the ship seems critically damaged, the question is what help Jomorr and his crew can offer... Before it is too late.
Now, with the Atlantis facing a nearly overwhelming number of small, hostile ships, the convoy ships are left to fend for themselves... And against a large pirate fleet, that is not going to be easy.
