Part 8: Episode 8: "Klach D'Kel Brakt"
Episode 8: "Klach D'Kel Brakt"Captain's Log posted:
The performance review went well. Perhaps it had something to do with the pivotal role the Benedict Arnold had at the Battle of Starbase 24, or perhaps someone in Starfleet Command has taken an interest in me. Of course, with my luck, it's an Undine infiltrator hoping I'll turn out to be a Cardassian spy who's trying to instigate another Federation / Cardassian war (To my Starfleet Security watchdog: I'm not, but why don't you add a few more spies to my ship just to make sure? It's such fun identifying who's spying on me on your behalf).
Ahem, we've been sent to investigate reports of a Klingon research facility deep within the Briar Patch. I've come to understand that the Klingons have a bit of… reverence for the Briar Patch: It was the site of a major Klingon victory against the Romulans (before the expanding Federation rolled over it), but since I've yet to meet a Klingon with a good grasp of history, I instead believe they respect the Briar Patch simply because it's an environment so hostile that building anything within it is an achievement worthy of great honor and respect.
Still, I have some misgivings. The Briar Patch is the location that Captain William Riker nearly cost the Federation a second Enterprise; and as much as I've come to respect the capabilities of the Benedict Arnold, she remains an old ship and heavily reliant on outdated technology: there isn't a single food replicator onboard, for example, and one quickly grows tired of the human dish 'Mac and Cheese'. Ugh.
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First Officer's Log posted:
Acting Captain's Log, Ensign Janzer Hela.
After that unexpected Metreon Gas explosion, the Bridge is a total loss. According to Elerena, Lieutenant Korvat personally carried the two of us from the bridge after I was knocked unconscious, then went back in-by himself-for our helmsman, Ensign Weiler.
I'm told Weiler didn't make it, and Scrubs-er, Doctor Tamora, tells me that Korvat is in critical condition, although he's expected to recover, which is unfortunate. Nearly a third of the crew was killed or injured by the explosion, and internal sensors were knocked out as well. To the crew's credit, a young security officer stationed near the computer core was able to get the internal sensors back online quickly enough to save most of the injured crew. As acting captain, I'm adding a commendation to his file and suggesting a possible promotion to Starfleet Command. We need as many capable, quick-thinking individuals as we can get.
This old design has been heavily retrofitted over the years, but unfortunately the secondary control center was apparently folded into one of the galleys at some point and nobody noticed the mistake. We can now control the ship only from main engineering, and I begin to wonder how Korvat put up with Tre'gata. It's been less than two hours since I took command, and I've already grown tired of his complaints about, quote: 'space-damned bridge snipes in my engineering bay'.