Log Buoy
USS Dauntless, NCC-74668
Buoy launched: 9807.22

[Captain's Log.]

Captain's Log, Stardate: 9807.21
Starfleet Command has ordered the Dauntless to patrol duty along the Cardassian border near the badlands. Although this sector has been peaceful for the past several months, I can't shake an almost unnatural feeling of dread about this mission.

Captain's Log, Supplemental
Long range sensors have detected a magnetic anomaly in a star system some 20 lightyears away. Following our planned patrol route, we should enter the system sometime tomorrow.

Captain's Log, Stardate: 9807.22
Our investigation has revealed that the anomaly is centered around an abandoned mining facility. Preliminary analysis suggests that the facility was created using Dominion building techniques. Our scans indicate that the facility has been abandoned for several months. This unexpected find may provide a rare opportunity to learn more about Dominion technology. As there are no indications of Dominion activity in the area, I am preparing to send an armed away team to investigate.

[end]

[Bridge Flight Recorder]

Tim looked up at the speaker grill for the comm system, "Away team, are there any signs of the structure being occupied recently?"

"Negative Captain. Life support is minimal, and there's a thin layer of dust over everything, but I'd estimate it at only one or two month's worth. There aren't any signs of a big disturbance. When the Dominion pulled out of here, it must have been an orderly departure."

"Thank you Mister Green. Keep me appraised of your findings."

"Aye Sir. John Green out."

"Number One, when was the last report of Dominion activity in this area?"

Natalie thought for a moment before responding, "I don't recall seeing any reports for this region anytime in the past six months."

"Neither do I. No activity for more than six months, and then we find a recently abandoned outpost. There's definitely something odd going on here."

From the Communications board, Blair spoke up, "Captain, ever since we entered this system, I've been having problems staying in contact with Federation navigation beacons. And now, well, everything just went dead. Sir, I think we're being jammed."

Tim braced himself for the worst. "Science Officer. Switch to visual scan, maximum resolution. First the North Pole, then the South one. I have a very bad feeling about this."

The main viewer flickered briefly, then settled in on an image of the planet's northern region. The icecap was clearly visible, but nothing seemed unusual. Then the screen flickered again.

A lone voice muttered, "Uh oh."

Uh oh indeed, thought Tim. A very dire form of uh oh. Displayed on the screen were two Jem'H'dar warships. And they were powering up.

Natalie broke the silence. "Clever. They're augmenting the planet's magnetic field and using that to throw off our sensors."

Tension in his voice, Tim called out "Bridge to away team, get back to the ship immediately."

"Sir?"

"You heard me, we're about to come under attack and I don't want to leave you as sitting targets."

"Mister Dactyl, the moment they're aboard, make a run for it. If we can get some space between us and the Jem'H'dar, maybe we'll be able to get away. Communications, stand by to send out a distress call, but wait for my mark. No sense in letting our opponents know we're on to them.

While Dauntless pulled away from the planet, the tactical display showed a hopeless situation. Even with the ship's departure taking place on the side of the planet most distant from the Jem'H'dar, the enemy was clearly closing in. Five minutes into the flight, Dauntless went to warp. Three minutes later, Tim gave the order to broadcast the distress signal. Two minutes after that, Dauntless turned to fight.

"Mister Dactyl, bring us around, attack pattern Delta 7; pass in front of the second ship. Tactical, as we pass them, open with all phaser banks. Target engines and weapon systems.

"Target engines and weapons, aye sir."

As the ship raced on in its attack course, the only sound on the bridge was a slight hum as the inertial dampeners fought to compensate for the titanic forces that were trying to pull the ship apart; interrupted only by Terry calling out the remaining distance to target. With the ship's artificial gravity systems functioning normally, the ship's motion was undetectable. The wild gyrations of the starfield on the main viewer were the only sign of the ship's erratic course as it dodged incoming fire on its attack run.

As Dauntless passed in front of and underneath the trailing Jem'H'dar warship, Tim called out "Open fire!" On screen, all three ships exchanged fire. The starfield continued to pitch and roll as the helmsman fought to avoid taking any direct hits. Despite the best efforts though, the ship was still rocked as a series of shots hit the secondary hull. And then they were past.

Without waiting for Tim to ask, Natalie began collecting damage reports. "Shields are down to 65% strength. Minor damage on decks 5 and 6. The lead Jem'H'dar ship is undamaged. The other has lost aft shields and partial maneuverability."

"Helm, on my mark execute attack pattern Epsilon three. Weapons, continue concentrating on the damaged ship's engines, but target the other ship's weapon systems too. Let's make them think twice before attacking another Federation ship. Helm, engage."

The whine of the inertial dampeners rose and the starfield twisted violently as the ship performed a backflip and began another attack run.

Once again, bolts of energy lanced out between the two ships. As Dauntless passed the damaged Jem'H'dar ship again, a Quantum torpedo caught the Dominion vessel amidships. A cheer arose as the ship started to break up, and cut off when Natalie yelled, "Helm, hard aport! We're too close to survive if their warp core goes off."

The starfield shifted again as Dauntless veered away from the Jem'H'dar. And then the ship shook as though a giant's hand had swatted it.

As Tim picked himself up off the floor, he shook his head once and then called out, "Damage Report."

Pulling himself back up to the operations console, Al read out the litany. "Shields, offline; Photon torpedoes, offline; Phasers at 25%; Warp power, offline; Impulse power, down to 60% of nominal"

"What about the other Jem'H'dar ship?"

Natalie checked the monitor at her station, "They took some damage from that blast. We got in a few lucky shots too. It looks like their warp drive and weapons systems are offline too."

A startled squawk from the Helm, "Captain! They're coming around. I think they're going to ram us."

"Evasive Maneuvers."

"Evasive Maneuvers, aye." Another squawk, "Captain, the helm doesn't respond. We're stuck. Ten seconds to impact."

"All hands, brace for impact!"

The ship shook violently as the science, security, and operations stations erupted in geysers of sparks. Then all the lights on the bridge went out. After a brief eternity, a few emergency lights came on, but nearly all major systems were clearly off-line.

Picking himself up off the floor, Tim tapped the combadge on his chest and called out, "Bridge to Engineering. Mister Hogan, what's your status down there?"

Several seconds later, Ian's voice came back. "It's not good. The anti-matter injectors are jammed, we're venting drive plasma, and according to my readouts, the Starboard nacelle is missing." Ian's voice was briefly interrupted by a muffled voice in the background. "Bridge, standby."

The seconds ticked by while those on the bridge listened to Ian confer with his engineering crew. "Captain, it's worse than I thought. The anti-matter containment field is collapsing and the warp core ejection system is jammed. Manual override is also blocked. I estimate no more than 10 minutes until a warp core breach."

"Is there any chance you can get the ejection system back on-line?"

"No sir. I'm afraid you'll have to take it out of my paycheck."

Despite the situation, Tim couldn't help smiling at the grim humor. "I'll keep that in mind Ian. Mister Learn, transfer all records to the log buoy, and then launch."

"Aye Sir."

Sounding the all-hail, Tim addressed his crew. "All hands, this is the Captain. Abandon ship. This is not a drill. I say again, abandon ship."

[end]

[Log Buoy's External Cameras]

As Dauntless recedes into the distance, escape pods can be seen disengaging from the ship. Explosions, small ones at first, begin coursing through the engineering section. Finally, the ship disappears in a brilliant flash of light.

[end]

[Ship's Disaster beacon.]

...transmission is requested to respond.

This is a distress call from USS Dauntless, NCC-74668. The ship has been destroyed in an attack by the Dominion. Survivors have launched escape pods and are adrift at coordinates 77 mark 39.35 mark 1000. Any vessel receiving this transmission is requested to respond.

This is a distress call from the USS Dauntless....

[end]