My crew and I have completed the shakedown of the Lexington. We all miss the Valley Forge, but there's still parts of her with us on the Lex.
After the battle at Ragnar Nebula, the Fleet quartermasters were able to salvage a good amount of material from the Forge's shattered hull. If it hadn't been for the quick actions of the Phalanx and the Walking Dead, there wouldn't have been anything left of us. Admiral P'rett's eggheads saved a lot of lives that day; including the Fleet Admiral's. After pulling out from the Ticonderoga, a Borg Tac Cube warped in on top of us, nearly cutting the Forge in two with a barrage of kinetic beams. I don't remember much after that, but apparently the same group that modified the Ophidian Cane to allow us onto the Tico's bridge managed to link the Phalanx and Walking Dead's warp fields, pulling the Valley Forge out of the nebula with them.
I should probably stop giving the science department so much grief.
Starfleet can't afford to waste material; and besides that, it seems fitting. The Lexington was built from a lot the Forge's remains. The most notable feature we were able to keep was the 'sail.' It definitely sets the Lexington apart from the other Regent Class cruisers in the Fleet.
We've replenished our crew, and worked out all the kinks in the systems on board. Shakedowns aren't quite what they used to be, we still ended up in a fair amount of combat. Starfleet is holding it's own, but the galaxy has become a very unfriendly place since the Romulan homeworld was destroyed. The UFP is assisting the Romulans in establishing a new homeworld, oddly enough. My gut tells me it's a terrible idea, but my head says we can't afford more enemies right now.
The Lexington has been ordered to rendezvous with several other Fleet vessels and sweep Gamma Orionis.
Never a dull moment these days, that's for certain.
The Lexington arrived in Gamma Orionis earlier this evening, rallying with the U.S.S. Walking Dead, the U.S.S. Espada, the U.S.S. Concordia, and the U.S.S. Lassen. Battle Group Omega has been detecting some unusual subspace transmissions from NGC-2447, and our team was assembled with orders to investigate.
Starfleet has lost ships in this area previously, and speculation is there is some kind of enemy base operating out of that system. Origin and affiliation were unknown.
Upon arriving, we were confronted by a vessel bearing the name U.S.S. Poseidon, with someonee claiming to be Akira Sulu in command. We were told the sector was under quarantine, and to leave immediately.
The squad continued to move into the system. Our orders originated from a level above anything the Poseidon was able to produce. An alien 'starbase' was nearby; as we moved to investigate the Poseidon fired on the squad, and several Undine vessels undocked and engaged.
We were able to neutralize the enemy forces and per standard Starfleet Operations Protocol, all the highest ranking officers in the team beamed aboard what we now believed was an Undine base of Operations.
It turns out there was a handful of Starfleet prisoners on board, being forced to work with Undine to help with their infiltration techniques. The Undine had recreated the interior of Deep Space Nine with alarming accuracy.
The squad was able to liberate the prisoners, including the real Akira Sulu. The Undine base was left intact, though heavily damaged and undermanned.
Commander Zea has received transfer orders to Starbase 643. The Fleet is still shuffling personnel all over the place in its attempts to fill the duty rosters as the base is expanded. It's a balancing act between keeping the boats afloat and bringing 643 up to speed.
She is one of my few remaining original crew from the Shiloh. She will be sorely missed, but truth is, she needed a change. I suggested the transfer to her some time ago, and she's decided to pull the trigger. The Valley Forge became a magnet for talent in the Fleet during my time as Chief of Staff; and she found herself struggling to keep up with some of the newer officers.
Her replacement is scheduled to arrive shortly. Commander Honeycutt is a Saurian out of the 12th Fleet. I'll have to pick his brain about how they run things over there. This is the first Saurian I've had on my bridge, and I look forward to the unique perspective he will bring on board. His file indicates he's also got some specializations in areas we don't often utilize. They could come in handy in the months ahead.
Beyond the bridge itself, we've continued to cycle through large numbers of crew. The officer core has been in constant flux as folks get sent to Starbase 643, brought up from the academy, or recruited from the various other organizations in the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants. The crew received high scores on a recent command evaluation following our shakedown, however, and that usually is a precursor to HQ backing off a bit on transfers and recruitment. Hopefully the crew will stabilize and we can start to focus on team building; I'm running several training exercises right now. Riot control, interrogation resistance, zero gravity combat training, psych exams - the works. Engineering is going over the ship with a fine tooth comb, making sure everything is running at top efficiency.
Once we get the paperwork finished and debrief command on our encounter at NGC-2447, we've got orders to rendezvous with the main Fleet for some large scale patrols in the Alpha quadrant.
The Fleet has been bustling with activity this month. Comms chatter is almost non-stop. We've been pushing back on all fronts - sorties against KDF targets in the Laurentian system, ground assaults against Tholian forces on Nukara Prime, we've even been assisting homesteaders on New Romulus. Anywhere there's been action, we've been rallied, dispatched, and engaged. Most engagements have consisted of a minimum of 15 Fleet vessels, something the war hasn't often allowed. We've been forced into using Wolfpacks to cover our areas of responsibility effectively, but I guess there was a change of heart at Starfleet command recently. It's almost like they actually want to fight back for a change. It's been refreshing, and we've taken the enemy by surprise in most cases - they simply aren't used to seeing us concentrate our vessels like this very much anymore.
Despite all the large scale actions, the Lexington recently completed a small squad based patrol in Gamma Orionis with other Fleet elements. The Borg continue to remain a threat, though it seems to be in a bit of a stalemate at the moment. On our patrol, we received a distress call from one of our outposts. We've learned not to man major starbases in the Sector Block, they almost always fall to incursions. The large scale structures are very lightly manned, almost fully automated, and are essentially used as bait. They light up their beacons when the Borg hit, and nearby patrols rush to engage. We're able to keep the Borg busy without having to devote a lot of assets to it. Like I said - stalemate. Just enough for us not to get overrun, but not enough to put a huge dent in their effort, either.
The Lexington is off the front lines for resupply, refit, and most importantly, rest. We're technically still listed as active, so if things go to hell in any of the 7th's areas of responsibility, we'll be ready to reinforce immediately.
Which just means that we have to be ready. But being off the front, even just for a little while, can improve the morale around here immensely.
We're just scheduled for a few milk runs right now though, the end result of which will include some upgrades for the Lexington. We met up with the U.S.S. Allegheny in Beta Ursae for an equipment and personnel transfer back to the Fleet Starbase. Once we arrive there, we get a couple of days to perform a general resupply, and if time and resources allow, we may fit some new Omega Force equipment to the Lexington.
If we can manage to get all of that done on schedule, and the ship is in good shape, we have authorization from Command for 3 days bona fide R & R at Risa. I understand there is an annual festival going on there right now, which makes the prospect of a visit more exciting, but I won't hold my breath. 3 day passes have an uncanny knack for being revoked.
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