Damage Report Ironclad 21118-2237*

[Jafar Ironclad]

After Action / Damage Report, SubIntendant Jafar Ironclad, ISN Oblivion, 2nd Flotilla, 4th Hunter Group

Stardate 21118-2237*

This addendum to the standard daily report concerns specific actions undertaken in support of ISN Invictus during 4HG operations on 20118-2237.

During Group combat operations against a very strong Kralien/Skarran assault fleet, ISN Invictus declared an emergency due to depleted energy reserves and a massive oncoming swarm of drones (a threat that the Samnite-class’ high-aperture beam weapons naturally struggle to counter even before energy shortfalls come into consideration). Oblivion responded to the mayday call, diverting enemy attention thinning the swarm of drones before they could destroy the retreating battlecruiser; however, an opportunistic Skarran vessel seized the opportunity to jump in and strike the Invictus before her shields could be restored, crippling the vessel’s reactor, warp core, and life support (though thankfully not causing a catastrophic failure in any of these systems), thus forcing her crew to abandon ship in very expedited fashion lest they lose their lives.

Shortly afterward, the Skarran hostile was dispatched by the Oblivion, though not before causing additional structural damage to the Invictus’ hull, likely attempting to entirely disintegrate the vessel. Life pods were recovered by Relentless’ shuttle while Oblivion secured the Invictus’ surroundings. Suffice it to say, however, that the situation was still extremely dire; isolated by high command and logistics elements, the 4th Hunter Group can ill afford to lose a combat capable vessel. Furthermore, in soon-to-be-hostile sector space, the hull cannot simply be left for local forces to recover and return, and the Strike Cruiser and Torpedo Cruiser currently deployed were not equipped for tractor operations.

At the time, I was serving as Weapons officer on Oblivion in a temporary capacity, following standard ISN protocol to defer control of the Engineering station to a higher-ranking engineer (regardless of permanent assignments); Overintendant Graybeard was acting as our chief engineer. With an extra engineer to spare and a desperate situation, I requested permission from both Graybeard and Group Leader Xavier to deploy from Oblivion with a Damage Control Team and a handful of marines, all in EVA suits, aboard the shuttle Proteus to assess the Invictus’ hull and attempt to restore emergency propulsion. Lacking other options in discussion with CIC, the plan was swiftly approved, and I ceded control of the weapons’ station to our intel officers should use of weapons become necessary (sector hostilities were thinning at the time of this command).

Elaboration on damage discovered and repaired will follow in the Damage Assessment section of this report, but as a result of the away team’s actions, emergency controls and propulsion were restored, the auxiliary bridge was located and restored, and the Invictus’ Bridge crew returned to the vessel and steered it away from the oncoming hostile force and out of danger. Crash-starting the vessel’s warp drive furthermore uncovered some illuminating intel concerning ISN shipbuilding practices.

Damage Assessment follows:

Primary Structure: The key structural frame and supports survived hostile fire; the ship mostly resembles its class after the operation. Thorough inspection and reinforcement of damaged sections is nonetheless strongly advised before any attempt to field any amount of the Invictus is made.

Outer Hull: Invictus’ outer hull is likely the worst loss, with over 45% material integrity lost to space and 75% of the vessel exposed to hard vacuum. Much of this loss appeared to occur when the Skaraan vessel pounced; power relays connected to the reactor experienced chain reactions which were only partially contained by fail-safe automation. Were it not for surprisingly-sophisticated automation and failsafes designed into the vessel’s system by ISN shipbuilders, hull integrity losses alone would likely have meant this battlecruiser would never have seen another battle.

Reactor: Primary reactor was shut down automatically due to battle damage and failsafe protocols. No attempt was made to restore main power during the EVA action due to concerns of further damage or total loss. More substantial containment procedures and diagnostics are being performed as I write this.

Warp Drive: Warp containment was miraculously maintained despite extensive hull damage and power relay blowouts to the aft section. At the time of the away team’s arrival to the vessel, thermal signatures were detected around the warp core; visual inspection revealed [REDACTED BY ORDER OF INI]; thus, the warp systems were quite amenable to a crash start, which proceeded without issue. Invictus’ returning bridge crew turned the restarted warp drive up to 75% capacity despite vigorous protest from the damcon teams, and it held up without any issue. Merits deeper investigation.

Impulse: Impulse drives were completely offline and deemed dangerous to attempt repairs in improvisatory faction. Per vessel schematics, the DAMCON team instead proceeded to the maneuvering thrust assemblies to affix emergency thrusters.

Maneuvering: The starboard maneuvering assembly fared worse than the port assembly; thankfully, the backup power cells piped into each node were intact and readily restarted. Emergency thrusters were then affixed to each assembly, allowing limited forward movement and turning while the crash start procedure was run.

Weaponry: The secondary explosions resulting from the reactor going offline incapacitated the vessel’s beam weapons, though once again, we have failsafes to thank for the beams not simply exploding due to uncontrolled plasma leakages. Similar to maneuvering, starboard fared worse than port side; we can get basic self-defense up for one side of the ship much faster than the other. Torpedo magazines were mostly empty when the ship was compromised; I shudder to think of what a full magazine detonation would have wrought for the vessel.

Shields: Unsurprisingly, due to their immense power draw, shield generators and projectors suffered dearly when the main reactor was taken out of commission. Only one shield emitter in the front survived without damage.

Sensors: Undamaged. Whoever was serving as science officer had very quick reflexes, disconnecting them from main power before the blowout knocked the physical systems offline.

Command: The main bridge took a lot of heat but thankfully remained intact. More interesting is the ship’s auxiliary bridge, which was pristine thanks to its location deeper in the ship, and even had its own backup power banks. On the DAMCON team’s assessment of the auxiliary bridge, Invictus’ bridge crew were flown back over to the vessel to resume control, maximizing the chances of her safe return.

Conclusion:

That we were able to recover Invictus at all despite extensive damage would at first seem to be nothing short of a miracle. As much as us engineers enjoy having miracles attributed to us, I am obliged to cite the foresight of ISN shipbuilders, who appear to build some incredible failsafe and backup systems into their ships of the line. In particular, [REDACTED BY ORDER OF INI]

[REDACTED BY ORDER OF INI]

We can’t (and indeed, shouldn’t) rely on the auxiliary measures every time, as an exploded reactor or warp core still amounts to an unrecoverable ship at a minimum. Furthermore, without access to proper facilities and material supplies, I can only guess how long it will take us to restore Invictus to even minimum operational status. Weeks, at a minimum.

• This topic was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Jafar Ironclad.

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