~\\_               
          \\\\_             
          `\\\\\            -----------------------------------------
           |\\\\\           Starfleet Command, Eighth Fleet (OOC)    
            \\\\\|__.-~~\   
         _--~         ~~/   Defenders Task Group 85.3, "Whitestone"  
       /~         _-~~~'    Embarked on U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901   
      ('-//////-//          Rear Admiral Tebrun Lora Kor, Commanding 
       ////// }}-)          -----------------------------------------
     /////~                 Simulation Teaser                        
  _///~                     Stardate 240305.24                       
 `                          
 _______________________________________________________________________ 
/ Simulation Teaser                                                     |
/ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ 

 ||...and sometimes, the threads... knot.||

 =.\= April 27, 2486 =.\=

 Nearly at once, nine Khellian class Rihannsu Warbirds dropped their
 cloaking fields, revealing the three Havens and their multitude of
 support ships.  The Havens -- enormous asteroid-starships initially
 intended as platforms for radical scientific research into
 Interspatial Physics -- were soon pressed into service as lifeboats. 
 One had been built in orbit of Camelyn, one in orbit of Earth, one in
 orbit of Vulcan, all built from the largest asteroid that each system
 could provide.  The Camelynian Haven was generally called Asgard --
 the Camelynians claimed that the translation from the original Norse
 to English was appropriate. The Vulcan Haven was Kal Rekk, named after
 the Vulcan holiday of atonement; the Vulcans had claimed for decades
 that an interspatial breakthrough would be impossible, just as they
 had once claimed for decades that time travel was impossible.  The
 Human Haven was Xanadu, after an ancient Earth poem whose descriptions
 of the place turned out to be all too appropriate.

 Perhaps the Vulcan name was most appropriate, however, for it was the
 interspatial breakthrough that had brought the Borg ravening down on
 them all.  The cube smashed through the outer perimeter, heading
 directly for the Havens.  The Borg knew what had been accomplished.


 =.\= August 2, 2463 =.\=

 The noise was incredible.  Jeremiah Aldur tried to tune it out.

 210 separate phaser drills were operating in various portions of
 Juno's Second Chamber, which had been sealed and pressurized two
 months before so that the work teams could do their jobs without
 suits.  The engineering teams assured Aldur that the atmosphere would
 eventually settle onto the interior surface of the hollowed-out
 asteroid leaving a zero atmosphere central hub, but that day was still
 years off.

 So far, a chamber 11 kilometers in diameter, 190 kilometers in length,
 had been hollowed out.  The Omega particle reactors, inertial
 dampening fields, and Lopez-Auriga-Torarhe devices were all installed.
 110 kilometers down the Second Chamber, the Catapult had been
 installed, its various components tested and retested, and then
 certified.

 The day of the first full field test had come and despite 75 years of
 mathematics backing him up, Jeremiah Aldur realized that he was
 nervous.  The math said the Catapult would work.  It had to work.

 Today, he and his team were going to make history.


 =.\= December 11, 2469 =.\=

 Captain's Log, stardate 246912.11.  U.S.S. Juan Salazar, Captain J.T.
 Esteban commanding, recording.  Final log entry.

 Border defense ship Juan Salazar was destroyed two hours ago.  I
 expect most of my crew to be assimilated within the next ten minutes. 
 The cubes are picking up escape pods even now.  I will not go that way
 myself, but before... before what must happen, happens, I must get
 this log out... get it transmitted to Starfleet.  Even though the
 closest subspace relay is two years away by RF.  Maybe it will give
 them some warning.

 We entered the LR-316 system investigating a possible incursion from
 the nearby Romulan border.  Skirmish forces crossing the border are
 not unknown and our sensor read of the system indicated a possible
 Romulan strike force nested in the system's asteroids.  All we picked
 up was a tiny sensor echo, very consistent with modern Romulan
 cloaking capabilities and our counter-measures for them.  We expected
 to find Romulans.  What we found was far worse.

 I can only assume the buoy was a trap or an ambush of some kind. 
 Lieutenant Sarno had never seen its like before, and even when it
 exploded, we initially didn't detect any adverse effects.  Right up
 until the computers crashed.  Half a minute later, warp drive,
 subspace communications... everything.  Everything that relied on
 subspace physics crashed.  Then the cubes came.

 I can only assume by now that the Borg are crossing Federation borders
 in force, using these buoys to destroy our ability to maneuver and to
 communicate.  What hit us had a radius of at least a half light-year. 
 They could hardly devise a more perfect weapon.  Salazar was
 maneuverable enough to outrun the cubes at impulse, but without the
 ability to maneuver tactically... I'm afraid it wasn't much of a
 fight.  I fear for the future of Starfleet, for the future of the
 Federation.  With these buoys, it's only a matter of time before the
 Federation falls.

 I've attached what little we picked up on sensors regarding these
 buoys.  Make better use of the data than we did.

 It's time.  Captain James T. Esteban.  Signing off.


 =.\= April 27, 2486 =.\=

 Kal Rekk exploded through the Traxati hypergate, her Beckmann drives
 already singing as the Haven swung around at sublight toward Reor'sa.

 She survived inside M64 for seven minutes, just long enough to
 evacuate most of her crew and the civilians of the Federation she was
 carrying away from the Borg.

 Her debris orbits the Gateway star to this day.

\_______________________________________________________________________ 
\ End Simulation Teaser                                                 |
 ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ 

 Defenders Task Group 85.3, "Whitestone" Staff:
    Commanding, TG 85.3:       RADM Tebrun Lora Kor      (Jester)
    S-1, Group Adjutant:       Capt. Sieven Drexler      (Brad)
    S-2, Group Intelligence:   Capt. Jarod Bentall       (Alffred)
    S-3, Group Logistics:      Capt. Savant              (Savant)
    Commanding, M64 Ground:    Brig. Jeremy Ironside     (Fraser)

 U.S.S. Coronado Crew Roster:
    Commanding Officer:        Como. William Daren       (Chris)
    Executive Officer:         Cmdr. Velorna Tal         (Aggie)
    Chief Flight Operations:   LCdr. Maiko D'Rall        (Farrell)
    Command Yeoman:            CPO Zachery Prentiss      (Prill)
    Civilian Liaison:          Zunite Oswald             (Sonya)
    Battalion Commander:       LCol. Jacob Prescot       (Prescot)
    Flight Leader:             1Lt. Edward Somansky      (Somansky)
    Flight Leader:             2Lt. Amy Dillon           (AlexJenson)
    Flight Leader:             2Lt. Savin Frazier        (Styx)
    Chief Tactical Officer:    Lt. Derek Canterbury      (Spuzzum)
    Chief Engineer:            Cmdr. Jack C. Farley      (CCC)
    Assistant Engineer:        LCdr. Aramis Skylooker    (LewisSharp)
    Assistant Engineer:        Lt. (JG) Brandon Gannsen  (Lefty)
    Chief Science Officer:     Lt. Anna Brooks           (Kari)
    Chief Medical Officer:     LCdr. Rachel Kennedy      (Santiago)

 On Extended Leave of Absence:
    None!

 Positions Available:
    Watch Tactical Officer:                              (---)
    Assistant Medical:                                   (---)

------
Jester

Rear Admiral Tebrun Lora Kor
Commanding, Defenders Task Group 85.3, "Whitestone"
embarked on U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/