Captain's Log: 08 September 822 A.S.
J. Scott, Commanding Officer SV-Atreyu, Corvo Class Science Ship
While at Willard Research Station in California we received a communication from Corinth Research Station in the Omicron Kappa system requesting that we transport some additional scientists to the station to assist with one of their projects. Since I was already had some scientists on board that needed to be transported to Frankfurt I agreed to continue on to the Omicrons.
The journey to Frankfurt was fairly uneventful other than a few Unioner attacks and a conversation with the captain of transport vessel who was asking some questions about the Atreyu. Once in the Omicrons our peaceful journey immediately took a turn towards nightmarish. Immediately upon entering Omicron Rho we were attacked by several Nomad scout ships. Luckily the upgraded shielding and weaponry on board the Atreyu gave us the upper hand in the multiple attacks we endured and we were able to get the scientists to Corinth safely.
Once on Corinth one of the local scientist aboard told me that he had picked up some unusual energy readings in the Omicron Delta system in sector 3E. Since we were only one jump away I decided to take the ship to Delta and investigate the anomalous readings. Upon entering Delta we were again attacked by small patrols of Nomad scout ships which were quickly dispatched.
Within an hour of entering Omicron Delta our long range sensors picked up what appeared to be a station within the Edge Nebula near the coordinates we were given. Wary of Nomad activity I ordered the crew to man their battle stations and prepare for a possible attack. Once in visual range the station immediately began firing nomad weaponry at the Atreyu however initial damage to the ship was negligible. I prepared to reverse course to get out of range of the station's weapons and ordered the science officer to conduct a complete scan of the station.
Within seconds of initiating the scan the station launched multiple volleys of cruise disrupter missiles disabling our cruise engines. Unable to initiate the cruise engines I ordered engineering to divert auxiliary power to the engines and thrusters to get us away as quickly as possible. Before we could get any distance away from the station it launched dozens of fighter craft which immediately targeted the Atreyu's engines. Seconds after the initial fighter attack another wave of Nomad ships attacked this time led by a Nomad gunboat. At this time there were approximately 30 Nomad ships firing on the Atreyu and the shields began to buckle. Since there was no way to target that many ships or do any real damage to the Nomad gunboat I ordered that all power from the weapons be diverted to the shields. Despite the additional power the Atreyu's shielding collapsed under the enormous strain of dozens of Nomad ships coordinating their fire at a singular point of our shielding. At this time we began to suffer massive amounts of hull damage and repair crews could barely seal off one section of the ship before it suffered hull breaches in other sections. Luckily by this time we were out of range of the stations weapons and our cruise engines had been reinitialized. I immediately set course for the Omicron Kappa jump hole and launched every available countermeasure at my disposal to prevent our engines from being disrupted.
The Nomad fleet followed us for a short time but never engaged their cruise engines to pursue us. It would seem their entire purpose was to protect that station and keep anyone from discovering it's purpose. By the time we reached the Omicron Kappa jump hole our cruise engines had failed due to the damage we sustained in the battle. Hull integrity was barely hovering over 30%, shielding was non-existent, weapons were offline, and life support had failed on multiple decks. One of the hull breaches was located in the section of the ship containing our medical bays so our ability to treat wounded crewman was reduced to basic first aid and triage.
The journey through the jump hole to Kappa was terrifying due to the lack of shielding/structural integrity of the ship and it seemed that the gravimetric forces within the jump hole were going to tear us in half. Upon exiting in the Kappa system we discovered that our engines suffered even more damage and not only did we not have cruise engines or thrusters, but our impulse engines were limited to 25 kps.
I immediately set course for Livadia Shipyard as it was the closest station available and sent out emergency distress calls on every available frequency. Fortunately not long after the first distress call a Zoner patrol responded and escorted the crippled Atreyu to Livadia. Initial reports indicate that we lost 10 scientists, 15 crewmen, the entire medical, survey, and research teams. Engineers at Livadia believe that they can get the engines, weapons, and hull repaired however due to the design of our shield systems they will have to be repaired at Baltimore Shipyard. Once basic repairs are completed at Livadia I am going to take a skeleton crew and travel back to New York without the benefit of shielding.
