Post by Nola on Mar 2, 2017 2:39:54 GMT
<BEGIN-LOG/NCC12428.archive/SUMNERFINAL>
Captain's Log, Stardate, uh, one one seven oh two point... fuck... sixteen. I think.
It's been a couple says since I've had any sleep. The Bremen was returning to Starbase 371 from a confab at Aldebaran when we were ambushed by a True Federation vessel. No ID, as usual with a Section 31 ship, but it appeared to have a Defiant-class configuration. Outgunned and surprised, we fought like hell. We were unable to get a distress call away due to signal jam. An Intrepid's not going to outmaneuver a Defiant, so we had to resort to some desperate tactics.
Engineering under Lieutenant Mackenzie did an incredible job of keeping our shields up as long as possible, and it was enough to let us deploy some fireships - auxilliary craft loaded with as much ordinance as we could stuff them with. We let them get in close and pulled as tight a turn as possible, allowing us to deploy one of the craft behind the enemy vessel. It did the trick, but the damage from the battle and subsequent explosion has left the Bremen crippled and adrift in the Betreka Nebula.
Before they went out, long-range sensors indicated larger engagements in what appears to be a new offensive by the separatist forces. Mac was able to get partial comms, but I'm hesitant to send a standard distress signal. Odds are just as good we're discovered by S31 forces, and at this point I don't want to pull any of our fleet from whatever fight is going on out there. We're working on an alternative solution.
But the Bremen is dying. We're bleeding plasma left and right. Auxiliary power will be lost in a matter of hours, and life support will last maybe a day. If this is how the Bremen is going to go, then there are some things I want to say to any who might come across our vessel.
When I leaked a report about Section 31's involvement in the disappearance of Twissel, and elements of Starfleet Command attempting to cover it up, I had no way of knowing the shitstorm that would result. Through some happenstance of luck or fate, that report surfaced shortly before other information regarding Section 31 came to light, namely the attempted assassination of then-Federation-President Shezor Ell in order to install Ronan Karn as President. When my crew managed to rescue President Ell, I expected that Karn would be forced to step down. I expected the revelation of Section 31's activities would result in that organization's downfall. I expected Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets to remember who we were.
Roughly three in ten Federation worlds supported Karn's continued Presidency and Section 31's existence. Nearly half of Starfleet did the same.
The first days of this war were insanity. We didn't know who was who as Starfleet ships turned their weapons on each other, and for a while, I believed we had seen the end of the Federation.
But there were enough Admirals left on the side of democracy to organize us, particularly Admiral Walker. We expelled Karn and Section 31 from Earth and the other core worlds. We ramped up our ship production and recruitment to make up for our disadvantages - we had more than twice the territory to defend and only a slight edge in numbers, but we were able to hold. We were fractured, and broken, but alive all the same.
For nearly two years, we've been at a stalemate. Diplomats have made attempts to reconcile, but the separatist forces are intractable. They will not recognize any President but Karn, and Section 31's demand to control Starfleet is unacceptable.
Now that my ship sits here, dying, I realize we've all just been sitting around and waiting for this moment. I realize that Section 31 was biding their time until they could set something like this up. I realize that we should have taken the fight to them the moment we had our heads on straight. More than that, I realize this has been a long time coming, perhaps even inevitable. When a people get comfortable, complacent, some of us forget what it was that made us comfortable.
If whoever is reading this is a member of the Starfleet still dedicated to the rule of law and democracy, then I say to you that our ideals are worth any hardship. Sometimes fear makes people lose their way, and our ideals become corrupt. Security takes priority over liberty. Order takes priority over justice.
Section 31 represents that fear. We have encountered hostile powers in our exploration of the galaxy, and we have suffered from those encounters. With each one, more people would become convinced that this notion of peaceful coexistence is flawed, that it only invites attack. They believe that the Federation must be a fortress, that Starfleet must be a great bulwark to shield our 'enlightened' civilization against ever-terrifying 'others.' They do not understand the folly of sacrificing our ideals in order to protect them.
This is not a new phenomenon. It's been a common occurrence throughout Human history. We also see it in contemporary powers - the Romulans and the Tal-Shiar, the Cardassian Union and the Obsidian Order. Sometimes we must fight to reaffirm what we've known all along - that a free and just society is the only one worth having.
Without our ideals, there is no Federation. There is no Starfleet to explore the galaxy, to seek out new life, to make peaceful contact. There is only a small group of frightened and powerful people who would sooner set fire to all that makes us good and worthwhile if it will grant us the illusion of security.
So fight. Fight like hell, and keep fighting because those ideals are worth fighting for. They are worth dying for. They are worth the risks that come with a free and open society. Liberty over security. Justice over order. Remember who we are, who we can be, and don't stop until we are made whole.
If you are a member of Section 31, or their affiliated separatist fleet, then I say to you that I understand why you're doing this. I know you think this is necessary, that the security of the Federation is paramount to everything, even its ideals. I get the logic behind that, and for all the acrimony between us, I know that you are doing what you think is best.
But you are wrong. I know you remember the hell we went through against the Tzenkethi, and the Dominion before them, and the Borg before them, and the Klingons and Romulans too. I know you would rather quell those fires before they start.
Ask yourself, though, how it is we won those battles. Ask yourself how we beat the Dominion. It sure as hell wasn't numbers. Attempts were made to stop the war before it started, both by you and other black-ops organizations, and that sure as shit didn't work.
Ask yourself how we beat the Borg. It wasn't technological superiority. It wasn't any effort to undermine the enemy's society, or subvert our own in order to be more ruthless or efficient.
Ask yourself how we ended our numerous conflicts against the Klingons and Romulans. It wasn't tactical superiority or espionage.
We won those battles because we were made strong by our ideals. It was our resolve and dedication to freedom that led us to victory against the Dominion. It was our ingenuity and the exchange of ideas that helped us address the Borg threat. It was our diplomacy and our passionate pursuit of coexistence that ensured that no matter how often we disagreed or came to blows, we could have peaceful contact with our Klingon and Romulan neighbors.
Ask yourself whether Section 31's fanatical devotion to authoritarianism has made the Federation stronger. Look at my ship. Look at your star maps. Look at the encroaching Romulan Empire, and the Klingon raids into your space the get worse by the day. Look at us, pointing our weapons at each other when we should be working together, and ask yourself if this is what strength looks like.
The Federation is worth saving, and there's still time to save it. Make peace with us. Accept the will of the overwhelming majority of Federation citizens; that's who we're all supposed to be working for, remember? Accept that a random universe makes complete security an impossible notion, and that it's better to be idealistic and get burned than to be cynical and be right while suffocating the things that make a people beautiful and unique. The galaxy is falling apart, and we're going to need each other to pull it back together.
If these are my dying words, then let them be words of love and compassion. I do not hate you for killing me or my ship. I am heartbroken that we have come to blows, but I know that it's not too late for us. We can still be the Federation that our progenitors dreamed about. We can still be the good guys. I will die believing that the future is bright, as it has always been.
This is Captain Sara Sumner, a representative of the United Federation of Planets, Commanding Officer of the USS Bremen, a loving mother and a human being, signing off.
<END-LOG>
Captain's Log, Stardate, uh, one one seven oh two point... fuck... sixteen. I think.
It's been a couple says since I've had any sleep. The Bremen was returning to Starbase 371 from a confab at Aldebaran when we were ambushed by a True Federation vessel. No ID, as usual with a Section 31 ship, but it appeared to have a Defiant-class configuration. Outgunned and surprised, we fought like hell. We were unable to get a distress call away due to signal jam. An Intrepid's not going to outmaneuver a Defiant, so we had to resort to some desperate tactics.
Engineering under Lieutenant Mackenzie did an incredible job of keeping our shields up as long as possible, and it was enough to let us deploy some fireships - auxilliary craft loaded with as much ordinance as we could stuff them with. We let them get in close and pulled as tight a turn as possible, allowing us to deploy one of the craft behind the enemy vessel. It did the trick, but the damage from the battle and subsequent explosion has left the Bremen crippled and adrift in the Betreka Nebula.
Before they went out, long-range sensors indicated larger engagements in what appears to be a new offensive by the separatist forces. Mac was able to get partial comms, but I'm hesitant to send a standard distress signal. Odds are just as good we're discovered by S31 forces, and at this point I don't want to pull any of our fleet from whatever fight is going on out there. We're working on an alternative solution.
But the Bremen is dying. We're bleeding plasma left and right. Auxiliary power will be lost in a matter of hours, and life support will last maybe a day. If this is how the Bremen is going to go, then there are some things I want to say to any who might come across our vessel.
When I leaked a report about Section 31's involvement in the disappearance of Twissel, and elements of Starfleet Command attempting to cover it up, I had no way of knowing the shitstorm that would result. Through some happenstance of luck or fate, that report surfaced shortly before other information regarding Section 31 came to light, namely the attempted assassination of then-Federation-President Shezor Ell in order to install Ronan Karn as President. When my crew managed to rescue President Ell, I expected that Karn would be forced to step down. I expected the revelation of Section 31's activities would result in that organization's downfall. I expected Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets to remember who we were.
Roughly three in ten Federation worlds supported Karn's continued Presidency and Section 31's existence. Nearly half of Starfleet did the same.
The first days of this war were insanity. We didn't know who was who as Starfleet ships turned their weapons on each other, and for a while, I believed we had seen the end of the Federation.
But there were enough Admirals left on the side of democracy to organize us, particularly Admiral Walker. We expelled Karn and Section 31 from Earth and the other core worlds. We ramped up our ship production and recruitment to make up for our disadvantages - we had more than twice the territory to defend and only a slight edge in numbers, but we were able to hold. We were fractured, and broken, but alive all the same.
For nearly two years, we've been at a stalemate. Diplomats have made attempts to reconcile, but the separatist forces are intractable. They will not recognize any President but Karn, and Section 31's demand to control Starfleet is unacceptable.
Now that my ship sits here, dying, I realize we've all just been sitting around and waiting for this moment. I realize that Section 31 was biding their time until they could set something like this up. I realize that we should have taken the fight to them the moment we had our heads on straight. More than that, I realize this has been a long time coming, perhaps even inevitable. When a people get comfortable, complacent, some of us forget what it was that made us comfortable.
If whoever is reading this is a member of the Starfleet still dedicated to the rule of law and democracy, then I say to you that our ideals are worth any hardship. Sometimes fear makes people lose their way, and our ideals become corrupt. Security takes priority over liberty. Order takes priority over justice.
Section 31 represents that fear. We have encountered hostile powers in our exploration of the galaxy, and we have suffered from those encounters. With each one, more people would become convinced that this notion of peaceful coexistence is flawed, that it only invites attack. They believe that the Federation must be a fortress, that Starfleet must be a great bulwark to shield our 'enlightened' civilization against ever-terrifying 'others.' They do not understand the folly of sacrificing our ideals in order to protect them.
This is not a new phenomenon. It's been a common occurrence throughout Human history. We also see it in contemporary powers - the Romulans and the Tal-Shiar, the Cardassian Union and the Obsidian Order. Sometimes we must fight to reaffirm what we've known all along - that a free and just society is the only one worth having.
Without our ideals, there is no Federation. There is no Starfleet to explore the galaxy, to seek out new life, to make peaceful contact. There is only a small group of frightened and powerful people who would sooner set fire to all that makes us good and worthwhile if it will grant us the illusion of security.
So fight. Fight like hell, and keep fighting because those ideals are worth fighting for. They are worth dying for. They are worth the risks that come with a free and open society. Liberty over security. Justice over order. Remember who we are, who we can be, and don't stop until we are made whole.
If you are a member of Section 31, or their affiliated separatist fleet, then I say to you that I understand why you're doing this. I know you think this is necessary, that the security of the Federation is paramount to everything, even its ideals. I get the logic behind that, and for all the acrimony between us, I know that you are doing what you think is best.
But you are wrong. I know you remember the hell we went through against the Tzenkethi, and the Dominion before them, and the Borg before them, and the Klingons and Romulans too. I know you would rather quell those fires before they start.
Ask yourself, though, how it is we won those battles. Ask yourself how we beat the Dominion. It sure as hell wasn't numbers. Attempts were made to stop the war before it started, both by you and other black-ops organizations, and that sure as shit didn't work.
Ask yourself how we beat the Borg. It wasn't technological superiority. It wasn't any effort to undermine the enemy's society, or subvert our own in order to be more ruthless or efficient.
Ask yourself how we ended our numerous conflicts against the Klingons and Romulans. It wasn't tactical superiority or espionage.
We won those battles because we were made strong by our ideals. It was our resolve and dedication to freedom that led us to victory against the Dominion. It was our ingenuity and the exchange of ideas that helped us address the Borg threat. It was our diplomacy and our passionate pursuit of coexistence that ensured that no matter how often we disagreed or came to blows, we could have peaceful contact with our Klingon and Romulan neighbors.
Ask yourself whether Section 31's fanatical devotion to authoritarianism has made the Federation stronger. Look at my ship. Look at your star maps. Look at the encroaching Romulan Empire, and the Klingon raids into your space the get worse by the day. Look at us, pointing our weapons at each other when we should be working together, and ask yourself if this is what strength looks like.
The Federation is worth saving, and there's still time to save it. Make peace with us. Accept the will of the overwhelming majority of Federation citizens; that's who we're all supposed to be working for, remember? Accept that a random universe makes complete security an impossible notion, and that it's better to be idealistic and get burned than to be cynical and be right while suffocating the things that make a people beautiful and unique. The galaxy is falling apart, and we're going to need each other to pull it back together.
If these are my dying words, then let them be words of love and compassion. I do not hate you for killing me or my ship. I am heartbroken that we have come to blows, but I know that it's not too late for us. We can still be the Federation that our progenitors dreamed about. We can still be the good guys. I will die believing that the future is bright, as it has always been.
This is Captain Sara Sumner, a representative of the United Federation of Planets, Commanding Officer of the USS Bremen, a loving mother and a human being, signing off.
<END-LOG>