NEAR CHIN’TOKA SYSTEM — A trip to an alternate universe through a wormhole near Betazed has left the Astraeus still searching for a way home.
In a universe where the Hobus supernova never occurred, the Astraeus, NCC-70652, made contact with a Romulan force that had managed to suppress the Federation and drive Starfleet back to their inner worlds. Despite numerous obstacles, the crew managed to time and again triumph in escaping from their enemy.
Along the way, they allied with a damaged freighter captained by Laxa Desai. Though the Al-Leyan commander was hesitant to trust anyone from the Federation, the crew was successful in helping the freighter repel a surprise attack from a small group of Romulans who had attached tricobalt explosives to the Espero’s warp core.
“From the reports I read, the away team did an amazing job of establishing a rapport,” Crewman Ghee offered, a twinge of pride in her voice. “But it’s really not surprising. I mean, we’re Starfleet. This is what we do. We help those in need.”
With a dampening field preventing communication with the away team, it was a tense wait for the bridge crew as they tried to break through to re-establish communications. The need to avoid drawing attention from the Romulan vessel lingering not too far away further compounded the situation. However, thanks to the meticulous efforts of Cmdrs. Noa Levinson and Cadfael Peters as well as Lt. Wyatt Ral, the away team was able to disable the generator as well as tricobalt explosives that the Romulans had attached to the Espero’s warp core.
Once the away team had returned to the ship, the ever-cunning Capt. Mei’konda Delano prepared a little surprise of his own. Lts. JG 101 & 000, Ens. Patrick Callahan and Slav Shewytch, as well as Cmdr. Anjar Thoran and Ens. Charles Matthews, contributed to tactical trickery that facilitated the escape of the freighter. When it had reached safety, the Astraeus crew used sensor ghosts to set the Romulan vessel on a wild goose chase, allowing for a high warp escape on course for the Chin’toka system, where the Astraeus hoped to find a way home.
At present, the possibility of another wormhole in the Chin’toka system is merely an unconfirmed theory. It is unclear if the Astraeus will succeed in sneaking past the Romulan fleet and pulling off the impossible.
The crew hopes to celebrate their triumphant return home with Starfleet and colleagues across the fleet. Stay tuned for further developments.
Written by Anjar Thoran
