Ship's Log - USS Patriot - NCC-5781-A
Recorded By: Lt Cmdr Jeffery Gorman, Executive Officer

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Mission Title: "Peacekeeping"
Mission Start Date: 08.26.2008 (Stardate: 2.80826)
Mission End Date: 10.24.2008 (Stardate: 2.81024)
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The PATRIOT is on its way back to GATEWAY after having left the situation on IRATHI III in a big mess. There's no way I can sugar coat this mission at all and despite having been a member of the crew for a very short time, I feel the losses as a heavy weight on my shoulders just like every other member of this crew. I can not for the life of me remember another mission I have been on that has seen as much death, destruction and overall failure as the one the PATRIOT is currently returning from.

The ironic part of this whole thing is that this mission was supposed to be a break for the crew of the PATRIOT. The ship had been fighting the Dominion for months and even though Starfleet Command couldn't grant us extra shore leave, Captain Kenta was able to get us an easy assignment helping out with relief efforts to the Irathi people. The Irathi people had long been a subjugated territory of the Dominion and were initially quite grateful that the Federation had liberated them from Dominion rule. However, a small portion of the population felt that the Federation was no better than the Dominion and because of that they formed a resistance movement aimed at curbing the Federation's presence in the region. Even the arrival of the flagship of the Federation did not halt them and when their sabotage resulted in the deaths of three marines, our Intelligence Officer Catherine Sterling-Jade volunteered to go undercover and infiltrate the organization.

Unfortunately, Lieutenant Jade was discovered in her attempt and murdered by the leader of the Irathi Resistance. She was beamed out in time to give the PATRIOT's crew information before she died however and that information resulted in the thwarting of another sabotage that could have resulted in the deaths of tens if not hundreds of thousands of individuals. Lieutenant Jade died in the arms of her husband Daniel Clarkson, a man who is a personal friend of mine. Ordering him back to work just moments after her death is easily the hardest order I have ever had to give.

The Lieutenant had left behind clues regarding the location of the rebels and using those clues allowed us to pinpoint their location to a general cave structure. We sent in a team to investigate and when we did not hear back from that team, a second detachment of security and marine forces were sent in to find them and retrieve them by any means necessary. A firefight ensued between our forces and a rebel force that was much larger and better equipped than anyone that had imagined and while the first away team was freed, we lost another senior staff member Lieutenant Tanith Corwin in the process. Corwin, a native of Luna, was one of the officers I had gotten to know during my short time on the PATRIOT up to the present and her loss is one that I am not going to soon forget.

At this point, it was clear that the current mission was anything but a simple Peacekeeping Operation. In fact, it was now up to the Federation to quell a full scale uprising against the Irathi authorities and since such an action was not in the purview of our mission, the PATRIOT was forced to withdraw from the system. Starfleet Command has plans to send a pure combat unit of marines to the area at some point, but as of yet we are not aware of any firm plans on their part.

All in all, the PATRIOT is heading back to GATEWAY now while she licks her wounds. We lost three good marines on the planet during combat as well as our Intelligence Officer and Flight Control Officer. Losing one member of the senior staff on a mission is painful enough, but losing two people that I not only worked with frequently but knew relatively well leaves a hole in your heart that words simply can not describe. Even more so than our current predicament however, I worry for the future of the Irathi people. The PATRIOT and her crew failed them this time around and it is quite possible that they may grow suspicious of the Federation as a result.

I can only hope that Starfleet Command sends someone in to clean up the mess soon, because a ticking time bomb that none of us knew about exploded on IRATHI III the day the first PATRIOT crewmember set foot on the planet.

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Crew Promotions Granted/Awards Received/Roster Changes
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Lieutenant Catherine Sterling-Jade KIA
Lieutenant Tanith Corwin KIA
Ensign Meera Song Assigned as CEO
Ensign James Kinsey assigned as combined ILO/DLO
Lt Cmdr Aerdan Jos assigned as Chief Surgeon

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