Along the Breen Border

[Captain Halloway 0]

MISSION REPORT, dispatch received by Sky Harbor Aegis from:

USS Yorktown, Sovereign-class

Thomas A. Halloway, commanding

 

Pursuant to orders, starship Yorktown completed a six-week patrol of the Breen frontier in an attempt to regain contact or determine the cause of their recent isolation. Our patrol regimen included subspace communication broadcasts and long-range sensor sweeps of the border itself. No sign of Breen fleet activities or response has been observed. Yorktown experienced no Breen ship encounters of any kind: civilian, privateer, or otherwise.

 

Upon completing our assigned patrol route, Yorktown received orders to make direct observation by crossing into Breen space near the site of a known agricultural colony. Our incursion was not challenged, in fact, there was no evidence of increased alert or even detection. Once we entered orbit, ship sensors showed signs of a single large settlement, apparently abandoned. There were no active energy fields or intelligent life forms detected.

 

I led an away team which confirmed our observations from space. The entire city was abandoned, with no clue as to the cause. There was no sign of orbital bombardment or energy signatures that would indicate weapons fire. The scene was unexpectedly peaceful. Native grazing animals wandered the streets. Our teams noted grassy hills in the center of town as part of a large circular park. Initially, we discounted this as part of pleasant urban planning, but further investigation suggested that the park was not a natural part of the colony. The terrain was inconsistent with the surrounding structures. Where buildings would have extended into it, walls were simply cut away. It was like a Borg attack had sliced a hole in the city and dropped a parkland in its place, but there was no real destruction or any of the residual radiation we've seen before. Our science officer detected other particle traces, but we're still analyzing the results. We've since retreated from Breen space and extended our patrol route.

 

TMy own assessment is that we're not looking at a simple change in Breen posturing. We've seen other powers go into an extended isolation, but even the Romulans guarded their borders. They didn't pull out of worlds inside their own space. This has got to be something else: a coup, a natural disaster, a wide-spread disease. Something has caused them to pull back, well inside the shell of their frontier worlds. Our lack of knowledge on their species makes it harder to put the pieces together, and the Breen certainly aren't offering any answers themselves.

 

I admit I was reluctant to enter their space, but now, I wonder if a deeper foray might be needed. We'll keep skirting the border for now, but given the possible blowback, I'll wait for Command to decide if we should go further in. I am forwarding this dispatch to keep our nearest Starfleet facilities at SB211, DS9, and Sky Harbor Aegis apprised.