Star Trek Expanded Universe
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The Crash of the Salem was an event that occurred in the Beta Thoridor system in 2387, on stardate 102387.2. (Star Trek: Unity)

Crew members assigned[]

Prelude[]

The Defiant-class USS Salem was on investigation assignment to the Beta Thoridor system, under the temporary command of Captain Lewis, when a huge magnetic charge knocked out the ship's stablizers and Salem was dragged into the gravity well of Beta Thoridor IV.

The crash-landing[]

Despite attempts by the crew and engineering staff to pull the small starship up back into orbit (which half succeeded), Salem smacked into the rocky mountain range of Beta Thoridor IV's north hemisphere. The ship was seriously damaged, with decks 2 and 3 crushed for the most part into a rock face and partially underwater. Thirty-four of Salem's crew of forty-four crew were supposedly killed in the impact.

Repairs[]

The survivors were knocked out for several hours. Captain Lewis quickly gathered the survivors on the wreak of the bridge and set the crew repairing secondary systems. Including life support, communications and limited sensors.

Lieutenant Commander Ordo was assigned to patrol the exterior of the surviving hull for any sign of native life. Medic Ghost looked around deck 1 for any useful items or objects that had survived the crash, and engineer Snake started to work on restoring systems on the bridge. About ten minutes after starting repairs, Ordo suddenly contacted Lewis, screaming that "aliens" were starting to converge on the wreak and he was outnumbered. The sounds of phaser pulse fire flooded through and then comm channel fell silent.

Invasion[]

Having lost contact with Ordo, Lewis ordered all survivors to the bridge, but the same lifeforms that had attacked Ordo were invading the Salem, and as such, only Engineer Snake and Medic Ghost were able to join the captain. Having just woken up from the crash, Chief Science Officer Grizz found himself pinned down near the remains of deck 3 crew quarters. Lewis and Ghost forced their way down to Grizz, shooting one of the lifeforms in the process. The "aliens" were in fact mutated corpses of the Salem crew with their faces washed away by a mutation from the flooded water, leaving a bald head, devoid of eyes, mouth, ears or hair, but somehow moving around. Lt. Commander Ordo was able to escape the hordes of aliens and re-joined the group, shaken, but safe. Realising that the "undead" crew members were probably in a great deal of pain and Salem was not salvageable, Lewis activated the auto-destruct system and gave five minutes for everyone to get out of the ship onto the planet's surface. Lewis and Snake were easily able to reach the outside, but Grizz had been injured and several other crew members had trouble getting out of the ship's top hatch. Medic Ghost, Ordo and a few others went back inside and pulled out the injured only seconds before Salem's twisted hulk was blown to bits.

Alien derelict[]

The surviving crew members wondered around the mountain range for a few hours, periodically attempting to send distress calls, but then found another crashed starship, but of unknown alien origin. The team attempted to interface with the computer, but it too, was badly damaged and it is likely the alien craft was brought down by the same magnetic field which had doomed Salem.

Rescue[]

A runabout from the nearby USS Poseidon-B (which was on a supply mission to Beta Thoridor II) entered orbit of Beta Thoridor IV and contacted the survivors of the Salem, having received their distress call. The ten survivors were transported up to the runabout from the alien derelict, but the same magnetic field started to interfere with the Runabout's systems. Grizz and Ordo were able to disrupt the field enough to let the smaller runabout escape back to the Poseidon.

Aftermath[]

After safely arriving on USS Poseidon, Captain Lewis debriefed his crew and ordered Grizz and Ghost to perform brief medical checks and exams on all members of the surviving Salem crew. After writing their reports, the team were to be allowed considerable R&R in order to recover from the experience whilst the Poseidon took them back to Unity One Starbase.

Memorable quotes[]

"Oh yeah! That's right! Get back you bastards!"
— Ordo to the mutated crewmembers
"I am not helping to fix this..."
— Grizz to Snake concerning the control systems
"GET OUT! GET OUT OF THERE! NOW!"
— Lewis to the crew members still inside the Salem shortly before it exploded
"It was Salem. I won't miss it."
— Hunter to Lewis, soon after the ship had self-destructed
"Open the shuttle doors!!!"
— Ordo to anyone that could hear him, frustrated that no-one was available to help him with his fighter training

Maps used[]

  • RPG_crashsite
  • RPG_Runabout
  • USS Poseidon-B
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