Honoring a Hero
USS Ishimura departing from starbase on maiden voyage
Originally commissioned as the USS Ishimura in April of 2243, she
was one of the first ships of her class to have been built. Named after the
famed Starfleet captain Sakuma Ishimura, a hero of the Earth-Romulan War. Her
original mission was a five-year assignment to explore the outer edge of the
Orion Arm, a region which the Federation wouldn't mount another series of
explorations until nearly a century later. Unfortunately, before the ship could
reach its target mission area, she went missing at the outer-edge of Federation
space in a region known as "The Silent Triangle", where she remained
missing for a number of years.
She was rediscovered, floating adrift and derelict by a Vulcan science vessel in 2264 on star date 1301.1 in the Devorn Cloud; a Nebula situated close to boarders of the Silent Triangle. She was then towed back to port to undergo a full refit of her initial systems. While in dock, a number of fatal accidents occurred on board; claiming thirty-one lives by the time of the refit's completion. Because of this, a rumor began to spread that the ship was cursed: That anyone whom boarded her as a member of her crew was doomed to die.
She was rediscovered, floating adrift and derelict by a Vulcan science vessel in 2264 on star date 1301.1 in the Devorn Cloud; a Nebula situated close to boarders of the Silent Triangle. She was then towed back to port to undergo a full refit of her initial systems. While in dock, a number of fatal accidents occurred on board; claiming thirty-one lives by the time of the refit's completion. Because of this, a rumor began to spread that the ship was cursed: That anyone whom boarded her as a member of her crew was doomed to die.
CURSE OF THE FOOLISH
The USS Ishimura as she was found in the Devron Cloud
While the top brass at the time dismissed the entire notion of the "Curse", the rumors persisted. Rumors which were again proven correct not two years later, when the ship was quarantined after an infection began killing the crew. While more than half of her crew survived, the vast majority of the survivors put in for transfers once the ship was cleared out and the quarantine lifted.
Following several full rotations of crews both on and off the ship, the USS Ishimura was officially decommissioned in 2285, and put into mothballs, where she laid for nearly two decades. It wasn't until a time of crisis arose that she was pulled from mothballs, and once again pressed into emergency service; this time as an escort for a medical fleet. For a short time, she was even out-fitted to serve as a make-shift hospital ship. This, as so many times before in her past, ended in tragedy. The entire fleet was decimated by a superior force of Romulan Warships. While the Ishimura had for the most part survived structurally, her ship-wide life-support systems had been disabled in the attack. In the end, she was left once again adrift and derelict, but this time, carrying hundreds of survivors of a planetary catastrophe.
Mary Rose
The newly christened SS Mary Rose departing from Auction, c. 2299.
Following her recovery, it had become clear to Starfleet that the Ishimura had out-lived her usefulness to them, despite her numerous losses. And so the decision was made to fully decommission her. Following her clean-up and repair, she was immediately put up for auction for private use, and was just as quickly snapped up. Her new owner, a collector of rare and exotic items, jumped at the chance of owning such a unique piece; even going as far as making his home on her. Although he kept a duplicate of the ship's original dedication plaque, fearing the curse which had seemingly followed it throughout its history, renamed her from Ishimura, to the SS Mary Rose.
This change of identity seemed to work; her new owner had a long and prosperous life, with no distress calls being reported as being sent from her for the better part of eighty years. However, not everything was as wonderful as it seemed...
As the collector grew older, so did his desire of ownership; eventually expanding his horizons to include living people. In mid 2389, he acquired his most exotic specimen yet; the only known living member of a since long-extinct species; the F'rel'natch, Zaqari. However, since bringing his newest prize on board, the curse which had plagued the ship during her Starfleet career seemingly decided to make a return.
As the days went on, the Collector began to grow increasingly paranoid of his crew; fearing that they would steal his prize away from him by letting him free. Things came to a head when Zaqari escaped his prison, and made a break for the shuttlebay. Unfortunately, for both him and the crew, the Collector had already planned for this, and before they could make it anywhere close to the shuttlebay, the Collector cut life-support to the rest of the ship, effectively killing everyone except Zaqari, whose species is capable of surviving in low-pressure environments.
As he was being returned to his cell, the collector took his weapon, not realizing that he'd sabotaged it. Not wanting to take any chances, he pressed the trigger to stun him, but instead, the weapon exploded, killing the collector. Now the ship is in the hands of its former captive, to do with as he pleases...or at least, that's what it seemed to be. What secrets does the Mary Rose hide? And will the curse be his undoing...
This change of identity seemed to work; her new owner had a long and prosperous life, with no distress calls being reported as being sent from her for the better part of eighty years. However, not everything was as wonderful as it seemed...
As the collector grew older, so did his desire of ownership; eventually expanding his horizons to include living people. In mid 2389, he acquired his most exotic specimen yet; the only known living member of a since long-extinct species; the F'rel'natch, Zaqari. However, since bringing his newest prize on board, the curse which had plagued the ship during her Starfleet career seemingly decided to make a return.
As the days went on, the Collector began to grow increasingly paranoid of his crew; fearing that they would steal his prize away from him by letting him free. Things came to a head when Zaqari escaped his prison, and made a break for the shuttlebay. Unfortunately, for both him and the crew, the Collector had already planned for this, and before they could make it anywhere close to the shuttlebay, the Collector cut life-support to the rest of the ship, effectively killing everyone except Zaqari, whose species is capable of surviving in low-pressure environments.
As he was being returned to his cell, the collector took his weapon, not realizing that he'd sabotaged it. Not wanting to take any chances, he pressed the trigger to stun him, but instead, the weapon exploded, killing the collector. Now the ship is in the hands of its former captive, to do with as he pleases...or at least, that's what it seemed to be. What secrets does the Mary Rose hide? And will the curse be his undoing...