"...Starfleet has classified everything! The whole sector has just been declared off limits. All we know is that fifteen starships were in the New Holland system when the event took place, and those have all been declared missing. I repeat, the only Starfleet facility that has definitely been destroyed in the New Holland system is Starbase 874. We still do not know what caused the explosion.

Since the detonation a few hours ago, a series of other small explosions across the sector have rendered the Maelstrom all but impassable. We've received reports of heavy damage to Starfleet stations and research posts, and we're playing some of that footage now. Be warned that we are discovering bodies at the sites in realtime; some of the footage will be quite graphic... and I'm just receiving word that... Great Bird.

Sapients of the Federation, Starfleet has just confirmed that all fifteen vessels in the New Holland system have been lost with all hands. The death toll is... is...

Let us all pause for a moment of silent prayer for these lost souls."

--Federation News Service, live feed, 16 March 2384. Dai Zife reporting.

Historical Note

Beyond the death toll, the destruction that wracked the Maelstrom Sector on that terrible day in March has been heavily classified, as have the logs of every ship in the sector dating back to eight months before the enigmatic Incident. The nature of the Incident are therefore unknown.

The sole bright spot of the catastrophe was the discovery, some time later, that the U.S.S. Charleston, confirmed destroyed during initial reporting, had survived the incident, though barely intact. The hull and what remained of the ship's internals have been taken to an unknown location for further study. With the notable exception of her commanding officer, Miranda Cook, nearly all of the Charleston's senior staff survived, though there were only 34 total survivors from that ship. They were reassigned to the U.S.S. Horlderlin, and are the only officially known survivors of the Incident.

Press investigation into the incident continues.

Classified Information

Though it is not public information, Starfleet is aware of the nature of the Incident, because it was done on Starfleet orders. In order to prevent the invasion of an alien race known as the Anhkra via a Maelstrom-wide supergate, Starfleet detonated supernova bombs in seven different suns, destroying the gate and saving the Federation. This has all been classified top secret.

Credits

Original information created by the players of the U.S.S. Excelsior-C simm. Permission for its use on the SB900 websites given by Alcar Dovan.