Ciater Nebula

Ciater Nebula
Information
Class	Class 9
Sector	Deneb Sector
Quadrant	Alpha Quadrant
Template:Phenomenon

The Ciater Nebula is a Class 9 nebula in the Deneb Sector that lies at the furthest reaches of the Federation border and close to the territory of the Breen Confederacy. It sits close to the Lungurn Fleet Yards.

Composition

The Ciater Nebula was determined to be ninety-three per cent dilithium hydroxyls, magnesium, and chromium, an effective way of screening anything that entered it. However, it does contain swirling dust clouds and large rocks, which can present a navigational hazard for starships. If a ship does not have an effective deflector dish, it could receive heavy damage from debris. Furthermore, due to its composition, it created a blanket that shielded most sensor sweeps. It effectively created a sensor blind spot. No known sensors could penetrate it.

History

The Federation attempted to map the Ciater Nebula in 2371; however, multiple attempts failed, and Starfleet refused to place any more resources on it. Instead, Starfleet deployed warning buoys and monitoring stations in proximity to it.

During the Dominion War, the Breen successfully used the nebula to their advantage to cross the Federation border and destroy the sensor network setup. They quickly returned to Breen space via the nebula. How they achieved such a matter was a mystery to Starfleet for some time. One Starfleet vessel was able to destroy a Breen warship when they attempted to evade Starfleet during the closing days of the war. They did this by modifying their torpedoes to fire magnetometric-guided charges.

In 2383 though, a crashed Breen scout near the nebula was discovered by a Starfleet crew. Further investigation discovered how the Breen had modified their deflectors to project a field ahead of their craft to help push through the nebula’s composition and see slightly ahead of themselves with their sensors.

When the Dominion Lost Fleet reappeared, they used the nebula to their advantage to attack Federation worlds and assets through the nebula. Though Starfleet had deployed additional monitoring stations near the border, they still were effective in completely warning others of the incoming fleet. They were eventually destroyed or captured by the Jem’Hadar. Not willing to lose their advantage, a number of Dominion ships have been detected on both sides of the nebula to avoid Starfleet using it against them; however, there are gaps in their patrols.

In Play

• This article was written for the ‘Attack the Fleet Yard’ mission in the Lost Fleet campaign and is intended to be used for reference by that mission’s writer. The member may edit and update this article to reflect additional settings or story developments.
• Members who are not part of this mission may refer to the nebula and can integrate it into their stories without consulting the mission’s writer. It is a shared location, but it should not be changed by members’ writing. It could be used if describing the location of a Dominion patrol or the predicted trajectory of enemy vessels, or for Starfleet ships to infiltrate Dominion-held territory.