McAllister Nebula

From Hidden Frontier

The McAllister C-5 Nebula is a protostellar nebula once located inside the space of the Cardassian Union, approximately seven light-years from the Federation border prior to the Dominion War and 11 light-years from the Federation star system Minos Korva. This nebula is a phenomenon related in composition and form to the Briar Patch.

1 Properties
2 Major Events
3 Canon Notes
4 Appearances
5 Reference

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Properties

The McAllister Nebula was created from an ejected collection of gases and debris from the Patch itself; it therefore shares many of the same properties as the Patch. It is composed of mostly metreon gas clouds, surrounded by metaphasic radiation. Like its parent, the nebula cannot be traversed at warp speeds. The subatomic particle flux inside the McAllister Nebula prevents starships from staying in the nebula for more than 72 hours. As an alternative to warp speed, though, the nebula also contains subspace currents like the Briar Patch. Its currents extend only to the borders of the nebula.

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Major Events

In 2369, the McAllister Nebula was used by the Cardassian Union to hide its ships so it could stage a sneak attack on the nearby Federation system Minos Korva. However, this plan was thwarted by Captain Edward Jellico, who then commanded the USS Enterprise-D on a temporary assignment. Jellico was able to detect the Cardassian ships inside the nebula. ("Chain of Command, Part II," TNG)

In 2375, the USS Devonshire followed enemy ships into the nebula during the Dominion War's Battle of Lapolis, where the Starfleet vessel encountered a Grey battleship – the Federation's first contact with the Grey Confederacy. Because the nebula shares many of the properties of the Patch the Grey were able to use their enhanced technologies at full strength. This required the Devonshire commander, Ian Knapp, to sacrifice his ship to destroy the battleship. ("Enemy Unknown, Part 1")

In 2381, because of the nebula's similarities to the Patch, the Tholians sent several task forces, including ships from their Breen allies, to the nebula to search for the mysterious tetrahedrons. As observed by the USS Antietam, the Tholians swept the area with isolytic pulses to uncover a tetrahedron. This attracted three Grey battleships, which attacked the Tholian-Breen forces, and initiated a self-destruct within the tetrahedron. The resulting planetary explosion created a powerful shockwave that destroyed most of the remaining Tholian and Breen ships. The Antietam was able to escape through a well-hidden current located by Tolian Naros. ("The Battle is Joined")

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Canon Notes

While Hidden Frontier scripts repeatedly refer to this as the McCallister Nebula, this is a typographical error or misspelling. "McAllister" is the correct spelling.

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