Scanning the Skies
Posted on Sun Mar 1st, 2026 @ 2:47pm by Lieutenant JG V'Laros & Petty Officer 2nd Class Sizia Sh'velihr [Baas] & Lieutenant Urushi Yaotome
Edited on on Sun Mar 1st, 2026 @ 8:30pm
1,410 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
What was Lost is Found
Timeline: Back post - Prior to Moving Forward 1-5
[Shuttle bay]
As the away teams surveyed the surface and the settlement leadership was on there tour V'Laros suggested a survey of the planets atmosphere. They had taken several scans but the idea of collecting samples of the atmosphere had been raised as well.
He had raised a bow at the idea of a 'direct' sampling as they could easily beam any number of sample aboard directly to a lab but the others were less than logical.
Stepping out of the shuttle to find Yaotome checking the sampling containers that had been mounted. "The shuttle is...". His sentence cut off as PO Sh'velihr came running up.
"Per...permission to...to join you."
"Of course," Urushi said with a smile. "This should be a nice easy flight."
Sizia grinned, catching her breath after having run from the from the lift to the bay to try and catch them. "Thank you..."
V'Laros raised a brow, "Miss. Sh'velihr, you could have used your communicator."
Sizia smiled as her breathing slowed. "Where's the fun in that that Lieutenant?"
"I fail to see the logic in your unnecessary exertions, the potential injury to yourself or others by running through the corridors try to catch us before our departure, when a simple hail would have sufficed."
Shrugging innocently. "True, but this way I got some exercise in."
"Then I would suggest more time in the gym so you won't be as winded the next time you want to have 'fun'."
"Yes Sir," she said with a smirk. Looking to Yaotome, "Where do you want me?"
"I'll let you two do the scanning. I'm going to be doing the flying." Urushi said confidently. "Its been a long time since I've had a chance to take a shuttle out. So I'm itching to get at the controls." She told them.
Sizia and V'Laros both looked at each other at the same time. Turning back to their leader, V'Laros brought his hands together behind him, "As you wish Lieutenant. Well as I was saying, the shuttle is ready for departure."
Sizia was already making her way aboard and took the auxiliary station, leaving the primary for V'Laros.
"I've secured us the type eleven shuttle. Best sensors and all, so lets go ahead and get aboard." Urushi said as she pointed to the shuttlecraft that was parked in the bay nearby.
Gesturing for his senior to proceed first, he followed her aboard to see the eager yeoman sitting at a secondary station configuring it scans and atmospheric sampling. "Ready to go I see."
Looking up as the two officers final boarded Sizia grinned, "Absolutely. Anything specific that we are looking for?"
"Anything that we can find," Urushi explained simply. "Keep a close eye on every sensor reading we collect."
Sizia smiled, "Understood."
Sizia turned back to her station and V'Laros took his. Both turned to the task readying the scanners as they waited for departure.
"Ok lets go!" Urushi said with a smile. The hatch behind them closed with a click. Then slowly the shuttle touched off and zoomed out of the bay and into space. The planet grew bigger and bigger as the small craft descended nose first into the atmosphere. The forward viewport was covered with fire from the friction as they made their way down.
Finally the shuttle broke through the upper atmosphere and Urushi levelled them off. White fluffy white clouds rolled below them amongst the blues of the skies. Breaks in the cloud layer showed a landscape of rolling hills with occasional mountains. Forests and rivers covered the land like a warm green blanket.
"Ok, lets start with getting some topographical scans." Urushi stated. "Lets see what this planets surface is made up of."
Sizia grinned, "On it." She ran her scans. on the surface but included the sub-surface as well. "Looks like we have an average sized Nickle-Iron core and mantel. The surface has fewer tectonic plates for a planet of this size and has a resource rich crust. I'm detecting healthy deposits of various minerals and metals, including Latinum...better not tell the Ferengi. I'm also seeing several rare finds like Benamite and Eisillium."
"Three major mountain ranges on the planet, the highest located along a plate collision, the other two over a key subduction zones."
"This is a perfect planet for mining operations..." Urushi said. "And yeah, lets not tell the Ferengi. They'll be here before we can say Rules of Acquisition." She joked. "Lets switch to biology scans. How we looking in that area?"
Sizia look over at V'Laros who simply gestured for her to continue. He could monitor her from his station.
Smiling she turned back to her console. "Scans for the settlement area show this area to be in a transitional area between temperate humid continental, humid subtropical climate region which would allow for a wide variety of crops and support a wide variety of animal life."
As the passed over the mountains they came to the area that had been bombard by the antimatter bombs that had saved their lives. but at the cost of the native humanoid population. "The bombardment area is still recovering. However heavy erosion over the year due to the lack of plant life. Though looks like grasses have recovered and there are signs of small growth forests taking shape."
Expanding her scans as they passed over ocean. "Massive aquatic life form readings. Several areas of what looks like pods of some very large cetacean species. Looks like a marine biologist dream down there."
Urushi looked over at the sensors and smiled. "Yeah, no doubt. Those things are huge, they make the Earth Blue Whale look small" She commented. "Are there any signs of side effects of the antimatter/matter explosions on the local fauna and flora? Apart from the huge holes of course."
V'Laros chimed in at that point having been analyzing the planet's atmosphere. "The preliminary scans of the impact area seemed to indicate a mix of impact as well as air burst detonations. Given the number of devices that reported to have been used this would account for the current amount of isotopes remaining in the atmosphere.
"The crash survivors were fortunate that the planets jet stream took the fallout away from their settlement. The majority of any debris would have been scattered across the ocean. The upper atmosphere still contains the finer particles; with proper equipment it should be possible to filter out the particle and clear the interference these particles have created."
"Any signs of long term effects?" Urushi asked as she continued to pilot the shuttle.
V'Laros raised and eyebrow, "Without data preceding the fallout it would be impossible to determine the impact of radiation on the wildlife. If we could obtain medical records on the survivors the radiological impact could be extrapolated and an estimate applied to the rest of the planet based on approximated dispersal patterns."
Urushi nodded. "So that's a 'no' or a 'maybe' then..." she smiled. "Lets get back to Land. There's a landmass on sensors. Looks more tropical than where the settlement is. Its closer to the equator too, so could be something like a tropical rainforest."
Sizia took on this one. "Yes ma'am... just over 13 million square kilometers, including the eastern archipelagos. The ridge along the western edge of the continent has created a lush region similar to the Amazon on Earth. Massive animal life signs..." Her voice became less enthusiastic, "...nothing to indicate any advanced primate or a privative culture, damn it."
V'Laros looked over. Why the disappointment Petty Officer?"
"I had hoped that maybe some of the indigenous people the Administrator had mentioned had spread to this continent but apparently not."
"It is odd that ALL of the planet indigenous people where isolated into a single area on the planet. And that that area was the location of the Defiled contamination. Perhaps the Administrator and the other survivors have not been completely forthcoming about their early activities?"
"Its something we'll have to investigate." Urushi said. "However, we've got plenty of scans. Lets return to the Valkyrie. There's enough data here to keep us busy for a while."
V'Laros nodded and began wrapping up his scans and ensured the atmospheric samples were secured.
Sizia turned to her station as well and prepared all the data collected for download to the Valkyrie's computers.
Lt. Urushi Yaotome
CSO
Ltjg. V'Laros
Sci Off - NPC
PO2 Sizia Sh'velihr
Yeoman & Sci trainee - NPC
RSS Feed