From Above

Posted on 15 Jul 2025 @ 11:42pm by Ensign Veenak & Ensign Emilie D'Astous

1,088 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Festival of Unity
Location: Shuttlecraft Arkadia
Timeline: Concurrent with The Storm

Shuttlecraft Arkadia made its way from Starbase 375 to the Cygnus crew's new homebase on Calisto IV, to the small cluster of atolls known as Elysia. Émilie knew the way by heart - she had made the trip over thirty times by now, ferrying crew and cargo back and forth as crewmembers reported for their two-week rotations on the Cygnus overhaul and returned to Elysia. The starbase was just far enough out of transporter range that a three-hour shuttle trip was required. There was an asteroid belt to navigate, and an orbiting dust clooud that carried residual galvanic radiation - enough to strip the shuttle's engines bare. Émilie knew by heart the course adjustments that had to me made to avoid the dust cloud.

"Wait a minute," she said, turning back to her passenger. "You mean Chell actually moved three guests around so he could give you a cabin with a view of Emerald Lagoon?" She silenced a beep from her console with a touch without looking at it. "You know that means he likes you."

Veenak side-eyed Émilie. "Oh, by Eisn, you are full of yourself. Chell was just being kind. I am sure he has done this for others that have requested special consideration." She tapped her controls to adjust for the course correction, pulling four millicochranes from the forward port dorsal stabilizers to the rear starboard ventral stabilizers. The change would give Émilie more control, and make the ride smoother. "Plus, he blushes, oddly enough, orange when he is around someone he likes. Have you seen him around Dr. Khalest? Every single time," Veenak giggled.

"We're talking about Chell, here," replied Émilie, making a slight course correction to avoid a rogue meteor. "He's very old-fashioned, he really believes in the traditional Bolian family structure. Four co-wives and four co-husbands. Besides, Khalest intimidates him, that's why he blushes."

Veenak rolled her eyes. "Bolians may be that way, but Romulans are not," she emphasized. "I could never imagine having more than one husband or wife. And you aren't kidding at all. Khalest is intimidating. A hybrid Vulcan/Klingon wielding a scalpel laser during your most vulnerable time? No thank you. I'd much rather navigate having co-wives and husbands," Veenak stated distastefully, though she had a smile tugging at her lips. Clearly she was jesting and gabbing as much as her companion was.

"Surgery with a bat'leth," quipped Émilie. "That would be quite a feat."

The shuttle cleared the second moon of Calisto IV, and the planet finally came into view. It was night over Elysia, and that side of the planet was hidden in pitch darkness. But on approach, the surface seemed littered by sparks, revealing a thick layer of clouds.

Émilie tapped her panel, accessing the sensor array. "I'm picking up a lot of ionization in the atmosphere. Massive atmospheric disturbance, low-pressure system."

Veenak looked from Émilie to her own control panel before looking up and out the windows. "By the gods, that looks like an ath'rel'ithar!" She looked back down to her controls and tapped furiously. "Yes, that is exactly what it is, with the exception of ice. This reading cannot be right," Veenak continued, studying the readout. "Can you please confirm? My instruments are showing it as a Category V."

"That is one big motherfracking hurricane," said Émilie. "And it's right on top of Elysia. Isn't there a weather modification network in place to dissipate those storms?"

"Checking," Veenak reported, her thin Romulan fingers gliding deftly over the controls of the Starfleet shuttle. She accessed first the Starfleet Database, then the directory for Starbase 375, then to the sub-directory for Calisto IV, and finally to the sub-directory for Elysia. Getting no results here, she backed out one to Calisto IV, and found the information she needed there. "Got it. Yes, they have a WMN. However, it is due for an upgrade. It says here, on Tuesday. Maybe it failed," she asked rhetorically, looking to Emilie.

"More likely some bureaucrat decided those resources were 'better spent' somewhere else," replied Émilie, sarcasm dripping from her voice. She tapped the comm panel. "Shuttlecraft Arkadia to Starbase 375. We are tracking a massive hurricane right over the settlement on Elysia. The settlement requires immediate assistance. Please respond."

=/\= Shuttlecraft Arkadia, that is a good copy," came the reply. "We are aware of the situation and are already working on a disaster relief plan. What is your location?"

Veenak hit the comm button. "We are on approach to Elysia, 375," she said. "Currently at an altitude of twenty thousand meters and descending. We can be on the ground in 25 seconds."

=/\= Much faster than us. Keep your sensors gathering information as you descend. It will help us determine the best location to send aid. Your hard floor is five thousand meters. Do not descend beyond that point. We will need you to be our eyes and ears until we can divert more resources to Elysia.

"Copy that Starbase," replied Émilie. She wouldn't have felt comfortable going any lower than that in this kind of storm anyway, this Class-V shuttlecraft not being equipped to handle that kind of turbulence.

She lowered the shuttle through the atmosphere, and activated the viewscreen filters to shield their eyes from the lightning that could possibly blind them. She directed the shuttle toward the coordinates of the Elysian settlement. "Five thousand meters," she announced when they were in position. "Anything on sensors?"

Veenak attempted to bring the sensors into resolution, but the buffeting of the shuttlecraft by the winds aloft caused her to miss the correct command, not once, not twice, but three times before she got it. She cursed every god she knew. “There we go, one moment,” she responded. She watched as the sensors did their magic before responding. “Got it, well, as best as we can with this shuttlecraft,” she reported. “Resolution isn’t the best. Looks like significant damage in Elysia and surrounding communities. I am reading somewhere between 150 humanoid lifeforms, and 1,500. Wish I could give you better. Either nearly everyone is alive, or nearly everyone is dead.” She then looked over to Emilie, her complexion whitening. “Most of the crew are there, including the Captain and First Officer.”

"I know," replied Émilie. She tapped her console and accessed the sensors. "The worst of it should pass in about two hours. They'll have to hold out until then."



OFF

A JP by

Ensign Emilie D'Astous
Flight Control Officer
USS Cygnus

and

Ensign Veenak
Operations Officer
USS Cygnus

 

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