[Back Log] Echoes of Blood Pt 2

Posted on 11 Jan 2026 @ 5:41am by Lieutenant Aev Flammia

1,871 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Echoes of Blood
Location: Runabout Loire - Corvanis System
Timeline: 1.5 Weeks Previous

= Runabout Loire =

Reclined in the pilot’s chair, Aev stared up at the softly blinking console lights overhead, letting the rhythm of them wash over him. They’d arrived in the Corvanis system nearly nine hours earlier, but progress had been slow.

The culprit was the massive asteroid belt encircling the inner system, or, as Ignis had insisted on calling it, “a gravimetric debris disk with delusions of grandeur.” Dropping out of warp in the outer system had been unavoidable. To make matters worse, many of the asteroids were threaded with trace amounts of verterium-cortenide, flooding the Loire’s sensors with static and distortion.

On the system map, the belt looked dense and unforgiving. In reality, the rocks themselves were spaced kilometers apart, just sparse enough to allow a carefully plotted visual flight path toward Corvanis IV. Still, flying sensor blind had a way of getting under the skin. If something went wrong out here, it would be a long time before anyone even realized they were missing, longer still before anyone came looking.

“We will be entering Corvanis IV’s orbital envelope in three minutes,” Ignis announced, unmistakable satisfaction in his voice. He slid one hand theatrically across the co-pilot’s console, fingers dancing as if performing a sleight-of-hand trick. The runabout responded immediately, adjusting its trajectory in a smooth, elegant arc.

Aev pushed himself upright and looked ahead. Corvanis IV filled the forward viewport, a blue-gray marble streaked with brilliant white cloud systems, deceptively serene.

He glanced down at the primary sensor display and initiated a short-range scan. When the results came back inconclusive, his brow furrowed. “Are we still dealing with interference from the asteroid belt?” he asked, turning toward Ignis.

Ignis didn’t look away from the viewport. “Oh, absolutely,” he said lightly. “The debris disk is clinging to us like a bad habit. Short-range sensors are functional, but anything beyond that is… interpretive.”

He flashed Aev a grin. “On the bright side, if something tries to sneak up on us, it’ll have to do so very politely.”

Sam drifted into the cockpit a moment later, moving more quietly than usual. Her hair was a little rumpled, jacket half-zipped, as if she’d dressed on instinct rather than intention. She slowed when she caught sight of Corvanis IV filling the viewport.

“…That’s it?” she asked, not quite hiding the tension in her voice.

Aev nodded once.

She didn’t comment further, instead stepping past them to the auxiliary operations console set just behind the pilot seats. The display flared to life as her fingers brushed the controls, her posture shifting automatically into something more focused, more guarded.

“I don’t like how clean it looks,” Sam muttered as she began pulling up sensor overlays. “Planets that look that calm usually aren’t.”

Ignis glanced back at her, amused. “An entirely unscientific assessment.”

“Every engineer I’ve ever trusted uses unscientific assessments,” she shot back. “They keep you alive.”

Her fingers danced across the panel, adjusting gain levels, compensating manually for the interference. The readouts flickered, fragmented, incomplete. “…Okay,” Sam said after a moment. “Either this place is very boring, or something down there really doesn’t want to be seen.”

Ignis’s smile sharpened. “Oh good. I was hoping you’d say that.”

Aev exhaled slowly, his gaze returning to the planet as the runabout eased closer to orbit. At the edge of the viewport, something dark caught his eye, a smudge of black against the swirling white cloud cover. He leaned forward, squinting. “Is that a base?” He glanced toward Ignis. “What do you make of it?”

Ignis leaned closer to the display, the faint glow of his eyes sharpening as streams of data scrolled past. “At first glance, yes,” he said. “It is the old orbital loading station, dilithium transfer and staging for the Corvanis mining colony. Federation-era construction, long since written off as derelict.”

He paused, head tilting slightly. “But there are inconsistencies. Structural additions that don’t align with the original schematics. Reinforced sections where none should be necessary. Power fluctuations that suggest the station isn’t nearly as dead as it’s meant to be.” His fingers danced across the console, attempting to refine the scan. The readout only grew noisier.

“My sensors are having difficulty isolating the signal,” Ignis continued. “At first I attributed it to residual interference from the asteroid belt, but…” A thin smile touched his lips. “The pattern is too coherent.”

He looked back at Aev. “This appears to be deliberate jamming, layered carefully to mimic environmental noise. Whoever installed it enhanced the natural interference rather than overriding it.” Ignis’s smile sharpened. “Very clever. Most vessels would dismiss it as leftover verterium-cortenide scatter and move on. They wanted it to look abandoned. They succeeded.”

A tight knot formed in the pit of Aev’s stomach. He’d come into this expecting little more than a wild goose chase, an abandoned colony, a few answers, and nothing more. Instead, it felt as though they’d stumbled onto something far larger than he’d anticipated.

“Who is they?” he asked quietly. Then, more practically, “Can the visual scanners pick up anything that resembles weapon systems?” The question carried weight. Runabouts weren’t built for tactical encounters. If the station was armed, their options would be limited. Could they outrun it? Or worse, was there a ship concealed within the sensor noise waiting?

Aev drew in a slow breath, forcing the tension down, and kept his eyes on the console as he waited for Ignis’s response.

Ignis’s eyes flicked rapidly as he overlaid visual data with what little sensor clarity he could extract. “I’m not detecting any external weapon emplacements,” he said. “No phaser arrays, no torpedo ports, no defensive grid signatures. At least none consistent with Starfleet or known non-Federation designs.”

He paused, refining the scan. “That said, the absence feels intentional. If this station were meant to defend itself, the systems would be obvious, or at least detectable. This structure appears designed to avoid attention, not repel it.”

From the auxiliary console behind them, Sam leaned forward, frowning at her own readouts. “I’m not seeing weapons either,” she added, “but whatever’s scrambling our sensors is being actively managed. That takes power. A lot of it.”

She tapped the console, pulling up another overlay. “If they wanted to stay hidden, they’re doing a damn good job. But if they’d wanted teeth, we’d already know.”

Ignis nodded once. “Which suggests their priority isn’t confrontation.”

The knot in Aev’s stomach drew tighter. “I don’t like this,” he said quietly. “Are you getting anything on sensors?” Corvanis IV now filled the forward viewport, a vast sweep of blue and white, its atmosphere roiling. Two broad, ember-hued landmasses stretched along the equator as the runabout slipped into high orbit. “Any signs of settlements?”

Ignis leaned in, eyes narrowing as he layered visual feeds over the fractured sensor data. “Sensors are still effectively blinded,” he said. “Whatever is interfering with them remains consistent across the planet-facing arc. I’m unable to confirm population centers through conventional means.”

He gestured toward the viewport instead. “Visually, however, there are three regions of interest. One along the northern edge of the eastern landmass, faint geometric irregularities in the cloud cover. Another near the equatorial belt, where thermal variance suggests subsurface activity. The third is farther south, partially obscured, but the surface topology shows patterns that don’t align with natural formation.

From the ops console, Sam leaned forward, squinting. “I see them too,” she said. “None of them match old colony schematics. Whatever’s down there wasn’t part of the original mining layout, or it’s been heavily altered.”

She tapped a few keys, bringing up an enhanced visual. “If those are settlements, they’re keeping a very low profile. No beacon signals, no standard power emissions. Someone went out of their way to make sure they don’t show up on a casual scan.”

Ignis’s mouth curved into a thin smile. “Which suggests they expected someone to come looking.”

“Who are they?!” Aev said again, the frustration slipping through despite himself. The Reman’s words flared in his mind, vivid and unwelcome. Go to Corvanis. Was this a trap? And if it was, why? The pieces didn’t fit. None of it made sense. He exhaled heavily. “With this level of interference, beaming down is out of the question.”

Turning in his seat, he looked back at Sam. “I don’t like that you were pulled into this,” he said quietly. “The only way we’re going to get answers is to land near the largest settlement we can identify. But if you think it’s smarter to turn around and contact Starfleet, I won’t argue.” The anxiety was still there, coiled tight, but beneath it now was something stronger. A pull. A growing hunger for answers that he was no longer sure he could ignore.

Sam didn’t answer right away. She leaned back against the ops console, arms folded, eyes fixed on the planet turning slowly beneath them. “Yeah,” she said finally, “this is absolutely sketchy.”

She glanced at Aev, expression steady rather than afraid. “But it’s the quiet kind of sketchy. If this were a trap, it’s a weird one, no weapons, no challenge, no big dramatic ‘gotcha.’ Just layers of effort spent making sure no one looks too closely.” She pushed off the console and stepped closer. “And if Starfleet was already supposed to know about this? Those sensors wouldn’t be jammed this cleanly.”

She paused. Then a faint, crooked smile appeared. “You didn’t drag me into anything. I chose to come. And if we turn around now, you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering what was down there.” She looked back at the viewport. “So we land near the biggest settlement. We keep our heads down, our exit clear, and our engines warm.” Another glance at Aev. “And if it goes sideways, we run like hell.”

She shrugged. “I’m good either way, but if you’re asking what I’d do?” Her eyes sharpened. “I’d go find the answers.”

“Thank you,” Aev said quietly, turning his attention back to the planet dominating the viewport. “Ignis, identify the largest probable settlement and bring us down about a kilometer out.”

Ignis inclined his head, already working. “Understood,” he said smoothly. “Correlating visual anomalies now.” The display shifted as he overlaid terrain models onto the planet’s surface. A faint outline resolved near the equatorial landmass.

“This region shows the highest concentration of structural irregularities,” Ignis continued. “Subsurface thermal bleed-through, consistent power stability, and minimal atmospheric disturbance, suggestive of an established installation rather than temporary habitation.”

He glanced back at Aev, a familiar spark of dry humor returning. “I’ll put us down one point one kilometers out. Close enough to walk. Far enough not to announce ourselves.” The runabout adjusted its trajectory, nose dipping toward the planet.

“Beginning descent.”

= To be continued =

Lieutenant Aev Flammia
Chief of Security
USS Arawyn

&

Lieutenant Samantha Dawes (NPC)
Medical Officer & Surgeon
USS Charon

 

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