K’Shar
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K’Shar is a desert world on the outer reaches of the Shackleton Expanse, defined by sandstorms that sweep across the surface in near-constant cycles. These storms scour the terrain, shift the dunes, and periodically reveal or rebury ancient ruins scattered across the planet.
Overview
K’Shar’s surface is harsh and inhospitable. The storms are fierce enough to strip exposed machinery in days and render long-term settlement difficult without advanced shielding. The atmosphere is thin but breathable, and temperatures swing from scorching daylight heat to freezing nights. Native life appears limited to hardy desert flora and insectoids adapted to the extremes.
The ruins scattered across K’Shar are its greatest mystery. Often uncovered only briefly before the sands swallow them again, they range from toppled stone foundations to partially intact complexes. Their age is unknown, and their origins impossible to determine from orbit. Some appear built on a monumental scale, suggesting a culture with significant resources or technology. The intermittent exposure makes study difficult; what is revealed one week may be buried the next.
New Frontiers Campaign
K'Shar was one of many planets that was briefly surveyed by a Starfleet survey vessel. Although, however brief as it were, the survey vessel identified the existence of ruins on the planet and left a probe with a subspace transceiver in high orbit. This gave Framheim Station and any other vessels live access to the probe's sensors of the planet, thus able to monitor storm activity and anything else yet discovered.
USS Sovereign was assigned to conduct a full investigation of the planetary ruins to discover what had happened to the civilization that may had once inhabited the planet. After a few close calls, the away team returned and the Sovereign headed back to the Framheim Station.
In Play
- K’Shar may still have much to discover. Only a small fraction, the city ruins, were explored.
- There may yet be more to discover in the city ruins that the last survey team missed. Or perhaps there are other sites on the planet that were ignored.
- While the sandstorms are less severe, they still remain unsafe to be in. On top of that, there are behemoth sand worms that roam in the desert but the first survey team found a way to repel them. Would be important to look into before another team investigates the planet.