As the Yuki kept getting closer and closer, The researcher manned their stations in order to start measuring the different activity going on around the vicinity. As the Yuki zapped through the air with blazing speeds, The researchers were looking forward to the beach-head where the ocean would start from. As that'd mean they were close. But the beach never came. Instead, They were moving through another forest of the same kind found in the previous locations.
The Yuki had to adjust it's altitude as the trees under them were even taller than the last forest. These trees seem to be a lot more active as they pulsed with energy more often.
"This is weird. Aren't we supposed to be over an ocean already? These should be an ocean according to the mapped data.", Dr. Helen leaned back on her seat and asked as she looked at the scenery outside.
There wasn't supposed to be a forest beneath them. It should've been an ocean. According to the probes that scanned the area previously, The location they were headed towards was on an ocean. But now that they saw it with their own eyes, there was no ocean to be found. Miles and miles of tall trees that dwarfed even their escort mechs. These trees were glowing in an orange light as raw energy pulsed through them. The frequency of the pulse was greater than what they recorded at the previous forest. It showed that there was something more going on.
Dr. Helen had an inkling, So she got up from her seat and headed towards a certain station. After she moved to the station she asked the operator to scan the area beneath them. If she was right, Then that'd explain why there was a forest instead of an ocean beneath them.
As the Yuki and the escort mechs flew over the vast forest in blazing speeds, they covered a huge distance as they were actively scanning the ground under them. Except, They scanners didn't show anything. According the the scanners, There was nothing beneath them. There was just a void. This showed that the scanner's rays weren't being reflected.
Dr. Helen's eyes lit up in realization as she suddenly remembered something.
"This explains why the mapped data shows an Ocean. We programmed the Probe to mark this void as an ocean as the ocean itself also didn't reflect any of the scanner's rays. So it also marked this forest that didn't reflect any of it's rays as an ocean.", She figured out why there was such a discrepancy. But this raised another question.
"Why doesn't these trees appear on the scan? The previous forest's does interfere with the probes. What's different with these trees?", Dr. Helen asked as she touched her chin.
The forest looked the same as the previous forest. The same towering trees, The same glowing energy lines on the ground and the same pulsing activity signifying their energy movement. But something was different about it.
"How close are we to the destination?", Dr. Helen asked standing there in thought suddenly.
"ETA is 18 minutes exactly.", One of the operators replied.
"Measure the energy levels and spikes in the surrounding area as we approach our target location."
"Measuring the energy levels."
The Yuki began to slow down as it reached it's target. The crew felt it's speed decrease greatly. As they reached their destination, The Yuki came to a hover. There was only a dense forest beneath them. There was nowhere to land the Shuttle.
"Look for a suitable place to land the shuttle.", Dr. Helen instructed the operators.
As the operators began their search for a landing zone, One of the escort mech pilots suddenly hailed her.
She picked up the hail and a pop-up of a mech pilot poped up in front of her.
"Captain, Hrox of the 3rd Reign Horns Ma'am."
"Captain, what do you need?"
"Ma'am I was thinking that we should clear out some of the trees to make space for the shuttle."
Dr. Helen got interested suddenly.
"Do you think your mechs can bring down these trees?"
"I mean, We can try, Cause our mechs are the only thing big enough around here.", Captain Hrox gave a shrug.
"How do you plan on bringing them down?", Dr. Helen asked as she was considering this option. There was nowhere to land the shuttle and they needed to land it if they were to study the forest.
"We've got axe-man mechs with us Ma'am. We can chop down those trees. That's what axes do best."
"You got any experience in chopping down trees?"
"Plenty, Ma'am. We've done this before."
"Ok, Stand-by for further orders."
"Copy that."
Dr. Helen ended the call and moved towards another operator.
"Found any place to land the shuttle?"
"We've found a clearing. But it's not big enough for the Yuki.", One of the operators replied and then projected the place they found. It was a small clearing where it devoid of any trees.
"Good, preparer a plan on which trees we need to cut down to safely land the Yuki."
The Operators quickly hashed out the trees which needed to be chopped down to make room for Yuki.
Dr. Helen didn't like disturbing a foreign environment. Pristine environments always held more information than one that was disturbed by human interference. But she was a realist. As the leader of this Investigation, She was prepared to do what was necessary of her. And clearing up a few trees shouldn't be a problem anyway.
So they went ahead with the plan. Axeman mechs began to go towards the clearing. Dr. Helen had gave her permission. So they began to Descend down into the forest.
Each of the trees were almost 3 times as tall as the mechs. They were really thick too. So it would take a couple of mechs to take each of the trees down. After the trees that needed to be chopped down were maked, The 4 axeman mech moved into position. With their Axe in their hand, they were fully prepared to chop down these towering trees.