Quoted By:
“One hundred thousand kilometers, traversed at nearly a quarter of light-speed. Impact is almost instantaneous. The first two rounds streak past the defensive station like summer meteorites. The next two lance into the station’s midline.
There is no gradual loss of pressurization or piecemeal system collapse. The entire station shatters like a sculpture made from spun glass. Molten debris spills outward as the superstructure lists to accommodate a monstrous sum of transferred momentum. Secondary detonations race up the station’s reactor compartment before the entire structure vanishes in the actinic flare of runaway fusion burn.
When it fades, its orbital corridor opens like a door.
Pressure. Pain. Depth-resonance. The RAIN ramps to nine-gees as she shoots past MIZAR-III’s traitorous guardian moon. Through blurry eyes, I see pinpricks of cyan thrust: squadrons of corvettes and destroyers matching our acceleration to interpose themselves across our before we reach firing range. Behind them, the cruiser group tightens their ranks, moving towards the terminal exit of our transit corridor."
- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, DECEMBER 13th, PERSONAL JOURNAL//VOICE DICTATION
[The RAIN WILL:]
>CONTINUE. Continue her present course and maximize her approach velocity to avoid interception. This will make the RAIN more visible, but it will also bring us into the launch radius for our antimatter missiles quickly.
>ATTACK. Wait for a good opportunity to expend some or all of the RAIN's conventional fusion missiles. If we are fortunate, this could significantly weaken the intercepting force long before they can engage us.
>DECOY. Permanently expend the RAIN's sensor drones as decoys while approaching at a slower burn-rate. In the confusion, we will pick off intercepting ships with the hypometric weapon.
[MERRYGATE WILL:]
>TARGET – CRUISER GROUP. MERRYGATE will direct the hijacked station’s entire missile complement against the cruiser group.
>TARGET – DESTROYER GROUP. MERRYGATE will direct the hijacked station’s entire weapon complement against the lighter units attempting to intercept us.
>TRANSMISSION. MERRYGATE will attempt to degrade the enemy’s effectiveness by hopping through their comm channels and/or sending disruptive visual stimuli. Effectiveness may vary, but this will reserve the station’s weapons for use at a later time.
