Quoted By:
“As MERRYGATE began the lengthy process of refocusing MIZAR-V-G’s colossal mirror array, I spent several days reviewing miscellaneous information collated with the aid of the probe’s translation key. The material was scattered: low-priority data with little relevance to in-system traffic or military maneuvers. Cultural information, or at least the closest equivalent.
I read much but understood relatively little. There were some tidbits were easy enough to grasp: pigmentation-marks to designate status. Communal milestones to mark major landmarks in neural development. Piecing through fragmented narratives revealed a surprising degree of homogeneity. Individuals bound to kin-groups, which were in turn subsumed by larger organizational units - a product of both evolution and necessity.
Other aspects were less straightforward. The Mizarians embrace a strange, almost reverential view of the cosmos. They fear the black of forgetfulness: the dark of interstellar space, and of the endless abyss lurking beneath the habitable zone of their planet-wide ocean. In the same vein, they extol the virtues of their solar parent: the sun which had graced their murky planet with life and fueled their ascension to the stars.
So I find irony in what we are about to do here. Irony in the way in which we call upon their parent-star to do our work for us.
When MERRYGATE finally shifted the three mirrors into their designated positions, she created a reflective weapon with a focal point half an orbit away. The optical alignment wasn’t exact, and the focus was mellowed by optical imperfections and simple diffraction. But none of that really mattered. Not with mirrors bearing the combined area of a continent. Not with a ferocious O-type star as its light source.
Through the RAIN’s optical sensors, I saw three points of glaring light converge onto the equitorial plane of MIZAR-V-A. Here, orbital infrastructure glistened like spun sugar, weaving through an equatorial ring-bus responsible for ferrying cargo through the moon’s dense atmosphere. Looking closer, I saw a pair of armament-laden spin-stations lurking near the belt’s periphery: placed to provide ample coverage against any out-system threats.
The three mirrors converged their foci into a single searing imprint. Metal softened; laminates vaporized; mere water flashed into billowing steam – freezing to form twinkling streamers in the moon's wake."
Below, a kilometer-wide pillar of light descended onto the surface of their world, howling with thermal rage. The air began to burn.
Just as it once did for us."
- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, AUGUST 3, PERSONAL JOURNAL
