Quoted By:
>Tie between the laser and the particle lance. I’ll wait for one more vote, then decide with RNG if no tiebreaker by tomorrow.
“We entered the final phase of our approach yesterday. After crossing the outer fringes of the mid-system asteroid belt, the NOVEMBER RAIN flipped along its long axis to initiate a gentle retrograde burn. As the RAIN decelerated, the taffy-blue face of MIZAR-VI expanded until it dominated our view: serene and strangely featureless despite the violent weather systems roiling within its dense atmosphere.
Our plan has changed little within the past few days. This fact is unsurprising. Over the course of our month-long journey, MERRYGATE and I have planned our attack down to the millisecond. Figuratively in my case, but very literally in the case of my companion. At times, her obsessiveness outpaces my own. Space combat is already slow for humans. For AIs, the process must be glacial.
The only significant update worth noting is our decision to launch a spare probe at the outer-system mining colony. While we had initially chosen to pass this target in favor of the water-extraction facility, the amount of traffic surrounding the stations still represent a valuable source of intelligence – especially given that the outer system’s main communication hub is now inoperable. One of the RAIN’s sensor drones – configured for local surveillance and data storage – will linger near the station trio for a few months before falling back into MIZAR-VI’s orbit for recovery. However, conducting this surveillance operation means that our drone supply for our upcoming attack on the extraction will be limited to three probes. Efficiency will be key: here more than ever.”
- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, FEB 28, PERSONAL JOURNAL
