I am sorry to say ... we've lost at least five hundred marines in this attack. Perhaps that many again unaccounted for? The beam - it just went straight through, ruptured a fuel line inside the ship, flash-burning them all. Maybe some progenoid can be recovered, but not lives.
He wistfully looks down. It takes one mighty, sobbing draw on his cigar to calm down.
Anyway, to ... to business.
My ship ... well, the Thunder Child was heavily damaged in the burn, but saved us - she's still in dock, but I don't know how much I could manouever her out to get you. I'll give it my best shot. I can, however, give you yet more information - such is our genetic wont, I'm afraid. The beam, you may be surprised, didn't emanate from the mirrors, or anywhere near them. It came out of the planet's own surface; you know those ruins I was telling you about earlier? Smart money's on more of them. It gets worse. Something down there activated just mid-way through that bastard Cadma's speech - when he said the words 'fire control'. I don't like that - I get the feeling that something is actively listening to us down there. Boreale's devoting a significant portion of what lies under that shining forehead to blocking it, but I don't know how long he can last, especially with ... well, with his other plan. I don't know about boarders - I suspect none - but check the arms locker off the server array you're in right now.
And finally, I have to warn you that you are not currently in a stable orbit. That chunk you're on is going to make atmospheric-re-entry in approximately ten hours.
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Novare senses nothing. Barring the growing wind, and your own movements, the ship itself is silent.
Re: 'We live, as we dream — alone ...' [In Character]
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