In what would be called by humans an Excursion Machine an Engineer stands on a ridge atop a mountain overlooking a valley choked with red vegetation as it monitored a massive construct. One that loomed over a kilometer tall and reached further down. It could have monitored this event remotely through a video feed as a good chunk of the population was doing, but it desired to see it's life's work in action. It had observed as the first transport projectile was moved along a maglev rail from the underground bunker and moved past the vast door a few hours earlier, a sleek cylinder with an external ablative layer and a set of disposable retro rocket motors to see it land safely at it's destination. It took perceived the subtle changes in the massive ball turret as it was brought to bear. Hours latter, at a precisely calculated moment the device rumbled, a the massive barrel sunk down into the ground and a huge gout of glowing green vapor blasted skyward while a ring of gas expanded outward. It's kind were not by nature passionate, having reduce their emotionality over the course of millennia, but even so it felt pride at it's acomplishment and wonder at the spectacle. In that torrent was the projectile, rushing spacewards. Though it moved to quickly to see, reports from instruments showed that the projectile had cleared the barrel intact and it's passengers survived the launch.





A few minutes latter, the barrel was undergoing a cooling cycle so it might be readied for another firing tomorrow. For thousands of years the Engineer's civilization had reigned over most of the planet, leaving only a few territories to a smattering of untamed barbarian city states and hordes. But even so, the wars that had established their dominance had ravaged their planet and the efforts at maintaining the biosphere grew more desperate. As such their attentions turned spacewards. This massive cannon was the tool that they planned on using to invade their sunward neighbors. This Cannon's first barrage would be a Scouting Mission, ten cylinders to the nearest of these inner planets. The Engineer's kind had long since abandoned speech for biological radio and thus had no name for the world they targeted but instead conveyed complex thoughts to describe it: a rough image of it's appearance, it's vast seas and green foliage warm and wet. The Barbarians referred to it as "The Third Sphere". To the natives that inhabited the area around their landing site who's scientific age had recently begun, it was known as Earth.





