Stellar combustor

A stellar combustor is a kind of bomb. They can be deployed in or near stars to cause massive explosions, potentially chain-reacting through other stars to cause incalculable destruction.

History and Use

COUNTER/Weight

Spoiler warning! This section contains major spoilers for COUNTER/Weight. Tread carefully!

Both known uses of stellar combustors were against Rigour. Both attempts were, ultimately, failures.

The first use of a stellar combustor was when those fleeing Rigour detonated the combustors behind them in an attempt to keep the divine from following. This was partially successful, as it propelled their people farther into the Milky Way galaxy, though it destroyed many star systems in between. Rigour was, however, not stopped entirely, and generations later it would find its way to what had become the Autonomous Diaspora.

The Autonomous Diaspora would again use stellar combustors, this time in an attempt to destroy Rigour entirely. The bomb was delivered in a suicide mission by the crew of the Wayfarer True, a group of Old Earth cultists. The ensuing explosions killed hundreds of billions, destroying many populated worlds. This was ultimately only a temporary solution, as Rigour was not destroyed but simply shot across the galaxy to eventually land in the Golden Branch star system, where it remained dormant for centuries. Notably, the divine Independence was present in the Diaspora at the time of detonation, and witnessed the effects of the combustors.

Twilight Mirage

Spoiler warning! This section contains major spoilers for Twilight Mirage. Tread carefully!

The Rapid Evening equips its Satellite observers with stellar combustors, to be deployed by Primaries against the threats they are monitoring if deemed necessary. The stellar combustor attached to Gray Gloaming's post is scuttled by Demani Dusk as part of their resignation from the Rapid Evening, despite the emergence of "Annihilation-Class" threats. Similarly, Andara Aurora either refused or failed to use their stellar combustor against Independence when it passed through Benthos; although Independence was dangerous, destroying it with the bomb would have killed everyone else in the system.

The Rapid Evening threatened to use a "limited range" stellar combustor during "Futura Free", which would have destroyed Volition as well as the rest of the Quire system.

PALISADE

Spoiler warning! This section contains major spoilers for PALISADE. Tread carefully!

The stellar combustor that appears in PALISADE takes the form of a twirling, three-ringed space station orbiting Palisade's sun. Each of the rings is staffed by people with different roles. The outer ring has docks for transport ships; food, recreation, maintenance, and medical activities all happen on that ring. The middle ring is for communications and military command, and the inner ring is for engineering activities on the combustor itself. The people who work on it have all had permanent modifications made to them to allow them to survive the heat of the place, and they will work there until they die.

Stargraves are military officials assigned by the Divine Principality to the control and potential detonation of stellar combustors. Stargrave Elcessor, the leader of the Principality's occupation of Palisade, is one such official: she has the ability to detonate its stellar combustor should the planet be declared an "existential threat to the Principality".

Following the Authority's uncovering of the six factions comprising the Cause, Elcessor arms her stellar combustor and threatens to blow up the Palisade system and the 23 star systems nearest it unless the leaders of each faction surrender themselves to the Bilateral Intercession immediately. In response, Kalvin Brnine, Phrygian, and their crew member Routine Rennari go rogue and embark on a stealth mission with the aim of deactivating the stellar combustor and saving trillions of lives. Ultimately, Phrygian sacrifices themself in order to take all of the stellar combustors in the galaxy offline permanently.