Pathfinders
ART’s armed pathfinders force a meeting, scatter installation defenders, and destroy Target Contact without turning the rescue into colony-wide bombardment.
Story so far
ART arms thirty-two pathfinders after learning Murderbot has been captured. Under Plan B01, the devices become a calibrated arsenal rather than the colony-destroying force imagined in Rain Destruction.
ART crashes one into the agricultural zone and detonates another above the Pre-CR complex to prove its threat, forcing a less-infected delegation to negotiate. A pathfinder placed on the meeting terrace makes the danger immediate, while another waits in the installation plaza.
Once the delegates reveal Murderbot’s location, one pathfinder explodes in the fields and four more scream across the sky to draw defenders away from Three’s infiltration. The final device broadcasts an imminent-detonation warning as Three carries Murderbot into Arada’s shuttle. It explodes beneath the escaping craft and destroys the otherwise weapon-resistant Target Contact.
Appearance
Compact autonomous pathfinding devices converted into missiles, capable of controlled flight, audible warning broadcasts, airbursts, ground impacts, and large cratering explosions.
Role
The pathfinders supply coercion, distraction, and the only effective strike against Target Contact. Their targeted use lets ART apply overwhelming force without annihilating the colony.
Relationships
Sources — 2 recorded facts, by chapter
- Thirty-two exploration devices become ART’s improvised missile arsenal, making its threat against the colony terrifyingly credible.
- ART’s armed pathfinders force a meeting, scatter installation defenders, and destroy Target Contact without turning the rescue into colony-wide bombardment.