Calculations indicated that the first shockwave from the solar eruption would reach Jupiter’s orbit in less than fifteen minutes.
However, because Jupiter’s massive bulk stood as a physical bulwark against the impact, the Callisto Base still had a reprieve.
With an orbital period of 16.7 days, Callisto had only just begun its passage behind the gas giant, meaning Jupiter would offer a "safe harbor" for at least six or seven days.
As for what would follow, humanity could only pray for divine intervention.
Even as Yue Yuan spoke, the Sun roared into its predicted, cataclysmic eruption.
Historically, supernovas follow two established mechanisms. The first involves a white dwarf accreting matter from a companion star until it detonates; the second involves a massive star suffering gravitational collapse at the end of its life cycle once its internal equilibrium is shattered.
The latter is a cosmic standard: when a star’s hydrogen is spent, the interior can no longer generate enough radiation pressure to balance its own gravity.
The core collapses, causing temperatures and pressures to spike until they trigger helium fusion. This produces carbon and temporarily halts the collapse with a new surge of radiation pressure.
If the star is massive enough, this cycle repeats, fusing heavier elements like oxygen, neon, magnesium, and silicon.
Each layer of the star acts as a shell of fusion, with the heaviest elements sinking toward the center until they reach the final product: iron or Nickel-56 . At that point, fusion stops, and gravity wins.
The core collapses at roughly 23% of the speed of light, and the star is torn asunder.
Except for the initial light and heat, the majority of the star's matter is accelerated to 10% of the speed of light and hurled into the void.
The remnants are determined by mass: those under the Chandrasekhar limit become white dwarfs, those between the Chandrasekhar and Oppenheimer limits become neutron stars, and those exceeding the latter become black holes.
However, this second mechanism requires a star at least eight times the mass of our Sun. Alpha Centauri A was only 1.1 times the Sun's mass, B was 0.907, and Proxima was a mere red dwarf.
None of them, including our Sun, should have been capable of this. They were victims of a third, terrifying mechanism: a strike by an advanced civilization.
A natural supernova can sterilize life within a 160-light-year radius, stripping atmospheres and scouring planets clean.
The solar supernova was smaller than a natural one, but at "point-blank" range, size was irrelevant. It was far beyond any human defense.
In that instant, the Sun followed the triple-star system of Centauri to become the fourth light to illuminate the Milky Way.
Merciless gamma radiation swept outward, transforming the gentle Sun into a reaper. The Xihe probe vanished instantly.
Mercury, the closest planet, survived for only a few seconds before it was pulverized into cosmic dust. In those heartbeats, the Sun unleashed energy that should have taken ten billion years to expend, pouring it over every world in its path.
Venus was consumed next, and then the light reached Earth.
An ocean of white light washed over the world, instantly incinerating the day-side. Forests turned to ash, and mountain peaks melted into magma or sublimated directly into gas.
The atmosphere was stripped into the void; the oceans boiled into steam as the continents became a molten soup.
As the planet rotated, the night-side offered no sanctuary. The Hanhai Project and the pride of the Orbital Mass Accelerator were reduced to rivers of iron, and the masterpiece of Tiangong was swallowed by the glare.
Next was the Moon. Guanghan Palace disintegrated as the lunar body fell apart under the unrelenting energy.
Mars's orbit was further away, allowing it to hold on for a few more minutes, but it too inevitably followed the fate of Mercury, Venus, and Earth, becoming part of the Sun's light.
The Vast Ocean, Orbital Mass Driver, Tiangong, Xihe, Guanghan Palace, Mars, Artemis, Apollo, Zeus...
Each name, once a source of Humanity's pride, each a spiritual anchor, each a peak technological creation of Humanity, each a grand project of Humanity, appeared so small and fragile before the Sun's wrath.
Greatness, it seemed, became a mockery that highlighted insignificance and fragility.
All was silent.
The cunning, the warmth, the indomitable spirit, the love and hate that once existed there, all turned into light. The prayers, the curses,the desperate cries for help-
reached nobody.
Not to gods.
Not to demons.
Not to anyone who could listen.
They echoed against the vastness of space.
This was humanity's darkest hour in history.
The destruction surged through the asteroid belt, passed through the immense Jupiter, shattered the souls, and deeply imprinted itself in the hearts of Callisto's survivors.
This was to be the lasting imprint of humanity's scars and pain- a ruthless strike from an unknown civilization to humanity, which had just only stepped out of its cradle.
It shattered all of their delusions about the beauty of this unknown universe.
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