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The orbiter raced around the planet, the profile of its terminator slowly consuming the landscape below it, the probe arced in sublime mathematical precision. Just before nightfall on one of the smaller continents the probe above received a prompt from another planet several hundred light seconds away.

A new stage was required of it, systems began a higher state of alert, guidance systems accurately calculated its position second by second, the probe continued to journey across the sun side of the planet, the sun rising ahead of it, the sharp relief of dawn across its mechanical features.

In the heart of the craft, a hardened kernel of a machine powered up, across its hard shell, current ran through dozens of hair thin wires checking the integrity of its heat shield, soon its own batteries warmed, now running independently of the much larger orbiter, it started its slow birth, clasps that held it in place were retracted, solenoids sliding back into their recesses, the cold breath of space would chill the new smooth black surface.

An induction coil slowly propelled the kernel from the craft; soon it was birthed into space, both vehicles sailed across the landscape below racing at thousands of meters per second, but only separating by the smallest fraction from each other. The kernel, the fist of god, initiated a program that would ignite its one off thrust, and propel it away from the orbiter, soon, in a matter of minutes hot ions would play across the shield, as it entered the very top of the atmosphere, and by friction and gravitation would be irretrievable, its separation from the orbiter final, until the orbiters own orbit failed and it too would be consumed by the furnace breath of atmospheric reentry.

Sensors onboard the fist relayed to the orbiter, which would then be relayed to the home planet, however the fist would soon cease, its own power contained in cells on board could not be replenished, and so its lifetime finite.

Looking ahead of both craft a slight scar could be seen on the coast of the largest continent, onboard cameras were unable to make out fine detail, but even the crude electronics could recognize the ordered patterns, an archaic city, an unexpected aberration to the green paradise below.

Due to different orbital heights the fist began to move ahead of the orbiter, both craft only visible as specks against the background. From both craft a stream of data was being continuously relayed, the anticipation of these machine’s builders lost on the purely mechanical and physical nature of these artifacts.