Coltier: “This is EXO-SCOUT 82 contacting the RCC Excelsis Celeste, May 1st, year 2122. Please affirm transmission stability.”

Dr. Rothburn: “Affirmative. Communication is clear and stable.”

Coltier: “Excellent. Approaching what appears to be a partial asteroid ring.”

Dr. Rothburn: “Please exercise caution, Captain Coltier.”


Coltier: “Of course. Worry not, I have navigated asteroid rings denser and more treacherous than this one before.” *audible gasp* “On second thought, this seems peculiar. It appears strangely luminous. I had not noticed it when it was under the shadow of Magnus Georgius.”

Dr. Rothburn: “Oh, you mean exoplanet RS-13c?”

Coltier: “Yeah. Hmm, do you prefer using the astronomical designations over the proper names?”

Dr. Rothburn: “Of course, I am a man of science.” *tongue clicks* “Well actually I use proper names most of the time. Rolls off the tongue better. I am just quite displeased that the IAU approved Dr. Elkana’s proposal RS-13c’s name over mine.”

Coltier: “Understandable. I must say Magnus Erebus sounds a tad ominous though.”

Dr. Rothburn: “Fair enough. Anyhow, enough banter. Please concentrate on your mission, EXO-SCOUTs aren’t the hardiest of spacecraft. What is the situation?”



Coltier: “It looks like a maze of dark stone. There is a large central chunk, albeit uneven and distorted, from which many smaller chunks of rock are drifting away. There seem to be organic structures similar to the ones on Magnus Geor–ahem, I mean the ones on RS-13c, although these are lifeless. Quite the spectacle, I must add.”

Dr. Rothburn: “Wait, so you see a disintegrating body of rock? This could be it! The long-speculated RS-13d!”

Coltier: “Yes! An exquisite exoplanet it is, being pulled apart by the tidal forces of the highly dense RS-13c. I suspect it must be past its Roche limit, rendering gravity insufficient for maintaining structural integrity. Though, it does not seem to be disintegrating at a visible pace. I shall increase power to the thrusters to remain in position.”

Dr. Rothburn: “Perhaps it is just barely at the Roche limit. Please do investigate further.”

Coltier: “That is a very plausible hypothesis. Yet intuitively it seems necessary for there to be external intervention to keep something there.”



Coltier: “Woah! Upon closer inspection, there are traces of alien civilization! I see vestigial metallic structures, clearings in the organic structures, and even organized shapes on the otherwise haphazard-seeming terrain.”

Dr. Rothburn: “This is an amazing discovery, tell me more!



Coltier: “What’s more, this is no simple civilization. The organized shapes in fact form a geometric road network, with a visible central city square! There are also several skyscrapers arranged in clusters. But the traces of life are very faint. I can only see ruins in the smaller chunks of the exoplanet. And it seems that the inhabitants have long since departed.

Dr. Rothburn: “I suppose it makes sense that there would be an exodus when one’s planet begins disintegrating. Any clues as to what caused it?”



Coltier: “Navigating around. I just noticed a large smoldering crater at the rear end of the primary rock. There are many more smaller craters with small pools of lava and brimstone all around, suggesting that the impact is geologically recent.”

Dr. Rothburn: “That’s it, then! My theory is that RS-13d was once a habitable moon of RS-13c with a stable orbit. However, we do know that the Reinz-Streiten System is on a collision course with the Iota Clemina System, which sends the RS Rock Cloud’s asteroids hurtling all over the place. Perhaps one such asteroid caused the catastrophic impact that knocked RS-13d toward its primary, causing it to pass the Roche limit and begin disintegrating. The theory thus far explains many things, but I wonder, what would have stopped it from crashing right into the planet?”

Coltier: “Aliens!”

Dr. Rothburn: “Excuse me?”

Coltier: “Ahem, the inhabitants, of course.”



Coltier: “I have just noticed that facing RS-13c is a small artificial vale carved into the rock, exposing what looks like a bluish deposit of trapped gas. It was difficult to discern at first, but I just saw puffs and whiffs of particulates jetting out from some crevices. I suspect that the outgassing is keeping RS-13d from completely falling toward RS-13c, and keeping it barely above the Roche limit.”

Dr. Rothburn: “That would help complete the theory indeed. I am quite impressed, honestly, by the sophistication of the inhabitants of the exoplanet.”




Coltier: “Sophistication perhaps even on par with our human wit, even! They constructed several tubes connecting different chunks of rock to the main one. They seem incredibly sturdy, lending strength to help keep the planet from disintegrating even faster, and they may be hollow too, allowing the inhabitants to move across the rocks. Why, it must be quite the commute if your house was on one chunk and your office was on another one!”

Dr. Rothburn: “I for one would loathe such a commute. Ah, it’s such a shame that such an advanced civilization would be brought to ruin by something beyond their control. I can only hope that they managed to evacuate and perhaps resettle elsewhere. I indeed am gripped by the tragedy that befalls intelligent civilization. I wonder if the inhabitants had political struggles, wars, and conflict that might have stopped them from saving their planet…”

Coltier: “It’s okay, let’s not get too drowned in pensive sorrow just yet. For all we know, they could have simply moved to RS-13c. Perhaps it is habitable after all.”

Dr. Rothburn: “We must look into RS-13c further.”

Coltier: “And you know, with this discovery, we could finally deliver an award-winning Celestial Exploration presentation.”

Dr. Rothburn: “Aye, that’ll show Dr. Ellkana! I’ll contact Mrs. Draciana, our new Cluster Research Director, at once.”

Coltier: “Haha! That’s the spirit! Any ideas for what name you will propose this time?”

Dr. Rothburn: “What about…. Roche’s Dying Dragon?”

Coltier: “A haunting name befitting a harrowing tale, I love it!”

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Disclaimer: The characters and events portrayed here are works of creative fiction. Any resemblances to real-life incidents or persons are purely coincidental.

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Planets come and go. It seems philosophically cyclical, and indeed I am very interested in the processes that govern the birth and death of planets. As I pondered the thought, I drew upon both knowledge, research, and space science classes taken quite some time ago. Just as planets are born from the accreting confluence of stellar gases and dust, so do planets they cease to be when they can no longer maintain their integrity. One way by which this occurs is disintegration due to the tidal forces that pull a satellite apart should it cross the Roche limit of the primary that it orbits. Simply put, the near side of the body experiences greater gravitational attraction than the far side, giving rise to this phenomenon.

This inspired me to build Roche’s Dying Dragon, named after both the scientific concept that underscores the build and the semblance it took on. I started building in an empty superflat world, beginning with the main chunk of rock, and then built the other chunks, with nearer chunks being larger and more densely packed than farther ones, and made the chunks misshapen, as not all parts of a rock are equally structurally sound, so some are more susceptible to tidal pulling.

After the rocks were constructed, I varied the material to add greater texture to the build, using slabs and walls here and there to achieve an even more jagged look. I then added the crater, the small city, and Coltier’s EXO-SCOUT spacecraft, getting creative with the block choices given the small scale of the build, like using glazed terracotta for a city viewed from above, and chuckling about using candles as skyscrapers. Finally, I embellished it with some particles using command blocks.

Work-in-progress shots are shown below.

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Dimensions: Less than 256x256
Version: Vanilla Minecraft 1.18.2 (not even Optifine)
Build Method: Block-by-block in creative mode
Build Time: 1 day
Build Coordinates: -12 12 0

Normally, I use WorldEdit and VoxelSniper, and do screenshots with shaders. However, due to some long-lasting, unforeseen, and extenuating circumstances, I have not had access to the computer I usually use for Minecraft. As such I opted to make something small and sweet, whilst pushing my creativity to its limits, to get around the technical and temporal difficulties I have been facing of late. Given this, and given the build specifications, I am entering this submission in the beginner track, if I may.

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Hi there! I am Giancarlovan! I am an avid-Minecraft player for over 5 years now, specializing in creating architectural builds that adopt and integrate various architectural styles. Sometimes I also play minigames on Hypixel or just have fun on small servers with my friends and little cousins. Unfortunately, I have not had many opportunities or time to play Minecraft in the past couple of years. I also love writing stories and coming up with lore, hence my many writing submissions, even outside Minecraft.

My interest in outer space goes far beyond that, dating all the way back to my childhood days of being mesmerized by the stars with my parents in the garden. One of my first books I received as a present from friends was a Space Almanac, and I enjoyed watching science documentaries on Discovery Channel when it was in its heyday. Sometimes, even when I should be working on something else, I find myself browsing photos of outer space or going down the rabbit hole of Wikipedia, reading about all sorts of intriguing things like black holes, nebulae, strange matter, neutrinos, blue hypergiants, and Hertzsprung-Russell Diagrams. My favorite star is Mu Cephei due to its massiveness and rich garnet color, my favorite nebula is the Eagle Nebula as wonderfully captured in the mesmerizing astrophotograph entitled Pillars of Creation, and my favorite exoplanet is 55 Cancri e, due to hypotheses regarding its being made almost completely of solid diamond.

If you would like to know even more about me, feel free to check this interview PMC conducted a while back.