Something at the edge of my memory kept nagging me, and kept me from sleep. Something I had seen in a Drifter home system. Unable to catch sleep, I started looking through the image database of the Indagatrix. Drowsy browsing goes slowly but in the end I found the corresponding log, and the monstruous rock formation I saw during the Drifter war.
Compare the Drifter rock (left) to the Takmahl holy rock (right):
There is to me a striking resemblance. The asteroid singled out by the Drifters for special treatment (with a station in the small round rock just before), and the rock at the center of the Takmahl are both "stalactite asteroids". They have spikey protrusions pointing to melting and resolidification in a strong uniaxial field. This strengthens my conviction that these particular types of stalactite asteroids held a particular significance for the Talocan, as this ancient race is the only common link between Drifters and Takmahl!
I have to find this rock back - it was not in Vidette, but in Conflux Eyrie according to the logs. And I also have to head back to the Takmahl, for better scans and probing of their asteroid.
But first I have to catch up on sleep.
