Marked From Birth
"They’ve replicated our 'Industrial-Logic.' The ships are venting steam, they’re using piston-driven ballistics, and their hulls are reinforced with a synthetic version of our Bronze-Leaf Oak. It’s a 'Mirrored-Offensive.' Every tactic we know, they already have in their database."
As the first wave of mimic-ships entered the atmosphere, they didn't fire lasers. They fired "Steam-Canons" loaded with lead-and-sulfur shells—the exact same ordnance used by the Union during the Salt-War. The sound of the engagement was a cacophony of familiar thunder, making it impossible for the Union's acoustic-sensors to distinguish between "Friend" and "Foe."