Dust Upon Dust

Eventually we found evidence of dwellings here under the sand: widespread but shallow traces of what looks to have been an early space age civilization. Their buildings were obliterated; even the most substantial among these ruins have been razed down to their foundations. However, chemical analysis shows the desertification of … came some time after this planet-wide annihilation. Much of what we have been forced to dig through so far is the atomized remains of construction material.

Many of the faint outlines we have traced along thoroughfares in this former city are bisected by the lip of a large crater - remnant of an apparent impact site.

Due to the sheer amount of material collected inside this crater, we had to rely on finely-tuned scanners more than actual excavation. Very soon we were able to rule out meteor impact. There is no trace of extraterrestrial material at this site; instead this depression was carved out by a massive explosion - almost certainly a civilization-ending weapon.

Context would suggest the … were responsible, but this would be the first we've seen evidence of the Machine wiping a civilization so thoroughly from the historical record. We can find nothing else to suggest who these people were, nor how they lived. … has been swept clean.