Above Z23 Base, the once-clear sky gradually darkened as more and more black clouds gathered into a thick mass of storm clouds.
Rumble! Rumble! Thunder rolled and lightning flickered within the clouds, heralding an approaching storm...
"Huh? The weather on Kara Star really does change in an instant. Still, I like it wet and sticky!" A soldier patrolling the base took off his helmet with a look of pleasure, the gill-like slits on his cheeks gently opening and closing.
Although the Sea Race took its name from the sea, its members had evolved from marine creatures into amphibians over their long evolutionary history, freeing themselves from an absolute dependence on the ocean. Even so, they still preferred damp environments.
Kara Star's unique planetary environment made its water cycle exceptionally vigorous. Everyone had grown accustomed to these frequent downpours, and the climate was ideal for the Sea Race to live and reproduce.
"Strange. The forecast didn't say it would rain today," another patrolling soldier muttered in confusion, but neither of them gave it much thought.
After all, even a butterfly could stir up a storm. Not even the Twin Stars' weather forecasting technology could claim to understand every little whim of nature...
What they did not know, however, was that countless tiny microorganisms, completely invisible to the naked eye, were busily absorbing moisture from the atmosphere for dozens of kilometers around them.
Their unique physical structure allowed them to carry these little companions upward on the wind until the moisture cooled and condensed, forming ever-larger condensation nuclei that eventually descended into banks of storm clouds.
Once their mission was complete, the microorganisms regained their freedom and resumed transporting moisture, repeating the cycle over and over.
In Kara Civilization biology, these fascinating microorganisms had been named Storm Bugs!
*We don't produce water.