From The Ashes A Fire Shall Be Woken

[Ayden Cater]

1,247,631,849. Dead.

One billion two hundred forty-seven million six hundred thirty-one thousand eight hundred forty-nine souls; snuffed out by the stupidity of one woman.

'No', Ayden corrected himself as he stood inside one of the newly restored buildings in Il Avali, the capital city of Druckenwell. The death toll had tapered off after weeks of searching and checking. Though it would still go up every other hour or so by a handful, it had long since stopped jumping in thousands by the minute. Still, there was no denying that a dark air remained over the planet. A billion lives could not be taken without leaving a scar, and an ugly one at that. Jedi from the Republic and from the Levantine Sanctum had been invited to study the malaise to see if there was a risk for a Dark Side nexus forming beneath the planet or if it was a Wound in the Force.

The difference between the two was subtle, but Ayden vastly preferred the latter over the former. He could heal the latter with time, but the former... There were Force Nexuses that were tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of years old. How then could he vanquish one if they had proven to be impervious to the passing of time? But even that problem was a distant one in his mind. Rather the problem that occupied much of the Lord Protector's time was what to do with the state of the galaxy.

The Sith had returned and were proving to be considerably more difficult to beat than before. When the Republic had crushed the Sith Empire months ago, there had been the belief that the galaxy would once again know peace without the fear of the Dark Side. Instead, the Sith lashed out and stole Coruscant from the Republic. Since then they had grown ever larger. They spread fear like a plague and world after world was falling in line. Though they were small, their fledgling empire was consistently holding the Republic at bay. In three major engagements that he was aware of, the Republic had only won a single fight.

And he had been there for the one fight.

Then there was the problem of the Confederacy to the east. When he gathered the Protectorate's Exarchs and military advisers and told them that he was going to declare war on the Confederacy, he never dared think that they would commit such an atrocity on their own world. The actions of Alli Wren aside, they had still given the order to destroy everything before they left. It was one thing to sabotage military infrastructure to delay an enemy in the hopes of one day retaking the world, but to outright burn a world... Though they claimed to not be led by Isley Verd, the Confederacy continued to act with such malice and devastation that the madman would surely be proud of them.

As if that were not bad enough, the Fringe Confederacy continued to loom in the dark corner of the galaxy. Little was known of that area of space and the Fringe was not particularly forthwith on sharing information. Ever since they had been routed at Eriadu, Ayden silently wondered when they would next strike. There were only a handful of meetings between him and the Fringe leadership, and each time he was left confused and unsure of the future. He hoped that the attack was just some misguided attempt at justice for the Protectorate invasion at Kayri.

Ashin Varanin had left quite the impression on the Corellian, which led him to order the immediate withdrawal of Protectorate forces then. She had provoked him into second-guessing many of his presumptions about a great many things. She had also called on him once or twice for aid, and had returned the favor. However last he had heard she had surrendered herself to the Jedi for her 'crimes'. That likely meant she was no longer leading the Fringe.

Enemies to the north and east. Uncertainty to the west and south. The Mandalorians seemed to be going off on their own path and the Republic was struggling to hold itself together even as the Jedi Order itself fractured and splintered. The galaxy was rapidly returning to the darkness and he found little to bolster his hopes.

While it was true that he had led the Protectorate out of the dark times that had haunted it in the wake of Cira's apparent death, they still did not have the power to take on the galaxy. Even with mighty warships like the Starfall and Leviathan, and even with the acquisition of the old Atrisian flagship, they simply did not have the power to contend with all of the galaxy's foes.

But why not?

In time past, the Protectorate had been content to simply bring order to the Outer Rim territories. The Republic had rapidly established itself as the first galactic superpower and held much of the Core Worlds and Inner Rim. There was no reason for them to fight then, especially if their objectives had been roughly the same. But the Republic was falling apart. He couldn't plan then for them to always safeguard the core of the galaxy. At the same time, he could not condemn trillions of lives to live under the oppression of the Sith. Whatever lies they spread, whatever tricks they played to attempt to lull worlds into accepting their subjugation, the Sith would destroy the galaxy. Of that, Ayden was certain.

So if the Sith were growing and the Republic was waning, it fell to him, to the Protectorate, to safeguard the galaxy. That was not a task to take up lightly. Once he provoked the One Sith, they would fall on the Protectorate like they fell upon the Republic - likely after leaving the Republic in tatters.

Fortunately, time was still on their side. The One Sith had not yet become some unstoppable juggernaut and there was still fight left within the Republic. He had time to prepare, and if there was one thing Ayden Cater did well it was prepare.

 

[Ayden Cater]

"This is madness."

Ayden looked at the bewildered designer and chuckled. "No, my friend. This is progress." He turned and looked back at the initial designs he had drawn. Assembled were the finest minds within the Protectorate. Each of them was trusted, their background triple-checked, and a mountain of flimsi used and destroyed in the signing of legal documents and non-disclosure agreements. Each person there was there of their own volition, but was there to stay for at least a year. This was a project assigned the highest order of secrecy and security. It was not a project that would be completed in a short amount of time, nor was it one that could afford to be discovered until it was ready.

​"Do you realize what you're proposing?" The same man asked incredulously, his hair an unkempt mess of brown and gray not at all out of place on the head of a assembly designer, or a scientist of note. Several other beings seemed to share his skepticism, each one looking at the design with their own skepticism. As far as history was concerned, a project of this scope had not been attempted for hundreds of years. But it had been done before.

"What I am proposing is nothing less than the greatest work of our lifetimes. A project so massive in scope that it will be remembered for generations, as will the names of those who made it happen." Ayden swept the room and looked at each individual present. "You have, all of you, been called here with a purpose. From nanotechnology to fabrication design, from quantum engineering to theoretical photonic research. You have each been called here to come together and create something without parallel.

When I first became Lord Protector, I did not know if I would last a month. Lady Protector Cira had founded the Protectorate and had overseen its life with the grace and care she held for her own. We waged war on disease and corruption. We passed laws to protect the people of the worlds that entrusted themselves to our care and we sheltered them from the cruel whims of tyrants and madmen Those that asked for aid were never turned away because they could not afford to give credits and we did not take worlds to pillage them for our own gain. So when she was believed dead and I took over, I had to ask myself what the future would hold for us. As a people, as a state.

It took me a while to find the answer to that, but I believe I've found an answer. We've been the target of more terrorist attacks in my tenure as Lord Protector than we ever had under Lady Protector Cira. We've been in more wars, seen more atrocities, and suffered more than we ever did under her. Why? Because I'm a failure? Because we're weak?" He looked around the room and saw the looks of uncertainty and awkwardness that he expected to see. Even if they thought it, how did a simple man tell a head of state that he was undeserving of leadership?

"No!" Ayden slammed a fist against the table, sending several glasses and beings jumping. "We find ourselves under attack now more than ever because our enemies are growing afraid. They see our growing might and it scares them. We've seen terrorist attacks on Fondor, Corellia, Naboo and dozens more worlds. We've been challenged by the Atrisians and by the Fringe. They look at what we are and what we will become and they want to stop us. Cira laid the groundwork for it all, and now her work is coming to fruition. And that makes me the caretaker of her work.

The Protectorate has taken upon itself the mantle of responsibility for the well-being of every world in the galaxy. It is a burden we have shared with the Republic and it is a burden that we will continue to shoulder into the future. When Bando Gora attacked the Outer Rims, it was the Protectorate that rose up and destroyed that threat. When the dead rose and chaos threatened the galaxy, it was the Protectorate that held fast and kept the plague in check, on Elrood and on Denon. When the galaxy was plunged into war by the mad droid known as OMNI, it was the Protectorate that turned the tide when the leaders of the galaxy met on Kuat and nearly found themselves destroyed by their enemy.

Time and time again, history has shown that when a great evil rises, it is often the blood and sweat of the Protectorate that turns the tides and makes way for the galaxy to return to peace and prosperity. That is our burden, that is our purpose. The Republic can no longer stand as the protectors of the galaxy. So it falls upon us to save this galaxy, our home, from the coming darkness. And how will we do that? In the way we always have; through our sweat and our blood and our ceaseless drive to dare and ask the galaxy for more. We dare and ask that the galaxy be better than it was, that the people of every world be better than they were. We sacrifice for a future we may never see, but it is a future that will be lived by our children. And that starts here."

No one breathed a word as the Corellian finished his impromptu speech and turned back to the design. "We have a chance to make the galaxy better. What kind of beings would we be if we didn't at least try?" Ayden looked back and saw, one by one, as the scientists and engineers in the room began to nod and look at each other. Their approval and support built off itself and soon the entire room was clapping and cheering. For his part, Ayden simply stood there and smiled.

 

[Ayden Cater]

"Construction will proceed in four phases." Ayden stood beside a holoprojector surrounded by the heads and assistants of a dozen different departments. It had been a week since he had first made his proposal and speech. With the backing of many prominent scientists and engineers, more came. This was going to be a massive undertaking and would need the support of every person it could get.

"Phase one will be the construction of the main station frame." He tapped the projector, bringing to life a bright blue framework of steel and wires. "This phase will be one of the longest as the requirements are simple, but massive in scale. Each of the main beams will need to be at least forty-three meters thick. These will be the primary stress bearers of the station once it's moved into position. So while the goal is simple, we have to be careful with how we proceed as a mistake here could set us back months and on a project of this scale, even a tiny mistake can cost us billions"

The projector hummed as the single great beam great into a great arc before finally coming around under itself and forming a massive oval. It then grew inward along the longest axis. Once it met in the middle, little nodules began to spring up along its perimeter. "Phase two is the construction and placement of what will be the matter manipulation array. This will be done in pieces; two hundred hundred thirteen arrays spread along this midline here. These will be responsible for the conversion of stellar matter into usable materials for construction.

At the same time these are being places, storage tanks will be placed at these points." He indicated where they would be stored on the north and south sides of the station before little tubes spread like veins from the tanks to the matter array. "These will need to be able to withstand tremendous head and pressure. The initial shells will be constructed of simple durasteel, but the exteriors will be composed of a turadium-titanium alloy at least sixty meters thick with magnetic force fields keeping the stellar matter out of direct contact with the tanks."

Once again the map shifted and advanced. The interior of the station filled in as maintenance shafts were laid, control centers were built, and auxiliary facilities were placed. "Phase three is the installation of the central database and processing center. If the matter array is the heart, then this will be the brain of the station. Seventeen liquid crystal AI cores will comprise the primary data nodes responsible for accessing the matter array, with two hundred eighty-nine computer banks serving as the main schematic warehouse. This prodigious storage facility will allow the station to construct a near limitless array of ships, droids, or any other material we might need."

At this stage, the station split in two along the middle, with each hemisphere floating several hundred meters apart and a central core carved and split from each half. Barely visible through the holographic projector, the two halves were held in place by dozens of energy bindings. "Phase four is going to be the most dangerous; the activation of the matter array and the gravity scoop intended to collect the stellar matter. If we miscalculated, if we made a mistake at any step along the way and failed to spot it, the entire project will have been for nothing. So during the weeks leading up to this phase, there will be a mandatory rest and review period. Fresh eyes will be rotated in and will scour the design for mistakes in construction and assembly."

When it was finished, the station floated there near a star and began to visibly pull stellar gases and matter inward. At the same time, hundreds of projectors came online across the matter array and began to assemble the newly acquired material into dozens of recognizable Protectorate warships. "While the station will be designed to feed primarily off the star, it will be capable of accepting external material through these ports here." Three large rings lit up on each half of the station. "These ports will feed into miniature matter manipulators that will molecularly deconstruct the given material into constituent pieces and then feed them into the storage tanks. This will ensure production capacity even in the event the station must be moved."

The hologram dimmed and faded as Ayden took center stage once more. "The station, once operational, will be capable of sustained production autonomously for periods of time up to ten years, assuming optimal matter collection. However, while the station -can- function autonomously, it will be crewed by thousands of maintenance droids and hundreds of biological crew. They will monitor station output and ensure that no critical errors develop.

Emergency shutdown procedures can be initiated from multiple points, but require simultaneous code inputs from three senior staff members. When this is done, the station will immediately cease matter array use and eject any ships under construction. It will then break off into a stable orbit away from the star to await clearance and re-initiation. This should prevent any permanent and significant damage to the station, either accidental or intentional."

The department heads looked at each other, each aware of what was being implied; sabotage. "The station will be keyed to only recognize Protectorate IFF tags of a very specific type. Access to the station will be extremely limited and traffic in and out of the system will be monitored at all times. Those who enter the system without authorization will be fired upon the moment they get close to the station. A defense fleet will be assigned to the system at all times to provide support in the eventuality that the station's existence is revealed and our enemies come for it.

I know this is a lot to take in, and this will not be the only meeting we have on the topic. Assembly crews are already beginning Phase One of construction. There will be weekly department meetings and bi-monthly updates on construction. Caution is advised. It is better to be cautious than dead. All reports of suspicious activity are to be immediately reported to the head of security and to myself. Now I'll let you begin discussing the methodology with which..."

 

[Ayden Cater]

Ayden sat back in his chair, feet propped up on the desk while he reviewed a datapad. Phase One was proceeding smoothly, much like he expected it to. Twenty-nine percent of the main structural system had been laid down. He looked out of his window and saw the embryonic station in the distance. Tiny dots swarmed around it, the hundreds of tugs that flew about and moved sections of beam into place while others fused them together. It was a constant buzz of activity proceeding at all hours. Droids were handling the majority of the work this phase. They alone had the precision and focus necessary to drive the construction of the station's frame.

On the pad was the proposal for the central AI that would control the station. The sheer size and volume of data that would have to be manipulated, in conjuncture with hundreds of sensor data-flows, necessitated the development of a brand new AI. While the design called for seventeen AI cores, in truth only three of them would be true AI. Five of them would be second-class, or 'dumb', AI. They would be responsible for bulk management of tasks in and out of the central control center. The remaining nine cores would actually house droid brain assemblies to handle the raw construction control. It didn't take a genius, after all, to put a cylinder through a hole.

The design for the AI was ambitious, to say the least. Most AI were constructed through a barrage of code, one layer on top of another, until a cognitive loop was formed that allowed the AI to provide its own inputs. It was as much an accident as it was a science that allowed for the development of AI. Almost all droids contained some manner of artificial intelligence, if heavily shackled or crudely-made. These 'limited' AI would be the nine; it was not necessary for them to control and monitor any task not infinitely repeatable. The droid brains made by Cestus would prove more than adequate for the task.

The second level of AI, a so-called 'dumb' AI, would be a little more tricky. They would have to be capable of recognizing errant commands and suspicious sensor activity. While these would have a considerably more complicated task than the tasks of the limited AI, their work was sill definable. There was a limit to what they were expected to know and perform. This limited definition of operation is what separated them from a true, or 'smart', AI.

On the pad were plans for a next-generation smart AI. Rather than an assemblage of raw code, these AI would be created through a meticulously crafted recreation of a biological brain, specifically a Human brain. The AI would be constructed by discharging electrical bursts through the target brain. With each successive burst, a more detailed model would be created for assembly within a nano-factory. In doing so, they would be able to copy over data for the AI to use; memories, sensations, lessons learned. This would give the AI a unique beginning over purely mechanical AI.

Unfortunately the process was going to destroy the brain. The sheer frequency and intensity of the bursts would burn out the neurons. This left a limited number of options. They could accept the brains of willing donors, knowing that such volunteers would be killing themselves in the name of science. As this was a theoretical design, there was no guarantee yet that the process would be a success. So a brilliant scientist or engineer could give their life up for nothing. The alternative was to take a subject and forcibly subject them to the process. To do so would have been unethical in every sense of the word. But what then would they do?

Fortunately, Ayden had a solution. No one knew of his history, how old he truly was. He had lived through the Four Hundred Years of Darkness, and he had done so through cloning. His process was much slower than normal, but reduced the traditional problems of cloning to practically nil. What this meant was that Ayden had dozens of brains that could be used to test and refine the process for creating the AI without the problems of sacrifice or ethics.

These three AI would have to be perfect in creation as they would be responsible for everything, both known and unknown. The parameters surrounding the station's operation were vast and incalculable by a single being. So the AI responsible had to be capable of learning and adapting to new information on the fly. It would not have the luxury of having all the knowledge it would ever need uploaded for use like the other two classes of AI would. If it came across an anomaly of some sort that was not within its records or databases, it was going to have to figure out how to analyze and solve the problem on its own.

One question that was left however was shelf-time. How long would these 'smart' AI be able to function? Most droids received regular memory wipes. The limited AI would certainly be subjected to frequent and repeated memory wipes. Even the dumb AI would be subject to regular memory wipes as their life space increased. But these smart AI would not have that luxury. If their whole function and purpose was to learn new things to better manage the station, it was contradictory then to wipe their memory. But that led to the question of what would they do if the AI ever went mad?

The scientists were still attempting to come up with an answer. Their current best solution was effectively a data dump of the AI's memory into a datacore and the purging of the AI. A new one could then be constructed and installed and then upload the old AI's data without its Riemann or personality matrices. That carried the risk of simply recreating an unstable and rampant AI. Ayden suspected that the end solution would end up being a cycle of decommissioning the AI. Every five years, or how ever long it was determined to take, pick a single smart AI and decommission it. In this way, two learned and functioning smart AI could continue station operations while a third was constantly learning and evolving.

But would the AI accept that fate if they found out? Was decommissioning a necessity, or could they simply be placed in a different environment? It depended on the nature of the AI's rampancy and malcontent, Ayden thought. If the AI simply became weary of operating the station, then perhaps simply placing them in a new environment would alleviate the issue. However, he had a hard time imagining what could be more stimulating than monitoring a massive station as it converted stellar matter into ships on a scale unheard of while monitoring system traffic and sensor data. It was an unknown that would take time to solve. However, as Ayden set the pad down and moved on to the next, he was confident that the proposal was sound.

 

[Ayden Cater]

Progress was swift. Eighty-nine percent of the station's main structural frame had been placed and already work was being done on securing the sites for the storage tanks. It was truly remarkable how well the construction was coming. Of course, up until now the construction had just been for Phase One. It was only going to get more and more complicated from this point out. Billions of credits had already been poured into the project and hundreds more would have to be given for this project to culminate. However, if it did, Ayden harbored a plan that would rapidly make it profitable.

Thus far, the information lockdown was proceeding as planned. The only ships to leave the system had their departure point wiped and it was only though timed datachips that the ship were able to return. Only beings hand picked by Ayden traveled out of the system. The vast majority of the ships leaving the system carried droids, whose memories were constantly being wiped. Security was tight and every possible electronic device was searched and cleaned. There was nothing for anyone to find that would lead to this system.

Sentinel-class ships patrolled the edge of the system with their crystal grav-field traps. Any cloaked ship that attempted to appear would have immediately found itself scrambled a thousand ways to the Nine Hells and then sent there in a fiery explosion; no exceptions. There would absolutely be no way for someone to enter the system with immediately finding themselves under fire. Much of the initial cost of the project was for the security that was put in place to defend the system and keep out anyone who got nosey and attempted to take a peak.

Of course, he had no delusions about keeping the project secret forever. Already the market was beginning to react to the purchases being made. While a lot of the raw material was being mined in the system, there were somethings that had to be bought. Nothing was bought through a single intermediary. Any company that had a history of corruption or sabotage, such as Subach Innes, would never find a product of theirs in the station. Each company that had a purchase made to them was carefully screened and selected to ensure no bugs were placed. Even with all the security, Ayden knew that eventually the existence of the station would become known, if not its location and exact purpose.

Cira of course had been briefed on the existence of the station. Her questions had been basic and straight-forward. Where will you put it? How will you keep it secret? How are you going to fund it? Who will defend it? It was a simple matter to explain to her the general aspects of his plan. Funding was not a concern, nor was defense. The biggest concern was the matter of keeping the project secret. There was little risk after the station was fully operational as it would be capable of sustained dozens of defense fleets without effort. Until then though, they did not have enough ships in the Protectorate to keep out an earnest attack on it. Of course, its very location and existence were unknown. There was virtually zero threat of it being discovered prior to activation.

The system was going to become a military stronghold even after the station was moved. Manufacturing facilities were being constructed in-system to minimize travel time. Whole families were being relocated and colonized on planets not marked for strip mining. Schools and recreational facilities were being made to support these families and support personnel. By the time the project was complete, the system would be fully developed can capable of extensive military manufacturing and training.

Early on it had been decided that families would have to come. As with the construction workers, engineers, and scientists, each family was carefully screened to ensure no one got in who was going to be a problem. Of course, since Holonet access was nonexistent and travel was carefully regulated, there was again little risk involved. The people who moved into the system would not be allowed to leave until the station was complete, or at the very least mobile. This was the life they signed up to live.

That wasn't to say conditions were deplorable. Far from it, the frontier cities were carefully constructed and maintained. Every effort was being made to ensure that the families of the construction workers and soldiers were happy, as they were key to the happiness and productivity of the workers. By bringing whole communities over, the shock of long-term isolation was lessened considerably. And with such shock alleviated, the risk of things like suicide, sabotage, or betrayal were further brought down. Each step taken in the construction of the station was done with security in mind.

When the station was finished, Ayden considered what would happen to the system. It was likely that the station would be moved, but many of the defenses would have to remain in place, possibly permanently. Many would flock to the system in an attempt to track down the station or learn its secrets. The system would likely find itself under attack some time after the station's existence went public, if it ever had to go public at all. With a war being waged against the Confederacy, possible signs such material buyout, troop and fleet movements, and civilian emigration would all be expected. For all intents and purposes, the Protectorate was simply building up arms for the war. And though that was the truth, the full scope of the truth was far greater than anything anyone could imagine.

 

[Ayden Cater]

It was perhaps naive to assume that the station would be constructed without problem. Even in the face of the inevitable, it was nonetheless aggravating for the Corellian to be delivered that particular report. 'We have a problem.' It was a sentence Ayden did not want to read concerning the shipyard, but was one that would not be willed away. At the edge of the system a smuggler had been discovered after he nearly dropped out of hyperspace inside a Protectorate ship. As protocol only mandated the immediate destruction of cloaked ships, and as this was the first ship to fall foul of the Protectorate, it was decided to capture the ship and question the captain.

As it turned out, this was a world that was used by the smuggler to hold goods and let heat blow over in between jobs. Though initially cooperative, the smuggler's attitude soured when he found out that he would not be allowed to leave the system. Of course at first the smuggler believed it was merely a question of wiping coordinates and promising to not say a word. Unfortunate for him, his navicomputer showed that he had recently been running in Confederate space, and that meant there was the off-chance that he was a spy.

Once his navicomputer was wiped, the smuggler was told in no uncertain terms that he was not going to be leaving the system for a very long time. Naturally he tried to escape but that had resulted in a short chase and the destruction of his ship, though the smuggler made it out in an escape pod. After that, he threatened to report the injustice to others. When it was pointed out that no external communications were made, the reality quickly sank in and the smuggler resigned himself to his fate. Rather than execute him or lock him away, it was decided to allow him a chance to integrate with the fledgling community. He eventually found work as a pilot ferrying workers and families around the system.

Not too long after that, a second problem developed. As Phase One neared completion scans were done on the structural frame. A series of weak welds had cracked near the frame's core and compromised the integrity of nearly eleven percent of the main support. If left untreated, the fault could result in the destruction of the station once it was moved into the more intense gravity field in close orbit over the star.

Eventually it was decided to drill down to the cracks and fill the largest of them. It would take too long and be too cost prohibitive to fill every crack, as that would have necessitated the dismantling of a large amount of the frame. So a corusca gem-tipped drill was used to reach the interior. Although it was a simple operation, Ayden sat in his office for nearly an hour without breathing before word came back that they had successfully sealed the worst of the cracks. One crisis averted.

With that out of the way, Phase Two began in earnest. The storage tanks would be the first things to take shape in Phase Two as their initial shell would be easiest to construct. The magnetic field emitters within the tanks would be next to take shape as they would continuously spin the matter and keep it from cooling until necessary. A series of valves and tubes led away from each main tank into a series of smaller tanks. Hydrogen and helium was siphoned off the top to be converted to fuel for the station's many reactors. The heaviest elements would be forged into armor and ammunition for mass drivers. Gases would be spun and concerted to tanks of breathable atmosphere and other consumables.

The matter manipulation array was a daunting task all on its own. Each would have a particular element it was keyed to and would sift the target element out of the stellar mass and push it along to one of the secondary tanks. For alloys and the like, they would have to go through a second round and be carefully combined by the array. This was the task that would fall to the limited AIs, the droid brains purchased from Cestus; the repetitious task of sort elements out of stellar matter and constructing alloys from other elements.

From their home in the storage tanks, the prepared metals would be slid down to the assembly lines where they would be pressed into plates and molds for building material. This was the other task that would occupy much of the processing power of the droid brains. It was the process of taking these components and putting them together into usable droids and vehicles that would fall to the dumb AI. It was a suitably complicated task that would occupy their time well.

Tertiary tanks split off from secondary ones to create pools of raw material for the smart AI to experiment with. As part of their mandate, the AI would test hypothesis on the manufacturing of new materials. Any improvements they designed would be incorporated into the station's construction lines, allowing for instantaneous upgrades while on the line. This would also allow the smart AI a chance to experiment their own hypothesis and create wholly technology if it crosses their mind. It really wasn't well known what exactly the smart AI would do as their entire purpose was to protect the station from the unknown.

If all went well, Ayden hoped they'd be able to begin carrying out limited testing of the matter array before it was brought to full capacity. Gods willing, it would be deemed satisfactory in its initial operations and would be able to begin assisting in its own construction by producing materials to be used throughout the hull and interior. Even in the event the matter array was found to need additional work before it could be utilized, the storage tanks alone would allow for a shortening of the supply line, which would facilitate faster construction. Every little step was one step closer to his dream, his ambition, realized.

 

[Ayden Cater]

"You know you can't keep this a secret forever."

Ayden turned and looked at the figure. His face was rather passive and he seemed to consider something before shrugging noncommittally. "Maybe I don't want to." Between the two beamed the wireframe of the station, unofficially dubbed the Omega Forge. The project was coming along nicely thus far. The matter arrays were the most time consuming part of Phase Two, as they had to be very precisely aligned and calibrated. It was the difference between a bulkhead being installed upside down or a power plant being installed inside the mess hall.

"Why would you spend all of this time and effort on a project you don't want to keep secret?" The man tilted his head to one side and studied the hologram some more. "What will you do if your enemies come knocking before it's operational? They could attack a thousand different ways and-"

"The wonderful thing about dramatic events, my friend, is that they collapse all uncertain probabilities into a small number of predictable actions." Ayden interrupted the other man with a smirk. "This makes it easier to defend against their vain attempts. For example, if the Sith continue to follow their patterns in attempted sabotage, they'll attempt to infiltrate a work crew, assuming of course that the station is still under construction when they find out." Ayden paused for a moment in consideration before continuing on. "Then they'll try and install some sort of command virus to steal control of the station once it's complete. They'll come in with a fleet and attempt to activate the code and make off with the prize.

Or maybe someone will attempt to bomb it into obliteration from the inside. I know a few moronic corporate heads that would probably make such a short-sighted plan." He didn't even bother to hide the sneer or contempt that filled his voice. "It's always the ones with the most pathetic egos and shoddy designs that envy the truly great." He shook his head and would have spit had they not been indoors.

"So you think that by knowing of the station's existence, they'll act in a more predictable pattern? And what if they decide to come in force? The station's manufacturing timeline may be near infinite, but ships still take time to produce."

"And what makes you think such a force would ever get to the station?" Ayden turned and raised an eyebrow at the figure. His response was an eyebrow raised in return. "Leaving aside the Protectorate's sophisticated hyperspace tracking network, there's nothing anchoring the station to the system once operational. We can move the station at any time. If anything, by announcing the station's location, it becomes easier to set traps for our enemies. Maybe we'll direct them to a system with a black hole. Or perhaps the middle of an asteroid field. The possibilities are endless, really."

"You play a dangerous game, Lord Protector." The other man smiled and nodded in approval. "Have you considered what you would use this station's vast production capacity for?"

Ayden looked at the station and silently pondered. It would be capable of manufacturing at least a dozen Star Destroyer-sized simultaneously. And with the AIs in charge of manufacturing parts and assembly, once complex designs like the Cira or Inquisitor could then become possible to manufacture at a larger scale. "The Confederacy remains at large and will continue to be a threat until subdued. They proved at Druckenwell that reasonable force means nothing and that they're willing to escalate matters. So overwhelming force will be the answer."

"And the Sith?"

"The Sith are consumed in their war to destroy the Republic. Unless we give them cause to turn their attention towards us, they will not realize the danger until it is too late." Ayden replied confidently. "They will get the same treatment as the CIS. We will take back the worlds they have stolen the sovereignty of and restore their freedom. Those worlds that supported them will burn and their skies will darken with our fleets."

The wireframe of the station continued to spin between them, casting an eerie gaze over the Corellian leader's features. "You realize of course that there will be those who demand you turn over the schematics for this station to other powers. That you share it with others in the interest of 'fairness', right?"

"Well of course they will." Ayden scoffed and shook his head. "Doesn't mean they'll get either. Protectorate minds came up with this design. Protectorate hands built this station. Protectorate needs will this station serve. I don't care what anyone else says. Since I took over as Lord Protector, we've been challenged by the Fringe, the Confederacy, the Horde, the Sith. I will not sit idly by and wait for them to unleash a planet destroying superweapon before I start coming up with a means to defend my people."

The figure paused and considered Ayden's words. "You know, there was a time that you would have gladly said 'let the galaxy burn'. What happened?" Though there was smugness in that voice, there was also curiosity.

"I became responsible for more than my own life. It's easy to make sweeping claims about the value of other peoples lives when your left with naught but ghosts and grief for four hundred years. I have more than that now." Ayden looked back with a look somewhere between grief and rage. "I got the chance to repay the kindness shown to be at Rhommamool. I was there on Fondor when OMNI attacked the galaxy again. The longer I stay out in the galaxy, the more of its burdens I take upon myself. Because..."

He trailed off and looked up at the ceiling, through solid rock and metal, to where he knew a small city to be. He could almost hear the sounds of children laughing and see the smiles on peoples faces as they lived their lives. "Because if I don't, then who will?" He looked back at the figure whole smiled at him with a knowing look and nodded.

"I take it you'll be returning to Corellia then soon?"

Ayden nodded and began walking towards a turbolift. "Duties to perform, a war to plan. People need to see me from time to time outside of an impenetrable tower or without an armada behind me. Let them remember that I'm only human." As the doors open and he turned to look back at the figure with a small smirk. "Well, almost human."

His reflection returned the smirk a second later.

 

[Ayden Cater]

Phase Three was underway. He had signed an agreement with Cestus for the acquisition of dozens of J2 droid brains. They would be perfect for this project. Linking them together with the storage drives to create the bulk controller for the station's operations was a delicate one. One wrong crossed wire could be harmless or could cause an errant command to be sent, or a critical one not get sent, and result in the destruction of the station.

The station's form was much more distinct at this stage. Its internal frame was set and most of the interior deck work was complete. Those sections that were entirely finished were beginning to see hull plating put over them and the final bolts placed. There was further work to be done at the station's middle where the two halves met when the station was in rest. This was where the matter array was, and so far the initial tests were promising. Utilizing traditional raw materials mined from in-system, the array was activated and produced a simple cube ten cubic meters in volume.

Despite the success, there was still a long way to go. There was a vast difference between a simple cube and a fully functional starship. A few back-up plans were already being drafted if it was determined that the station's primary design goal was achievable. They could easily repurpose it to produce ship frames and add the systems themselves. It wouldn't be as fast as the station's current projected time table, but it would still be improvement. With the material wealth of the system, it wouldn't be hard to repurpose. Already the station accepted traditional shipments of materials.

The colonies continued to flourish. Mining and processing was proceeding at a tremendous rate in order to accommodate the demands. There were still regular immigration shuttles bringing whole families in as more and more civilian demands were found and needed to continue colony growth. By the time the station was complete, it was projected that the colonies would total more than twenty-five million souls. Once the system was opened up to contact with the rest of the galaxy, he expected that figure to rise. Many would want to be a part of this piece of history.

Security continued to be tight around the system's perimeter. As this was a previously uncolonized system with no mining or history of sentient travels, no one had a reason to sniff out why it had suddenly gone dark. Secondary defense stations were being constructed around the colony world as it would be the natural choke point for assaulting the station. The gravimetric eddies created by the binary system meant that a direct jump to the station was impossible. The station was safely in the gravitational center, so any attempts to reach the station would first require any attackers drop out to attempt sublight maneuvers.

Once the station was complete, it would be able to drop into the gravimetric center to siphon off stellar matter before retreating to process and utilize the material in starship construction. While it would be at its most inaccessible while collecting its materials, the tiny 'sweet spot' zone the station would occupy meant that no other stations could protect it in there. As a result, the two natural exit points for the station were heavily guarded.

Secondary shipyards were also under construction, these over the more traditional orbits over planets. The system was naturally developing into a military industrial complex given the high security and secrecy. It made sense to build up more capabilities while they were constructing the Omega Forge. Since the droids and construction workers that had laid the original framework were still around, it would have been wasteful to just leave them without anything to do. So a massive orbital shipyard was being built, a shipyard to encircle the planet much like Kuat or Corellia's shipyards did. It wouldn't be quite as massive as theirs were, but it would serve its purpose.

Despite these precautions and efforts, there was speculation beginning to surface on the Holonet that the Protectorate was working on a massive project. Most of the speculation was dismissed and attributed to the build-up for the war with the Confederacy. However some die-hard conspiracy theorists, who just so happened to be right this time, maintained that the Protectorate was hiding a project and building it in secret. From there, the theories diverged. Some believed it was a gate to the After Life. Others believed it was a superweapon designed to consume the galaxy. Preposterous.

Of course, many would view the station as a superweapon. They were welcome to their delusions, but it was hardly the definition of a superweapon. It did not destroy, it created. Not every ship or droid it made needed to be suited for war. It was simply the means by which Ayden chose to support the Protectorate's military complex. It was no different than a star system devoted to military production. It was simply a more ambitious design. And ambition is what was needed most at a time like this.

 

[Ayden Cater]

He already knew what the first ship to roll off the assembly line, as the saying went, of the Omega Forge once it was activated. There had been a great many losses at Coruscant. Some he would never be able to correct or make up for. Others he could. The Starfall had been destroyed at Coruscant, going down in a blaze of glory to strike a blow at the Sith's assumed untouchable seat of power. It was a loss that had been a long time coming. What no one had been told was that the Starfall's demise had been planned.

Designed as the first real warship and capital ship for the Protectorate in a time when it had been little more than a PMC, the Starfall had served with distinction through numerous campaigns. Its first true test had come at Roche and it had passed with flying colors. Such was the ship's power that the Sith had to distract her to keep her from joining the main fight. However, the struggle had been worth it as a generator had been acquired from the Verpine there that had allowed the Starfall's power to jump dramatically. It was the ship's first victory .

It had also marked the ship's first refit. In the months to follow, as the Protectorate's power grew and consolidated, newer ships were designed. These had a unified, focused design from the start. The Starfall had not had that luxury. It was rushed in construction, and as time passed those cut-corners began to show. The ship's structural integrity was actually below the new standard the Protectorate had set for its ships. It was poor enough that the ship couldn't have been refitted to make use of the new Javelin system that was seeing use in the newer Indomitable Star Defenders.

Of course, other Solo-class ships didn't suffer from this flaw. The Starfall had been the only ship of its class for months, until every last design flaw had been worked out and the standards for ship production had been set. They had come off the assembly line, for a lack of a better word, perfect. The Starfall remained flawed though, imperfect. It could have been refitted, but that would have taken more time and money that the ship would have been worth. It would have been cheaper to just make a new Solo-class and just be done with it all.

But that wasn't how Ayden worked. He had poured much of his time, effort, and money into building the Starfall. It was his ship. Yet as the conflicts escalated, he had to more frequently take command of different, more modern ships to avoid destroying the Starfall from the stresses of combat. So it could not be repaired, and it could not be used in a head-on battle. The idea of it being converted to a museum had occurred to him, but it seemed ill-fitting for a ship like that. Instead, it would have a glorious end, but where and how?

The opportunity came when the news had broke that the Sith had invaded Alderaan. He knew then how the ship would meet its end. As fortune found it, the Starfall had been in dry-dock having the reactor from Roche taken out and inspected, to see how it continued to perform independent of the Starfall. Her original reactor still lay in the heart of the ship, unfired. With her end in sight, the old reactor was fired up and a skeleton crew placed inside. Her dedication plaque had been taken down and Ayden had removed what few valuables that were left.

When the ship came out of hyperspace over Coruscant, many of her guns did not fire. The old reactor was insufficient to power them all. Her shields were less effective without the powerful Roche reactor pushing them against such terrible fire. But she held out. Her hyperdrive had burned out from the stress, so there was no leaving the fight. Coruscant would be her final resting place. So there was, a fight to death and she went out swinging. No non-essential personnel had been left, simply the plan. When the order had been given, the ship moved one last time.

A series of explosives had been placed around the ship's data core, and once the ship was in position, detonated. This destroyed any sensitive information that might have been left over and gave the ship the appearance of going down from enemy fire. Her course had been laid in and that was all there was to it. The Starfall had fallen through the skies of Coruscant and smashed into the Imperial Palace. She had been destroyed living up to the ideal that had created her; that the Protectorate would not sit by while darkness spread. They would stand and fight.

That left the question then of her successor. The Leviathan and Spirit of Druckenwell both were powerful, powerful warships. But they weren't the Starfall, and that was something Ayden needed. Even if his place of duty kept him from the bridge, Ayden needed something of a legacy for the ship. There would not be another single ship called the Starfall, but perhaps there would be a line of them. The Roche reactor would be put in something else, but the Starfall's legacy would live on. The new series of ships would continue to serve the Protectorate, even when she couldn't.

The line would be big, a command ship in size and function; a sister to the Solo-class. It would carry the weight of the Protectorate on its back. As an assault ship, it would be the harbinger of death to all who opposed and threatened the Protectorate. It was a daunting task to live up to, but he felt confident that the ship would bear that burden, that legacy, with pride. It would not be a ship that fought alone, as the Starfall never fought alone. There was no singular hero god within the Protectorate. They were united as one.

 

[Ayden Cater]

The day had come. There was no further tests to do, no bulkheads to lay and bolt, no simulations to run. At long last, after the ceaseless work of so many workers and droids, and with the troubles of the galaxy continue to brew and fester, the station was complete. Even from a distance, it was an impressive station. Ayden could almost see the ships that that station would turn out once it was activated and pushed to its full production. It would certainly be the largest and most important shipyard within the Protectorate, and the most productive. The credits spent, the hours of labor, the sleepless nights; all of it culminated in this moment. Yet, for all that, Ayden felt nervous for perhaps the first time since the structure began forming.

If they had missed something, if they had made a mistake that had been left unfixed, the station might not work. They could turn it on and get nothing. However, that was a blessing compared to what could happen. They could turn it on and watch months of work go up in ruin. That was the absolute worst case scenario, something that the project would not recover from. Though it was not so massive in size and scope to financially cripple the Protectorate if it failed, the project was still of sufficient size and material requirements that it would be next to impossible to begin anew within a short period of time should the current project failed. In that case, it would be years, perhaps decades, before they would be able to attempt another one, and by then it could be too late.

An the observation deck of an Antilles Star Defender, Ayden stood alongside the heads of every major department that had been involved in building the station, as well as their families and those whose work had saved the project from disaster on multiple occasions. Each carried with them a drink and they mingled amongst themselves while the station was prepared for activation. The first full-scale test would be a medium-sized ship, a Stalwart-class heavy cruiser. The station wouldn't produce smaller capital ships like corvettes, at least initially, until they were confident that the station could handle that level of precision. Star Destroyers were large ships and it was easy to produce their shells and their hulls. Something like a corvette required significantly finer detail, given the station's large size.

Another precautionary test for the station's first activate was the material used to make the ship. Rather that utilize stellar matter, the station's secondary cargo holds were filled with traditional raw materials for constructing the ship. In this way, the more dangerous and complicated aspect of the station's function could be tested and ramped up in increments to avoid catastrophe. If this first test was a success, and later tests a failure, then the station could still be used as a more traditional shipyard. There was too much invested in the station now to take unnecessary risks. Security in the system was even higher than usual. If the tests all worked then the communication's blackout would be lifted. Of course, the system would still be heavily guarded. Its security was easily on part with AAA worlds like Fondor and Corellia. Such heavy security wouldn't likely disappear once the station's existence was revealed. If anything, it might grow. The greedy and the desperate would try to acquire its designs or destroy it because they could not take it. They were welcome to try.

"When you first proposed this station, Lord Protector, I did not think it was possible." Ayden looked at the middle aged woman and smiled. "Your incredulity can be forgiven. Even I was unsure of the project's feasibility at times," he confessed. "Besides, this project's success is not mine to claim. Each of you, and the people working underneath you, are the force that made this station a reality. This station owes its existence to you all." He raised his glass up in a toast to their efforts, and was rewarded with a round of cheers and applause.

Once it died down, Ayden continued. "So as some of you may not be aware, the station's first test build shall be a Stalwart-class heavy cruiser. At the moment, this is one of only three designs that have currently undergone the molecular scanning process. Again for the uninformed, this is the process we use to scan a target ship's design down to the atom and place it within the station's memory banks. Though this will limit what the station can create at first, we need only acquire a working ship model or its complete design schematics, and the station can be made to produce more of that ship." More cheers and applause erupted from those in attendance.

After a few more minutes, they turned as one when an announcement came overhead. They were ready to activate the Omega Forge. For tense minutes, no one spoke. All eyes were glued onto holovid feeds that were projected to give them a closer view of the station and the process that would shape a capital ship. At first, there didn't seem to be any movement. Perhaps something was wrong. Maybe it wasn't going to work.

But before despair could grip any of them, a worker shouted in excitement and pointed at the vid. There, clear as day, was the emerging shape of a quadanium girder that would be used to constructed the frame of the ship. Once its full ten meter form came out, a tractor beam moved it into position while an automated construction tug, linked with the station's central AI core, moved into position and began to weld in a second girder. In minutes, the area was a swarm of activity as pieces seemed to materialize out of the emptiness of space and were just as quickly whisked away to be placed on the emerging ship. The scientists and engineers went wild as their every hope and expectation was met. The station worked!

For hours, they just sat there and watched as the station worked tirelessly. Already the bow of the ship was nearly complet and the ship's midline was taking form. The talk ranged from the efficiency of production to the possibility of pushing other ships into larger productions. Some talked about the possibility of being able to study with scrutiny the designs of enemy ships to discover a weakness to be exploited in combat. Ayden simply sat there, happy to watch his dream come to fruition. It had taken so much, but the Omega Forge was finally complete.

Eventually, the ship was declared complete and Ayden and the others boarded several dropships to board the first ship to be built by the Omega Forge. Emotions were running high as they set foot in the hanger and marveled at its perfection. It was indistinguishable from a hanger built by hand, or claw. Everything was as it should have been. Of course it was fairly barren as there were no storage crates or starfighters to fill it, but those could be loaded up easily enough. All they needed was a finished ship, and this seemed as finished and polished as could be.

A starship engineer came walking up to the ground out from one of the doors that led further into the ship. "Lord Protector, glad you could be here with us. We just finished our first round of checks. So far, everything looks good. Power distribution is normal, shields and engine controls are responding within expected parameters. In every way we've tested so far, the ship is fully functional and operational just as if we had built her ourselves."

Ayden smiled and clapped the engineer on the shoulder. "Excellent. I want reports to be on the desk of every department within six hours. I want them checked and double-checked for any irregularities. We'll start up the next round of construction tests after this." It wasn't quite done yet, but they were close. Soon, it would be ready.