Michael stood within the vast chamber, the hum of Maethrillian echoing faintly around him. The scale of the place still refused to settle in his mind. No matter how long he stared, the sense of depth and distance never quite made sense. It was like trying to understand the size of an ocean while standing at its centre.
The voice had fallen silent after its last words, leaving Michael alone with his thoughts.
Someone had acquired him.
Someone had brought him here.
The idea should have unsettled him more than it did. Instead, it only confirmed what he had already suspected. The system was not random. The gifts he had been given were not accidents. Something, or someone, had been guiding events from the start.
And now he stood in the heart of a machine older than most civilisations, speaking to an intelligence powerful enough to pull ships out of hyperspace without effort.
Michael exhaled slowly.
"If I'm being honest," he said into the open space, "I figured this would happen eventually."
There was a pause before the voice replied.
"Your acceptance of this outcome is noted."
Michael almost laughed.
"I wouldn't call it acceptance," he said. "More like understanding. Power attracts attention. Systems don't just hand out planets for nothing."
Silence followed again. Not an absence, but a presence waiting.
Michael turned his gaze back to the three suns suspended at the centre of the chamber. They pulsed and rotated around one another, light flaring and retracting in measured cycles. Blue, red, and purple energy bled into the surrounding space, contained by invisible forces.
He watched them for a long time.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally spoke again.
"So," Michael said carefully, "you're here to do my bidding?"
The question was not spoken with confidence or pride. There was no triumph in his voice. Only caution.
"Yes," the voice replied.
There was no hesitation. No ambiguity.
Just certainty.
Michael felt his breath catch slightly. He had expected conditions. Restrictions. Some form of resistance. Instead, he was given agreement without question.
That was more unsettling than refusal would have been.
He clasped his hands together and began to think.
If this place had truly been the capital of the Forerunners, then it had once supported an entire civilisation. Millions, perhaps billions, living and working across its structures. That meant infrastructure. Manufacturing. Logistics. Production on a scale that defied imagination.
During his arrival, he had felt the planet respond instantly. Doors opening. Atmosphere forming. Systems are activating without delay. This was not a ruin held together by luck.
It was a machine waiting for an operator.
Michael looked back at the suns.
"If this place housed your entire society," he said, "then it must be capable of producing almost anything."
"That assessment is accurate," the voice replied.
Michael nodded slowly.
"Then I want to see it," he said. "Show me the capabilities of this planet."
The response was immediate.
The chamber shook.
Not violently, but with purpose. The light within the space shifted, fading from pale blue and white into a low amber mixed with soft white. The hum deepened, resonating through the floor beneath Michael's feet.
The three suns vanished.
In their place, a massive projection unfolded across the chamber.
A star map.
Michael recognised it instantly.
The Star Wars galaxy.
Thousands of stars burned across the display, each one clearly defined. Nebulae swirled in distant regions. Black holes pulsed with dark gravity. Trade routes crisscrossed space, marked with glowing lines.
What shocked him most was what was missing.
Nothing.
The Unknown Regions were not hidden. They were fully mapped. Every system, every anomaly, every pocket of empty space was displayed with equal clarity.
Borders appeared next.
The Galactic Republic glowed in one colour, its territory clearly marked. Slave empires were outlined elsewhere, their influence spreading like stains across the map. Independent systems, crime syndicate regions, corporate holdings, all layered together in a complex web of power.
Michael stepped closer, eyes scanning the projection.
"This is…" his speech broke as he took in what he was seeing.
"Yes," the voice replied. "The map updates in real time."
Michael felt a chill run through him.
"You can see everything," he said quietly.
"We can observe," the voice corrected. "Intervention is subject to your direction."
The map shifted again.
The galaxy faded, replaced by a different display.
Facilities.
They appeared as icons arranged in layers, each representing structures embedded throughout Maethrillian. Simple ore extraction sites. Refinement plants. Fabrication centres. Shipyards so vast they dwarfed entire fleets.
Each icon pulsed faintly.
"Operational status?" Michael asked.
"Standby," the voice replied. "Maintenance drones remain active."
Michael focused on one of the larger structures.
"That's a dockyard," he said. "Capital class."
"Yes."
"And this?" he gestured to another.
"Automated fabrication complex. Capable of constructing vessels, weapons, infrastructure, and synthetic intelligences."
Michael's mouth went dry.
"How many of these are there?" he asked.
"Seven hundred and forty-six primary facilities," the voice replied. "Supporting structures exceed that number by several magnitudes."
Michael took a step back.
"This is an empire," he said. "Not a base."
"A civilisation," the voice corrected.
Michael ran a hand through his hair.
"And they're empty," he said. "No people. No leadership. Just machines."
"Yes."
Michael stared at the projection, his mind racing.
With this level of production, he could change the balance of power in the galaxy overnight. Build fleets. Supply worlds. End wars. Start them. He could become something far worse than any Sith Lord or Emperor.
The thought unsettled him deeply.
"This is... Amazing," he said again, more quietly.
"Indeed," the voice replied.
Michael closed his eyes for a moment.
He opened his eyes wide.
He looked back at the empty facilities.
"What happens if i dont accept this?" he asked.
"We fall back in a frozen" the voice replied. "We await the next activation"
Michael nodded.
The projection slowly faded, the chamber returning to its earlier glow. The suns reappearing back into their invisible container as Michael took in all that was just provided to him.
Without missing a second, Michael spoke.
"Can this planet go into hyperspace?" There was a tinge of excitement as he asked this.
"Yes, but only twice before needing to recharge for ten years due to the energy consumed."
With that answer, Michael grew a grin on his face as he asked for the map to reappear. When the map oppened he began scouring the galaxy looking for a place to place this planet-sized factory before an empire caught his eye.
- Chiss Ascendancy -
This empire brought the memory of Grand Admiral Thrawn and the general appearance of the Chiss. Without missing another second, Michael clicked upon a neighbouring star system between Jamiron and Rentor.