I woke to silence.
Not the kind of silence that followed a battle or the vacuum-muted quiet of a sealed chamber—but a deeper, more absolute absence. No wind. No distant machinery. No hum of power conduits or the ever-present vibration of Skako's pressure systems. Silence so complete it felt artificial.
I rose slowly.
The ground beneath me was perfectly flat, a uniform expanse of gray material stretching to the horizon in every direction. No seams. No elevation variance beyond ±0.02 meters. The sky above was pale and static, a dull gradient that suggested atmosphere without weather. Gravity registered at approximately 0.97 standard—close enough to Coruscant norm to be intentional.
I ran diagnostics instinctively, then realized the absurdity of the gesture.
My pressure suit was gone.
I was breathing unassisted.
Skakoans did not do that.
I inhaled again, deliberately this time. The air composition adjusted itself in my mind as data: nitrogen-dominant, oxygen at 21.1%, trace inert gases. Perfectly breathable. Perfectly stable.
Artificial.
"Conclusion," I muttered aloud, my voice carrying farther than it should have. "This environment is constructed."
There was no echo.
I took three measured steps forward. The surface did not deform. Hardness comparable to reinforced durasteel, yet visually indistinct. No thermal variance. No magnetic signature. Whatever this place was, it was not a planet in any conventional sense.
Then I heard it.
A sound—sharp, crystalline, unmistakably synthetic.
Ding.
I froze.
No external source registered. The sound had not traveled through air. It had been delivered.
Directly.
[Hello, Host.]
The voice was neutral. Genderless. Precise.
I felt no fear. Fear was inefficient.
"Identify yourself," I said.
[Welcome to the Techno Union System.]
The designation sent a ripple through my thoughts. The words were familiar in structure, in implication, yet impossible in context. The Techno Union was an organization—an economic bloc, an industrial consortium—not a system.
"Explain," I ordered.
[All explanations are available upon interface access.]
A pause, precisely 0.4 seconds.
[To access interface: think or speak the command 'Status.']
I stared out across the endless flat expanse. No threats. No distractions. No variables except the one now addressing me.
This was not a trap. Traps relied on reaction. This relied on compliance.
Efficiency favored compliance.
"Status," I said.
Ding.
A translucent blue panel materialized in front of me, hovering at eye level. Its edges were perfectly straight, its glow constant at 420 lumens. No flicker. No instability. The interface design was utilitarian—designed for function, not intimidation.
I read.
[STATUS PANEL]
Name: Kallik Wat Tambor
Species: Skakoan
Physiological Status: Stabilized
Environmental Support: System-managed
Territory: None
Controlled Assets: 0
Infrastructure:
– Headquarters: Not Constructed
– Power Generation: 0
– Mining Facilities: 0
– Manufacturing Facilities: 0
Military Assets:
– Units: 0
– Vehicles: 0
Available Interfaces:
▸ Army Building Panel
▸ Navy Building Panel (Locked)
I felt something then. Not surprise. Not awe.
Recognition.
This interface spoke the language of industry. Assets. Infrastructure. Production. Control. It was not mystical. It did not reference destiny or prophecy.
It referenced capacity.
"What is the function of the Building Panels?" I asked.
[Army Building Panel allows construction of planetary headquarters, manufacturing facilities, and ground-force assets.]
[Navy Building Panel allows construction of orbital stations, docks, shipyards, and defense platforms. Locked until prerequisite conditions are met.]
Logical. Hierarchical. Scalable.
"Open Army Building Panel."
The panel shifted, reorganizing itself with no perceptible delay.
[ARMY BUILDING PANEL]
Available Construction:
▸ Headquarters (Mandatory)
Locked:
– Mining Facility
– Droid Factory
– Vehicle Factory (Light)
– Vehicle Factory (Heavy)
– Power Plant
Requirement:
▸ Headquarters must be constructed to unlock additional structures.
There was no point in hesitation.
"Place Headquarters," I said, gesturing vaguely toward the ground in front of me.
[Confirmed.]
[Constructing Headquarters.]
The surface beneath the indicated area shimmered. Not light—matter reorganizing. Plates rose from nothingness, assembling themselves with mechanical precision. Walls extruded upward in layered segments, internal supports locking into place with inaudible finality.
A progress indicator appeared.
Construction Time: 12 minutes
Material Cost: 1,200 Base Alloy
Power Cost: 0 (Initial System Grant)
Material from where? Power from what?
Questions deferred. Output observed.
The structure completed in exactly 11 minutes and 58 seconds.
No excess. No inefficiency.
The building was rectangular, featureless, and massive—seventy meters long, thirty wide, twenty high. No windows. Only a single reinforced access point that recognized me instantly as I approached.
The panel updated.
[INFRASTRUCTURE UPDATE]
Headquarters: Constructed
– Command Node: Active
– Data Spine: Online
– Local Processing Capacity: 0.8 PFLOPS
– Power Intake Limit: 3.2 MW
New Constructions Unlocked
The Army Building Panel refreshed.
Mining Facility. Droid Factory. Light Vehicle Factory. Heavy Vehicle Factory. Power Plant.
"System," I said, already calculating. "Provide baseline output values for Mining Facilities."
[Mining Facility Mk I outputs 80 units of raw ore per minute.]
[Refinement ratio: 3 raw ore → 1 processed alloy.]
[Power draw: 0.6 MW per facility.]
Simple. Predictable.
"How many facilities can current power support?"
[Current available power: 3.2 MW.]
[Recommended maximum: 5 facilities before overload.]
I nodded once.
"Construct four Mining Facilities. Position them equidistant from the Headquarters."
[Confirmed.]
[Construction queued.]
Timers appeared—four identical countdowns, each set to 6 minutes. As they ticked down, I examined the rest of the options.
"Construct one Droid Factory," I continued. "One Light Vehicle Factory. One Heavy Vehicle Factory."
[Confirmed.]
Additional timers stacked neatly beneath the first.
Total projected power draw:
– Mining Facilities: 2.4 MW
– Droid Factory: 0.5 MW
– Light Vehicle Factory: 0.6 MW
– Heavy Vehicle Factory: 0.8 MW
Total: 4.3 MW.
Exceeding capacity.
"System," I said, "pause Heavy Vehicle Factory construction. Prioritize Mining Facilities and Droid Factory."
[Acknowledged. Power constraints optimized.]
The Heavy Vehicle Factory timer grayed out.
Good. Even a system required supervision.
As the buildings rose, the flat world around me began to change—not aesthetically, but functionally. Conveyor nodes embedded themselves into the ground. Data pylons extended upward like skeletal antennae. Invisible logistics paths activated, their presence only detectable through the panel's throughput diagrams.
Mining output began the moment the facilities finished.
[RESOURCE FLOW]
Raw Ore:
– Facility 1: 80/min
– Facility 2: 80/min
– Facility 3: 80/min
– Facility 4: 80/min
Total: 320 raw ore/min
Processed Alloy: 106/min
Numbers. Real numbers.
Not promises. Not projections. Production.
"Begin Droid production," I said. "B1 Battle Droid model. Quantity: 112 units."
[Confirmed.]
A new panel opened automatically.
[DROID FACTORY — PRODUCTION QUEUE]
Unit: B1 Battle Droid
Assembly Time: 45 seconds per unit
Material Cost: 1.2 alloy/unit
Power Cost: 0.02 MW/unit (rolling)
Queued Units: 112
Total Time: 84 minutes
Projected Completion: T+01:24:00
Efficient. Crude, but scalable.
"And one T-Series Tactical Droid," I added.
The system hesitated—0.6 seconds.
[Advanced Command Unit detected.]
[Additional materials required.]
[Estimated Assembly Time: 14 minutes.]
"Approved."
The Tactical Droid was expensive, computationally dense, and indispensable. Command latency would drop by at least 22% once it was online.
I turned my attention to vehicles.
"Resume Heavy Vehicle Factory construction. Then produce: three AATs, four MTTs."
[Confirmed.]
The factory came online just as the Mining Facilities stabilized their output.
[VEHICLE PRODUCTION ESTIMATES]
AAT (Armored Assault Tank):
– Assembly Time: 6 minutes/unit
– Material Cost: 28 alloy
– Power Cost: 0.4 MW during assembly
MTT (Multi-Troop Transport):
– Assembly Time: 18 minutes/unit
– Material Cost: 90 alloy
– Power Cost: 0.7 MW during assembly
Queue Duration: 90 minutes
Power Load: Near capacity (98%)
I watched the meters climb, stabilize, fluctuate within acceptable thresholds.
No inefficiency warnings. No system errors.
Good.
As the first B1 chassis rolled off the assembly line—skeletal, incomplete, awaiting final programming—I felt the shape of the future solidify.
This place was empty.
But emptiness was not a flaw.
Emptiness was capacity.
And capacity, given time and structure, always became dominance.
[Notice.]
[Territory established.]
[Planetary classification pending.]
I allowed myself a single moment of satisfaction.
Then I turned back to the panels.
There was work to be done.