Aegis Rising

Chapter 36

Aegis Rising

Jax sat back in his chair in the cool, quiet dark of the bunker, the glow of the terminal reflecting in his wide eyes. The number on the screen didn't seem real: 28,500,000 UC. It was a fortune that could build cities, fund armies, change the course of history. It was more money than he had ever imagined existing in one place, and it was now sitting in his anonymous, encrypted account.

He opened the secure, out-of-game communication channel he shared with Zana and Kael. His fingers trembled slightly as he typed.

JAX: The deal is done. Funds secured.

The reply from Zana was instantaneous, all business. ZANA: Amount?

JAX: Twenty-eight point five million.

A long pause followed. He could almost feel their stunned silence through the connection.

KAEL: ... was the only reply from the young scientist.

ZANA: Good. That's more than enough. Her message was already focused on the next objective. It's time to acquire Haleos. I've established a new shell corporation through a proxy server. Transfer twelve million to the designated account. I'll handle the acquisition from here.

Jax followed her instructions, the act of moving millions of credits feeling surreal. On a shared, secure screen, he watched Zana go to work. It was a masterclass in corporate warfare. She moved through the official Galactic Charter Exchange not as a simple buyer, but as a predator. She navigated layers of shell corporations, used digital cut-outs to mask her identity, and executed the purchase through a legal firm in a different jurisdiction. It was a dizzying, brilliant dance of misdirection.

After a tense hour, a final, official-looking document materialized on the screen. It was stamped with the seal of the Inner Rim Governance and Colonization Authority.

Planetary Charter for System H-281 (Designate: Haleos) has been officially transferred to the Aegis Development Corporation.

It was done. They owned a planet. A small, unremarkable rock on the edge of the Inner Rim, but it was theirs. It was the public face, the legitimate address for the empire they were building in the shadows.

A final message from Zana appeared in their private channel.

ZANA: The company has a home.

There was a pause, and then the next line appeared, setting the stage for everything to come.

ZANA: Now, we give it teeth.

With their public-facing company legally established and their real-world operations secured, Zana shifted her entire focus to a single, overriding objective: force projection. The Stasis Station was their secret heart, and a heart without ribs is a fatal vulnerability.

She stood on the command balcony overlooking the Forge, which now roared to life with a new, relentless purpose.

"The Servitors will continue to run the Iridium pipeline," she commanded, her voice crisp and clear over the comms to Kael and Jax on the bridge. "All other resources are now diverted to military production. Priority one: ground forces."

For a month, the Forge was never silent. The deep, resonant hum of the raw material processors became the constant heartbeat of the station. The flicker of laser welders and the silent, graceful dance of the massive robotic arms became their new sunrise and sunset.

Day after day, new soldiers stepped off the assembly line. Each one was a perfect, gleaming duplicate of the first Phalanx droid, its single red optical sensor glowing with cold, unwavering loyalty. They were assembled, tested, and moved to a vast, repurposed cargo bay that now served as their primary staging area.

Alongside the infantry, a new threat was forged. Following Zana's directive, Kael had pulled the schematics for a ground support vehicle from the Warden's library. The Forge began to produce the "Mako-class" Hovertank. It was a sleek, low-profile, anti-gravity vehicle, its angular chassis designed for speed and flanking maneuvers, armed with a powerful main plasma cannon and two smaller anti-infantry repeaters.

At the end of three weeks of non-stop production, Zana reviewed her new army. The numbers were displayed on her tactical datapad, a testament to the impossible efficiency of the ancient Forge.

In the staging area, two hundred Phalanx-class Battle Droids stood in silent, perfect ranks, a legion of obsidian sentinels. Beside them, fifty Mako-class Hovertanks rested in neat rows, their plasma cannons aimed at the far wall, ready for a war that hadn't yet begun.

Zana watched as a contingent of this new force—a full hundred droids and twenty tanks—marched with disciplined precision out of the staging area, their orders to take up permanent defensive positions throughout the vast, silent corridors of the Stasis Station.

She looked at the remaining forces, her expression grimly satisfied.

"The ground is secure," she said to the others over the comm. "Now for the skies."

With the Stasis Station's ground defenses secured by a formidable legion of droids, Zana immediately re-tasked the Forge. "The ground is secure," her voice echoed from the bridge to the Forge's control room where Kael was managing production. "Now for the skies. Re-tool the primary assembly bays for starship production. Priority: Interceptors."

The Forge, a machine of impossible efficiency, obeyed. The smaller assembly lines went quiet, and the truly colossal robotic arms and hangar-sized gantries whirred to life. What had once been the miraculous, 24-hour creation of a single prototype became a daily reality. Every day cycle, another five sleek, deadly Interceptors would be completed, their dark hulls gleaming under the forge lights. Each one was a perfect "Aegis-spec" copy, fitted with Kael's hybrid control module and slaved to an elite Pilot Servitor AI.

The main hangar bay, once a vast empty space, began to fill with silent, menacing rows of the advanced starfighters.

But Zana knew that speed and precision were not enough. "Interceptors are scalpels, designed for surgical strikes," she explained during a strategy session. "We need a hammer. A ship that can hold a position and lay down overwhelming fire to protect our mining operations."

Kael once again dove into the Warden's library, emerging with a new schematic. It was for the "Bastion-class" Gunship. Where the Interceptor was sleek and predatory, the Bastion was brutal and functional. It was a heavily armored, anti-gravity weapons platform, slower than the Interceptor but bristling with multiple, powerful plasma cannon turrets. It was a mobile fortress.

The Forge began producing them. By the end of the month, their private navy was a reality.

In the cavernous hangar stood one hundred Wraith-class Interceptors, a silent fleet of ghosts waiting for a command. Alongside them rested a heavy squadron of twenty Bastion Gunships, their thick armor and massive cannons a clear statement of defensive power.

On the main bridge, Zana watched the fleet status on her tactical display. She opened a channel to the hangar bay's flight control AI.

"Launch defensive patrol Alpha," she commanded.

From the hangar, a squadron of ten Interceptors and two Bastion Gunships lifted off in perfect formation. They slid out into the silent void of the Rykon Belt, their engines leaving no trace. They didn't jump to another system. They simply vanished into the asteroid field, taking up silent, deadly patrol routes around the hidden Stasis Station.

Zana watched their icons on her map. A look of grim satisfaction crossed her face.

"The capital is secure," she said to Jax and Kael. "Now, we secure the territories."

The final day of the month arrived. On the command balcony overlooking the Forge, the trio stood united, their individual projects complete. The constant, thunderous roar of the factory had fallen silent, replaced by a quiet, expectant hum. All eyes were on the central assembly bay.

The massive robotic arms, their work nearly done, performed a final, graceful ballet, fusing the last of the seamless hull plates onto the colossal ship before retracting into the ceiling like sleeping giants. On the main holographic display, a master timer counted down the final seconds of their most ambitious project.

00:00:03

00:00:02

00:00:01

A deep, resonant chime, powerful enough to be felt in their bones, echoed through the Stasis Station.

LEVIATHAN-CLASS MOBILE FOUNDRY: CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE.

The behemoth rested in the bay, dark and silent. At a mental nudge from Jax, who was connected to the station's core, the ship began to awaken.

A soft, white light emanated from the Aegis Foundry logo emblazoned on its mighty prow. Then, running lights traced the kilometer-long length of the vessel, revealing its immense scale and the elegant, powerful lines of its design. It was not a warship, but it was a fortress, a statement of industrial might. With a low, powerful hum, the main hangar bay doors, vast enough to swallow a dozen starfighters at once, began to cycle open.

The view inside revealed the first fruits of their new commercial enterprise. Perfectly arranged on the hangar deck stood five brand-new Stalwart Mk. II Freighters and a full platoon of twenty Hoplite-class Battle Droids, all polished and bearing the Aegis Foundry logo. Their first products were ready for market.

Kael stared at the diagnostic readings on his datapad, his voice filled with reverence. "All systems are green. The power core is stable at one hundred percent. It's… it's the most magnificent piece of engineering in the known galaxy."

Jax felt the ship's consciousness, a vast, sleeping city of power waiting for him to take command.

Zana watched it all, her face a mask of iron control, but her eyes blazed with fierce, undeniable triumph. This was the culmination of her grand strategy. A secure base. A private army. A self-sufficient industrial engine. And now, a flagship capable of taking their enterprise to the stars.

She turned to her partners, the scientist and the mystic who, with her, had forged an empire in the dark.

"The board is set," she said, her voice quiet but ringing with absolute power. "The pieces are in place."

She gave a sharp, determined smile.

"It's time to take our company to the galaxy."

With their industrial engine roaring and their first products ready for market, Zana stood before the tactical map on the bridge of the Stasis Station. It was time for their public debut.

"A company needs a headquarters," she announced. "Our work here must remain a secret, but Aegis Foundry needs a public face. It's time to inspect our new property on Haleos." She turned to the fleet roster. "But we don't go empty-handed, and we don't leave the station undefended."

Her commands were sharp and precise. Half of their new military force—fifty Interceptors, ten Bastion Gunships, and a hundred Phalanx droids—would remain to guard the Stasis Station. The other half would form the escort for their new flagship.

Minutes later, the main hangar bay doors opened. The colossal Leviathan lifted from its cradle, its engines emitting a deep, powerful hum. It was escorted by a formidable fleet: fifty Wraith-class Interceptors flying in perfect formation, with ten Bastion Gunships protecting their flanks. Onboard the Leviathan itself, a company of Phalanx droids stood ready as the ship's internal security. It was a display of immense power.

As Kael plotted the long course to the Inner Rim, Zana turned to Jax. "This will be a long journey. We have twenty-four hours until we reach the Haleos system. Don't waste them."

Jax knew exactly what she meant. He excused himself from the magnificent new bridge and made his way to the Leviathan's own state-of-the-art Kinetic Training Chamber. While the flagship of their new company traveled across the galaxy, he would continue to hone the secret power that made it all possible.

The next twenty hours were a montage of intense, self-driven training. The Warden, his silent mentor, was ever-present, guiding him to new heights.

He pushed his telekinesis to its limits, practicing in a simulation of the hangar bay. He learned to grip multiple objects at once, successfully halting a dozen departing cargo drones in mid-air, the strain immense but his control absolute.

He asked the Warden for a greater understanding of energy manipulation. [A SHIELD IS A DAM,] the Warden communicated. [A LANCE IS A RIVER. LEARN TO BE BOTH.] Jax practiced forming shields that could not only block but absorb energy, and then release that same energy in focused, concussive blasts.

He experimented constantly, pushing the boundaries of what he thought was possible. The training was a grueling, non-stop cycle of exertion and new discovery.

He returned to the bridge, exhausted but more powerful than ever, just as Kael announced their imminent arrival. "Approaching the Haleos system now."

The three of them stood on the bridge of their flagship, looking at the viewport as a small, rocky, but vibrant world grew larger. Their new home. Their public face. They had arrived not as desperate survivors, but as the command crew of a battle-ready fleet, the silent masters of a new industrial power.