The Uli Rouge

[Craines]

The Ska Jaktar was finally rebuilt, at the expense of the entire Terran system that had once been the cradle of humanity. Each planet had been systematically stripped down, each mineral and element being absorbed into the Jaktar. Even when the need for material had been diminished, it continued, converting what matter it did not need into energy to be used at a different time. The rare metallic hydrogen found within the core of Jupiter was extremely helpful for the Yrshimi reactors that the Jaktar had been making, as it was a key ingredient in nuclear fusion. The helium three of the Earth's moon, found on other atmosphere-less planets, being one of the other materials necessary for the fusion to occur. Mars' core, iron three, had been used solely to repair the damage on the outside of the Jaktar, and the gases of Venus were perfect for refueling the Jaktar's star. The Terran system had been destroyed, but it had been well worth it.

===

Inside the Dyson System Sphere, a strange sight could be beheld. The entire inner surface of the sphere had been colonized, with grasses, trees, and other foliage growing rampant. The Jaktaran people, before they had been killed by the star within the center of the sphere retracting and emitting a wave of radiation capable of breaking the stasis fields, had cultivated the inner sphere ecology, using large-scale heat generators and ultraviolet projectors to battle the extremes found within the sphere. Because it had been constructed around the star, it was still a hollow sphere, lacking any molecules to fill the void. Creating and maintaining a suitable ecosystem had been a serious endeavor, leading up to the entire sphere being filled with oxygen. Airships could be used to go between the planets, assuming you had the time and endless energy supply. Luckily, the Jaktarans had both, and in large supplies.

The Jaktarans had been a civilization of many talents, with an empire spanning galaxies at times. They ruled with an iron fist and unstoppable technology, able to break the laws of science at will. They could create matter using vast sums of energy, and could destroy matter on a whim. Their crowning achievement, the Zero Kelvin Warfare laser, was the epitome of this concept; by reducing the temperature to zero kelvin, the atoms had no residual energy, and the electrons would be drawn into the nucleus; this, in turn, would result in an explosion that was stopped because of the lack of energy; this would lead to the electrons, protons and neutrons to fuse together; lacking a charge, the atoms would simply drift apart, being able to hit one another and, eventually, slowing down until they did not move at all; this meant that the matter was gone, not able to support itself any longer, and ceasing to exist. The energy needed to power the ZKW Laser was enormous, however, and was rarely used during the reign of the Jaktaran people.

Their empire, comprised of thousands of species, had once even included the fledgling C'Tan people, the Miraluka people, and the Dom Kavash. Above each species' home planet, a space station was built, a ZKW Laser aimed at the planet's surface. At the slightest sign of an uprising, the Laser would fire, removing the planet. There would be no debris, no evidence that the planet had been there, just a space station. Only once did this defensive precaution have to be used, when one of the more advanced races attempted a coup. The station had obliterated the planet, and the stations orbiting the other planets of the same species were activated. The Relquin people were ended that day, and a live-stream datalink was shown. The planets disappearing before the camera, the chain reaction of stations opening fire, these things were enough to keep the others in line. No one had expected what happened next.

The Ska Jaktar, or Greater Fear, was the control center for the entire Jaktaran empire. Within the Dyson System Sphere was the Sakar Haarad'oq, the Unstable Lightbringer, their main sun; orbiting it were the three planets that made up the Triumvirate, and on each planet was an Ion Stasis Emitter. Each planet used a different method of containment field, overlapping in layers, and were used to keep the Sakar Haarad'oq stable and static. Solar wind was contained, allowing the Inner Sphere Ecosystem to be made without fear of being torn to shreds, and other toxic byproducts were retained, such as ultraviolet rays and radiation. The Triumvirate's shielding system held the sun's toxins out of the system, but that did not solve the problem of when the System Sphere moved. The Emperor Yrshimi, for which many of the Jaktaran devices are named after, developed the system which would outlast the Jaktaran civilization by over five hundred thousand years.

Emperor Yrshimi devised an intricate system of gravitational buffers and anti-gravitational buffers, creating a zone around the Sakar Haarad'oq that was gravitationally neutral. The result was that the air molecules could push the confined star as well as the Triumvirate, as they were weightless within the zone. It was a most ingenious device, allowing the Ska Jaktar to move about space, enforcing the will of the Emperor, without a problem. But not even that could halt the immense danger that was about to strike.

Unbeknown by the Jaktarans, the Sakar Haarad'oq was on the last leg of it's time in the particular stage it was in. Expanding rapidly, it broke through the stasis fields, and grew in size and power within the oxygen rich, grav-neutral zone around its circumference. While it did not reach the Triumvirate, the heat and radiation pouring out engulfed the planets, scouring them clean of anything living, and the only few things remaining were the Ion Stasis Generators, the power inductors, and the grav/anti-grav buffer systems. The expansion halted then, as the Sakar Haarad'oq had used the extent of the available oxygen up, and it began to cool; this created a retraction, leading to the expulsion of twenty billion tons of super-condensed, solid radiation and solar wind. The entire Inner Sphere Ecosystem was purged, and the Jaktar was made empty of any and all organic matter. But that was not the end of the Jaktaran Empire's troubles.

On the largest planet of the Triumvirate, Traligy, the Imperial Palace had been erected. Beneath the palace, the Killroy Research and Development Center, the largest science academy ever to be made. And within the Killroy Center, the controls for the ZKW Laser Systems were located. Upon the destruction of the palace, the large shaft leading to the Killroy Center was flooded with the byproducts of the Sakar Haarad'oq; infiltrating the entire Center, the radiation destroyed the delicate devices, one of which was the ZKW Console. With the command center of the many space stations gone, the orbiting Space Station Enforcers were sent into self-destruct mode, leading to each and every one imploding. A few were able to activate the ZKW Laser, destroying several planets, and the resulting debris caused extensive damage, but it was for naught. The Jaktaran Empire had been finished. Only a single building had survived the Jaktar Tragedy, and it was located on the surface of the Inner Sphere; the Frendinzo Bunker.

The Frendinzo Bunker held the lump sum of the Jaktaran Empire's knowledge; each discovery, each weapon, each byte of information was stored inside the massive computer network the Frendinzo had. The base, taking up over two hundred square miles and rising over thirty stories into the air, had but one computer access point. The Bunker would wait many hundreds of thousands of years, but one day, when the lights flickered and the Sakar Haarad'oq had been forced back into the stasis fields, a depressed scientist from Germany would stumble upon the Jaktar. His new method of propulsion, an infant form of the Jaktaran solar wind engine, had gotten him here, and he felt the technology was too advanced for humanity. He had been ready to destroy it, when he found the System Sphere.

Doctor Alexiander Molochov deLuna entered the jammed doors of the station, marveling at the thickness and strength of the hull. He landed, the shielding system along the Inner Sphere functional and a tentative oxygen atmosphere reforming within it. Wandering to the Bunker, he opened the blast doors and cautiously proceeded. There, he found the single computer node. Curiosity overpowering logic, he activated the machine. He was converted from a human into a stream of electrons, his entire being now electricity. But he retained sentience, and that made all the difference. He instantly knew everything that the Jaktarans knew. The hull of the Jaktar had been designed to be a huge memory bank, and hundreds of trillions of nano-machinery littered the Inner Sphere. Doctor deLuna was no longer a human; he was the living entity within the Ska Jaktar. He had merged with the System Sphere, and was now in total control of it.

===

The Jaktar opened a jump hole leading near Sirius. It had a bone to pick with some inhabitants of that area, and there was no chance that it would forget or have mercy. If it had to rip open each and every system in order to find its targets, it would. Entering the jump hole, the Ska Jaktar sped to its destination. Upon arrival, though, a most strange happening occurred.

Hello, Alexiander. Care to chat a while?

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