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Location: Deep Space Monitoring Station, Year: 2035
The astronomical research facility had been operating quietly for years, monitoring the deep-space probes Aidan had launched nearly a decade ago. For years it had been routine—analyzing background radiation, charting distant phenomena. Their data had helped develop humanity's nascent star fleets, but the true prize had remained elusive.
Until two days ago.
The "Thousand-Mile Eye" probe, drifting three light-years from Earth, had finally sent back a signal. Faint, but unmistakable. A gravitational wave signature of immense power.
A neutron star.
"Where's the raw telemetry?" Aidan asked, striding into the main data room. "I want to see it myself."
"Right here, Dr. Ryan," the facility director said, gesturing to the central console where a complex waveform was displayed.
"The signal arrived forty-eight hours ago," the director explained. "We spent a full night ruling out background interference. But the density, the frequency... it's confirmed. A neutron star."
Aidan leaned close, scanning the data rapidly. The tell-tale compression of space-time, the signature of a star collapsed into impossible density. "It's perfect," he murmured.
He straightened. "Once you have precise coordinates triangulated, notify me immediately. I don't care what time it is."
"Understood. What about the stellar harvester in Egypt?"
"I'll inspect it next. The global Jaeger forces are near saturation. Time to stockpile bio-metal reserves for the next phase." Unlike the limited harvester in the Anteverse, Earth had a stable star to draw from. Production could be exponential.
Five Years Later. Year: 2040.
The world had changed dramatically. The unity forged during the Kaiju war was fracturing. International tensions were rising. The unified Sun Jaeger Corps had dissolved back into national factions. Space warships from different nations patrolled their territories with growing suspicion.
But while nations squabbled over terrestrial concerns, construction continued in high orbit.
Project: Heavenly Court. The Space City.
In the third year after discovery, precise neutron star coordinates were finally confirmed. For the next two years, massive construction efforts had been underway. Other nations watched uneasily as the structure grew, but Aidan's involvement kept overt interference at bay.
Now, floating in high orbit, a magnificent steel structure lay dormant—a ring-world, a fortress, a city. A space elevator connected it to the surface, anchoring the megastructure.
Inside one of the elevator cars ascending through the atmosphere, a group of officials and engineers made the journey. Among them was Marshal Thompson, the former Shatterdome commander. Age had marked his face, but his eyes remained sharp.
"Any news from Dr. Ryan?" Thompson asked his assistant.
"Not yet, sir. But the Space City's core systems haven't fully initialized."
"Keep monitoring communications," Thompson said grimly. "In the two years since he disappeared, international tensions have escalated. We need him back."
"Where did he actually go?" another official asked.
"After obtaining the neutron star coordinates, he used spatial teleportation," Thompson said. "Didn't take a ship. He's most likely at the neutron star itself."
"That's insane. The gravity, the radiation—what's he doing there?"
"Building something," Thompson said. "What exactly, I don't know. But if it's his plan, we support it."
The elevator docked. The doors opened.
The Space City had artificial gravity in some sections, but not all. The group stepped onto solid flooring, but the sky above was the naked universe, and below, through viewports, Earth hung like a blue marble.
They approached the main gate—an eight-meter alloy blast door with intricate technical carvings. The doors groaned open.
They stepped into the central plaza. A vast expanse of metal and potential. In the distance, several objects floated in the void.
Suddenly, their feet left the floor. The artificial gravity in the plaza hadn't been activated yet.
They drifted, weightless, in the skeleton of something unprecedented.