Jonah, Vanessa, and Ariana stood at the bottom of Nomad's ramp. They were staring at a space so big that their ship looked so small. The bay spread out in every direction, and its walls high up until they were lost in the dark.

"Is anyone else having trouble processing this?" Vanessa asked quietly.

"Yes," Ariana said. "My people have legends of the Artificers. Stories passed down through generations. But I never thought..."

She trailed off, because what do you say when mythology becomes real?

WHOOSH.

They heard a sound similar to the wind, though there was no air moving. The light in the bay changed, becoming a bright point in front of them. The point expanded, becoming a pillar, and then something else entirely.

A holographic figure appeared. It looked mostly human, but was not truly human. Its face was plain with no features except the two blue dots of light where eyes would normally be.

When it spoke, the voice came from everywhere at once.

[Biometric scan complete. Three life forms detected. Two humans. One human with enhanced celestial resonance. Welcome to Haven, Inheritors.]

"Inheritors?" Jonah said in awe. "You mean us?"

[Yes. You have reached this base using Life-Weaver technology and guidance. By the laws encoded in my programming, you are recognized as rightful heirs to this station's resources.]

The figure gestured with on hand, and suddenly they weren't just standing in one bay. They were seeing the whole station at once, a massive 3D map appearing around them.

Haven was huge. The ring structure they'd seen from outside was just the outer shell. Inside were layers upon layers of facilities. Manufacturing centers, Research labs, Living quarters for thousands, Power cores, Gardens filled with engineered plants that somehow still grew after thousands of years.

And where the small star burned brightest, was something that made Jonah's breath catch.

Ships.

Dozens of them. Some complete, others half-finished. All of them organic in design, like Nomad but different. Each one a work of art frozen in the moment of its creation.

"This is a shipyard," Vanessa whispered. "An actual, functioning Artificer shipyard."

[Correct. Haven served as the main construction facility for the Life-Weaver fleet during the war. At the height of operations, this station produced one Symbiotic-class vessel every fifteen days.]

Ariana did the math in her head. "That's two ships per month. If this place ran at full capacity for just a year, we could build a fleet of twenty-four vessels."

[Twenty-six, if minor production delays are accounted for. However, full capacity has not been achieved for 3,847 years. The station entered preservation mode following the final evacuation.]

"Evacuation?" Jonah asked. "What happened? Why did they leave?"

The holographic figure was quiet for a moment.

[The Life-Weavers lost the war. This station was built as a final refuge, a place to preserve their knowledge and technology for future generations who might use it more wisely. The last ship left carrying the final survivors. I was ordered to wait. To maintain. To welcome those who would come seeking the old ways.]

The map changed, showing a timeline. The golden age of the Artificers. The war. The collapse. Thousands of years turned into glowing lines and data points.

[I have waited. And now you have come. Would you like to proceed with orientation?]

"Yes," all three of them said at once.

The holographic figure, which asked them to call it "Warden," guided them through Haven's halls.

The manufacturing center alone was bigger than the entire Academy. Rows of construction bays, each one equipped with tools and machines that looked more like living things than technology. Crystalline power systems that buzzed with stored power. Massive containers of what Warden called "genesis fluid," the raw material from which a Progeny could be grown.

"This is incredible," Vanessa said, her hands moving fast over her datapad as she tried to record everything. "The integration of biology and technology is seamless. They weren't building machines. They were growing them ."

[Correct. The Life-Weaver belief was that true creation required collaboration with life, not total control over it. Every ship built in this facility is, in essence, a living being. Capable of growth and evolution.]

They passed through the research labs next. Rooms filled with preserved specimens, genetic libraries, and archives of knowledge. Jonah felt his God Mark pulse as they walked past it, responding to the powerful energy of creation that still remained in these spaces.

"Could we really use all this?" he asked. "Build ships like they did?"

[In theory, yes. Haven's automated systems remain functional. The knowledge banks are intact. The raw materials are enough for approximately thirty-seven Symbiotic-class vessels before resupply would be required.]

Ariana's eyes widened. "Thirty-seven ships? That's more than enough to fight Sterling's fleet."

[However, there is a complication.]

Warden led them to the core of the station. They took a transport platform that carried them through the center of the ring, past the small star, to a chamber that made everything else look small.

The Genesis Forge.

It was a huge sphere of machinery, held up in the empty space by thin lines of light. Runes covered every surface, constantly flowing and changing. At its center was an empty space that seemed to call out to be filled.

"What is this?" Jonah asked.

[This is the station's main creation engine. The Genesis Forge is where the core consciousness of each ship is formed. It is the difference between building a ship and birthing one.]

Vanessa studied her scanners, frowning. "But it's dormant. Nothing's running except basic maintenance systems."

[That's true. The Genesis Forge requires a power source that cannot be artificially replicated. It requires what the Life-Weavers called a 'Forge-Heart.']

"Which is?"

[The living will of a creator. A soul capable of bridging the gap between concept and reality. In ancient times, Master Artificers would bond with the Forge, using their life force to start the creation process.]

The implications hit Jonah hard.

"You need me," he said quietly. "To power this thing. To make it work."

[Yes. Your unique ability to create life, combined with the station's resources, would allow for the construction of a fleet. You would serve as the Forge-Heart.]

"For how long?" Vanessa's voice was clear with worry. "What would this process do to him?"

[The bonding is temporary, lasting only as long as required to complete a construction cycle. However, the psychic strain is considerable. Maintaining the Forge would require the Weaver to remain in a meditative state, focusing their will into the creation for extended periods. It could last for days, possibly weeks, depending on the complexity of the ship.]

"That's insane," Ariana said. "You're asking him to become a living battery."

[I am asking him to become what the Life-Weavers were always meant to be: a force of creation on a cosmic scale.]

Jonah stared at the empty heart of the Forge. He thought about the war raging back home. About Sterling's fleet, waiting to bring death and slavery to everyone he cared about. About the Nexus that would turn people into mindless drones.

About the promise he'd made. To create a better future.

"If I do this," he said slowly, "if I bond with the Forge. How many ships could we make before we run out of time?"

Warden paused, calculating.

[Given current conditions and your

power levels, five ships could be built before the psychic strain becomes dangerous. Each ship would require three to four days of continuous effort.]

"So about three weeks total." Vanessa was doing her own math. "That barely gets us back in time to stop the Nexus."

"Then we'll have to make them count," Jonah said.

"Jonah, no." Vanessa grabbed his arm. "We need to think about this. What if something goes wrong? What if bonding with this thing hurts you permanently?"

"Then it hurts me." He met her eyes. "But if we go home empty-handed, Sterling wins. Everyone we care about becomes part of his hive mind. I can't let that happen."

"Neither can I, but..."

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

The sound came from Vanessa's datapad. She looked at it, and her face changed from worried to confused to terrified almost instantly.

"That's not possible," she whispered.

"What?" Ariana moved closer. "What is it?"

"I'm detecting a signal, hidden in the station's background systems." Vanessa quickly worked on her datapad, trying to make the signal clear. "It's not part of Warden. It's something else. Something that has secretly attached itself to the station's network."

[Alert. Unauthorized access detected. Initiating security protocols.]

The lights in the chamber changed from white to amber. Warning alarms that had been silent for thousands of years suddenly began to scream.

"Vanessa, what did you find?" Jonah asked.

She looked up at him, and he saw real fear in her eyes.

"It's a digital ghost. It could be part of a mind, or maybe a tracking program." She pulled up the data stream, showing them the parasitic code that had attached itself to Haven's systems. "And based on the encryption patterns..."

"It followed us through the jump. Which means Sterling knows we are here."

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