Chapter 141

　　The Milky Way galaxy, home to four hundred billion stars, shone brightly in the darkness of space. Despite its technology and ambitions, humanity had only explored and colonized a fraction of its magnitude.

　　The Empire had divided its territory between the Ducal Houses, the spiral arms of the galaxy carved and gifted in a manner familiar to those who understood the history of humanity. To humans, the entire universe was theirs for the taking, and their home galaxy was just the beginning.

　　But the universe was larger than many of them could ever imagine.

　　Caledon`s sun hung in space, its light shining on a few barren planets that orbited it before reaching the inhabited Caledon with billions of inhabitants. The light continued on, reaching Luna. Tidally locked, the light always shone on only one of its surfaces. Luna City glistened white in the sun as its people hustled to their workplaces.

　　Aesir Corporation had finally transitioned to Caledonian Space, adding tens of millions of new workers and an influx of industry with their presence. Caledon would have its own line of Mobile Suits, and a corrupt Corporation would be reorganized and altered into a Ducal House-owned business.

　　Beyond Caledon`s system, its sector was going through a resurgence. Its inhabited planets were being reabsorbed back into the Ducal House. Law and order were returning to this section of the galaxy. Its tainted nobility would bend the knee to their Duke or face annihilation. The people`s lives would improve.

　　Some resisted that idea, and conflict raged across the once-neglected sector. But with Caledon`s increased military presence, resistance was quickly stamped out. Pirates and Brigands, criminal organizations and slavers were being systemically purged from Caledonian space.

　　What replaced them were elected governments and Nobility loyal to their Duke. The name Kalen Caledon` was on everyone`s lips. The people who now saw hope praised him, while those who saw the fortunes their activities had brought dwindle in the new regime cursed him.

　　But five hundred years of stagnation and neglect couldn`t be undone quickly. It would take years to repair the damage, but their Duke assured everyone in his sector that he was committed to seeing it happen.

　　Beyond Caledon`s Sector, the other Ducal Houses settled into an uneasy Armistice. The peace, which would hold only until the negotiations between the Princes concluded, allowed them to build their forces and train their Pilots.

　　Already, Titans could be seen above their home worlds for the first time in millennia. The pinnacle of humanity`s destructive power, they all waited for the opportunity when they would be unleashed upon their enemies.

　　On the edge of the Milky Way, beyond the Empire`s effort of colonization and exploration, the coordinates revealed by Ouroboros remained elusive. No Starship could reach it, and the thought of what was there tantalized those who knew about discovery.

　　What lay there? Was it a threat, as Mare`s vision implied, or was it their salvation?

　　Despite the distance from the Empire, the coordinates were still within the boundary of their galaxy, giving some revelation on how enormous it was. Even Starships, capable of jumping across the breadth of the Empire, couldn`t reach it.

　　It was sometimes easy for humans to forget that their galaxy was only one of many. Looking inward, focused on the events in their Empire that affected their lives, they often failed to look at the space outside.

　　The universe was incredibly large, and the Milky Way galaxy was only a tiny pinprick of light in the space between galaxies. Most of the universe was empty, the distance between galaxies insurmountable and absurdly isolated. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

　　In this black void hung a mysterious object.

　　It hurtled through space faster than even the light of the stars toward the Milky Way. To it, the galaxy was a beacon, calling out to it from the darkness, drawing it toward its warmth from the cold of deep space.

　　To the scale of the universe, this object was minuscule. A black orb, it trailed specks of glittering, sparkling light behind it.

　　But if one were to observe it closer, they would realize those specks of light were suns, following in the wake of the object. So dense was its gravity that the light of these obediently following stars did not escape the object`s pull.

　　The orb, a mind-boggling giant, was not perfectly round or smooth. Its surface was filled with marks and crags, gouges and craters that gave it a rough appearance. Ice covered its exterior in places and what appeared to be black rock.

　　Beneath the surface of the immense, black orb, hundreds of thousands of tunnels carved their way through its dense interior. Lined with frost from the intense cold of deep space, the passageways developed an atmosphere and gradually warmed as they descended toward the center.

　　Gravity was crushing here, and the pressure was overwhelming. No normal creature could survive in these depths as the temperature soared. The silence that had gripped the entire orb gradually broke. A rhythmic pounding could be heard as one descended these tunnels.

　　The walls shook in time with the noise, and cracks appeared, only to be healed as soon as they were created.

　　A living mass was clustered at the center of this strange celestial object moving through the deep void of the space between the stars. The sound grew louder as it neared the mass, and it could be seen that it was a heart beating with regularity.

　　The Orb was alive!

　　An odd, black substance flowed out from the heart, creeping its way through the tunnels like the veins of a living creature. As the ebony liquid travelled, the black rock absorbed it greedily, growing luxurious and shiny.

　　Reaching the surface, it gushed like oil across the crags and craters, filling them before sinking beneath the skin.`

　　The creature, whose body was the orb, was getting bigger. Each time its skin absorbed the black liquid, a layer of new growth was left behind. The crags and craters were signs of its expansion, an accommodation to its increased size.

　　The beating heart of the Orb continued its rhythmic sound, but another was soon added to it. The whistling of the wind through the tunnel made a keening wail as the creature inhaled. A crack gradually widened in a particular section of the surface as it took a deep breath.

　　Rather than air, the creature drew in burning hot plasma from one of the suns trailing its massive body. A stream of liquid fire was pulled from a yellow star. Streaking across the gap between them, it was drawn down into the large crack.

　　The sun`s fire twisted and turned through the tunnels, and the black rock burned intensely with its passing. The cold from its upper layers was temporarily driven away, the ice and frost melting.

　　Down into the depths, the fire travelled until it was contained in a chamber made of shining obsidian, where it pooled into a liquid from the gravity and pressure at the center of the Orb. Like a burning sea, it warmed the heart of the Orb, replacing the energy used to create the black liquid.

　　On and on, the Orb devoured the star until nothing was left. Even the core of the star was swallowed, used to fuel the creature`s growth. Gradually, it would digest the energy, converting it into more of the black liquid to aid in its expansion, the cycle continuing without end.

　　For years it travelled through the void, its beating heart the only sound to break the silence. The warmth of the Milky Way galaxy pulled it forward. The Orb was filled with endless hunger, driven by the need to consume and grow.

　　It could see` the light of the distant stars, feel the energy of the life there calling to it. Each of the galaxy`s spiral arms beckoned it onward.

　　As the black liquid sank beneath the rock, nourishing its body, smaller creatures emerged from where they were resting. In a variety of grotesque shapes and sizes, they feasted on the black stone, sinking sharp teeth into the flesh of the Orb. Black liquid filled their mouths like blood.

　　In mere minutes, the liquid had dissolved into the stone, and the creatures could get no more nourishment from it. Reluctantly, they sunk back into their hiding places to rest. Like the Orb that birthed them, they felt their hunger keenly. No amount could ever satisfy them.

　　In their resting places, they turned their faces toward the distant Milky Way. They could feel the life there, even through the thick walls of the Orb and the inconceivable distance of the void between them.

　　The wind gradually died down in the tunnels, replaced with the oppressive silence, broken only by the beating heart of the Orb.

　　Soon, it would consume everything in the galaxy before it, as it had done countless times before.