Humanity Endures

Part 13 - Epilogue | Chapter 4

A seemingly endless network of utilitarian-styled manufacturing and commercial space stations, a network that extended outwards for millions of miles, surrounded Velan's station the moment it had entered the system. Super-freighters as huge as planetoids cruised through the airless sky, their titanic containers containing everything from millions of weapons, to the material to make these weapons, to smaller warships themselves. Some freighters even carried repurposed, barely livable containers, once built for shipping ore, that were now fitted with life-support and filled with refugees from fallen worlds who were eager to find shelter, or a chance for vengeance, in Ihndrastar — or in the latter case, its armies. Many of these super-freighters impatiently lingered at the edges of the system, having been stranded in the system and, not being allowed to leave without an escort due to the two wars, yet despite the evaporation of the river of commerce, Ihndrastar's vast manufactural might moved ceaselessly to keep humanity alive.

The entire system, one of the jewels of the galaxy itself, had been built around massed production; near Velan's station, one could see a moderately-sized dockyard where the partially-complete hulls of seven Tehkria-classes lay, labored on endlessly by a swarm of industrial drones, while each of these ships' construction was fine-tuned by an entire office of engineers. Behind those, thousands of cruisers lay in various states of manufacture, and one could see vast industrial stations from which pairs of frigates or dozens of raiders were forged and deployed almost every minute; these warships were manned by a vast, eager pool of naval reservists who had been trained to supplement and become regular soldiers in times of great crisis. All of these people were determined to defend the Empire from threats human or otherwise, and the fact that Ihndrastar still stood, a gleaming jewel of humanity amongst the wavering stars, proved their skill and their worth. Though the rest of the galaxy put together could out-produce Ihndrastar's shipyards many times over, this did not change the fact that the world produced more goods than any other single planet. Truly, if diligence and efficiency were incarnated into metal and architecture, the result would be Ihndrastar, which was unquestionably inhabited by a people worthy of such a majestic world.

Entire regions of this system were dedicated not to the manufacture of new warships or equipment for land divisions, but to the manufacture of munitions for these warships and divisions. The "Ministry of Military Industry and Logistics" had more of a foothold on Ihndrastar than any other world, and this had lent the planet part of its reputation for being the foundry of the Empire — such a reputation had only increased the amount of investment in the system, as well as increasing the pride of the many who toiled in its sweltering star's light. As far as the eye could see, men and women toiled in the greatest array of factories the galaxy knew to supply their species with the means of dealing death, as well as anything and everything else they may have required to live their lives in unprecedented luxury. On the fringes of the system, massive production complexes could be seen producing legions of smaller factory stations, as the world sought to bolster its production in an effort to overwhelm the endless scourge. The planet of Ihndrastar itself was a vast sea of urban metal, in the depths of which countless objects, vessels, and devices were forged, a byproduct of whose construction was hope for victory; there were more construction drones than there were people on the mighty planet, and though Ihndrastarian skypiercers may not have been as pretty as most others, there were a lot of them. Ihndrastar was impressive, though by itself, the world of foundries, smoke, and metal may not have been considered beautiful by many; however, when one understood the vastness of what the planet produced in even a single second, the industrial center of the cosmos became magnificent in ways that defied explanation. From the deepest reaches of its core, to the peak of its tallest skypiercer, the people of Ihndrastar labored brilliantly to produce the means of their own survival.

Though the world's architecture was distinct, drab, and nearly as utilitarian as that of Kalithihar, many facets of it hauntingly echoed that of Tehkria — a throwback from when the world's entire population was eradicated during the onset of the devourer plague, and it was resettled by an overwhelming number of Tehkrians. Now, beset with yet another galaxy-consuming threat, the people of Ihndrastar rallied to ensure that they were not wiped out a second time. Their desperation was omnipresent enough to tangibly fill the void of space, and yet, the determination of those in the system was equally palpable; whatever came to destroy the human galaxy, Ihndrastar would meet it head-on, and they would supply the rest of the Empire with the means to do so as well.