The planet LV-492, now officially renamed "Bastion" by Julius's decree, was secured. The last xeno resistances were nothing but skirmishes, dealt with brutal efficiency by Goliath patrols and the Ghosts' surgical strikes. The mountain fortress, "Braveheart Prime," had become an underground and aerial megalopolis that pulsed to the rhythm of foundries and shipyards.
Sitting in the advanced strategy room, Julius, Data, Raynor, Nova, and the recently promoted "Advisor" Caleb Valerius stared at the holographic projection of the local star system. A young, type K star sat at its center. Around it, eight planets orbited. Bastion was the third.
"Planetary control is a first step," began Julius, his voice carrying a new authority. "But it is only a step. To be truly safe, to grow, we must control this system."
Caleb Valerius, though still pale and marked by his long sleep, had regained a glimmer of fire in his eyes. Stellar charts were his domain.
"You are right, Commander. My ship, the Aethelstan, performed preliminary scans before our... incident. The system is sterile. No advanced technological signatures. The fourth planet is a gas giant with a ring system rich in rare minerals. The fifth and sixth are dead ice balls. The others are furnaces or barren rocks."
"Furnaces and dead ice... for now," Julius retorted, zooming in on the second planet, a rocky, scorching world with no atmosphere. "Data, projections."
The android stepped forward. "Terran technology allows for small-scale terraformation and the construction of habitable domes. The energy and resource cost would be considerable, but not insurmountable given our current production rate. I propose designating objectives in order of priority."
A new schematic displayed, each planet getting a label.
Planet 2 - "Forge": Rocky world, rich in heavy minerals. Priority: Installation of automated mines and an orbital processing station.
Planet 4 - "Cerulean Giant":Gas giant. Priority: Deployment of Vespene gas siphoning stations in the upper atmosphere.
Planet 5 - "Ice" & Planet 6 - "Frost":Icy worlds. Priority: Extraction of pure water ice and detection of sub-surface mineral deposits.
Moons of the Cerulean Giant:Several moons of variable size, some with a tenuous atmosphere. Priority: Establishment of dome-colonies to serve as forward bases and surveillance posts.
"Colonies with shields, pressurized domes, hydroponic farms... we can do it," Raynor emphasized, arms crossed. "But it'll draw attention. Activity on a system-wide scale doesn't go unnoticed."
"It's a calculated risk," Nova retorted, her cold gaze analyzing the orbits. "If we control the system, we can set up a detection network. We will see anyone coming."
"And if someone comes?" asked Caleb, the question hanging in the air.
Julius felt the small psionic flame within him quiver, not with fear, but with anticipation.
"Then we will be ready. We will no longer be a colony hidden on a lost world. We will be an interstellar power. Data, begin preparations. Priority to the mining station in orbit of 'Forge' and the siphoning stations on 'Cerulean Giant'. We are going to forge a belt of iron and fire around our world."
The plan was audacious, immense. But looking at the determined faces surrounding him – the strategist from the Age of Darkness, the rebel from Koprulu, the android from Starfleet, the ghost assassin – Julius knew it was possible.
The era of survival on Bastion was over. Make way for the era of the Braveheart Empire. Controlling the solar system was just a first step. The first of many.