“It was built in the unsettled and useless parts of the planet, inside the largest palladium deposit in the galaxy,” Ptolemy explained. “It’s made with more palladium than any other object, but we still needed more. We found the platinum on the planet’s far side. The palladium we kept secret, the platinum we could not.”

“Its position opposite the crack should enhance its protection from a hypothetical explosion at the planet’s core,” Sisi explained.

Natalya saw the skeletons of buildings as they orbited above Tarantula, black and white in the x-ray viewscreens. She was surprised anything was left standing on the ruined planet, but didn’t have to look for long. They approached the barren landscape, passed the ruins of Sisi’s research lab, where the space station was buried. Natalya had Ptolemy switch back to normal view.

A mountain of molten rock loomed beneath them, made from waste metal that added to the natural formation to make room for the space station underneath. Augustus flew Chimera toward the heart of the round-topped mountain range, where a set of doors opened at the bottom of a wide chasm.

Chimera hovered above the opening and slowly began its descent.

“How was the space station supposed to take off?” Natalya asked.

“This whole mountain range is rigged to explode. Much easier than building doors,” Ptolemy explained. “Also would have hidden the station’s departure.”

“Good idea,” Co said.

The tunnel lit up, heralding their approach to the upside-down pyramid. After several minutes of descent, the tunnel ended in a sea of darkness. Chimera hovered to a halt, lights activating all around them.

The viewscreens showed a vast, flat plain of silvery metal, cranes and long-armed construction equipment ringing it in the domed chamber. A thin gap between the station and the hollow dock allowed Natalya to see all the way to its tapered point. Three shimmering metal rings wrapped around the pyramid at equidistant points around its sides.

“The opal-plants are in the heart of the station. It doesn’t move fast, but it can go opalescent and stay that way for a long time,” Ptolemy explained.

Sisi’s mouth hadn’t closed since the pyramid came into view. She started coughing after her throat had gone dry.

A hole opened on top of the pyramid. Several dozen doors were spaced along the wide hull, docks and loading bays and cannon no doubt, some of the docks big enough to hold a capital ship.

Augustus guided Chimera inside the dock, where glimmering metal arms spread from the sides to take hold of the ship and cushion its landing.

“Keep the engine running, Augustus, we don’t have much time,” Natalya said, and led the way out the bridge.

“Have fun arming your planet bomb,” Augustus replied.

“No need for enviro-suits,” Ptolemy explained as they stood in front Chimera’s wing-side airlock. Ptolemy opened the hatch and breathed deep, the artificial atmosphere inside the space station apparently still operational.

The crew departed Chimera and made their way through the dock, overhead lights flicking on as they reached an elevator. Sisi escorted the Key Core, the safe hovering before her welpro.

“Pretty cramped,” Co noted as they squeezed inside the elevator.

“Most of this station is opal-plants and energy relays. Its accommodations are… pragmatic,” Ptolemy explained.

“I’m surprised there’s room for a chair if it can really Prosper-form a planet by itself,” Sisi noted as the elevator came to a halt.

The doors opened onto a pyramid-shaped chamber with thick metal pylons lining its sides and floors. A four-sided console sat in the center of the room. Monitors and more consoles occupied three of the walls. The fourth wall was empty, but a cylinder descended out of the room’s tip and projected a holographic image of the space station in the bare front section.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“This is the command center,” Ptolemy explained, the consoles lighting up to show the status of every opal-plant, emitter, and relay on the station. “Everything on the station is controlled through here, with access terminals in other sections only for repair and maintenance purposes, which were designed to be unnecessary under nearly all conditions.”

“Neat,” Sisi said, and ran to the center console, eyes soaking in the information. “And this is where the Key Core goes!”

Sisi pressed a button and a hole opened in the middle of the consoles.

“Oh, I wish I’d brought Pili. That penguin would love to see this,” Sisi exclaimed.

“Forget the penguin and help me with this,” Ptolemy said as he opened the safe. Together they revealed a polished, metal cylinder. It seemed unimpressive to Natalya, since they’d worked so hard to get it, but the pill-shaped Key Core was still heavy enough that Sisi needed her welpro to load it into the console’s opening.

As the Key Core descended into the station’s controls, the holographic pyramid swung around, systems flashing their status.

“Relays coming online,” Ptolemy said as he took a position at the center console. “Key Core functioning.”

Ptolemy exhaled.

“Was there a doubt?” Natalya asked.

“There’s always a doubt,” Ptolemy replied. “But in this case, we’re fine. For now. Pul, if you’re going to do what you’re going to do, here’s the shield emitters. Co, weapons.”

Ptolemy pointed out where people needed to be and what needed to be done. Pul nodded, impressed with the infrastructure, but still proceeded to tear out a few wires. Even though it looked like he was breaking the command center rather than helping, the shield and power systems soon read beyond normal levels, adding energy to every sector of the ship.

“Not too much, we need to make sure the power doesn’t blow out the cascade system,” Sisi instructed as the crew prepared the station.

Natalya helped where she could as Sisi readied the emitters to magnetize and compress Farbind’s core.

“Emitters orienting,” Sisi said. The rings on the holographic pyramid lit up, power surging through the station.

“Starting Prosper-forming cascade,” Ptolemy said.

“Prosper de-forming,” Sisi corrected.

“We need a better word for that,” Pul noted.

“Repsorp!”

“What’s that mean?”

“It’s Prosper backwards.”

“I’m not saying that word.”

“Starting Repsorp,” Sisi said.

Pul rolled his eyes as the hologram flashed. Lights along the pyramid’s edges flickered in time with the rings, the pulses growing faster and faster until the whole station glowed. Then the lights went out, and the three rings pulsated in a steady rhythm.

“Did anything happen?” Co asked, looking around.

“Did anything happen! We just Repsorped this whole planet!” Sisi replied.

“Cascade magnetization of the planet’s core is progressing,” Ptolemy announced, watching the readings roll off his console. “It should reach critical mass in three hours.”

“It takes a year for the station to Prosper-form a planet, and hours to destroy one,” Jasper stated, shaking his head.

“Farbind’s circumstances are different, but as is true with most instances, it is far easier to destroy than it is to create.”

Ptolemy coded in more commands and a cylinder rose from the console in front of him, revealing a red button hidden beneath a glass lid. Ptolemy lifted the lid and said, “This will light up when the final de-Prosper-forming—”

“Repsorping,” Sisi corrected.

“When the final energy burst is ready. Right now, the emitters are manipulating the magnetosphere. This button will release the cascade energy that would normally ignite a planet’s surface and begin the creation of an atmosphere. But in this case, it will ignite the core.”

“And you’re staying behind to activate it?” Natalya asked. “We’ll need everyone in on this, Ptolemy. I don’t think we can spare you.”

“The trigger can be made remotely,” Ptolemy said. “We’ll send the signal from Chimera. It’s safer that way anyway, in case Pul’s adjustments to the shields don’t work. I’d rather my station blow up with Farbind than we go with it.”

“I’m confident we’ve made all necessary precautions,” Pul said.

“I hope you’re right, Pul. And I hope…” Ptolemy stopped, stiffening his back and taking a breath as he looked each of the crewmembers in the eye. “I hope you’ll forgive me. I have deceived some of you, manipulated most of you. Qin may have abused us, but I have not been the best… companion in our journeys. Natalya, Jasper, you two most of all. I hope that what we do today makes up for the mistakes I’ve made.”

“You’re not the only one seeking redemption,” Pul added. “If we’re apologizing, I’ll do it too. I don’t need an apology from any of you, not if we succeed, though I do appreciate the gesture.”

“You guys are a bunch of sissies,” Co said.

“Hey!” Sisi replied.

“I said sissies, not Sisis.”

“Oh.”

“Let’s just blow up a planet and get things done. We can hug after.”

“I agree,” Jasper said, smiling at Natalya. “Regardless of what brought us here, we’re here. And we’ll do this together.”

Ptolemy nodded. Pul and Natalya did as well.

“Ptolemy, what’s the name of this space station?” Natalya asked.

“Never had a name,” Ptolemy answered.

“Let’s call it Steve!” Sisi announced.

“That’s a horrible name,” Co countered.

“Duke,” Natalya said with a grin. “I was Duke of Farbind. I started this war. And the Duke will finish it.”

“I hope that’s true,” Ptolemy said. “We’ll have to delay painting the name on, though.”

“We can still make it official. I christen you, Duke!” Sisi said. She punched the wall of the command center like she was breaking a bottle. “Ow.”