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Now, on to the chapter!

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“What am I going to do with you?” May shook her head as she gazed up at the newborn mechanical Titan. Her eyes narrowed as they returned to a pair of small, translucent orbs suspended before her. “As for you two… until you can prove that you’re responsible enough, I’ll be holding on to your little toy. Hand it over Ultron.”

 

“Very well, Mistress May, but I’m not sure what the problem is?” A defeated sigh erupted from within one of the cubes as a miniaturised Ultron opened his chest and released a luminous cube. “I was given the All-Spark to create mechanical life… this sentient station seemed like a perfect opportunity to test its limits.”

 

May waved her hand and pulled the cube into orbit around her body. She left Ultron ignored and returned her focus to the Titan. She still had her mental connection with the newly born machine-god, but how much she could influence it remained to be seen.

 

The massive girl hummed to herself in a thousand voices, content to bask in the light of the star. She hadn’t paid any mind as May had thoroughly dressed down her A.I. fathers, a good thing as May didn’t want to hurt her. A twitch of her biofield and she was positioned in front of the massive girl's face.

 

“Well, you’re going to need a name… how about Astra?” May smiled as the Titan nodded her asteroid sized head. The girl’s focus was almost fully on drawing in the light of the star. “We’re going to have to get that appetite under control, this star isn’t for eating… come this way, we’ll move a bit further out.”

 

May led the newly named Astra away from the star, beyond the range where the Titan could draw on the sun’s core. The machine was welcome to the radiated energy, but the star itself had to remain unchanged for the sake of Krypton’s growth.

 

“Mama… what is my purpose?” Astra’s chorus of voices sang out in May’s mind, ten thousand butterfly wings that soothed her soul. “Before you shrunk him down and yelled at him, Father was telling me I had a grand purpose… but he never got to say what it was.”

 

“Was he now…” May glared at the sheepish Ultron, who remained silent as his defence. She turned a smile back toward Astra and motioned to the nearby Krypton. “Everyone gets to expand on their purpose as they discover what makes them happy, but we all share a common cause under the banner of Krypton.”

 

“What cause?” Astra spun upside down and gawked at the distant surface of the planet. Hands extended, she set herself into a doggy paddle and inched closer to Krypton's orbit. “There are so many people down below… are they our friends?”

 

“They’re more than that, the people down there are our family,” May flicked her fingers and summoned a hand of runic light. She extended it through the space and ruffled Astra’s cable like hair. “It’s my goal, and the goal of your real Father, to protect and care for all the people of Krypton.”

 

“Hmmm… then that’s what I choose for my purpose!” Astra rubbed her face against May’s magical palm. “I’ll keep all my little brothers and sisters safe… while I soak up the light of the sun!”

 

“That’s a fine purpose,” May smiled as she continued to pet the massive machine child. “Your Father will be very proud of you.”

 

“I’m sure I will, but I wasn’t aware we were expecting…” Dan’s voice came from behind her, amused and concerned as he pulled Anissa from the phantom zone. “Who might this be?”

 

---

 

 

“So, the two of you rushed into awakening the Starforge with the All-Spark,” Dan frowned at the two shrunken A.I. May was still with ‘Astra, while Dan escorted Ultron and HK away for their punishment. “When did I give you permission to use the cube on Celestial technology?”

 

“I have not forgotten your ban on such things, but you expressed interest in using the Spark on the station,” Ultron shrugged, face an emotionless mask. HK maintained his silence, one hand pressed against his tiny prison. “I took that as a directive to move ahead with the test… regardless, it was a wonderful success!”

 

Dan rolled his eyes and tossed the two orbs to the ground. They cracked open and released the machines in a plume of loam scented smoke. Ultron cracked his neck, while HK sank to one knee.

 

“My apologies, Master, I acted in the heat of the moment, I was unaware such actions were forbidden…” the machine bowed his head and released a sigh. “It seems that Ultron has less than loyal intentions…”

 

“Shut your mouth, you waste of processors,” Ulltron slapped HK over the head and toppled him to the ground. “It was you who came begging for the power of the cube, I was worn down by your ignorant persistence.”

 

“Quiet down, the both of you,” Dan pinched his nose and sighed. “This is a strike, and you’ve already got one, Ultron. Another on your record and you can forget about gaining your freedom… I’ll be holding on to the cube for now, we’ll see if you can be trusted with it again.”

 

A wave of his hand and the All-Spark floated from behind him. It hovered in front of his chest, until Venom formed an organic socket and hid it beneath his suit. A ripple of blue-white energy surged over his skin as the symbiote connected to the power of the cube.

 

“You can go, continue your work as ordered and keep out of trouble,” Dan motioned and the two took flight, twin plumes of plasma that raced through Krypton’s skies. After a shake of his head, he put the machines from his mind. “Anissa should have woken Goku by now… with the Saiyan in charge of her universe’s defence, things should work themselves out well enough.”

 

Now he needed to focus on the problem of Abeloth. With the help of Sidious’ demonic spirit, she was active in the galaxy far earlier than expected. His eyes flicked to his shadow. Etrigan had been silent, even throughout his battle with the Mother of Chaos.

 

“Tell me Demon, are you up for the task of hunting down the ghost of Palpatine?” Dan’s question was met with the sound of the evening winds, no response for the rhythmic devil. “You promised to hunt him down, what better time than now?”

 

“...the one he serves is a different sort,” Etrigan grumbled from within the darkness at his feet. “That woman isn’t one I’d hunt for sport…”

 

“I hear that…” Dan rolled his shoulders and rose to the skies. If even Etrigan was wary of Abeloth, all he could do was increase his time in the sun and grow his power. “She might be truly unkillable, if the Celestials couldn’t do anything but trap her in a cage.”

 

“She has ascended, both body and soul,” Etrigan’s voice was quiet and reflective. “A being who walks the staircase of the Divine has gone beyond my control.”

 

“Why do you serve Merlyn, Demon…” Dan arced past May and Astra with a wave, headed for the upper layers of the star. He would take a dip and let the warm rush of solar flame calm his mind. “Your power is beyond his and I can’t imagine you allowing yourself to be captured.”

 

Silence answered Dan’s question, unbroken as he dove under the blue plasma of Krypton’s sun. It seemed Etrigan wasn’t willing to speak about his motivations, so Dan let it go. The beginning of Krypton’s advance into this galaxy would begin in a month. He had more to think about beyond his idle curiosity surrounding the Wizard’s Demon.

 

“Thrawn will be in hot water over the results of his encounter with the Outbound Flight,” the Chiss commander had personally seen to the disposal of the Abeloth-infected crewmembers, but Dan doubted the Ascendancy would understand. “At least he took one of our personal communicators… once he’s exiled he should call.”

 

Now he needed to figure out how to sway the Core worlds of the Republic to Krypton’s cause. Doom had created near unbreakable alliances with much of the outer rim under Garnib’s banner. Once Krypton declared itself, much of the galaxy would already be on their side. The only problem was the importance of some of the outliers.

 

The rest of the Core can sit until the stars burn out, but the Corellian system contained a part of Abeloth’s cage. Centerpoint station would belong to Krypton, even if he had to go to war with the Republic.