Megata Object

The Megata Object is an enormous spherical object which appeared almost 420,000 years ago in the Megata Belt of the Koram System (hence the name given to it.) Its origin and purpose are unknown, but it appears to be some kind of Ark Ship.

The Megata Object displays many characteristics which seem to indicate that it may not even be from our universe, let alone Galaxy. For one, it is only visible with the naked eye. It lacks any kind of emissions, be they light, heat or radiation. It is completely silent, making no noise, and leaves no kind of gravitational or mass footprint. By our laws of physics, the Megata Object simply does not exist... except for the fact that one can look out a window and physically see it.

Discovered first by the Erythians inhabiting the Koram System, the Megata Object quickly drew intergalactic interest and became a scientific hotspot. The Alinteans eventually took over the examination of the object and were unable to determine anything apart from its basic physical characteristics: a perfect sphere with a diameter of 25,000 miles and a strange, off-white coloration. No patterns marred it surface, and there were no signs of a door, windows or propulsions system anywhere on the object.

5,000 years after its discovery, a mixed science team of primarily Erythians and Alinteans landed on the surface of the Megata Object to continue their examination. It was revealed that the surface of the object was composed of an element which, according to our periodic table, is lawrencium. However, it displays none of the familiar properties, so it is assumed to be an artificial isotope, or a new element entirely that happens to display similarities to lawrencium. The third theory, which has gained strength in recent centuries, is that the element is actually an alternate-universe version of element 103, which is why we see it as lawrencium even if it isn't.

After another 1,500 years of exploration, a single reading was picked up in the northen hemisphere, near what would pass for a magnetic pole. Ironically, it was a whisper-faint trace of electromagnetism which seemed to seep through the surface without any kind of visible point to originate from. With a strength of seven picoteslas, the very existence of the magnetic field is impossible to detect from orbit, and only showed upon highly advanced magnetometers when within 500 feet.

The first indication that the Megata Object was more than just a sphere came twelve days after the discovery of the magnetic field. Tosonar, an Alintean field engineer working with the science crew, walked directly into the weak magnetic field by accident. While the weakness of the field should have done nothing to him, something truly bizzare occured. Scientists watched, spellbound, as Tosonar slipped through the surface of the Megata Object as if it were liquid, vanishing inside without a sound. There was no need for concern, however, as Tosonar emerged a few moments later shaking with excitement. The interior of the sphere was hollow!

This was the single most important discovery made since the objects actual finding. The science team quickly set up a mission to venture into the sphere and determine more about its interior. In less than a year, they were approved for the mission and additional resources were allocated to their cause.

Once more defying the conventional laws of physics, it was quickly determined that the interior of the Megata Object was actually larger than the exterior. Whereas the exterior was an enormous 25,000 miles in diameter, a single week's work with subluminal equipment proved the interior to be a whopping 150 billion miles across. Not only was the interior hollow, but it was also mysteriously fertile and dual-sided.

"Shield Worlds" had been imagined by the Alinteans eons before even leaving their original homeworld, but the interior structure of the Megata Object defied even their expectations. It was determined that the Megata Object had been constructed around a stabilized K6V star, which sat at the center. This star had then been shielded with an enormous metal sphere, and large "emission towers" carried the heat and light out of this shell and dispersed it uniformly throughout the interior. The exterior of this stellar shell had then been terraformed, creating a planet around the outside of a star: a concept foreign to even the most brilliant minds in the Galaxy.

But the builders of this miracle had gone one step further. The shell Tosonar had passed through was a second shell, built around the first. Whereas the first shell had been built at approximately 150 million miles from the star's surface, the second layer was 150 billion in diameter. Gravitational lifts connected the two surfaces, and the interior of the larger shell had been terraformed as well.

It is unknown by what mechanism this feat was performed, as the amount of materials going into the construction of a 150 billion mile sphere is a logistical nightmare. Even with all of the current Senate races pulling together, constructing a sphere of this magnitude (even without the impossible physics) would take millions of years.

Gravity inside the Megata Object was a comfortable 10.2 meters per second squared, but the atmosphere was what truly confused the scientists. Their equipment could not detect even the faintest traces of a gas within the sphere, and yet none of their team - be they Erythian, Alintean or Iharsh-Daraz - required a breathing apparatus. How this particular miracle was accomplished remains a mystery.

Perhaps the greatest enigma of the Megata Object occured 5,600 years after the first breach of the "hull". Communications with the science team were suddenly severed and the Megata Object began to race through space at more than one hundred times the speed of light. Before any ships could pursue it, the sphere had passed through the event horizon of a black hole and vanished, carrying forty-seven sentient beings with it. Why the object suddenly took flight is just as much of a mystery as any other facet of this finding.

The Object ultimately reappeared 24,000  years ago, blinking into existence in the Retilard System. Crews were prepared to examine the object, as well as a specialized crew to venture inside to see what had become of the science team. Miraculously, the original science team was found alive and intact. When asked how they had survived 384,000 years inside the sphere, a more startling fact was revealed.

To the sentients within the sphere, a mere 231 days had passed.

The Megata Object remains in the Retilard System, and has not performed any more of these strange jumps. Forward bases have been constructed within the sphere, and numerous fascinating discoveries have been made, including what appears to be a mass suspension facility. Although it is possible to detect the life-signs of millions, if not billions of occupants, it is impossible to breach the pods without killing the occupant, triggering a dissolution of both pod and contents. Other discoveries made include sprawling collections of angular structures, artificial power sources such as hydroelectric dams or fusion plants and massive towers which point upwards from the ground, but lack any kind of entrance. More natural discoveries include the cataloguing of over 17,500,000 species of plant and close to 5,000,000 species of animal, despite the "missing" atmosphere.

The Megata Object continues to fascinate and enthrall scientists, and is a continued topic of research to this day.