An original AI generated sci-fi illustration on an immutable blockchain – The Sol Invictus – The great vessel Sol Invictus hung in the void, its massive engines glowing with solar fire as it drew dangerously close to the blazing star. Built as a stellar forger, the ship was designed to skim energy directly from suns, storing the raw power within crystalline reactors. Below, a smaller escort craft darted between plasma streams, its role to scout for anomalies and ensure the behemoth’s survival in the volatile solar currents. Inside the Sol Invictus, crew members worked in shifts, clad in radiation-dampening suits as they monitored containment fields and reactor chambers. The hum of the ship was constant, a deep vibration resonating through its steel bones. Every maneuver near the star carried risk—one miscalculation could overload the systems, ripping the ship apart in a chain reaction brighter than the sun itself. Yet, for all the danger, the prize was worth it: enough harvested energy to fuel entire colonies for decades. But as the ship drifted closer, sensors began to pick up strange signatures emanating from the solar surface. Streams of plasma moved against natural flow, forming deliberate patterns, as if some intelligence resided within the star. The captain of the Sol Invictus stood at the observation deck, watching as fiery tendrils reached upward, brushing against the vessel like searching fingers. For the first time in his long career, he realized this mission was not about taking from the sun—this was about surviving its awakening.