The core region is located 27-28,000 light years from Earth. At its centre lies the largest black hole in the galaxy - a supermassive black hole.* Having travelled for many millennia, the first wave of sub-light spacecraft has now arrived in its vicinity.
These ships contain no physical human crew, being entirely computerised and automated. Numbering in the trillions, they have self-replicated along the way, using local stellar and planetary material gathered en route.Systems encountered during this epic voyage have become seeded with computational substrates and saturated with artificial intelligence - individual planets and moons becoming like brain cells in a gigantic, artificial organism. It is almost as though the galaxy itself is waking up and achieving self-awareness.
There is no competition or battle to claim ownership of the core. Wars, greed and archaic concepts of nationality have long since disappeared, with sentient beings now united under a common heritage.
In addition to the black hole, there are dense concentrations of ancient, metal-rich stars; in places separated by only a few light weeks or light days. These provide an enormous pool of resources for the approaching fleets.
Gamma radiation is so high in this region that almost nothing biological can survive, except for the hardiest of extremophile bacteria. Were an observer able to stand on a planet near the core, the sky above them would appear as a dazzling display of light and colour.
Having reached the galactic centre, efforts are now underway to explore the far side of the galaxy and the mysteries that lie beyond. Dozens of globular clusters have also been reached by now.
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