Near the end of the First Ships' travels, a Solar Cloud started being constructed. Once a high mineral and metals solar system was found several of the First Ships stayed to begin settling. The remainder of the Solar Cloud was quickly finished and deployed. At first it was used to blast planets and asteroids. Orbits were modified for efficiency and resulting materials collected and processed.
When the solar system was in place many of the First Ships departed again. Dozens of stations remained for habitation as no planet within Zvelvist was livable. They began focusing heavily on solar infrastructure so materials could be utilized at increasing speeds. At this time their interstellar progress halted entirely, that job once again rested with the line of First Ships.
It was only a hundred years later when they undertook construction of a Solar Engine. This became the life work of most people within Zvelvist. Nearly 80 years were spent on the project. By this time a second colony had been started in a nearby solar system. Four of the First Ships began moving resources between the growing operations. Zvelvist exported materials and imported biological matter. MAYBE THE GALACTIC TRADE FLEET ORIGINS??
The Solar Cloud vaporized resources off of the sun to be gathered as fuel for the Solar Engine. Initial resources to fire up the engine took five years to gather. It was another ten years before the engine was operating at full speed.
Within fifty years a second engine was deployed. A set of three more were simultaneously constructed and deployed as replacements over the next 80 years. The original two were refurbished and sent to other colonies. This ended the era of Solar Engine construction and the rate that new ones were built at fell sharply. Almost 350 years since Zvelvist was founded and the tools to establish a galactic infrastructure were finally in place.
As the star's orbit within the galaxy changed they grew further from established colonies. Trade became more difficult at first until the Galactic Trade Fleet was expanded. Primary industries at this point were construction of trade and colony ships. As the First Ships expanded in the direction of the galactic spin, Zvelvist expanded colonies in the opposite direction. After about 3/4ths of a galactic rotation they met up with some of the First Ships. Trade and colonization was now able to run a complete orbit through the galaxy.
The ultimate goal of running an opposite trajectory from the galactic norm was eventually achieved. This was finalized well after the Intelligence Wars had passed. Zvelvist's industries moved away from seeding the galaxy and settled into becoming a trade hub and important part of the Galactic Trade Fleet. As the oldest colony it housed a number of government operations as well. Due to the extensive infrastructure, and desire for increased population, it was also one of the first solar systems to have a fully terraformed planet (improving upon the methods used for Blurvp).
After the Fall of the General Galactic many of the planets and space stations within Zvelvist were lost to the Sacking of Zvelvist. Like most of the galaxy they became a shadow of themselves for nearly a generation. A particularly famous instance of this was the Loss of Zvelstiva, where one of the smaller Moonships, Zvelstiva, was stolen entirely and promptly lost. As the new political systems and infrastructures emerged this was one of the first solar systems to be modernized. It became a new type of seed: Spreading culture and arcane knowledge through the galaxy.
Once the galaxy recovered internally, civilization set its sights to intergalactic endeavors. The Solar Engines were renovated with arcane energy, multiple mining planets were brought in, two dedicated farming planets, half a million war ships, and over a thousand colony ships. Zvelvist, the first intergalactic vessel, was then launched to The Eye over to begin colonization of a new galaxy. Members of the Galactic Trade Fleet opposed the use of Zvelvist in this way. The refusal to return it to the Galactic Trade Fleet is considered by many to be the start of the Genocide of the Galactic Trade Fleet.