THE BATTLE BEGINS
The Nebu-9 roared to life, its engines burning bright as Nova executed evasive manoeuvres. Energy bsts streaked past, illuminating THE VOID with violent bursts of colour.
"Targeting systems online!" Sienna Rell called out, hands flying across her console.
Lucas Holt’s fingers tightened around the controls. "Our weapons are a joke compared to theirs, but I'll give ‘em hell anyway!"
The first return shot from Nebu-9 nced through the dark, striking one of the smaller predatory Ships. The impact barely singed its hull.
Kieran Locke cursed. "They’re phasing in and out of reality—standard weaponry won’t work!"
Before Elias could respond, one of the alien ships broke formation, accelerating toward them with inhuman speed.
Impact incoming.
"BRACE!" Aria shouted.
A ripple in space—then a massive pulse exploded outward from the colossal alien vessel that had first spoken to them.
The attacking ship froze mid-flight, caught in the pulse's influence. For a second, it flickered—then it erupted into dust, as though erased from existence.
The warship had intervened.
"Did it just—save us?" Amara whispered.
The transmission came again.
"THE WAR IS NOT YOURS. STAND DOWN."
Elias grit his teeth. "Like hell it’s not. If we stand down, we’re next."
The Colossal Vessel pulsed again, a final transmission piercing their minds—not a command.
A warning.
"YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU OPPOSE."
And then, something shifted in the battlefield.
THE TRUE ENEMY
The Veil, that torn wound in space, began to stir.
The graveyard of worlds beyond it trembled.
Then, Something vast—Something beyond comprehension—moved within The Rift.
For a fraction of a second, Elias saw it.
A formless mass, shifting, writhing, endlessly Devouring Itself and Rebuilding in the same moment. Reality broke around it, unable to contain its existence.
And then, it turned toward them.
A presence. A will. “Older than time itself.”
Kieran choked on his breath. "Dear god… That’s what they’ve been fighting against?"
Sienna’s console overloaded instantly, her hands flying away from the screen as static screamed through the ship’s systems.
"It’s interfering with every sensor we have!"
Amara clutched her head, eyes wide with terror. "I hear it—it’s not speaking, it’s… pressing into my mind—"
Elias fought against the overwhelming pressure, forcing himself to speak. "Nova—status!"
Nova’s voice crackled. "Commander. We must leave. Now."
The Colossal Alien Vessel, the one that had tested them, had already begun to retreat.
They weren’t the enemy.
The thing beyond The Veil was.
Elias made the only call that mattered.
"Full retreat! Get us the hell out of here!"
ESCAPE INTO THE UNKNOWN
The Nebu-9 pushed its engines beyond their limits, tearing away from the battlefield.
Lucas gritted his teeth. "We won’t outrun them! Those ships will tear us apart before we even—"
Then—
The Colossal Vessel, the one that had spoken to them, unleashed its full power.
A shockwave of pure force erupted outward, engulfing the enemy ships still pursuing the Nebu-9. The space around them colpsed, folding in on itself in a way that defied physics.
One by one, the pursuing ships blinked out of existence—not destroyed. Erased.
Lucas’s hands trembled over the controls. "What kind of power even is that?"
No one had an answer.
Nova’s voice cut in, urgent. "Commander, we are approaching a gravitational dead zone. If we do not alter course, we will be caught in The Rift."
Elias didn’t hesitate. "Nova, re-route! Take us anywhere but here!"
The Nebu-9’s thrusters fired, cutting a hard arc away from the battle zone—just as THE VEIL began to close.
For the st time, Elias looked back.
The Colossal Warship remained, holding its position against the THING Beyond.
The fight was not over.
It had never been over.
As The Rift sealed, the st thing Elias saw was The Warship firing a final pulse into the darkness—not an attack, no—but a statement, “I won’t follow your directive anymore.”
A defiance.
Then, the Nebu-9 was gone.
AFTERMATH
Silence.
Nebu-9 drifted in the quiet Void, engines humming softly, far from the battlefield.
No one spoke.
Amara clutched the edge of the console, her breathing uneven. "We weren’t supposed to see that."
Kieran exhaled shakily. "No. We weren’t."
Aria leaned back, running a hand through her hair. "We got lucky."
Elias stood, silent, his mind racing.
This wasn’t just an ancient war.
This was something else. Something beyond the scope of anything humanity had ever known.
The VEIL had been torn.
And something had noticed.
Nova’s voice was softer now. "Commander… incoming transmission. But it’s not alien."
Elias frowned. "Source?"
A pause. Then—
"Earth."
Elias’s heart stopped.
The VEIL had stirred.
And Earth had responded.
CHAPTER’s NOTE:This chapter escates the tension, revealing that the war is far bigger than the crew could have imagined. THE VEIL hides something far worse than anyone expected, and now—Earth is involved. The mystery deepens as the crew escapes, but the question remains:
Why is Earth contacting them now?
And what do they already know?
