“Status report. We’re not dead, right?”

  The inside of the Moby is the same as it always has been. Outside is a different story. All visuals are pitch black. Even if the screens were completely off, they wouldn’t be this black. There isn’t even a reflection from the lights. It’s just a dark spot in space and time that refuses to relent. Every scanner available is desperate at work.

  “Does anyone have anything worth saying?”

  “Nothing Sir.”

  “N-no Captain.”

  “Silentses.”

  “Negative: Zero results.”

  “I’m not getting shit here.”

  Every scanner is turning in nothing. And I do mean nothing. Even in the most empty parts of space there is something. Microscopic dust particles, the ambient light of distant stars, the impossible cold of existence beyond the warm embrace of a solar system. We are getting absolutely nothing. And that’s far more terrifying than if we were seeing literally anything.

  “Deed, please tell me you managed to glean a few of those files before your head went all New Years.”

  “Negative: There were approximately Two hundred thousand files present in that secret file. I only managed to read one thousand and thirty four before the attempted termination. Upon reactivation, only eighty two remained. I am currently copying those files at a rate of one thousand each every second to keep them in my files. However, the self deleting protocol is beginning to overwhelm my processors. We do not have long.”

  “Well say what you can. Quickly.”

  “Explanation: This Nebula is artificially made. A creation of a higher intelligence. At minimum Tier 1. Its purpose seems to be blotting out sensors of all kinds. That would align with our current predicament.”

  “Who or what made it? Hurry now!”

  “Error: Data corrupting. Files deleting at accelerated rate. Information being lost…. Failure: All information has been forcibly removed from my files. I apologize for my inability to retain them.”

  “No, it's not your fault. Whoever made those files clearly didn’t want anyone to ever read them. Hate to sound rude but it’s better you got them. If those were downloaded onto The Moby’s mainframe we’d be dead in the water right now.”

  I lean back and sigh. What have I gotten myself into this time? Blind in all directions against something the Greater Races have clearly seen before and decided it was best to forget. Artificially created nebula huh? That means it has to be identifiable.

  “Alcea, have a probe take a sample of that Nebula for analysis.”

  “Yes Sir. Launching.”

  A small, unmanned probe shoots out from a launch tube. It immediately stops as it hits the Nebula like a rubber ball on a water’s surface. Alcea stands up in surprise.

  “The Nebula is thick and viscous. Without our shield we’d likely be trapped. Reeling in the Probe.”

  A taut line brings the probe back home.

  “It may take some time for a full analysis.”

  “Alright. In the meantime, any theories?”

  Inanna watches the darkness intently.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  “This stuff blocks out all of our sensors, right?”

  “That seems the premise, yeah.”

  “So, that means if you were the only race that could see through all… this, you’d have an immense tactical advantage.”

  Takes me a second to figure out what Inanna is talking about. Almost shit a brick when it hits me.

  “Are you saying this might be a stealth field?”

  “Bah!” Raze half laughs. “Stealth is impossible. A ship has too many signatures. Heat, unique materials, power nodes, even just the act of moving from pure momentum can be tracked.”

  “No, but sensors can be fooled. You dealt with this yourself in the Gharish sector.”

  “The Gharish were using Tier 5 tech. Even you humans had better stuff. Might as well be running that crap on a ground tuber. We have Tier 1 sensor systems. Nothing could trick those.”

  “Don’t say nothing. We know someone who did just that.”

  Everyone turns to Joan. Joan stops, looks left, then right, then directly behind herself.

  “What?”

  “Joan, how did the Harvesters trick Diegiton scanners?”

  “Interjection: Our scanners were not tricked. There was an anomaly in the circuitry which-”

  “Can it Deed. We were all there. Put your mecha ego aside for once. Joan, what did you guys do?”

  Joan scratches her head. Trying to find the best way to explain herself. Not her strongest skill.

  “Think hears much light sees. Mobie, many eye. All sees in different color and shape. Deggtron have one eye. Big eye. See many color and many shape. But only one eye. Easy to fool. Go in small era where eye no see. Make sense?”

  Honestly, it kind of does. The Diegiton are all about efficiency and streamlining. To a fault more often than not. It might take a lot of effort, but tricking their narrow selection of sensor systems would be more than worth the effort.

  “So, going by that logic, the Nebula is poking out all our eyes at once. Full spectrum scanner death. What could cause that?”

  A ding sound interrupts us. The results from the analysis. Alcea brings up the files.

  “No, this can’t be right.”

  “What is it?”

  “According to these scans the Nebula is organic.”

  “Sagaci, this is your area of expertise.”

  Sagaci picks up three datapads and reads through multiple pages at once.

  “Iiinteresting, Thissss Nebula is aaa Bio-crystalline mattterialll. Trilliooons of tinnny crystals flying in uuuunison. Likkke a swwwarm of smmmall fish. In aaall the knooown galaxy, there are leeess then tennn such species.”

  “The Geods are something similar, aren’t they?”

  “Yesss. They arrre a Bio-sedimentary raaace. The onnnly sentient exxxxampllle. There aaare no Bio-crystalline raaaces in thaaat categggory.”

  “Looks like we might have found one.”

  “Nooot just thattt. Alceeea. Look clooosley at this reaaading.”

  Alcea takes one of the tablets. Her eyes go from confused to “I just saw the face of God and he’s a featherless biped with a drinking problem”.

  “I-if I’m reading this right, those crystals are… are….”

  “Cut the tension already.”

  “S-sorry. They are producing a field similar to a Blackout Shield. Each individual crystal maintains a tiny field around itself. And with trillions all packed together nothing could get through.”

  “Isn’t that Seraph tech?”

  “Yes. Or at least, that is what they always claimed. But these readings, the Blackout fields are fully stable and operating at peak efficiency while using a fraction of the power we would require. Even the Seraph cannot do that. Whoever created this Nebula must have even greater mastery over this technology.”

  This just gets deeper and deeper. Clearly the death protocol had to have been set up by the highest possible order. Maybe even the Seraph themselves. Triterions I would believe this. Zeta I would expect this. Even the Geod and Cosmos, they prefer to tell the truth but that doesn’t mean they don’t lie. Seraph, well, I expected better from them.

  “Uhm, everyone.” Fairy’s little voice breaks the stupor of unwanted discovery. “Is it me, or is the Nebula moving again?”

  Crap, it is. What is it now?

  “Warning: Chances of an incoming hostile object are 82%. Suggest maximizing defenses and bracing for possible impact.”

  “I second that. Full power to the forward shields.”

  Tension mounts. The Darkness swirls like a typhoon about to hit a helpless village. All we can do is stare into the abyss and hope it doesn’t stare back. It comes fast. The outer shield shatters. Embedding itself in the Inner shield mere meters away from scratching the hull. A massive, spike shaped black crystal.

  “What the Space Hell is-”

  Then it explodes.