When I finally regained my consciousness, I could feel myself hurtling at unimaginable speeds through some black void, despite there being no sense of direction. I dared not open my eyes in that place, fearful of what I might see. Instead, I spread my other senses outwards yet despite searching far into the distance, I was unable to find anything.

I tried thinking back to what happened when I knocked on that door, but all I could remember were flashes of light and then the darkness of unconsciousness. I began to feel myself accelerating, as though the force pulling me was getting stronger and stronger. All of a sudden, I stopped, as though having crashed into some invisible wall blocking my passage onwards.

Around me, I could feel the presence of hundreds of other lifeforms standing in what seemed to be a queue of some sort, with me having arrived at the back. The variety of lifeforms shocked even me, as biological and machine life stood side by side with soul forms and spirit bodies like it was completely normal.

In the distance, where what I assumed the front of the queue was, there seemed to be some sort of cubicle, with an indistinct figure sitting at the desk.

Before I could look any further, the figure standing in front of me turned around and spoke in a gravelly voice, “A newcomer, eh? Not sure what rotten luck befell you to have landed here, but I s’pose we are both in the same boat now.”

Slightly confused, I faced the figure and replied, “W̸̧̃h̴̥̄e̸͔͌r̶̲͆e̶̪̓ ̶̧̐ê̸̞x̵̻͂ȁ̷̮c̸͍̽t̵̜͐l̵̹͗y̸̱̏ ̷̨͊ȃ̴̺r̶̲̄e̴͈̎ ̶̲͝w̷̼̏ḙ̴̿?̶̙̌ “.

The figure chuckled with a booming voice and gestured to the void all around:

“Welcome to hell”

*****

Location: #P786D7G4S831

Sitting in the sleek, black spaceship with Ossilia strapped in the chair behind him, the Admiral flicked a switch on the console, activating the hyperdrive. Glancing back through the monitor he bid farewell to the steel encased orb behind them as they slipped into hyperspace.

Ossilia’s figure stirred in her seat as she sat up groggily. “Had a nice nap?”, the Admiral asked in an almost sincere tone without turning his head.

Ossilia shot an unseen glare to the back of his head as she replied, ignoring his jibe, “That was no order 8 psychic”, she growled, “our intel was incorrect. We must have been set up by Command Centre.”

The Admiral chuckled mirthlessly, “They have no reason to be so roundabout if they wanted to get rid of us, Ossilia. What I don’t understand is why inmate #254 would allow himself to be captured like that in the first place if he held such power. After all, no-one escapes from Exo Prime.”

Ossilia grumbled, “Who knows. These Chaos Order people are all clinically insane, there’s no point trying to get inside the heads of maniacs.

“Anyways, how did you manage to defeat him in the end? I missed it on account of being dismembered.”

The Admiral spoke without missing a beat, “He was too pre-occupied with chasing my Hounds that he failed to see me send a shadow spike straight into him. We’re lucky to be alive.”

“What about the body?”, Ossilia questioned.

“What did you expect?”, the Admiral answered, “It disintegrated completely, like all those Chaos Order lunatics, leaving absolutely no evidence behind except his signet and that lingering scent of rosewater”.

Ossilia smirked, “Another one to add to the collection.”

The Admiral, looking down at the golden signet of the late Archbishop in his hand, thought back to the battle, ‘Ossilia may not know, but I was part of the squadron that was first sent to bring in Syn, and he was at most an order 9. And there is no way to advance one’s skill under the countless wards and defences in place on the prison-planet.

‘Also, Syn recognised Kyrnos, but I was not in possession of the moon pact at the time we were sent to capture him. And he mentioned some sort of ‘Vanishing’?

‘Furthermore, Kyrnos’ warning does not bode well for the future. I thought that the moon pact was virtually indestructible. The only way it could possibly weaken was if the very barrier between realms were to be on the verge of collapse, or if the Wolf God himself were dead.

‘Of course, if either of those were the case, then there would be much greater problems than the mere waning of a moon-pact. And this mysterious choice I will have to make some time in the future seems quite ominous.

‘At any rate, I can leave the investigation to the Whispers; they’ll surely do a much better job than me’.

The ship jolted suddenly, breaking the Admiral from his train of thought and he reached forward to switch the monitor back on. The image of a vast metallic construction appeared on the screen. Countless ships and vessels scurried about like specks of dust among giants. The sprawling space-metropolis before them made the station on Exo Prime seem like an insignificant ant.

“Finally.”, Ossilia spoke from behind him.

The Admiral silently agreed with her sentiment: Command Centre was nothing less than the heart and soul of the Alliance.

Of course, this meant it was a prime target for the enemies of the state, which meant that the protections in place made it one of the most secure locations in the galaxy. Furthermore, its location deep in Alliance territory on the border with Dead Zone meant a large-scale assault was virtually impossible.

Its functions ranged from the Parliament responsible for governing the Alliance, to the military responsible for defending it. It was one of the most important reasons the Alliance emerged from the Age of Obscurity a galactic powerhouse and without it, anarchy would spread like rats in a sewer.

A crackling voice sounded from the control panel of the craft, “Control to trespasser, state your purpose.”

The Admiral replied into the comms, “Admiral Henitos Glaive serial C89-helix returning for mission report.”

Ossilia also spoke into her earpiece, “Allied Crimson Knight Ossilia Rykus for mission report as well.”

There was a period of silence before the static voice spoke once more, “Cleared for approach to hanger 3 bay 6.”

The Admiral confirmed this information and guided the craft along the designated route. Soon the monolithic structures that made up Command Centre filled the view of their monitors, as the various buildings came into view.

Not long after, the blinking red lights of the landing strip broke the Admiral from his revery, and he carefully guided the ship into the jaw-like hanger. The landing gear clamped on to the floor of the hangar as the hydraulics released with a hiss.

The Admiral pressed a button on the wall and the door swung downwards like a ramp, opening up to reveal the inside of the hangar. A team of mechanics in their dull, grey uniforms rushed on to the ship without care for the Admiral or Ossilia, and began their inspection with almost frantic urgency.

The women who remained outside laughed and spoke,” Don’t blame them for their lack of decorum Henitos, that ship is their baby after all”.

The Admiral descended the ramp with a grin on his face, “It’s good to see you Akilah, how’ve you been?”, he questioned.

Akilah responded cheerfully, “Busy as always. You know better than anyone how hard those bureaucrats work us. Anyways, I should be the one to ask you that question.”

“Still in one piece, unlike Ossilia.”, the Admiral responded with a sly grin on his face. Ignoring his antics, Ossilia spoke to Akilah, “I’m afraid there’s no time for catching up, I’m going to be late”.

She strode past them both and soon disappeared round the corner of the hanger door. Akilah turned back to look at the Admiral with a serious expression, “She’s got potential, but she’s still young, Henitos. She needs a figure to guide her, after all we don’t want another incident like-”

The Admiral interrupted her with a sharp tone, “You should not doubt her so easily: she is far stronger than both you and I know.”

Akilah’s face regained some calm at that statement, but ripples of worry still remained in her eyes. She turned her head to face back at the sleek black ship that stood stationary behind the Admiral. Gesturing to it she asked, “So, how did it fly?”.

The barely suppressed excitement in her voice was a sharp contrast to her serious tone just a few seconds ago. The Admiral replied quickly, “The hyperdrive was perfectly operational and the controls were smooth. If we could fit even a small squadron of ships to such an extent, even the Empire would have to be on guard.”

Akilah walked forward and placed her hand on the ship, feeling the silky texture of the surface and sighed almost imperceptibly, “Even with all our power concentrated towards this single task, the study of the warp gates is almost impossible. This magitech hyperdrive is the culmination of all the knowledge we gained from them, and we have barely even scratched the paint off the surface. Even to make a second one would require more resources than Command Centre are willing to give us.”

“That's no cause for concern, others would have made even less progress in its study. After all if the technology of Dragons were so easy to come by, I doubt we would have much of a galaxy left to live in.”, the Admiral replied.

“It does make one wonder what life would have been like before the Age of Obscurity, when mythical creatures roamed the land and legends were born”, Akilah spoke with an expression of awe in her misted eyes.

However, she soon shook herself from her daydreams and returned to look at the Admiral with a level gaze, “Before you go on your next mission, visit the labs, I’ve got a surprise I think you’ll enjoy.”

The Admiral nodded to her before taking his leave and exiting the hangar.

After the Admiral had gone, Akilah turned back to look at the craft in all its sleek perfection, and her eyes cleared with unyielding determination, as though all secrets were laid bare in front of her.

----

As the Admiral walked down the brightly lit halls towards the briefing, his mind could not help but wander. ‘Although it is true that inmate #254 was more powerful than expected, Ossilia was taken out rather easily. Despite not suffering permanent damage, it does not bode well for her upcoming promotion examinations. Her mental fortitude is in no way lacking, but she is still a greenhorn when it comes to actual combat’

Soon enough, the Admiral was interrupted from his thoughts as he approached the foyer to the briefing room. The attendant was seated behind the desk and when he noticed the cross designating his rank as Admiral, he quickly stood up and bowed as though expecting him.

“You can go straight in sir, they are waiting for you”, he said, gesturing to the brown, oaken door to his right. The Admiral nodded sharply and with a firm motion swung the door open.

****************************

19th Valoris, 1492

I have seen insanity! It grazes and howls maddeningly at the edge of all that was, is and is yet to be.

I can still hear it. Muttering, murmuring, mumbling, moaning!

It won't stop! Dear God, make it stop!

- Extract from the diary of S. Kyssus entry 9998, Archive File #P1D9*****