[Voyager]

Looking back at the Silver Knight, I spoke, "Ḯ̷̙ ̷͎̑w̴͙͠i̴̼̍l̵͇̈ļ̴̓ ̵̟͛c̶̥̓ò̴͕n̴͖͑t̴̹̀i̶͍̕n̷̪͌u̸̢͊e̷̤͝ ̵̪͒ẗ̸̻ó̵ͅ ̷͇̾ë̷̺x̷̺̏p̷̨̒l̴͈̈o̸͚̚r̷͈͘e̶̝͒ ̴̗̈t̵͖̕h̷̙̿i̵͈͝s̸̫̎ ̴͕̃w̸͚̃ő̸̥r̴͖̀l̸̟̄d̶͚̀ ̸̩̏ỉ̴̩n̸̼̆ ̵͍̈́ș̵̐e̸̪̕a̴̡̓r̵̭͗c̶͙͛h̷̡́ ̷͖̆o̵͓̕f̷̦̌ ̶͈̈́a̶̜̔n̶̪̕s̷̰͒ẇ̶̱ȩ̴̌r̵̤̀š̶̠. I̴̛̝ ̶̗̉h̵̨̄a̷̛̟v̷̥̉è̴̳ ̷̼̾a̵͈͐ ̴̰̑f̷̯̏e̷̎͜e̴̳͒l̴̠̾ḭ̵̿n̶͔̒g̵̛̰ ̷̢͒t̶̗̚h̵̹̊e̵͉͐ ̴̞̈́ã̶͖n̷͎͗s̵̫̽w̷̯̅e̷̒͜r̴̳͂s̶͚͝ ̵̲́ą̴̔ř̸͔ę̴̎ ̷̛̦c̵̗͂l̴̺̈o̸̜͒s̶̭̆e̷̖̅r̸̬̊ ̶̯͑t̴͎̓h̷͍͂ä̷͇n̵̬͗ ̵̳̚w̵̧̉è̷͉ ̵̫̀t̵͚̂ȟ̵̠ǐ̷̩n̵̄͜k̷͈͊ "

The Knight, looking up at the endless blue expanse of the sky, replied, "I will leave this planet and explore elsewhere: perhaps clues to these mysteries lie in other places."

"V̶͍̾ë̴̪́r̴̗̈́y̶̱̅ ̷̨̍w̷̕ͅe̶͕͂l̸͎̿l̴̬̀ ", I said, "W̸̟̅ē̶̫ ̸̜̐s̶̬̾h̵̘́a̴͙͠l̵̮̎l̵̜͑ ̸̠̆m̴̡̈́e̸̝̽e̵̜̅t̷́ͅ ̸̲̂ą̸͌g̴̮̈a̴ȋ̸̗n̵͍͆,̶̹͘ ̷͈̓ĩ̶͕f̵͔̎ ̶͚͑F̴̠̿a̶̺̚ṯ̵̈e̶̬̅ ̸͈̈́w̸̪̉ĩ̶̖ĺ̷̹l̶̥͌s̵̛̝ ̷͍̌i̴̙̔t̸̘͠ ".

The Knight responded with a nod, as he flew upwards until he broke through the strange barrier around the planet and disappeared from my view.

'So it is still possible to leave, despite the many restrictions on flying', I pondered. Putting the hood of my cloak on my head once more to block the heat of the midday sun, I set off towards the distant structures on the horizon.

Despite being on guard for any potential attacks, I failed to sense the presence of any other beings. When I had taken off my blindfold, I saw that there were several fate strings in the distance, but they seemed to have disappeared as well as though they had left the planet.

'Perhaps the strange barrier around the planet can also block my sight!', I thought in alarm. Taking off my blindfold looking up, I cracked open one eye and instead of the shimmering beauty of the silver lines on black, all I could see was grey fog, extending into the distance without end.

Placing the blindfold back and returning the world to colour, I thought to myself, 'What could that fog have been? Was that merely a result of the interference of the barrier, or some other plane I could never see before?'

Deep in thought, I had not noticed that I had arrived at another of the strange structures.

This one was made of a grey cobblestone, with green vines snaking their way across its surface, looking out of place among the sandy dunes.

The structure was a four-sided pyramid, each side exactly the same except for the design of an arched double-door that seemingly led inside. On one side, the door was a plain grey, slightly darker than the surrounding stone. It exuded a sense of coldness and apathy, as though it cared little for anything outside.

The door opposite to that one was a bright golden, it gleamed and glittered under the noonday sun. Strange inscriptions had been carved on the doors, radiating outwards from what looked like a keyhole in the middle. The symbols were beautiful and they seemed to hold the keys to infinite power and wealth.

To the right of the golden doors, there was a pitch-black gate embedded in the structure. Through the gaps in the gate, I could just about make out strange and horrifying shapes that swirled and twisted. I quickly turned my sight back to the gate, not daring to look any further. On the gate itself, the bars had no visible patterns, but they had a sense of caution, as though warning anyone not to go beyond.

The last side, opposite to the black gate was wooden double door, with a conspicuous knocker in the middle. The knocker was shaped like the head of a falcon or an eagle, and its eyes seemed to follow me as I moved around. The wood grains on the door had a sense of mysteriousness, almost like it held the promise of unlimited knowledge and wisdom behind them.

On the floor beneath my feet, I noticed what looked to be a metal plate half buried under the sand. Reaching down, I brushed away the sand and revealed the letters. Surprisingly, it was written in the Titan tongue, something I understood.

"D̸͖̃Ṵ̵̏S̶̝͛K̴̞̔ ", I murmured softly. 'Is this the name of this structure? Who could have left this plaque. I don't remember any Titans that were powerful enough to survive on this planet.' I attempted to pick up the plaque, but it seemed to be completely unwilling to move from its position.

Yielding to its stubbornness, I straightened my back to look back at the structure and thought to myself, 'This is by far the most detailed structure I have seen. The others were either half destroyed or just rubble.

'Does this mean that this is a relatively new structure? Were all the structures placed on this planet at the same time or at different times?

'In addition, the planning of this planet seems chaotic, as though these structure were simply plucked and placed down randomly. But perhaps there is a deeper sense of order I am missing...

'Nonetheless, I am once again left with more questions than answers'.

*****

[Admiral]

Location: #P786D7G4S831

Orbiting around an orange-yellow, main sequence star, a massive rocky planet hung against a black screen, as though all the star had been swiped away like dust. Almost none of the planet's surface could be seen, as it had been completely covered in metallic structures.

There were no moons, but a space station orbiting around that metallic planet. The space station was had a circular wheel connected to a main tower by tunnels, looking like spokes on a bicycle wheel. It rotated slowly, reflecting the sunlight off its darkened windows.

Inside the station, there was a command centre filled with consoles and flashing lights. Everyone working there was wearing a dark green uniform, with a badge above their right chest of planet with a sword sticking into it. One person standing on the bridge of the station had two golden stripes above his other chest, indicating his rank as Station Commander.

Silence reigned throughout the station and the atmosphere was tense.

"What's their ETA?", the commander questioned in a low voice.

"Approximately five minutes, sir", his subordinate replied.

The commander couldn't help but adjust his collar as he felt sweat drip down the back of his neck. Just when he thought he couldn't take it any longer, he saw a sleek, black ship blink into existence through the monitor.

The ship was a pitch black, only visible because of the sunlight that reflected off its surface. Its sleek surface seemed to hide a promise of death, as it slowly approached and docked to the station.

The commander quickly got everyone to stand to attention, awaiting their visitors.

With the familiar hiss of the pressure doors opening, the commander shouted,

"Attention!"

The sound of boots stamping echoed through the station.

Two figures could be seen walking out of the airlock. One was cloaked in a black outfit, and had a blood-red mask that completely covered their face. Two, vertical jagged marks could be seen on the left side of the mask, giving off a sinister feeling. On her left arm was the symbol of a crimson shield.

On the other side stood a man with salt and pepper hair and stern features. His gaze was penetrating, as though all secrets were laid bare in front of him. Above his left chest was a symbol of an ancient, maritime warship while on his left arm the golden X indicated his rank as admiral.

"At ease, soldiers", the man spoke as his deep voice reverberated across the room.

There was an almost audible sigh of relief as the pressure on the soldiers was removed. The visitors approached the commander, looking at the monitor that showed the view of the metal-encased planet below.

"Admiral Glaive, Lady Ossilia", the commander addressed the figures, bowing his head. Turning back to look at the monitor he spoke quickly in a worried voice, "We first received the alert 4 standard hours ago that an inmate had broken out. At first, we activated the guards but within minutes, we lost their signal as well as the security camera footage.

"As you know, the inmate that broke free was #254, therefore we followed protocol and alerted Command Centre to a code 7. Since then, we have been closely monitoring the system by redistributing the guards, but its still unclear what the inmate's purpose is as he has yet to make any demands or attempt to leave the planet."

The Admiral silently acknowledged this information as he said, "Prepare a landing shuttle to the last known location of the inmate. We will investigate further."

"Yes sir", the commander replied with a salute.

The landing shuttle was oval in shape, made of a silvery material with two small fins on the middle. Inside the shuttle, the Admiral released the clamp and the shuttle detached from the main space station, going into a controlled descent to the surface.

As the shuttle accelerated, the Admiral thought back to the briefing with Command Centre on this mission, 'Inmate #254, an Archbishop of the Chaos Order.

He is a Valen psychic of order 8 so we must be wary of soul attacks. He is well known for-', Lady Ossilia interrupted his thoughts, grumbling,

"Why would they send the both of us to deal with a mere Archbishop? It's not like he can escape from Exo Prime anyways", she scoffed.

"You know the importance placed on this matter by High Command, Ossilia", Admiral Glaive replied without turning his head.

"Those politicians", she sneered, "if it weren't for the President's term coming to an end those buffoons wouldn't have dared raise their necks".

"Nonetheless, we are soldiers and we must carry out our orders without question", the Admiral replied in a firm tone.

"Without question?", Ossilia mocked, "There's a fine line between patriotism and cultism, and blind faith sound more like a fanatic to me."

The Admiral was silent as he flicked a few switches on the console in front of him.

As the shuttle descended, more of the planet came into view through the monitors. There was no atmosphere outside the metal shell of the prison planet, just another layer in an impenetrable defence system that locked down the planet.

The honey-comb patterns of the metal buildings gave the planet a strange sense of beauty, only marred by the occasional flashing of the various wards and shields in place.

The shuttle passed through these unharmed and soon descended into a landing bay inside one of the hexagonal structures.

The shuttle landed silently and the sliding doors opened. The Admiral and Lady Ossilia disembarked warily, looking around for any potential threats.

The main lighting system had gone offline, and the red emergency lights gave the dark corridors an ominous feeling. Ossilia pressed a button on her wristband and a 3D hologram map was projected in a light blue light.

The various corridors of the building they were in looked looked dizzyingly complex, like a massive hive of endless tunnels.

Meanwhile, the Admiral turned to look at the corridor in front abruptly, saying, "The hounds say they can smell his scent this way."

Without looking behind, he strode forward into the corridor. Various piping lined the ceiling and the walls were completely bare, having no trace of the prison cells behind them.

They continued forward and whenever they encountered a crossroad, the Admiral would stop for a second as though listening to something, before setting off in a direction.

Before long, they encountered the remains of the Guards that had been sent to detain the inmate. Pieces of metal had been strewn across the corridor, and there was a crater in the wall with the remnants of a guard stuck there. Sparks flickered in the exposed wiring of its body.

"The scent is fresh. He can't have gone far", the Admiral said, examining the bodies.

The flickering lights gave the scene a sinister feeling, as the Admiral straightened his back and looked down the corridor towards some distant point.

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

2nd Regent, 1446

I stand at Hell's Maw and before me lies the unfathomable depths of the Darkness. Simply gazing at it gives me a shiver, like I'm being stared at by a thousand hungry gods...

- Extract from the diary of S. Kyssus entry 1, Archive File #P1D9*****