“As alarms blared, every droid, drone, and crewmember froze mid-motion—then shifted to alertness, instincts snapping into old routines as the station came alive.”

  Kael’s eyes swept across the group. Something in a few faces felt wrong—mechanical, even. Including Security Sergeant Corin. He didn’t stand at attention so much as… waiting for something.

  Then his focus turned to the Commander. The man hadn’t moved. He just stood there beside his droid, still as stone. Kael felt a chill in his gut—something was about to change.

  Maeric, Soren, and Dax noticed it too. The old veterans saw readiness in his stance; the engineer sensed focus, precision, like a weapon being reloaded.

  Lyssandra started to speak—but the Commander’s voice cut through the air.

  “Sorry for the scare,” he said calmly, as the alarms died. “But something has come up. Would you like to see what I’m dealing with?”

  A weary smile crossed his face, eyes distant and hollow.

  The room went still. Everyone realized, at once, that he’d heard their conversation.

  Then light enveloped them.

  In a heartbeat, they were gone.

  The world tore sideways for a heartbeat — no sound, no air, just pressure. Stomachs lurched, vision stuttered, and the deck seemed to fold beneath their feet before reforming. When it was over, the silence rang louder than the alarms.

  When the flash faded, many of the crew were disoriented, some covering their mouths. After some time, once they recovered, they found themselves standing in a vast control chamber—its walls alive with faint blue light. Before them, the Commander faced a panoramic window that stretched into forever, a view so immense it stole the breath from even the seasoned crew.

  Outside wasn’t space.

  It was something no one could comprehend.

  Beyond the glass lay not space, but absence—a wound in reality devouring light itself.

  And it was massive—so vast it eclipsed the entire view.

  The crew could only stare. Fear rippled through the room like a wave.

  Soren and Dax held their composure through instinct alone. Maeric’s jaw tightened; a grim understanding settled in his eyes.

  Lyssandra’s breath hitched, her mind refusing to name what her eyes saw. Kael’s fingers twitched toward his weapon out of instinct, even though instinct had no meaning here.

  Ilya’s voice broke the silence, trembling with both fear and fascination.

  “That’s impossible… something that size shouldn’t even hold. Its gravitational shear would tear everything apart—it could fit a planet.”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Then a voice from the back whispered, barely audible.

  “Are those… ships?”

  All eyes turned toward the edges of the wound.

  They weren’t stars.

  They were ships—legions upon legions of them. Titans and frigates, interceptors and drones, arrayed in impossible formations that stretched into infinity.

  It wasn’t an army. It was an ecosystem of war.

  Kael, standing near Lyssandra, forced himself to steady his breathing. His instincts screamed that something else was wrong. He scanned the others—the same faces he’d noticed before. They weren’t afraid. They were… waiting. Watching the void like it was home.

  The void pulsed faintly beyond the glass — not light, but motion, like the universe itself was breathing unevenly.

  Before the thought could take shape, ZI’s calm voice filled the room.

  “Commander, all ships are in position. The first wave approaches. Awaiting your command.”

  The Commander’s expression didn’t change.“Good.”

  He turned to the crew, his tone almost apologetic.

  “Sorry again for the surprise. Since part of your mission was to learn what’s happening in the Dead Sector…”

  He stepped onto a raised platform. Holographic displays flickered to life—tactical feeds, ship schematics, and a vast three-dimensional rendering of the battlefront.

  “It’s best you see for yourselves.”

  As he spoke, the maw pulsed—

  —and the Swarm poured through.

  The first of the Swarm breached real space — a twisted metallic organism shaped like a ship, its hollow frame warping into existence in unnatural angles and sizes.

  Without hesitation, the Forgemaster’s fleets unleashed hell. Barrages of light tore across the void—waves of lasers, missiles, and kinetic fire roaring in perfect rhythm. The opening ranks of the Swarm were annihilated before they could spread.

  But the Swarm answered.

  More poured through the rift, returning fire in blinding fury. The void became chaos—ships colliding at impossible speeds, fighters spiraling through burning debris, bombers cutting open hulls with surgical strikes.

  Wreckage drifted like shattered constellations. The black of space turned to a storm of color—a war rendered in light.

  The crew of the Solomon stood transfixed. Awe and horror blurred together. This wasn’t a battle; it was legend made real.

  At the center of it all stood the Commander on his platform, movements calm and precise, like a conductor guiding a symphony of destruction.

  Maeric and Soren exchanged a grim look. To them, it wasn’t mastery they saw—it was a man lost to the repetition of war.

  Dax muttered under his breath.

  “What in the forge am I looking at? This isn't a battle—it’s insanity.”

  Lyssandra whispered, eyes wide.

  “History called the Forgemaster wars grand, but this feels like…”

  Kael finished quietly.

  “A war. One that never ended.”

  He turned to glance at the Commander—but something else caught his attention.

  Corin. And the few who stood like him.

  Their faces weren’t afraid. They were focused. Hungry.

  A cold realization clawed up Kael’s spine—he’d seen that look before, just not on human faces.

  Kael’s instincts flared. The realization hit like a hammer.

  He grabbed Lyssandra, pulling her toward Maeric and Soren as he drew his pistol—

  —but it was already too late.

  Please give a comment, review if you want.I would love to see how you guys view the story. Even like to hear your critique, if willing.

  If worried about the AI assist, I use it for polish and grammar checks, but am learning to write without the polish.

  Note: Character and ship designs are open to interpretation. Imagine them in whatever style fits your vision.