The stars outside the observation deck flickered like scattered sparks from a dying fire, illuminating the cold steel walls of the Tempest. On board, the hum of the engines provided a constant, mechanical lullaby, a steady reminder that they were deep in the Void. Far beyond the edge of known space, where the pulse of civilization grew faint and hollow, a quiet storm was gathering.
Commander Rynar Kael stood in front of the viewport, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the cool glass. His eyes were fixed on the stars, yet his mind was far from their brilliance. The Tempest had been cutting through the darkness of space for months now, searching for anomaly that had started to plague the far reaches of the galaxy. The Wave, they called it. A force that swept through systems, leaving nothing but dead worlds in its wake. Not even the bravest or most technologically adavance could stop it. It moved like a predator, unseen until it was too late.
The crew had grown anxious. Rumours were whispered in the hallways, in the shadows, about what the Wave could be--was it a weapon? A natural force? Something worse, something sentient? They didn't know, but the damage was becoming undeniable. Ships that ventured too close had vanished, entire colonies gone silent, their transmissions reduced to static before they blinked out of existence. And now, the Tempest had been tasked with finding its origin.
"Commander, we have hit the coordinates," came the voice of Lieutenant Sera Nal, cutting through the quiet of the observation deck. She stepped in, her eyes, her posture rigid. She didn't look afraid, but Kael could feel it. Fear was silent, gnawing thing in the air, unspoken yet all too present.
"On it," Kael muttered, turning to face her. "Prepare for scan deployment. I want every sensor network running, every relay set to max sensitivity."
Sera nodded without a word, her movement efficient, her training evident. She was a capable officer, one of the best, but even she couldn't mask the unease that settle into her eyes. The unknown was always more dangerous than anything they could fight head-on.
In the briefing room, the rest of the senior crew had gathered. All eyes turned to Kael as he entered. He had briefed them all on the situation before, but this moment felt different. The Wave was no longer a distant threat--it was here, in the very fabric of space around them. It was real, and it was closing in.
"We've hit the edge of the Wave's last known location," Kael began, his voice steady. "Our sensors are picking up anomalies in the gravitational pull, as expected. The readings are...odd. More like a disturbance in the fabric of space-time itself than anything we've seen before."
He paused, glancing at his crew. Faces young and old, hardened by years of space-faring experience, now reflected uncertainty. They were good soldiers, but even they had to admit--they were out of their depth.
"Captain, how long until the Wave reaches us?" Lieutenant Commander Hale asked, his voice tight with an edge of fear. Hale had been with Kael through multiple campaigns, always calm under pressure, but even he couldn't hide the flicker of doubt now.
"I don't know," Kael replied bluntly. "That's the problem. It could be hours, it could be days. But we need to prepare for the worst. I've ordered all ships in this sector to retreat, but we are not leaving. We're staying here until we find a way to stop it--or die trying."
The silence that followed was oppressive and then the alarms blared to life, cutting through the tension like a knife.
"Commander, incoming! Energy readings are spiking--multiple sources! They're... they're coming straight for us!" Sera's voice crackled through the comm, sharp with urgency.
"On screen," Kael barked, striding toward the command console. The main display flickered to life, showing a massive distortion--waves of energy rippling outward, bending space itself. It was like watching the fabric of the universe unravel. Kael's stomach twisted as he recognized the telltale signs.
"The Wave," he muttered. "It's here."
Without a moment to lose, the crew sprang into action. Kael's mind raced, calculating their options. There was no weapon in their arsenal capable of stopping something like this. They had only one option left.
"Prepare the experimental drive," Kael ordered. "I'm activating the gravity-manipulation field. We're going to try and ride the Wave, see if we can get ahead of it long enough to understand how it's moving. We might not survive, but it's the only shot we've got."
The experimental drive was a last--ditch effort, a technology still untested in real combat. It was designed to manipulate gravitational forces to create an artificial singularity, theoretically allowing ships to move faster than light. But it had never been tested on something like this.
"Do it," Hale commanded, his voice steady despite the rising chaos. "Prepare for whatever comes next."
Kael turned toward the viewport again, his heart pounding. The Wave was coming. It was more than a natural disaster, more than a weapon--it was something... alive. And they were about to become its next prey.
The ship shook violently as the first shockwave from the Wave hit them, the hull groaning under the strain. The stars outside twisted into streaks of light, the fabric of space itself warping and tearing around them.
"Brace yourselves," Kael shouted, gripping the railing in front of him as the world around them began to unravel.
Time seem to stretch, bend and snap. And as the Tempest was pulled into the heart of Wave, Commander Rynar Kael could only wonder if they would be the ones to unravel the mystery of this cosmic nightmare--or become another casualty of its endless hunger.
In the silence that followed, only one thought lingered in his mind: it's not just a force. It's a warning.