— Valorian Operative Data… —
Universal Location:
Sector: Celestial Expanse
System: Red Giant Dyson Sphere
Objective Location: Syntar Nexus/Nexus Station
The black void of the Celestial Expanse was dwarfed by the colossal achievement of Imperial will: the Dyson Sphere of the Red Sun. Its vast, geometrically flawless structure captured the entire output of the stellar furnace, bathing the surrounding space in a perpetual, crimson glow—an ode to the technological supremacy and magnificent strength of the Imperium, and the Valorian Dynasty.
In this light, anchored momentarily against the immense hull of the Sphere, the Aegis Module [5] Battalion waited a small but potent fist of steel.
At the head of the formation, aboard his personal command craft, was indeed Serath Valorian, the Warlord of Valour, known across the sectors as the Hollow One. He leaned over the holographic schematic display, reviewing the final vectors for their imminent transit. Their mission was clear and critical: to Shatter Jump to the Syntar Nexus and assist Mr. Vanaheim in the grim cleanse of the spreading Living Darkness invasion on the Nexus Space Station.
"Confirming operational integrity, Knights," Serath's voice, calm and deep, resonated through the command channel. "We execute the jump in T-minus six cycles. Report readiness."
One by one, the commanders of the Aegis Module 5—seasoned warriors and Knights of the Imperium in their own right—reported status. Their Fighter Ships, built with the signature aggressive architecture of the Valorian fleet, hummed with contained Nexium energy, every component calibrated for the rigors of combat and the strain of inter-system travel. Serath moved down the checklist, verifying drive efficiency, shield capacitor charge rates, and weapon systems across the entire squadron.
It was during the final diagnostic check of Aegis-4 that an anomaly registered.
Serath's internal combat scanner, a proprietary Valorian device known for its precision, registered a microscopic entity cutting through the void. It was moving at incredible velocity, too small for standard optical detection, appearing only as a flicker of interference on the deep-space radar.
An infiltration ship? Here? Serath mentally queried, his hand moving to initiate a full-spectrum tactical alert.
Before the command could be voiced, a blinding, silent flash erupted from the stern of Aegis-6. The ship, commanded by Lieutenant A-74, didn't fragment—it vaporised. The catastrophic rupture of the core drive, triggered by a precisely placed nano-bomb, left no debris save for an immediate, expanding halo of superheated plasma.
"Intruder! Attack!" Serath roared, his tactical mind instantly overriding shock. "New Initiative: locate and eliminate the enemy vessel! Full shield activation!"
The remaining Knights of the Imperium responded, but it was already too late. The enemy was swift, precise, and utilising technology far beyond standard pirate raids. Before the crew of Aegis-5 could even prime their defensive shields, their ship was shattered. Then Aegis-3, then Aegis-2. He watched the tactical overlay go dark as all five ships of his elite battalion eliminated in less than three seconds.
Only Serath Valorian's command ship, the Hollow's Scythe, remained. Its advanced, proprietary defence suite had automatically detected the alien signature of the nano-bomb just as it affixed to the weapon hull. A burst of focused electromagnetic energy—a specialised utility the enemy hadn't accounted for—had pulsed outward, cleanly neutralising and removing the device before detonation.
The radar flicker stabilised, revealing the source: a stealth-designed Infiltration Ship, lightweight and built for raw speed. It was accelerating away, leaving the carnage behind.
"Target locked," Serath muttered, his voice dropping to a low growl of pure, cold fury. The loss of his Knights was a wound, and a personal insult. "Priority shift: Justice. I've got you now."
The Hollow's Scythe surged forward. As Serath pressed the attack, the enemy vessel's active cloaking field flickered and dropped, momentarily revealing a sleek, dangerous craft optimised for evasion. Serath locked every available energy cannon onto the target, but the pilot was a ghost.
Just as the Scythe's primary weapon system achieved optimal charge, the enemy ship executed a maneuver of technical annoyance. It didn't utilise a standard retaliation; it achieved an immediate, violent spatial tear. With a blinding flash that seemed to momentarily shatter the laws of physics, the enemy performed a full Shatter Jump, vanishing instantly, leaving only residual matter distortion.
Serath's targeting matrix instantly calculated the enemy's displacement vector. "Following coordinates. Initiate full Shatter Drive sequence."
The Warlord experienced the familiar, crushing disorientation as the Hollow's Scythe tore space apart, achieving speeds faster than light. The universe dissolved into striated color, compressing massive distances into an instant.
They emerged far from the Red Giant, deep within was scanners picked up to be the Ethereal Outlands Sector, however their specific location an unnamed, dense Asteroid Field. The jump had been executed flawlessly, but the environment was chaos. Millions of rocks, ranging from dust motes to mountain-sized derelicts, tumbled in random orbits.
The Hollow One scanned frantically. The enemy signature had been lost. The sheer volume of metallic interference and reflected energy from the myriad rocks provided perfect cover.
Silence.
"Where'd they go? They can't have jumped again so quickly," Serath ground out, adjusting the scanner parameters.
A sudden, sharp lurch jarred the ship. Warning lights flashed crimson on the console. "Impact! Damage sustained to the port weapon hull!" the ship's AI voice reported.
Frustrated, and unable to locate the invisible enemy, Serath decided to inspect the damage personally. He donned his light combat armor, cycled the air through the decontamination locks, and vented into the gravity-free vacuum of the asteroid field, propelled by his suit's micro-thrusters.
He drifted along the massive, scorched hull of the Hollow's Scythe, searching for the breach or scrape that had set off the alarms. He found nothing. No dent. No scrape.
Instead, embedded neatly into the resilient durasteel plating, was a small, perfectly formed indentation. It was a searing red emblem: a stylised, three-pronged dagger piercing a circlet.
Serath's breath hitched in his throat, despite the artificial atmosphere of his helmet. The blood drained from his face as he recognising the marking. This wasn't simple piracy; this was a message, and he knew it.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." He said frustrated, putting together the pieces.
Before he could process the terrifying implication—that this was a targeted assassination, not a diversion—a silent, needle-sharp projectile breached his helmet's neck seal. The force was negligible, but a stinging heat instantly flooded his carotid artery.
Serath didn't feel pain, only a wave of overwhelming, paralysing cold. The highly concentrated neurotoxin, delivered by the poison dart, bypassed his armor's filtering systems and attacked his core nervous system instantly. The vision of the red emblem blurred and fragmented, replaced by the terrifying, silent expanse of space.
His hollow skull went limp, gradually with the rest of his body, his armored form drifting unconscious among the silent, ancient rocks of the asteroid field.