Horror Story 2955 - The Void Maw Hungered...

October 27th, 2557

It was currently the designated rest period for all crew members; but I couldn’t sleep. An uneasy feeling had been washing over me, the hairs along my arms raised and prickling. Cold shivers snaked down my spine, reminding me of a now-extinct Sol III species.

As captain of the exploration ship Vara, it was my duty to ensure the safety and wellbeing of my crew. This feeling had been bothering me ever since we’d completed an initial survey of the planet Hades II, and the data was encoded and beamed directly to the communications probe we’d dropped straight outside the Hades system jump point. Scanning and investigating the Hadesian ruins had elicited a strange vibe from the crew, feeling like we were disturbing the peace on a now forever silenced civilization.

I had been picking restlessly at the padded fabric on the armrest of my command chair for some time, my boot tapping anxiously against the floor as I gazed outside the Vara’s front viewport, the vast black expanse stretching endlessly. It was broken only by the faint illumination of Hades II’s atmosphere, or what thin layer remained of it, as the sun finished setting on the planet. What was this feeling? In all of my career, I had never experienced it.

A faint beep suddenly started emitting from the scientific data terminal on the bridge, startling me out of my rumination. Getting up from the chair, I went over to the screens and frowned.

Some of the Vara’s scientific instruments had picked up anomalous gravitational readings outside of what was expected for the planet’s orbit – I wasn’t a science officer, but the readings appeared similar to what would register from a jump point. But almost as soon as the instruments started picking up the massive fluctuations, the beeping stopped and the readings vanished.

“What is going on here?” I muttered under my breath, shaking my head as I left the data terminal and made my way towards my quarters. An ominous sensation that something was amiss never left me as I tried to get some rest.

Hours later, 27th Oct 2557

No one on board had got any rest either, some of my crew expressing that they’d had similar sensations to mine – someone watching us, feelings of impending doom, severe anxiety and a general sense of panic. Everyone had gathered on the bridge of the Vara, ready to continue the day’s work and run more scans of the Hades system.

"Ma'am, I think we need to head for the jump point and leave the system as soon as possible,” my second officer said abruptly. He’d always been a very steadfast man, but even he was unsettled, “On what grounds?” I replied.

“It’s just this feeling,” he added, “I can’t help but think we shouldn’t be here.” The rest of the crew nodded. I couldn’t blame them, as I’d felt the same.

“I’m in agreement. Andrew, start preparing the Quantum drive for in-system transit, all other hands start locking down the ship ready for the jump point back to Nexus.”

Everyone scrambled to prepare the Vara as the floor shook, the reactors entering their full operational status. Her engines roared as the ship began to leave orbit of Hades II.

Soon after we had done so, almost all of her systems went dark.

“What the…”

“Ma’am, the reactors have shut down completely,” engineering officer Drew reported, “We have back up power available, sensors and flight instruments only.”

I swiped through my displays rapidly, trying to decipher error codes from the reactors to no avail.

“Captain! What the hell is that up ahead?!” Andrew exclaimed. Glancing up from my screens, I felt my insides drop into my boots. The Vara was about to enter what looked like a jump point, but it was different. It was way more energetic, crackling, intense, with huge fingers of lightning arching through space. Gravity increased suddenly and I was forced back into my chair as the Vara accelerated forward into the now opening rip in space-time, quicker than her engines could have ever taken her…