Wild Space - Backup
A massive hole gaped through the body of the white monster. It looked like a sign of victory. But Admiral Varkas did not cheer.
His mind was branded with the overwhelming terror from moments ago—that single tentacle swing that had turned 30% of his fleet into scrap metal.
'Is it dead? No, not yet.'
The enemy was a calamity from a century ago. The White Snowfield. Its regenerative and defensive powers were too absurd to assume death from this level of damage.
He swallowed dryly and issued the order.
"Energy readings?"
"None so far! Vital signs are dropping sharply. It's still silent."
Even with the operator's report, Varkas's furrowed brow didn't ease.
"How long until the main guns recharge?"
"Factoring in silo cooling and energy recharge... at least 5 minutes 30 seconds."
"Ignore it and start recharging anyway."
"Pardon? B-but Admiral, we just fired at maximum output. The barrels are overheated. Forcing a recharge now could burn out the circuits..."
"Doesn't matter!"
Varkas barked.
"We can't be sure that thing is really dead."
"You're still... uneasy?"
The executive officer asked cautiously. Varkas nodded slowly.
"Yeah. Just in case. Even beasts thrash hardest when they're on their last breath. As soon as the flagship's charged, confirm the kill immediately. Tell the rest of the cruisers to cover and stand by."
"Understood. Main gun recharge sequence initiated!"
Cerberus's engines screamed. The overloaded generators hummed, the vibration climbing through the bridge deck.
Varkas glared at the white sphere on the screen. White liquid oozed from the hole, but the monster remained silent.
> All silos charging. Energy output 13%.
'Yeah. This'll do it.'
Varkas reassured himself. Just one more shot into that hole. Then this nagging doubt would vanish completely.
> Energy output 37%.
'The source of this sticky, nauseating unease...'
> Energy output 78%.
'...is nothing more than this.'
> Energy output 100%.
Finally, the charge gauge filled red. The entire main cannon silo glowed white-hot.
'Perish, you monster!'
> All silos charged. Energy output 100%. Critical threshold reached.
"Fire!"
Varkas slammed the launch button without hesitation.
Once more, the ship reeled back from the massive recoil, roaring thunderously.
A blue flash.
The energy spear lancing through space struck straight for the monster's exposed wound. This time, it was over.
Varkas and every soul on the bridge had no doubt the light would pierce and explode inside the beast.
But then.
The anomaly struck in that instant.
Just before the beam hit, a pitch-black veil draped over the monster's body. It wasn't a shield or barrier.
Cerberus's main cannon touched the black veil. No explosion. The powerful energy beam was silently absorbed like a sponge soaking water, vanishing without a trace.
"......?!"
Silence blanketed the bridge. What just happened? A misfire? No, it fired. But it disappeared.
"W-what the hell is that...!"
The executive officer stammered. Then the black veil lifted, and behind the white monster... the empty void rippled.
> WARNING! WARNING! Massive warp signature detected!
The radar flashed red, blaring warnings like mad.
"Warp? From where! 12 o'clock position!"
"This isn't Federation space! There's no force out here to save those things...!"
Admiral Varkas cut himself off. His eyes trembled.
He realized now that what they'd been pursuing wasn't just some corporate-espionage industrial spy or escaped lab rat threatening profits.
Irregular energy waves. This wasn't Federation warp tech.
Space tore open. And from the rift, colossal shadows poured forth.
What emerged before them weren't the sleek, alloy-clad Federation vessels.
They were living organisms. Dark crimson exteriors. Veins pulsing across the surface, spines and bio-cannons bristling.
Four monsters matching or exceeding the Federation's main battleships in size.
"Xenoforms!"
The operator screamed.
"Why... how are they here, so far from their territory?!"
Varkas reeled in shock. Deep in Wild Space, yes—but still far from the abyss they called the xenoform heartland. Yet they'd warped here? Leading an army?
"Battle stations! Alert the entire fleet! Battle readiness now!"
Admiral Varkas's urgent cry echoed through the ship.
But it was drowned out by the xenoform legions materializing around the White Snowfield.
Wooong—wooong—space kept ripping open.
The first: massive crimson battleship-class xenoforms, so-called General types. The behemoth loomed over Cerberus, bellowing a majestic roar.
Then, from thousands of ports on the General's body, something spilled out.
Like fighters launching from a carrier. Or maggots from rotting flesh.
"Striker-type xenoforms!"
The monsters flooded space. Their numbers dwarfed the 800 ships Varkas had brought.
"Count them!"
"Impossible! Too many!"
"Give me a rough number!"
"Xenoform tally... 168,734... and climbing!"
160,000.
The bridge turned to pandemonium at the operator's despairing report. 800 against 160,000.
With a scream that tore space itself, the 160,000 xenoforms surged toward the Hound Fleet.
"Aaaagh! Escort 2 down! Shields can't hold!"
"Ripper-type xenoform breach on board! Marine support requested! Doors won't close! Gaaah!"
"Damn it! Why the hell are xenoform hordes here!!"
"Bulkheads failing? Shit! Everyone's dead! Run!"
Open comms turned to hellish chaos in seconds. Exploding ships lit the void, but even those flames were swiftly smothered by xenoform shadows.
Hound's elite troops, money-chasing mercenaries—before the monsters' claws, all were equal meat.
Yet.
Something strange was happening.
Fighters and ships detonated around them, skies choked with xenoforms... but not a single one approached Hound's flagship, Cerberus.
As if an invisible barrier repelled them, the 160,000 beasts slaughtered everything but Cerberus.
"What... is this?"
Varkas muttered blankly at the infernal vista outside. Why spare us? Are they ignoring us?
Then.
As the crew fixated on the swarming xenoforms, Varkas alone watched elsewhere. The planet-sized monster before them.
White Snowfield.
The white sphere, pierced and dying from the main gun... began shrinking rapidly.
"......?!"
The colossal body contracted in moments, liquifying.
Wound? Hole? As if they'd never existed, it was pristine.
"Damn... it was alive after all?!"
"Admiral, what...?"
Their questions didn't last. Answered by something worse than their worst fears.
Shuuuaaaak—!
The shrunken white mass rocketed toward the flagship.
Too fast for radar. Target: one.
Cruiser Cerberus.
Splat.
A dull, sticky thud shook the entire ship. White slime coated it instantly.
Sensors failed. Engines throttled down. Like a giant parasite latched to its host, draining energy.
And then. The white liquid blanketing the bridge's reinforced glass writhed.
The starscape vanished. Only opaque white walls hemmed them in. Within the white, hundreds, thousands of red eyes bloomed.
"Eek...!"
"Uwaaaah!"
The bridge filled with terrified screams from the crew.
A horrific sight. Each eye scanned the bridge's occupants like living things.
Each word dripped with mocking intellect.
"......!!!"
Varkas doubted his ears.
Fluent, clear Federation Standard—from a monster? Impossible.
Intelligent. Mocking speech.
"What... is this?"
A xenoform speaking Federation? No such case in history.
Was it really a xenoform?
Nahibi curved her hundreds of eyes on the glass into crescents.
She was laughing.
The killing intent froze Varkas to his core.
But he was an admiral. He couldn't break here.
"You monster!! Die!!"
Varkas roared with mad eyes.
"What are you waiting for! Fire the silo missiles! Self-destruct if you have to—just shake it off!"
"Admiral!! The silo missile hatches are all buried in that slime! They won't open! No signal! Launch impossible!!"
The operator cried, voice breaking.
Nahibi had already enveloped every weapon system with her body.
"Damn it!!!"
Varkas smashed his fist on the console. Blood sprayed. Total defeat.
800 ships. Cutting-edge main guns. Hired mercenaries. Useless.
Nahibi's eyes fixed on Varkas.
The voice dropped. Playfulness gone, only icy rage remained.
"Eve...?"
Varkas murmured the name blankly.
What the hell... wait. That name—he knew it. A mission op flashed in his mind.
⟦Project: EVE-108⟧
Apex HQ directive. The escaped test subject they must recover. That girl's name.
"No way...!"
Varkas's eyes widened in horror.
"What the hell is that test subject!!!"
Varkas screamed.
Krunch!
Nahibi's body shattered the reinforced glass. White slime cascaded into the bridge like a waterfall.
"Uwaaaaaagh—!!!"
With that, ceaseless explosions and the crew's agonized cries filled the space.
Cerberus's bridge became a grotesque artwork of red blood and white slime—the most horrific in the cosmos.
Outside, the 160,000 xenoform legion butchered the remnants of the Hound Fleet.
The abyss of Wild Space. A forbidden sanctuary they should never have touched.