:: 01-01-31 ::
Prologue
“There is something wrong here… A presence. We sense its hunger…Not infant race, not Unbound…something other, something older…Something from Outside!”
The Bentusi paused in their thoughts for a moment, as the Beast Heavy Cruiser slowed to a stop. Yellow ion cannons still blazed out at the Beast ships, vaporizing fighters after an instant of contact with each, while Kushan ships fired on Ion Array Frigates no longer piloted by anything recognizably Turanic. However, their main thoughts were not of the battle, but those of fear.
Like a whisper in their ears, the Bentusi heard a plea from the Kuun-Lan, as one of the Bound, one who could see into the currents of time better than most, cried out to them.
“Outside? No! Don't let it get close! It'll destroy you! Flee into hyperspace, we'll deal with it...”
But it was too late.
The Beast Heavy Cruiser fired its infection beam at the Bentusi Exchange, and a horde of nanotechnological entities tore into the hull. The Bentusi found themselves being absorbed, devoured by the Beast. The Bentusi recoiled in pain as they lost their memories, their thoughts, their very existence to the service of the Beast. The Bentusi were being changed by the hunger for something, to serve in a quest for…something familiar, yet unfamiliar; something powerful, yet distant.
As they fell to the Beast, they cried out a warning to all of the Bentusi, who would in turn pass on the information to the other Unbound races in the Galaxy.
Something from Outside…
The Bentusi, being bound to their fears, defied the Beast, refusing to join.
“…WE…WILL…NOT…BE…BOUND!”
The Bentusi ship’s engines overloaded and a fireball of plasma tore through the Tradeship. The Bentusi felt a triumph in their sacrifice as the Beast consuming their ship was vaporized alongside them and they were freed. The com channels of the Kushan fleets were filled with frantic messages and static as the explosion destroyed the battling fleets surrounding the ship.
However, the other Bentusi were less interested in the Hiigaran fleet than with the new threat.
Something from Outside…
The Bentusi were frightened by the prospect.
But, there was another matter…the Hiigaran who had tried to warn the Bentusi, the one the Somtaaw called the Oracle. Perhaps she knew something about the matter, something the Unbound races did not know. The Bentusi would have to look into the matter and work with the Hiigarans if need be, and certainly pay attention to the Devourer. They would watch for any opportunities that arose.
As the Somtaaw fleet moved to avenge the destruction of the Bentusi ship they had just witnessed, the Bentusi had already begun work on devising courses of action.
The doorway beckoned.
The stars fell out of the sky.
The voices spoke, an infinity of lives crying out.
“Help us…”
It was vast, ancient.
There was a flicker of light somewhere, something usually insignificant.
However, there was something about the flicker that was intriguing. Nothing specific that could be named, but it was simply…intriguing. It sent out a tiny piece of its mind to observe, to wait for the flicker again, and then returned to its deep, permeating thoughts.
