Chapter 1: The Maw of Doom
The inky black of space enveloped the ship like an icy blanket. Silently, they drifted through the aether, a faint glowing trail swirling behind them. Captain Anthony Baker rubbed his temples for what felt like the tenth time before reaching over his console. "Any new intel on the anomaly?" The gravelly voice of his information officer came over the intercom, "Nothing so far Captain", Baker heard the man give an audible sigh, "the 'portal' hasn't moved an inch since we first detected it, and none of our scans have revealed a thing. It's almost like this thing doesn't want us looking at it." Anthony sat up in his chair and reached for his mug. 'Damn, empty', he thought, regarding the brown stains at the bottom of the mug. He rubbed his temples again before turning back to his screen. "Alright Jensen keep at it, and try raising Alliance Command, they need to get a research team here", he said heavily. They had been orbiting this strange anomaly for three days now. "And tell them it's urgent…", he added putting down his empty cup. Officer Jensen gave a quick salute and the screen went blank. Captain Anthony gave a long yawn before getting up to pour another cup of coffee.
The sounds of alarms echoed through the ship. Anthony jumped up from his console. 'Just my luck', he thought smacking himself on both cheeks. 'Just as I was getting ready to take quick nap.' He quickly made his way to the elevator and pressed for the CIC. The elevator doors opened to scene of chaos. Ensigns rushed all around him and he saw warning lights blinking across the room. "Captain!", he turned to face Officer Jensen. "What's the situation Lieutenant?" The Information's Officer pointed to the hologram in the middle of the room. It showed a giant pulsing circle, a baleful force seemingly emanating from within. And the circle was widening. "The anomaly is expanding Captain, at its current rate it will reach us in a few minutes!" Captain Anthony gave a quick order, "Get the ship to a safe distance a call Command", he looked back at the pulsating mass on the hologram. The view made his eyes start to water. He turned away, holding back a sudden urge to retch. "Get me Admiral Hackett on the QEC, we need to take this higher." Jensen nodded and rushed to the comms room, Baker following him.
"Captain Anthony Baker of the cruiser SSV Maine reporting Admiral", Baker said, pulling a sharp salute. "At ease Captain", the rough voice replied, "What seems to the situation?" Baker pulled up the information they had on the anomaly. "Well Admiral, Task Force Epsilon first detected this…anomaly five days ago, and we have been monitoring it ever since. At first it appeared to be some form of wormhole, but we have observed very strange activity coming from it." Admiral Hackett narrowed his eyes as he looked at the recording, "Define what you mean by 'strange'." Baker tapped some keys and the picture of anomaly shifted to an energy diagram. "Well Admiral as you can see here, the anomaly has been emitting some form of energy from inside, what kind of energy none of my techs could say. It's not any form of radiation we have ever encountered, it seems almost magical." Hackett raised his eyebrows. For an Alliance Captain to be calling something magical was too absurd to be taken lightly. "Keep me posted on the expansion of this…..portal", Hackett said his gaze resting on the anomaly. "The Fifth Fleet has been notified and is en-route ETA is 10 hours. Hackett out."
In Warp Transit +36 hours Recommended Course of Action, Immediate Warp Exit
Temporal Anomaly detected….
Warning…Temporal Anomaly detec…
Warni…..Tem….
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.Warning….Gellar Field failing…Catastrophic Containment Breach….. The Emperor Protects…..
Emergency Warp Exit….Commencing…
