Prologue: The Approaching Menace
2157, Common Era – Space, Beyond the Outer Rim
Transmitting into the vastness of space is problematic, not only because of its infinite size but also because we do not know what could be out there in the darkness, waiting and listening for a signal. Perhaps somewhere in that vast expanse, there are alien civilisations, intelligent space-faring creatures, or self-aware machines, seeking everything from connection to conquest. Pity the race that unknowingly calls forth something from the void, for the outcome could be disastrous irrespective of their intentions.
Humankind is one such race that has summoned … something dreadful. Unbeknownst to them, their transmissions had travelled across many parsecs and arrived at the heart of an interstellar graveyard. An ancient and powerful construct lay dormant in the centre of that floating cemetery, until the signals roused it from its slumber. Its systems turned back on and reignited its mission: Detect Theta waves. Find the source. Destroy it.
The machine’s gigantic computing system identified the signal’s origin. With the route plotted, its powerful engines burst into life, ending their millennia of inactivity. As its massive structure gradually shifted, the machine was forced to traverse through the decayed remains surrounding it, an orbiting prison crafted from the remnants of its long-ago foes. Many races had sacrificed themselves and their vessels to anchor the machine away from their home worlds.
But now the distributed Faraday cage crumbled beneath the machine’s mighty hull like bergs against the bow of an icebreaker. If there had been an atmosphere, you would’ve heard metal sheering and superstructures cracking, but the machine’s journey was silent as it ploughed ahead through everything from the smallest interceptors, no bigger than a large van, to the largest battleships and dreadnaughts, bigger than entire continents. Once clear, it engaged its warp drives and began its expedition across the void.
It flew past stars and planets for years, passing through asteroid fields and nebulas, consuming a few to replenish its war-ravaged body, readying itself for its next fight. The signals that had awakened the machine had long since disappeared, so its exact destination was a mystery, but the machine relied on the trajectory it had calculated. Now, there were new signals, which meant living targets were in range. It surely would’ve been joyful if it’d been capable of emotion, but this mechanical menace was one of precision and logic, incapable of feeling anything.
As the new protocols kicked in, the machine’s engines reduced power and exited warp. It would slowly approach its prey, assess their capabilities, and prepare its countermeasures accordingly. Its sensor array scanned the world on its horizon, learning what it could about this young space-faring race, self-designation: Humans.
They had advanced far beyond their age, and the machine immediately recognised aspects of their technology as deriving from Khel engineering. It was unconcerned as it noted this discovery; it had already destroyed the Khel civilisation, and now it would destroy humanity, too.
