Not so long ago, many looked to the future with confidence and hope, believing the Golden Age of prosperity was near. The Earth Alliance, the Border Worlds, and the Pleiades Federation signed pacts to form the Confederation, taking the first steps toward long-awaited peace in the explored part of the Galaxy.
Only a select few knew this was achieved with the aid of the Keeper — a relic ship, rightfully deemed the most powerful vessel of a race long lost to history. Yet whispers that the Ancients had returned to aid a faltering Humanity spread like faint ripples, even in the farthest colonies.
Recently, one of the most powerful organizations acting in Humanity’s interest — the Legion of Doom — attempted to seize the Keeper and forge an Empire but failed. Their actions led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocents, and the threat of all-out war loomed over inhabited worlds.
United battle squadrons of the Earth Alliance and Pleiades Federation were able to locate the Legion’s fleet. When it refused to surrender, most of it was destroyed. The remnants retreated, vanishing into thin air, and remain missing to this day.
The great ship Keeper established diplomatic ties between the Earth Alliance, Border Worlds, and Pleiades Federation — then vanished without a trace years later. The newly formed Confederation began its expansion, reclaiming worlds and colonies lost in the gloom of the Long Night.
A bright future seemed certain.
But after a brief calm, a new storm started brewing. For unknown reasons, subspacial Gates began failing en masse, resulting in the isolation of systems with populated planets and key trade routes. Contact with many colonies was lost, threats of widespread unrest emerged in border sectors, and martial law was declared in some star systems.
Confederation warships, capable of interstellar travel without stationary Gates, patrolled isolated systems, maintaining logistics and order while the cause of the Gate failures remained elusive. This persisted for nearly six months until the first local conflicts erupted. Initial confusion gave way to dread: would the new Confederation have the power to maintain control?
> STRIKE CRUISER STYX
> COMMUNICATION NODE ACTIVE
> RECONNECTING TO RELAY
> …….SUCCESS
#CONFEDERATION INTELLIGENCE CENTRAL DATABASE
#ACCESS TO FILE “FC-I-07/12” GRANTED
Below is the transcript from a damaged personal recorder belonging to a Westinghouse colonizer security officer. The recorder was recovered on the medical deck by a rescue team from the carrier Phoenix, dispatched to coordinates 27072480 on orders from the intelligence command of the Seventh Saturnian Fleet, Sol Sector. The file was partially restored despite damage. The information pertains directly to a recent incident in the Border Worlds, logged under the codename “Final Chapter.”
#TRANSCRIPT WITH RESTORATION SERVICE NOTES
00:00 [Black screen, recording begins.]
00:10 [Helmet-mounted camera of a security officer shows a Level 1 corridor lit by emergency lamps. The operator’s labored breathing is audible.]
— They’re here! Fall back! [Voice identified as the operator’s.]
00:14 [Operator turns 180 degrees sharply, image blurs, capturing a vague shape. Detailed analysis confirms it is a second security officer.]
00:15–00:35 [Operator runs through Level 1 corridor near crew quarters. Image remains out of focus; stabilization fails to enhance clarity.]
00:36 [A roar-like sound is heard, audio cuts off intermittently.]
— …was that? …sounds like… a High One! [Voice of the operator’s companion, audio breaking.] …they want… what else could it be? [Tone conveys growing panic.]
00:40 [Operator reaches the doors to the lower level, opens them. Camera briefly captures a fragment of a handheld weapon—a part of a rifle barrel. The Armory Division identifies it as a Mark-IV assault rifle.]
00:41 [Security officers enter the cargo hold, sealing doors behind them.]
— Did you see that? What they dragged into Engineering? [Based on camera motion, the operator observes the area.]
00:59 [Light goes out, a loud bang on the metal doors is audible.]
01:00–01:20 [Rifle shots ring out, video absent, static interference.]
01:21 [Static clears, image remains blurry. On camera breached cargo hold doors are visible. Based on the angle, the operator is on the floor.]
01:22 [Scream from the second officer is heard. The camera rises sharply and turns left about 60 degrees, revealing a tall, dark figure in the compartment, which obscures the second officer’s silhouette.]
01:26 [Scream cuts off. The operator rises, turns, and flees deeper into the cargo hold in panic.]
01:32 [The Operator’s incoherent, panicked muttering is audible.]
— Not so fast. [Voice source can’t be identified and is likely behind the operator.]
01:35 [Operator’s scream can be clearly heard, image and audio abruptly cut off.]
#RECORDING ANALYSIS
To begin, several facts about vessels of this class should be noted. Confederation colonizer ships maintain a permanent crew of 50 to 500 personnel, depending on the distance to destination and estimated arrival time. The primary cargo consists of up to 10,000 cryochambers housing colonists, located in the ship’s most secure section near the medical decks.
Secondary cargo includes essential machinery and equipment for establishing at least a C-Class colony, and is stored in the main holds near the power plant.
The security service during transit comprises 10 to 30 personnel, reporting directly to the ship’s captain. Their duties include maintaining discipline during long voyages. Note: in the past 50 years, no instances of weapon use, lethal or non-lethal, have been recorded aboard colonizers.
As this recording is the only available evidence of events aboard the Westinghouse, the analysis and logical deductions are based solely on this fragment and are strictly preliminary.
Unfortunately, the audio track is garbled, and even after processing, it lacks sufficiently clear voice samples to identify the security officers. However, it is highly probable they are the Ascended Ones.
From the start of the recording, the operator’s breathing rate and warning shout suggest agitation. The activation of emergency lighting in Level 1’s main corridor is unusual and may indicate either a localized power outage or more significant technical issues aboard the vessel.
Following the operator’s warning, “They’re here,” both officers flee and hear a loud sound. Though the sound resembles an animalistic roar, comparative analysis confirms it could not have been produced by any known creature. Subsequent audio is unclear, but the second officer evidently asks about the sound’s source, stating it “sounds like a High One” (though poor audio quality allows for interpretation of “doesn’t sound like a High One”). The phrase “they want… what else could it be?” is meaningless due to significant audio loss.
At the 40-second mark, a notable detail emerges: the camera captures a Mark-IV assault rifle, standard automatic weaponry used by Confederation regular forces. Aboard a colonizer, access to such weapons requires the captain’s authorization and is granted only in exceptional cases where the crew’s safety or primary cargo is directly threatened. The presence of this weapon in the officer’s hands suggests such a threat existed.
The operator then asks, “Did you see that? What they dragged to Engineering?” The image cuts out, shots are fired, but the target is unclear. Given the strict protocols for weapon use, it is reasonable to infer the ship faced a threat from hostile forces (external or internal) of unknown quantity.
Within 20 seconds, the doors isolating the compartment are breached, which is highly unusual given their thickness and the absence of a powerful explosion that would be required to destroy them and likely kill or maim the officers on the other side. Yet the doors are torn apart, with damage patterns indicating a powerful, localized physical impact from the outside. It is plausible that a pneumatic ram, used for boarding cruisers, was employed — indirectly supported by the sound of an impact on the doors moments before the video signal was lost.
Something or someone (restoration service experts are divided on this) breached the compartment, killing or incapacitating the second officer, while the operator succumbed to panic and began a disorganized retreat. Just before the recording ends, an unknown voice is clearly audible. Analysis indicates a 50% probability that the speaker is human.
This recording sheds little light on the events that transpired aboard the Westinghouse and raises numerous questions, which may be answered as further information is received from the rescue team.
> **END OF FILE “FC-I-07/12”**
:/$