"Rhatid!"

Ife threw the bundle aside and rose to his full height, his braided hair cascading over his broad shoulders. The beads woven into his locks clacked together with the sudden movement, his necklace rattling against his chest. His eyes blazing with fury as he turned toward the corridor.

Kai instinctively took a step back, allowing Ife to pass.

Someone from outside the bridge tossed a weapon his way. Ife caught it without looking, racking the slide in one swift motion. "Follow me," he commanded.

The moment they stepped into the corridor, the atmosphere of the ship changed completely. The pulsing bass of the music cut off, replaced by the sharp wail of alarms. Overhead lights flashed red, casting flickering shadows against the metal walls.

Kai saw people were arming themselves. Fighters emerged from the maze-like alleys of the ship, weapons in hand. Even children carried small firearms, their eyes cold and not a hint of naivness.

Ife’s guards shouted in their language, directing others as they passed. Some rushed toward defensive positions, while others fell in line behind Ife, forming a fire team.

Kai quickened his pace to keep up. Beside him, Eliana held her rifle close, her eyes scanning the ship's interior. She glanced at Kai,“I thought he was joking when he said there were monsters, but seemed like he was telling the truth.”

“Looks like it,” Kai muttered, gripping his own weapon tighter.

They moved quickly, navigating through the labyrinth of corridors and makeshift structures. Like what Kai had saw before, the ship itself was an intricate blend of old and new, its original framework reinforced with scavenged metal and salvaged tech.

The space infront of them opened up, and Kai could see the outside when he stood, he looked around and found himself in the outer rim of the ship.

Rows of massive cannons and auto-turrets lined the interior, their barrels already trained on the darkness beyond. The gunners worked in frantic pace, reloading rounds and checking systems.

Kai scanned the soldiers around him, noticing how most of them were still dressed in their vibrant celebration clothes. Yet their expressions were grim, their movements showed discipline though training.

So far, nothing had appeared. Kai turned his attention to the vast expanse beyond the ship’s hull, eyes searching the darkness. No enemy ships. No movement. Only the endless void.

Commander Grayson’s voice crackled through the comms. “Black Swan, the carrier has come under attack. Keep the engines hot and weapons primed and ready to take off.

A brief pause. Then Ivan’s voice came through. “Solid copy, Commander. Hangar bay is secure, all systems are up and running, but...” The transmission cut out for a split second before returning, his voice fragmented. “...not able to refuel...only half...”

Static, the comms had been cut off completely.

Kai focused, activating his enhanced vision. His pupils glowed, filtering through the darkness beyond the ship, scanning the void for any trace of movement. In the distance, against the endless black, something reflected the faintest glimmers of light. He focused and saw tiny, shifting dots, barely visible.

He pointed toward them, shouting, "Contact!"

At the same time, the massive cannons roared to life, unleashing a barrage of solid rounds into the abyss. The projectiles streaked through space, glowing momentarily as they crossed the distance toward the dots.

The dots shifted, adjusting with unnatural precision, weaving between the incoming fire.

They were closer now, the ship’s smaller-caliber guns joined the defense, sending streams of high-velocity rounds toward the incoming shapes. The gunfire connected with some, sending tiny sparks into the void, but the hits barely slowed them down.

Kai tracked them as they approached, faster than before. Some of them vanished from his vision entirely, slipping beyond his range.

Then, suddenly a loud impact sounded somewhere beneath them, Kai felt the vibration at the bottom of his feet. They all looked down.

Kai heard screaming and raised his head. One of the spheres appeared right in front of a cannon. The gunner didn’t hesitate. The cannon fired at point-blank range, the blast slamming into the metallic orb, sending it careening backward.

But it didn’t break.

Instead, it unfolded.

The sleek sphere unraveled, revealing a writhing mass of segmented limbs—long, flexible appendages tipped with razor-sharp claws. A dozen glowing nodes, arranged in a circular pattern, blinked to life at its "head."

Before the soldiers could react, the machine’s tentacles lashed forward, wrapping around the cannon’s barrel. With a single, unnatural pull, it ripped the massive gun from its mounting, sending soldiers scrambling for cover as debris scattered across the deck.

Ife barked rapid orders in his language, his voice cutting through the chaos. The soldiers regrouped, turning their fire onto the monstrous machine. Bullets tore into its frame, shattering some of the glowing sensors, exposing the intricate mechanics within. It jerked violently, its movements becoming erratic as more of its systems took damage.

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Ife turned to Kai, his expression grim. “Monsters,” he said. “Dem deh reason why yuh commander call dis place No Man’s Land.”

Kai’s grip tightened on his rifle. “Why have we never seen them before? Why isn't there any record of them? No news about them”

Ife shook his head. “All dem target wah get attack? Dem leave no trace. No records, no logs. Dem tek everything. Even di black box.”

Kai turned to Eliana and found her already looking at him. They were both thinking the same thing.

On their very first expedition together, they had come across an abandoned ship. At first, they assumed it had been attacked by pirates, but the truth had been far stranger.

The ship had carried nothing of value, yet it had been cut apart with surgical precision. Every instrument, every crucial system—including the black box—had been removed.

But what haunted Kai the most was what he had seen in the turret view back then. At the time, he thought it had been a simple anomaly in space, some trick of light or a sensor glitch. But when he and Robert replayed the data, the anomaly had moved, shifting its shape into something else as it vanished from sensor range.

His gaze shifted back to the now-unmoving mechanical creature lying before them. A soldier stood atop its crumpled frame, raising his weapon high as if in triumph.

One of its tentacles twitched, the complex mechanisms expanding and contracting, curling the metal around itself. Another soldier stomped on it, then jammed his rifle into the appendage and fired. The movement stopped.

Its sensors still glowed faintly, shifting slightly until they locked onto Kai.

The moment their gazes met, something snapped inside Kai’s mind. As if he had had gotten a foreign connection, a pulse of thought that wasn’t his own. Then, an image appeared in his mind.

It flashed for only a second, but it was enough.

Thousands, if not more of these creatures, huddled together in a vast, cavernous space. Their bodies gleamed under a thick, wet substance that coated the walls. Tentacles curled and twisted, their movements synchronized in an eerie, rhythmic motion.

Kai recoiled, his stomach twisting in disgust.

Had the machine just shown him its memories?

He didn’t get a chance to dwell on it because more of them were coming.

The metallic spheres poured in, their smooth surfaces glinting as they maneuvered past incoming fire, searching for new breaches in the ship’s hull.

Ife shouted something, but at first, Kai couldn’t hear him. The relentless gunfire drowned out everything else, the deafening blasts making his ears ring. He shook his head, pushing through the disorienting noise, and moved closer.

Ife’s voice finally broke through, thick with urgency. “Go! Dis ain't yuh fight! Take yuh ship an' run!”

Kai barely had time to process the words before Ife grabbed a nearby soldier, pulling him in close and shouting directly into his ear. The soldier nodded and turned toward Kai.

Kai met Ife’s gaze. There was no room for argument in the man’s expression. He didn’t need to say anything to Grayson or Eliana. They already knew.

They ran.

The soldier led the way, his path cutting through the chaos as they sprinted across the deck. Behind them, Ife raised his weapon, firing in rapid succession. The muzzle flashed bright yellow flames.

Kai ducked under falling debris, dodging pieces of the ship as it was torn apart. The mechanical creatures breached further, their bodies slamming into the deck with sickening force. The moment they landed, they unfurled, using their tentacles to propel themselves forward against the ship’s artificial gravity.

One of them lunged at Kai and he barely turned in time to avoid its grasp.

Pain seared through his skull, the moment his eyes met its glowing sensors. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to look away.

Just run. Focus on running, he told himself.

Ahead, a corridor loomed and they barreled into it, their boots pounding against the floor as they wove through the panicked people, shouting for them to run as well.

Behind them, something heavy slammed into the wall. The creature had taken the same turn, its bulk crashing through the narrow space. Metal groaned as it clawed its way forward, its tentacles scraping against the walls, gaining speed.

"Keep running!" Kai shouted.

He pushed himself forward, his boots pounding against the metal flooring as the creatures closed in behind him.

The corridor spat them out into the market area, where vibrant lights still flickered, and the scent of smoke and spice still hung thick in the air.

The crowd had no warning and was still in the middle of evacuation. Panic spread like wildfire as the monstrous machines burst into the open, their tentacles lashing out, sensors glowing with eerie red. People screamed, scattering in every direction, knocking over market stalls and shoving past one another in a desperate attempt to escape. Those who had guns were afraid to shoot in such crowded space.

The creatures were fast—unnervingly so. One of them surged forward, closing the distance. Kai turned on instinct, raising his rifle and squeezing the trigger. Bullets shredded through its sensors, sending it reeling back in a brief, spasming halt.

But the others kept coming.

They tore through the path Kai and his team had taken, their mechanical bodies twisting unnaturally as they pursued. The soldier leading them skidded to a halt.

Kai followed his gaze.

The damaged creature he shot had broken away, shifting its course toward the panicked civilians.

The soldier hesitated only for a second before gripping his weapon tighter. His voice rang out, urgent and firm, "Mi haffi save mi people! Just follow di path!"

Then, without another word, he ran toward the monster, leaving them behind.

Kai had no time to watch. They were close now, so close. The Black Swan was just ahead.

His legs burned as they pushed forward, lungs heaving for breath. They rounded the last corner, feet skidding against the floor as the creature behind them crashed into the wall, denting it inward.

But the lift wasn’t there and it's doors were sealed shut.

Grayson reached it first and slammed his hand against the panel, jabbing at the call button. The indicator flashed—the lift was still at the bottom, crawling its way up. It was too slow.

Kai turned, gripping his rifle. They had no choice but to hold the line.

They fired in bursts, staggering their shots to conserve ammunition, trying to buy the precious seconds they needed. One of the creatures finally collapsed, riddled with holes, but another immediately took its place, bending metals as it reached for them.

Kai's head pounded, a sharp, unbearable pressure building behind his eyes. He tried to focus, tried to keep his shots steady, but the pain only worsened. It felt like something inside him was breaking free.

The lead creature pushed forward, undeterred by the barrage of bullets.

Grayson stepped up, driving the barrel of his rifle straight into its cluster of sensors. He squeezed the trigger, emptying his entire magazine into its head.

But it didn’t die.

With a sickening lurch, the creature's tentacles snapped out, slamming against Grayson’s arm. The commander let out a pained grunt as the metal limbs tore through his sleeve, ripping flesh, leaving deep, bleeding gashes across his skin.

He didn’t let go.

Eliana was shouting, her rifle firing wildly, trying to force the creature back. Her bullets tore into its joints, buying them seconds.

Kai’s head felt like it was splitting open.

The pain became unbearable, a searing agony that drowned out everything else. His vision blurred. The sounds of gunfire, Eliana’s frantic shouts, Grayson’s pained breaths—all of it faded into a muffled haze.

Then, darkness swallowed him.

His body gave out, and the last thing he felt was Eliana catching him by the shoulder before everything disappeared.