Where there should have been a gleaming fortress bristling with cannons and defense arrays, there was only silence and ruin.
The Azure Kraken slowed its speed, its hull groaning as if reluctant to approach the graveyard ahead. Empty space stretched before them, littered with drifting wreckage. Great slabs of alloy hull spun slowly through the black, their torn edges glinting faintly under the cold starlight. A few beacon fragments flickered weakly, their pulses so faint they resembled dying heartbeats.
The bridge fell silent. The crew stared, wide-eyed. Then one of them, voice strained, broke the stillness.
"Captain… sensors are picking up faint energy signatures. A battle took place here. Recently." He hesitated, then added with unease, "But it's strange… there's too little debris."
Emery's eyes narrowed. "Too little? What does that mean?"
