From the audio journal of Arcus Angelus – Project Lead

United Terran Federation: Operation Galaxia

Maiden voyage of the exploratory starship XTT-001 “OUTER HEAVEN”

Mission log: Day 81. 26 October 3.2212

               

Begin recording:

 

“To anyone who may find this:

 

Despite the mandated protocol regarding UTF operations property, should you find yourself listening to this or reading my manuscript of research or exploration logs, they are to be returned to my family: my wife or any living sons of Angelus. This is a message for them.

     

     Brina, boys, I am sorry. I am so very, very sorry. I never should have left. I had hesitations at first —reservations about the project even— but the prospect of learning what else was beyond Terran space and Terranity itself presented me with too great an opportunity to pass up: an opportunity to know what else was out there. And honestly, where I fit in to it all. I knew not, but ever since my youth I was unsure of my own Terran origins. I had to know if there was something else —someone else— out there.

     

     I did not find ‘myself’ or anything about my past; I look at this medallion now and still wonder about its significance…

     

     I didn’t find out anything about it. No beauty, no truths, no fascinating new secrets of my life or my fate, or about my place in the universe.

     

     What I did find however, was malevolence in its purest form. Now I know all too well what is out here; what awaits me, what awaits all who dare to follow: vile madness and cruel misery.”

 

 

 

“A strange presence was felt shortly after engaging the Galaxial Flux Drive (GFD) and entering the Galaxia, but we didn’t see any real sign of it until two weeks into the Galaxia (the space between galactic dimensions). Somehow the drive didn’t disengage as it was supposed to and we remained in the Galaxia for far longer than expected. The space seemed to close in on us; corridors seemed narrower, rooms somehow smaller and darker even. Slowly, several members of the crew began to go missing. They simply vanished without a trace. After the extensive and thorough search of the ship they had been found, or at least what was left of them. They’d been tortured, flayed, and mutilated. The sight was horror in its purest form.

     

     But not all of the missing crew members were accounted for. A small portion of them remained elusive to our searches and we soon found ourselves speculating about what had happened to them that caused them to… change.

 

     What followed was a fierce struggle to maintain the ship and attempt to drop from the Galaxia and somehow return home. All hope of doing any of that has since been lost. The presence grows stronger by the minute and more crew members have disappeared or fallen victim to this corruption. I feel as though I can hear something faint in the growing darkness, like a whisper.

     

     Many have tried holing themselves in their quarters or various areas of the ship, but they’ve failed to see that their huddled numbers attract the corrupted enemies. Their whimpers and frightened cries seem to bring the malevolent presence closer; as though it is lured by their fear and then feasts on their pain and their suffering. The taint of darkness is upon us and it must be stopped.

     

     I feel the presence as I did before but somehow it has grown in intensity. It seems as though the shadow of the presence occupies the entire ship. As more fall, and others ‘turn,’ it grows. Silent murmurs have become hushed whispers, those whispers turned into quiet words, and the words have since become enticing phrases; it’s been speaking to us, lulling and vexing us…”

 

 

 

“The number of tainted crewmen has tripled and now they control the majority of the ship. Those who haven’t willingly joined their ranks have all fallen victim to their barbarity and sadistic brutality: men and women alike.

 

     I don’t know if any others remain aside from me. I have been fighting back and surviving using what weapon-like tools and devices I could find; I am currently using a plasma torch that I altered to shoot bolts of plasma which appears to be effective against them, but I will soon have to fall back on the wrench I’ve kept since the first sightings; that should prove effective as the tainted are still the Terran bodies of the former crewmen—flesh and bone—and are still vulnerable.

     

     My final hope now is to make it to the engine room to overload the GFD reactor and erase us and the manifestation of this presence entirely. Nothing aboard should be spared. It’s become the epitome of horror, the essence of undoing, malevolence in its purest form. It has to be stopped.

     

     Again I hear the voices; they have grown in volume.  They almost seem to be encouraging me to drop the ship from Galaxial travel.

     

     Get out of my head!

     

     I must steel myself to this task. I must destroy the ship."

 

 

 

"Brina, I love you; forever and always. I need not go into the myriad of ways I do, for you know them all. Boys, I am so sorry. Davriel and Cephus, I’m sorry I was never there for you two as a father, but your mothers raised you just fine without me and you were always in my heart. Jonos, I believe you’ll grow up to be twice the pilot and twice the man I ever was and I’m sorry I can’t be there to see it. And finally Savos. Savos, you must forgive me. The stars called to me and as much as I tried, I couldn’t resist their lure. You know of what I speak, I’ve sensed that desire in you since your birth. It was the way you looked at them; as if they had all the answers. Perhaps one day, you’ll understand why I left, and be able to forgive me. I love you all and will miss you dearly.”

     

     ‘Angelusss.’

     

     “There, there it is; the voice again. That damned voice! I can clearly hear it now. I feel its taint all around me. I must stop it. I must stop this madness!”

 

End recording.