The Terrifyingly Cold Blackstone Fortress Opens Its Gates

958.M30.

Cyclops Cluster, Rebo System.

On the bridge of the Sixth Legion's flagship, the Destiny, Legion Master Flamini stood before the holographic strategy table.

The projection suddenly flickered.

All the Lumen Lamps went out.

A wave of stifled cries rose across the bridge.

Flamini opened a communication channel. "No need to panic."

"Adjust power distribution. Reduce supply to the weapons systems by thirty percent. Prioritize the lighting system and Auspex arrays."

The light brightened and dimmed by turns, washing over Flamini's lustrous face.

Whoosh!

After a burst of rapid flickering, the Lumen Lamps overhead stabilized, illuminating the bridge.

Flamini examined the Auspex report rising on the visual display.

Anomalous magnetic interference.

Cause unknown.

His gaze returned to the hologram.

A colossal creation lay within a debris field, surrounded by the wreckage of ships.

A point of light enlarged at high speed.

Spiraling rings and nodes, like a genetic helix made of static-cut light, slowly coiled.

Flamini's superhuman mind raced, trying to find a pattern, to trace planes and vertices.

A strange image formed in his mind out of nowhere.

Winner leaned forward, staring at the unfolding image.

The art of the dance.

Planar displacement.

Stone pillars pushing and pulling.

Winner was deeply drawn in by the sight. He gave the order: "Open the viewing ports."

Motors clacked, and the louvers lowered.

Flamini strode to the full floor-to-ceiling observation port.

As it slowly drew near, sinister and terrifying, like a moving prison, the officers tensely reviewing reports on the bridge fell silent.

The Shadows of Order looked grave as they watched the approaching inverted Pyramid.

Huge colonnades began hundreds of kilometers from the magnificent structure and ended at its black surface, like the fangs of some giant hound in the shadows.

Flying past either side of the colonnades was impossible. Ships