In a certain universe within the Boundless Mystery, a gigantic spacecraft, black and cold, drifted slowly through the vast starry sky.
Mitra piloted a small shuttle closer. She had just finished an exploration mission, and it had yielded nothing. There was a planet ahead, but no life existed upon it, nor were there any usable resources.
She had become used to it, or rather, numb to it.
The first thing that appeared in her sight was not the details of the spacecraft, but a peculiar, enormous "shield" surrounding it.
That shield was not a mechanical structure, nor any other kind of energy structure. It was made of corpses clad in armor.
Mitra was a human woman around thirty years old, though she looked far older, with dull eyes and a withered face.
Yet when her gaze touched the corpses that formed the shield, it was as though her dead self had come alive a little. Respect also surfaced in her eyes.
"Light."
The word escaped her lips.
Mitra recalled that once incomparably magnificent scene:
A terrifying "shriek" had descended from the depths of the universe, destroying countless civilizations, races, and planets along its path. Soon, it had reached them—the unique civilization carried by this spacecraft called "Nigan," a vessel larger than some planets.
They were Nigans, a unique spacecraft civilization that had drifted through the universe for thousands of years.
The Nigans had once believed they would endure forever, but when that shriek arrived, everything changed.
The Nigan homeland, which they had believed could never be destroyed, suffered a devastating catastrophe. The propulsion systems, circulation systems, intelligent systems, and every other foundation that kept the spacecraft running were directly destroyed. Worse still, the food systems that supplied the Nigans—the algae farms, artificial meat ranches, nutrition factories... all of them were